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.
Round And Round
The Brilliant Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the things that you say
Will just come back to you
You spit on life
As if though you couldn't care
You keep spitting on life
But don't you know
That will just bring you down
And I don't understand the faces you fake
All the things that you hate
Will just come back to you
You could probably say
It would happen anyway
You could probably say it
Cause it don't bother you
It's a crime
Think about it
And stop acting like a fool
Yes, it's time
Can't ignore it
Think about the things you do
Round and round
And up and down again
Through and through
Round and round
And one is two
Enough is enough
You know bad karma will just come back to you
When will you understand the people you hurt?
Don't you know that those words
Will just come back to you
You would probably say
That they're hurting anyway
You could probably say it
Why don't it bother you
It's a crime
Living your life
Without ever looking down
At the ground, at the flowers
Yeah, that you keep stepping on
And maybe you should notice
That they've done nothing to you
Or you might find out someday
When things turn upside down
And those flowers step on you
Round and round
And up and down again
Through and through
Round and round
And one is two
Enough is enough
Enough is enough
Why won't you understand?
That I've had enough
And I've taken all I can
And why do you do
All of the things that you do?
Yes, I want you
I want you to understand
That enough is enough
You know bad karma will just come back to you
The Brilliant Green's song "Round and Round" is a reflection on the consequences of negative actions and behavior. Lead vocalist Tomoko Kawase critiques the cynical and fake personas of others who seem to take pleasure in spitting on life and hurting others. She warns that karma will ultimately catch up to them, and their actions will come back to haunt them. The lyrics encourage the listener to take time to reflect on their actions and the impact they have on others, as well as the need to live a more mindful and compassionate life.
The chorus of the song reinforces the message of the lyrics, emphasizing the cyclical nature of life and the need to break the negative cycle. The line "enough is enough" is repeated, calling on the listener to recognize when it is time to stop a destructive pattern of behavior.
Overall, "Round and Round" is a powerful and thought-provoking song about the importance of mindfulness, compassion, and positive action.
Line by Line Meaning
No, I don't understand your cynical ways
I cannot comprehend the pessimistic attitude you possess
All the things that you say
Every word you utter
Will just come back to you
Will eventually return to you
You spit on life
You treat existence with contempt
As if though you couldn't care
As if you are indifferent to it
But don't you know
Aren't you aware
That will just bring you down
This behavior will only cause you downfall
And I don't understand the faces you fake
I don't comprehend the false expressions you put up
All the things that you hate
Everything that you despise
You could probably say
It's quite possible to argue
It would happen anyway
It would occur nonetheless
Cause it don't bother you
Because it doesn't trouble you
It's a crime
What you are doing is illegal
Think about it
Consider it thoughtfully
And stop acting like a fool
Cease behaving foolishly
Yes, it's time
Undeniably, it's the moment
Can't ignore it
Cannot overlook it
Think about the things you do
Reflect on your deeds
Round and round
Cyclically
And up and down again
And repetitively
Through and through
Completely
And one is two
And a single thing becomes two
Enough is enough
It has to stop now
You know bad karma will just come back to you
You are cognizant that ill fate will revisit you
When will you understand the people you hurt?
When will you comprehend the individuals you harm?
Don't you know that those words
Aren't you aware that those expressions
Will just come back to you
Will eventually return to you
You would probably say
You would likely make a statement
That they're hurting anyway
That they're already in pain nonetheless
Why don't it bother you
Why aren't you troubled by it?
Living your life
Leading your existence
Without ever looking down
Without ever gazing downwards
At the ground, at the flowers
At the soil, at the blooms
Yeah, that you keep stepping on
Yes, that you constantly trample on
And maybe you should notice
Perhaps you should observe
That they've done nothing to you
That they haven't caused any harm to you
Or you might find out someday
Or you may eventually discover
When things turn upside down
When circumstances become unfavorable
And those flowers step on you
And those flowers trample on you
Why won't you understand?
Why don't you comprehend?
That I've had enough
That I have reached the limit
And I've taken all I can
And I have tolerated as much as I possibly can
And why do you do
And for what reason do you perform
All of the things that you do?
All of the actions you undertake?
Yes, I want you
Yes, I desire you
I want you to understand
I want you to comprehend
That enough is enough
That it's time to put a stop to it
You know bad karma will just come back to you
You are aware that ill fate will revisit you
Contributed by Kaitlyn K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.