The song "I see you"

Sol Lupusnight · January 12, 2010, 07:29:07 PM

I close my eyes and i am walking through the forest's of pandora and i'm flying my Ikran through the Hallelujah mountains, i can see Eywa and all her beauty and might. that's what i see when i close my eyes listining to this song.

very great song.

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn · January 12, 2010, 07:43:20 PM

I loved the actual music aspect of the song but I wasn't a fan of the singing.

Netslummer · January 12, 2010, 07:46:10 PM

I love this song, but am I the only one who though "WTF?!" when it started playing during the credits?
because..like..its just so different than the rest of the music throughout the movie.

That being said, I adore this song. A lot.

Txontaw · January 12, 2010, 08:36:10 PM

Quote from: Nìwotkrr Tsahameylu on January 12, 2010, 07:43:20 PM
I loved the actual music aspect of the song but I wasn't a fan of the singing.

I agree with this, I think that Na'vi lyrics would have been way better.

Sol Lupusnight · January 12, 2010, 11:14:53 PM

yeah but sadly i dont think mainstream people would've enjoyed it as much, but i want to hear a navi verson for sure. it would make me cry.

Tsway'eion · January 13, 2010, 01:33:53 AM

I love the whole concept.

Na'rìng_Tirea · January 13, 2010, 02:38:02 AM

Quote from: Na'rìngioang on January 12, 2010, 10:25:56 AM
I have to say (and I realize I'm in the VAST minority with this): I really don't like this song. At all. I don't find it inspiring, or anything of that sort.

I feel like the lyrics are rather... uninspired. I HATE when people use lyrics literally, or use the same metaphor over and over again, and this song has that in spades. The movie themes I tend to enjoy are instrumental, or a song that was actually IN the movie (Beauty and the Beast is the example that immediately comes to mind, but that's certainly not my favorite. I actually like the in-movie version better). When you're constrained by what the events are in the movie, the lyrics, almost without fail, strike me as... I don't know... dumbed down almost.

A movie theme that I loved that was very metaphorical: May it Be, or Into the West, from LotR. either song, while iconic, is able to transcend the movie, and can be its own entity. Both songs evoke the movie without slamming you over the head with something we've heard a million times over. Into the West, in particular, is about something that is talked about really only one time in the whole of the movie. Yes, the one point was incredibly poignant and easily remembered, but it was also far-reaching enough to be interpreted other ways, to mean other things to other people. May it Be is similar in that vein, and also contains some strains of a language spoken in the movie (something "I See You" is sorely lacking)

"I See You," for me (again, this is all my opinion, I'm well aware that I'm clearly the odd one out) simply does not have that transcendent quality.

That said, I'm also not a huge fan of Leona Lewis. Yes, she's a talented person, but I just don't like her songs. And I felt absolutely NO soul from her singing in this song, no sincerity.

My first thought when I heard the song originally was: "Wow... this is... unoriginal." and my second thought was "Why wasn't the end theme in Na'vi?" Now, listening to it again, so that I can discuss it while remembering why I don't like it, I am struck by the over-processing of the song. It turned it into something simple and evocative into something that is just another pop song. And for the most part, I don't like pop music.

If there is a redeeming quality to the song, it's the reprise of the melody that is played throughout the entire film.

I do love the rest of the soundtrack. Just... this song. I really don't care for it. Sorry.

If you like the song, that's fine. I'm certainly not going to begrudge people for music they enjoy. I know I enjoy songs that other people despise. This is just not the song that does it for me. er... Sorry for raining on the parade, if I have, it's not my intention, really. Just voicing a different opinion (Someone has to play "devil's advocate," right?)

I agree with all this sadly.

I really have tried to love this song but it's just not working.... it's just too hokey. I don't feel that she has any emotional investmant in it at all. It could have been a lot better than it was. It might have helped too if it had been in Na'vi. As it is now it's a song that only fans of the movie will really get. I love the rest of the cd, though I have to admit at some parts I felt as if I was listening to the Titanic OST. lol

Esperanto · January 13, 2010, 05:48:04 AM

I found an interesting article on an author's interpretation of the meaning of Avatar and I think he was right on the concept of "I see you". This has led me to validate the poppy tune because the lyrics DO make sense in this way, although it would have been better in Na'vi... but I think Fox thought people wouldn't be able to understand it.

A snippet from the page at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-michaelson/the-meaning-of-avatar-eve_b_400912.html:

QuoteIn the Na'Vi cosmology, what's really happening is the Ai'Wa in me is connecting with the Ai'Wa in you. This is echoed in their greeting, "I see you," a direct translation of the Sanskrit Namaste, which means the same thing. ("Avatar" is also from the Sanskrit, though the film plays on the word's two meanings of an image used in a role-playing game, and a deity appearing on Earth.) As the Na'Vi explain in the film, though, "I see you" doesn't mean ordinary seeing - it, like Namaste, really means "the God in me sees the God in you." I see Myself, in your eyes.

Kisora · January 13, 2010, 08:53:54 AM

It makes me sad, and yes i think about what has jake learned from neytiri too when i hear it...

Txen Seri Unil · January 13, 2010, 09:02:21 AM

Quote from: Darrigan on January 13, 2010, 05:48:04 AM
<snip>

A snippet from the page at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-michaelson/the-meaning-of-avatar-eve_b_400912.html

^^ that link rocked my socks. Great find and a great commentary on the song and saying of "I See You".

That was really a pick-me-up read. +1 Karma to you.

Eyway ngahu,
Txen Seri Unil

Taronyu Ayunilyä Alahe · January 13, 2010, 09:08:40 AM

when I sing/listen to the song, I'll look kinda odd coz I'm so into it, I close my eyes and everything

Taronyu Ayunilyä Alahe · January 13, 2010, 11:50:09 PM

yep. but unfortunately, I haven't own the Avatar soundtrack. but I do get what you mean. happy running

Le'tutean · January 14, 2010, 02:36:18 AM

I don't like this theme song that much.... and when compared with rest of the soundtrack, it feels artificial and detached.
OK, i know it's a THEME song after all for a blockbuster movie, but still.

I just feel like i need to compare it to LOTR and themes in there - "May it be" from Fellowship and "Into the west" from Return of the King. Both are very very good, and match the feel of the movie/ost very closely. Especially "Into the west", during the credits of LOTR - every time i see or hear it, i get this magical feeling of sadness (because it's the end of wonderful movie and story) mixed with some form of hope and joy (of how the story ends).

As for Avatar, every time i listen to the "Becoming one of "the People", becoming one with Neytiri" (and remembering what Jake says "Location - Shack... and the days start to blur together" and how the movie shows him learning to be Na'Vi), i get goosebumps and a wide smile on my face. Also next two songs "Climbing up Iknimaya" and "Jake's first flight" gets me into awesome mood

Eywa ngahu