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.
UNDER THE MOON LIGHT
BUCK-TICK Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dreaminess heya o someru tsuki no hikari
Stillness seijaku ni shizun de my heart
My lover kurayami ni kieteiku furueteru karada de cry out
I cry out under the moonlight
Sadness taba no mada no omoi hikari no naka* e
My lover yokogao ga kasundeku hibi wareta kokoro de cry out
I cry out under the moonlight
Woo goodbye my love
Woo goodbye your love
Toki o tomete sono hohoemi hitomi no naka kiete yuku moonlight
My lover kuchibiru ga nijundeku tokedashita hitomi de cry out
My lover konagonaku ochiteiku nureteiru hitomi de cry out
I cry out under the moonlight
Woo goodbye my love
Woo goodbye your love
Toki o tomete sono hohoemi hitomi no naka kiete yuku...
Woo goodbye my love
Woo goodbye your love
Dare mo inai hoshi no kanata te o hirogete kiete yuku moonlight
*kanji was "sekai"(world), Sakurai sings "naka"(inside)
The song "Under the Moonlight" by BUCK-TICK is a song that conveys emotions of longing, sorrow and desperation of a lover who is in such deep pain that they are at their wits' end. The verses convey a sense of quiet melancholy, with lines such as "Dreaminess heya o someru tsuki no hikari" (The moonlight colors my room with dreaminess) and "Stillness seijaku ni shizun de my heart" (The stillness sinks through my heart in silence) depicting the somber mood of the song. The first two verses describe the singer's pain in watching their lover disappear, with lines such as "My lover kurayami ni kieteiku furueteru karada de cry out" (My lover disappears into the darkness, my body trembles with the cry out) and "Darkness yume setsunaku kokoro o tsutsumu / Sadness taba no mada no omoi hikari no naka e" (The darkness envelopes my sad heart, the memories of the field of thorns in the light).
The choruses bring a note of finality to the singer's cries, with lines such as "Woo goodbye my love, Woo goodbye your love" being repeated to convey the sense that the relationship is ending. However, the verses continue to express the singer's emotional turmoil, with lines such as "My lover kuchibiru ga nijundeku tokedashita hitomi de cry out" (My lover's lips become blurred and disappear, I cry out with my eyes that become wet without reason). The song builds to a crescendo, with the singer's cries becoming more desperate and anguished until the last line is reached, "Dare mo inai hoshi no kanata te o hirogete kiete yuku moonlight" (I spread out my hands toward a starry sky where nobody is, and the moonlight disappears). The song's final note is one of resignation and acceptance, with the singer accepting that their love is gone and the moonlight, a symbol of hope, has disappeared.
Line by Line Meaning
Dreaminess heya o someru tsuki no hikari
The moonlight fills the room with a dreamy ambiance
Stillness seijaku ni shizun de my heart
My heart sinks into silence
My lover kurayami ni kieteiku furueteru karada de cry out
My lover disappears into the darkness as I cry out with a trembling body
I cry out under the moonlight
I shout out my sorrow under the moonlight
Darkness yume setsunaku kokoro o tsutsumu
The darkness envelops my heart with bittersweet dreams
Sadness taba no mada no omoi hikari no naka e
My feelings of longing for the past shine in the light
My lover yokogao ga kasundeku hibi wareta kokoro de cry out
My lover's face blurs as I cry out with a broken heart
Woo goodbye my love
Farewell my love
Toki o tomete sono hohoemi hitomi no naka kiete yuku moonlight
Stop time, and the smile disappears into the eyes, and the moonlight fades away
My lover kuchibiru ga nijundeku tokedashita hitomi de cry out
My lover's lips quiver as tears flow from melting eyes
My lover konagonaku ochiteiku nureteiru hitomi de cry out
My lover falls helplessly as tears wet their eyes
Woo goodbye your love
Farewell your love
Dare mo inai hoshi no kanata te o hirogete kiete yuku moonlight
Reaching out my hand to the lonely star, the moonlight disappears
Contributed by Maria D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.