Thoughts on JESUS - Song and Video - Add your own.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

**all remarks are the opinion of those posting. Please be considerate and thoughtful in your responses, we look forward to your personal thoughts on what Gackt's new work means to you.


I was pondering where Gackt was going with the JESUS concept, and knowing that he is revisiting the themes from his REBIRTH album of 2001, down to the Neo-Nazi costumes, I wondered how truly 'new' the sound would be.

As the song opens, we hear the static sound that opens Secret Garden, as well as the accelerating notes from Redemption so the shouts that come after are almost a relief. The melody line, I feel, does not copy any existing Gackt song, and gets you right up to speed. Not being a musician, I can't be specific, but everything sounds tight to me.

I think Gackt sounds great in this song, a comfortable range for him, and the English was a not unpleasant surprise. I usually prefer songs in all one language, but I just think, how odd to just shout out in English in a Japanese song, though I hear this constantly in Jpop-Jrock. I can comprehend the English fairly well.

The song has a great drive, I enjoyed the little layers (machine gun behind the drum beats) and the shouting chorus works for me. (This will be great to drive to VERY LOUD in rush hour traffic)I think you can fit it in the category of Gackt Sound, but it's new enough to me to be enjoyable. I think it's a newer sound than last year's RETURNER.

Now, as for the theme of the lyrics, I've heard some say, this is a song about suicide, but I think that's too simple. I think 'wake me up' and 'take me out' and references to pleading to a prophet (any prophet be they religious or even political, or Gackt himself) are about Rebirth, the desire to move on, move forward, in this life. And Gackt's goading you to 'just do it' don't look to a deity* but find the power within you. That's the personal interpretation I'm sticking with, just going on lyrics and not the visuals.

*I've read a translation of the article in PatiPati where Gackt states the cry 'Jesus' in the song challenges (any) god if they are out there to 'come and help' - so I'm glad I got that right.

THE VIDEO -

Clammy, claustrophobic and dark, if Gackt had to get back to Requiem et Reminiscence, it looks more realized this time. I only wish we could see a little more, as the screen stays quite dark, and I don't get clear shots of GacktJOB. The focus is however, on Gackt and the figure of the man in the Luftwaffe Uniform.

The NAZI reference here is interesting, I don't know if it's intentional that the uniform of the protagonist is grey and not black. The uniforms of the regular Soliders were grey, the uniforms of the Secret Police within the Nazi Army were black - which is what Gackt and GacktJOB are wearing.

The idea of ritual suicide among the military is not exclusive to the Japanese, it was also Roman, and many of the Nazi Army's insignia (standards) harkened to ancient Rome. The scenes in Gackt's JESUS brought to mind the story of the German General named Edwin Rommel (Known as the Desert Fox) the one adversary who was laudable to the winning Allied powers after the Second World War because of his honor toward captured enemy soldiers, a refusal to persecute 'undesirables' by sending them to concentration camps, and becoming involved in a attempted coup on the Dictator Hitler. As he was a popular Hero in Germany, instead of being killed in an execution, his family's lives were to be spared if he agreed to commit suicide, which he did.

This makes Gackt's role as instigator in the video, goading the man to put a gun to his head, an interesting figure. I enjoyed the flashes of the skull through his face, and after so many repeated scenes of the gun to the head, the only way it could have ended satisfactorily *spoiler*
was for the man to shoot himself, luckily, without gore, but by the reaction of my friends list, quite powerful.

Comments

[koshien.livejournal.com]

Must agree the musicianship is tight, the overall production is really polished and snappy. I'd give it an 8/10 in a review.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Oh yay, that's better than I thought, thanks for getting me to think more about the musicianship in the song. But, like yourself, I'm really anticipating the new album.

I read a review of the album Rebirth, that said that Gackt songs are notorious for not having hooks that grab you from the start, but songs you should play a few times to get into them.

