the brilliant green, or buriguri for short, is a Japanese rock band. Tomoko… Read Full Bio ↴the brilliant green, or buriguri for short, is a Japanese rock band. Tomoko Kawase (川瀬智子 Kawase Tomoko) is the vocalist; her husband Shunsaku Okuda (奥田俊作 Okuda Shunsaku) provides all the other instruments after former lead guitarist Ryo Matsui (松井亮 Matsui Ryo) left in early 2010. To his fellow band members and fans alike, Okuda is affectionately known as "Leader" as he composed the majority of the band's music before Matsui left, and all of the music afterwards. The band were formed in 1995 after Ryo and Shunsaku spotted Tommy singing "Sometimes Always" by The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Rolling Stones written Marianne Faithfull hit "As Tears Go By" in a Kyoto karaoke bar.

The Brilliant Green take much of their influence from Western music, most predominantly The Beatles with over half their songs including English lyrics. They released their first single "Bye Bye Mr.Mug" in 1997 with little success, but their break came in 1998 when their third single "There Will Be Love There" was chosen as the theme song for popular the Japanese drama Love Again, and as a result went straight to the top of the charts. After another number one hit with "Tsumetai Hana" they released their self-titled debut album which sold over one million copies in just two days. On the back of this success their first national tour, There Will Be Live There, sold out across Japan in only three minutes. The Brilliant Green were suddenly one of the biggest bands in Japan.

In the following years, the band was prolific, releasing two more album, "Terra 2001" and "Los Angeles", along with severn more singles, and two clips DVD's and a superb live DVD entitled "Super Terra 2000".

In 2001,on the back of the "Los Angeles" album, Time magazine chose The Brilliant Green as one of the top ten contemporary acts outside the U.S.alongside such bands as Radiohead and Sigur Ros.

In 2002 Tommy embarked on her first solo project, Tommy february6. She released three singles, and a very successful self titled album, but this did not spell the end for The Brilliant Green.

The band returned with "The Winter Album", which was quite experimental, using samples and drum machines, but still retaining the core values of the band. Three very different singles also were spawned from this album, but the release of the final single, "I'M SO SORRY BABY" was the last we would hear from the band for almost five years,

The band members moved on to solo thier projects and producing songs for other artists. Despite rumours to the contary the group never officially broke up. Tommy resumed her career as a solo artist as Tommy February6 and now also Tommy Heavenly6, her rockier alter ego. Under these two names she released a total of sixteen singles and four studio albums in the period between 2002-2007.

Ryo Matsui also started a new band named Meister, which saw him working with musical heroes from his past, both from the U.K and Scandanavia.

On November 22, 2003, band members Tommy and Shunsaku Okuda announced their marriage.

On June 1st it was announced that after 5 years of inactivity, the brilliant green would be returning with a new single to celebrate their 10th anniversary. The song, titled "Stand by me", is the ending theme for the new series of TV drama "Tantei GakuenQ" which began on July 3rd 2007. The single itself was released on August 22nd, 2007, and the band embarked on a hectic promotional tour, which included many TV appearances and live shows.

The second single release of their comeback, "Enemy", was given a Christmas release, on December 12th, 2007 and the bands activity continued un-abated in 2008, when they provided the opening theme for the anime series, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 with yet another new single, called "Ash Like Snow", which was released on February 6th that year. This was closely followed by a greatest hits CD & clips DVD, which was released on February 20th 2008. The summer of 2008 saw brief appearances at two live events, Re-Style LIVE Volume 5 for two dates in June, and at the GUNDAM00 X CODE GEASS festival in August.

The band also announced that fans should expect more activity in the future, and that a new album is planned that will consist of songs that have already been written by the band over the 10 years they have been together, but never been recorded.

The return of the band seems to have been put on hold, at least for a while as Tommy has recently returned to solo project duty, with a contribution to the 'We Love Cyndi' Cyndi Lauper tribute album as Tommy february6, and a new single, 'PAPERMOON' as Tommy heavenly6 , and also she released "Best of" albums for both february and heavenly, both of which included a new song made especially for these albums. It was in the sleeve for this album that Tommy finally confirmed what we all suspected, that it was infact members of The Brilliant Green, Shunsaku and Ryo that had contributed music and production for Tommys solo projects under various pseudonyms all along. Tommy heavenly6 quickly followed this up with a brand new studio album called I KILL MY HEART which was also made by the members of The Brilliant Green. Alot of fans even commented that this could have very easily been a Buriguri album..

Whether the new Buriguri studio album will ever happen or not is only known by the band themselves, but signs are that the band are still happily working together on Tommys solo projects, but we can never second guess Tommy on what she or the band is wanting to do next, for now we'll just have to wait and see.

