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Old 2010.06.18, 09:11 AM   #88
Entry№1
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First let me make these statements about the music video itself: Ringo once stated that the video was representative of female empowerment through sex, and that female sensually can exist independent of men (lesbianism). She has also stated, however, that the video didn't turn out exactly how she wanted it to be (she claimed the video took place on a cyberpunk spaceship, a detail most people seemed to miss lol) and had previously considered creating a purely surreal video inspired by Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity".
Also, Ringo has had a long medical history, and was actually in the hospital when "Gips" was supposed to be recorded as the album's lead single. Since she was sick, her company chose "Honnou", which had already been recorded, to be the lead single instead. Her fascination with medicine and sexuality is a theme that has re-appeared many times in her earlier work, from "Honnou", "Byousho Public", "Odaijini", to the set of Gekokujyo Ecstacy, and packaging of ZCS, among others.

Lyrically, there are competing interpretations of Honnou in my mind - one which is close to how zyoeru describes it (A), and a slightly different one (B).

A. Having philosophically reduced reality to nihilism, the only stimulation left for the character of the song is sex and contemplation (similar to the lives of many poets and philosophers, it seems). The character of the song embraces this, and balances messages of seduction with musings/judgements of reality itself. The merging of explicit sensuality with emotion (the ambiguous "bring me to a climax" line is a great example of this) and philosophy is brilliantly implemented.

B. That it's all bullshit. The line "I love your sharp [or 'penetrating'] gaze" implies the character could be doing and saying the things he/she does for the attention of the character he/she is communicating with, which also seems consistent with the histrionic nature of SS and other works of her early career. It's important to note that in the original version of the song, the verses structure was gone, so she wrote those parts in later (I assume). The verses, in my opinion, are the most surreal moments of the song, lyrically, and I think were thrown in later to make the song even more bizarre, extreme, and aesthetic.

Either interpretation is an amazing character study and exemplary of her lyrical skill.

(P.S. Sorry for not citing many sources, these are just bits and pieces I've gleaned over the years and some of it might be nothing more than hearsay.)
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