MAMI's "Ivory" Lyrics Essay


One Wednesday night I wrote my soliloquy while taking a bath.

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On June 16, SCANDAL will be releasing their new single Ivory. These ladies are currently in the middle of their 15th anniversary year, with this work serving as their second release of 2021. The lyrics and music were written by their guitarist MAMI and co-arranged and produced with musician Koihei Munemoto. The B-side track will be an acoustic version of the same song.

Today's song column is a lyrics essay by MAMI where she talks about the new song "Ivory"! How was this song born as the world changed drastically, as well as the direction of their motivation for making songs changed? May this song and its essay reach you, living every day while being swayed by all kinds of emotions!

～Lyrics Essay: "Ivory"～

From the day when the world had to switch in an instant to staying at home, my way of living that had been going on since the band was formed became different, and I honestly didn't know how to live.

After we'd go on tour overseas and around Japan, we'd start recording after getting back. We'd focused on making songs to perform live. It was also important how we could make everyone get moving and vocalizing. That's why the direction of our motivation for making songs changed rapidly, and there were many days when I couldn't keep up with the changes.

The first state of emergency ended, and on top of following the rules, the number of people you can have in attendance at audience-free livestreams or at live venues is quite small compared to before. Thankfully, though, we were allowed to hold a concert with an audience, and we felt that we were gradually regaining our sense of songs and concerts.

However, as expected, my songwriting did not progress as I wanted it to. I wonder if the music gods had something to do with it (I'm sure that's not the case).

Every Wednesday is our meeting day. Every week I'd be asked, "How's the songwriting going?" I'd want to say, "I give up!", but because I also wanted to write songs, I couldn't give a clear answer and I'm sure I inconvenienced our staff.

One Wednesday night when our meeting was over, I was taking a bath and coming to terms with my unfocused frustration. With my forehead sweaty and my head about to boil over, I wondered if a song would come down upon me somehow. That's when it made me realize how many times I've been worried about this very thing, and that I'm worried about the same thing yet again (finally). I had no choice but to take a jab at myself and be like, "No, enough with that worry!"

When you have that kind of exchange in your head, you're amazed at yourself and end up laughing. I was like, "Well, that's just who I am," and felt like I was able to affirm myself a little, and thought that that's what makes me human.

I have lived my life while being impatient and being in such anguish and frustration, and I'm sure that I'll continue to live that way. That's what I think. And that's okay. And you just have to laugh at yourself once in a while. No matter what direction I go in, or if I'm swayed by all kinds of emotions, I'll just live as humanly as possible.

One Wednesday night I wrote my soliloquy while taking a bath—that's what "Ivory" is. It's not so bad to live frustratingly and happily.

etwee wrote:Cool, but I'm left wondering why the song title is ivory.

Spoiler:

―By the way, what does the title "Ivory" mean?

MAMI: Since the song was made while I was in the bath, it's a word that was chosen from that atmosphere. The slightly dark lighting and high humidity blur your field of vision, and cloudy mirrors make it feel like you can't see everything. The overall color and scene are "ivory." Also, the reason why I'm singing while in a bathtub the music video is because this song was made in the bath. The other band members suggested to me, "Why don't you sing while in a bathtub?"