The young Okinawan 4-piece girl group Haku set the internet on fire with a video of the band covering a song called “Mono No Aware”.
As the performance, which is essentially a string of tongue twisters in Japanese, was presumably recorded on a lark, there is (so far at least) no official release of the song by the band.
Since the video has become the addiction of viewers from Asia to Mexico and seemingly everywhere else, the inability of fans to satisfy their craving by downloading or adding the tune to a playlist is a perfect example of the concept of mono no aware, a term meaning “a sensitivity to ephemera” or “a Japanese concept that describes an awareness of impermanence and the beauty found in the fleeting nature of existence, often evoking a gentle sadness or wistfulness”.
For CD collectors (ahem) it’s enough to drive one crazy–or of course to develop one’s sense of mono no aware.
But in the absence of downloads or hard copies, the video is, as the kids say, “everything”.
In a remarkable moment fortuitously caught on film, Paul McCartney, feeling the pressure of an approaching deadline on the Beatles eventual Let it Be project, makes productive use of time waiting for John Lennon, who is late to arrive.
It’s a breathtaking glimpse of songwriting genius–the birth of a hit song, verse and chorus, takes place in less than four minutes as Paul strums a bass guitar.
I can’t say it any better than the YouTube comments, so I’ll paste them here:
It’s just mind blowing, they’re sitting around waiting for John and this whole new song just falls out of Paul’s head. George is giving positive feedback, Ringo’s already working out the percussion… then John walks in, sits down and immediately picks up on it and joins in. The Beatles fully deserve to have their music listened to until the last human dies. To never be forgotten.
This is one of Paul’s most legendary songs and it was composed strumming his bass while waiting for John to show up. The guy was such a genius it’s not even funny.
The fact that this wasnt in the original Let It Be is baffling. What a moment. “We need another million selling hit single, lads” “Right, give me about 4 minutes”
My favorite song from the album and watching Paul just pull it out of his ass is pretty damn amazing. I’ve never understood how people can just create a song out of thin air like that.
This is a writer’s dream on how to create a song you’re proud of. You’re just noodling around the guitar or piano and suddenly magic happens. I’m sure there were times when Paul couldn’t come up with an idea to save his life, then something like that happens as if it’s always this easy. lol I love it.
“Hi guys, what have you been doing so far?” “…well, no big deal. In the meantime Paul has composed a new hit that will go down in music history, but stay humble!”
Every Moment Has A Song 