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.

RAZZLE DAZZLE
BUCK-TICK Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

ACTION!

Yume ga hora bousou chotto genkai
Kimi ga kieru kitto kaerenai
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

Shaburetsuke mousou motto ganbou
Kimi wa nedaru LOLLIPOP BABY

TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Tobikome utakata no BOYS & GIRLS
Ikiteite ureshii ka?
Yume no tsuzuki no you na niji iro yoake mae

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa

AGAIN!

Kimi to Moulin Rouge datte Weekend
Hana wa akaku hito wa hakanai
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

Soshite live or die haato choudai
Odori akasu konya jinsei wo
TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Tobikome utakata no BOYS & GIRLS
Ikiteite ureshii ka?
Yume no tsuzuki no you na niji iro yoake mae

Haidase taikutsu na rejisutansu
Sorenari de tanoshii ka?
Yume no tsuzuki no marude niji iro yoake mae

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa

OH YEAH YEAH YEAH

Overall Meaning

In BUCK-TICK's song RAZZLE DAZZLE, the chorus repeats the phrase "TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT" as an urging call to action. The lyrics seem to describe a wild and reckless night of chasing dreams and desires without limitations. The first verse portrays a certain limitation in the form of a vanished lover, perhaps indicating the singer's feeling of being trapped and left behind. However, they proceed to call for a frenzy of imagination and hope, with "shaburetsuke mousou motto ganbou" meaning "chew up expectations and develop more ambitions."

The second verse lays out a scene of the Moulin Rouge, a symbol of excitement and entertainment from turn-of-the-century Paris. The singer asserts that life is made of choices between pleasure and danger, exhaling a conquering "live or die" attitude. The chorus then resumes, with the phrase "kairaku kanbi ga" meaning "pleasure and simplicity is life." The bridge takes a more reflective tone, questioning the meaning of happiness and ending with the words "yume no tsuzuki no marude niji iro yoake mae," meaning "like the continuation of dreams, the rainbow-colored dawn."

The lyrics of RAZZLE DAZZLE convey a sense of restlessness and search for meaning, with a celebration of being alive and taking risks. The repeated refrain of "TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT" implores the listener to seize the moment with joy and abandon, finding pleasure even in the fleeting beauty of a bubble.

Line by Line Meaning

Yume ga hora bousou chotto genkai
Look, dreams can run wild, but there's a limit.

Kimi ga kieru kitto kaerenai
You're disappearing and surely won't come back.

TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT
Tonight, let's live it up!

Shaburetsuke mousou motto ganbou
Gulp down delusions, chase desires even harder.

Kimi wa nedaru LOLLIPOP BABY
You're the sluggish Lollipop Baby.

OH YEAH YEAH YEAH OH YEAH YEAH YEAH
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah!

Tobikome utakata no BOYS & GIRLS
Jump in, Boys and Girls- Like bubbles that disappear.

Ikiteite ureshii ka?
Are you happy living like this?

Yume no tsuzuki no you na niji iro yoake mae
Like the continuation of a dream, the rainbow-colored daybreak is ahead.

TONIGHT TONIGHT
Tonight, let's live it up!

Kairaku kanbi ga jinsei sa
Life is about enjoying pleasure and simplicity!