Blog 08: Exploring Buck-Tick's Concepts

What do you write about, Buck-Tick?!?!

So I've already made an entry discussing who Buck-Tick are, but I didn't go over what they write about. I thought I would take the opportunity to rant a bit about their work rather than just about the members as I did last time.

Their musical composition can't quite be described with one genre. Buck-Tick has been known for their consistent changes in genre—their constant effort to write new and unique types of music is what keeps them so interesting, not to mention their dedication to educating themselves on other artists and referencing them, along with the occasional sample! (For example, they've played the theme for Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet before many of their performances of Kirameki no Naka de, starting in 2005 apart of their tour for Juusankai wa Gekkou, during which they hired a ballerina to perform with them on stage. Of course, there's a ton of meaning you could take from this; I've just never looked into it.)

The music itself, however, isn't quite what I want to highlight. I enjoy their lyrical and conceptual themes more than anything. Of course, their composition is pure genius, but I fear I'm simply not educated enough to touch upon it. I can't even say I know all that much about the message they try to convey, but I'm sure going to try to muster something here!

I think, first and foremost, I should talk about something they just can't get enough of: bringing people together. It may sound cliche, but when you really begin to think about it, isn't connecting people at the core of everything? They named their management office Shaking Hands Inc. so long ago for a reason, and they've only continued to put effort into spreading peace and love. It's all over their lyrics, their concerts, and everything else. They've started a sort of tradition of saying, "Peace and love!" as much as humanly possible recently, and it's quite telling. It's at the core of their career. They strive to bring people together with their music. They're pacifists (Sakurai is probably the most anti-war man I've ever seen in my entire life). What more peace-encouraging thing could they write than Yume Miru Uchuu, an album trying to tell us that we're all just one big cycle of life in the universe and that we should all love one another because of the fact we're all connected by the nature of the universe and our humanity? (I would tell you to go stream this album, but it's not available in many countries. In fact, I'm not sure if it's legally accessible outside of Japan. Go stream some live songs of the album on YouTube. If you really like it, I heavily encourage you to consider purchasing it and support the band!)

On the topic of peace and love, Buck-Tick has always had political themes they've wanted to spread. Hell, they've done a lot of beautiful things for their community (I almost cried when I heard about all the donations they made for Tohoku Earthquake and the moments of silence that they held for it, as well as the one for 9/11 at the Devil and Freud concert) that I will always admire them for. The problem is, however, that there is a crap-ton of pressure on musicians in Japan to not bring up politics ever and pretend the world is all sunshine and rainbows. Buck-Tick have always been political, and have slipped in plenty of politics throughout their career, but have been encouraged to stay silent through so much of it. What I appreciate so much about post-2015 Buck-Tick is they started to really let out their feelings when it came to politics because, in Sakurai's words (their main lyricist and, dare I say, an inspiration to the other members in many ways), he had felt that they had grown old enough and earned the right to say what they wanted to say. Their works from 2016-2023 are my all-time favorite for that exact reason (because Sakurai had the most to say when it came to the world, and I find his style of poetry to be the most appealing to my personal tastes). They have many songs from throughout their career with obviously political themes, including Rakuen, Sid Vicious ON THE BEACH, Guernica no Yoru, Muchi no Namida and Kyokutou Yori Ai wo Komete.

As I stated earlier, I do favor their post-2015 years for their decision not to censor themselves and their work. That being said, I feel like I should mention some of the themes in the albums from this era. Their 2016 album, Atom Miraiha No .9, or Atomic Future No. 9, is an album focused around the dangers of continuing the live the lives that we do and what could happen to the human race, if not the world. This album makes references to lots of art history, but also just history in general. After all, we learn history so that we don't repeat our mistakes: and that is what is album is all about. If we keep giving in to the things we know are wrong but continue to do because it's easier, we will all perish. This album tackles things like overpopulation, climate change, and nuclear research. A LOT of stuff relating to bombs and war is in this album; the consequences are endless. One thing Cayce said in one of her articles on this album (I won't link anything because she made SEVERAL) is that in the opening track, cum uh sol nu - Flask of Another Type -, the song poses the question, "Do we really have the right, as human beings, to research knowledge that could bring the end of the world—knowledge that is inherently searched for with intentions to obtain power?" Imai asks us this, comparing the medieval desire to master alchemy to the modern research of nuclear weapons and bombs. The research of both is rooted in the desire for power and destruction. I thought this would be an excellent example to show what this album is: a WARNING.

