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venvenScrew you all, this song's theme is ME
So, Veronica's released a lot of amazing songs, and I always act like every single one of them is objectively their best song ever, but I really think Makoto no Ai is the perfect song for Momochi. Not Veronica, but Momochi as a person.
The thing about this song in particular is that it was meant to be the title song of their Raving Beats album, which is a compilation album that includes Veronica's best releases. Unsurprisingly, the top songs from the associated fan poll ended up being their traditional rock titles (Awauta, Guren Shinjuu, etc.). The thing is, Momochi makes it pretty clear that he doesn't like the fact that those are his most popular works, or that he at least doesn't want to make more of them just because it's what the fans want.
I talked about how he uses those songs to express his grief before so I'll just link it here to avoid overexplaining, but another aspect I want to discuss is what all of this means regarding his identity as a person and an artist. He's always been introduced as someone who refuses to be confined to a single genre, and he's evidently very proud of his own artistry, so it makes sense that he'd want his work to represent him, and that he'd be upset about people trying to make him marketable. You've probably seen a similar situation before with any kind of artist who struggled with balancing popularity and authenticity.
In Momochi's case I also think it's kind of upsetting that his most known songs are the ones where he's singing as someone else entirely, and that's how I think Makoto no Ai was born.
He wanted the title song of their definitive album to be about himself, and boy did he deliver. I think it perfectly encapsulates his personality all while refusing to be anything like their traditional songs; it's messy, violent, vulgar, romantic in its own way, and quintessentially Momochi. I'm seriously impressed at how RON managed to make it *sound* unstable, and the singing is obviously nothing short of incredible with the way he hits the right speaking tone for every line.
I genuinely think it's the only song where Momochi's not trying to sell an image and is just. Himself.
You could argue that applies to Mr. Blackblack as well but I dunno, it feels like the whole point of that song is to categorize him.
Then there's his relationship with his fans. I don't think he hates them at all even if it looks like their relationship is built on deceit tbh. He's always insecure about showing them his uncool side and whatnot, but he always asserts that Cheers will love and trust him no matter what, so it could be what he wants from them. I know it's usually played for laughs, but his insistence on doing the whole cutesy idol act all the time is kind of sad when you remember that he really doesn't want Cheers to see him in a bad light. I mean, he screws it up more often than not and still refuses to drop it so it must be Bad. Seeing a parasocial relationship from the celebrity’s POV instead of the fans’ is really good though.
But yeah, I just have to respect the dedication of knowing exactly what people expect from you and deciding to give them the middle finger. Like it really shows in the way that song is made and sung and I can't get enough of it. You can tell Rejet is trying hard not to fall into their old habits with Dearvo, but they still had to include a spoken line in this song since Momochi is as Rejet as it gets in this franchise.
Of course, this is all relative, I don't think the song is actually “experimental” by any stretch of the imagination, but in-universe, it's meant to be that. We also can't forget that at the end of the day, he *is* a fictional character even though a large part of the vocalists’ marketing is that they're real people, so it's not possible to be fully and actually authentic in these songs. That really shows with Sanka imo, because they repeatedly mention that it's not a traditional rock song, but you can tell it was made with that genre in mind. I still think they're doing a good job representing his struggle, everything considered.
I also wonder about certain parts of the lyrics because they seem to be referring to their other releases, but they could also be simple writing quirks i.e. the mention of spiders. Some lines really remind me of other songs though, such as
Since we're trapped in this doomed cycle of reincarnation
The word he's using is 輪廻 which specifically refers to the cycle of death and rebirth in Buddhism. I've talked about the relevance of rebirth in his lyrics before so I'm gonna let this go, but it's another interesting addition.
The reference to The World Inside a Pillow later in the song is also extremely curious, because that story is not only associated with Buddhist beliefs, but the whole idea of dreams and happiness being ephemeral. The idea of transience is very common in Veronica's lyrics too, so I'm shocked at how well it adds up.
Another line that I'm interested in is
The large tree that hides itself between buildings loses its individuality
This could mean many things, but if we go by the identity crisis logic, it could be that he feels like his talent is hampered by being with his band members and having to lose his individuality by making songs that appeal to the public rather than what he wants to make. Trees have green hair too so…
I also wonder if it has anything to do with his heritage as opposed to his band members’, because while he only says that he's from the countryside, some of his writing and lyrics get strangely racial at times. I realized I didn't translate all the needed material for me to be saying this here so I'll get back to it on another day, I promise ajdhdhwjef
But yeah I just think it's awesome that they essentially created two storylines for him (grief and identity) and I can't help but wonder if the latter was planned or not, because we know the part about his mother was written ever since season 1, but how would you predict the real life fans’ song preferences? Whether they took that gamble or just improvised this story I have to say I like it. A lot.
I think we're reaching a point where those two aspects of his story converge, because now he wants to be loved for his real unpalatable self and doesn't want to make music in his mother's memory anymore. So in theory, their future release would be different from any of those instances.
The recent Headliner announcement incentivised me to finish this post, so if you consider “dreams” to be his façade, all of what I said applies to this season. If I had to make a prediction about his reason for quitting, I'd say somebody probably told him he should make warock songs because they need to stand out from the other bands, which he refused to do. Don't take it too seriously I'm just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.
If it turns out to be true I will act very smug about it though.
That's it this time! Thank you for taking the time to read this and as always, I'd love to hear what you think and if there are any other points you want to discuss.
