- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
みんな みんな かよわき恋人
みんな みんな キズ深き魂
可愛い天使の笑顔の中にも
みんな みんな 花のように
「……………」
少女は娼婦の目で笑う
「悲しい夜は素敵な匂い」
淡いネオンのライトで白い肌が染まる
汚いキレイがとてもたまらない
僕は君のために
宇宙を買ってきた
甘い言葉のバイオリン
奏でるよ 毎夜 毎夜
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) 君の大切な (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) VAGINAが泣いてる
左ききの少女の夜を買う
悪魔よりも素敵な君を抱く
花よりも悲しく 毒よりも苦しく
静かな悲鳴がとてもたまらない
大切なしぐさも
ワイセツは見失う
君の夢見る夢見たい
狂わせてよ 毎夜 毎夜
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) 君の大切な (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) VAGINAが泣いてる
熱い夜がほしいんだろ Ah pretty
キレイな星を見せてあげるよ pretty
君に恋したみたいだ Ah pretty
明日の朝より恐い君の
エフェドリンなため息で
背中の羽根をむしる
赤いライトが揺れてる
眠れないよ 毎夜 毎夜
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) 君の大切な (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) VAGINAが泣いてる
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) 君のやわらかな (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) VAGINAが泣いてる
君はバカじゃない 君はバカじゃない
君はバカじゃない
少女は娼婦の…
Romanized Lyrics
minna minna kayowaki koibito
minna minna kizu fukaki tamashii
kawaii tenshi no egao no naka ni mo
minna minna hana no you ni
“……………”
shoujo wa shoufu no me de warau
“kanashii yoru wa suteki na nioi”
awai neon no light de shiroi hada ga somaru
kitanai kirei ga totemo tamaranai
boku wa kimi no tame ni
uchuu wo katte kita
amai kotoba no violin
kanaderu yo maiyo maiyo
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) kimi no taisetsu na (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) vagina ga naiteru
hidari kiki no shoujo no yoru wo kau
akuma yori mo suteki na kimi wo daku
hana yori mo kanashiku doku yori mo kurushiku
shizuka na himei ga totemo tamaranai
taisetsu na shigusa mo
waisetsu wa miushinau
kimi no yume miru yume mitai
kuruwasete yo maiyo maiyo
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) kimi no taisetsu na (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) vagina ga naiteru
atsui yoru ga hoshii n daro Ah pretty
kirei na hoshi wo misete ageru yo pretty
kimi ni koi shita mitai da Ah pretty
asu no asa yori kowai kimi no
ephedrine na tameiki de
senaka no hane wo mushiru
akai light ga yureteru
nemurenai yo maiyo maiyo
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) kimi no taisetsu na (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) vagina ga naiteru
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) kimi no yawaraka na (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) vagina ga naiteru
kimi wa baka janai kimi wa baka janai
kimi wa baka janai
shoujo wa shoufu no…
Translated Lyrics
Everyone, everyone is a frail lover
Everyone, everyone has a deeply wounded soul
Even within the smile of a lovely angel
Everyone, everyone is like a flower
“……………”
The girl smiles with the eyes of a prostitute
“Sad nights have such a great smell to them”
Her white skin is colored by the faint neon lights
I really can’t resist her filthy purity
I’ve gone and bought
All of the universe for you
And I’ll play the violin of sweet words
Every night, every night
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) Your precious vagina (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) is weeping
I’ll buy the night from you, left handed girl
And I’ll hold you, who is more wonderful than any demon
More sad than a flower, more painful than poison
I really can’t resist your quiet screams
I lose sight of obscenity
And important behaviors
I want to dream the dreams that you do
Drive me crazy, every night, every night
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) Your precious vagina (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) is weeping
Oh want a hot night, don’t you? Ah pretty
I’ll show you a beautiful star, pretty
It looks like I’ve fallen in love with you, ah pretty
With an ephedrine sigh from you…
That’s more frightening than tomorrow morning
I tear the wings from your back
The red light is wavering
I can’t sleep, every night, every night
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) Your precious vagina (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) is weeping
(Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) Your tender vagina (Oh la-la, Oh la-la, Oh la-la Oh) is weeping
You’re no fool, you’re no fool
You’re no fool
The girl had the eyes of a prostitute…
Notes
Here we have what is easily the darkest song of the album. The intro is downright haunting, and the first part of it is sung not by Yoshii (he comes in later for a duet), but rather by theatre actress Minako Ban. Yemon has had female backing vocals from the very first album, but this is the first time a woman has taken any kind of a lead part (though a very brief one). It could be that Yoshii found Ban as a result of going to see a lot of plays around this time, though I wasn’t able to find any confirmation of them meeting in this way.
I acted out the story for Jaguar Hard Pain (which is one of the spirit of a man who died during war in 1944 resurrected in a 1994 Tokyo) over the course of a year-long tour, and it was right around then that I was really into theatre. I often went to Shimokita to see plays, so the influence of that on me at the time was pretty strong
But it does a fantastic job of setting a haunting yet peaceful mood, and then just shattering that as soon as the opening guitar riff to the main part of the song starts. But only after a very difficult to hear soft sobbing from Ban as the intro closes out.
Jaguar has done a complete 180 from his mood in the previous song, Machi no Akari. He seems to have found himself a prostitute again, and this time she seems to be younger. That’s not particularly a focus of the song, and we don’t ever really know how young, just that she’s referred to as “shoujo” (“girl”). His feelings this time are much different from when he was with Reina in Bara Shoufu Reina though: Those were very much feelings of obsession, and Reina ultimately seemed to be the one in control there. Here, Jaguar has become a lot more predatory and victimizing. Maybe his longing for Mary and prolonged exposure to war have really started to run him down, but this is unlike any way in which we’ve seen him before. Obviously nothing about these acts is good, but they weren’t meant to be: They were meant to feel horrible and dirty.
And boy does Yoshii ever sell this in his live performances! During the initial Jaguar Hard Pain tour performance he performed much of the song with a cloth belt tied around his eyes as a blindfold, often staggering around the stage. And in just about every performance he’s had a very crazed look on his face during the bridge, even amping up the laughter that comes after the second line. And the song flows incredibly well into Cerula no Oka during each one of those concerts.
Yoshii has mentioned in interviews that staff members at the time thought that having the word “vagina” in the lyrics would either cause trouble for the band, or wouldn’t pass whatever vetting processes their lyrics had to go through from the record company. It was even suggested that they use something less explicit like the Japanese word “asoko” (“down there”) instead of “vagina”. Ultimately they didn’t run into any sort of trouble that I’m aware of. While it doesn’t seem strictly necessary to refer to fluids that may or may not be coming out of vaginas, at least it was inserted in a very matter of fact way, and not derogatorily.
The insertions of “oh pretty”/”pretty” during the bridge are my own. I wasn’t able to confirm anywhere that this is what’s being said. But given that it isn’t written in the lyrics booklet, I just went with what it sounded like to me. It fits with the tone of the song, and it’s how I’ve always heard it.
Red Light has been played only a few times live: Jaguar Hard Pain tour (1994) and Mekara Uroko 7 (1996), 9 (1998), and 27 (2016). Yoshii has also played it live during his past solo concerts. The Jaguar Hard Pain and Mekara Uroko 9 versions of the song did feature the intro, though Minako Ban’s part was recorded, with Yoshii singing his. The other Mekara Uroko performances both cut out the intro completely.
(Mekara Uroko 7, 1996)