Translations of all the lyrics for the songs on Yumemiru Uchuu are now up on Not Greatest Site, so hasten over to inspect them!
Feel free to comment here on which ones are your favorites. As always, please keep your comments constructive and concise. I reserve the absolute right not to publish essays or haterade. Or anything about your personal dislike of your precious sad Byronic hero Acchan's use of the word "Baby." Because, if he called you "Baby" to your face, I daresay you'd enjoy it.
However, I will publish all comments that include scatting. Shoobie doobie doobie do DAH.
As usual, thank you for translating and sharing your work with us, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's REALLY hard to pick a favourite on this album, to be quite honest. I like them all, even if it took me a while to warm to Miss-Take when it came out (I think I prefer it in the album context).
I'm going to say that I am probably listening the *most* to Inter-Raptor, Lady Skeleton, Climax Together, Yasou and Only You. But that's partly because they are upbeat toe-tappers to keep my mood positive while at work.
Knowing for sure what has been said in interviews and reading the lyrics adds a different dimension, though. Being not-so-many years behind Mr Sakurai myself, I smiled at the lyrics to both Inter-Raptor and Yasou. And it's interesting that one of the tunes I most often have found myself humming absentmindedly is the one he chose to address to himself about his past. I hope that is a forecast of calmer seas for the future.
I want to thank you too!
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics are amazing again, Atsushi didn´t disappoint at all =). And the lyrics of mermaid are just witty, the album doesn´t lack on pervy lyrics ^_^ *like*. With Climax together, a perfect title for perfectly perverted lyrics was chosen. Now, I´m even more thrilled to know, how the PV will be xP.
Also, I think it might be kind of relieving for Atsushi to write a song about his childhood.
I don´t mind if Mr Sakurai uses "Baby", but I think if he called me like that, I would giggle or be amused =D.
Eventhough I´m looking at most of the songs in a different way, when understanding everything and not just something, I can´t say that this album is one of my favorites (yet).
Maybe it´s just me, but I can´t take this album as an outright unicum. It has something, what reminds me of Razzle Dazzle.
I bet, if I showed someone Inter Raptor and than Dokudanjou beauty or Hamushi no you ni, he wouldn´t recognize, that it isn´t the same album =| ...
Sure, the sounds basically unleash a nice upbeat feeling, but it´s just going to take me some more time to like it^^.
Shame on me, shame on me! Q_Q But you can´t compare gothic Loli-girls with 13th floor with Diana. We know very well, who knows how to create a mysterious atmosphere better!
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Gothic lolis of course! Who else? xD
After reading all the lyrics and giving all the songs a good listen, I have to say Kinjirareta Asobi is my favorite song on the album. The music immediately caught my attention (It feels sort of like a twisted AKFG song. Imai's chanting in the background is really adorable too). The lyrics are really bittersweet and I'm glad that Atsushi seems ready to let go of what happened to him as a child.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the minority here but I don't like this album. I can't say why and I'm not one of those goth fangirls but for some reason, me and this album isn't clicking. The only song I cared for is Miss Take. I kinda like the vibe of Inner Raptor but I have to give it another listen.
ReplyDelete@ blaquetopaz - Congratulations! You've successfully rained on the parade. I think you should give the whole album a few more listens, sometimes these things grow on one (they grow on me, anyway.)
ReplyDeleteI really, really like this album, but I must say I prefer Imai's lyrics to Sakurai's. Not that I think Sakurai's lyrics are -bad-, mind you, but he does tend to repeat himself, often using the same themes and phrases over and over. I find Imai's work more interesting and surprising.
ReplyDeleteBuuut... It seems I still have a major thing for Hide/Sakurai songs, and 'Mermaid' has been my favourite on this album from the first listen. Go figure. *laugh*
Cayce, if that is how Blaguetopaz feels about the album, then whats wrong with that? I personally thought the album was a mixed bag; it had some fine and decent songs, and some generic ones. Although i think im most disapointed by the lyrics. All about love again. I had big expectations from Kinjirareta Asobi, because of your discription. But it is written in a very implicit and subtle way. Way to subtle imo. When i read the lyrics, i wouldnt even notice his childhood was bad or anything.
ReplyDelete@ Angel Tears - Buck-Tick songs have pretty much always been all about love. You say you have a problem with that and I wonder where your own Buck-Tick love comes from :P You think you can comment on Blog-Tick without risking I'll make fun of you? Why are you commenting on Blog-Tick?
