Genjitsu wo Warau, Mellow, etc.

[Scribble R]

Right, I’m slow. AGES ago, I remember reading someone’s interpretation of the battle that is Kenka Joutou -- that Ringo is actually dueling with herself. It stuck with me. Yumiko vs Ringo. I’m currently revisiting Kyouiku era (Sounan is perfect, etc.) and listening to Genjitsu wo Warau reminded me of the idea, and also makes me think of Mayakashi Yasaotoko’s lyrics. And also of the Mellow PV. Is this a correct interpretation? I’m sure all the actually interesting and creative things about Ringo’s music had been discussed to death at Ringo Jihen, but as a 2008 initiate I’m actually really curious and would like to be enlightened. PS. I suppose that Kachi Ikusa is the resolution of this series of songs.

[TurtleFu]

You know I love discussing lyrics, and the dichotomy of persona (performer) vs. person.

Kachi-Ikusa is certainly a song about moving on from one's past. But I personally think that both Genjitsu and Mayakashi are about external forces on one's personality, and I never thought of Kenka Joutou as anything other than a petty squabble. The spoken lines before the JCHI performance "seem" to be about that.

I'm sure many of Shiina's lyrics work on multiple levels, including introspective.

I would love for you to elaborate, if you wouldn't mind.

[Inseu]

That's right you love me so much, don't you.
I should thank you for that, maybe.
But it's no use how what a giant waste of time.
Because I have never felt any weight in your words to me.

It's very hard to interpret these lines as Ringo dueling with himself. Ringo sounds so sarcastic and mean here, yet calls this person "honey" and "naughty". Could be about Hirama.

When you don't understand the lyrics, assume it's about awkward pity sex with otakus.

[Scribble R]

Originally Posted by TurtleFu

You know I love discussing lyrics, and the dichotomy of persona (performer) vs. person.

Kachi-Ikusa is certainly a song about moving on from one's past. But I personally think that both Genjitsu and Mayakashi are about external forces on one's personality, and I never thought of Kenka Joutou as anything other than a petty squabble. The spoken lines before the JCHI performance "seem" to be about that.

I'm sure many of Shiina's lyrics work on multiple levels, including introspective.

I would love for you to elaborate, if you wouldn't mind.

Genjitsu wo Warau and Mayakashi sound as if she’s launching an assault against the SR persona, to whom she ’sold out’ (when she became a star. Ringo mentioned that she had to hide her more feminine side when she debuted, and she said once that she’d like a penis, so I reckon that when she’s singing about an arrogant male or guitarist that she isn’t necessarily talking about a lover but ’SR the Superstar’, who became a frankenstein’s monster of sorts (and several PVs/lyrics refer to constructed males or beings). She hates the monster but wishes she could claim its strength as her own).

[TurtleFu]

A lot of Ringo's lyrics speak specifically about power imbalances in relationships. In Japanese culture, that is male dominating female. A lot of her vengeance style lyrics seem to be a direct reaction to that sort of frustration. I think the "penis envy" comes from that. I've read some articles in Psychological Journals that suggest in less egalitarian societies women feel pressured to embody "feminine" traits but desire to embody "masculine" traits because male = better in those cases.

Genjitsu has always confused me. At one point I thought it was about an abusive relationship, then I listened and thought it was about some kind of aggression admiration. I got somewhere in the middle and think it might be about Ringo finding her lover to be frustrating but she's still drawn to him. I think it's both about being frustrated with your lover for being too carefree and wanting to be more carefree yourself.

Mayakashi to me is just about not wanting to be controlled. I look at it as being pretty straightforward. But it's use of theater as a metaphor is interesting. If anything, I consider Shuen no Onna (the song she wrote for Puffy) as the sister song to Mayakashi. Both deal with theater metaphors as relatinoships

But both songs share idea that you can be frustrated with a person but still find them admirable, which certainly fits the idea about her externally personifying Shiina Ringo.

But you bring up the two really great questions:
1) How do we know when the lyrics are referring to an external person or an externalized persona?
2) How do we know the (presumably) male figures in her lyrics are actual people and not just ideas or archetypes used for the sake of the lyrics. For example, Suberidai, Rinne Highlight, etc. When Shiina Ringo infers a "you", who exactly is she referring to?

[frecklegirl]

To be fair Rinne Highlight's lyrics were not written by Ringo. It is a cover of a Susanna Hoffs song.

[TurtleFu]

that's true, though the lyrics are slightly different if you compare the two songs.