[koshien.livejournal.com]

That was what I'd write "publicly" on merit of it as what it is, if I was going to review for work. Privately I think very differently.

[newport12.livejournal.com]

I usually have to hear a song once before forming an opinion whether I like it or not, but since its Mr. G I listened to it several times.
/sans visuals, it tends to distract me from the song itself/
I kinda like it - its energetic, has a slightly different than usual G sound and beat to it and his vocals are excellent. Lyrics are something to ponder over for a while though...
Since we were all waiting for soo long for a new Gackt sound and expected the miracle, in my mind its a bit above average, lets say 7/10.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

arigato! (I also listen to the song with out the visuals with the headphones)

[ntkufreak.livejournal.com]

My thoughts are more what this implies about the story and progression of R+R1 and 2. Copypasted from earlier...



I was looking at the Rebirth minibook included in nine*nine and thinking about all this.

There's a page for the Gackt and Job 'profiles' of their characters. All of them (except Chacha? but I think that's a mistake) were marked as deceased - except Gackt, who was 'reborn.' And there is the intro video to R+R1 where Gackt is reconstructed and brought back to life that way, and then his grave, and the graves of the other Job members.

Now in this video, not only does Gackt show his robotic side, all of the other members have moments where you can see their reconstructed skulls. So R+R2 opens with all of Job having been 'reborn' in the same way as Gackt?

There is also a photo in the tour pamphlet, where it shows all of Job hugging as if from the days when they were alive. Then the pages open and Gackt has been airbrushed out. This creeps the hell out of me just because of the Stalin reference (http://www.youropinionsarewrong.com/images/random/stalin-airbrush.jpg), but I think it's really intriguing and I can't wait to see how THAT will play out, if this Nazi regime has also tried to erase Gackt from records of the other soldiers.

Were they trying to erase Gackt so they could use him to 'rebirth' a weapon? What will it mean if they've done it to the other soldiers? And it seems like Gackt has rebelled against the established order that tried to erase him - what will THAT mean? Is this another Gackt/Job VS huge unstoppable army story?

[ntkufreak.livejournal.com]

As for the song itself, I missed his falsetto, honestly, and I'm not sure what I felt about the English. Other than that everything seemed very good. I would rather he try some things and I not be as sure what to think, as opposed to him doing the same thing over and over. 8/10?

[karadin.livejournal.com]

I don't know about 'do over and over' some artists like to revist themes and do things in series, Gackt closer together than Bowie when he wrote 'Space Oddity' and the sequel "Ashes to Ashes' nearly twenty years apart?

I think since the soldiers in RandR 1 were born again, and Gackt rebelled against his creator, shooting him at the end, that the soldiers story is ongoing, and maybe, this is where they are at ten years along in their war.

Gackt will have to let us know.

He did say Jesus is part of the new album slated for summer release (cross fingers) since I can't go to the concerts I'm really looking forward to that.

[ntkufreak.livejournal.com]

True, but at least in musical quality people were disappointed with Diabolos and so were really expecting/hoping for a new sound. So I was glad that Gackt delivered with that.

I have nothing against revisiting themes in music, but I was also wanting to know if Gackt would write a song that didn't sound like something he'd done before, since he'd fallen into that rut a bit. A friend of mine made a good point - albums like Mars, Rebirth, Crescent had songs full of epic unleashed sound, and then songs that had less dynamic energy but just as filled with emotion: freesia~op. 1 and 2~, Mizerable (despite not being on the album), memories, seven, etc. These songs were not only strong by themselves, but also boosted the impact of the more-heavy hitting compositions.

With Diabolos though, there was much less variety, Future being the only real song that was soft, and since then we haven't seen that kind of variety on a body of work of his.

It was as if he'd gotten a little caught up with trying to sound hardcore rock, and had abandoned the more reserved sound; the combination of both had really strengthened his albums before and people noticed the lack of it with Diabolos, hence the accusations of writing a lot of music that sounded the same.


