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.
ILLUSION
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
幾千の雫求め合う だけど…全て ILLUSION
狂おしくむせるほど ただ恋したくて
傷つけた透き通る肩を 強く抱きしめても
閉ざされた心奪えずに 冷えた体 ILLUSION
切なさも愛しさも ああ感じたくて
AH REMEMBER YOU
溶けて消えた白い季節
AH REMEMBER YOU
今も I LOVE YOU 淡くよみがえる
WOO AH I STILL LOVE YOU
狂おしくむせるほど ただ恋したくて
切なさも愛しさも ああ感じたくて
AH REMEMBER YOU
溶けて消えた白い季節
AH REMEMBER YOU
今も I LOVE YOU 淡く
AH REMEMBER YOU
溶けて消えた白い季節
AH REMEMBER YOU
今も I LOVE YOU 淡くよみがえる
想い出のメリーゴーランド…全て ILLUSION
The lyrics to BUCK-TICK's song ILLUSION describe the singer's longing for a past relationship that has vanished like an illusion. The melody evokes the image of a carousel spinning endlessly, while time does not stop, and their memories fade away. The first two lines convey the fleeting nature of memories that come and go, and how they can be deceiving. The line "幾千の雫求め合う" means "thousands of drops (of tears) seek each other," implying the pain of the separation.
The chorus repeats the phrase "AH REMEMBER YOU," emphasizing the nostalgia and love felt by the singer towards their past lover. The white season mentioned in the lyrics could refer to winter, symbolizing the coldness and emptiness of the loss. Despite the pain, the singer still longs for the love and passion they shared, expressed in the line "狂おしくむせるほど ただ恋したくて" , meaning "I just want to love madly, suffocating from the intensity." The song ends with the phrase "想い出のメリーゴーランド…全て ILLUSION," literally meaning "the memories of the merry-go-round, all an illusion," indicating that the past relationship was nothing but a fleeting dream.
Overall, the lyrics of ILLUSION evoke a bittersweet and melancholic sentiment towards a lost love. The image of the carousel and the repeated line "AH REMEMBER YOU" reinforce the passage of time and the struggle to hold onto fading memories.
Line by Line Meaning
想い出のメリーゴーランド めぐる時間も戯れ
The memories of the merry-go-round and the passing of time are all just a playful illusion.
幾千の雫求め合う だけど…全て ILLUSION
Thousands of droplets come together, but everything is just an illusion.
狂おしくむせるほど ただ恋したくて
I just want to love so intensely that it takes my breath away.
傷つけた透き通る肩を 強く抱きしめても
Even if I hold tightly onto her transparent shoulder that I hurt, I can't steal her closed heart, and my body feels cold, just an illusion.
閉ざされた心奪えずに 冷えた体 ILLUSION
Unable to steal her closed heart, I only feel a cold body, everything is just an illusion.
切なさも愛しさも ああ感じたくて
I just want to feel this heart-wrenching pain and love.
AH REMEMBER YOU 溶けて消えた白い季節
Ah, I remember you, the white season melted away.
AH REMEMBER YOU 今も I LOVE YOU 淡くよみがえる
Ah, I remember you, even now, I can faintly feel my love for you rising up again.
WOO AH I STILL LOVE YOU
Woo, ah, I still love you.
想い出のメリーゴーランド…全て ILLUSION
The memories of the merry-go-round, all of it is just an illusion.
Contributed by Violet P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@user-ef1tb2jm2c
BUCK-TICKの中で1番好きな曲です。
聴いていると、高校生だった当時の事を思い出します。
決して上手いとは言えないこの頃の櫻井さん、でもこの初々しさがこの曲に合っていて切なさが倍増です。
櫻井さんの鋭くも優しい眼差しを忘れません…同じ時代に生きられて感謝です。
@user-nf1vh6dp1r
櫻井さん今までありがとうございました！！中学生の時にBUCK-TICKをしれて良かったです。こんなカッコ良い人見た事ないよ
涙が止まらないけど今日も重低音がバクチクしてるよ！！
@blue_._myao
令和になっても聴いてる人
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@user-gp7ir3ic9y
未だに信じられない。だけどこんなにもいろんな世代の方が知ってくれているのは音楽性だけでは無いと思う。
櫻井さん、初めて行ったライブの時からファンでしたが素晴らしい楽曲達共々ファンでいようと思う
@BOZUBOOS
私は群馬県藤岡市民です⋅⋅⋅まさか同じ高校同級生の櫻井が亡くなったとは⋅⋅⋅😢寿も号泣しただろう
@kmarvelous.1654
あっちゃんや寿さんの同級生さんですか？
自分が高1の頃、BUCK-TICKがメジャーデビューした当時からのファンです。
このIllusion… 昨年もLiveで歌われてました🥺
あっちゃんが逝去されたことは今でも信じ難いですが、ファンの心にはいつもあっちゃんやBUCK-TICKのメンバーがいます🥹
夜分にすみません、失礼しました🙇♂️
@BOZUBOOS
@@kmarvelous.1654 、高校の先輩は、あの氷室京介さんです。
@user-fz9ou6wk6f
本当に色褪せない歌です。今聞いても…皆んなに聞いて欲しい。ＢＵＣＫ－ＴｉＣＫの素晴らしさを。
@shujimoriya4896
この曲のプロモ入ったビデオの時、高3で初恋重なって涙流した…何故か、53歳になった今でもカラオケで歌うし、揺さぶる。恋って愛じゃねぇんだって教えてもらった曲でした。ご冥福をお祈りします。
@m.suzuki7931
昨年50歳になりました。
櫻井敦司永遠に…
BUCK〜TICK永遠に…
中学1年からほぼ毎日イリュージョン聴いています。
自分がいつか死ぬまで聴き続けます。