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.
ANGELIC CONVERSATION
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sympathy for the Devils
覆われた 天鷲絨(ビロード)
Angelic Conversation
Sympathy for the Devils
注がれた Marble Flowers
そびえ立つ優雅をながめ
蟻地獄に Bacchus bless
Angelic Conversation
Sympathy for the Devils
覆われた 天鷲絨(ビロード)
そびえ立つ優雅をながめ
蟻地獄に Bacchus bless
真昼の園を歩け
蛇苺をふみつぶせ
Interested and Ha...
鋼の空の上 天を織る
Fall in Angel
立ち昇る MELODY
光の中で羽根を焦がす
薄羽かげろうは群れをはなれ
深紅の意志をひるがえす
Under the sun OH Alone
そびえ立つ優雅をながめ
蟻地獄に Bacchus bless
真昼の園を歩け
蛇苺をふみつぶせ
Interested and Ha...
鋼の空の上 天を織る
Fall in Angel
立ち昇る MELODY
光の中で羽根を焦がす
薄羽かげろうは群れをはなれ
深紅の意志をひるがえす
Under the sun OH Alone
夢を喰いちぎる
バクを狩り大蛇に乗る
目をつぶす MELODY
海にまざり合う DRAGON AND BOY
太古の風を首に巻いて
気高く髪を振り乱す
Under the sun OH Alone
夢を喰いちぎる
バクを狩り大蛇に乗る
目をつぶす MELODY
海にまざり合う DRAGON AND BOY
太古の風を首に巻いて
気高く髪を振り乱す
Under the sun OH Alone
The BUCK-TICK song "Angelic Conversation" seems to be a dialogue between good and evil forces intertwined with references to mythology, spirituality, and nature. The song title suggests a conversation between angels, and the repeated phrase "Sympathy for the Devils" implies an opposition that is also sympathetic towards each other. The lines "覆われた 天鷲絨(ビロード)" and "注がれた Marble Flowers" evoke images of luxurious and noble materials, but followed by the phrase "蟻地獄に Bacchus bless," which translates to "Bacchus blesses the ant hell," they suggest that even the most extraordinary things can be tainted with a darker reality. The phrase "Interested and Ha..." repeated throughout the song seems to refer to an intrigue or a curiosity towards something that is beyond our understanding.
The following lines "Fall in Angel/立ち昇る MELODY/光の中で羽根を焦がす/薄羽かげろうは群れをはなれ" create a strong visual imagery of ascension, with the angel falling and rising like a melody while burning its wings in the light. The reference to the "薄羽かげろう," which is a Japanese moth with very delicate wings, suggests a fragility to this image. The following lines "夢を喰いちぎる/バクを狩り大蛇に乗る/目をつぶす MELODY/海にまざり合う DRAGON AND BOY" further strengthen the mythological elements of the song, with the mention of a dragon and a boy, a macabre image of dream-eating, and a hunt for a mythical creature.
Overall, "Angelic Conversation" by BUCK-TICK is a complex song that deals with various themes, but seems to explore the duality of human nature and the overarching struggle between good and evil forces.
Line by Line Meaning
Angelic Conversation
A conversation with angels
Sympathy for the Devils
Feeling compassion for the devils
覆われた 天鷲絨(ビロード)
Covered in a velvet sky
注がれた Marble Flowers
Poured marble flowers
そびえ立つ優雅をながめ
Gazing at the towering elegance
蟻地獄に Bacchus bless
Bacchus blesses the ant hell
Interested and Ha...
Curious and fascinated
真昼の園を歩け
Walk in the midday garden
蛇苺をふみつぶせ
Crush the snake berries
鋼の空の上 天を織る
Weaving the heavens above the steel sky
Fall in Angel
Falling in love with an angel
立ち昇る MELODY
Rising melody
光の中で羽根を焦がす
Burning wings in the light
薄羽かげろうは群れをはなれ
The moth with light wings departs from the crowd
深紅の意志をひるがえす
Reversing the deep crimson will
Under the sun OH Alone
Alone under the sun
夢を喰いちぎる
Tearing apart dreams
バクを狩り大蛇に乗る
Hunt the tapir and ride the great serpent
目をつぶす MELODY
Closing one's eyes to the melody
海にまざり合う DRAGON AND BOY
The dragon and the boy mix together in the sea
太古の風を首に巻いて
Wearing the winds of ancient times around the neck
気高く髪を振り乱す
Raising the noble hair
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: 寿 今井
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind