I’ve been thinking about methods of contrast and transformation in idol lyrics.
“Lyrics only come alive when they have music.” Yasushi Akimoto said something to that effect somewhere.
If you keep saying, “I can’t write what I want because the melody comes first,” it seems like you’ll never be able to write good lyrics.
This timeConflict and changeSo, I thought about a method that has been around for quite a long time.
Model Divine Song: Team Syachihoko “Hold Me, Anthem”
Lyrics byTakashi AsanoI am Mr./Ms. ____.
Conflict and Poiesis
From the image of my own judgmentAnthemMusic, songs, and melodies used to boost support and enliven special occasions.
I’d like you to look up the original meaning and etymology.
These days, there are also articles that refer to a singer’s or band’s signature song as an “anthem.”
To put it simply, the Rocky theme is an anthem that symbolizes the condensed point of emotion—the climax—while Queen’s “We Are the Champions” is an anthem that celebrates the victor.
The team songs that play during and after matches at soccer and baseball stadiums (which soccer aficionados apparently call “chants”) would also qualify as proper anthems.
In the “Hold Me, Anthem” discussed here, AnthemA keyword that runs through the entire songIt is (described/defined) as such.
Since an anthem is a relatively strong and fervent expression, perhaps “to embrace it even more” is being used as a metaphor for a fighting spirit (something like a personal motto) that keeps ambition and hope constantly alive in one’s heart.
Although lyricists may differ in whether they concretize or abstract this “kind of thing,” they weave lyrics—that is, a narrative (not in the sense of a plot)—by substituting metaphors with other phenomena.
So I consider its relation to poësie.
There are opinions—perhaps arrived at without sufficient reflection—that idol lyrics don’t need poetry, but incorporating an intentional human and social dimension into lyrics is, not only for idol songs, a positively associative kind of storytelling, and therein lies a certain amount of...poesyIt is normal to consider it as being related.
It might even be possible to find a simple, unsentimental poetry in the numbers of a randomly selected table of random numbers.
However, whether it will make good lyrics is another matter.
This song isn’t about love, or romance, or even a life lesson—it’s a fiercely defiant “I won’t lose, no matter what!”jock cultureIt underlies everything.
Deliberately restraining as much as possible the fresh glamour of an idol, this is a work of singular conviction that truly shakes the hearts of fans.AnthemI think it's fair to say that.
- Liberal arts type… neat and refined, like a young lady. Nogizaka46 style.
- Athletic type… sweat, passion. Momoiro Clover Z style
You said I could do it, but you won’t teach me how.
It reminded me of James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause.
It doesn’t mean that the stories are particularly similar.
There is plenty of energy fueled by indignation, but no understanding of how to use it—a struggle over where to channel the pent-up power so often seen in adolescence.
That seemingly apt advice—like a teacher saying, “If you work hard, you’ll get into your first-choice school,” or a senior saying, “Just give it your all”—is really a casual brush-off. Young people in every era find themselves irritated by this kind of dismissal.
Minor conflicts are the very source of poesy.It is.
In works that exist apart from romance and such, “conflict” is one of the important elements when writing lyrics.
Even works like Anpanman and Titanic depict conflicts between good and evil and between the rich and the poor.
If there’s conflict, a story naturally emerges and the broad outline of the lyrics falls into place.
As a common pattern of conflict,
- Adolescents and adults
- Countryside and the big city
- Freedom and Constraint
Examples include these./These are some examples./For instance, ...
In any caseThe Pure and the ImpureIt’s a replacement of the conflict framework.
A free, adolescent boy who has come up to the city from the countryside appears as a pure, untainted being, while the adults living in the big city—full of constraints—wear Noh-mask-like faces and are portrayed as tainted.
It’s a bit clichéd, but lyrics that move people are often written based on this kind of contrast.
This is a common lyrical template often seen in songs by Tetsuya Komuro and Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi.
By the time the lyrics reach “You said I could do it…,” “that guy” has already appeared, and right behind it comes “we,” so these pronouns are understood not as specific individuals but as the kind that, in English, would be rendered as general people—like “they” or “one.”
The sense of a story that proceeds without deciding on a specific “you” (person) is also a template for lyrics that has existed for a long time.
Even when they say “we, us,” they’re not talking about the singers themselves; in many cases,Youth representativeIt means “we” in the form equivalent to de aru.
If you think of yourself as a representative of the youth and write something like a youth manifesto, that alone might be enough to create trendy lyrics.
parody
It's absurd that what's yours is mine, and what's mine is mine.
