The Lyrics Discussion Thread

[Nimh]

Originally Posted by TurtleFu

Comparing the two versions of Yattsuke Shigoto, I think they both change the meaning in subtle ways. In KZK, Ringo SOUNDS bored singing the song, whereas in ZCS, she sounds frustrated. KZK is "life is bland and monotonous, and there's nothing you can do" while ZCS is "life is bland, and fuck that!!!"

This is an interesting example I think of how the delivery of a song matters almost as much as the lyrics themselves. When the persona of Yattsuke Shigoto asks herself what day it is, says she wants to be a machine, and can't remember stuff, in ZCS it's like a cry for help, where in KZK it's more of an existential funk, like "what's the point?" The ZCS woman wants there to be a point to life, where the KZK woman seems to say there is no point so why bother.

Yokushitsu also seems to change a lot from Shouso Strip to Ringo no Uta to Heisei Fuuzoku with the different languages and beats and tones.

[The Most Curious Thing]

What's the full story behind Yume no Ato's lyrics? I remember reading that they were inspired by a nightmare about her son being drafted -- was that from an interview?

[Maou]

Originally Posted by The Most Curious Thing

What's the full story behind Yume no Ato's lyrics? I remember reading that they were inspired by a nightmare about her son being drafted -- was that from an interview?

Yep. It was taken from a translation provided formerly respected blog that I believe is now defunct. I believe it was from an HF interview, but I know she also did an interview where she talked briefly about every Kyouiku song. She called Sounan the "pure Tokyo Jihen sound" (it's the only song she wrote for the album after they officially became a band) and that all of her future songs would say "I love you" somehow to someone.

My own speculation is that Tasogare Naki is a sister song to Yume no Ato based on the lyrics and old war-time bar sound the song achieves. First half is from the son's perspective while the second is from the mother's.

[LoBFCanti]

Originally Posted by TurtleFu

Ringo was part of the punk-rock scene during her teenage years, so it's not unfathomable that she used and wrote about drugs.
But Sid Viscious and Kurt Cobain are just two of the many artists she references in songs, such as Janis Ian and Benzie (Blanket Jet City).

Yattsuke Shigoto is a very interesting song. After re-reading the lyrics a couple of times, I think it is about the boredom and monotony of everyday life. When you look at it from that perspective, the vacuum cleaner makes perfect sense. And the house-wife angle is interesting, because she's written about house-wives before such as in Aisakasa no Choushoku (sp?). Uki played the vacuum cleaner for the KZK Yattsuke Shigoto.
Comparing the two versions of Yattsuke Shigoto, I think they both change the meaning in subtle ways. In KZK, Ringo SOUNDS bored singing the song, whereas in ZCS, she sounds frustrated. KZK is "life is bland and monotonous, and there's nothing you can do" while ZCS is "life is bland, and fuck that!!!"

I like that interpretation of tone, tedium being simply dealt with as you mature.

[Entry№1]

Originally Posted by apple pie

I'm really disturbed by how much she references opiate abuse. Not just in Muzai Moratorium, which is of course pretty much all about the mythic life of Kurt Cobain... (Or is she drawing from real experience?? I sometimes wonder...)

She said in interviews that she didn't actually care that much for Kurt Cobain's music. Of alternative rock bands of that era are concerned, she was much more into Radiohead than Nirvana.
I think Ringo writes about very disturbing things, but I'm a little bit surprised you'd find substance dependence the most frightening. Where's the shock about her lyrics about drinking, which she has written about overtly? Alcohol dependence has been consistently found to be more physically-dependent and damaging in the long term than, say, weed addiction. What about her references to violence, suicide, murder?
Also, Ringo was quoted in a magazine from I believe the Sports era as saying she doesn't do drugs, stating she'd "rather live off her own adrenaline". A lot of rock lyrics are skewed towards drugs without necessarily meaning the artist does drugs. My personal interpretation is that Ringo herself might be closet straight-edge, because I'm not even sure if she drinks alcohol.

[Nimh]

If Ringo is closet straight-edge, then her lungs must be closet pink.

[W3iHong]

Ringo is one woman that I hope she won't get angry at me. I don't want to think what she could do to me in her mind.

[matan-san]

one thing I always wondered about is why Ringo used the polite form in Poltergeist's lyrics, because she usually doesn't use the polite form.

[LoBFCanti]

Originally Posted by matan-san

one thing I always wondered about is why Ringo used the polite form in Poltergeist's lyrics, because she usually doesn't use the polite form.

I didn't think much of that before, but it's very suitable for the atmosphere created within the song. More so on the Kzk ver.

[matan-san]

I'm surprised no one talked about Tegami's lyrics, it's my favorite Ringo song lyrically wise. one thing I like about Ringo's ballads is that they can be very emotional but never sappy or kitschy. this song is so moving that sometimes when I'm reading the lyrics (or the translation of them) while listening to the JCHI version of it I can almost burst into tears (but then I'm generally a sensitive guy).

my interpretation of it is as a kind of a sister song to Rakujitsu. I feel they were both written about the same topic - the departure of Hirama and HZM (though we'll never know about which one of them they were written) but while in Rakujitsu she expresses her own feelings about the departure, In Tegami the subject is the person who departed and to whom the letter was sent (or directed if it's more of an open letter). another thing I like about the lyrics is that Ringo doesn't seem bitter about his\their departure