The band members are 櫻井敦司 (Sakurai Atsushi) (vocals), 今井寿 (Imai Hisashi) (guitars, noises, electronics, vocals), 星野英彦 (Hoshino Hidehiko) (guitars, chorus), 桶口豊 (Higuchi Yutaka) (bass) and ヤガミ・トール (Yagami Toll) (drums).
BUCK-TICK's music has changed and evolved hugely over the course of their career. Their early work is what the Japanese call "positive punk". It used simple rhythms and chords, with the songs mostly in major keys and using some English words in the lyrics. Starting with 1989's TABOO, they experimented with a darker sound, which grew more mature with 狂った太陽 in 1991. darker than darkness style 93 delved into a harsher industrial rock sound which continued all the way up through Mona Lisa OVERDRIVE in 2003. With 2005's 十三階は月光, they deliberately adopted a "goth" concept, which they combined with a retro straight rock sound for the albums 天使のリボルバー (2007) and Memento Mori (2009). Their next album, 2010's RAZZLE DAZZLE, then incorporated many instances of dance-rock.
Some elements that persist throughout their music are resounding, jangling guitar chords, throbbing, prominent bass lines, harsh roars of electronically distorted noise, and ambivalent melodies that wander between major and minor keys, as well as Sakurai's distinctive rich baritone voice. Jrockrevolution described the band's style as having gone "from the bubbly sounds of pop to the buzz of electronic cyberpunk to lustful velvety goth to the smooth style of hard rock and back again". Sakurai, who is the main lyricist of the band, is famous for the erotic decadence of his lyrics, but he also often addresses existential psychological themes. His lyrics is also described as "dance in a daydream about reality". Imai, the main composer, has written many songs that read like science fiction stories, involving genetic engineering and computer hackers, but more recently has branched out into love songs.
As Josephine Yun describes them, in 'A Concise Report on 40 of the Biggest Rock Acts in Japan', "BUCK-TICK's music is smashed-together nuances of everything from Depeche Mode and New Order to U2 and The Knack. While wry, it can float and be nebulously melodic. [...] Masked in eye makeup, Atsushi looks and sounds possessed. BUCK-TICK was (and continues to be) and anomaly in the Japanese music scene, a tangle of goth rock diluted with synth and electronica. It's unhappy, dirty music, the musical equivalent of exploded soot and smoke."
BUCK-TICK and their members have performed with, for example, KMFDM, Soft Ballet, Luna Sea, Sheena Ringo, and The Yellow Monkey. The band members have also participated in different side-projects, such as Schaft, Schwein (Sakurai and Imai with Raymond Watts (PIG) and Sascha Konietzko (KMFDM)), and The Mortal.
スパイダー
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
あんたの願いなら 叶えてあげたいけど
綺麗な横顔 蒼白く浮かぶ
あんたの傷みなど ごめんよ 解りはしない
もっともっとベッド 震わせて
こんなもんじゃ駄目さ 突き上げろ 天井裏スパイ 愛
あんたの望みなら 叶えてあげたいけど
波打つ胸元 蒼白く走る
あんたの痛みなど ごめんよ 解りはしない
もっとぎゅっと糸を 手繰り寄せ
こんな愛じゃ駄目か? 苦しいか?
乱れているのは お前のせいだ
Shake Hip Hit! 俺は飛び散った 哀しきスパイダー
もっともっとベッド 震わせて
こんなもんじゃ駄目さ 突き上げろ
もっとぎゅっと糸を 手繰り寄せ
こんな愛じゃ駄目か? 苦しいか?
乱れているのは お前のせいだ
Shake Hip Hit! 俺は飛び散った
乱れているのは お前のせいだ
Shake Hip Hit! 俺は飛び散った 哀しきスパイダー
The lyrics of BUCK-TICK's song "Spider" are quite dark and gritty, delving into themes of desire, pain, and obsession. The lines "絡まる指と髪 夜な夜な糸吐く" (Entangled fingers and hair, spinning thread every night) and "縺れる舌と指 夜な夜な糸引く" (Twisted tongue and fingers, pulling thread every night) are metaphors for a twisted and tangled intimacy between two people. The singer says that he would grant the other person's wishes, but he cannot understand their pain. The lines "もっともっとベッド 震わせて こんなもんじゃ駄目さ 突き上げろ 天井裏スパイ 愛" (Shake the bed even more, this is not enough, push it up, ceiling spy love) and "もっとぎゅっと糸を 手繰り寄せ こんな愛じゃ駄目か? 苦しいか?" (Reel in the thread even tighter, is this love not enough? Is it painful?) suggest a dangerous and obsessive desire. The lines "乱れているのはお前のせいだ Shake Hip Hit!" (It's your fault that it's in chaos, shake hip hit!) show that the singer blames the other person for their own pain and suffering.
Overall, the lyrics of "Spider" paint a picture of two people who are caught up in a twisted and destructive relationship. The singer's desire for the other person is overwhelming and all-consuming, but it also causes pain and chaos.
Line by Line Meaning
絡まる指と髪 夜な夜な糸吐く
Tangled fingers and hair, spitting thread night after night
あんたの願いなら 叶えてあげたいけど
If it's your wish, I want to grant it to you
綺麗な横顔 蒼白く浮かぶ
Your beautiful profile floats palely
あんたの傷みなど ごめんよ 解りはしない
I'm sorry, but I don't understand your pain
もっともっとベッド 震わせて
Shake the bed more and more
こんなもんじゃ駄目さ 突き上げろ 天井裏スパイ 愛
This isn't enough, thrust above, spy the love hidden in the ceiling
縺れる舌と指 夜な夜な糸引く
Twisted tongue and fingers pull threads night after night
あんたの望みなら 叶えてあげたいけど
If it's your desire, I want to grant it to you
波打つ胸元 蒼白く走る
Ripples run palely across your chest
あんたの痛みなど ごめんよ 解りはしない
I'm sorry, but I don't understand your pain
もっとぎゅっと糸を 手繰り寄せ
Pull the thread tighter and tighter
こんな愛じゃ駄目か? 苦しいか?
Is this kind of love no good? Is it painful?
乱れているのは お前のせいだ
This disturbance is your fault
Shake Hip Hit! 俺は飛び散った 哀しきスパイダー
Shake, hip hit! I am a pitiful spider scattered about
Contributed by Carson S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.