“What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is mine” is a parody of the famous line by Gian from Doraemon.
I don’t think layering on a lighthearted parody would come off as snide.
In the lyrics,
Don’t Think Feel
This is a quote from a line in Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon.”
Also at the end of the song,
Three Thousand Leagues in Search of Him
But since nothing about distance came up in the flow of the lyrics, I think this might be a parody of “3000 Leagues in Search of Mother.”
The little chuckle and smile when you spot a small parody make fans feel at ease.
One of the fun things about this song is the delight, joy, and subtle inside jokes that only those who get it will appreciate.
Because the word “parody” carries a slightly comical connotation, it’s essentially the same even if you swap it out for something tacked-on like “homage” or “featuring.”
Team Syachihoko often sprinkles homages to and features from their agency seniors, the idol group Momoiro Clover Z, into other songs as well, and I think the plan from the sellers’ side is for the fans who notice these to start buzzing, make a fuss, and spread the word.
Not enough, not enough, we're short on things—the goal is still a long way off, this winding road.
Not enough, not enough—we’re short on stuff—we won’t stop until we win!
The strength seen in the other lyrics—“I have absolutely no intention of going back,” “Learn from experience; it’s fine to be a fool,” and “I won’t let them hammer me down just for standing out”—is not a trait unique to this song, but rather reflects the great vitality that the group Team Syachihoko possesses as a whole.
Even if her cuteness or dance skills are a little lacking, in terms of the passion that really matters for an idol, she’s among the very best of active idols.
If I write out the lyrics that interest me even more,
- The final form is still undecided.
- Isn't it best to be yourself?
- I want to be myself.
The image of self-loving, overconfident girls that you often see fits this group perfectly.
The calculated yet endearingly cute charm of an adolescent girl—who embodies both adult and childlike aspects—is irresistible.
While saying on the surface, 'Trends don’t matter,' it’s a lyric that likely hits home for Japanese people—especially young people—who, more than anyone, have to stay highly attuned to trends.
At school or workHonne and tatemae (one’s true feelings and one’s public façade)You can't survive unless you skillfully switch between them.
I think it’s only natural that, while we go about our daily lives as our “public face,” feeling a bit hazy inside, we’re jolted awake when we encounter lyrics that come at us with nothing but raw honesty.
Even if it’s a commonplace that everyone thinks, a candid truth strikes people’s hearts.
If you write an entire song using nothing but prickly, unfiltered honesty, the lyrics end up being a bit hard to listen to.
In that sense,Honesty is the spice of lyrics.I wonder if that's the case.
Model Masterpiece Song: Tokyo Girls’ Style – “Onnaji Kimochi” (Same Feelings)
Lyrics by Chihiro Kurosu.
What are shifts and lyrical context?
I won’t spell it out, but Tokyo Girls’ Style is an idol group from a large organization.
In the idol world, my career has reached the point where I’m considered a veteran.
People keep saying things like 'They're about to break through' and 'Next year will be their make-or-break year,' and the members' average age has been creeping up.
We’re not popular enough to do a dome tour, nor are we well-known enough to appear on the Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
We don’t have any million-selling hits or anything… I’ve been listing only negative things, but what I can say with my head held high is that even so,Good songIt means that everything is in place.
I wish people would get to know me (it/us) more and more.
Verse 1 lyrics
On days I laugh a lot, I get really hungry.
The second verse of the lyrics,
Even on nights when I've cried a lot, I get really hungry.
The melody doesn’t change between the first and second verses, so it’s rhyming.
When you line them up, Tatsuji Miyoshi’s “Snow”
Put Taro to sleep, and snow piles up on Taro’s roof.
Put Jiro to sleep, and snow piles up on Jiro’s roof.
It also seems that way.
I found myself thinking, with some admiration, that the hunger you feel after laughing or crying and spending all your emotions might be a sign of youth.
Simple, clear lyrics slip smoothly into the listener’s heart.
That line you often hear in dramas that only works if the heroine is pure and innocent—“Once I felt relieved, I got hungry”—is probably along the same lines.
If this were an adult, they would have worked hard.→As a rational consequence of the calories I burned, I’m hungry.「→」is shown.
As an example of language that is not based on logic, there is a tanka by Machi Tawara.
“You said, ‘I like this taste,’ so July 6 is Salad Day.”
That would probably fall into that category as well.
There is nothing but a sense or feeling between the date July 6 and the words “This taste is nice,” and no logical relationship exists.
I think it will make quite a difference even if you don’t try to appreciate it deeply—just being a little mindful that the lyrics aren’t purely logical.
