So I’ve updated this site more in the last week than I have since the beginning of the year. What gives? Well, I’m making good on a promise to write lyrics for the next Eponymous 4 project before I tackle the music. Now that I have a laptop, I’ve actually taken it to coffeehouses where I can do nothing but concentrate on the task. No TV to lure me away, no vast library of MP3s to distract me.
Back in high school, I was writing lyrics before the music because that’s how I thought Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran did it. I had a big binder of stuff, but I tossed most of it out by my senior year. I found them kind of trite. Not that I’ve improved much as a lyric writer in the convening years.
Honestly, I’m far more comfortable with prose than with verse. I can be breezy and informal with prose. But with verse, I can never shake this self-imposed requirement to go for the profound. And being restricted by the confines of rhythm? What a drag.
But I’m barreling ahead anyway, and I’m concentrating on quantity more than quality. In fact, I aim to write twice as many lyrics as required. I’m aiming for another 12- or 13-track album, which means I need to produce at least 24 to 26 lyrics. I figure a good number of them will end up with really crappy music, and whatever is left makes the album.
Here’s what I’ve managed to dish out so far. My gimmick is to title as many songs as possible in Japanese, even though I’m writing in English. It’s the inversion of Japanese songwriters who use English in their song titles. This list shows the Japanese title, the furigana reading in Romaji (where applicable) and the English translation.

So far, I like 「健忘症」 (Kenboushou/Amnesia) as a title track. If that’s the case, I’d better make sure the music is really stellar. "What I Deserve" is the only song that’s anywhere near written — I’ve got a melody and chord progression. No demo yet recorded, alas.
Everything else is one big question mark.