- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
気まぐれな胸を裂いて 紫色の無知な夜空に
コルクぬいて白目むいて
「好きだ」と舌で転がしていた
正夢の中では君は涙を見せない
夢は夢でしかない
荒削りなドラマすらない
ビルの影で 時の影で 君と僕の手と手を結んで
タンゴのように 儀式のように
ミルクの中に血をかきまぜて
濡れた君の肌に12色の思い出を
涙とともに染めよう
金で愛を手に入れた
薔薇娼婦麗奈
誘惑は花ざかりさ
薔薇娼婦麗奈
君だけは逃がさない
それだけは変わらない
麗奈 麗奈
Oh 麗奈
麗奈 麗奈 麗奈
Great!
真実の皮をはいで
痛くないかい 僕の麗奈
この世は金 金さえあれば
恐くないね 僕の麗奈
お願いだ この僕と 手をつないで地獄を見に行こう
頼むから この僕と 腕を組んで 地獄を見に行こう
激しい君の声に幸せで目が見えない
この夜は苦おしい
泣いても駄目 もう帰れない
薔薇唱婦麗奈
誘惑は花ざかりさ
薔薇唱婦麗奈
欲しいものは手に入れたいのさ
ありがとう麗奈
君は世界一キレイさ
ありがとう麗奈
君だけは忘れない
それだけは変わらない
それだけは変わらない
それだけは変わらない
麗奈 麗奈
Oh 麗奈
麗奈 麗奈
Great!
Romanized Lyrics
kimagure na mune wo saite murasaki iro no muchi na yozora ni
cork nuite shirome muite
“suki da” to shita de korogashite ita
masayume no naka de wa kimi wa namida wo misenai
yume wa yume de shika nai
arakezuri na drama sura nai
biru no kage de toki no kage de kimi to boku no te to te wo musunde
tango no you ni gishiki no you ni
milk no naka ni chi wo kakimazete
nureta kimi no hada ni juu ni shoku no omoide wo
namida to tomo ni someyou
kane de ai wo te ni ireta
bara shoufu Reina
yuuwaku wa hanazakari sa
bara shoufu Reina
kimi dake wa nigasanai
sore dake wa kawaranai
Reina Reina
Oh Reina
Reina Reina Reina
Great!
shinjitsu no kawa wo haide
itakunai kai boku no Reina
kono yo wa kane kane sae areba
kowakunai ne boku no Reina
onegai da kono boku to te wo tsunaide jigoku wo mi ni yukou
tanomu kara kono boku to ude wo kunde jigoku wo mi ni yukou
hageshii kimi no koe ni shiawase de me ga mienai
kono yoru wa kuruoshii
naite mo dame mou kaerenai
bara shoufu Reina
yuuwaku wa hanazakari sa
bara shoufu Reina
hoshii mono wa te ni iretai no sa
arigatou Reina
kimi wa sekai ichi kirei sa
arigatou Reina
kimi dake wa wasurenai
sore dake wa kawaranai
sore dake wa kawaranai
sore dake wa kawaranai
Reina Reina
Oh Reina
Reina Reina
Great!
Translated Lyrics
Rend my whimsical heart, in the ignorant purple sky
Popping the cork and rolling my eyes into my head
I said “I love you” with my tongue
You don’t show your tears amidst dreams that come true
But dreams are nothing more than dreams
The drama isn’t even so good as to be unrefined
In the shadow of a building, in the shadow of time, we join hands
Like we’re dancing a tango, like we’re taking part in a ceremony
Mix some blood into the milk
And let’s dye those 12 colored memories
The color of your wet skin, mixed with tears
I bought love with money
Rose Prostitute Reina
Temptation is in full bloom
Rose Prostitute Reina
I won’t let you get away
And that will never change
Reina, Reina
Oh, Reina
Reina, Reina, Reina
Great!
Peeling away reality
Doesn’t it hurt, my Reina?
As long as you have money in this world, you can have anything
But you aren’t scared, are you my Reina?
Please, let’s go see hell together, hand in hand
Please, let’s go see hell together, arm in arm
I’m blinded by the happiness in your intense voice
This night is maddening
There’s no use in crying, we can’t go home again
Rose Prostitute Reina
Temptation is in full bloom
Rose Prostitute Reina
I want to get the things I want
Thank you Reina
You’re the most beautiful in all the world
Thank you Reina
I won’t forget about you
And that will never change
And that will never change
And that will never change
Reina, Reina
Oh, Reina
Reina, Reina
Great!
Notes
“Bara shoufu Reina” is a bit of a hard title to translate without it sounding awkward. “Rose Prostitute” doesn’t necessarily mean anything on its own, but I think the “rose” part is just meant to convey the woman in question as glamorous or noble. Particularly with the ideas that some may have of her given that she’s a prostitute.
If you’re counting, this is the second song on the album to mention prostitutes, the first being “A Hen na Amedama”. But while it’s just a passing mention in that song, Reina is obviously the focus of this one. Since most of these songs seem to take place in the same world, Reina could very well be a part of the group of prostitutes that were mentioned in “A Hen na Amedama”, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters it that this is a contender for best song of the album, and that’s saying a lot given how strong this album is.
Yemon shows us yet another new exotic sound here: It pairs up nicely with “A Hen na Amedama”, but what it ends up achieving is something much more nuanced. The pace isn’t frantic and distressed, but much more deliberate. Musically it’s written as a rock tango, with lyrics to support that idea. A part of the solo is even done acoustically in a flamenco guitar style (though not live) to complete the feel. The pacing of the song is really master class, with it being at just the right length to be effective. The melodies, both in the music and vocals, are incredibly memorable and infectious. The chorus is easy to sing along with even if you’re not 100% sure of the words. Emma’s guitar licks throughout the verses really add to the tango pacing of the song, and Heesey even gets a cool bass solo!
I’ve seen the idea floating around in Japanese blogs that this song suggests a “war is prostitution” message. And while that’s certainly possible, I don’t really get that out of these lyrics at all. To me it’s pretty obvious from “A Hen na Amedama” that the local brothel was a regular part of Jaguar’s life while he was deployed, and he clearly found love with Reina throughout his visits. At first it seems like it may have started out a relationship based on obsession on Jaguar’s part, but it seemed to turn into a kind of love over time. War was probably taking its toll on him, and this was his only escape…Reina his only joy to be found. Of course as he becomes more frustrated with his lot in life, the lyrics get a little bit crazier (see the extremely good verse about going to see hell together), but the feelings of love also get more developed.
At this point having a prostitute in the song lyrics could be an entry on your Yemon bingo card, I know. And though I’ll still say it’s a weakness of Yoshii’s early writing to make most of his woman subjects prostitutes, I’ll at least give him credit for always empowering them. He never seems to paint them as helpless victims of circumstance, but rather always in control of what’s happening in some way or another (though I’ll back peddle on that a bit with a later song on this album). Though it’s never explicitly stated in the lyrics to this song, I feel like the love here is one-sided. Reina is a prostitute who’s doing her job, and obviously would welcome a frequently repeating client. Jaguar, probably largely due to his life situation, sees this relationship as something completely different than she does. And that serves not only to give Reina more of the power here, but also to make Jaguar an even more tragic figure than he already is.
Unfortunately this is a fairly rare song to hear live. Of course it was played on the initial Jaguar Hard Pain tour (1994, where they had actual dancers and money raining down on stage. See the video below for this performance, it’s extremely good), sparsely during the Sicks tour (1997), and resurfaced again (much to my surprise) in the reunion Super Japan Tour (2016).