- Lyrics & Music: Kazuya Yoshii
- Arrangement: The Yellow Monkey
Original Lyrics
昔、不器用な恋人に
爪を切られたことがある
三日月が僕を変えたから
爪切りで
爪が切れない……
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
人をなめきったしぐさで
爪を噛み笑う癖がある
その顔がすごく 好きだから
爪切りで
爪が切れない
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の真似をするな BABY
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の爪を切るな BABY
「貴方のKISSが物足りない
爪に火をともすろくでなし」
その言葉が 忘れられない
爪切りで
爪が切れない……
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の真似をするな BABY
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の爪を切るな BABY
昔、不器用な恋人に
爪を切られたことがある
ヒマさえあればプチプチと
ストッキングが大事だから……
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
VERMILION
VERMILION
VERMILION HANDS
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の真似をするな BABY
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の爪を切るな BABY
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕の真似をするな BABY
HOLD OF LOVE VERMILION HANDS
僕にウソをつくな BABY
SICK SICK PAST OF VERMILION
SICK SICK PAST OF VERMILION
SICK SICK PAST OF VERMILION
SICK SICK PAST OF VERMILION HANDS
Romanized Lyrics
mukashi, bukiyou na koibito ni
tsume wo kirareta koto ga aru
mikazuki ga boku kaeta kara
tsume kiri de
tsume ga kirenai……
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
hito wo namekitta shigusa de
tsume wo kami warau kuse ga aru
sono kao ga sugoku suki dakara
tsume kiri de
tsume ga kirenai
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no mane wo suru na baby
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no tsume wo kiru na baby
“anata no kiss ga monotarinai
tsume ni hi wo tomosu roku de nashi”
sono kotoba ga wasurerarenai
tsume kiri de
tsume ga kirenai……
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no mane wo suru na baby
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no tsume wo kiru na baby
mukashi, bukiyou na koibito ni
tsume wo kirareta koto ga aru
hima sae areba puchi puchi to
stocking ga daiji dakara……
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion Hands
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no mane wo suru na baby
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no tsume wo kiru na baby
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku no mane wo suru na baby
Hold of love vermilion hands
boku ni uso wo tsuku na baby
Sick sick past of vermilion
Sick sick past of vermilion
Sick sick past of vermilion
Sick sick past of vermilion hands
Translated Lyrics
I once had my nails clipped a long time ago
By a particularly clumsy lover
But ever since the new moon changed me
They can’t be clipped
With a nail clipper……
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
I have a habit of biting my nails and smiling
When I’m messing with someone
That I think is attractive
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to imitate me, baby
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to clip my nails, baby
“Your kiss just isn’t enough
You horrible asshole”
I’ll never be able to forget those words
My nails can’t be clipped
With a nail clipper……
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to imitate me, baby
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to clip my nails, baby
I once had my nails clipped a long time ago
By a particularly clumsy lover
Whenever she could, she clipped them
To keep her stockings from getting runs in them
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Vermilion
Vermilion
Vermilion hands
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to imitate me, baby
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to clip my nails, baby
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t try to imitate me, baby
Hold of love, vermilion hands
Don’t lie to me, baby
Sick, sick past of vermilion
Sick, sick past of vermilion
Sick, sick past of vermilion
Sick, sick past of vermilion hands
Notes
Vermilion Hands forms a pair with Love Is Zoophilia, the other more straightforward rock number of the album, and I think this one comes out on top. This is in no small part because of Annie and Heesey’s parts keeping the song at such a driving pace. And even though it’s not on my list of best songs on Experience Movie, it at least has something to say. There’s a bit too much English in it, and the chorus is repetition taken to a senseless degree, but the use of having your nails clipped to represent what reads as an act of taking away masculinity that the speaker never wants to happen again, is creative. Then it’s taken to such a ridiculous extent that his nails can’t even be clipped anymore, and are presumably so short that his hands are bloody (vermilion).
Though allusions like this are pretty underused in most lyrics if you ask me, this song is so built around its allusion and goes back to it so often, that there isn’t a whole lot else to say about it! Its interesting points aren’t enough to put it on the level of Yoshii’s best writing (which is yet to come), or even the better songs that are on the later half of this same album though.
It’s also worth mentioning that this is the first significant appearance of the backing vocals of Shinobu Fujita and Mikako Tsuchiya (from the band Tyrannosaurus, and previously discussed during the Bunched Birth and Night Snails albums) on the album so far, but certainly not the last. Them coming in for the last set of repeated lines but not the earlier choruses and bridges helps give the song the strong ending that it has.
All that said, Vermilion Hands does make for a pretty good and fun live song that hasn’t appeared on too many set lists over the years, though maybe more than a lot of the songs on Experience Movie have (though interestingly enough it wasn’t a part of the set list for the actual Experience Movie tour). It’s been performed during the Jaguar Hard Pain Tour (1994), Mekara Uroko 9 (1998), and Mekara Uroko 27 (2016).