Promising signs of a return appeared on 20th May in Japan when it was announced that the band would be splitting from their agency KEN-ON aswell as Sony Music Japan and DefSTAR. From 1st June 2009 onwards they will be going it alone with a new official website and blog, plus they promised "To power up The Brilliant Green again soon".

Finally on December 1st 2009 the official site changed to the simple message "The Brilliant Green - Coming soon", signalling the beginning of a new dawn. It was also soon discovered that the band had signed a deal with Warner Music Japan, and on January 5th 2010, it was announced that the first song from the new regime "Like Yesterday" would be released on February 24th and that a new temporary Myspace page featuring a demo of the new song would begin on January 12th.

Another new single "Blue Daisy" is to be released on June 30th 2010 with hopefuly a long awaited new studio album to follow. But this news was quickly followed by the devastating news that Ryo Matsui had left the band! Indeed, Ryo did not appear in the music video for BLUE DAISY, and was replaced by what appeared to be two fake band members and Tim Jensen, Tommy's long time friend and English lyric advisor. The same theme was used for the next single "I Just Can't Breathe" which was released shortly afterwards.

Finally after almost eight long years, it was announced that the band would be releasing their fifth studio album on 15th September 2010. The album would contain eight brand news songs, a cover version of the Blur track, "Song 2" along with the three previously released singles and two of the B-sides from those releases.

The Brilliant Green will playing as part of Warner Music Japan's 40th anniversary celebrations at the Budokan on October 31st 2010. It was also confirmed that the two aforementioned "fake" band members, were indeed not fake. James (JJ) De Barrado (drums) and James MacWhyte (bass) would in fact be appearing as support musicians for the Budokan show.

Escape
The Brilliant Green Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

細い影が窓辺を照らす鉛色の夜明け
膝を抱えうつむいている
遠いとにかく遠いとにかく

無感覚に光を受けて乾いた目は冴える
顔を上げて明暗を知る
痛む心が痛む心が

軽薄な朝にあるだけのこの虚しさを捧ぐ
凍えそうな胸が散らばる心がどうしようもなくて

逃げたいだけ

瞳伏せて耳を澄ませば辿り着くわまもなく
それでもまだ心が痛む心が

軽薄な朝にあるだけのこの虚しさを捧ぐ
凍えそうな胸が散らばる心がどうしようもなくて

まだ心が
凍えそうな胸が散らばる心がどうしようもなくて

逃げたいだけ知らないどこかへどこかへ

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Escape" by The Brilliant Green speak of a person in a state of emotional pain and despair. The opening lines describe a gray and dreary morning, as the thin shadows cast by the first light of dawn illuminate the window. The singer sits hunched over, holding their knees and staring downwards. They feel distant and disconnected from everything around them, lost in their own pain.

As daylight grows stronger, the dryness in their eyes allows them to see the contrast between light and shadow. Their heart aches with pain, and the only thing they can do is offer their emptiness to the frivolous morning. Their chest feels numb and empty, and they feel powerless to do anything about it. The singer feels overwhelmed and just wants to escape, to run away to some unknown place where they can escape their pain.

Even though the singer feels this way, they hold onto a glimmer of hope. If they close their eyes and listen closely, they can find a way to move forward and overcome their pain. But still, their heart aches, and they feel lost and alone in the world, even as they search for a path out of their despair.

Overall, "Escape" is a poignant and emotional song that speaks to the feeling of being trapped within one's own pain and searching for a way to escape. It speaks to the resilience of the human spirit, even in the darkest of times.

Line by Line Meaning

細い影が窓辺を照らす鉛色の夜明け
The thin silhouette illuminates the window, signaling the start of a dark morning.

膝を抱えうつむいている
I sit with bended knees, staring at the ground.

遠いとにかく遠いとにかく
Far, really far, just too far for me to reach.

無感覚に光を受けて乾いた目は冴える
The light reflects off my dry eyes as I remain emotionless.

顔を上げて明暗を知る
Only upon lifting my face do I realize the contrast between light and shadow.

痛む心が痛む心が
My heart aches, deeply aches.

軽薄な朝にあるだけのこの虚しさを捧ぐ
I offer up this emptiness that exists solely in an insincere morning.

凍えそうな胸が散らばる心がどうしようもなくて
My heart and chest feel so cold and scattered, leaving me helplessly lost.

逃げたいだけ
I just want to run away.

瞳伏せて耳を澄ませば辿り着くわまもなく
If I shut my eyes and listen closely, I'll arrive at my destination soon enough.

まだ心が凍えそうな胸が散らばる心がどうしようもなくて
My heart and chest still feel cold and scattered, leaving me helplessly lost.