Buck-Tick

Ok, so first of all, you have no idea how hard for me was to choose the songs for this post.

This band is very important to me, similarly to X Japan. And japanese rock whatsoever.

Basically, they are everything I look for in music.

From the left: Toll Yagami (drums), Yutaka Higuchi (bass), Atsushi Sakurai (vocals), Hisashi Imai (guitar) Hidehiko Hoshino (guitar)

I haven’t come across any band that could remotely sound as magical as them. If one of them decided to leave a band, the thrill would be gone. I just know it. One of the most distinctive traits of them though is Sakurai’s voice, which has unbelievable range and very characteristic vibrato. Personally, I’m completely enchanted by his charisma and the way he expresses his emotions. Goosebumps. These things can’t be trained.

Interesting fact: Solaris is said to be inspired by a very famous science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. The book centers upon the themes of miscommunication between the scientists and non-human species on Solaris, a distant planet covered by a mysterious ocean, which has a power to materialize memories, and guilty concerns of those who inspect it, in human form.

 

Most of their lyrics are written by Atsushi and Imai. Now here’s the drill: you need to read in between the lines to fully grasp their meaning. Of course anyone can interpret them in different ways, there’s no one true answer to interpretation, but I must say that after listening to them for such a long time, many of them are not as simple as they may look at first glance. Let’s say: Elise no tame ni, written by Imai.

It’s pretty sexual, isn’t? Even Sakurai’s moves are sensual – he’s known for it – which force us to think about the lyrics in a certain way.

But let’s look at the chorus:

Just like love cut me a wound

Open in obscenity

Just like unforgiving storms

Drive me crazy

Just like flowers draw me in

Tempting me with sweet honey

Like the Devil, I long to drown

Loved and so lovely...

The translator of this song has interpreted it differently, look. 

The delicacy, gentleness of relationship is contrasted to the obscenity, roughness and even temptation of the Devil. But now, this can also refer to the relationship between musicians and their fans, their expectations. In short – songwriting. Songs are expected to be sincere, real, to show true emotions, not stability. “That’s not what we want.”

This song has also many references, even the title: to Beethoven’s solo piano “Für Elise”; and then “the clock that's melting” to Salvador Dali's painting "The Persistence of Memory."

I really find it fun, looking for all these nuances that are often well hidden before our sight.

So yeah, that’d be it for now, it’s already long as it is. Hope you enjoyed it!