The Blog-Tick Phenomenon: Que Sera Sera

9.10.20

Que Sera Sera

Hi, folks! How are y'all enjoying Abracadabra? Did y'all watch the live stream? What about that acoustic "Living on the Net," eh? Did you see that one coming?

We realize we've taken more time this go-around to start posting translations of the lyrics to the new album. Thanks for your patience in waiting for our translations - there's a lot, a lot, to unpack in this album, and we wanted to let the songs sink in for a while before we took a crack at translating them - also, we wanted to take the time to read through the copious interviews with the band members to check on their intended meanings of the lyrics, and to pinpoint the source of some of the references which might have slipped under our radar otherwise. In other words, we've been off the grid, doing our Buck-Tick homework for y'all (Buck-Tick homework: the best kind of homework ever.) And, you know, work, and IRL life, and less-than-perfect health. All that fa fa fa fa and la la la la. Que sera sera!

The good news: we are done with the preliminary research and now we are cracking! We are pleased to bring to you the singable English translation of "Que Sera Sera Elegy," complete with copious notes, because we know how much y'all love notes. Please feel free to leave your comments on the song on this post. Also, please feel free to join us in imagining Imai in his basement home studio, practicing his high kick dance in his giant platform heel stompy boots, as his daughter chases him around, shrieking and laughing hysterically. The inspiration for this song? Very possibly. Who's your daddy? Imai Hisashi, that's who.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported us on Ko-Fi. If you enjoy this translation and would like to continue supporting our work, please don't hesitate to buy us some more Ko-Fi, as we are currently severely under-caffeinated.

2 comments:

Luna Raven 1908October 9, 2020 at 2:09 AM
Thank you so much for your translations! I am so glad you are starting to post them, one by one, because good things are worth waiting for! I look forward to seeing the English translations for "Tsuki No Sabaku" and "Villain", as they are my favorites. This is a great service you do, Cayce... especially for those of us who cannot learn Japanese fast enough!
OMG... I love Imai's style, and Atsushi ... is there real proof that he is 54? Because I believe he is ageless! The entire band is ageless, really, but that beautiful man with the mic is who caught my eye earlier this year. Real men have no shame in wearing garters and no underwear!
Love and Peace!
ReplyDelete
Replies
igorOctober 10, 2020 at 10:15 PM
You take your time! I am so grateful for the work you do with those lyrics. Even knowing quite a bit of Japanese myself, I can enjoy the lyrics so much more with the light you shine on nuances and references.

I really can't thank you enough. Wishing you good health! :)
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

How have you been heart feeling?

B-Tホームページの英語版について

Buck-Tickのホームページに新しく英語版を立ち上げるのは素晴らしいですが、英語版の文章は明らかにネイティヴではないので、誠に勝手ですが、よりスムーズな文章として、以下の修正を提案します。

まず、「バクチク現象」というフレーズには「The Buck-Tick Phenomenon」という訳の方が合っています。なぜかというと、「Syndrome」は「症状群」の意味をして、病気のニュアンスを表現するため、響きはあんまりポジチブではありません。一方、Picture Product Iに録画されている「Sen-Sor」のシナリオにて、「バクチク現象」は「The Buck-Tick Phenomenon」として訳されていますので、訳を統一する観点からも、「Phenomenon」の方がいいと思います。

プロフィールの文章を全体的に自然な英語に修正させていただきましたので、どうぞご参照ください。英語は文章・単語・表現だけではなく、句読点やフォーマットも日本語と異なりますので、英語のプロフェショナルな基準に合わせて修正しました。

One-of-a-kind rock band Buck-Tick got their start in the mid 1980's as an iconic product of Japan's "band boom." Maintaining the same lineup of members for the entirety of their 30-year career, Buck-Tick have had an enormous influence on the subsequent development of Japanese rock and rock-n-roll culture.

In 1989, the band scored their first chart-topping hit with their third album, Taboo. Just two years after their debut, they joined the ranks of Japan's top artists, playing to sold-out crowds at the Nippon Budoukan and the Tokyo Dome.

Never content to rest on their laurels, the band followed their initial success by deepening their pop sensibilities with a darker worldview, and expanding into more experimental territory, taking chances on radical new performance styles and technology in a process of continuing evolution.

In 2012, the band established their own new label, Lingua Sounda, in conjunction with their 25th anniversary. To celebrate the anniversary, the band held a festival on September 22nd and 23rd entitled "Buck-Tick Fest 2012 on Parade" in Chiba Port Park at an outdoor venue designed specially for the occasion. In addition to two hour-long headlining performances by Buck-Tick, the festival also featured a complete roster of artists who contributed tracks to Buck-Tick's second tribute cover album, Parade II -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick.