Another album they've written that the members are very proud of is No. 0. Cayce suggests that the they're making a statement by using numerology, which would only complete the cycle of the last album (which Buck-Tick has done in different ways multiple times). This album isn't making AS clear a point of the last one, but it's theme is still very prominent. Futuristic fantasies of cogs and gears and outer space and everything! But don't forget that we're all still apart of the big cycle of nature and life and have moral duties as beings. This album is very experimental and is packed full with art references! They're not hard to spot, either: at the top of my head, I can remember that two of the tracks are named after pieces that Imai and Sakurai loved—Gunerica no Yoru (Night of Gunerica) and Nostalgia - Vita Mechanicalis -. Gunerica is a mural by Pablo Picasso that portrays the citizens in a bomb-stricken town; Vita Mechanicalis is a reference to a series of stories by Inagaki Taruho, a poetic Japanese author that harnessed imagery in his stories. These are just a couple examples explaining just how nerdy these guys are. And, of course, this isn't just an album they wrote for giggles: don't forget how this album is the rebirth and their previous work is the "end." These Buddhist themes having to do with reincarnation, cycle, and duality/nonduality have always been extremely present in their world (just look at Six/Nine!). More on theology later.

Their next 2 releases, Abracadabra and Izora, are also wonderful, but I haven't read up on them as much as I have the 2 I've already mentioned. Unfortunately, Mr. Sakurai also passed away late in 2023, and I highly encourage you to listen to some of their music in his honor. He would've appreciated it very much, trust me. They've since released an album called ,"Subrosa," but I can't stomach reading any of the translations from that album without crying. From what I've gathered (which isn't much), it's a tribute to Atsushi in many ways, but also a statement on how they will continue from here. Für Atsushi. (See what I did?) Cayce has, unfortunately, also passed away just a couple months after Atsushi, and I've honestly never come across another analyst so good in my life (let alone a Buck-Tick analyst!). For those who don't know, Cayce is a fan of Buck-Tick's that increased their international fanbase tremendously. She was an insanely smart woman (like I said, best analyst I've ever seen) and pretty much built up their overseas fanbase from the ground with her blog and website that she held from the early 2000's to 2023. She owned Blog-Tick and notgreatestsite.net (down) with a small team and translated hundreds of lyrics and helpful articles, as well as doing things like allowing overseas fans to purchase Buck-Tick items through her (since it's incredibly difficult to obtain so much Japanese content with all the racism and tariffs). I ask for you to remember the two of them for just a moment. Also, due to Cayce's passing, I don't ever think I'll really have anything significant to say about Buck-Tick last two albums with Atsushi. As I said earlier, the chances of me finding any sensible analysis of their esoteric interests is extremely low. (PLEASE email me if you think you've found anything. Thank you so much in advance.)

While their expression of politics have always been shunned, there's plenty of other things that Buck-Tick talks about (a lot of which are also shunned). One thing Atsushi has always been known for tackling (particularly since the passing of his mother) is Love and Death. Instead of listening to my dumbass talk about it, go read this article by Cayce! I could never compare to what she has to say about Atsushi, so just read what she says instead. If you don't want to read that, then he pretty much just talks a lot about love and death and how we interact with those things. Our desires, our fears, our decisions, and the inevitable passing of time and inquiries of humans over hundreds of years. He talks a lot about the fear of death and the meaning(lessness) of life. Love seeps into a bit of everything, however. Love seeps into death because if we're going to die anyway, we should spend our time loving life while we still can and, of course, loving our neighbor! (See more on theology later.) Atsushi doesn't just tackle love in the general sense, however. Atsushi is known for his constant and blunt talk of sex all the time. Honestly, he has something different to say each time, so go read some lyrics and find some songs yourself. It'll only take 5 seconds, anyway.

They also bring up a lot of philosophy and psychology. Most of the time, they're not directly referencing these fields of research, but simply discussing people and how we work. When discussing people, life, and death; it's only logical that these topics are soaked with philosophy and the like. (Although, that's not to say the members aren't particularly interested in these topics. They didn't name a whole concert Akuma to Furoido -Devil and Freud- Climax Together for nothing.) At the end of the day, there are just a lot of topics that are naturally integrated. (Or would songs discussing people and how we process and react to everything align more with sociology?) I haven't even mentioned references to theology that they've made in their work yet. While Atsushi was coping, per se, with his looming fear of death, he did a lot of research on different religions (Because what is religion but explaining death?). Christianity pops up a lot in their music (ex: the song Babel), but Buddhism is even more present. Buddhism is very prevalent in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if the members are relatively familiar with it; but it aligns well with Atsushi when you consider the appreciate for Ancient Japan that he has (and how could I not mention the Ancient Japanese femininity he loves, oh, so much and harnessed more with age!). I've already analyzed the song die on this blog, so I recommend reading that if you're curious. This song presents itself as rather nihilistic, but is one of the most comforting songs they've released to date. Cayce called this song, "deeply Buddhist."

I probably ought to wrap this long ass article up. I'm sure you get the deal: all in all, Buck-Tick are a band of pacifistic nerds and you should stream them right now!

Also, if anyone read this, I highly encourage you to delve into your own interests a little deeper. Why do YOU like the music you do? Does your favorite band have any certain causes they put a lot of effort into supporting? What do you want to support in your lifetime? Do you ever want to make meaningful art, and where should you start when it comes to your research journey? Learn from the great masters! Pick up that classic! Write that article! Love the arts! And as always, LOVE AND PEACE!!!!