Star ni Nante Naritakunai

Title:                スターになんてなりたくない | Star ni Nante Naritakunai | I Don't Want to be A Star
Info:                 NMB48 10th Single - Rashikunai
Member(s):        Ijiri Anna, Iso Kanae, Ichikawa Miori, Ueda Mirei, Umeda Ayaka, Kadowaki Kanako, Kamieda Emika,                         Kawakami Chihiro, Kinoshita Haruna, Kusaka Konomi, Kurokawa Hazuki, Shibuya Nagisa, Takayanagi Akane,                         Naiki Kokoro, Hayashi Momoka, Yabushita Shu, Watanabe Miyuki

CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA… 本当の自分がきっと この街の人混みの中 どこかにいる 普通の人に紛れて まわりは誰も気づかないけど どこかにいる どうして どうして どうして ずっと隠れているの？ 私… スターになんて なりたくないのよ 追いかけるカメラから 振り切るように逃げる 今の暮らしは もう我慢できない キレイな夢には 棘(とげ) があるのよ 知らない世界 昨日はあのコンビニで アイスとか雑誌を買って 向こうにいた お願い お願い お願い ねえ　誰か代わってよ 私… スターにずっと なりたかったのに… 奪われてしまったの 大事なものと自由 車の窓に 失ったすべて キレイな夢って すぐに消えてく 儚い世界 どうして どうして どうして 街が滲んで見える 私… スターになんて なりたくないのよ 追いかけるカメラから 振り切るように逃げる 今の暮らしは もう我慢できない キレイな夢には 棘(とげ) があるのよ 知らない世界

CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA... hontou no jibun ga kitto kono machi no hitogomi no naka doko ka ni iru futsuu no hito ni magirete mawari wa dare mo kidzukanai kedo doko ka ni iru doushite doushite doushite zutto kakurete iru no? watashi... SUTAA ni nante naritakunai no yo oikakeru KAMERA kara furikiru you ni nigeru ima no kurashi wa mou gaman dekinai KIREI na yume ni wa toge ga aru no yo shiranai sekai kinou wa ano KONBINI de AISU to ka zasshi wo katte mukou ni ita onegai onegai onegai nee dareka kawatte yo watashi... SUTAA ni zutto naritakatta no ni... ubawarete shimatta no daiji na mono to jiyuu kuruma no mado ni ushinatta subete KIREI na yume tte sugu ni kieteku hakanai sekai doushite doushite doushite machi ga nijin de mieru watashi... SUTAA ni nante naritakunai no yo oikakeru KAMERA kara furikiru you ni nigeru ima no kurashi wa mou gaman dekinai kirei na yume ni wa toge ga aru no yo shiranai sekai

CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA... Surely the real me Is here, somewhere Within this crowded town Mingled among ordinary people Nobody notices me But I’m here, somewhere Why Why Why Am I always Hiding... I don’t want To be a star I run away, trying to shake off The chasing cameras I can’t stand This life anymore This beautiful dream Is so full of thorns It’s an unfamiliar world Yesterday, at that convenience store As I bought ice-cream and magazines There they were, across the street Please Please Please Can I switch places With someone... I’d always wanted To be a star... But I’ve been robbed Of precious things like freedom Everything has been lost To tinted car windows A beautiful dream Quickly faded away It’s an ephemeral world Why Why Why Does this town look so blurry To me... I don’t want To be a star I run away, trying to shake off The chasing cameras I can’t stand This life anymore This beautiful dream Is so full of thorns It’s an unfamiliar world

Huge props to Aki-P for writing this song. I don't know what exactly his motivations were, but it's certainly the perfect antithesis to idol-fantasy songs such as Idol nante Yobanaide, Mousou Girlfriend, Mayuyuroid, and most recently Yume de Kiss Me.

On this end of the spectrum there's also Setsunai Reply (but this song is rather specific to Sasshi's context) and Idol wa Uunyanya no Ken (but this song's serious themes is neutralized by all the silliness). In comparison, the edgy tunes of Star Nante ni Naritakunai is refreshingly consistent with the weight of the lyrics.

Add to that the "let's work hard as idols" songs (Ougon Center, Idol no Yoake and Miniskirt no Yosei, to name a few), as well as songs about the idol-fan relationship (e.g. Enkyori Poster, Fan Letter). These form the 4 main categories of songs explicitly about idols. I'm not saying that any of these categories are bad, and to be fair I don't think many of the girls (if any) are big enough to actually encounter such paparazzi. But I'm just glad to see Aki-P addressing certain biases, if not for the sake of a balanced representation of idols, then at least for the sake of variety.

(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.)