Wanna See Some Notes from the Mind Behind Yukueshirezutsurezure’s “Post-Catastrophe”?

/ Homicidol Maniac

This is pretty amazing, even just run through a translator:

GESSHI writes the lyrics and stuff for Tsurezure’s psyche-shattering songs. This blog post on the Codomomental website isn’t the lyrics, but his thoughts on the lyrics and how the songs came together.

And it’s just part 1! There will apparently be more!

Honestly, if anybody wants to volunteer to translate this before the album release (it’s super easy, right?), I’ll pay you in appreciation. Our mysterious, benevolent friend has been so kind to us!

Good day everyone, Codomomental (W) here.

Today, a person who is not me, will be writing liner notes. You seldom hear from Fans of Zenkimi and YukuShire about GesshiRui who does all the lyrics or the two groups mentioned. With that, I will hand the blog post over to him.

Hello, I’m GesshiRui. Even though i can be spotted at gigs, i rarely appear in the public eye like this. I think this is the second time I’ve done this, the first time being the special memento of the ZenKimi three city tour.

I don’t really like doing things like this. For the fans that listen to the songs, there are many interpretations for the songs. For the lyricist like me, the singers, the staff that picks the songs, they all have their own interpretations. I think that’s only right.

With that said, I was pressured to appear “to comment”.

If i say anything more, i might not be able to work any longer, so we’ll leave this discussion at that. So I’m here to give a meaning to these songs, so please bear with me for a moment.

YukuShires first full album, Post Kata (kata here meaning excess or overabundance)-strophy will be released on December 7th. I’ve received a sample copy. I’ll spare the behind-the-scenes talk for the end part, so let’s start with the music first.

Track 1: Post-Catastrophe

This song is actually the last song to be completed for this album. The title of this album was decided pretty far in advance. “Let’s go with Post Kata-strophy” was something I heard a while ago. This is the lead song, composed by Kazuki Mizutani. He is, as always, on point with his compositions. On point, or should i say, gets your heart pumping and racing. His work comes along very precisely, if i can say bluntly. The word “Catastrophy” and the word “post” are mixed in this album and that concept can be easily understood. However, I had to stop and think about the tsurezureness for a bit. To be honest, writing something like previously was done is a bit tedious, or to say differently, docile. However, the person who named the album stamped the name “post kata-strophy”.

Why? I’m sure there’s a reason. That person usually says “did on a whim”, but i’m sure it’s not just “on a whim”. I’m sure a person who does things on a whim can’t set up a gimmick that creates a story. That person also doesn’t drink alcohol or gamble. Oh, there’s no relation, huh? Basically, he’s always thinking about work. And so i thought too. What i ended up at was a “un-tsurezurelike” approach. Weighty subjects and pain were expressed previously. But I wasn’t aiming to use words impulsively just for the sake of a challenge. In my mind, tsurezure is really punk. The girls exist in the world of Idols, yet they are Punk. There’s a phrase that goes “PUNKS NOT DEAD”. Just like that. Don’t die. The horn the girls sound across the world has a special feeling to me. New idols are constantly appearing, so is music, so are the formats they are presented in. The styles of the listeners are vastly different. I wanted to blow a horn to all those people, expressed by the girls’ voices. Yukueshirezutsurezure is unique.
You can understand it just by experiencing their gigs. Just saying “All of them growl and scream” isn’t enough. There are so many different essences in them.

In a short while, the merchandise was ready. Y x T x H x C, yukueshirezutsurezure hardcore. That kind of things were in the foreign scenes, too. Or rather not scenes, but the essence of the artists, the counterculture mindset. Something “that person” could understand and do. That kind of counterculture mindset is the core of those girls. That’s why the lyrics also needed to have that same anti-core mindset. That’s how the lyrics turned out to be like that.

There’s a line that goes “bipedal vixen”. That line was the first thing that came up in my mind and i a bit depressedly laughed at it alone. That pain of exhaustion that even Tsuya feels, can be well seen at their lives. Their lives that they perform on instinct. Realizing that, I came up with the phrase “always hightension now” and I felt I came up with something complete. The members of the group are seriously giving their all. However, they’re always in high spirits. I feel it’s relatable at the lives. Humans are living life to the end without actually becoming adults to the best of their capacities. I’m like that to. But i’m sure it’s not like that, it’s something that’s not really true, is something that i have been hearing all my life. To hear people not say things like that is what i want. To be able to live life as a beast as long as i would like is what i want. That was the wish i included in the song.

Track 2: Doppelgänger

An outstanding straight number by Syva. Emotional. Cool. Something that sends waves up your spine. Those are the feelings that this song gave me. I actually thought if I could play around with the words in this song. But since this song hit me like a fastball, i couldn’t just fool around. It’s an extravagant, motivating piece of composition.

The chorus starts from “sayonara~ (good bye)”, but I thought “why did i write something like that”. However, the way the girls sang it made me feel pumped up. “Like that, huh!”, i said to myself.

After the lyrics were written, the composition was completely revised. I really respect Syva for completely throwing himself into the process. To return to the topic, yukueshirezutsurezure told me to”make some noise”. It’s kinda hard to explain, but I think this part is pretty good. I like fantasy stories, but a neverending story is not a good thing. If there’s an end, you can continue living. I believe strongly in that. Working towards the end with all your might, a person like that with full of mistakes and contradictions is still loved.