So, Veronica's released a lot of amazing songs, and I always act like every single one of them is objectively their best song ever, but I really think Makoto no Ai is the perfect song for Momochi. Not Veronica, but Momochi as a person.
The thing about this song in particular is that it was meant to be the title song of their Raving Beats album, which is a compilation album that includes Veronica's best releases. Unsurprisingly, the top songs from the associated fan poll ended up being their traditional rock titles (Awauta, Guren Shinjuu, etc.). The thing is, Momochi makes it pretty clear that he doesn't like the fact that those are his most popular works, or that he at least doesn't want to make more of them just because it's what the fans want.
I talked about how he uses those songs to express his grief before so I'll just link it here to avoid overexplaining, but another aspect I want to discuss is what all of this means regarding his identity as a person and an artist. He's always been introduced as someone who refuses to be confined to a single genre, and he's evidently very proud of his own artistry, so it makes sense that he'd want his work to represent him, and that he'd be upset about people trying to make him marketable. You've probably seen a similar situation before with any kind of artist who struggled with balancing popularity and authenticity.
In Momochi's case I also think it's kind of upsetting that his most known songs are the ones where he's singing as someone else entirely, and that's how I think Makoto no Ai was born.
He wanted the title song of their definitive album to be about himself, and boy did he deliver. I think it perfectly encapsulates his personality all while refusing to be anything like their traditional songs; it's messy, violent, vulgar, romantic in its own way, and quintessentially Momochi. I'm seriously impressed at how RON managed to make it *sound* unstable, and the singing is obviously nothing short of incredible with the way he hits the right speaking tone for every line.
I genuinely think it's the only song where Momochi's not trying to sell an image and is just. Himself.
You could argue that applies to Mr. Blackblack as well but I dunno, it feels like the whole point of that song is to categorize him.
Then there's his relationship with his fans. I don't think he hates them at all even if it looks like their relationship is built on deceit tbh. He's always insecure about showing them his uncool side and whatnot, but he always asserts that Cheers will love and trust him no matter what, so it could be what he wants from them. I know it's usually played for laughs, but his insistence on doing the whole cutesy idol act all the time is kind of sad when you remember that he really doesn't want Cheers to see him in a bad light. I mean, he screws it up more often than not and still refuses to drop it so it must be Bad. Seeing a parasocial relationship from the celebrity’s POV instead of the fans’ is really good though.
But yeah, I just have to respect the dedication of knowing exactly what people expect from you and deciding to give them the middle finger. Like it really shows in the way that song is made and sung and I can't get enough of it. You can tell Rejet is trying hard not to fall into their old habits with Dearvo, but they still had to include a spoken line in this song since Momochi is as Rejet as it gets in this franchise.
Of course, this is all relative, I don't think the song is actually “experimental” by any stretch of the imagination, but in-universe, it's meant to be that. We also can't forget that at the end of the day, he *is* a fictional character even though a large part of the vocalists’ marketing is that they're real people, so it's not possible to be fully and actually authentic in these songs. That really shows with Sanka imo, because they repeatedly mention that it's not a traditional rock song, but you can tell it was made with that genre in mind. I still think they're doing a good job representing his struggle, everything considered.
I also wonder about certain parts of the lyrics because they seem to be referring to their other releases, but they could also be simple writing quirks i.e. the mention of spiders. Some lines really remind me of other songs though, such as
Since we're trapped in this doomed cycle of reincarnation
The word he's using is 輪廻 which specifically refers to the cycle of death and rebirth in Buddhism. I've talked about the relevance of rebirth in his lyrics before so I'm gonna let this go, but it's another interesting addition.
The reference to The World Inside a Pillow later in the song is also extremely curious, because that story is not only associated with Buddhist beliefs, but the whole idea of dreams and happiness being ephemeral. The idea of transience is very common in Veronica's lyrics too, so I'm shocked at how well it adds up.
Another line that I'm interested in is
The large tree that hides itself between buildings loses its individuality
This could mean many things, but if we go by the identity crisis logic, it could be that he feels like his talent is hampered by being with his band members and having to lose his individuality by making songs that appeal to the public rather than what he wants to make. Trees have green hair too so…
I also wonder if it has anything to do with his heritage as opposed to his band members’, because while he only says that he's from the countryside, some of his writing and lyrics get strangely racial at times. I realized I didn't translate all the needed material for me to be saying this here so I'll get back to it on another day, I promise ajdhdhwjef
But yeah I just think it's awesome that they essentially created two storylines for him (grief and identity) and I can't help but wonder if the latter was planned or not, because we know the part about his mother was written ever since season 1, but how would you predict the real life fans’ song preferences? Whether they took that gamble or just improvised this story I have to say I like it. A lot.
I think we're reaching a point where those two aspects of his story converge, because now he wants to be loved for his real unpalatable self and doesn't want to make music in his mother's memory anymore. So in theory, their future release would be different from any of those instances.
The recent Headliner announcement incentivised me to finish this post, so if you consider “dreams” to be his façade, all of what I said applies to this season. If I had to make a prediction about his reason for quitting, I'd say somebody probably told him he should make warock songs because they need to stand out from the other bands, which he refused to do. Don't take it too seriously I'm just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.
If it turns out to be true I will act very smug about it though.
That's it this time! Thank you for taking the time to read this and as always, I'd love to hear what you think and if there are any other points you want to discuss.
