[Lyrics Analysis] SCANDAL/Koe | MAMI's voice depicts "Breaking away from daily life and the resulting estrangement as the price"
1. SCANDAL Profile Introduction
SCANDAL is a four-piece girls' rock band formed in Osaka in 2006.
The band name "SCANDAL" came from finding the word "SCANDAL" on a building near Kyobashi Station in Osaka, where the members used to go, which housed a sex industry business.
At their 17th anniversary concert on August 21, 2023, they were certified by Guinness World Records™ as the "Longest running rock band with the same musicians (female)."
■ HARUNA (Vo/Gt)
Born August 10, 1988. From Aichi Prefecture.
She is the frontwoman of SCANDAL and serves as the main vocalist. She is characterized by her calm, husky singing voice, and while she has a cool atmosphere on stage, she shows a soft and approachable personality during MCs. She is also heavily involved in songwriting, and her lyrics, which express the emotions of women in real life, are supported by fans.
■MAMI (Gt/Vo)
Born May 21, 1990. From Aichi Prefecture.
SCANDAL's lead guitarist. She creates the individuality of the band's sound with her unique sense of melody and playful phrases.
She is characterized by her unique voice and is affectionately known by fans as "Mamitasu."
■TOMOMI (Ba/Vo)
Born May 31, 1990. From Hyogo Prefecture.
SCANDAL's bassist. She has a sweet and distinctive singing voice known as a one-of-a-kind "candy voice," and adds color to their songs with twin vocals and chorus work with HARUNA. In terms of performance, she handles a wide range of styles, from melodic bass lines that seem to sing to powerful, groovy playing.
■RINA (Dr/Vo)
Born August 21, 1991. From Nara Prefecture.
SCANDAL's drummer. Not only does she keep the band's beat with powerful yet delicate drumming, but she also has a creative side, taking the lead in writing lyrics and composing music for many of their songs. She is the youngest member, deeply knowledgeable about fashion and culture, and is highly supported by other women for establishing her own style.
2. What's so great about the song "Koe"!
Among the many hit songs they have released, including numerous anime theme songs, the song I want to introduce to everyone is "Koe"!
※The analysis from here on is full of Mun's own wild imagination and subjectivity. It is not the official answer, so please enjoy it as entertainment reading! lol
I feel this song is about "breaking away from daily life and the resulting estrangement as the price." Although she moved to Tokyo seeking a change in herself, a gap in values gradually emerges between her and her boyfriend who is far away. As a work that depicts the painful conflict one faces precisely because they chose change, I would like to delve into it from Mun's unique perspective this time!
3. "Koe" Lyrics Analysis
① 1A to 1B Melody: Loneliness in the big city and unspoken true feelings
At the scramble crossing that feels like a repeat of yesterday
I was looking at the sky that was too blue; if it were raining, I could hide things, you know
In a city overflowing with things, while still feeling unfulfilled
I felt like I would return that movie I rented without even watching it
First, the opening 1A melody... it's just too painful from the start...!
Even though she should have jumped out of her boring hometown, what the protagonist felt at the scramble crossing in Tokyo where she arrived was a sense of "a repeat of yesterday." The first setback is here: even if you change your environment, the same days end up repeating themselves.
Because the "sky that is too blue" in the city makes her lonely self look miserable, she lets out, "If it were raining, I could hide (my tears or my uncoolness)."
And what really tightened my chest was the final phrase. People usually go to a rental shop because they want to watch a work, but the protagonist predicts that she will return it without watching it the moment she rents it. It's not the result of "not watching it," but she has given up from the moment she held it. From this, it is painfully clear that she, having just moved to Tokyo, is fed up with the days she spends there and has absolutely no room in her heart.
(Although subscription services are mainstream now, because it is a song from 14 years ago, the fact that the "way of watching movies" at the time is depicted as a realistic sense of life is also a point of lyric analysis.)
Hey, do you remember me now?
Hey, I was thinking of you just now
Next is the 1B melody.
Unable to bear the loneliness of the city, I think she surely wanted to consult with her boyfriend who stayed in her hometown. However, having chosen to move to Tokyo with her own strong will, she can't complain now, and she can't rely on him easily. I believe that the "order" of these two lines expresses that conflict exactly.
Usually, it would seem like "I thought of you, so I contacted you," but she first asks the other person, "Do you remember me now?" The anxiety of not being able to help but confirm that her existence is still in his heart. And only after that does she finally let out a little of her true feelings: "I was thinking of you."
Her pride, which prevents her from saying "I'm lonely" directly, and her painful sense of dependence on him, who is far away, come through painfully clearly in the order of these words.
2. First Chorus: Searching for tomorrow between regret and stubbornness
My voice has always been here, yet it never resonates
It's not that there's nothing I consider important
Even though I thought I wanted to go home, I couldn't say I wanted to go home
Acting tough, feeling lonely, yet still searching for tomorrow
And as we reach the chorus, her emotions are laid bare.
