Zauner released a tape in June 2013 under the solo moniker Japanese Breakfast. The tape was titled June and boasted thirty tracks written and recorded every day of the month. A stark deviation from Little Big League's guitar-based indie rock, it showcased Zauner's dark lyrics, unique vocals and inherent knack for pop melody.
Two bedroom pop cassettes later, Japanese Breakfast returns with a first full-fledged LP and vinyl release, Psychopomp. The album explores Zauner's experimental interests and hosts a wide range of sound: jarring anime samples, minimalist ballads, rhythms and synths reminiscent of Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac paired with the moody intimacy of Mount Eerie. Psychopomp revisits and revamps lo-fi tracks and adds chilling new songs to fall in love with.
In 2019, Japanese Breakfast released two singles under the W Hotels music label, "Essentially" and a cover of the Tears for Fears song, Head Over Heels.
In 2021, Zauner returns, having released three singles to her upcoming album, Jubilee, which will be out on the 4th of June. The singles are Be Sweet, Posing in Bondage, and Savage Good Boy; they were released in this order.
The Body Is a Blade
Japanese Breakfast Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
About what's fair for everyone
Find what's left in you
Channel something good
Try your best to slowly withdraw
From the darkest impulses of your heart
Try your best to feel and receive
Calling it off, our hoax of trying
What's this place if you're not here?
Emptied the house and staged it for buying
Wave goodbye to all your things
Try your best to slowly withdraw
Try your best to slowly withdraw
Your body is a blade that moves while your brain is writhing
Knuckled under pain, you mourn but your blood is flowing
In Japanese Breakfast's song "The Body Is a Blade," the lyrics seem to be a commentary on the difficulty of self-improvement, specifically the struggle to reject one's negative impulses and embrace positivity. The first verse encourages the listener to not become too self-righteous about fairness and instead to channel something good from within. The second verse urges the listener to withdraw from their darker impulses, to feel and receive emotions, and then compares the body to a blade that cuts a path through life.
The chorus of the song, "Calling it off, our hoax of trying / What's this place if you're not here? / Emptied the house and staged it for buying / Wave goodbye to all your things," seems to suggest that one should let go of things that are holding them back in life in order to move forward. The final verse affirms the difficult nature of this process: "Knuckled under pain, you mourn but your blood is flowing."
Line by Line Meaning
Try not to get so righteous
Do not be self-righteous or haughty
About what's fair for everyone
Regarding what is just and equitable for all
Find what's left in you
Discover what is remaining in oneself
Channel something good
Channel positive energy or emotions
Try your best to slowly withdraw
Do your utmost to gradually retreat
From the darkest impulses of your heart
From the most negative and uncontrolled desires or feelings within oneself
Try your best to feel and receive
Make every effort to experience and accept
Your body is blade that cuts a path from day to day
Your physical being is like a cutting tool that creates one's way through each day
Calling it off, our hoax of trying
Abandoning the deception of our efforts
What's this place if you're not here?
What is the purpose of this location in the absence of you?
Emptied the house and staged it for buying
The residence has been cleared and prepared for sale
Wave goodbye to all your things
Bid farewell to all personal possessions
Your body is a blade that moves while your brain is writhing
Your physical being is like a blade, but your thoughts and emotions are in turmoil
Knuckled under pain, you mourn but your blood is flowing
Submit to suffering, grieve but still persevere
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB.
Written by: Michelle Chongmi Zauner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Zeokoz
The image of the body as a blade in this song reminds me of a poem by the Vietnamese poet, Ocean Vuong, from his collection 'Night Sky With Exit Wounds'
I'll just leave it here, as it, perhaps coincidentally, also contains endearing images of the speaker's mother. I feel that those who are drawn to this song may also appreciate the images evoked in this poem. Enjoy my friends :)
HEADFIRST // Ocean Vuong
Don't you know? A mother's love
neglects pride
the way fire
neglects the cries
of what it burns. My son,
even tomorrow
you will have today. Don't you know?
There are men who touch breasts
as they would
the tops of skulls. Men
who carry dreams
over mountains, the dead
on their backs.
But only a mother can walk
with the weight
of a second beating heart.
Stupid boy.
You can get lost in every book
but you'll never forget yourself
the way god forgets
his hands.
When they ask you
where you're from,
tell them your name
was fleshed from the toothless mouth
of a war-woman.
That you were not born
but crawled, headfirst -
into the hunger of dogs. My son, tell them
the body is a blade that sharpens
by cutting.
@casianacasiana
my 91 year old granma passed last week. leaving behind my 94 year old granpa... and is breaking my heart. im far from him, and i cant go to comfort him... for some reason this song speaks tome like my granma.. i translated to spanish for him.
Intenta no volverte tan correcte,
Acerca de lo que es justo para todos.
Encuentra en ti lo que queda
Canaliza algo bueno
Haz tu mejor esfuerzo para retirarte lentamente
De los impulsos mas oscuros de tu corazon
Haz tu mejor esfuerzo para sentir y recibir
Tu cuerpo es una cuchilla
Que abre el camino
Dia a dia
Ya, hasta aqui, el engaño de intentar...
Que es este lugar si tu no estas en el?
Vacie la casa, la aliste para vender
Me despedi de todas tus cosas..
Haz tu mejor esfuerzo para retirarte lentamente
Tu cuerpo es una cuchilla que se mueve mientras tu mente sigue retorciendose
Amasada por el dolor, te lamentas
Pero tu sangre sigue fluyendo..
@juanpdesan
The fact that this song was originally called "my mommy is sick" makes me hurt so much. That kind of pain is unbearable.
@bohemiandream6259
Same, this song already makes me bawl every time & that fact just made it so much more painful
@jazminevielle7757
Yeah the creator of this song had her mother sadly pass away and she wrote a book about it called “Crying in H Mart”
@trevorbrookshire4715
The struggles of emotional pain turns into a beautiful acceptance..
@Rainydayreal_estate
Your deserve more likes miss/mister
@hnnggg5001
dont tell the homies i cried.
tell them i broke down
@Sailorcali
When I read Crying in H Mart, the line “ I didn’t know the comforting words she probably longed for the way I long for them now. I didn’t know the type of effort it can take to simply move.” my mind immediately went to this song. Being so engulfed with Grief that even your body moving takes so much strength. Yet even with that kind of pain, your body still moves from day to day.
@hologem
i lost my grandma a few days ago due to covid-19, i’m finding Michelle’s music to be very comforting right now.
@peterstilliard
Thoughts with you.
@peterstilliard
Hope you can remember the good times and feel that you miss her because of the love you had which is something to be thankful for