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.
Maria
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
醜悪で美しく
心の中 掻きむしるほど
恋の歌くちずさむ
罪深き お前は逃げられない
君はもうただ 影踏み遊び
かかとにまとわりつく
殺されても 君を許そう
罪深き お前は逃げられない
この手から
望むのは お前のそのすべて
その魂
そうさ 俺はお前 愛している
心のドス黒い血さわぐ
そうだ 俺のマリア 命もやる
ブクブクと肉になる前に
罪深き お前は逃げられない
この手から
望むのは お前のそのすべて
その魂
そうさ 俺はお前 愛している
心のドス黒い血さわぐ
そうだ 俺のマリア 命もやる
ブクブクと肉になる前に
そうさ 俺はお前 愛している
心のドス黒い血さわぐ
そうだ 俺のマリア 命もやる
ダラダラと骨になる前に...
The lyrics to BUCK-TICK's song "Maria" tell the story of a person deeply and passionately in love with someone who they feel is both ugly and beautiful. The song is addressed directly to this person, with the singer promising to sing to them alone. The love they feel is all-consuming and painful, causing them to tear themselves apart from the inside out as they pour themselves into the lyrics of a love song.
Throughout the song, the singer also acknowledges the sins and darkness within themselves and their beloved, but express the desire to forgive and love them anyway. The repeated line "you cannot escape your sin" underscores the idea that they are both flawed and imperfect, but still deserving of love. The chorus asks for all of their beloved's being, including their soul, while the final verse expresses a willingness to give up everything, including their own life, for this love.
Overall, "Maria" is a powerful and intense exploration of love's darker aspects, including pain, sin, and sacrifice.
Line by Line Meaning
あなただけに 歌ってあげる
I'll sing to you and only you.
醜悪で美しく
Ugly and beautiful at the same time.
心の中 掻きむしるほど 恋の歌くちずさむ
I sing a love song that tears me apart inside.
罪深き お前は逃げられない 君はもうただ 影踏み遊び かかとにまとわりつく 殺されても 君を許そう だけど解ッテルデショウ？
You, who is full of sin, cannot escape. You just play with shadows, clinging to your heels. Even if I were to kill you, I'd forgive you. But will you understand?
この手から 望むのは お前のそのすべて その魂
I desire every part of you, including your soul, from these hands of mine.
そうさ 俺はお前 愛している 心のドス黒い血さわぐ そうだ 俺のマリア 命もやる ブクブクと肉になる前に
Yes, I love you. My dark, sharp blood throbs in my heart. That's right, my Maria, I'll even give up my life for you, before I turn into a lump of flesh.
ダラダラと骨になる前に...
Before I turn into a pile of bones, slowly and lazily...
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: 敦司 櫻井
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind