This is the last track on their 2017 album, Idols, Sakura which is probably one of my favourite Future Funk albums of all time. All songs are great on the album, but it ends with a brilliant track that makes you want to replay it again and again.
Horsey features the vocals of Sarah Bonito. If that name seems a bit familiar with you, Sarah would be one of the members of Kero Kero Bonito. In fact, I have actually highlighted her most famous song Flamingo in Edition #56
If you don’t know that song but recognise the name still, she would have sang the theme tune for the Playstation 5 launch title, Bugsnax!
Horsey is a great beat and Sarah’s vocals accompany the track very very well. It has a great summer vibe and well deserves its spot on the album.
As with most Future Funk songs, the main melody of the song is sampled from T-Square’s Circuit Wanderer which was released in 1991 and was part of the “F-1 Grand Prix World” album a year later. From what I can tell, the album has no affiliation with the FIA Formula 1 World Championship but it would be pretty cool if it was.
Around 1:14 is where Horsey takes it’s sample from
English Lyrics:
Waking up early, throwing on clothes Catching the same bus Staring at the scenery outside Driving past these concrete things This used to be a jungle, I think and It’s crazy! Humanity is amazing A certain thought with meaning in My daydream
Just remembered it’s 2014 Do you know what that really means? Looking forward to this with joy It’s the year of the horse that’s running freely It’s actually the year of the sheep but it’s it better if that’s a secret. Aren’t I strange? But I can’t get these images out of my head
I saw a bit of it on T.V. Hair swaying in wind Running freely these beautiful horses All together in a field no ending That summer breeze Unforgettable Let me run with you Let me run with you I’m already running at the same time Oh hell yeah I have a really good feeling
We’re not going anywhere and tomorrow isn’t waiting for us This life is boring
Yeah so come run with me Let’s be free Don’t look back cause we are not coming back No ones gonna ever catch me and ride me Ride me
Yeah so come run with me Let’s be free Don’t look back cause we are not coming back No ones gonna ever catch me and ride me Ride me I’m that horse that I saw on TV
I’m sure by now a lot of readers of this blog know that I enjoy anime. One of those anime’s being Yu-Gi-Oh! I have been a fan of the franchise for the longest time now and outside of the original series, I am a big fan of 5D’s which ran from April 2008 until March 2011.
Season 2 of the show started in October of 2008 and it featured 2 great tracks which were used for the Opening and Ending of the anime.
The ‘Ending’, CROSS GAME by Alice Nine is by far one of my favourite tracks of all time… and I am surprised while searching this evening, that I have never covered Alice Nine on The Jukebox… (Please see the footnote at the bottom for more about The JukeBox and its future)
LAST TRAIN along with CROSS GAME became the catalyst in my fascination with Visual Kei music from Japan. I remember that I downloaded LAST TRAIN along with CROSS GAME (and it’s album Vandalize) and I would listen to it constantly on repeat… on a near daily basis.
There isn’t a lot of English information about knotlamp but from translation of their Japanese Wikipedia entry: knotlamp was a rock band from Fukuoku Prefecture, Japan who were active between 2000 and 2013.
They were signed to Run Run Run Records until 2012 before moving to Imperial Records. Their discography is a bit bare as the band has had 4 EP’s and 1 ‘Mini album’ which was released in 2006.
As previously mentioned, knotlamp’s LAST TRAIN was used for Yu-Gi-Oh!, but they also had a song used for another anime Ginga e Kickoff!!
A ‘Best of’ album titled “MY PROLOGUE” was released in January 2014 which reached #183 in the Oricon Album Charts.
