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.
DOWN
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hi baby. koko e oide yo
Tenshi mitai ni ore wo otoshite hoshii
Warawanai omae no kao de shizuka ni hateru
SHAMU no you sa tokeaitai
Midaredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
Hi baby. hayaku oide yo
PIG mitai na ore wo aishite hoshii
Uragiru yubisaki de subete wo tsukamu
Nokesoru sora tobasetekure
Kuzuredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
Mitsumeatta omae to no weekend. mezameta nara ore mo omae no yume sa
Hi baby. okaerinasai
Itsuka mirai wa hikari kagayaku darou
Sekaijuu yami to natta jigoku no kisetsu
Watashi wa tori ni natte tondeyuku
Tondeyuku sekaijuu yami ni natte omae mo mienai
Ore wa tori ni natte tondeyuku tondeyuku
Midaredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
Mitsumeatta omae to no weekend. mezameta nara ore mo omae no yume sa
Kuzuredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
Mitsumeatta omae to no weekend. mezameta nara ore mo omae no yume sa
The lyrics of "DOWN" by BUCK-TICK seem to be riddled with intense emotions, most notably obsession and a sense of falling apart. The song begins with the singer addressing someone - presumably a lover - in a seductive manner, asking them to come to him like an angel and take him away. He also mentions how their quick smile tranquilizes him, suggesting that he is completely at his lover's mercy. The metaphor of melting like the sun-bearing killer whale suggests the intensity of physical attraction, and the longing to blend in - or perhaps escape - with the other person.
As the song progresses, the singer's tone becomes increasingly frantic and desperate. He imagines his lover laughing at him while looking at his crazed face, fueling his madness further. He refers to a "PIG" while requesting them to love him, indicating a sense of self-hatred that the singer may be suffering from. The lines "I fly away like a bird, becoming unseen in the darkness of the world" may be implying an impending sense of doom, where he takes on the form of a bird, either to escape or to die.
Towards the end of the lyrics, the singer addresses his lover once more, expressing his hope that they will meet again in the future. The lines "I fly away like a bird, becoming unseen in the darkness of the world" are repeated, along with the lines "I become a bird and fly away, and you disappear in the darkness of the world." Overall, the song seems to be about being consumed by obsession, and the need for escape.
Line by Line Meaning
Hi baby. koko e oide yo
Hello, my dear. Come to me here.
Tenshi mitai ni ore wo otoshite hoshii
I want you to drop me like an angel.
Warawanai omae no kao de shizuka ni hateru
Silently decay with your unsmiling face.
SHAMU no you sa tokeaitai
I want to blend together like Shamu.
Midaredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
You must be laughing at my disordered face.
Mitsumeatta omae to no weekend. mezameta nara ore mo omae no yume sa
On the weekend we gazed into each other's eyes, when I wake up, I am in your dream.
Hi baby. hayaku oide yo
My love, please come quickly.
PIG mitai na ore wo aishite hoshii
I want you to love me like a pig.
Uragiru yubisaki de subete wo tsukamu
With my fingers that betray, I'll grasp everything.
Nokesoru sora tobasetekure
Let's fly away to the sky that we can swallow.
Hi baby. okaerinasai
Welcome home, my dear.
Itsuka mirai wa hikari kagayaku darou
Someday, the future will shine with light.
Sekaijuu yami to natta jigoku no kisetsu
The season when the world turned to darkness and became a hell.
Watashi wa tori ni natte tondeyuku
I will become a bird and fly away.
Tondeyuku sekaijuu yami ni natte omae mo mienai
Flying away, becoming a world of darkness, you won't see me either.
Ore wa tori ni natte tondeyuku tondeyuku
I will become a bird and fly away, fly away.
Midaredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
You must be laughing at my disordered face.
Mitsumeatta omae to no weekend. mezameta nara ore mo omae no yume sa
On the weekend we gazed into each other's eyes, when I wake up, I am in your dream.
Kuzuredashita ore no kao de omae wa warau darou
You must be laughing at my crumbling face.
Mitsumeatta omae to no weekend. mezameta nara ore mo omae no yume sa
On the weekend we gazed into each other's eyes, when I wake up, I am in your dream.
Contributed by Isaac L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.