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)

Souretsu
椎名林檎 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

今朝は妙なメイルを拝受しました
其処に出生の意志が載つて居り
現在は酸素を押し返さうと必死です
まう亡骸は消去完了
何處にも桃源郷は無いと云ひます

僕は両の肢から認知しました
此処に「半分の意味」を見出して現在は

酸素を吸ひ切つてしまふ準備中です
亡骸に弁護は不要
何處にも桃源郷が無いのなら

お造り致しませう

生むで廃棄する勇氣
空を斬つてゆく庖丁
今日胎盤明日

僕を食しても植わらない理由は
「渾て獨りぼつちだから」

偖はこんな輪廻と交際をする業が
お嫌ひなのでせう当然です未だ
何の「建設も着工」してゐない白紙に還す予定です

お顔をさあ拝見させて下さい

Overall Meaning

The song 葬列 by 椎名林檎 (Sheena Ringo) is a complex piece that requires careful interpretation. The song begins with a reference to an unusual email that the singer received, which contains the writer's "will to be born". The singer is currently struggling to resist the oxygen and considers themselves as already deceased. The idea of a utopian society, referred to as 桃源郷 (Tōgenkyō) in Japanese, is deemed unobtainable in the lyrics.

In the second stanza, the singer notes that they have understood the meaning of "half" through their limbs. The singer is preparing to breathe in all the oxygen before they kick the bucket. The singer seems resigned to their fate and says that their body requires no defense. The idea of an ideal society is once again mentioned, stating that it could not exist anywhere.

The chorus of the song talks about the courage to create and discard life, while the knife that cuts through the sky is referred to as a kitchen knife. The singer ponders why they cannot grow even if consumed and posits that being alone could be the reason. In the final stanza, the singer acknowledges that they may be interacting with people who dislike the cycle of death and rebirth. The stanza ends with a mention of a blank slate, and the request to see the listener's face.

Line by Line Meaning

今朝は妙なメイルを拝受しました
This morning, I received a strange email, where the will of birth is written.

其処に出生の意志が載つて居り
There, the intention of my birth was recorded.

現在は酸素を押し返さうと必死です
Now, I am struggling to resist the oxygen.

まう亡骸は消去完了
My lifeless remains have already been disposed of.

何處にも桃源郷は無いと云ひます
It is said that there is no utopia anywhere.

僕は両の肢から認知しました
I understood it with both my arms.

此処に「半分の意味」を見出して現在は
I found the meaning of the 'half' here; now, I am...

酸素を吸ひ切つてしまふ準備中です
preparing to inhale air one last time.

亡骸に弁護は不要
The corpse needs no defense.

何處にも桃源郷が無いのなら
If there is no utopia anywhere...

お造り致しませう
Let's make something out of it.