Today’s the day to carry out a plan. I’ll finally escape from my saturated life today I don’t know what is going on today But somehow I feel that my answer isn’t here
Though I don’t know how my life will end, I never wanna be a slave ‘Cause there is always the chance to change I guess it’s up to you
I’m trying to be a better person I will get on the train I don’t wanna become a slave I will live for myself
I’m trying to be another me ‘Cause I won’t lose my life My life will succeed I’ll reach my goal yea
I try to smile but I can’t remember how I don’t know please tell me, how’d I become so Jaded? Sometimes I feel like I might be dead soon But I know that it gave me something to believe
Though I don’t know how my life will end I never wanna be a slave ‘Cause there is always the chance to change I guess it’s up to you
I’m trying to be a better person I will get on the train I don’t wanna become a slave I will live for myself
I’m trying to be another me ‘Cause I won’t lose my life My life will succeed I’ll reach my goal
I’m waiting for my dawn I’m dreaming of freedom Nobody Knows my worries No need to understand me
I wanna get this small freedom I break away my worries It’s time to say goodbye I’m not afraid of you
I need to walk away ‘Cause I don’t wanna be a liar If I cannot live my life, I am as good as dead
I’m trying to be a better person I will get on the train I don’t wanna become a slave I will live for myself
I’m trying to be another me ‘Cause I won’t lose my life My life will succeed I’ll reach my goal yea
My new story My life is just about to start I’m trying to be a better person I will get on the train I don’t wanna become a slave
I will live for myself I’m trying to be another me ‘Cause I won’t lose my life My life will succeed I’ll reach my goal
Lyrics (Romanji):
tooku kanata o miwatashite tanjyun ni shikai no semai kotokitzuita jibun suteru hou ga raku demo saidaigen taetemitai to omotta kyou ga donna dame na hi demo wazukana hikari o asu wa mada asu no jibun de tomoseba ii togirenai you ni kienai you ni jibun o tashikamete kazoe kirenai hodokizutsuitemo tashikana ashita ga kuru you ni tonegatte hashiru nido to nai kyou o nani ka no seinishinagara soyatte susumenai jibun danmai ni shite kokoshikanai shunkandatte mouzutto muda ni shite kitakedo warai sugoshitai tsukamo nai teta kinou mo kuru asa wa itsumo onaji de tada hitotsu datta tomaranai you ni taenai you ni jibun ni toikakete asu o ushinatte mo jibun no seidarou nido wa nai kyou o dou ikiru no mo jyuu dakara sonna koukainai jinsei o It’s time to say goodbye I’m not afraid of you I need to walk away ‘Cause I don’t wanna be a liar If I cannot live my life I am as good as dead togirenai you ni kienai you ni jibun o tashikamete kazoe kirenai hodokizutsuitemo tashikana ashita ga kuru you ni tonegatte hashiru nido to nai kyou o (It’s just about to start) tomaranai you ni taenai you ni jibun ni toikakete asu o ushinatte mo jibun no seidarou nido wa nai kyou o dou ikiru no mo jyuu dakara sonna koukainai jinsei o sonna koukainai jinsei o togirenai you ni kienai you ni
The JukeBox has been a staple of this blog, sharing the music, the lyrics and in more recent times, the background to the songs that I highlight and it has been very fun. In my searching for ‘Alice Nine’ posts that I have done, it turns out that I haven’t actually written any posts about Alice Nine on The JukeBox.
This sent me on a rabbit hole. I know I changed the name of “MusicLyricFriday” (or MusicLyricMonday) to The JukeBox back in 2012. Unfortunately, what I deemed to be S1 or even S2 of these posts are lost to time… I believe they were on an old Tumblr blog which is now gone.
So I figured out how many JukeBox posts I have made since S3 up to this one today and it would be: #74
I’ll be switching the numbering scheme started with the next post #75 and I will be working to retroactively tagging the old posts under The JukeBox tag so they can all be found easier. I could guesstimate how many posts were missing but I’d say it must have been an handful.
Oh well.
EDIT: 20th February 2022 – I have figured it out. Back on an old WordPress that I had when I was 17 which is still live at https://padraigfahy.wordpress.com – I had 2 album reviews, and something in the back of my head was that they were my first 2 album reviews and I had made them their own series to ‘bump the numbers’.
