７月 (July) is a a song by the Bloodthirsty Butchers, a band from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan who were active from 1986-2013. This performance took place at the Rising Sun Music Festival on August 21, 1999, and since I discovered it about a year ago I keep coming back to it. I love everything about this video. In addition to it being an incredible performance of one of their greatest songs, the band was playing it just as the sun came up which makes it seem all the more powerful. And when the guitarist tries to bring the song to a close but realizes the rhythm section is stuck in a groove they may never get out of, he finally decides the only way to end it is by throwing his guitar off the stage. Anyone into noisy punk/post-hardcore/emo stuff ought to check it out. I don’t think understanding the lyrics is essential to enjoying the music here, but for anyone who is interested here are the lyrics in Japanese and what is probably an imperfect translation of the lyrics into English:
ここにあるだけの夢を川で遊ばせ I let the dreams I have here frolic in the river
流れにまかせて流れに逆らい Going with the flow, going against the current
夜には静かな炎がもえ始め A quiet flame begins to burn in the night
君に伝えたいだけどこにも君はいない I want to tell you, but you’re nowhere to be found
うそにつつまれることがとても多く So many times I’m surrounded by lies
君の言うとおりなんとか目をそらす Just as you’d say, I somehow manage to look away
熱くなった体を川でなんとかさます I somehow manage to cool my heated body in the river
流れる想いはぼくを永遠に連れてく The flowing thoughts take me to eternity
照りつける陽の下で 流れる水につかり君をわすれ Under the scorching sun I bathe in the flowing water, trying to forget you
暑さをしのんでいる I’m trying to escape the heat
かげろうがじゃまする The heat haze gets in the way
ぼくの視界をじゃまする It blocks my vision
去年は君と泳いでいたのに It was just last year that I swam with you
暑い夏の陽よどうしてのりきれば How can I survive this hot summer sun?
このままではすべて流れて行きそうで If things continue like this, it all seems to wash away
ぼくを呼んだ様な気がして It feels like you’re calling me
セミの声はひびく The cicadas are chirping
あふれるくらいたくさんの星の下 Underneath the overflowing stars
あふれる涙を必死におさえている I’m desperately trying to hold back the tears that are overflowing
星もないてる ぼくも涙止まらない There are no stars*, my tears won’t stop either
ゆすらないでくれ さわらないでくれ Don’t shake me, don’t touch me
あふれるくらいこぼれる星の下 Underneath the overflowing stars
あふれる涙を必死におさえている I’m desperately trying to hold back the tears that are overflowing
星もないてる ぼくも涙止まらない There are no stars*, my tears won’t stop either
ゆすらないでくれ さわらないでくれ Don’t shake me, don’t touch me
*some word play; this could also be interpreted as “the stars are crying”
Bloodthirsty Butchers consisted of Hideki Yoshimura (vocals and guitar), Masahiro Komatsu (drums), and Takeshi Imoriya (bass) until 2003, when Hisako Tabuchi (formerly of Number Girl) joined as a second guitarist. During this time, the band released over a dozen albums and numerous singles in Japan, as well as appearing on two compilations released by the Olympia, Washington-based Yoyo Recordings label and releasing a split single with San Diego-based band Rocket from the Crypt. The group dissolved in 2013 after Yoshimura died of acute cardiac failure at the age of 46 years old, but they continue to be influential among numerous musicians in Japan, and in recent years their music has begun to receive greater international recognition.
Have a Great Night Thread, Avocado!