ReplyDelete@Angel Tears, Cayce didn't say blaquetopaz not liking the album is bad. Is that really what you got from her comment?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Sakurai doesn't have to make it ~*CLEAR*~ that he's writing about his childhood.
On to the album now, I love it. It's so hard to pick favorites! Yasou, Lady Skeleton, Elise(the remix is too cool♡), Inter Raptor, 人魚-mermaid-, Kinjirareta Asobi, everything! I wish I could fly to Japan to dance, dance, dance to this album in a live but I guess my room/the streets will do for now.
As always, thank you for the translation!<3
Cacye, yes i know. And its something i can enjoy up to a certain point. There is nothing wrong with lyrics about love, but at least try to vary the lyrics. To me, they all sound the same. Especially because of the use of words. I just started listening to B-T (only listening for 3 years) but i allready noticed that their use of words is very limited sometimes. They use way to many overused words; 'Baby'(lol), 'love', 'kiss', 'dance', 'dream', 'illusion', 'truth', 'world' etc. The art is to talk about love without useing the word itself. I know this this no high end poetry, but still. At least Mermaid had a consistent theme going on. I mean they proved they can talk about other subjects too or vary their lyrics, listen to My Fuckin'Valentine, Revolver or or Muchi No namida. There is enough more in this world to talk about. I understand its their signature subject, and i know it makes them stand out from the rest, but i would love to see some different lyrics again. BTW: You can make fun of me as much you want. I comment on your website because i think your translations looks good and you have the latest B-T news (and the most original news, not the standard stuff).
ReplyDeleteI'll admit I am a bit baffled by some of the criticisms here. Not that I mind whether people like this album or not - it's more that I don't really understand why some of these points serve as a negative for this particular album.
ReplyDeleteFor instance - it's certainly true that Mr Sakurai uses a lot of the same phrases and themes throughout his work (including love )... but then he always *has*. Surely it's partly the constant use of these themes from ever-shifting and evolving perspectives over the years which is what makes his work so affecting? It's possible to trace how he's changed, aged and matured - not just as a lyric-writer either, but as a person. Sometimes it's subtle and nuanced, sometimes it's more dramatic - but it's always personal, like reading someone's diary over their shoulder.
Along with the sense of being given an in-depth tour of Messrs. Imai and Hoshino's music collections, there's a sort of guilt-pleasure-intimacy triangle that I consider one of the over-arching attractions of B-T's output at least from Kurutta Taiyou onwards.
If they didn't change - become more subtle in some ways and more surprising in others - then we would have bored of them years ago, and frankly, I suspect they would have bored themselves too.
Uh. Sorry if this is too long Cayce, I didn't mean to blather.
@ Angel Tears & Vo0s - Mawb already said it quite well, but, while Sakurai (and Imai for that matter) may repeatedly use the same individual words, the themes they've been working with have evolved over time and I actually think they've made a distinct break with this new album, especially in terms of their discussion of mortality--see especially "Miss Take," "Yasou," "Inter Raptor," and "Yumemiru Uchuu," which I believe was the influence of the earthquake et. al. at work. But if you really think the lyrics are too similar, go ahead and find me some songs in their back catalogue that have the same themes as the songs on Yumemiru Uchuu. I'll give you shades of "Gessekai" in "Yumeji," shades of "Solaris" in "Yumemiru Uchuu," shades of "Jonathan Jet Coaster" and "Sakuran Baby" in "Inter Raptor," (which Sakurai stated was deliberate), and maybe a few shades of "Kalavinka" in "Yasou," but a very different style, and ultimately, the messages of these songs are all different. If people want me to write a lyrics analysis post I will. As for Imai's lyrics, "Only You" has some touches of Lucy's "Nine Days Wonder," and "Miss Take" and "Elise" both sound like Imai imitating Sakurai's style, read it again if you don't believe me.
ReplyDeleteAngel Tears, as for love...try falling in it sometime and maybe you'll see Buck-Tick in a whole new way. Attempting to talk about love without using the word "love" is quite asinine. Listen to the Beatles for me, or read some Shakespeare. You seem to wish Buck-Tick were some sort of intellectual art school philosophy band. They aren't. They never have been.
@Cayce - I totally agree that the apparent shift in the perspective on mortality seems quite radical on this album compared to the subtle explorations of the past. But then, I've always guessed that Nietzsche has it right about the abyss and maybe that's what's being reflected in Yumemiru Uchuu as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know, but maybe in some ways lacking that experience makes it more difficult to appreciate. Not impossible, but difficult.