The number for this one should be 94 or something, but given S1 and S2 were just 2 posts, I am removing 28 (30 songs from both albums minus the number of posts) which makes this post number 67!
Every few months on YouTube, I am recommended music which I listened to years ago. One of those songs, I am featuring today.
‘real Emotion‘ is the opening song for the 2003 Playstation 2 title, Final Fantasy X-2. It’s composed by Kazuhiro Hara and arranged by ‘h-wonder‘
The song’s English vocalist is Jade Villalon. Villalon is a member of the German pop group Sweetbox who has had success in Japan and Korea. She also sang the English version of 1000 Words also used in Final Fantasy X-2. Villalon left the group in 2007 before rejoining in 2020 and releasing a new album.
The Japanese version of the song was sung by Kumi Koda. Koda is a solo singer in Japan who gained fame from real Emotion and 1000 Words and has been releasing new music since her breakthrough. Koda also voiced Lenne in the Japanese version of the game.
Outside of the game, Kumi released her 6th album in December 2020 called “Angel + Monster” which was recorded in her home studio during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
There has only been 1 version of the English dub of the song released, It’s credited as being sung by: “Jade from sweetbox” – No full names here.
Credits from Final Fantasy X-2Final Fantasy X-2 Official OST – real Emotion (English)Opening of Final Fantasy X-2 (English)
The Japanese dub, sung by Koda however, had 2 versions:
The first being the OST version:
Final Fantasy X-2 Official OST – real Emotion (Japanese)
And then an official music video featuring Kumi Koda. The dance was motion captured and used for when “the singer” performs the song at the start of the game. The song got to number 3 on the Oricon singles charts making it Koda’s first song in the Top 10. The song was ranked the 24th best single of 2003 in Oricon’s Top 100 Singles.
Earlier this week, Square-Enix finally released the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST onto streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.
This gives me the perfect excuse to highlight one of the biggest memes in Final Fantasy XIV in the last couple of years: A Long Fall.
‘A Long Fall’ is the accompanying score to the Level 80 dungeon, “The Twinning”. The song is a remix of two older themes, “Out of the Labyrinth” (From the Syrcus Tower raid in Patch 2.3) and “eScape” (From the Omega raid in Patch 4.4)
Syrcus Tower themeOmega theme
The lyrics for eScape were sung by the composer for Final Fantasy XIV, Masayoshi Soken and the lead English translator, Co-lead of the World and Lore Developer, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox.
When Shadowbringers was released in July 2019, ‘The Twinning’ was one of the dungeons that was included with the initial patch which contained the very catchy tune.
A Long Fall
The song became an underrated masterpiece and considered one of Soken’s best works (Of which there are many)
On August 27th 2019, YouTube user kcat729 uploaded a video titled ‘twinning.mp4’ which contained the song but super imposed with 4 copies of John Jacobson from the Double Dream Feet video from 2011.
twinning.mp4Double Dream Feet from John Jacobson
Word about twinning.mp4 made its way around the various websites such as Twitter, Reddit, the Final Fantasy XIV Official Forums and eventually the developers of the game.
At the Final Fantasy Fan Festival 2021 (Which took place in a closed theatre in Japan due to COVID-19), Square-Enix held a concert at the end of Night 2 of their event featuring their in-house band “The PRIMALS” which is comprised of the aforementioned Soken, Koji Fox and 3 other band members.
They traditionally cover in-game music made by Soken in a more heavy-metal direction but in recent times, their music has created for the game.
During their performance, they had community team members recreate the dance from the twinning.mp4 meme video.
You can see that the team members are wearing red, blue and green shirts. This is to depict the ‘roles’ that you can play in Final Fantasy XIV. Red for Damage Dealers (DPS), Green for Healers and Blue for Tanks.
