It feels like I've known it forever. Ging Nang BOYZ "BABY BABY"
A feeling like I don't feel like I'm meeting you for the first time.
So, today I'd like to review the masterpiece by Ging Nang BOYZ, "BABY BABY".
Strictly speaking, it was first released in 2001 during the era of GOING STEADY, the predecessor to Ging Nang BOYZ.
When you listen to them side-by-side, the recordings from the Ging Nang BOYZ era feel much easier to listen to.
Maybe the GOING STEADY version has more of a punk feel and a sense of youth.
For me, the melody of this song is enough to feel the youth, so I prefer the arrangements and vocals from the Ging Nang BOYZ era.
…That’s what I’ve been saying so confidently.
Actually, I only properly recognized this song very recently. lol
I didn't really go through the subculture phase in my student days.A life that didn't pass through Kazunobu Mineta is what it was.
In my mind, my only perception of Mr. Mineta was that crazy guy who takes his clothes off on stage immediately.
But after listening to this song properly recently, I’ve come to understand why some people are so fanatically in love with him.
Because this song is just incredibly wonderful.
I’ve probably heard it somewhere before.
It’s like, it doesn't feel like I'm hearing it for the first time at all.
Just hearing the melody gives me a sensation of student-day nostalgia running through my body like lightning.
It’s just, a youth song that soaks into your cells.
An intro that starts with a strong guitar sound tracing an incredibly catchy chorus melody.
Mr. Mineta’s husky singing voice, extremely simple lyrics. Everything is the very definition of the straightforwardness of youth.
The city is an illumination, you are an illusion
A smile like an angel
When I remember you, my chest aches
I feel like I'm going to disappear
Sweet cream puff, you are supreme
The swing on the moon's surface is swaying
In my dreams, we were holding hands and flying
I woke up and cried
A bright and positive melody, yet lyrics that are somehow sad. Just this is enough to make me want to cry.
Will I be able to live forever?
Forever for you
I think this part is the most crucial point of this song.
It’s just, as you can see, incredibly simple lyrics.
And yet, why does it pull at my emotions so much? is what I think.
It feels like these lyrics are packed with so much, yet not really. But then again, they seem to have so many meanings.
I feel that kind of mysterious fluctuation, or something that cannot be put into words.
"Will I be able to keep loving you forever?" It’s a question like that.
"Will my life just continue like this?" It’s also a question like that.
"Will you acknowledge that I love you?" It’s also a confession like that.
Just two lines of lyrics.
Within them, there is so much room for imagination.
It really is an amazing song.
BABY BABY
I want to hold you
Everything is shining, wave your hand
BABY BABY
Hold me
My irreplaceable, beloved person
And then, this extremely simple chorus.
Setting aside anything complicated, I love you, I want to hold you, hold me, it says.
It’s like, you just get hit by this straightforwardness, don't you?
I never really played in a band, but if I could go back to being a high school student, I would definitely start playing guitar and cover this song.
And then, I would sing it to the girl I like at the school festival.
To that girl I like, "I'm singing this to you!" I would definitely never tell her.
This song is just like that.
The straightforward parts of youth, the stubborn parts, the sad parts that you can never return to once you pass them. It’s all packed in there.
That’s why, even if you listen to it for the first time, it doesn't feel like it.
Man, this is seriously a masterpiece.
I'm going to have this on repeat for a while.