- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
自分でチャンネルを合わせた君の 頭の中にわいた バクテリア
粗大ゴミ 星の雨 君の裸 この貝殻の カミソリで
君の顔を切り裂いてやる だけどこんな 不純な寄せ書きで
僕は遠くで風の速さに嘆いてる
長さは50.56cm キリンの首をちょんぎって馬にする
猛獣使いの君には容易い 僕はブリキの トランペットで
自由の水を吸い込んでる だけどこんな 不純な寄せ書きで
僕は遠くで夜の長さに嘆いてる
審美の目玉が割れてるよ 勘違いの素敵だよ
退屈ならお手をどうぞ 操り人間
I’M INSANE. ARE YOU INSANE?
I’M INSANE. FOREVER INSANE
無重力のバラードは素敵だった ゴーギャンの新聞紙で尻を拭くんだ
ビニールの快楽の中をぶっ飛ばして 僕は深紅の髪をとき
ふぬけたジゴロを気取っているのにこんな 不純な寄せ書きで
僕は遠くで君の言葉に嘆いてる
審美の目玉が割れてるよ 勘違いの素敵だよ
退屈ならお手をどうぞ あんたの批評が大好きさ
審美の目玉が泣いてるよ 勘違いの素敵だよ
退屈ならお手をどうぞ 操り人間
I’M INSANE. ARE YOU INSANE?
I’M INSANE. FOREVER INSANE
GIVE IT UP! 審美眼ブギを踊ろう
GIVE IT UP! 審美眼ブギを踊ろう
GIVE IT UP! 審美眼ブギ
GIVE IT UP! 審美眼ブギ
GIVE IT UP! 審美眼ブギ
GIVE IT UP! 審美眼ブギ yeah!
ライター! リスナー! DJ!
I’M GONNA SUCK YOU!
Romanized Lyrics
jibun de channel wo awaseta kimi no atama no naka ni waita bacteria
sodai gomi hoshi no ame kimi no hadaka kono kaigara no kamisori de
kimi no kao wo kirisaite yaru dakedo konna fujun na yosegaki de
boku wa tooku de kaze no haya sa ni nageiteru
naga sa wa go juu ten go juu roku senchi kirin no kubi wo chongitte uma ni suru
moujuu tsukai no kimi ni wa tayasui boku wa buriki no trumpet de
jiyuu no mizu wo suikonderu dakedo konna fujun na yosegaki de
boku wa tooku de yoru no naga sa ni nageiteru
shinbi no medama ga wareteru yo kanchigai no suteki da yo
taikutsu nara ote wo douzo ayatsuri ningen
I’M INSANE. ARE YOU INSANE?
I’M INSANE. FOREVER INSANE
mujuuryoku no ballad wa suteki datta Gauguin no shinbunshi de shiri wo fuku n da
vinyl no kairaku no naka wo buttobashite boku wa shinku no kami wo toki
funuketa gigolo wo kidotte iru no ni konna fujun na yosegaki de
boku wa tooku de kimi no kotoba ni nageiteru
shinbi no medama ga wareteru yo kanchigai no suteki da yo
taikutsu nara ote wo douzo anta no hihyou ga daisuki sa
shinbi no medama ga wareteru yo kanchigai no suteki da yo
taikutsu nara ote wo douzo ayatsuri ningen
I’M INSANE. ARE YOU INSANE?
I’M INSANE. FOREVER INSANE
GIVE IT UP! shinbigan boogie wo odorou
GIVE IT UP! shinbigan boogie wo odorou
GIVE IT UP! shinbigan boogie
GIVE IT UP! shinbigan boogie
GIVE IT UP! shinbigan boogie
GIVE IT UP! shinbigan boogie yeah!
Writer! Listener! DJ!
I’M GONNA SUCK YOU!
Translated Lyrics
The bacteria form in the head of you, who have tuned in all on your own
Oversize garbage, a shower of stars, with the razor on my shell
I’m going to cut up your face; But with this board full of illicit messages
I’m far away, lamenting the speed of the wind
With a length of 50.56 cm, chopping off a giraffe’s head to make it into just a regular horse
Should be an easy task for a beast-tamer like you; With my tin trumpet
I’m sucking down the water of freedom; But with this board full of illicit messages
I’m far away, lamenting the length of the night
My eye for aesthetics is broken, it’s the wonder of misunderstanding
If you’re bored, then give me your hand, you human puppet
I’m insane, are you insane?
