[ringo] 歌舞伎町の女王 Kabuki-cho no Joou

歌舞伎町の女王 Kabuki-cho no Joou / The Queen of Kabuki-cho

1998.09.09

1. 歌舞伎町の女王 Kabuki-cho no Joou
2. アンコンディショナル・ラブ Unconditional Love
3. 実録－新宿にて－丸ノ内サディスティック～歌舞伎町の女王 Jitsuroku -Shinjuku nite- Marunouchi Sadistic~Kabuki-cho no Joou

Info: One of the releases that cemented Ringo’s genre of music as “Shinjuku-kei” (a genre containing only her), in contrast to the pretty Shibuya-kei genre of the 1990s. The album cover was shot in Shinjuku’s Golden-gai, and the A-side’s music video was shot at Houmyouji Temple in the Toshima ward of Tokyo.

[ringo] 実録－新宿にて－丸ノ内サディスティック～歌舞伎町の女王 Jitsuroku -Shinjuku nite- Marunouchi Sadistic~Kabuki-cho no Joou

実録－新宿にて－丸ノ内サディスティック～歌舞伎町の女王 Jitsuroku -Shinjuku nite- Marunouchi Sadistic~Kabuki-cho no Joou / Live Recording -In Shinjuku- Marunouchi Sadistic~The Queen of Kabuki-cho

Translator: Sarah/frecklegirl

Do not copy and repost anywhere.

Do not copy and repost anywhere.

Song info: This is meant to sound like a live recording of Ringo singing a Marunouchi Sadistic/Kabuki-chou no Joou medley, while playing an acoustic guitar, on Shinjuku streets. However, the street recordings’ sound quality was bad, so this was actually recorded in a studio.

[ringo] アンコンディショナル・ラブ Unconditional Love

アンコンディショナル・ラブ Unconditional Love

Do not copy and repost anywhere.

I wanna fall into you
And I wanna be everything you want me to
But I’m not sure I know how
I lose faith and I lose ground
But when I see you I remember
Unconditional love

It doesn’t matter what I say
Cause it always seems you’re taking it the wrong way
But if you could read my mind
You’d see I fight myself all the time
But when I see you I surrender
Unconditional love

Standing on a wilder shore
I got my head up in the clouds
Oh I ain’t got no sense of direction,
No…

I wanna lie next to you
And I wanna do everything you want me to
But I’m not sure I know how
Put your arms around me now
When I feel you I surrender
Unconditional love

When I feel you I surrender
Unconditional love
When I see you I remember
Unconditional love

Do not copy and repost anywhere.

Song info: Original by Cyndi Lauper

[ringo] 歌舞伎町の女王 Kabuki-cho no Joou

歌舞伎町の女王 Kabuki-cho no Joou / The Queen of Kabuki-cho

Translator: Sarah/frecklegirl

Do not copy and repost anywhere.

Do not copy and repost anywhere.

Song info: Used in a commercial for a Suntory mimosa cocktail drink that began airing in September 1999.
Notes: Ringo was inspired to write this song after a scout for an S&M club aggressively tried to recruit her on her way home from her part-time job at a Shibuya record shop after she had moved to Tokyo from Fukuoka (he allegedly told her she could be a “クイーン queen“, or dominatrix, right away). She decided to theme the song around the sex industry and set it in Kabuki-cho, an area in Shinjuku, Tokyo, famous for its many host/hostess clubs, love hotels, and other entertainment and red-light district attractions – although at the time (all the way until the song was recorded) she had never been to Kabuki-cho. This song is about the daughter of a woman who worked at one of those hostess or snack bars and conversed with male clientele nightly.
Kujūkuri Beach, in Chiba prefecture, is about 1.5 hours away from Kabuki-cho by car (2.5 hours by train). Ringo once visited it at the age of 7 and a photo from that time is the cover of the re-released Koufuku-ron single. Both cicadas and the beach are linked to summer.