怪獣 Lyrics in English by Sakanaction
懐柔（かいじゅう） means winning someone over through persuasion, concessions, or appeasement. In the song, it appears in the unusual image of “懐柔された土と木,” or “soil and trees that have been coaxed,” and its pronunciation echoes 怪獣（かいじゅう）, the song’s central “monster” word, creating a memorable poetic contrast.
Sakanaction's "怪獣" (Monster) is a song about wanting to know everything and never quite getting there. The singer keeps shouting into the night, and he does not mind turning into a monster to do it: "この暗い夜の怪獣になっても" (even if I become a monster of this dark night). The monster is not scary here. It is the part of you that roars because it wants to be heard and to leave something behind, like the secret he wants to keep "ここに残しておきたい" (I want to leave it here).
The verses are packed with images of swallowing knowledge whole. He eats "赤と青の星々" (red and blue stars) in order, from future to past, chewing them dozens of times until they melt. There is a "知恵の輪", a puzzle ring, the metal toy where you try to separate linked loops, and he plans to keep going until it comes apart. The line I love most is "この世界は好都合に未完成" (this world is conveniently unfinished): the world being incomplete is exactly why there is still something to learn. The loneliness of stargazing on a hill is forgotten by the time sunrise dyes his hands, his shout fades, and he becomes a monster again, shouting across many light-years. It is restless and oddly hopeful, and the la-la-la outro feels like the shout finally running out of words.
