Asian songs with a message? (Environmental, protest, etc.)

[Taishaku]

Hey guys, I was asking myself the other day, are there any songs made by Japanese or Asian artists that treat issues like the environment or things like that? For example, in Latin America it's pretty easy to find artists that have done protest/political songs in their careers (like Shakira's "Octavo Día" or "Latinoamérica" by Calle 13).

There's a song by OLIVIA called "Celestial Delinquent" that is very pro-Earth and anti-capitalism, but it's in English, so I don't know if it counts.

Hope you can help me with this!

PS.: "everywhere nowhere" by Ayu would be a good example, since it criticizes the over-flooding of products and information, which makes us think we're "free", but also slaves of consumerism at the same time.

[terra]

alan's single Natsukashii Mirai talked about the earth I believe, also Gunjou no Tani I guess. She's pro earth in her first album.

Ai Otsuka's Sora to Kujira also reminds me of earth.

I dug my iTunes more and found KOKIA, some of her songs are about war, earth and peace like Tsumihoroboshi no Uta, Senka no Hana, Watashi ga Mita Mono, Kono Chikyuu ga Marui Okage de, Lose is Us Love is Earth, etc

[adantatu2]

Namie Amuro - Hot Girls

OK no, it's true alan first album talks a lot about nature and world topics, Ashita e no sanksa, Hitotsu, Natsukashii Mirai, etc.
Maybe ayu's a song "a song is born" and alterna (against the industry).

[Gustavopc]

I was going to say a song is born also, plus the other two songs from song+nation (the meaning of peace from Kuu and BoA, and lovin it from Namie and VERBAL). These are the ones that easily comes to mind

[Bigtop]

I thought AKB48's "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai" is a protest to the Japanese government military-wise...

[Uknow!]

4MINUTE's HuH have a strong message about liberty (not a deep meaning cause is a promotional song of a K-pop group) but S-koreans used the song against N-koreans lol

There are more songs but I can't remember now...

Well, Ayu's rollin', last links, Mirrorcle World could have that message.

[Andrenekoi]

Ayu has several songs that deal with the condition of women and some others that deal with equality in a broader way.

[Earth_maiden]

Originally Posted by adantatu2

Namie Amuro - Hot Girls

So deep, truly.

[AyuGAME]

Cocco - Dugong no Mieru Oka



love the song..about save Dugong (I think)



LQ video with explanation and english sub

[maddy1111]

Originally Posted by Uknow!

4MINUTE's HuH have a strong message about liberty (not a deep meaning cause is a promotional song of a K-pop group) but S-koreans used the song against N-koreans lol

jesus christ, are you serious? This is thread about songs with STRONG message and the only song you can think of is some dance song from korean girl group?
In that case, even Britney´s Work Bitch is song with super strong message about dedication.

[Uknow!]

^ Sorry for kill a cat OMG.

I was only thinking songs about Ayu then HuH came to my mind and I remembered the fact about S-koreans and N-koreans that for me it's interesting, but I said "(not a deep meaning cause is a promotional song of a K-pop group)"

Really, stop being so dramatic...

[YuriChan]

I know that B'z has some songs with deep messages... "Little Boy" from Koshi's solo album "Hadou" is about the effects of WWII. o_o

[susiowong]

Off the top of my head, Dir en grey's Glass Skin sounds like losing a loved one, it is in fact about the environment. Very sad. Also, Kowarete Iku Sekai by Girugamesh is another song about environmental loss (and this song is beautiful imo).

Edit: If you're looking for more political issues beyond the environment, Obscure and Mazohyst of Decadence by Dir en grey are about abortion. Dead Tree is about war and death (and I think Gaika, Chinmoku ga Nemuru Koro is too, but that's my own interpretation).

[BlackSilence]

^ to add to the list of abortion The Gazette's Guren apparently talks about it too if i recall right. I'm not sure if this one would count but they also have a song titled Taion that talks from the perspective of the kidnap victim. It was actually inspired by a case of Junko Furuta.
Also Amei/Amit has a few songs on the subject of fame in Freak Show and talks about female status in society in "Matriarchy".
Mmmm not sure if it would blend in but Miyavi's The Others have a thing or two on war, money and in general political stuff, with a very great message for music bringing people together despite of nations and skin colour. other song Real is also good. It's talking about how people are so immerse in technological world, appearance . His stuff is very uplifting and rather light-hearted though, nothing depressing but gets the point across. Both are in english though.

[Andrenekoi]

Gain from Brown Eyed Girls has 2 EPs that discuss female sexuality, the first one being Talk about S that talk about the discovery of sex and the other being Hawwah, that discuss the way christian religions treat female sexuality as dangerous and a sin.

[ShiraJemJem]

I'm thinking about this song.

It's a song about earthquake in japan in 2011.

[Ryusei]

Shounen Shoujo by Miliyah is kind of a song about how beauty doesn't guarantee happiness and how poisonous beauty standards can be; how it can destroy one's life

[orbitalaspect]

Sandy Lam's 2012 album, GAIA, had a lot of very controversial topics, including fatal love and self-destruction. The lead single is a fierce blast at humankind as a whole for being so reckless with Earth, with each other, with our responsibility to explore the Universe... Very powerful song.



KOKIA's 2015 album, I found you, is strictly about how she changed after marrying, and what the profound love she shares with her husband has taught her about hope, pain, and kindness. Also, I should mention, it can be a very sad, reflective album at points, if you have struggled with depression. Dear Armstrong is a little heartbreaking for anyone who wants so much to see the world as a beautiful place.



Also worth noting, KOKIA's 2013 album, Where to go my love? was about the nature of music itself. The title is a colloquial question to music itself, as in, "What shall music and I do together this time?"

Apart from Asian artists, Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons) has written dozens and dozens of songs about environmentalism, death, self-destruction. All are very hard to grasp, very emotional, so I recommend keeping your listening of him to a minimum. I listened to Antony religiously for several months and everyone thought I was suicidal.