"Whew-"
Sitting on the sofa, Li Wei had completely turned into a couch potato.
As expected, the open-air performance had caused a sensation in the City of a Thousand Joys. Unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, however, Li Wei's concert had stirred up considerable controversy. That was only natural. Not everyone could accept an entirely new form of music, and Li Wei understood that perfectly well.
The more lyrical songs might have been easier to accept, but genres like rock and metal would always have their detractors.
But when Li Wei read the newspapers, he discovered that the people of the City of a Thousand Joys were worried about something rather different from what he had imagined.
Li Wei had assumed that their articles would, at worst, accuse the music of poisoning young minds or complain that the songs were all about romance and lacked substance. What he had not expected was that their concerns were actually technical: they feared that music which sounded so simple would mislead young composers into believing it really was that easy!
Well, he had to admit that the old scholars of the City of a Thousand Joys knew their stuff. They had spotted popular music's greatest characteristic-and its greatest problem-at a glance.
Popular songs were, above all, simple and catchy.
But the trouble was that the greatest truths were the simplest. Just because you understood that, did it mean you could compose something similar?
Of course not. Every song Li Wei had brought out was a hit from his own world, the kind that had fought its way through millions upon millions of competitors to become a world champion.
To many musicians, watching Li Wei's concert was like a beginner watching an expert speedrun Dark Souls.
Your eyes understood it. Did your hands?
If you