Refraction

Soooooo I’ve kind of been listening to Hikaru Utada’s new album, Heart Station. I don’t like it anywhere near as much as ULTRA BLUE, but there are still a few repeat-worthy songs on this one. Among them:

• “HEART STATION”
  

  心の電波　届いてますか?
  罪びとたちのHeart Station
  神様だけが知っている
  I miss you

  This song reminds me a lot of some of the songs on ULTRA BLUE, but a tad more melancholy. I also like the punning (or possible punning, I haven’t really looked at the lyrics) on heart/hertz/station. That’s mostly just a language geek thing, though. 😀

• “Prisoner of Love”
  

  I’m gonna tell you the truth
  人知れず辛い道を選ぶ
  私を応援してくれる
  あなただけを友と呼ぶ

  This wouldn’t sound too out of place on Exodus. Actually, who am I kidding? This song is better than most of the songs on that disk, but I’m kind of at a loss to explain why I like it so much.

• “虹色バス” (Niji-iro Bus)
  

  愛する人へ　想いを寄せて
  Everybody feels the same
  Everybody feels the same
  虹色バスで　虹の向こうへ
  みんなを乗せて　青空PASSで

  Although it’s upbeat, the melancholy that permeates this whole album (except for “Boku wa Kuma”) seeps into this one too. I almost dismissed it as “too cute” on first listen, but there’s such a good beat! As the last track (next to the bonus track), it actually lifts my mood a bit. 🙂

Okay, Utada Hikaru has just released a new single. Its incredibly deep title is: ぼくはくま (I’m a bear.)

And here, again, is a rushed translation:

ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま
車じゃないよ　くま　くま　くま
歩けないけど踊れるよ
喋れないけど歌えるよ
ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま

I’m a bear bear bear bear
Not a car; bear bear bear
I can’t walk, but I can dance
I can’t talk, but I can sing
I’m a bear bear bear bear

ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま
けんかはやだよ　くま　くま　くま
ライバルはエビフライだよ
ゼンセはきっとチョコレート
ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま

I’m a bear bear bear bear
??? bear bear bear
My rival is fried shrimp
I was probably chocolate in a past life
I’m a bear bear bear bear

Bonjour! Je m’appelle kuma
comment ca va?

Hello, my name is Kuma
How are you?

ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま
冬は眠いよ　くま　くま　くま
夜は「おやすみ、まくらさん」
朝は「おはよう、まくらさん」
ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま

I am a bear bear bear bear
Winter’s sleepy bear bear bear
At night, “Good night, Mr. Pillow”
In the morning, “Good morning, Mr. Pillow”
I am a bear bear bear bear

夜は「おやすみ、まくらさん」
朝は「おはよう、まくらさん」
ぼくはくま　九九　くま
ママ　くま　くま

At night, “Good night, Mr. Pillow”
In the morning, “Good morning, Mr. Pillow”
I am a bear ku-ku bear
Ma-ma bear bear

Man, is this an odd song, or what?

She’s not a car: “Car” in Japanese is kuruma, one syllable off from kuma (“bear”, but somehow I think you figured that out already).

Her rival is shrimp: Okay, at this I must admit I am utterly clueless. And chocolate in a past life? QUOI?!

Ca va?: Why is there French in the middle of this song? Just…. why?

Mama bear?: Part of that play on words with ku-ku (and ma-ma), see?

Say what you like about Hikaru Utada; the girl knows how to write catchy music. Each of her last three singles has been stuck in my head for quite some time.

I don’t even like the songs when I first listen to them. And, naturally, I have the faintest idea what they’re about unless I listen closely. They’re not even that sing-a-long-able! And yet, they have the catchiest hooks ever.

So, in an attempt at catharsis, I break down each of these songs to try and alleviate myself of this … earworm.

“Be My Last” is a plaintive ballad (replete with “aaaAAAAaaaAAAAhhh”s), plain and simple. I don’t even know what else to say about it! It seems like a very plain song. The title? “Be My Last”? Be my last what? I like Utada’s ballads. Most of the time. But I’m at a loss to explain why I’ve got this one stuck in my head. I don’t feel it’s amazing vocally or lyrically.

“Passion” is the theme for the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts 2. This can’t be classified as anything other than experimental. Between the reversed backing vocals and the cricket-like sounds in the background… bizarre. Not very mainstream. It’s relaxing and energizing at the same time. I know some people proclaimed this as “her best song yet!” I didn’t feel that way about it. I still don’t.

“Keep Tryin'” is her latest single, and it’s an upbeat number, although the intro’s a bit like “Passion”‘s. (The cover for the single is insane, though. Not like anything I’ve seen from Utada before, since her single covers are usually just a close-up of her face.) And no, I don’t particularly like the song, either. But I suppose it’s interesting in a way that not a lot of J-pop is these days.

And you know what, this didn’t help XP

Oh, and I have an mp3 of her covering Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Yeah. Interesting.