INDEX
No Room for Carefree Songs in the Mood of the Times
Which lyrics did you start with first?
Sakamoto: ”Dear Grandpa.”
Songs with that kind of light, rock and roll feel have appeared on your previous album too, but the lyrics this time felt quite striking.
Sakamoto: When I finished it, I honestly felt a bit embarrassed and wondered if it might be too much. But once you put something like that out there with a bit of courage, it starts to work on you later. I thought maybe being slightly embarrassing is actually the right place to be.
My age probably has something to do with it as well. There is a bit of self mockery in there. At the same time, I heard all kinds of interpretations. Some people thought it was about Taro Aso, a veteran Japanese politician known for his blunt remarks and long presence in power. Others took it as nothing more than a gentle, feel good song. It really made me realize how differently a song can sound depending on the listener’s state of mind.
Which song did you move on to next when writing the lyrics?
Sakamoto: ”Justice.”
That sense of suffocation you sing about in ”Justice” feels like something you have explored before, but here it comes across as more sharply focused.
Sakamoto: Does it? Maybe I have been getting simpler over time, to the point where it feels like I am just saying things directly now.
What about the title track, ”Yoo-hoo”?
Sakamoto: That one already had lyrics by early summer.
At first, I thought it might be a song about people who are no longer with us, like ”Star” from your previous album ”Like A Story” released in 2022. But it turned out to feel much more like a call directed at the present world.
Sakamoto: That might be true. ”Yoo-hoo,” like ”Dear Grandpa,” came together in a very offhand way, almost like something slipping out unintentionally. When there is already a melody, my personal rule is to try to keep whatever words come out naturally. Rather than choosing safe, inoffensive phrases, I feel it is better to go with the words that surface in the moment, even if they are a little embarrassing, and put them out there honestly.
Sakamoto: ”Yoo-hoo” looks like the English word “Yahoo!” when written out, but when I looked up the meaning, I learned it is actually a term used in mountaineering. It is something you call out to let people in the distance know where you are. I really liked that idea too. Visually, I also felt that having “Yoo-hoo” written on the album cover would work nicely.
It feels as though those words that slip out naturally are what give the song its resonance. There is also a sense that your music never feels out of step with the atmosphere or mood of the times.
Sakamoto: It is not that I am thinking in terms of marketing, like saying the world feels this way now so I should go in that direction. As I go about my daily life, I think about what kind of approach actually feels enjoyable for me, and a lot of ideas come up that feel slightly off or not quite right. What makes it through all of that and reaches my personal passing line is what becomes a song.
I do think the mood I am living in now affects how the music ends up sounding. Of course, there are people who probably feel very differently from me. In that sense, what I am really doing is just expressing how I personally experience things.
That is something you have been consistent about all along. You are not looking for people to fall in step with you.
Sakamoto: I think it really comes down to whether it feels at least tolerable for me to sing. In times like these, if I were singing something irresponsible or overly carefree, it would start to feel uncomfortable, even to me. If someone has the strength to push past that and keep singing relentlessly upbeat songs regardless, maybe that works for them. But for me, it just would not feel right.