Random note about love: one of my favourite songs about love both musically and lyrically is "L.O.V.E." by Al Green, a song so keen on the word it even spells it out (several times).
Cayce, You know that 'hate' comes from 'love' and that those two extremes are actually very close to each other? Its not that i find B-T garbage, as i have stated long before: its still my favourite band. Doesnt that says enough. And about the general theme, i dont get it. The theme mortality has allready been explored in the past. We allready had Memento Mori right, which dealt with the same ideas (probaby more then this album, i mean, look at the title 'Memento Mori'). We also had One Life on Death, wasnt that supposed to be about the same theme? Cayce, dont get me wrong i only share my impression on the lyrics (based on your translations). You know japanese, so you probably know alot more about these lyrics. And yes i would like to see a indept lyrics analysis. In fact the most interesting thing i enjoy from your lyrics are the notes you add with interesting information. The more, the better :D
ReplyDelete@Cayce and Mawb - I am very much aware that Sakurai has been using similar words and phrases throughout his work from the very beginning. That was my point. I wasn't just talking about Yumemiru Uchuu. :) It's only a matter of personal preference. Like I said: that doesn't mean I think Sakurai is a bad writer, or that he hasn't changed over the years - it just means that I, personally, often prefer Imai's writing style. There are lyrics which Sakurai has written that I absolutely -love-, just as there are lyrics by Imai that I'm not super-impressed with. If I found all their work 100 % flawless, that would make for a very boring band indeed. I like my B-T members human and flawed. *nod*
ReplyDeleteIn the end, these guys are my all-time favourite musicians, and they have been for the last 8 years. I'm grateful for every year they stick together and keep making music. <3
I vote for lyrics analysis post! I would love to read what you have to say, Cayce.
ReplyDelete@ Angel Tears - Hate and love are opposites, and while hate is not necessary for the human soul (in fact hate is quiet destructive of the human soul), love is essential. Also, do you think you're immortal? Not to be a downer or anything, but every day that death of yours just gets closer and closer. And when you finally get there, won't you wish you'd spent more time loving than hating? Mortality is a hard theme to overdo. There is nothing deeper or more meaningful to the human condition than love and death, which is why sometimes, simple words are more powerful than complex ones.
ReplyDelete@ Linda - Looks like there is interest in this one so I'll give it a go.
@Angeltears - "about the general theme, i dont get it. The theme mortality has allready been explored in the past".
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing, Angeltears - Imagine that you wrote a poem about your feelings regarding death today.
Imagine that next year, a close relative or friend dies. You write another poem.
Imagine that the year after that, you're involved in a near fatal accident from which it takes months to recover. You write another poem.
Imagine that the year after that you're told you only have months to live. You write another poem.
Do you think that all those poems will be the same, and express the same ideas, beliefs and hopes? Or do you think that your relationship with death would change as a result of these different experiences with mortality?
I can also speak from regrettable experience and tell you that when you hit a certain age, mortality becomes a very real prospect. To paraphrase a British comedian I admire who recently turned Toll's age "I used to think I had time to see everything, but now I realise that I might only have 30 holidays left to take, so I choose where I go carefully."
Lol, pack it in guys! The lyrics are amazing, as always, both Imai and Atsushi wrote them very well, as always^^.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, what I like most about the album is that they sound like they're having a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard the new album yet, but I have to wait until someone rip the cd so that I can download it and have a good listen. One thing about Buck-Tick, more often that not, I have to listen to their songs many times before actually liking it. Some of the songs haven't entice me to like them yet. That partly have to do with my obsession with Six/Nine and Kurutta Taiyou. On the matter of Sakurai keep using the same word/theme again and again, I actually love it. I'm the kind of person who love revisits drama/anime/movie/songs/album multiple times over a long period time. With BT songs, it is especially fun as I learn more about one song/album from other song/album and even with similar theme, the feel of each song is very different. And one more thing, as my understanding of the world change with time, my appreciation of BT works increase with another facade of their songs seen (this sounds so cheesy). I love that Sakurai keeps writing about love as he is very good at it. I love BT too much that for sure my opinion would be very biased.
ReplyDelete@Angeltears - It's just Acchan writing style which we love,it's his personality in the song that makes him unique. why do you have to
ReplyDeletecomplain bout that, you cannot turn a single tree with single color flowers into many color flowers just because you feel bored with 1 color. it's the signature of his to use those words that makes the difference and we like it.