BUCK-TICK is a Japanese rock band, originally formed by Imai Hisashi in 198… Read Full Bio ↴BUCK-TICK is a Japanese rock band, originally formed by Imai Hisashi in 1983 in Gunma, Japan, with its current line-up lasting since 1985. They are commonly credited as one of the founders of the visual kei movement. As of yet, they have released twenty-three original studio albums and one of self-covers, nearly all reaching the top ten on the charts. Their most recent album, "異空 -IZORA-", was released on 12th April 2023.

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.

CASTLE IN THE AIR
BUCK-TICK Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Sumikitte ita sora o kiritotte
Woo still more
Heart no kakera kabuseta scarecrow
Woo c'est la vie
Hikari ni yo nita my object suterarezu
Woo still more
Tsugi hagidarake mosaic de yume o oru
Woo c'est la vie

Kawa ita toki o wasure
Me o tojite in to sky
Tenshi wa yami ni obie mabataki o sezu

Climax akiteru broken boys
Woo still more
Wakatta kao shite soko kara escape
Woo c'est la vie
Otoshita kata ga furueru old boys
Woo still more
Yokome de minagara mada mashida to draw a sigh
Woo c'est la vie

Surechigau yume to yume
Machikirezu waking dream
Setsuna o kozoete kizanda from night to night

Tsutsu marete modorenai
Toozakaru yume no oku
Egakareta roukaku ni
Terasarete odoru
Oh in the air

Kawa ita toki o wasure
Me o tojite in to sky
Tenshi wa yami ni obie mabataki o sezu

Surechigau yume to yume
Machikirezu waking dream
Setsuna o kozoete kizanda from night to night

Tsutsu marete modorenai
Toozakaru yume no oku
Egakareta roukaku ni
Terasarete odoru
Oh in the air

Tsutsu marete modorenai
Toozakaru yume no oku
Egakareta roukaku ni

Terasarete odoru
Oh in the air

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of BUCK-TICK's song CASTLE IN THE AIR seem to describe a dreamlike state of mind, where reality and fantasy intertwine. The first verse sets the scene, as the singer seems to be cutting up the sky (perhaps symbolically), while a fragmented heart lies among the wreckage. The singer's object is described as being like a light, but cannot be thrown away or forgotten. Instead, they see a mosaic of dreams to be built one after another. The theme is repeated in the second verse, adding the image of a scarecrow wearing the shards of the singer's heart, and a chorus celebrating the unpredictability of life: "still more, still more" and "c'est la vie" (that's life).

The following verses are more ambiguous, and seem to describe a mix of emotions and memories that become difficult to sort out, "broken boys" and "old boys" entwined. The singer seems to feel regret, but also longing and a sense of being trapped. The final verses repeat themes from the first two, with dreamlike images featuring a "roukaku" (an old-fashioned term for a Chinese-style building, often used in Japanese poetry). The final line, "Oh in the air," suggests that the dreamworld and reality have become almost indistinguishable.

Line by Line Meaning

Sumikitte ita sora o kiritotte
Cutting through the tightly knit sky

Heart no kakera kabuseta scarecrow
A broken hearted scarecrow now stands

Hikari ni yo nita my object suterarezu
My object, resembling light, cannot be discarded

Tsugi hagidarake mosaic de yume o oru
In the next mosaic dream full of cracks

Kawa ita toki o wasure
Forgetting the time spent on the river

Me o tojite in to sky
Closing my eyes, looking up to the sky

Tenshi wa yami ni obie mabataki o sezu
The angel, in fear of the darkness, doesn't even blink

Climax akiteru broken boys
The broken boys have reached their climax

Wakatta kao shite soko kara escape
With a look of understanding, they escape from there

Otoshita kata ga furueru old boys
The dropped shoulders of the old boys tremble

Yokome de minagara mada mashida to draw a sigh
Looking sideways, they still let out a sigh