Birth

Title:                Birth
Info:                 AKB48 4th Original Album - Koko ga Rhodes da, Koko de tobe!
Member(s):        Owada Nana, Kawamoto Saya, Kitagawa Ryoha, Goto Moe, Sakaguchi Nagisa, Tashima Meru, Tanaka Miku,
                        Tomonaga Mio, Nakano Ikumi, Nishino Miki, Yabuki Nako

どうせこの世は バグがいっぱい 矛盾だらけのシステム 学校なんか行ったところで どうにもならないよ 恋愛だって流行らない "好き"って何だろう? 誰かに束縛されたら 絶対に私キレるよ 別にやりたいことなんかないし 夢を見るのはかったるいし 欲しいものくらいあればよかった "もの"って何だか空しい 友達 親友 恥ずかしい "孤独"って何だろう? 誰とも知り合わなければ 返事をしなくていいんだ なんで生きるの? 意味わかんない ちょっと一回 楽になりたい 神様ごめん ちょっと待って ちょっと待って 一回死んだ振りして そこからもう一度立ち上がり 生まれ変わってみよう やり直し やり直し スタートに戻ろうよ ほらあの日に巻き戻して さあ今日は 第二のBirth 私なんかが 生きてることで 全世界に迷惑かけてる 息吸って息吐いてるだけで 資源の無駄だってば… どこかのお偉い先生に 生きる意味を聞きたい 頑張って生きれば生きるほど 死に近づくなんて損してねえ? ずっと人類 考え続けて 未だに答え 出てないじゃん スーパーコンピューター使ってみても 何にも解明できない 命とは何か問いかけて だいたい人生終わるんだ いつまでたっても生命の 目的がわからない でも私に 残る時間 何でこんなに長いのよ 誰かあげる 明日まで 明日まで 死ぬのをやめてみよう そしたら何だか明後日も 面白そうな気がする まだ早い まだ早い ここで結論出すのは… あとちょっぴり生きてみようよ さあ今 第二のLife ちょっと待って ちょっと待って 一回死んだ振りして そこからもう一度立ち上がり 生まれ変わってみよう 明日まで 明日まで 死ぬのをやめてみよう そしたら何だか明後日も 何か始めたくなる まだ早い まだ早い 騙されたと思って あとちょっぴり生きてみようよ さあ今 第二のLife 今日は 第二のBirth

douse konoyo wa BAGU ga ippai mujun darake no SHISUTEMU gakkou nanka itta tokoro de dou ni mo naranai yo renai datte hayaranai "suki" tte nandarou? dareka ni sokubaku saretara zettai ni watashi KIREru yo betsu ni yaritai koto nanka naishi yume wo miru no wa kattaruishi hoshii mono kurai areba yokatta "mono" tte nandaka munashii tomodachi shinyuu hazukashii "kodoku" tte nandarou? dare to mo shiriawanakereba henji wo shinakute iinda nande ikiru no? imi wakannai chotto ikkai raku ni naritai kamisama gomen chotto matte chotto matte ikkai shinda furi shite soko kara mou ichido tachiagari umarekawatte miyou yarinaoshi yarinaoshi SUTAATO ni modorou yo hora ano hi ni makimodoshite saa kyou wa dai ni no Birth watashi nanka ga ikiteru koto de zen sekai ni meiwaku kaketeru iki sutte iki haiteru dake de shigen no muda datte ba... doko ka no wo nerai sensei ni ikiru imi wo kikitai ganbatte ikireba ikiru hodo shi ni chikadzuku nante son shite nee? zutto jinrui kangaetsudzukete imada ni kotae detenai jan SUUPAAKONPYUUTAA tsukatte mite mo nani ni mo kaimei dekinai inochi to wa nani ka toikakete daitai jinsei owarunda itsu made tatte mo seimei no mokuteki ga wakaranai demo watashi ni nokoru jikan nande konna ni nagai no yo dareka ageru ashita made ashita made shinu no wo yamete miyou soshitara nandaka asatte mo omoshirosou na ki ga suru mada hayai mada hayai koko de ketsuron dasu no wa... ato choppiri ikite miyou yo saa ima dai ni no Life chotto matte chotto matte ikkai shinda furi shite soko kara mou ichido tachiagari umarekawatte miyou ashita made ashita made shinu no wo yamete miyou soshitara nandaka asatte mo nani ka hajimetaku naru mada hayai mada hayai damasareta to omotte ato choppiri ikite miyou yo saa ima dai ni no Life kyou wa dai ni no Birth

After all, this world Is full of bugs A system full of contradictions What point is there In going to school Romance is out of fashion What is “love”? If someone were to restrain me I would definitely cut them off There’s really nothing I want to do Having dreams is so tiring If only I had something I wanted But “thing” sounds rather empty Pals or friends are embarrassing What is “loneliness”? If I don’t get to know anyone I wouldn’t need to reply to them Why am I alive? I don’t see any meaning For just a little while, I need a break Sorry, God Hold on a second Hold on a second Pretend to die once Then rise again from there And be reborn Do it again Do it again Return to the start See, rewind back to that day Today is your second Birth If I keep on living I’d just be a nuisance to the whole world Just breathing in and breathing out It’s such a waste of resources Some great master somewhere Please tell me the meaning of life If I only live to stay alive I’m as good as dead That’s such a loss, isn’t it? Mankind has always been thinking about this But even now there’s still no answer Even if we used a supercomputer It will not resolve anything What is life is still in question After all, everybody dies Even if we stand here forever We still won’t know the purpose of life But the remaining time That I have left Why is it so long? I’d rather give it to someone else Until tomorrow Until tomorrow If you stop being dead Even the day after tomorrow Will somehow become interesting It’s still early It’s still early To make a decision now Try living for a little while more Now is your second Life Hold on a second Hold on a second Pretend to die once Then rise again from there And be reborn Until tomorrow Until tomorrow If you stop being dead Even the day after tomorrow Will somehow become The beginning of something new It’s still early It’s still early I think you’ve been deceived Try living for a little while more Now is your second Life Today is your second Birth

There seems to be a surprising number of philosophy-related songs featuring younger members... There's Bokutachi no Ideology, Seijun Philosophy (Team 4), Kafka to Dendenmu Chu! (Dendenmu Chu!) and Kegarete iru shinjitsu (Team 8). It's not wrong, just a little odd. Hey, maybe it's a good thing for girls to start thinking about existential issues while they're still so young. But it's more than a little odd to hear 14-year-old Yabuki Nako sing that she feels like she's wasting the Earth's resources by being alive. That's downright messed up...

I really like how this theme of existential anxiety is coupled with the whole sci-fi feel of the song. I can easily imagine this as the opening theme of some cyberpunk anime. On the one hand, there's the sense of utter insignificance, of being just one small cog in the vast, emotionless, clockwork machine that is modern technological society. Added to that is the despair at the realization that such a society is full of flaws and contradictions.

It's a classic modern disillusionment: despite being at the mercy of science, we find that science is unable to solve our deeper problems. And so, the only non-religious solution to such a depressing predicament is an existentialist one, namely that life has no ultimate purpose, and as such we must create whatever purpose we can for ourselves in order to keep on living. However, it also means saying goodbye to all those Japanese Shinto gods. Plus, all that talk about a "second birth" is strangely reminiscent of the Christian doctrine of being "born again". Hmm...

(All kanji/kana and romaji lyrics on this site are taken from Studio48 unless otherwise stated. Please do not reproduce anything from this site without giving due credit.)