In this article, I would like to discuss the lyrics of the new song “POP SONG” by the very popular artist Kenshi Yonezu.
This is the commercial song for PlayStation’s new commercial “Play Has No Limits.
It is a work that is typical of Yonezu.
Let’s check it out, along with all the commercials!
[ad1]New PlayStation commercial “Play Has No Limits”
The new commercial was released on January 23.
In honor of PlayStation’s watchword “1, 2, 3,” the commercial will be randomly sent to users who activate PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 from midnight on January 23.
On the anniversary of PlayStation, it became a big event that many users activated all at once.
This is also the first time in Japan that an artist’s new song will be released for the first time on PlayStation.
Another great achievement added to Yonezu’s musical history!
Mr. Yonezu participated not only in the commercial song, but also in the conceptualization of the idea and character design.
Mr. Yonezu came up with the idea of “transformation”.
In the commercial, one of the soldiers transforms into the character played by Yonezu and plays with the other soldiers.
The finely crafted commercial is as powerful as a scene from a movie, so please take a watch!
POP SONG Lyrics Discussion
Before discussing the lyrics, I would like to think about the title “POP SONG”.
Kenshi Yonezu is famous as an artist who puts many layers of meaning and feelings into his songs.
Of course, this song, created as a commercial song for PlayStation, has a lot of meaning to it.
The title “POP SONG” can be abbreviated to “PS”, which stands for “PlayStation”.
The word “POP” itself also means “to pop out,” and some people thought that it could mean “enemy characters popping out in the game.
In the music video, one of the soldiers gathered in the castle square transforms into a demon-like character played by Yonezu.
The soldier’s head was hit by a stone that looked like a PlayStation 5 controller.
The “△◯✕□” PlayStation symbol also appears from the light during the transformation, suggesting that this demon is a symbol of PlayStation.
The devil’s tights are also blue, the image color of SONY.
Focusing on color, the color of the soldier confronting Mr. Yonezu is red.
This is the famous color of Nintendo, the rival of PlayStation.
Maybe I’m overthinking this, but it could be seen as SONY challenging Nintendo’s many soldiers to a fight.
Then, let’s look at the lyrics.
I’m singing about love in a playful way, baby, shimmering, chic melody
There’s no one to be found, just another night
Empty-headed, cheap harmonies Everybody wants to be loved
I’m talking about all the things I don’t need
I felt that this song depicted a protagonist who was desperate for life and wandered around in search of love.
By “ちゃらけた愛を歌ってるベイビー（singing about love like a joke, baby.）” do you mean the ones who perform love songs on the street?
Listening to cheesy words of love will not bring you happiness.
He wants to be loved, but the hero, with his innocent nature, is probably wiping out his chances by saying unnecessary things.
I could feel the loneliness of the main character who was not taken seriously by anyone.
What’s wrong with you people? Don’t look at me like that.
You’re all out of your minds, you’re all out of your minds.
Singing in the rain, it’s so sunny
I’m sure you’re having a great time.
A-rinrin-ranran-appapparapa-.
When I look around the city, I see couples and married couples walking around with happy faces.
The word “喧々諤々（Kenkengakugaku）” means that there are a lot of opinions flying around and people are talking a lot.
No matter how much you love each other, there will always be fights and disagreements, won’t there?
I felt like he was reopening the door and saying, “There’s no benefit to being together with someone who’s willing to take such a risk, it’s easier to be alone.
Even though people around me think it’s raining and I look lonely, I feel very radiant.
Deep inside, the main character feels lonely, but I felt that he is strong enough to say that being alone is easy and good.
The lyrics of the song, “Arinrinrinranran-apaa-paa-rapaa,” show that the protagonist is half in desperation.
123, with love. Let’s play for the rest of our lives.
Let’s throw everything we’ve got into the air.
Yeah, it’s all bullshit anyway.
Sing me a song just for you.
It’s all crap too.
This is where the non-main character “you” comes into play.
In the first half of the lyric, the main character who had been so critical of love as not being proper, but after meeting you, he seems to have found hope to try again.
From the lyrics, “123 de,” you can see that the main character, who has been rejecting love, is finding the courage to share his feelings.
From now on, the two of us will “もう一生遊ぼうぜ（Let’s play forever）” together.
It expresses the protagonist’s wish to have a good time playing like a game.