I’m insane, forever insane
That completely weightless ballad sure was great, I wipe my ass with Gauguin’s newspapers
Kicking aside the pleasures of vinyl, I comb my crimson hair
Even though I put on the airs of a cowardly gigolo, with this board full of illicit messages
I’m far away, lamenting your words
My eye for aesthetics is broken, it’s the wonder of misunderstanding
If you’re bored, then give me your hand, I do love your criticism
My eye for aesthetics is broken, it’s the wonder of misunderstanding
If you’re bored, then give me your hand, you human puppet
I’m insane, are you insane?
I’m insane, forever insane
Give it up! Let’s dance the aesthetic sense boogie
Give it up! Let’s dance the aesthetic sense boogie
Give it up! The aesthetic sense boogie
Give it up! The aesthetic sense boogie
Give it up! The aesthetic sense boogie
Give it up! The aesthetic sense boogie, yeah!
Writer! Listener! DJ!
I’m gonna suck you!
Notes
With what’s quite possibly Yemon’s weirdest set of lyrics so far, I won’t lie and pretend I completely understand the meaning behind every line in the song. But to me it clearly reads as a direct response to The Night Snails And Plastic Boogie (their last album, and first album on a major record label) not selling doing nearly as well as Yoshii expected it to, and being generally criticized for not being very good (These criticisms are probably the “illicit messages”). It’s a rather cynical response to be sure, especially for so early in the band’s career. There’s a bit of immature stink of “No one liked my work, but YOU’RE the ones who are wrong!” on it, but Yoshii is hardly the first young musician to have this kind of a reaction to an album that was a critical failure, and we’ve all seen worse ones than this! In fact you could argue if Yoshii had to have this kind of a reaction, at least he did it with some taste and style instead of the straight up rants that others have produced in similar situations.
I can’t say to what degree, but I don’t think Shinbigan Boogie started its life with these exact lyrics: They were changed somewhat in response to the criticism of Night Snails. There are no full recordings of this version that I can find. But a version with a noticeably different verse appeared in a short clip on a 2016 TV special chronicling Yemon’s career prior to their reunion, “Mekara Uroko 20 2016 Ver.”. The clip showed a date of 07/30/1992 at Shibuya On Air, the “Radical Hystery Tour”. This would have been approximately 1 month after the release of Night Snails, so it makes sense that the lyrics wouldn’t have been completely reworked at this point. And what to even say about the last lyrics of the song…They make it a little embarrassing to sing at karaoke!
Regardless of how you might feel about the lyrics though, the song has a great groove to it. It takes the album on a much needed up from “Donna”, ultimately resulting in one of their most polished and well composed up-tempo numbers so far. It’s also the first Yemon track to feature a brass section. While the song doesn’t necessarily need it (live performances rarely ever featured the brass, save for Mekara Uroko 10 that had a full brass section and two backup singers), it works for the song pretty well.
“sodai gomi” is literally “oversize garbage” (as in my translation above), but it can also be a derogatory term for one’s husband! A “yosegaki” is a kind of signature board (in this case, I translated just as “board”) that is often used for fans or fellow students and co-workers to write messages on, on the occasion of some sort of special event or going-away. A good example would be this image, which was the extremely big “yosegaki” put out in front of The Yellow Monkey’s Tokyo Dome show in December 2017.
Gauguin refers to Paul Gauguin, a French post-Impressionist artist who was unappreciated until after his death in 1903. His work was very influential to the French avant-garde movement (a word that we’ll hear come up later in this album), and many modern artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. “Gauguin’s newspapers” likely refers to a publican of his called “Journal mechant”, or “A Wicked Newspaper”. This publication was primarily a means to attack the colonial government, and not many remnants of this newspaper have survived. Also, the very specific measurement of “50.56 cm” refers to the total length of The Night Snails And Plastic Boogie in minutes.
Apart from the aforementioned live, Shinbigan Boogie was played during the Experience Movie tour (1993), Jaguar Hard Pain tour (1994), Four Seasons tour (1996), Mekara Uroko 9 (1998), Mekara Uroko 10 (1999), and Mekara Uroko 28 (2017).