All that said, the energy he has in his interviews that have been recently translated is awesome to see. He seems very enthusiastic about this tour and this upcoming album. So I'm really optimistic he'll be able to deliver in a way that will shock and delight. I wish I could go to the concerts, too, but I'll just have to beg my friends for tour goods!

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I got the higher voice in Justified, so I was happy to get a hard rocking song, LUNA and Nine Spiral being some of my fave Gackt songs.

[ntkufreak.livejournal.com]

Very true. As long as falsetto makes its way into his other new, upcoming songs (which was another thing I noticed about Diabolos, no falsetto on the entire album), I'll be happy.

[lilyginnyblack.livejournal.com]

The thing that I find most interesting about this song, and its lyrics, is how much English there actually is. More than half of the song is in English, which is unusual for Gackt.

He has always said how he valued the Japanese language. So, I'm kinda wondering why he decided on so much English. Could it be because he was looking for a new sound? Wanted to try something different? Maybe it had to do with the references to Maria and Jesus? Or could it possibly have to do with the fact of the western fanbase?

It would be something if it had to do with the realization that he has a lot of foreign fans nowadays. Thus, he would want the most important (or so I think)parts of the song in a language that anyone can understand (in the sense that it is so popular and well known throughout the world).

Or, I could be completely wrong on any of these assumptions, and it could be that Gackt just did it on a whim. Though, I highly doubt that.

[shinimegami21]

It may have to do with all Japanese people learning mandatory English in school and wanting to use that skill? But even if that isn't the case, he may just wanna use English *shrug* having foreign fans does calculate into the equation!

Knowing Gackt, he prolly did it on a whim, but a reasonable one. >.>;

[lilyginnyblack.livejournal.com]

Lol! xD Who knows? It's Gackt, ne. =P

[shinimegami21]

xactly! xD

[jade-kinneas.livejournal.com]

I'm not quite sure where to begin. The music was interesting and the vocals of course were great. The video I prefer to do without and as for the lyrics...I'm still kicking those around.

My first few listenings gave me a feel that a couple of people were being hunted/snubbed. Though I quite personally wanted there to be a deeper meaning like with Tool's song Sober. With that in mind I was led to my second review of the song in Tool's light. Which if he's at the end of his rope I do imagine calling for anyone to help. Explaining the cry for Jesus and Maria, though I have a feeling that they were meant for us fans in the west. Since not many could probably tell you who Shiva or Allah is. Though, his instigating kind of kills the desperate moment of looking for peace. It makes it seem like the angel and devil on the shoulder bit.

As I said, I could do without the video for a few good reasons, other than personal beliefs. The fact that I almost lost a few good friends that way, not to mention several classmates who succeeded, makes me not fond very of the topic.

Overall the song is alright, but it is not about suicide. Simply, it's about a person who has just lost someone incredibly important to them as they're begging for anyone listening to them to come and save them from this dream, or rather, nightmare.

I think G-chan wanted us to think outside of what was given for this song. Look beyond its conflicts of the body and mind and peer deeply into its soul/heart.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Simply, it's about a person who has just lost someone incredibly important to them as they're begging for anyone listening to them to come and save them from this dream, or rather, nightmare.

But Gackt has stated in his Pati Patiinterview that his cry of Jesus and Maria is not a plea for any god to save us - but a challenge to a deity to 'show us you are there' and for every person to make their own destiny, you can even see this in the video where he is crying out the name angrily.

[jade-kinneas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I'm saying this from just the lyrics. Though, at some point he probably wouldn't be waiting for help anymore. He'd take matters into his own hands. The solution I'm not sure since it's not clear whether the person died, or they just left. I can see the line of the broken shell representing either.

[shinimegami21]

Truthfully, I try not to look into a song and its lyrics, because we all have different interpretations, and I like to enjoy the music as is. I do like what proud_snapist said though. It's the most logical explanation.

I like the song though, and the video is strange with all their transluscent faces flickering in and out lol