THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT (also known as TMGE or in Japanese: ミッシェル・ガン・エレフ… Read Full Bio ↴THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT (also known as TMGE or in Japanese: ミッシェル・ガン・エレファント) was a garage rock band formed in Tokyo, Japan. Its music is known for the loud guitars of Abe Futoshi and lead singer Chiba Yusuke's loud, gravelly yet melodious vocals. Other members of the band include Kuhara Kazuyuki (drums) and Ueno Koji (bass). The band was formed in 1991, while the band members were students at Tokyo's Meiji Gakuin University. Their name came from a combination of the name of Billy Childish's offbeat band Thee Headcoats and a former bassist's mispronunciation of the name of The Damned's album, Machine Gun Etiquette.

Their first major label release, wonder style, was released in 1995, and produced in London, United Kingdom, by Chris Brown, who previously engineered albums and tracks for Radiohead and Pink Floyd. Their breakthrough album, however, was 1998's Gear Blues which sold more than 500,000 copies, a huge number in the Japanese recording industry. Gear Blues was released in the United States in 2000 by Alive Records, but the band's success in that country never reached the level that they had in Japan, although they had moderate success in Europe. With the release of Gear Blues, the band stopped using lowercase letters in their name, and became known as THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT, with capitalized letters. The band announced that they would break up on October 11, 2003, after their Last Heaven tour of Japan.

After breaking up, the members have all continued activities in other bands. Chiba Yusuke recorded two albums and several smaller releases while in ROSSO, and has participated in projects of smaller scale, such as Midnight Bankrobbers, RAVEN and THE MIDWEST VIKINGS. In 2006, he and drummer Kuhara Kazuyuki got together again and formed The Birthday. As for the other TMGE members, bassist Ueno Koji was part of the three-piece rock band Radio Caroline for several years before suspending activities in 2009, and helped record the HIATUS' album Trash We'd Love. While not as active after the breakup as some of the other members, guitarist Abe Futoshi has among other things appeared in a band called KOOLOGI.

On July 22nd, 2009, it was announced on the band's official homepage that Abe Futoshi had passed away due to an acute epidural hematoma, a condition often caused by a blow to the side of the head. Abe was 43 years old.

Members:
Chiba Yusuke (チバユウスケ) – Vocal, guitar
Abe Futoshi (アベフトシ) – Guitar
Ueno Koji (ウエノコウジ) – Bass
Kuhara Kazuyuki (クハラカズユキ) – Drums

Official Webpages:
http://www.rockin-blues.com/
http://www.universal-music.co.jp/tmge/
http://columbia.jp/~michelle/

ゲット・アップ・ルーシー
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

ねぇルーシー聞かせてよ
そこの世界の音
黙りこむ黙りこむ
ゲット・アップ・ルーシー
ねぇルーシー教えてよ
空で花を見たか
黙りこむ黙りこむ
ゲット・アップ・ルーシー

憧れの森のなか
歩いてるけど眼は閉じたまま

ねぇルーシー二人
幸せ見つけたね
終わりだね終わりだね
ゲット・アップ・ルーシー
ねぇルーシーかなり
深い海に来てる
沈み込む沈み込む
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
憧れの森のなか
歩いてるけど目は閉じたまま

ねぇルーシー聞かせてよ
そこの世界の音
黙りこむ黙りこむ
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
ねぇルーシー教えてよ
空で花を見たか
黙りこむ黙りこむ
ゲット・アップ・ルーシー
憧れの森のなか
歩いてるけど眼は閉じたまま
歩いてるけど眼は閉じたまま
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー

ゲットーアップ・ルーシー
ゲットーアップ・ルーシー

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's song "ゲット・アップ・ルーシー" (Get Up Lucy) are about a character named Lucy. The singer is asking Lucy to share her experiences and insights with them. They want to know about the sounds of Lucy's world and if she has seen flowers in the sky. Despite being in a forest, Lucy walks with her eyes closed, lost in her own world of longing and desire.

In the second verse, the singer mentions that Lucy and someone else have found happiness together. But it seems like this happiness is coming to an end, hence the repetition of "it's over" in the lyrics. They also mention that Lucy is now in a deep sea, sinking further and further. Again, Lucy walks in the forest with closed eyes, indicating that she is still lost in her own thoughts and desires.

The chorus repeats the same lines from the beginning, emphasizing the singer's yearning to understand Lucy's world and experiences. Despite walking in the forest, Lucy's eyes remain closed, symbolizing her detachment from reality and her inner journey.

Overall, the lyrics of "ゲット・アップ・ルーシー" convey a sense of curiosity and longing. The singer is fascinated by Lucy and wants to understand her perspective and experiences, even though Lucy appears to be lost in her own world and disconnected from the present.

Line by Line Meaning

ねぇルーシー聞かせてよ
Hey Lucy, tell me

そこの世界の音
The sound of that world over there

黙りこむ黙りこむ
I fall into silence, I fall into silence

ゲット・アップ・ルーシー
Get up, Lucy

ねぇルーシー教えてよ
Hey Lucy, tell me

空で花を見たか
Did you see the flowers in the sky?

黙りこむ黙りこむ
I fall into silence, I fall into silence

ゲット・アップ・ルーシー
Get up, Lucy

憧れの森のなか
In the forest of my longing

歩いてるけど眼は閉じたまま
Though I'm walking, my eyes remain closed

ねぇルーシー二人
Hey Lucy, the two of us