椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo, also sometimes spelled "Sheena Ringo" or "Shéna Ringö")… Read Full Bio ↴椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo, also sometimes spelled "Sheena Ringo" or "Shéna Ringö"), born November 25, 1978 in Saitama and raised in Fukuoka, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist. Her family name is Shiina (椎名) and she chose to perform as Ringo instead of her birth name Yumiko (裕美子) because - as a shy child - her cheeks would blush red like an apple (the fruit being 'ringo' in Japanese).

After quitting school to enter a musical contest, Shiina was quickly signed to EMI, then promptly left Japan to avoid the trappings of contract work. After returning, she quickly released a series of singles and albums, all self-penned (a relative rarity for Japanese pop artists), and all meeting with great success on the Japanese charts. A hiatus to start a family followed, itself followed (after a divorce) by both a new album and a new side project, the band 東京事変. (Tokyo Jihen - or Tokyo Incidents)

After more success with the band, Shiina returned to a solo career in 2006 as the Music Director for the film 「さくらん」(Sakuran), quickly taking the number one slot on the Oricon charts with the album Heisei Fuuzoku released in tandem with a major soundtrack project. Following was a B-sides album which peaked quickly at the number one Oricon slot. In the years proceeding this, she spent most of her time dedicated to Tokyo Jihen occasionally revisiting her solo work.

Despite being involved in the main Japanese pop scene, Shiina has created a niche for herself based on a much wider musical range than most artists. Where most pop singers develop a basic sound based on contemporary pop aesthetics and throwaway lyrical matter, Shiina builds on a base of jazz, rock, Motown, and even French chanson equally well (the chanson works especially well with her trademark nasal delivery), infusing her projects with a very different aesthetic, and gaining a fan base separate from the core constituents of the Japanese pop apparatus.

Despite the release of album 三毒史 (trivisa-itihasa) in 2019, released after a myriad of singles being majorly included in aforementioned work. In 2020, Ringo and band Tokyo Jihen turned their backs to their past, doing a major reunion, with the drop of a few projects, such as sixth studio album 音楽.

Discography

Singles

幸福論 (Koufukuron)（1998）
歌舞伎町の女王（1998）
ここでキスして。 (Koko de kisu shite)（1999）
本能（1999）
幸福論（1999）
ギブス (Gibs)（2000）
罪と罰（2000）
真夜中は純潔（2001）
絶頂集（2000）
茎（STEM）～大名遊ビ編～（2003）
りんごのうた (Ringo no Uta)（2003）
この世の限り (Kono Yo no Kagiri) (2007） (With Saitou Neko and her brother Shiina Junpei)
ありあまる富 (Ariamaru Tomi)（2009）
カーネーション (Carnation)（2011）
自由へ道連 (Traveling Companion to Freedom) (2012)
いろはにほへと (Les Couleurs Chantent) (2013)
孤独のあかつき (The Solitude of Dawn) (2013)
NIPPON (2014)
至上の人生 (A Life Supreme) (2015)
最果てが見たい (2015)
長く短い祭 (2015)
神様、仏様 (2015)
ジユーダム (2016)
目抜き通り (2017)
獣ゆく細道 (2018)

Albums

無罪モラトリアム (Muzai Moratorium) (1999)
勝訴ストリップ (Shouso Strip)（2000)
加爾基精液栗ノ花（Karuki Za-men Kuri no Hana）(2003)
平成風俗 (Heisei Fuuzoku) (2007) (with Neiko Sato)
三文ゴシップ (Sanmon Gossip) (2009)
日出処 (Hi Izuru Tokoro) (2014)
三毒史 (trivisa-itihasa) (2019)

Covers Album

唄ひ手冥利～其ノ壱～ (Utaitemyori Sonoichi)（2002）
逆輸入～港湾局～ (Reimports Vol.1) (2014)
逆輸入〜航空局〜 (Reimport Vol.2 -Civil Bureau Aviation) (2017)

Compilations

私と放電 (Me & Electric Discharge) (2008) - (B-Sides)
ニュートンの林檎 (Apple of Universal Gravity) (2019) - (Overview)

シドと白昼夢
椎名林檎 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

昔描いた夢で私は別の人間で
ジャニス・イアンを自らと思い込んでいた
現実には本物が居ると理解っていた

此処の所描く夢のあたしはあたしだから
欲望も何も区別がつかなくなっていた
現実でもほとんど不確かだ

あなたの髪を切らなきゃ
真っ黒な其の眼があたしの眼に光を射てば呼吸が出来る
いまは還らない影など全く厭だけれど
あなたには殺されても良いわ

手錠をされたままであたしに跪いた
独り切りじゃ泣いてばかりになる為
誰かにそっと寄り掛かるのであろう

あなたはあたしじゃなくちゃ
真っ白なほっぺたに透き通る小さな雨垂れを落としてしまう
でも泣かないで今すぐ鍵を開けてあげる
あなたには全て許しちゃうわ

あなたあなたの髪を切らなきゃ
真っ黒な其の眼が私の眼に光を射てば呼吸が出来る
いまは還らない影など全く厭だけれど

あなたには殺されても良いわ
あなたには全て許しちゃうわ

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to 椎名林檎's song シドと白昼夢 (Shido to Hakuchuumu) convey a sense of confusion between reality and dreams, as the singer explores her own identity and desires. The first verse refers to a dream from the past, where she believed herself to be Janis Ian, a folk singer. However, in reality, she knows that the real Janis Ian exists. In contrast, the dreams she is currently having are difficult to distinguish from reality, and her desires have become unclear. The second verse continues to blur the lines between reality and fantasy, as the singer longs to cut someone's hair and wants to be killed by them. There is a sense of desperation and longing for something that is unclear and possibly unattainable.

The third verse describes the singer being handcuffed and someone else kneeling before her. She suggests that this would be a way to stop herself from crying alone and to have someone to rely on. However, she maintains that this person must be the right one, as they would bring her comfort and prevent her from shedding tears. The chorus repeats the desire to cut someone's hair and be killed by them, but also suggests that the singer is willing to forgive this person for everything. There is a sense of a deep connection and longing for someone, even if they may hurt her.

Line by Line Meaning

昔描いた夢で私は別の人間で
In the dreams I drew long ago, I imagined myself as a different person, even convinced myself to be Janis Ian, but in reality, I knew the original existed.

此処の所描く夢のあたしはあたしだから
Nowadays, the dreams I put into pictures are of myself as me, but desires and everything else have become indistinguishable, and even reality is mostly uncertain.

欲望も何も区別がつかなくなっていた
Desires and everything else became indistinguishable.

現実でもほとんど不確かだ
Even in reality, almost everything is uncertain.

あなたの髪を切らなきゃ
I have to cut your hair.

真っ黒なその眼があたしの眼に光を射てば呼吸ができる
When your pitch-black eyes shine on me, I can breathe, and that makes me feel alive.

いまは還らない影など全く厭だけれど
Now, I detest things like the shadow that won't return.

あなたには殺されても良いわ
I'm willing to be killed by you.

手錠をされたままであたしに跪いた
You knelt before me with handcuffs on.

独り切りじゃ泣いてばかりになる為
Because I'd just cry alone all the time.

誰かにそっと寄り掛かるのであろう
Perhaps I'll lean on someone gently.

あなたはあたしじゃなくちゃ
If it's not you, then it's nobody.

真っ白なほっぺたに透き通る小さな雨垂れを落としてしまう
I unintentionally let tiny, transparent drops of rain fall onto your pure white cheeks.

でも泣かないで今すぐ鍵を開けてあげる
But don't cry, I'll unlock you right now.