I think the phrase “準備してきたもの全てばら撒いて（scattering everything I’ve prepared）” means that I’m going to use all the experiences and thoughts I’ve cultivated in my life to convey my feelings to you.
I felt that it truly represented the confession of a lifetime.
However, the main character denies everything, saying, “どうせ何もかも 全部くだらねえ（Everything is crap anyway）”.
The key word “crap” appears again later, but the protagonist seems to have come to the conclusion that his life is transient and insignificant, and that nothing he does has much meaning.
Therefore, I think he is singing that love affair with you is a trivial little event in the cycle of reincarnation, isn’t he?
I felt that this song expressed Yonezu’s view of life and death, that life is fleeting, as seen in his songs.
I want a lazy love life, Reidy. A moralist’s theory of stupidity.
It’s all about the bad things. Spring is passing by.
I’m going to fly by in a bathtub with cat feet
The spell I cast is Bibidebabibideboo
In the latter half of the story, the main character’s true feelings are told.
I think “レイディ（lady）” is referring to the whole woman, with you at the center.
I don’t want to create a serious love story, but rather “だらけた恋がしたい（I want to have a full-blown love story）” a full-blown random love story that would dismay moralists .
Because people’s lives are tiny and fragile.
A “フライバイ（flyby）” is a technical term for a spacecraft passing near a planet or sanitation.
I felt that the joking situation of “猫足のバスタブでフライバイ（fly-by in a bathtub with cat’s feet）” threw up a message of having fun and living life without taking it too seriously.
“ビビデバビデブー（Bibi-debi-bi-debu）” is the magic made famous in the Disney movie “Cinderella.
A wonderful magic that transforms the shabbily dressed Cinderella into a beautiful young lady in an instant.
Does it represent the hope that life is tiny, but you can be anything you want to be?
I feel as if the MV represents the scene where Yonezu transforms himself in the song.
My story is what love makes it.
I want to live, I’m crazy about it, everything’s a game.
It’s all a bunch of crap.
Sing me a song just for you
The hero’s life so far.
The protagonist has been living his life engrossed in everything as if it were a game, but the heart that feels that such a life is “trivial” has not changed.
But in such a freakin’ stupid story, are you asking me to sing a love song to myself?
The lyrics go along with the cheesey love song at the beginning of the song.
There’s something wrong with me. There’s something wrong with me. There’s something wrong with him. There’s something wrong with him.
I just can’t keep up. I can’t enjoy it. It’s crazy ecstasy.
It’s crazy, it’s crazy, it’s all bullshit, it’s all bullshit.
Sing me a song of your own.
The protagonist kicks out people who are trying hard to fall in love and feel happy in their fleeting and momentary lives, saying that they are crazy.
It’s a little hard to keep up with the general trends of the world.
Do you despise the idea that anyone can be that serious about their stupid life?
I don’t understand people’s love lives, but I want you to sing “Your Own Song”.
You can read the character of the main character who is a bit selfish.
So wonderfully ridiculous.
This is the life I’ve always wanted.
Who are you? Tell me.
You don’t have anything for me anyway, do you?
The life I had envisioned for myself, a life of playing around.
Even the “wonderfully ridiculous” life is an ideal world for the protagonist.
“Who are you and why don’t you tell me, what’s going on anyway?” The hero calls out to the people around him.
I felt that this was a message for people like the main character, who are just rambling along without a solid purpose or desire.
You can have a crappy life, but if you don’t do anything about it, you’ll have an even crappier life.
Who am I? What do I want to do? I think it expresses a slightly philosophical call to keep asking “What do I want to do?
It’s too much of a hustle and bustle
This is a life worth living
I don’t care who you are, but I want you
Sing me love.
A life of playing around as much as you want, doing whatever you want.
But isn’t a life of value a life of facing one’s desires head-on?
You are the one I met in my fragile life.
From the lyrics, “I don’t care who you are, but I want you,” you can read the heart of the main character who says it’s silly but loves you.
And it’s all crap, too.
The last part of the song ends with the key word of the song, “Kudara ne.
It’s a crappy life, where you think about a lot of things, but eventually they disappear.
But I felt that it contained the idea of living a positive life with hope.
[ad1]At the end
How was it?
In this discussion, I focused only on the lyrics.
It may be too difficult to understand, but I hope you will see it as one idea.
Perhaps “POP SONG” is the song that Yonezu, who has become one of the leading J-Pop artists, created just the way he wanted.