To promote the upcoming album “FINAL FANTASY XIV: Scions & Sinners”, The Primals created a music video for A Long Fall which shows the members performing the song while Koji Fox is dressed up as a Ascian (whom are the antagonists in Final Fantasy XIV) performing the Double Dream Feet dance and also some in-game dances such as the ‘Manderville’ and the ‘Ball Dance’
You can tell that throughout the official music video and the video from the Fan Fest that they really enjoyed performing this song. Hopefully at the next Final Fantasy Fan Festival in 2023, we’ll be able to hear the song in person.
The official soundtrack for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is now available on Spotify and Apple Music.
Over the last 10 or more years, I discovered a Japanese band that I fell in love with, and something that I have never highlighted ever on The Jukebox and while I will doing a featured special about them one day, today, I wish to introduce to you all, my 2nd favourite Japanese band.
Background
The GazettE were formed in 2002 featuring the band members: Ruki, Uruha, Aoi, Reita and Kai. I have a hard enough time trying to keep track as to who is who in the Japanese Visual Kei and Rock genre.
The GazettE band members
STACKED RUBBISH is the bands 3rd studio album which released in 2007 which reached 3rd in the Oricon album charts (Oricon is similar to the Billboard in the US or IMRO in Ireland)
On May 26th 2021, the band released their 10th studio album titled: “Mass”
While this album has some greats tracks, the first one that I want to highlight is their 5th track, Ganjisuni Akai Bara.
YouTube & Spotify
Lyrics
When speaking figuratively you seem to be A crow that wanted to dive on the water’s surface with spread wings What are the eyes seeing that pretend to be innocent?
Please give ease to the girl who’s thin hands are pointing to the sky…
A rosary made of brass hangs around your neck And was replaced by a light brown leather rope The hymn mixed with a smile is interrupted and at the same time you lose your footing
While watching the trembling shadow, rationality is mutilated Understanding has no meaning in this scattered cult like the tone of a bell that’s ringing coldly
February is decorated in taciturnity, palms put together in a deep prayer To God, unable to save, please answer me…
Experiencing life’s value in death, this death lets the flowers of life bloom A colorless God and a sleeping withered rose I hold onto the drowning you, let’s face the beautiful darkness
In order for wax to melt, it’s shape was taken When tomorrow is left without shadows, what is there more than reality?
I want to aknowledge you, please don’t be sad, even if there’s nothing reflected in these eyes anymore
February is decorated in taciturnity, palms put together in a deep prayer
To God, unable to save, please answer me… Experiencing life’s value in death, this death lets the flowers of life bloom I’m singing those deserted words
Your birthday is decorated in taciturnity, no matter how many times the celebrating of this day was continued You were born and raised here, at the place you loved
Weakly it continues trembling and flowing, this eternal sleep in beauty. Your journey was decorated by red roses.
What I asked peacefully is to never entrust the language of emotions Can you laugh from your heart, I wonder if there is any happiness?
At the start of Final Fantasy XIV’s 3rd expansion, ShadowBringers, it brought a truck load of new content including dungeons and trials.
One of the first trials that you encounter is at Level 73, Titania. Titania is not a name, but rather the title of “The King of Pixies” – The pixies are small fairies who fly around and play with their friends and enemies.
Did I say play? I mean, play tricks on them because they are evil little things!
![[The JukeBox] #69 – Macross 82-99 – Horsey (feat. Sarah Bonito)](https://padraig.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/macross8299-idolssakura.jpg)
![[The Jukebox] #68 – knotlamp LAST TRAIN](https://padraig.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/itschXB4mH.png)
![[The Jukebox] #66 – Kazuhiro Hara – real Emotion](https://padraig.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/yuna-ffx2.jpg)
![[The Jukebox] #65 – Masayoshi Soken – A Long Fall](https://padraig.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ffxivthetwinning.jpg)
![[The Jukebox] #64 – The GazettE – Ganjisuni Akai Bara](https://padraig.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/stackedrubbish.jpg)
![[The Jukebox] #63 – Masayoshi Soken – What Angel Wakes Me](https://padraig.blog/wp-content/uploads/wordpress/2021/01/titania.jpg)