She is surely raising her voice in the big city, yet there is a sense of loneliness as if it reaches no one. Above all, the frustration that her true feelings (her "voice") for him on the other end of the phone cannot "resonate" because of the distance comes across painfully.
What turns into conviction here is the conflict she felt in the B-melody. In her heart, she "thought she wanted to go home," but because it was a path she chose herself, her pride and sense of responsibility get in the way, turning it into "I couldn't say I wanted to go home."
It's not just about being sad; the conclusion, "Acting tough, feeling lonely, yet still searching for tomorrow," is truly realistic. My heart aches at the premonition that her bravado, as she struggles to make it in Tokyo while swaying violently between regret and stubbornness, will only accelerate the "gap" between her and him.
3. Second A-melody to Second B-melody: Saying "See you later" to the past self and realizing the growth process
Smiling as I said "See you later," even the Chuo Line was a first
Before I knew it, I was walking through the crowds with accustomed feet
The following second A-melody depicts the protagonist's "passage of time" and "change."
Here, I arrived at a certain interpretation that is both painful and powerful.
"Smiling as I said 'See you later'"—Could the person she is parting with not be someone else, but "yesterday's self" (her past self)?
She, who used to stand still at the scramble crossing, has now become accustomed to life in Tokyo and can walk through the crowds with "accustomed feet"—
This part shows us such a brilliant "growth process."
Hey, now, how do I look to you?
Hey, now, I might not be able to see you
In the following second B-melody, a question from her, having grown in Tokyo, rings out to him. She has become accustomed to the speed of the city and has grown stronger. It is a question mixed with anxiety and expectation: "How does the changing me look to him now?"
In the previous part, the more she became accustomed to Tokyo, the more she intuitively felt that "my place is not with him, but here in Tokyo, which helps me grow." That is why she herself knows best that she "cannot see him" (cannot return) the same way she did back then.
Her values have changed due to environmental changes, and the world she lives in has shifted. That sadness and the resolve that there is no turning back are condensed into this second B-melody.
4. D-melody: Laughter on the other end of the phone, a gradation of exasperation and relief
Gazing at the light of a TV I don't even watch
At the familiar name on the mobile phone in my hand
On the other end of the line, without knowing how I feel
I couldn't help but laugh at his laughing voice
The D-melody, where the story reaches its climax.
This is a part where an indescribable sense of sadness and affection surges forth.
Living alone in a room, it gets so lonely that you can't stand it without some kind of sound, doesn't it? In that loneliness, what was displayed on the mobile phone she held was a "familiar name." This phrase conveys that they have had a deep relationship for quite a long time.
However, he on the other end of the phone knows nothing of how much she has struggled in Tokyo and how she has steeled herself, thinking, "This city that helps me grow is my true place." Without knowing her feelings, his voice laughs as happily as ever. This overwhelming temperature difference is the very definition of the decisive "drift" that has been born between the two before they knew it.
Yet, she "couldn't help but laugh" at his voice. Mixed in here is an exasperation akin to resignation, thinking, "This person really never changes," and at the same time, a painful affection, thinking, "But, after all, this is the voice that brings me the most peace."
5. Falling Chorus to Last Chorus: The "current location" chosen at the end of the conflict
The voice has always been here, yet it never truly resonates
Saying "I understand," then brushing it off with "You're lying, right?"
But for some reason, I'm happy, so I'm sure I'll wait for the morning
I have expectations for this day that I think of as a repeat
The story heads toward the final chorus.
It is difficult to convey the loneliness and changes in Tokyo to him on the other end of the phone, so they both end up brushing off their true feelings.
But, because such trivial exchanges make me "happy for some reason," I find myself having a little bit of expectation for another tomorrow (a repeat) just like this one.
His presence might still be the precious light that warms her heart.
However, in the final chorus that follows, she arrives at a definitive answer.
I have always been here, and that has surely become the present
Though hesitation and loneliness are only natural
I wanted to say I want to go home, but I didn't say I want to go home
Acting tough, feeling lonely, yet I will keep walking forward
In the first chorus, pride got in her way, and she cried that she "couldn't say I want to go home." But now, having gone through the process of growing in Tokyo, she declares, "I didn't say I want to go home."
While keeping her love for him in her heart, she has accepted this Tokyo that helps her grow as her "present (place to belong)." Here lies the protagonist's incredibly beautiful figure of independence.
Let's go return that movie I haven't watched tomorrow
And at the end of the song, it lands by resolving the foreshadowing from the opening 1A verse.
The reason she was able to think, "Let's go return that movie I haven't watched"—which she had rented just to fill the loneliness and left sitting in her room—is because she can now walk through this city on her own feet without needing the help of a movie. Her bright expression, having put an end to past regrets and loneliness and looking forward, comes through straight from this final line.
4. A final word
How was it?
This time, I introduced SCANDAL's "Koe," a song I love so much that I think I've listened to it more than any other since I moved to Tokyo.
On SCANDAL's official YouTube channel, the acoustic live performance video "Billboard Live OSAKA 2017.08.21 Version," recorded on their anniversary, has also been uploaded, so please check that out as well!
Well then, look forward to the next one!