[Lyric Writing Basics] How to Write Lyrics for Idol Songs: Rock/Punk Edition

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• createIdol lyricist and haiku poetTaki no namida pin ku
  Lyricist. Has provided numerous works to local idols and underground idols. A broad-ranging idol watcher, from Showa-era idols to Reiwa-era idols. Loves anything that becomes printed words, from manzai comedy to poetry.

Model Divine Song: Screaming 60 Degrees | Three-Year Days

What is rock?

TSUTAYA’s DVD section is divided into genres like “Action” and “Suspense,” and sometimes into a “Classics” section.

Personally, I sometimes find myself tilting my head at works that make me think, “This is a masterpiece?”—not that it makes me particularly upset—but in a world where genres have been subdivided this much, I can’t help but feel that classification doesn’t always help people find what they’re looking for.

“What is rock?” In seeking the intersection between idols and rock, I—once a rock kid and now a metalhead—dug through various materials, searched the internet, and, though I was made to reflect on many things along the way, I was able to spend a very fulfilling month.

And the result was, 'I just don’t get idols and rock.'

There wasn’t any such paper, which is only natural.

I had started writing on a different theme, thinking, “Maybe I can’t write anything on this one,” but there are two songs I just have to cover, so I decided to go for it.

One small conclusion I’ve reached is that rock isn’t just play with notes or a diversion with words.

And that it is a presence that serves as the coagulative force of the era.

An urge to scream

I’ll categorize some elements of rock in my own way here.

The “rock” defined here is meant to be interpreted by each person by overlaying their own thoughts onto the word “rock.”

It's fine to go with the image of rock as you personally want it to be.

• The music is rock—like Bon Jovi or Kyosuke Himuro.
• Looks like a rocker—like KISS or Ryudo Uzaki.
• The singing style is rock—like Marc Bolan or Yasuharu Otomo.
• The lyrics are rock—like Nirvana or Shiina Ringo.
• Their very way of life is rock—like Mick Jagger or Eikichi Yazawa.

Since these are just my personal thoughts, I would appreciate it if you could simply take any scolding like “That’s completely off the mark!” in stride.

In reality, a variety of elements intertwine to shape one’s personality and the key strengths—the power points—of a musician.

From the lyrics, you can see that the traditional “cut through the darkness, break the chains” kind of theme still pulses at the core, albeit in a different form.

How much one can bear a single word—and its weight—also becomes an element of rock.

Recent rock music has started singing about more complicated things.

The part where we sought development in the lyrics may also be taken as evidence that the beat and melody’s development ended up somewhat drawn out and plodding.

Defiance, distrust (suspicion), rebellion against adults, overthrow of the existing system, insurrection.

They demand as much freedom as they can, and once they become free, they try to run away from that freedom.

Whether one sings an anti-war song quietly or shouts it at the top of their lungs, the impulse to cry out is always there.

Whether one has a gaze that pursues (or interrogates) oneself is also an important factor in rock.

That was a long preface, but are idols and rock fundamentally incompatible?

Some people use the term “idol” disparagingly, but I interpret “idol” not as a catch-all for girls who wear frilly skirts and sing, but as “an object of admiration—someone everyone looks up to.”

Keisuke Honda is an idol for soccer-loving kids, and the Nippon-Ham Fighters’ Shohei Ohtani should be an idol for baseball-loving kids.

Some people might not feel right calling Screaming Sixties an idol group, but from the perspective of these girls—who will likely become charismatic rockers before long—they don’t seem like the type to worry about what they’re called or how they’re labeled.

Their work overflows with rock—be it in their songs, appearance, vocals, or lyrics.

Every one of their still-limited songs carries impact and lyricism, and they are beginning to attract even more people.

As the matrix of emotions

In exchange for the last ten years of my life, I want these three years again.

The interpretations of poets, lyricists, and writers can be so poetic that sometimes it's hard to accept the printed words at face value.

The depth and weight of the feelings ride along to match this melody. These are the lyrics that form the core of the song.

I was hurting you, and you were hurting me too.

When the straightforward lyrics are sung gently and when they’re hurled against the beat, they each reveal a different face, and the lyrics change color.

The artist skillfully sings, bringing out the expansive meanings radiated by the printed words.

If there is an answer different from the one we reached together

When we find it, we’ll surely grow into adults.

There are plenty of songs about adolescents who are “growing up,” enough that they could all be lumped together as the ‘we’re becoming adults’ type. But this phrase—“the answer we came to, you and I”—has a real poetic quality, and it keeps the later, more callow turns of phrase from feeling heavy.

Also for number two

I'm sure I'll be able to become an adult.

There’s a phrase like that too, but it layers the poignancy well without feeling overwrought.

The balance of the song and the feeling it leaves after listening are both excellent, and I felt that this is the power of rock.

Even if the dream you wished for doesn’t come true, I want you to dream again.

