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)

警告
椎名林檎 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

朝の訪れを微塵も感じない夜
闇がこの先の日本を考えるのか
TVも溜息も時計を滅多に止めない
何がこれ程迄に虚しさを呼ぶのだ?

あなたの部屋の留守番電話が
近頃まめに働いているの
何故か少しも気にならないのよ

伸ばした髪も意味ないから

言葉で穴を埋めても満たされる筈など無い
日の出を待ち切れぬまま鋏を探し出す
あなたは全てをあたしが切っちゃっても効かない

夏に見たのは実在しない人だった
寒くなる迄知らないで愛してしまった
今頃になってから「全部演じていた」なんて
受話器越しに泣かれたってこっちが泣きそう

あなたがあたしだけ呼んで居ても
幾ら素敵に気を引いていても
時は既に遅過ぎるのよ
答える努力もしないから

此の海を又訪れ思い出そうと歩く
波を止めることよりはた易いと感じるのに
あたしの気持ちは何処に行ったって戻らない

あなたがあたしだけ呼んで居ても
幾ら素敵に気を引いていても
時は既に遅過ぎるのよ
答える努力もしないから

「嘘はつきつかれるもの」あなたはそう笑うが
間抜けなあたしをはじめ不可能な人種も居る
上手く前に進めずに不器用に倒れるなら
起き上がる道具ひとつ持たないで死んで行くわ

殺意だけ仕舞ったらあたしは最後のいま
「機械の様に余り馬鹿にしないで」って云いたい

Overall Meaning

In the song "Keikoku" by Shiina Ringo, the lyrics describe a sense of emptiness and despair that the singer is experiencing. The first stanza paints a bleak picture of a night that seems to have no end, with darkness taking over Japan. The TV, the singer's sighs, and the clock are all constantly ticking, yet nothing seems to fill the void inside. In the second part of the song, the singer talks about how they no longer care about their voicemail, which has been filling up lately, and how their long hair doesn't mean anything to them anymore. The singer acknowledges that even if they try to fill the emptiness with words, it won't be enough.

The chorus is about the singer's realization that their feelings for someone were not real, and that they were in love with an illusion. The lyrics mention that the person they loved doesn't exist, and that the singer didn't know that until it was too late. They lament how they are now being told that everything was just an act, and how they feel like crying.

The third verse discusses the singer's desire to go back to the sea and remember the good times. However, they realize that their feelings can't be brought back, and everything is too late. The song ends with the singer talking about death and how they don't want to be treated like a machine.

Overall, the song "Keikoku" is about the feeling of emptiness and despair, and how it can be hard to fill the void even when surrounded by people or things that are supposed to bring joy. It's a somber and introspective song that deals with themes of love, loss, and mortality.

Line by Line Meaning

朝の訪れを微塵も感じない夜
The night is so dark that it seems like the dawn will never arrive

闇がこの先の日本を考えるのか
The darkness is contemplating the future of Japan

TVも溜息も時計を滅多に止めない
The TV, the sighs, and the clock almost never stop

何がこれ程迄に虚しさを呼ぶのだ?
What is causing this immense emptiness?

あなたの部屋の留守番電話が
Your answering machine

近頃まめに働いているの
Has been working diligently lately

何故か少しも気にならないのよ
But for some reason, it doesn't bother me at all

伸ばした髪も意味ないから
Because even my flowing hair has lost its meaning

言葉で穴を埋めても満たされる筈など無い
Words cannot fill the void

日の出を待ち切れぬまま鋏を探し出す
Without waiting for the sunrise, I search for scissors

あなたは全てをあたしが切っちゃっても効かない
You are unaffected even if I cut everything away