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)

Byoushou Public
椎名林檎 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

ドイツ色のタクシーなら
新橋目指す外苑東
レスポールは絶対黒
対向車線快感ジャガー

巧妙自制白血球
片や妄想に生命を揺らし
消化した筈の汚物まで

戻して失う

噛んだ爪を吐いて捨てた
四丁目は呑気過ぎる
感情共燃焼さす
Y染色減少気味

頽廃裸体安全圏
既にもう女として生まれた
才能は発揮しているのだけど
脱がせて欲しい

巧妙自制白血球
片や妄想に生命を揺らし
消化した筈の汚物まで
戻して失う

倦怠虚勢優等生
もしも愛なんて呼んで居なくて
信号と云う解答で貴方を

誘い出しても
変わらないかな変わらないかな

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Shiina Ringo's song "Byoushou Public" ("Hospital Bed Public") describe a scene in which the singer is riding in a German-colored taxi towards Gaien Higashi, Shinbashi. She notes that if she were to ride in a Les Paul guitar, it would be in black. The oncoming lane is occupied by a pleasure-driven Jaguar, while the singer reflects on her oppressive white blood cells that sway her life, contrasted with her reckless fantasies. She feels the void in her body, the waste that should have been digested and excreted, is now being returned, and she is losing control.

The singer spits out a bitten nail and throws it away in the fourth block, feeling that it is too peaceful. Her emotions are ignited, while the Y chromosome is gradually decreasing. She is in a state of decay and nudity, but she feels a sense of security. She has already been born as a woman and wants to showcase her talents, but she wishes to shed her clothes.

The singer reflects on the cunning self-control of her white blood cells, which on one hand sways her life with delusions and on the other, returns waste that should've been excreted. Her exhaustion is from pretending to be someone she is not, and she is still unable to call it love. Even if she tries to invite the person using a signal, she wonders if anything will change.

Line by Line Meaning

ドイツ色のタクシーなら
If it's a German colored taxi,

新橋目指す外苑東
aim for Shimbashi, east of Gaien.

レスポールは絶対黒
Les Paul is definitely black.

対向車線快感ジャガー
A pleasure Jaguar in the opposite lane.

巧妙自制白血球
Skillful, restrained white blood cells

片や妄想に生命を揺らし
While one shakes with delusions of life,

消化した筈の汚物まで
Even after digesting the waste,

戻して失う
It comes back and is lost.

噛んだ爪を吐いて捨てた
I vomited and threw away the bitten nails.

四丁目は呑気過ぎる
Fourth Avenue is too carefree.

感情共燃焼さす
Feelings are burning together.