I’ll stop here before I end up just heaping on praise the more I write, but isn’t it fair to say that this song’s lyrics firmly seize that hazy consciousness where adults’ cool detachment and children’s striving to seem grown-up intermingle—a kind of cradle for complex emotions?

As a force that crystallizes an era, I can’t help but feel that presence in them.

Model Divine Song: Team Syachihoko | Hold Me, Anthem

Lyrics byTakashi AsanoI am Mr./Ms. ____.

Choreography or dance?

Choreography and idols are inseparable.

Morning Musume’s “Love Machine,” which once took the world by storm.

Beyond the novelty of the song itself, that eccentric choreography—so unlike what you’d expect from an idol—surely helped propel the track up the charts.

Buzzworthy catchphrases and comedians’ gags tend to be “easy to say” and “easy to imitate.”

The choreography is similar too: both the dance for AKB48’s massively popular recent hit “Koisuru Fortune Cookie” and the “Koi Dance” from Gen Hoshino’s song “Koi” had elements that were easy to imitate.

In the idol scene, there are countless “perfect-copy groups” who replicate choreography exactly as-is, and they upload videos of their own groups to video-sharing sites.

If we can complete a song that brings together elements like great music and great choreography, we’ll be unstoppable.

Of course, I want the lyrics to be moving and really hit home.

Today's live venues are not just about waving glow sticks.

There are people cheering with vigorous wotagei packed into the space, and others who cheer by imitating the choreography of the idols on stage.

Compared to the Showa-era idols who simply swayed while singing and only moved their hands during the chorus, modern idols place great importance on choreography (which some also view as dance) as one of the key elements.

Coming up with lyrics that are easy to choreograph is also an approach from a different angle.

If I start writing this, it’ll get long, so I’ll save it for another time.

Intro

So why did I choose to highlight this 'Dakishimete Anthem' this time? Because I felt the on-off switch was very rock.

When I first heard it and saw it, the impact was so strong that I thought Team Syachihoko might have surpassed what it means to be an idol.

Anyway, it’s powerful—I think if Metallica covered it, it would instantly become a worldwide hit.

Starting with the opening "Nai Nai Nai!" of "Dakishimete Anthem," the venue’s energy instantly skyrockets to its peak.

A track that gets exciting from the very first second—personally, I’d say it’s super rock.

I’ve said this in lots of places, but Idol Miniature Garden’s “Mischievous Junction” and this “Hold Me Anthem” are monuments in the idol world.

Rather than having just a few exciting moments, it keeps my heart racing from the very first second of the intro to the very last second.

It’s well known that many Deep Purple songs start with striking intros, and if the intro is what grabs you, then the intro of “Dakishimete Anthem” deserves to stand alongside the world’s greatest songs.

You said I could do it, but you won’t teach me how.

Sometimes the lyrics I was obsessing over have completely dissipated by the time I wake up in the morning.

I sometimes forget things so badly it feels like my brain’s synapses have broken.

At times like that, when I come across these lyrics, I realize that lyrics don’t have to be elaborate to be good.

Since rock lyrics aren’t essays, they don’t need a traditional beginning-development-turn-conclusion structure.

However, an inner core of the heart—like the strong iron rod running through a high-quality French doll—is absolutely necessary.

A treasure even they would envy—we might have it.

When you pick up one theme, the theme you didn’t pick inevitably starts to shine brightly.

I’d be genuinely happy if that became the lyrics.

Contrast is the foundation of poetry, and we should make use of it in lyrics as well.

Replace it not with the old-fashioned 'black and white' contrast, but with something that fits today’s sensibilities.

Titles like “Mandala and Gyudon” — the more wildly contrasting the idols are, the more interesting it gets.

Before I knew it, there was no going back—and I have absolutely no intention of returning anyway.

Although I just wrote about the bullish, full-speed-ahead nature of these lyrics, that doesn’t mean every lyric in the song can be read and understood in a purely prosaic way.

I think it’s enough if one or two words that unexpectedly catch in the heart can pierce the fans’ hearts.

If rock that forcefully pushes a kind of meaninglessness—like saying, “It’s not about meaning”—is allowed, then I’d like to think the lyrics of this song are rock enough too.

Learn from experience—being a fool is just fine!

I’ll be damned if I let them beat down the nail that sticks out.

Slogan-like messages also tend to make for catchy lyrics.

Is it the lyricists who can straightforwardly and honestly throw lyrics into a theme that become the big sellers?

Upbeat, rock-like songs are often thought to make the lyrics irrelevant, but with classic rock tunes, people are actually savoring the words, almost as if they're chewing on them.

I like Jim Morrison and own The Doors’ Poetry, but I’ve been neglecting the music and just staring at that poetry book every day.

Whether fiction or fact, powerful writing to support the beat is absolutely essential.

I don’t even know how far apart idols and rock really are.

My heart races at that transparent distance, and I’d like to enjoy the unknowns within it a little longer.