A Crime of Conscience Sort of Triple Threat
FOOL’S MATE 2005.04 vol 282, p. 91-92
Original text: 柳本 剛
English Translation: Jea
Please note that this is just a partial translation of the interview.
Page 91
Interviewer: I have high hopes for it. Well then, there was indeed an announcement at that oneman, that 3 maxi-singles will be released in 3 consecutive months, but the original music of first release gin no tsuki kuroi hoshi on March 30th was whose?
Saga: Present. When the tour ended and I had settled down, I spoke with everyone about a vision I had that was like, “from now on, I’d like to show this side of us”. Taking that in, I returned home and in that time when I was pondering by myself, this is the song that was born. I didn’t put any particular thought or colour into the song itself; if anything, it’s like it emerged naturally. Therefore, as though it were a drawing of a background with no main point, I brought it to everyone, kinda tossed it at them, and was like, “do something with this and give it shape for me”. I filled it with feelings of, “from here on, I’d like to try making these sorts of things.”
Interviewer: In terms of my impression of listening to it at the live, what I got was a vague, “winter” impression. However, it wasn’t an image of snow falling heavily and piling up, if anything it was the end of winter… I felt a vitality like a premonition of the coming of spring. It’s a pop tune that has vigor, that has a radiance that sparkled, so I daresay, I think that’s the impression I got. I think that in ALICE NINE.’s songs, there aren’t really any that feature a seasonal feel, but I get the sense that this song alone certainly does have a clear seasonal colour to it.
Show: It does. This set of 3 actually have a concept; we thought we’d try giving them the theme of “flowers”. March is irises, April is sakura, and May is lillies… so, it is precicely that we were trying to depict the situation of winter changing to spring. So these 3 songs give quite the awareness of a seasonal feel. Timing-wise, it is being released in the season of spring on the 30th of March, but this is a winter song.
Interviewer: I see. In terms of your lyrics, Show-san, they have poetic imagery. Rather than putting your own thoughts and intentions into words, you write as though you’re painting a scene. Like GRADATION, which was part of your mini-album.
Show: When I write lyrics, I write with the sense that the writing is arising from the scene that I see from the music. Because with that way of writing the words come out of me without reservation. …In this song [gin no tsuki kuroi hoshi] I had an image of snow falling in a Nordic country, and auroras spreading across the sky.
Interviewer: Ah, I felt that as well.
Saga: The songs that I make, they naturally have a wintery feel. Don’t you think so?
Interviewer: Hmmmm… you mean like in honjitsu wa seiten nari?
Saga: Yes, I think it’s a winter song, but…
Interviewer: Well, it certainly does feel cold.
Saga: It does! That’s right, it’s cold! You could say the temperature is low, couldn’t you?
Interviewer: True, true, true. That does completely come across.
Page 92
Saga: If I were to say one or the other, the coupling song kousai STRIPE is the one I prefer.
Interviewer: Wait, really?
Everyone else: (bursts out laughing)
Interviewer: It’s extremely surprising. This is really different from gin no tsuki kuroi hoshi isn’t it? Would you say it’s ALICE NINE.-style punk?
Saga: There’s a song called hana ichi monme on the 1st single, isn’t there? I think it’s sort of like an extension of that world.
Interviewer: Ah, I see. So then, a straight-up rock way of interpreting it would be closer?
Saga: Yeah, for me at least it would be. In that way, it has both a Japanese and a Western feel.
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If you would like to share the translation, please link back to this entry rather than re-posting it. You can also find these snippets on the 9kumiParade twitter account [here]. By all means, translate this interpretation into other languages if you like! Just drop me a message to let me know. May ALICE NINE. reach all corners of the galaxy ♥