English Lyrics {Your thoughts}

[hanabiwings]

I began listening to Japanese music waaay back when SPEED was at the top of the charts in 1997. Anyway, the first songs I heard were from that group and a few other singers.

All of the songs I first enjoyed featured English lyrics to accent the song. Usually, it was only a line or two throughout the song. Sometimes, a key phrase in the chorus was in English. This definitely wasn't a new thing, singers like the Southern All Stars, Matsuda Seiko, and CHAGEASU had been singing English for years.

Examples of English accent lyrics:

Graceful World
Deai mo wakare mo subete wa bokura no tame ni aru
Kono aoi hoshi no moto ni umareta koto wo yorokobiaou
Fulfill my Dreams

- Graceful World by Every Little Thing

Anata wa toori sugita ato kizuku
And I'll be crying forever

- tears by Fayray

Flying fall down
Habatakinagara ochite yuku no
Kimi no soba e

- Flying by Garnet Crow

{All roomaji by

And there Ryuichi , used here for demonstrative purposes only.}

And there are many other examples in popular songs. Anyway, my question is: what is your take on English being used in song lyrics?

I personally really enjoyed listening to English in Japanese songs when I first began listening. It gave me a way to understand parts of the songs when I understood little Japanese. It was also, in my eyes, a stylistic and artistic move on the part of the lyricist. It's definitely not just to be "trendy" in my eyes. There are also definite asthetic qualities to singing parts of the songs in English. It sounds unique to hear phrases in a foreign language. One need only look at Latin music that has made it big in America to hear phrases or background vocals in Spanish. I think that it's one of the nice things about listening to foreign music.

What are your thoughts?

[stephymoo]

Actually, I prefer if Japanese singers use less of other languages in their song lyrics. There are certain songs where anothe language fits very well, and I like them, but overall, I would prefer less of it. But a Japanese song with some English is ok, just as long as they're not more then half in English. Then again, it also depends on the lyrics, and the singer. So... I guess I prefer less English, but I don't mind it that much if there is some.

[Coelacanth]

I love english lyrics in japanese songs!!!
Yesterday & Today by D-a-i..

Not particularly into Ayu's english singing....

I like full english songs..

Duvet by Boa
Summer Days by d-a-i

Shiina Ringo sings GREAT english.....

[tl1029530921]

i got dissapointed when AAyu started singing english(RAINBOW and forward)...i thought dats wut set her apart from a lot of other ppl

[Unimatrix Prime™]

To me, I think that unless the person knows good english (i.e. not just a phrase or 2 repeated over and over again), then they shouldn't try it often. When I heard Ayu's english, I was both surprised and a bit turned off. It's not that the songs are bad... it's just that it doesn't seem to be "authentic jpop" to me. When I listen to a jpop song, I hope that it's all in japanese (except for perhaps a "wow!" or yeah!" in it). It doesn't seem natural that you hear a song, and suddenly hear "a woman could be like a nun" or something of the sort. Perhaps it's an added effect... or that it may be considered a "trend" in jpop, but regardless, I think english is ok to an extent and shouldn't be used in a song unless:

-It's an english song/album
-It conveys a feeling/thought into a song that can't be added with Japanese

I don't think english should be "outlawed" or anything of the sort in Jpop songs, but unless it's like the reasons stated, it just seems slightly out of place to me.

[kournikova]

i dont mind about the english lyric... as long as it is connected to the song...

[tl1029530921]

I just dont like bits and pieces....if your gonna sing english, sing the whole song w/ english

[gakkun]

Umm I think there's definitely a trend about using English lyrics no doubt...but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. A Namie song sounds good with English lyrics cuz her style is very American and it sounds appropriate..but for Ayu, it doesn't always fit so well. I think it all comes down to their pronounciation and what the actual lyrics are. Anything along lines of 'love me baby' really suck..-_- (not saying Ayu said anything like that) but on the other hand the english lyrics in Heartplace was great and it adds more to the song (at least to us english speakers).

[sxesven]

I find it often annoying, because it makes either no sense or is sung badly.

[Halla]

I usually find the random english parts catchy and they're usually the parts i remember from a song , so I have no problem with it

[knickkerz]

It always makes me laugh when I hear Japanese singers sing in English because it still sounds Japanese. For example, I bought the single for the Koda (Kumi Koda in Japan) song Trust Your Love and it still sounds Japanese, I didn't know it was in English except for the words Trust Your Love.

[stephymoo]

Originally posted by gakkun
Anything along lines of 'love me baby' really suck..-_- (not saying Ayu said anything like that)

I hope Ayu never says/sings anything like that.

[js_surrealism]

Depends on the context, m-flo (verbal) does a really good job of integrating English and Japanese in a funky way, like replacing nouns in japanese sentences with english ones, and vice versa. Kawase Tomoko of the brilliant green writes pretty good coherent and idiomatic English lyrics, so I don't mind that either ^^;;

[ayumin]

Sometimes,direct Japanese language is boring for Japanese.

When I hear 'Flying fall down',I translate the word into Japanese.
Then I understand the meaning.
This process is important.
Human gets interested in an ambiguous thing.
However,English which Japanese can catch is important.

The musician write the same meaning on the next sentence in Japanese.
I feel good lyrics technic on it.

They consider the whole song,and use such a English.
The atmosphere of English and the sound of the word.

In order to obtain attention of people,brand new idol's song have many English lyrics frequently.
Such a songs usually have disorderly English,so they are boring.

[Ryoko]

It's always fun to hear English and Japanese mixed into a song, especially when you look at the lyrics. For instance, in hyde's "Oasis", he sings:

kotae mo nai
my fever's getting high
odoru shinigami
all around all around me
tsuki to taiyou wa
it's a regular rat race yeah

Knowing these words, I think mixing English and Japanese to fit the words according to the beat is quite effective. If hyde had said "Without an answer" or "answerless" it wouldn't go at all with the next line. So I like hearing English in Japanese songs, and in the lyrics, is very interesting. I think you have to have a great knowledge of both languages to mix the two correctly, like how Verbal does it sometimes.

If the singer doesn't know English, I think it's no good.
Sometimes it's necessary to convey your thoughts in another language because you just quite can't express it in one.

[evolutionricky]

Well you don't hear english artists like britney having japanese parts in her songs...so ayu and the rest really shouldnt have too much english....namie is really bad for it....I let my friend listen to SO CRAZY and he was like "is this song in english or japanese, she needs to pick a language"

The english parts seem a little trendy, but if they fit with the osng once in a while, theyre okay. id just be nice if some artists stuck more to japanese than switching to english so much.

[Ryoko]

I think it would be worse if someone who didn't know Japanese tried to sing Japanese.. i can imagine the look on a japanese's face:
"WTF???" or "EH???!!"

[Coelacanth]

YEah, I wonder if the Japanese actually know what the artist whos singing in english are saying... Its nice to know there are open-minded people in the world unlike this country

[evolutionricky]

Originally posted by Phantoma101
... Its nice to know there are open-minded people in the world unlike this country

yeah I know.