The Mermaid Trilogy
This song is but one element in the access era known as "三部作" or The Trilogy (I'll call it The Mermaid Trilogy on this site).
The Mermaid Trilogy mainly refers to 3 songs: Drastic Mermaid, Scandalous Blue, and Tear's Liberation, and their music videos/pvs released between August and November of 1994, shortly before access's infamous Silence hiatus. "Image-linked" to these songs is other content including a light novel series, photoshoots, a manga series, a short story, etc. It's not dissimilar to a kpop "era" where the photos, songs, music videos all follow a theme.
Access's Trilogy era was defined by its theme of "pure emotions". In interviews, access said that most listeners assume romantic songs are referring to the relationship between a man and a woman. They clarified that they wanted to specifically describe the "pure emotions" of 同性愛 or same-sex/homosexual love. Perhaps following the at-the-time-recent rise in popularity of yaoi, and definitely not deterred by the behavior of the two members of access, the themes were sensational and are considered ahead of their time.
This song is but one element in the access era known as "三部作" or The Trilogy (I'll call it The Mermaid Trilogy on this site).
The Mermaid Trilogy mainly refers to 3 songs: Drastic Mermaid, Scandalous Blue, and Tear's Liberation, and their music videos/pvs released between August and November of 1994, shortly before access's infamous Silence hiatus. "Image-linked" to these songs is other content including a light novel series, photoshoots, a manga series, a short story, etc. It's not dissimilar to a kpop "era" where the photos, songs, music videos all follow a theme.
Access's Trilogy era was defined by its theme of "pure emotions". In interviews, access said that most listeners assume romantic songs are referring to the relationship between a man and a woman. They clarified that they wanted to specifically describe the "pure emotions" of 同性愛 or same-sex/homosexual love. Perhaps following the at-the-time-recent rise in popularity of yaoi, and definitely not deterred by the behavior of the two members of access, the themes were sensational and are considered ahead of their time.
DRASTIC MERMAID
Lyrics by: Asagiri Haruka (aka Inoue Akio)
Song released: 1994 August 19th
Highest Oricon Rank: 3rd on weekly, 95th overall year
DRASTIC MERMAID is the first in the three-song series. The lyrics show the initial feelings of being entirely
captivated by someone. The mermaid/siren/magic fairy tale references support that captivation feeling like
the result of some otherworldly, magic spell. Our singer ("Singer") also seems to be struggling with whether they
should let themselves fall for this person ("Mermaid")/fall under Mermaid's spell, or let it fade with the summer and go back to their old self.
| JAPANESE | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
|
恋こいするために 生まれ変わる 君が今 惑わせる 熱い日差しに 羽を休める 他人行儀の 海辺の天使 ドラスティックな 素肌に謎めく 甘い予感が 男を溶かす 街で くたびれた ガラスの靴を脱いだら 灼けた 肌の上に 悪女のドレスを纏うの ーCHORUSー 太陽さえも 手を出せない 素足の君は 眩し過ぎて 恋するために 生まれ変わる まなざしが 惑わせる ーーーーーーー サインひとつの 手軽な恋も ワイン片手の 彼女次第さ 主導権など 奪えるわけない 揺れる胸元 逆らえるなら きっと誰かに 心を許して つらい夜明けを 迎えたんだね 期待見透かす 冷やかな視線は 待ち惚けの 仕返しなのか 指の 隙間から こぼれる砂に飽きたら 愛を もてあそんで 心の隙間を埋めるの? ーCHORUSー 夏に 揺らめいた 悲しい恋の終わりを すべて 波に捨てて 違う自分取戻したいの? ーCHORUSー 「恋するだけじゃ 傷つかない」 呟く君は 何処に帰る 本当の君は 何が欲しい? 夏はもう 終わるのに |
To love you, I am reborn You bewitch me completely Resting wings in the warm sunlight A distant, demure angel of the shore Stunningly naked Wrapped only in mystery This irresistible vision melts any man Exhausted by the city Off come the glass slippers Will you slip the dress of a siren Over your sun-kissed skin? ーCHORUSー Even the sun can't compare In your bare feet, you are far more dazzling To love you, I am reborn Hypnotized by your gaze ーーーーーーー The start of a fleeting affair is decided with a single look Wine glass in hand, she runs the show Impossible to regain that power When I can't resist the way your body moves If I let down my guard and reveal my true heart Won't I regret it in the painful light of dawn? But your cool gaze exposes my every desire Is this your revenge for being made to wait? When you tire of letting the sand slip through your fingers, You play with love But does that fill the emptiness in your heart? ーCHORUSー Love that shimmers in summer quickly turns to foam Do I cast it all back to the waves And return to that other self? ーCHORUSー "Just falling in love won't hurt you..." You murmur softly Now, where will you return to? What does the true you truly want? The summer is already fading |
to SCANDALOUS BLUE - next in the trilogy →
- In an effort to be transparent, I will come out and say I did have an agenda when translating this series. Based on multiple interviews and a slew of content, the songs of this trilogy are explicitly about the "pure emotions" of same-sex love. With that in mind, I have drawn upon my and other's experiences to communicate those pure emotions in English.
- That being said, obviously there's some female-specific words (eg. 彼女・girl and 揺れる胸元・"quivering bosom", basically). "But wait, this song is about being gay??" Indeed so. I think the song is about being completely, mystically hypnotized by some kind of incredible person, otherworldly in their beauty etc. The speaker feels like they're under a magic spell, like that of a siren. I think the (female) siren acts as a metaphor for that sort of situation.