- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
ギラッとした君の目に ドキッとした昼下がり
シャキッとした俺の体 まるで試されてるように
ツンとした君と空気に ゾクッとした恋心は
ザラッとした砂を噛み されるがまま夜になる
そろそろ自慢のくちびるで ワインを飲ませてくれないか
満月の夜に結ばれた 男と女は永遠さ
激しく Lady Ah gimme your love
妖しく Lady I need your love
たまに見せる淋しげな目が
嘘か本当かわからない
素直に Lady Ah gimme your love
感じてみて Lady I need your love
君のしぐさに振り回されて
夢中の愛は俺の中で踊る
サラッとした髪をとき ツャッとした肌をよせ
言葉遊びをするように 君は俺をもて遊ぶ…Crazy!
駆け引きは強い君の中 過ちは弱い俺の中
好きなだけ楽しめばいいさ 男と女は永遠さ
激しく Lady Ah gimme your love
妖しく Lady I need your love
たまに見せる優しい笑顔が
嘘か本当かわからない
素直に Lady Ah gimme your love
感じてみてLady I need your love
君のしぐさで俺を殺して
その一瞬が何より幸せさ
闇の中で踊る 抱きしめて踊る
何度でも踊る 永遠に踊る
永遠に踊る 永遠に踊る …
Romanized Lyrics
giratto shita kimi no me ni dokitto shita hiru sagari
shakitto shita ore no karada marude tamasareteru you ni
tsunto shita kimi to kuuki ni zokutto shita koigokoro wa
zaratto shita suna wo kami sareru ga mama yoru ni naru
soro soro jiman no kuchibiru de wine wo nomasete kurenai ka
mangetsu no yoru ni musubareta otoko to onna wa eien sa
hageshiku Lady Ah gimme your love
ayashiku Lady I need your love
tama ni miseru samishige na me ga
uso ka hontou ka wakaranai
sunao ni Lady Ah gimme your love
kanjite mite Lady I need your love
kimi no shigusa ni furimawasarete
muchuu no ai wa ore no naka de odoru
saratto shita kami wo toki tsutto shita hada wo yose
kotoba asobi wo suru you ni kimi wa ore wo mote asobu…Crazy!
kakehiki wa tsuyoi kimi no naka ayamachi wa yowai ore no naka
suki na dake tanoshimeba ii sa otoko to onna wa eien sa
hageshiku Lady Ah gimme your love
ayashiku Lady I need your love
tama ni miseru yasashii egao ga
uso ka hontou ka wakaranai
sunao ni Lady Ah gimme your love
kanjite mite Lady I need your love
kimi no shisa de ore wo koroshite
sono isshun ga nani yori shiawase sa
yami no naka de odoru dakishimete odoru
nando demo odoru eien ni odoru
eien ni odoru eien ni odoru…
Translated Lyrics
The startling early afternoon reflected in your dazzling eyes
It’s as though my tense body is being tested
There’s a frightening love in this aloof atmosphere between us
Chewing on gritty sand, I’m at your mercy tonight
Won’t you let me drink some wine, with these lips I’m so proud of?
Bound together on the night of a full moon, a man and woman are forever
Violently lady, ah gimme your love
Doubtfully lady, I need your love
Those lonely eyes that you sometimes show me
I’m not sure if they’re telling the truth or lying
Obediently lady, ah gimme your love
Try to feel it lady, I need your love
At the mercy of your actions
A delirious love dances within me
Brushing your silky hair, with your bright skin close to mine
You play with me as though you were playing word games…Crazy!
Tactics are your strong point, and mistakes are my weak point
Enjoy yourself as much as you want, a man and woman are forever
Violently lady, ah gimme your love
Doubtfully lady, I need your love
That gentle smile that you sometimes show me
I’m not sure if it’s telling the truth or lying
Obediently lady, ah gimme your love
Try to feel it lady, I need your love
You kill me with your actions
And that moment makes me happier than anything
Dancing in the dark, dancing in each other’s arms
Dancing over and over again, dancing forever
Dancing forever, dancing forever…
Notes
Though “Tactics” came out as a single a double A-side with “JAM”), it was cut into one and released a few months after the album released (on 02/29/1996). Though apparently Yoshii had wanted this to be a single for quite some time beforehand. Most anime fans of a certain age who aren’t familiar with Yemon’s catalog will probably know this song as the first ending theme song to the popular TV series Rurouni Kenshin, which aired on Japanese TV in 1996. And this is almost certainly the reason that it was put on a single with “JAM” after the fact. Basically every song involved with Kenshin ended up being huge hit as a result.
But make no mistake, this is not a traditional “anime song”: Most songs featured as themes for Rurouni Kenshin were from artists who were otherwise well known pop/rock acts, and not ones who specifically had careers based on writing and performing music for anime. While there’s nothing lyrically that I’d call out in particular, it’s a strong enough showing from Yoshii. He normally doesn’t run with this kind of thing, but he has a bit of a grammatical theme going on here: Onomatopoeias ending in “tto shita”. You would more commonly hear these onomatopoeias in slightly different ways. For example, “giratto shita” here would more commonly be heard as just “gira gira”. I’d put “Tactics” as a song that works so well because of the way all of its components come together, not just the lyrics or music individually.
(Super Japan Tour Yokohama Special, 2016)
The only real comment that I’ve found Yoshii make on the lyrics of this song is in regard to the space of time in between Four Seasons and Sicks, and just how much everything about the band’s music changed:
Yeah. I mean if I was writing “Tactics” now, the lyrics would be different. But I guess that’s something I pretty much have to say. That’s just the way it turned out. But I pretty strongly feel that I don’t want to do things that way anymore.
Kazuya Yoshii, Bridge interview (April 1997)
But one of the most remarkable things about “Tactics” is how much more energy is brought to the song by the band when playing it live. They always (at least from the second leg of the Four Seasons tour onward) play a very specific intro that isn’t a part of the recording, which involves Yoshii doing a lot of call and response with the audience. There’s also actual harmonizing between Heesey and Yoshii on the intro as well. Though it’s a great song recorded, it’s so much better to hear live! Mikio Ariga (one of the band’s regular photographers) even agrees:
When I hear “Tactics” I remember their awesome performance of it during the Four Seasons “Yasei no Shoumei” (“Proof of Wildness”) tour in 1996. They gave off the aura of a band that was gradually getting more and more popular, and you could really feel the enthusiasm from the fans. They were kind of like an idol group back then, and I mean that in a good way. The Stones were sort of idols themselves, after all.
Miko Ariga, Natalie.mu Interview (2013)
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my story of finding the band is a very common one: I was a big Rurouni Kenshin fan, so it was very much through this song. I was more into anime than I was Japanese rock at the time, but through “Tactics” I discovered more of Yemon’s catalog and went in all sorts of different directions from there. A few years after I’d gotten more into the band and drifted a bit further away from anime (I still enjoy watching some shows, but I don’t spend as much time with it as I used to), I developed a bit of a weird relationship with this song. It’s not that I grew to dislike it, but rather I grew to resent that so many people probably only knew Yemon from this song and nothing else. To me it didn’t represent anything close to the best of what they had to offer. Of course I got over that idea as I grew older and as time took everything further away from Kenshin being a massively popular show that practically every anime fan knew.
This song has luckily been played live by the band quite a few times. There’s a good chance you’ll see it featured on a setlist from some date in just about any of their major album tours, but particularly from those after the band reunited in 2016.