The title became like this, as i thought, if the society isn’t a place where one can question oneself. The members of tsurezure, related personnel, fans of ours, all of us need to coexist with our selves. There are so many “selves” that exist, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a part of us. Something that can’t be bought by money, something that just needs to be accepted. Even if there is a doppelganger, however it is, it is ourself.

In the final chorus of the song, during Kokokos and Komachis solo parts, i always end up tearing up.

Track 3: Sagiri hirari (nimble pledge)

Basic. Just a basic tsurezure song. Easily written but how it turns out? kind of lyrics.

Well, all joking aside, it’s nothing but basic. Actually, during the writing of the lyrics the composition was completely different. Totally different, if I could say so. “Ah, the lyrics.. I didn’t image them like this” was the feeling i had, but I could seriously get into it. A miraculous song at that.

When writing articles like this, you should remember the feelings you had during writing lyrics or you end up writing something weird like this. There’s a strong image of “when a flower withers”. I wanted to capture that short-lived and sad feeling in the lyrics. I wonder if this is enough, haha.

Track 4: the End of..

Composed by Takahiro HAyashi. In all honesty, I, GesshiRui, am possibly a bit sadistic. During the final moments of this song, it makes you think think about different things and it feels like completely new members suddenly joined the group. Yes, it is a sadistic song. I wrote this with all the members in mind as a song aimed for them.

The lives of the girls up until this point is something that is unknown to me. Not knowing that, I still wanted to make a song for the girls that continue as tsurezure. From the beginning, I wanted to make a song that’s painful than any other song.

Also, there’s the meaning of questioning the willpower of Shidare and Komachi, who once more, risk life and limb for this thing called yukueshirezutsurezure. The world is cruel. The world tells you to shut up, to not lament over things. At some point, we might die. Even if that happens, the music of yukueshirezutsurezure remains on this earth, to be discovered by people.

That’s a road without a road. A once in a lifetime encounter. Our voices might not reach the people wanting to hear it.

I tear up thinking about Komachi, who said “There’s nowhere else to live but here” and Shidare, who said “this is where i will die”. I wonder how Kokoko and Tsuya think, seeing Shidare and Komochi sing things with a volition like that. How do they feel about it? Do they feel a weight in their chest? I really would like to hear them on that.

M5: Psycho-Hi

This is also a Takahiro Hayashi composition. In the beginning, i thought if this would be interesting. I thought a little about what kind of lyrics I should write for this, but I came to the conclusion that the lyrics should be about the errors of humanity.

I don’t really know how long humans will continue to exist on this earth, but until that time we will continue killing each other. Our long history shows that. I wonder why? The answer to that question is something I can’t understand. There are people who understand it, but there’s probably no way to stop all this killing. Thinking about this makes you lose sleep for many nights.

Members of Tsurezure are really pure. If you meet them, you will understand that. I really think, that if you would stick a knife into the odd part of the humanity, you would truly find only purity. I feel thinking like that makes me a psychopath, of sorts. Thinking about this song makes you feel all fluffy inside, doesn’t it?

Errors. They’re lovable things, but they also are things that can destroy the world. People live with those things, don’t they. YukuShire too. How they will live with those errors, I wanted to see with my own eyes, all the way from the beginning.

And with that, I hit my limit. People who read all of this might be a b it tired now.

I decided to split this up. I’ll do my best to get the later parts published soon (i don’t know if i can get to writing it, though).

These are the ends for the liner notes, now for some behind-the-scenes talk.

We originally planned on releasing a minialbum on December 7th. I couldn’t believe it became a full album. This decision shuffled the schedules of so many people. Everyone involved in the project were already set on doing just a mini album.

“That person” said “we’ll be doing a full album”. I thought, “are you stupid??”. Well, I understood where he was coming from, but when I first heard this, I could only say “what??”.

When I heard that we were doing a full album, I only had “the end of..” finished. There are limits to jokes. I then said only “It’s ok, I believe we can do this”. Laughable.

With that childlike phrase in mind, I thought “Me and my big mouth”. However, before I even realized it, all the songs were ready. In this album, a familiar face to tsurezure songwriting, Shounen ga Milk, wrote the lyrics for 1 song. She really delivered under an extremely tight deadline. Everyone’s crazy. Syva, Mizutani, Hayashi, Shounen ga Miruki, all of the songwriters are crazy. Oh yeah, yes. For Codomomental, the word “impossible” doesn’t exist.

For us, “even if we worked hard, we can’t do it” didn’t exist. Even if there’s a thing called “impossible” that swallows people, there isn’t a thing called “completely impossible”.

“That person” believed in that. He was completely under that impression, that it wasn’t impossible.

That’s why pieces of all the creators’ soul and vigor is contained in this work.

Yukueshirezutsurezures extragavant first album “Post Kata-strophy” is complete. All 10 songs have been mixed with a new type of mixing (All thanks to syvas tendency for disorder). Idols, Alternative music, Whatever genre this is, It doesn’t really mader.

It’s Yukueshirezutsurezure.

Nothing more, nothing less.

To be a part of this has been extremely joyful. Thank you

For you who held my hand until this part, I hope but the greatest tedium.