Colorful Town

August 15, 2023

Is the ‘red’ you see the same as my ‘red’?

This is a well-known question from long ago. Even if I look at the same red color, I cannot be sure whether the ‘red’ I feel in my brain is the same ‘red’ in your brain. But one day, if one suddenly felt the same color differently than before, the answer should be “No, it isn’t”.

Read More …


Four years ago, I developed an edema in the center of the retina of my right eye. Since the retina had floated due to edema, the focal position was shifted compared to the left eye, and objects looked smaller and darker. And perhaps because of it, I felt the color more strongly. This only happened with my right eye, but when I looked with both eyes, the view was more interesting. The leaves looked glossier, and the edges were brightly emphasized. The red and yellow flowers stood out as if they were floating above the leaves.

It was quite a struggle to read the characters, and in the evening my brain was so tired that I couldn’t open my eyes. However, the view of the town was a colorful world that ordinary people could not feel.

There was no particular treatment at the hospital, and the doctor said that if it heals, it will heal naturally in a few weeks, but otherwise it will not heal. And it didn’t change at all for months. I accepted this disease, and was thankful that I could see properly with one eye at a time. And I marveled again at the precision mechanism that showed me images every day for 59 years.

Because I was sensitive to color, strongly attracted to things with vivid colors. Towns are much more colorful than nature, so I found many colorful town photos, and made this song with them. It’s a very innocent song 🙂 , but I didn’t want to make it complicated, because looking at the score makes my brain so tired.

Contrary to the doctor’s predictions, my eye suddenly healed after half a year, and I could see like before. My brain doesn’t get tired anymore, so it’s better to heal, but the view I saw at that time was a kind of beauty. For me, this song is a memento of this experience.

Categorized

Download Page: Score, TAB and mp3 for free

Song Information
  • Title: Colorful Town
  • Composer: Issay Tsumeki ( 爪木一晴 )
  • Work number: Op. 19
  • Date of composition: Apr. 19, 2020
  • Date of release: Aug. 15, 2023
Photos