Even if the brain doesn’t understand the impression of the words, the heart will sort it out properly.
For example—this is really just off the top of my head—
- Confetti from space from the rainbow — it’s no white world — every time I think of you.
- All things in the universe, karma’s retribution—within the boar, public opinion runs.
Suppose there are lyrics such as these.
We don’t need any narrow, socially accepted Japanese consensus.
I don’t think lyrics are memos for conveying business matters.
A song with many interpretationsI think it would be fun, too.
Sometimes you just have to shrug it off and trust that a divine melody will somehow take care of the rest.
sometimes
If you’re stuck writing lyrics, instead of sticking with the safe pattern you’ve used so far—“I love you → your black hair → your smile”—it might not be a bad idea to break out with something like, “I love you → the big city exploding → I’ll make a million rings rain down.”
Even though we’re making the effort to switch things up, if the story still fits neatly into the traditional introduction–development–turn–conclusion structure...What a wasteI think so.
Scent and Love
When I lay down on the lawn, a waft of green fragrance floated up.
You are not forced to view anything.
I think the fact that it’s not the smell of lawn but the smell of green is what makes it lyrics—what makes it poetry.
If you try to interpret it where there are no notes, you can’t hear the way the sounds and lyrics rub against each other and shimmer.
I’d like you to watch the video posted above, even if it’s just for one minute.
The sparkle of these lyrics, by Tokyo Girls' StyleThe moment when the sparkle is conveyedI think (it) is there.
In the lyrics of Hikaru Utada’s “First Love”
The last kiss tasted like the flavor of a cigarette.
there is / there are
Isn’t it a mark of talent that they didn’t write “there was a smell of tobacco”?
However, although it is a Japanese translation, this phrase “had a smell” is one of the five human senses, yet it is used less often in lyrics compared to other senses.
Compared to the many expressions for sight and hearing, there are probably fewer for the sense of smell—just “it smells.”There aren’t many variations.Probably because (of that).
- I caught a nostalgic scent — “La La La” by Maki Ohguro
- A tepid breeze and a faint scent of summer—seasons misaligned. “I have no friends!” negicco
- Your scent mixes with the shampoo — “Tsuyogari Fanfare” Lisa
I think using more open-ended, undefined scents—like “the smell of night” or “the smell of farewell”—rather than specific, concrete ones like “the smell of soap” or “the smell of chocolate” gives lyrics a greater sense of breadth.
Specificity of subject matter alone does not make lyrics precise; I think scent is something confined, a sensation that vanishes the moment you realize the answer.
Many idol songs are built on the subtle nuances of romance between men and women.
(Woo Let’s get together now) A small miracle
(Woo Let’s get together now) The same feeling
Would this song, Onnaji Kimochi, fall into the category of tracks that don’t have strong contrasts, with the killer phrase “Let’s get together now” being…cute spellIt is repeated like this.
“Chiisana Kiseki” and “Onnaji Kimochi” likely use deliberately chosen wording: “chiisana” in hiragana rather than “chiisai/chiisana” in kanji, “onnaji” instead of “onaji,” and “kimochi” written in katakana rather than the kanji for “feelings.”
Thinking about it that way, I feel that the Japanese we use—especially spoken language—is far more varied and muddled than we realize.
Every time I see the innocent words that appear in the illusory world idols show us,The words chosen by an idol and written down are beautiful.I think that’s the case.
With the one I love right by my side, that alone is enough—no matter the problem, I can solve it.
Just like weak Wi‑Fi, human feelings can be unstable, and there are many times when simply having someone by your side is enough to give you courage.
I believe statements like “I was able to keep going because my family supported me” and “Without the fans’ cheers, I might have given up somewhere along the way” aren’t just lip service or polite formalities—they’re genuine feelings, the sense of being pushed forward by an invisible, mysterious force.
The mysterious power in this song is, plainly, the feeling of love.
A boyfriend or girlfriend you're dating—or even someone you're not dating but have a crush on—thanks to that person, you can keep going; you want to be ruled by your feelings of love, as if completely taken over by them.Predestined lyricsAlthough that's the case, I always listen to it because I think the lyrics are good.
Kome Kome Club's,
For example, just having you here makes my heart stronger.
What is it based on?
Whether it exists or not, I believe the range of lyrics I can write from these feelings of love is still vast.
There are countless dramas and films where people, driven by love, face difficulties, and they all end up as stories that gently move you to tears in the end.
This pattern still works in dramas and movies even today.
I think even the foundation of such a clichéd love story could hide new lyrics—what do you think?