In 2013, a double-feature documentary film about the 25th anniversary, The Buck-Tick Phenomenon, was released in cinemas throughout Japan to great acclaim.

In 2016, the band returned to their original label, Victor Entertainment, after 20 years of work with other labels. New World, the band's first single since rejoining Victor, was released on September 21st, followed by a new album, Atom Miraiha No. 9 on September 28th.

In 2017, Buck-Tick celebrated their 30th anniversary, and were awarded the Inspiration Award Japan, a special prize given to music artists who have had an outsize influence on the development of pop music in Japan. The band accepted their award on September 27th at MTV Japan's live music video awards show Video Music Awards Japan 2017 -The Live-,” where they also gave a special live performance.

On September 20th, the band released a 30th anniversary best album entitled Catalogue 1987-2016. Following this, on September 23rd and 24th, the band performed a pair of concerts, Buck-Tick 2017 The Parade -30th Anniversary, "Fly Side" and "High Side," at Tokyo's Odaiba Special Outdoor Event Area J, attracting a crowd of more than 20,000 people over two days. Then on November 15th, the band released its first 30th anniversary single, Babel.

Before releasing Babel, the band embarked on an 18-stop national tour, The Day in Question 2017, opening at Omiya Sonic City on October 21st and featuring a stadium performance at Takasaki Arena in their home prefecture of Gunma, before concluding with a pair of finale concerts at the Nippon Budoukan on December 28th and 29th.

In 2018, the band released another single, Moon Tell Me Goodbye, on February 21st, followed by a new album, No. 0, on March 14th. The band are currently in the middle of a new tour, Buck-Tick 2018 Tour No. 0, to promote the new album.

しかし、これよりもっと格好いいプロフィールはいかがですか？既にファンになっている方々はこの情報を全部知っているはずなので、プロフィールは新しいファンにアピールした方が有効なプロモになると思います。履歴書をリストアップするよりは、なぜバクチクが唯一無二の日本ロック伝説ですか？バクチクはどんな音・歌詞・感情を表現しますか？バクチクの達成だけではなく、音楽性と格好良さを新しくファンになる方々にもっと深く知らせるために、以下の通り、少し書いてみました。マネジメントチームの英語が出来る方に是非呼んでいただいて、バクチクの愛を感じさせるより綺麗で国際的な英語をご検討下さい。

One-of-a-kind rock band Buck-Tick got their start in the mid 1980's as an iconic product of Japan's "band boom." All hailing from the small rural town of Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture, the five band members met while still in high school, bonding over a mutual love of records during informal gatherings at the home of band founder, lead guitarist and main songwriter, Hisashi Imai. Though the band's original lineup featured a different vocalist and Atsushi Sakurai on drums, after graduating high school and moving to Tokyo to pursue their dream of becoming professional musicians, the band soon switched Sakurai to vocals, and bassist Yutaka Higuchi recruited his older brother Toll Yagami to play drums instead. The band have maintained the same five members since that time.

After being signed to the indie label Taiyo Records, the band rocketed to stardom, making their major label debut on Victor Entertainment within a year, and taking the Japanese music scene by storm with their infectious punk melodies, spiky bleached hair, bold costumes, and theatrical stage shows. Within two years, they topped the charts with their third album, Taboo. Recorded in London, Taboo marked a turning point for the band, from a teenage pop sensation into something darker. Buck-Tick continued into darker territory with their next album, Aku no Hana (The Flowers of Evil), named for the poetry of Charles Baudelaire.

Never content to rest on their laurels, Buck-Tick followed their initial runaway success with a push into more experimental territory, spending many more hours in the studio to create ever deeper, more layered records. Koroshi no Shirabe -This is NOT Greatest Hits- (The Song of Murder), a self-cover album featuring heavily reworked versions of the band's earlier material, was followed by another album, Kurutta Taiyou (Crazy Sun), now regarded as a classic of Japanese rock and roll. From this album forward, vocalist Sakurai took a greater role in the band's creative output, penning darker, more introspective lyrics based on personal experience rather than the romantic fantasies of the band's previous works. While lead guitarist Imai remained the band's main composer and creative director, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino also began to contribute more to the songwriting, cementing the band's mature sound.

