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.
COSMOS
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
小さな手の平には 永遠の様な世界
何故に僕たちは生きる
暗闇走る様に 愛さえ見失う
感じるかい僕の声
感じてる それは愛
コスモスが咲き乱れる
この世界の果てに
見えるかい子供達よ
歌 唄いながら
君に似てる 愛だけがそこにある
六日目の朝に出会った
白ヘビが見る夢は 全て消えた世界
感じるかい僕の声
感じてる それが愛
コスモスが咲き乱れる
この世界の果てに
血にまみれた 愛だけがそこにある
見えるかい子供達よ
歌 唄いながら
君に似てる 愛だけがそこにある
コスモスが咲き乱れる
この世界の果てに
血にまみれた 愛だけがそこにある
見えるかい子供達よ
歌 唄いながら
君に似てる 愛だけはそこにある
The lyrics of COSMOS by BUCK-TICK describe a desire for chaos and a longing for an eternal world held in the small palm of a child's hand. The song speaks of how, despite living in a dark world where we easily lose sight of even love itself, there is still something that we can feel that is eternal and infinite. As the cosmos blooms and flourishes, the lyrics remind the listener that, at the end of everything there is only love that is stained with blood, a love that only children can see singing out.
The song itself is layered with deep symbolism and meaning. There is a sense of longing for something infinite and eternal that is woven throughout the lyrics, exemplified by the desire for the cosmos to bloom in full force. At the same time, there is the assertion that within this world of chaos and darkness, it is only love that remains after everything else has fallen away. The core of the song’s imagery is borne of how beauty and violence come together, as represented by the cosmos that blooms amidst blood, over and over again.
Line by Line Meaning
僕を狂わせて欲しい
I want you to drive me crazy
小さな手の平には 永遠の様な世界
In the palm of your small hand, there is a world that feels like eternity
何故に僕たちは生きる
Why do we live?
暗闇走る様に 愛さえ見失う
We run through the darkness and even lose sight of love
感じるかい僕の声
Can you feel my voice?
感じてる それは愛
If you can, that is love
コスモスが咲き乱れる この世界の果てに 血にまみれた 愛だけがそこにある
Cosmos blooms wildly at the end of this world, where only love, smeared in blood, exists
見えるかい子供達よ 歌 唄いながら 君に似てる 愛だけがそこにある
Can you see it, children? While singing, love, which resembles you, is there
六日目の朝に出会った 白ヘビが見る夢は 全て消えた世界
On the morning of the sixth day, I met a white snake whose dream was a world that had disappeared
コスモスが咲き乱れる この世界の果てに 血にまみれた 愛だけがそこにある
Cosmos blooms wildly at the end of this world, where only love, smeared in blood, exists
見えるかい子供達よ 歌 唄いながら 君に似てる 愛だけがそこにある
Can you see it, children? While singing, love, which resembles you, is there
コスモスが咲き乱れる この世界の果てに 血にまみれた 愛だけがそこにある
Cosmos blooms wildly at the end of this world, where only love, smeared in blood, exists
見えるかい子供達よ 歌 唄いながら 君に似てる 愛だけがそこにある
Can you see it, children? While singing, love, which resembles you, is there
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Atsushi Sakurai
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind