Learn Japanese with Hip Hop Music with these 20 Song Recommendations (Full Translations Included!)

This song takes one word, bug, and squeezes every possible meaning out of it. In Japanese slang, バグる (baguru) turns the English "bug" into a verb: something glitches, breaks, or goes wildly off the charts. So when Number_i shout "My life 全てがバグった" (My life, everything glitched), they mean their life has gone so far beyond normal that it looks like a computer error. And they are clearly enjoying it.

The verses are a pile-up of bragging and wordplay. "賭ける満額" (betting the full amount) and "×3が fly で1000倍になる" (times three flies and becomes a thousand times) sound like a gambler on a winning streak. "SNS に人生を全 bet" (betting my whole life on social media) is a blunt, slightly self-mocking line, since SNS is the everyday Japanese word for social media. My favourite twist is "そもそも人前で歌ってる俺たちこそがバグ" (in the first place, we who sing in front of people are the real bug). They call their own fame a glitch.

Then the puns get silly in the best way. "バグにはバグを最後にはハグを" (meet a bug with a bug, and in the end, a hug) plays on bagu and hagu. "夢を食ったバク" (the baku that ate dreams) brings in the baku, a creature from Japanese folklore that eats dreams, and they flip it with "俺は夢をばら撒く" (I scatter dreams around). There is even "乳母車" (ubaguruma, a baby stroller) chosen mainly because it sounds like baguru. It is a bit much, and that is the point.

Under the noise there is a promise to keep going: "無限に愛し続ける" (I'll keep loving forever) and "どこにでもいてどこにもいない like bug" (everywhere and nowhere, like a bug). For a learner, it is a great crash course in how Japanese borrows English words and bends them into something new.

This is a brag song, and a very funny one. Creepy Nuts open by listing the excuses their rivals make: "チート gifted 荒技 wanted" [Cheat, gifted, wild moves, wanted]. チート is the gamer word for cheating, and 無理ゲー is slang for an impossible game. The rivals all say it together: "バグで まぐれ 認めねーゼッテー" [It's a bug, a fluke, I'll never admit it]. Then comes the punchline of the whole song: "マジで? コレおま 全部生身で?" [Seriously? You did all this for real, with no tricks?]. 生身 means your own flesh and blood, no upgrades, and it keeps coming back.

The second verse is R-Shitei bragging about what he lacks: "学歴も無い前科も無い余裕で" [No degree, no criminal record, easy]. He can buy a fancy car but has no licence, and his tongue is the treasure: "このベロが bling-bling" [this tongue is bling-bling]. He name-checks his 関西訛り [Kansai accent], from the Osaka area, and the old Japanese idea of コトダマ [the spirit living in words]. My favourite line is "今宵も三股" [two-timing on three tonight], where his three lovers are music, luck and the goddess of victory. The Snow White mirror bit, "鏡よ鏡 答えちゃって" [Mirror, mirror, go on, answer me], is a bit much, and that is the point.

"BPM" is a dance-floor song that asks you to do one thing: drop the bad stuff and sync up with the person next to you. The hook says it straight, "嫌なことは全て忘れて" (forget everything bad) and "合わせる君とBPM" (matching my BPM with you). BPM means beats per minute, the tempo of a track, so the idea is two people moving to the same heartbeat for "一生に一度の夜" (a once-in-a-lifetime night).

Kvi Baba's verse is about ordinary weeks. It opens on "何度目の月曜" (how many Mondays now), a text that still has no "レスポンス" (response), and sad feelings stuffed into a "ポケット" (pocket). Then it turns kind: "完璧じゃないのもオシャレ" (not being perfect is stylish too), and white sneakers that get dirty are still "世界に一つだけ" (the only pair in the world). My favourite line is "笑顔がドレスコード" (a smile is the dress code), which is a club-door phrase used in a sweet way.

KREVA's verse is louder and funnier. He brags that people called him "着陸不能" (unable to land), meaning way too out there, yet everything flows. He admits he can't measure the "マグニチュード" (magnitude) of the floor and your heart, but he knows the "テンポは125だぜ" (the tempo is 125). He also drops "一期一会" (ichigo ichie), a classic idiom meaning every meeting happens only once, so treasure it. It fits the song perfectly. The English hook, "Please don't stop the music", just begs the DJ to keep going.

Creepy Nuts wrote this one as the opening theme for the anime Dandadan, and the chant that opens and closes it is just the show's title shouted over and over. In between, the verses are packed with Japanese ghost-story references. "くわばらくわばらくわばら目にも止まらん速さ" (kuwabara, kuwabara, so fast you can't even see it): kuwabara is an old charm people mutter to ward off lightning and bad luck. "貞ちゃん伽椰ちゃんわんさか黄泉の国 wonderland" (Sada-chan, Kaya-chan, a whole crowd of them, the land of the dead is a wonderland) name-drops Sadako from The Ring and Kayako from The Grudge as if they were buddies. The 4:44 timing matters too, because 4 can be read shi, the same sound as "death".

The best joke is "Hey 呼ぶ声がしたんなら 文字通りお憑かれさまやん" (if you heard a voice calling you, then you're literally possessed): otsukaresama normally means "thanks for your hard work", but swapping in the kanji for "possessed" turns a polite office phrase into a pun. Later the singer plays a spirit released after centuries, "何百年待ったか超久しぶりの娑婆だ" (how many hundred years did I wait? It's been ages since I saw the outside world), and even shouts out M. Night Shyamalan in "こーゆーことかよ シャマラン" (so this is what it was, Shyamalan), the director known for twist endings. The chorus softens it all: "背中に今羽が生えたならば" (if wings grew on my back right now) and "何度だって生きる" (I'll live again as many times as it takes), the song saying it lives on inside you as a melody you can't shake. Honestly, after one listen the "dandadan" chant will be stuck in your head for days.

Esta canción de m.o.v.e es una despedida sin pelea. Dos personas que se quisieron mucho llegan a un cruce y cada una toma su camino. Nadie tiene la culpa, y eso es justo lo que la hace doler. El estribillo lo dice claro: "See you, my best love これ以上 / あなたが遠くなっても" [Nos vemos, mi mejor amor; aunque te alejes más] y "輝いたあの頃は / 何一つ変わらない" [aquellos días que brillaron no cambian en nada]. O sea, se acaba, pero lo vivido no se borra.

Lo que más me gusta son las imágenes chiquitas del recuerdo: "そう 白い部屋にただ二人" [sí, solo nosotros dos en un cuarto blanco], mirando la calle desde una ventana con buena vista ("park street" aquí es simplemente una calle con parque que veían desde arriba, no un lugar famoso). Luego llega la metáfora del final: "この先の交差点で / それぞれの場所へ向かう" [en el cruce que viene, cada uno va hacia su lugar]. La parte rapeada se pone más directa: "きっと誰のせいでもない" [seguro no es culpa de nadie] y "つらい嵐の中を進むしかない" [no queda más que avanzar en medio de una tormenta dura]. Y el cierre en inglés, "Don't look at my eyes / Cos I'm cryin'" [no me mires a los ojos, porque estoy llorando], es bastante melodramático, pero en una canción así se lo perdono.

Dato para aprender: 「もう二度と戻れない」 [ya nunca podré volver] usa 二度と + negativo, que significa "nunca más". Es una expresión muy común en japonés y aparece en muchísimas canciones de amor.

"Super Sonic Dance" de m.o.v.e es una invitación a salir un viernes por la noche y no parar de bailar. Desde el arranque, el narrador dice "予感がしてるfriday night" (tengo un presentimiento este viernes por la noche) y confiesa algo exagerado y muy divertido: "この日のために生きてる" (vivo para este día). La ciudad entera se vuelve pista de baile: quieren "夜のニッポン全部 借り切ってパーティ" (alquilar todo el Japón de noche para una fiesta), y la pista se llena de "ダンシング亡者" (muertos vivientes del baile), una imagen bastante graciosa de gente que baila hasta quedar como zombi.

Detrás de tanto ruido hay una idea sencilla: en la fiesta todos somos iguales. El coro repite "誰だって光ることができるよ" (cualquiera puede brillar) y "繰り返すツライ日々を笑おう" (riámonos de los días duros que se repiten), y el narrador se da cuenta de que él también es "雑踏のその一部" (una parte de esa multitud). Fíjate en la palabra 煩悩 (bonnō), un término budista para los deseos mundanos: aquí piden "煩悩ばらまけ" (¡suelta tus deseos por todas partes!), algo así como "olvídate de la culpa". Y el guiño a "When the saints go marchin' in" aparece también en japonés, "聖者が街にやってくる" (los santos llegan a la ciudad), pero en esta versión los santos vienen a un rave. Termina sin frenos: bailar "ぶっ倒れちゃうまで" (hasta caer rendidos).

"Gamble Rumble" es de m.o.v.e, un grupo japonés que mezcla rap en inglés y en japonés a toda velocidad, y la canción es una invitación a apostarlo todo. Arranca con alguien que admite que vivía conforme con "少しの希望だけで" (solo con un poquito de esperanza), esperando a que otro decidiera su futuro, y se pregunta "なんて小さい自分なんだろう?" (¿qué tan pequeño soy?). La respuesta es salir corriendo: "今すぐ夢まで走ろう" (corramos ahora mismo hasta el sueño).

El coro repite la idea con una imagen de casino: "賭けましょう全部" (apostemos todo) y "一ミリも迷わず" (sin dudar ni un milímetro). En el verso de rap se presentan como "move三人衆" (el trío de move) que despierta a todos con ruido a todo volumen, y hasta se llaman "人類最速rap芸者" (el rapero más rápido de la humanidad), algo bastante exagerado y divertido. Fíjate en "Speakeasyへようこそ" (bienvenido al speakeasy), un bar clandestino, y en "胴元" (la banca del juego). El final es lo mejor: aunque pierdas todo en un segundo, "明るく負けて泣きましょう" (perdamos con alegría y luego lloremos).

3XL is a love song built on one silly, great joke: his feelings got too big for him, like a T-shirt three sizes too large. It opens with a girl he once liked standing in the front row at his show, "君が俺の音に乗ってる" [you're riding on my sound], and he admits "俺は少し戸惑ってる" [I'm a little thrown]. Then the image lands: "ブカブカの 3XL" [a baggy 3XL]. Bukabuka is the Japanese word for clothes that hang loose and flap around, and it is a fun one to learn.

The verses flash back to school. She teased him at lunch, "悪戯な顔で俺を誘った昼休み" [lunch break, when you tempted me with a mischievous face], and he showed off way too hard at dance school, "クソアピりまくった" [I showed off like crazy]. Apiru is slang made from the English word "appeal", meaning to show yourself off, and kuso here just cranks it up. He also compares the two of them to "免疫と病原" [an immune system and a germ], which is a very odd way to say you are lovesick, and I love it.

The second verse jumps ahead: "あれから10何年経ってんだ" [it's been ten-something years since then]. She has a boyfriend, and he shrugs it off as "空振り" [a swing and a miss], a baseball word for a strikeout. He even remembers the "MD" they listened to together, the MiniDisc, a music format that was big in Japan around the 2000s. The chorus turns the joke around: "デカすぎんぜこの愛は" [this love is way too big], but now it "フィットしてる 3XL" [fits, 3XL]. He grew into it. The kindest line comes near the end, "幸せそうで幸せ" [you look happy, so I'm happy], and he even says not squeezing her sweaty hand back is why he has the life he has now.

"REBON" is Number_i showing off, and it's a lot of fun. The title mixes "reborn" with bon, and the song opens on 生まれ変わって (being reborn). Right away they want to reload even the memories that dried up. Then comes the cheekiest line: 頑張ってるで賞とかまじいらねーから掴むグラミー賞 (we really don't need some "nice try" award, we're grabbing a Grammy). 頑張ってるで賞 is a jokey name for the participation prize you hand to a kid who tried hard, and まじいらねー is very casual slang for "seriously don't need it." Then they say it outright: Japan to the world, and 3年経っても N_i is GOAT (even after three years, Number_i is the greatest of all time).

The verses pile on comeback images. They come back まるでピンチから帰ってきたウルトラ (like Ultraman returning from a tight spot), the Japanese TV hero who always turns a losing fight around. They 蘇る like a zombie (come back to life like a zombie), and they don't care what outsiders say: 外野から何言われても俺らそれでいいのだ (whatever people on the sidelines say, we're fine with it). 外野 means the outfield, and here it means people who aren't involved. Watch for the pop-culture nods: 穢土転生 (Edo Tensei) is the resurrection jutsu from Naruto, which they use to bring back "dead friends". 世界の中心で i を叫べ (shout "i" at the center of the world) plays on the famous Japanese title Crying Out Love in the Center of the World, with the "i" from Number_i standing in for 愛 (love), which is also pronounced ai. ルーモス is "Lumos", the light spell from Harry Potter, so this mic lights up the whole venue. Then they jump to Tokyo's Shibuya with ハチ公前 (in front of the Hachiko statue, the famous meeting spot) and Times Square 咲く3本の盆栽 (three bonsai trees blooming in Times Square). The three bonsai are the three members, and it's a sweet image.

The chorus is where the bon wordplay goes wild. 煩悩 (bonnō, earthly desires), 音頭 (ondo, a folk dance rhythm from Bon festivals), blonde, and bonjour all chime together. 上がりだす音頭 36.5℃ (the dance beat rising, 36.5°C) is body temperature, so the party feels hot and alive. お前の五感 full control (full control of your five senses) is confident to the point of being a bit much, and that's the point.

"D.C." by m.o.v.e is a sunrise song. It opens with the sun climbing as if it were tracing an outline, "輪郭を描くように昇る陽が" (the sun rising as if drawing an outline), warming the night but also making new shadows. Then comes the sharp question at its centre: "失うことでしか気づけない" (we only notice by losing), so what do we have to do to protect what matters? It's a big question for a song this upbeat, and I like that it doesn't pretend to have a neat answer.

The answer it does give is a little extreme. "言葉は捨ててもいい" (I can throw away words) and "身体もこの眼もなくしてもいい" (I can even lose this body and these eyes), as long as a heart that can hold "キミ" (you) is left. After that the song keeps returning to fabric: the future is "純白のシルク" (pure white silk), and "今日をつないで 未来を織り上げて" (linking today, weaving the future). There's a nice detail in "今夜も XII を過ぎた頃" (tonight too, around the time past XII): those are Roman numerals, a clock face striking midnight.

Worth learning: "なけなしの糧" means "the little food we've got", the bare scraps you run with, and "さあ出るんだ" (come on, step out) is a handy casual push to get someone moving. By the end, "希望が現実に変わる" (hope turns into reality), and you can hear it getting closer.

"Around The World" es una canción de arranque de viaje: alguien que acaba de nacer al camino y sale a un mundo que no conoce. La primera línea lo dice tal cual: 「生まれたばっかりの旅人」 [un viajero recién nacido]. Y lo mejor es que no finge saberlo todo: 「慣れない足どりもまた愛嬌」 [hasta los pasos torpes tienen su encanto]. La idea es tropezar con estilo y acertar solo donde importa: 「キメルとこだけバシッと!」 [¡clavarla justo donde hay que clavarla!]. バシッと es una onomatopeya de golpe seco, como un "¡pum!" de precisión.

Después la letra se vuelve más ácida con la ciudad. 「息さえつけない 眠れない街」 [una ciudad donde ni se puede respirar ni dormir], gente que se ríe sin bajar la guardia, y un juego de palabras muy de los noventa: 「嘘さえSafety ホントがEmpty」 [hasta la mentira es lo seguro, la verdad está vacía]. Hay también una queja que hoy suena casi profética: 「Information 秒速で伝わる時代 でもChoice仕方がわからない」 [la información viaja en segundos, pero no sabemos cómo elegir].

Mi línea favorita es la más bruta y graciosa: a quien suelta con calma "Money can't buy my love", le tocan 「ノンキなヤツにラリアート3回」 [tres lariats para el despistado]. Una lariat es un golpe de lucha libre con el brazo extendido, muy popular en la lucha japonesa, así que la respuesta a la frase hecha es un tortazo de ring, no un debate. Más adelante critican abrazarse 「マニュアルどおりに」 [siguiendo el manual] sin notar que no hay amor.

La salida que propone es moverse, a toda velocidad y sin mapa: 「未来を描く 地図もない」 [no hay ni un mapa para dibujar el futuro]. Ojo con マジに, que es slang para "en serio, de verdad": 「愛だって恋だって マジに出会いたいよ」 [ya sea amor o romance, quiero encontrarlo de verdad]. Y la referencia de época está escrita: 「最後の90's 生きてるFull speed」 [los últimos años noventa, viviendo a toda velocidad].

"DOGFIGHT" de m.o.v.e suena a carrera ilegal a toda velocidad. La canción arranca con una orden: "飛び出せ wicked show" [¡Lánzate, show salvaje!], y un ruido que "空気ビリビリ裂く" [rasga el aire]. El narrador quiere domar a su "暴れん坊のバディー" [compañero salvaje], que bien puede ser su máquina, y promete "絶対退かない" [nunca retroceder]. Una "ドッグファイト" (dogfight) es un combate aéreo entre cazas, aquí convertido en duelo de velocidad. La "レッドゾーン" [zona roja] es la del tacómetro: el motor al límite.

Lo que más me gusta es lo poco que le importa durar: "一瞬の輝きでもかまわない" [no importa si es solo un destello de un instante], dice, comparándose con un "流星" [estrella fugaz]. También hay frases muy útiles para aprender, como "昨日など捨ててきな" [deja atrás el ayer] o "愚かさは美しい曲線" [la locura es una curva hermosa], que es exagerada y aun así funciona. "ギリで走行 ミリの攻防" [correr al límite, una pelea por milímetros] usa "ギリ", forma corta y coloquial de "ギリギリ" [justo al límite].

En medio de tanto ruido aparece una imagen tranquila: "缶コーヒー片手の夕陽色" [el color del atardecer con un café en lata en la mano]. El café en lata de máquina expendedora es algo muy cotidiano en Japón, y ese pequeño respiro hace que "この道に終わりはない" [este camino no tiene fin] se sienta más real.

This is THE BLUE HEARTS at their most cheerfully reckless. The narrator says he got lost the moment he was born, "うまれた時に迷いはじめた" (I started getting lost the moment I was born), and he has no intention of fixing it: he doesn't trust a map or a compass, and he never bothered to remember the way home. The chorus line "どこへ行くのか" (where am I going?) keeps coming back, but it sounds more like a shrug than a worry.

His plan for life is to skip suffering over money and become a 風来坊 (a drifter who blows in with the wind) that history will remember, walking through a sleepless city full of crime with eyes that only look forward. Then comes the punchline of the title: "首つり台からうたってあげる" (I'll sing for you from the gallows) and "首つり台から笑ってみせる" (I'll show you I can laugh from the gallows). He calls himself a 100万ドルの賞金首 (a million-dollar wanted man, literally "a prize head"), asks to be dropped into hell when he dies, and dares you to "つかまえておくれ" (come and catch me). It is a cartoon outlaw fantasy, sung with a grin.

Learner tip: 〜ちゃないさ in 信じちゃないさ is casual speech for 信じてはいない (I don't believe in it), the kind of contraction you will hear constantly in Japanese rock.

The Blue Hearts were Japan's great punk band, and "旅人" (tabibito, "traveler") is them at their most cheerfully reckless. The hook is a strange one: "プルトニウムの風に 吹かれてゆこう" (let's go, blown along by the plutonium wind). Plutonium is about the last thing you would want blowing in your face, and that is the joke and the point. The world is dangerous and a bit poisoned, so you might as well walk straight into it. The road ahead runs through "桜のトンネルや悪魔の通り道" (tunnels of cherry blossoms and the devil's path), pretty and scary in the same breath.

The second verse is a love letter to punk records. The singer wonders when "導火線に火がついたのは" (the fuse was lit): in junior high, or before he was even born? He loved records that were "爆発寸前の火薬のような" (like gunpowder about to explode). Then comes a lovely little piece of advice to the traveler: "後ろには 出来たばかりの道がある" (behind you is a road that has only just been made). You don't follow a path, you leave one. Watch for "バッチリ" (bacchiri), casual slang for "spot on" or "nailed it", and the rough "ぜ" (ze) at the end of a line, a swaggering way to finish a sentence. The last verse is honest too: "計画通りにいかないことが たくさんある" (lots of things don't go to plan). He shrugs and keeps walking anyway.

A typhoon is coming, and THE BLUE HEARTS sound thrilled about it. The chorus is just two lines shouted over and over: "台風が来る 景色が変わる" (a typhoon is coming, the scenery is changing) and "台風が来る 記録破りだ" (a typhoon is coming, it's record-breaking). It is short, loud and simple, which is exactly the point.

The storm is so huge that even "気象衛星「ひまわり」でさえ" (even the weather satellite "Himawari") can't track it. Himawari ("sunflower") is the real name of Japan's weather satellites, the ones behind every TV weather map there, so it's a fun local detail. The typhoon knocks down "古い大木" (old, big trees) and blows them away "根こそぎ" (roots and all), and it's described like a criminal: faster on its feet than a thief ("泥棒よりも速い逃げ足") and pushier than a robber ("強盗よりも強引なやつ").

Then the song sneaks in a jab at people. While the storm hits, "情報やデマが飛び交う" (information and false rumors fly around) and "声のでかい奴が笑う" (the guys with the loudest voices laugh). デマ (dema) means a false rumor, and でかい is a casual, slangy word for "big". You can hear the typhoon as a real storm, or as anything that shakes up how things look, while the noisiest people talk over everyone.

The narrator of this song wants to be a hero, and he has the gear for it. He has a brand-new tank ("おろしたての戦車で" [in a brand-new tank]), a submarine, torpedoes, fighter jets with the fuel tank always full, and a bomb big enough to burn everything, just waiting for its turn ("爆弾が出番を待ってるぜ" [the bomb is waiting for its moment]). What he lacks is a reason. As he puts it, "何か理由がなければ 正義の味方にゃなれない" [without some reason, I can't be a champion of justice].

So he asks you to provide one. The chorus is a polite request with an ugly core: "君 ちょっと行ってくれないか すてごまになってくれないか" [hey you, would you go for me? would you be my sacrificial pawn?]. A すてごま (捨て駒) is a shogi term for a piece you give up on purpose, and here it means a person thrown away so someone else gets a cause. The ending is blunt: the final chorus swaps "泣いてくれないか" [won't you cry for me] for "死んでくれないか" [won't you die for me], repeated four times. It is a sharp, sarcastic jab at anyone who wants a war and needs someone else's death to justify it.

For learners, notice the soft 〜てくれないか ending ("won't you do this for me?"), which makes every terrible request sound like a casual favour. That politeness is the joke.

THE BLUE HEARTS fill this song with odd, bright images, and the fun is in how little they bother to connect them. It opens on "ヴァージニア・ウルフのメノウのボタン" [Virginia Woolf's agate button], yes, the English novelist, swaying on a cellophane bus seat. There's no story about her. She's just one more strange object in a dream.

Then the seasons start arriving early. "ねじれた夜に 鈴をつければ 月に雪が降る" [if you tie a bell to the twisted night, snow falls on the moon] is pure nonsense in the best way, and the next line answers it with "水平線の見える場所は もう春だ" [where you can see the horizon, it's already spring]. Later it's "輝いている夜明け前は もう夏だ" [the shining time before dawn is already summer]. That little もう ("already") keeps doing the work: things are always ahead of schedule here.

The heart of it is the title, the letter. "手紙を書いたなら 空に飛ばすんだ" [once I've written a letter, I'll send it flying into the sky], and "風が運ぶだろう 君のところまで" [the wind will probably carry it all the way to you]. No stamps, no address, just trust in the wind.

The last images are a kid's day out: "怪獣退治" [monster slaying] under a blue sky, and running down a "ろうせきの道" [soapstone road], the chalk-like stone Japanese kids use to draw on pavement, "ギターを片手に" [guitar in one hand]. It feels like a band remembering being ten.

This is a tiny, happy song about the few minutes right after a summer storm. THE BLUE HEARTS were famous for loud, fast punk, but here they slow down and just look around. The first line sets the scene: "雨上がりの夏の夕暮れ" (a summer evening after the rain). Then comes the best simile in the song, "まるでサイダーそのままサイダー" (just like soda, exactly like soda). In Japan, サイダー (saidā) is not apple cider. It is a clear, fizzy lemon-lime soda, so the whole evening feels cool and bubbly.

The details are small and specific. A friend with a "日焼けした顔" (sunburned face) is told to smile, and the puddles hold "宝物" (treasure). The sky is a "水彩画" (watercolor painting) smudged by "風の筆さばき" (the wind's brushwork). The singer feels like he "found something he'd lost", and admits that a rainbow on top of all this would be too much: "世界は止まってしまうだろう" (the world would probably just stop). The one bit of bad news is funny: "今日のナイターもおあずけだ" (tonight's night game is called off too). ナイター is Japanese-made English for a night baseball game, and おあずけ means something you want that has to wait. The song ends on "照れたお日様" (the shy sun) throwing a long shadow, a sweet way to describe a sunset.

THE BLUE HEARTS ask a cheeky question here: "100億もの嘘を / ついたら今よりも / 立派になれるかな" [If I told ten billion lies, could I become more respectable than I am now?]. The singer then swaps "respectable" for "楽しくなれるかな" [could I have more fun?], as if lying were a shortcut to a better life. The word to learn is 嘘 (uso, a lie), and the title うそつき means "liar", someone who tells them (嘘をつく, "to tell a lie").

The plan has a catch. "下手な嘘ならすぐばれて / 寂しくなっちゃうよ" [a clumsy lie gets found out right away, and you end up lonely], so the answer is to go big: "せめて100年はばれない / たいした嘘をつく" [I'll tell a serious lie that won't be caught for at least 100 years]. That is funny and a little dark. Then the song turns: "嘘がホントになる / ホントが嘘になる" [lies become truth, truth becomes lies], and the singer wonders if anyone can tell the truth inside history. The ending piles up contradictions, "嘘は許さない 嘘は許してる" [I won't forgive lies, I forgive lies] and "嘘に傷ついて 嘘でほっとしてる" [hurt by lies, relieved by lies]. ホント is casual for 本当, "the truth", and ばれる is everyday slang for "to get found out".

The song keeps shouting "パーンと弾けて飛んで行け" [burst with a bang and fly away], and the "パンパンパン" around it is just the sound of popping, like balloons or fireworks. パーン is a written-out bang, a handy word to know, since Japanese uses sounds like this all the time. In between the noise, the singer makes a simple plan: "明日の朝 映画を観に行こう" [tomorrow morning, let's go see a movie], hoping for one that teaches "本当の勇気" [real courage], so that on the way home he can forget "悲しい場面" [the sad scenes] he saw up to yesterday.

Then it turns into a train ride. "発車のベルが鳴り 一つ駅を越えた" [the departure bell rang, and we passed one station], and he wonders if it all went by too fast. Someone crying waves from the platform, and the announcement for "本当のお別れ" [the real goodbye] plays. The last stop is the funny, sweet part: a polite conductor voice saying "お待たせしました。次の駅は" [thank you for waiting, the next station is] "幸せばっかりの 夢の駅－。" [the dream station, full of nothing but happiness]. お待たせしました is the exact phrase you hear on real Japanese trains and in shops, so it is worth learning. Sad goodbyes on one side, a station made only of happiness on the other, and a lot of bangs to blow the sadness away.