Over the next two decades, Buck-Tick continued to evolve, exploring a diversity of genres ranging from new wave to industrial, shoegaze, punk, electronica, dreampop, surf rock, rap, Latin dance, goth, and symphonic metal. Drawing on both Western and Eastern influences, the band developed a unique style instantly recognizable despite their continuous genre-hopping. Layers of minimalist riffs, melodies, and electronic tracks synergize into an immersive, kaleidoscopic sonic experience far more than the sum of its parts. Tied together with the tight grooves of the Higuchi brothers' bass and drums and the bold simplicity of Hoshino's rhythm guitar, Buck-Tick's songs feature Imai's instantly memorable guitar licks like a second vocalist, even as Imai often adds eccentric backing vocals to Sakurai's rich baritone lead vocals. Cosmic themes of love and death abound in the piquant, poetic lyrics, which traverse as many genres as the music, overflowing with inspiration from art, literature, and philosophy.

The result is something utterly original, which continues to exert a tremendous influence on the progress of Japanese rock music to this day. Maintaining a large and wildly devoted cult following, the band continue to perform for sold-out crowds at Japan's most well-respected music venues, and are regularly cited as an influence by younger Japanese artists. A number of Buck-Tick's songs were also used as themes for popular anime series, expanding the band's fame internationally among fans of Japanese pop culture in dozens of countries around the world.

The band's recent achievements include establishment of their own new record label, Lingua Sounda, in 2012, and a 25th anniversary festival held in September 2012 at a special outdoor venue in Chiba Port Park, featuring an all-star roster of artists who contributed tracks to Buck-Tick's second tribute cover album, Parade II -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick-. In 2013, a double-feature documentary film, The Buck-Tick Phenomenon, was released to great acclaim in theaters across Japan.

In 2016, Buck-Tick returned to their original label, Victor Entertainment, after 20 years of separation, releasing a single, New World, followed by Atom Miraiha No. 9, their first new studio album since 2014.

In September 2017, the band cemented their legacy as Japanese rock legends by celebrating their 30th anniversary with a two-day outdoor concert series, Buck-Tick 2017 The Parade -30th Anniversary, "Fly Side" and "High Side," held on Tokyo's Odaiba Island before a crowd of more than 20,000 people. The next week, the band took to the stage again at MTV Japan's Video Music Japan awards to accept the Inspiration Award Japan, a special prize given to music artists who have had an outsize influence on the development of pop music in Japan.

In October 2017, the band embarked on a national tour, The Day in Question 2017, performing a selection of hits from their back catalog to celebrate their anniversary, and featuring a stadium performance at Takasaki Arena, near the band's home town.

Entering their 31st year of major label activities, the band show no sign of slowing down. Two new singles, Babel and Moon Sayonara wo Oshiete (Moon Tell Me Goodbye), preceded the band's 21st studio album, No. 0, and the band are currently in the middle of a new tour, Buck-Tick 2018 Tour No. 0, to promote the new album.

Fish Tank様へ～

世界諸国にB-Tファンが増え続けています。どうやってB-Tを知ったかというと、ウエブでB-Tの写真やYouTubeでB-TのPVを見たり、海外ファンサイトでバンドの英訳された情報を調べたり、ファンになります。海外のB-Tファンは基本的に日本語出来ないため、ファンサイトがなければ、B-Tのファンにはなっていないのは事実です。ウエブ上でコンテンツをシェアする目的は著作権侵害ではなく、単純にB-Tの情報、CD、グッズ等は海外で手に入らないからです。B-Tをもっと知りたい、もっと楽しみたいと思ってるから、シェアします。

日本でライブを見に来る海外ファンはいますが、海外から日本に来るには非常にお金かかるし、お金だけではなく、学校・仕事・家族等の都合などで、いくらでも「日本に行ってB-Tのライブに行きたい！」と思っても、海外旅行行けそうもないファンの方が遥かに多いです。特に、日本のファンと違って、海外では年齢の若いB-Tファンが多いし、まだ学生なので海外に行く余裕はありません。

こんなファン達はB-Tを応援したいと思っていますが、海外ではB-TのCDやDVDはほとんど売っていないし、売ったとしても、送料や関税で日本の値段より高い場合が多いです。しかも、海外ファンにとってFish Tank会員になるには、会報は日本語のみで読めないし、日本にいないからライブにも行けないので、会員になるメリットが極めて少ないため、会員にならない海外ファンは少なくありません。ただ、もしBUCK-TICK様がiTunes等の海外でもダウンロード可能のデジタルアルバムや会報の英語版などの海外ファン向けサービスを開始したら、私達海外ファンが喜んで購入しますので、是非ご検討下さい。

海外ファン達はBUCK-TICKを愛しているから、B-Tの事務所に敵として思われたくないです。でも、例え敵になっても、愛を込め歌おう　汝の敵を　愛する事が　君に出来るか？

9.10.20

Que Sera Sera

2 comments:

Support Us on Ko-Fi

B-Tホームページの英語版について

Fish Tank様へ～

Search Blog-Tick

Blog Archive

Links

Labels

Followers

About Me