Guitar1103

This time, the "Song of the Day" is "Brass in Pocket" by the Pretenders. This song also comes from a collection of screenshots I took after hearing it on the radio, being drawn to the sound, and searching to identify it.

For me, this kind of singing that sits between speaking and singing is difficult. Even so, since it still follows a melody, I can barely manage to sing it (anything that is purely spoken becomes impossible for me to handle).
The final lyrics were cut off from the screenshots I used for reading, so I sang them based on my memory from listening while checking the bass, and I was spectacularly wrong...

The music video for this song begins with a woman working at a cafe (the vocalist) who is seemingly waiting for her favorite customer, when a group of party-goers (?) including that person arrives.
At first, the three men come in alone and place their orders. That happens right at the "I'm special" line, and the two men other than the one she's interested in smile and point to the "special" (meaning the daily special) on the menu. I laughed, thinking, "Is this an 'eel sentence' construction!" (Generally, in English, you wouldn't say "I'm special" to mean "I'll have the daily special").
On the other hand, the man she seems to like doesn't point to the daily special, and it's unclear whether he even placed an order, but the woman (the narrator) retreats to the back. Then, the girlfriends of the playboys (?) arrive noisily, and the other two couples start flirting. The narrator brings coffee only to the man who didn't order the "special" (the one she likes?), the atmosphere at the table becomes awkward, and the party-goers leave the shop. The scene closes with the narrator, left behind in the shop, singing while looking at the departing car (of the party-goers) with a lonely? or resentful? expression.

What I didn't quite understand was the relationship between the narrator and the man. The woman touches the man as they leave, so there must be some kind of relationship, but what does it mean? Is the setting that the woman has a crush on him, he knows how she feels, but they aren't dating (which is why she wants to turn his head and get him to notice her)?

So, here is the Wild Bird version of the Japanese lyrics ↓
-----
Got brass in pocket
Got a bottle, I'm gonna use it
Plan? I feel sharp today
I'm gonna make you, make you notice me

Gonna move, these feelings I've been holding back
I've been driving in a car, Detroit-style
No reason, just felt like a good idea
I'm gonna make you, make you notice me

Use your arms
Use your legs
Use your sidestep *
Use your fingers
And use your imagination

Because I'm gonna make you understand
There's nowhere else in this world
That can replace me
I'm special, I'm one of a kind
So please, turn those eyes of yours toward me, even just a little

A good rhythm has come, I can't let this beat get away
The new song is also very Reet **
I felt like something was there, so I'm winking at you like this
I'm gonna make you, make you notice me

Use your arms
Use your legs
Use your sidestep
Use your fingers
And use your imagination

Because I'm gonna make you understand
There's nowhere else in this world
That can replace me
I'm special, I'm one of a kind
So please, turn those eyes of yours toward me, even just a little

Ah

And yet, you walked away

* I didn't quite understand the meaning of "sidestep." Since it appeared as avoiding obstacles, stepping to the side, or a way of skiing, I interpreted it metaphorically (from the idea of changing direction) as "whim."
** I looked up "reet" but couldn't figure it out, so I left it as is.
-----

Given the context before and after, and the relationship with the music video, there is clearly a context of a woman's unrequited love, so I translated it as above. However, if you remove that and the constraints on the subject, the chorus can also be interpreted in the following way, which feels more familiar to me. And I felt like I was called by this.

-----
I want everyone to know
There's nowhere else in this world
That can replace me
Everyone is special, one of a kind
So listen, I want you to know that
-----

Everyone is special. It's not about what is good or bad, or who is superior or inferior; even if you are not part of the mainstream in today's world or where you are, each person has individual value and should be respected, except in cases where they harm others. There is no reason for anyone to be treated unfairly through unreasonableness or violence.

If we lived in a society where we could cherish ourselves and also cherish others, we could breathe. It is useless to say anything to a herd of "me, here, now, only" people who have no guard, whose desires and interests are limited to the immediate, who lack reason, and to whom logic does not apply.

Forcing your own desires at the expense of others is not cherishing yourself. Are not hay fever, global warming, and this year's bear damage the results of accumulated unplanned, reckless, and sloppy actions? Of course, these are just a few examples.

Along with a sense of coexistence and compassion, we need appropriate actions based on evidence that takes the medium to long term into account. But perhaps such things have no meaning in this "Nippon," or indeed in a world swept away by neoliberalism and populism.