SIM Anime and Gaming Club

Song of the week: "Love Phantom" by B'z

Again, I have not done anything for two weeks worth of Jpop reviews thanks to last week's AFA and the addicting Final Fantasy Reishiki. So I'll just slap in another one of my favorite songs here.

In my Gaming Shit blogpost months ago, I mentioned that my IGN in various MMORPGs and other online games is LovePhantom.
(Last used in Lucent Heart pre-OB, I'm currently not playing MMORPGs since I need to focus on this fucking final year)

As you can clearly see, I got the name from one of B'z songs that is the catchiest, and undoubtedly one of the most memorable songs in Japanese music history.

Released in 1995, "Love Phantom" became an instant hit in Japan and was popular among teenagers and adults alike.
It was Japan's song of the year 1995, and was the number one song in Japanese karaokes for 2 years straight, 1995-1996.
Like many other B'z mega hits, Love Phantom is now considered a real classic track, and there are still tons of vocalists challenging themselves by trying to sing it perfectly.
Just look at the sheer number of Love Phantom-based AMVs. It is that fucking popular.

In case if you are wondering, "Anthony, why did you choose a picture of Mio drenched in rain here?"
This is the answer: B'z LIVE-GYM 2000, the legendary "Love Phantom" performance in the middle of a thunderstorm.


The orchestra..... Just..... The fucking orchestra. It's damn well played for a song released in the 90s. You wouldn't expect something like that to pop out on the radio while you're driving and shit.
After a minute long of mesmerizing sound of strings, the real deal starts.....

Welcome to one of the most memorable chorus in the Japanese music history.
"Iranai nani mo suteteshimaou!" that very first phrase already captivated hundreds of thousands of listeners with Inaba's powerful delivery.
Seriously... Shouting on top of your lungs, proclaiming that you'll throw shit around, at the very start of the song, is fucking epic I tell you.
Stop the time, shout it out, and... high pitch wailing voice! Weeeee!
Yes, Inaba's high pitch rocking vocal is definitely one of the main factors that makes the chorus so damn catchy.

A little bit of trivia: Almost all of them Japanese people knows the first chorus of Love Phantom.

Then comes the unconventional rap. It's..... Weird... but still has its own charm.

Composition wise, Love Phantom is a masterpiece.
An epic mix of opera level orchestra, catchy synth pop, Matsumoto's guitar works, and Inaba's rocking high pitch vocal.
You wouldn't find any other artists capable of mixing them up, and actually performs it perfectly to attract a large pool of demographic.
Also, the small stuffs Matsumoto put inside the song spiced the melody even more.
The repeating piano keys for example, is very addictive. The 'woah' and echo effect makes the verse-chorus transition even more dramatic.

The lyrics is, once again, simple, but contains a lot of masculine phrases inside that is more suitable for conversations.
All the blunt and harsh manly feel in the words, makes the already sexy lyrics even more 'dirty'.
Not only it conveys a lot of things with only a few words, it also constantly rhymes here and there with various wordplay that just sounds great to your ears.

All in all, Love Phantom is simply a legendary song, a phenomenal number that has left a giant mark in the Japanese music industry.
It has the power to attract listeners just by its chorus. In before you check how short the verse is...


ROMAJI

YOU MUST KNOW WHAT I AM.
I MUST TELL YOU WHAT I'VE BEEN LOVING.
I'M NOTHING, LIFELESS, SOULLESS.
CAUSE I'M "LOVE PHANTOM".

iranai nani mo suteteshimaou
kimi wo sagashi samayou MY SOUL
STOP THE TIME, SHOUT IT OUT
gaman dekinai boku wo zenbu ageyou

sewashii machi no kanji ga iya da yo kimi wa inai kara
yume ni mukai kousaten wo wataru tochuu no hito wa ii ne

futari de hitotsu ni narechau koto wo
kimochi ii to omou uchi ni
sukoshi no zure mo yurusenai
sekoi ningen ni nattetayo

kimi ga inai to ikirarenai
atsui houyou nashi ja imi ga nai
nee futari de hitotsu desho YIN & YANG
kimi ga boku wo sasaetekureru
kimi ga boku wo jiyuu ni shitekureru
tsuki no hikari ga sou suru youni
kimi no senaka ni suberi ochiyou
(soshite watashi wa tsubusareru)

choudo kaze no nai umi no youni taikutsu na hibi datta
omoeba hana mo iroaseteita yo kimi ni au made wa

nureru karada toketeshimau hodo
hiru mo yoru mo hanarezu ni
sugoshita toki wa honto na no
kimi wa ima nani omou

hara no soko kara kimi no namae wo
sakende tobidashita IT'S MY SOUL
kara no karada ga tobotoboto
hashagu machi wo aruku

hoshii kimochi ga seishoushi sugite
aisuru koto wo wasurete
bannou no kimi no maboroshi wo
boku no naka ni tsukutteta

iranai nani mo suteteshimaou
kimi wo sagashi samayou MY SOUL
STOP THE TIME, SHOUT IT OUT
gaman dekinai boku wo zenbu ageyou

(maboroshi wo itsumo aishiteiru
nanimo wakarazuni)

TRANSLATION

YOU MUST KNOW WHAT I AM.
I MUST TELL YOU WHAT I'VE BEEN LOVING.
I'M NOTHING, LIFELESS, SOULLESS.
CAUSE I'M "LOVE PHANTOM".

Everything is useless, I’ll throw it all away
I've been wandering, searching for you MY SOUL
STOP THE TIME, SHOUT IT OUT
can't hold it back, I'll give you all of me

I hate the atmosphere of this bustling city
Because you’re not here
Walking down the crossroads I started to wonder
maybe "Being a normal person" is good enough

When the two of us become one,
I feel such glorious esctacy
I wouldn’t tolerate even the slightest shift
I have become such a petty person

I can’t go on living without you
Life has no meaning without your passionate embrace
Say, weren’t we two as one, yin and yang?
You have made me what I am
You set me into my freedom
And just like the moonlight does
I'm gonna glide down your back
(And I’m destroyed...)

Like an ocean without any wind blowing
My past were such boring days
And then, the flowers started to have colors
The moment I met you

As two wet bodies were intertwined into one
Day and night, we can't be separated
I wander if all those time I've spent with you were real?
What do you have in mind now?
From the core of my body your name is etched
I ran and shouted it out, IT'S MY SOUL
This hollow body of mine is starting to break down
While I wander around this bustling city

"I want you", this feeling has grown out of control
So much that I have forgotten how to love others
A splitting doppel illusion of your image
has been engraved within myself

Everything is useless, I’ll throw it all away
I've been wandering, searching for you MY SOUL
STOP THE TIME, SHOUT IT OUT
can't hold it back, I'll give you all of me

(I have been loving an illusion
Without realizing it)