#carousel ii

lately ive been listening to this song a lot more than usual. this song was always my favorite on c3l3stial, i think ive listened to it more times than any other song from bliss. it can be hard on the ears, especially cause of how jarring the transition from the first 4 songs into carousel ii is. but theres something absolutely indescribable about this song. its hauntingly beautiful in a way that captures the feeling of this album perfectly. its like hearing glass break, a noise which can be unnerving, or startling for many, but some can find beauty in the sound of glass shattering. carousel ii doesnt sound like glass breaking, but it does give me the same feeling that hearing glass breaking does. for me, theres no real way to quantify carousel ii, theres no comparison that i could make that would properly do this song justice. the deeply hollow, angelic, dreadful and yet serene feeling of this song is not something that could have been made by any other artist. i have never been able to find a comparison that fits this song, but theres a couple that kind of come close:

the feeling of drowning, slowly feeling the air leave your lungs and be replaced with water, knowing that any moment could be your last, feeling terrified that you will die, uncertain about what will happen afterwards, but strangely contented.

sitting back and watching something terrible happen, knowing that you have no control of it and thus having to be okay with whatever happens, and finding some sort of peace in that.

being in a truly empty, decrepit space, with complete darkness around you, then when the lights turn on, they turn on all at once, bright artificial flourescent lights that havent been turned on in decades litter the room, the sight of them is the visual equivalent of breathing in a dusty and moldy room, one thats been left to become rotten and forgotten. the room stretches for miles without anything inside it besides the lights, and the hum of the lights becomes unlistenable.

i have so much to say about this song, yet it feels like i havent really said anything at all, because music like this gives me a feeling that i cant describe, one that doesnt have a name. especially when listening to the sample can you understand just how much bliss did to make carousel ii, the 2 songs sound less like one and the same, and more like siblings, because its easy to tell that they share dna, but they sound almost nothing alike. bliss took this beautiful, slow, early 80′s japanese pop song and turned it into an indescribable, unlabelable, amalgamation of both fear, and blissful contentedness.