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Use of Pronouns in Japanese Lyrics
Sat, Aug. 6th, 2011 09:11 amInstead of posting a translation to a song or going through and sorting through pictures and art to post, I thought I would share something I learned in my Japanese Drama and Lyric class.
In songs, the gender of the protagonist can be found through the pronouns used along with word choice and sentence ending particles. The singer does not always share the same gender as the protagonist. A female voice can sing through the perspective of a male protagonist. Similarly, a male voice can sing through the perspective of a female protagonist. This has been in practice for a long time in Japan (since Enka), and it's quite natural for the singer and protagonist to not share the same gender. It only takes one look at the Utatte Mita song cover scene in Nico Nico Douga to see this in action. Some may change the pronouns to create a male perspective, but others leave them as is.
The change of pronouns used in songs occurred over time as women gained more power and respect, and men could be seen as softer or gentler. Women also became more independent and was a new market to sell songs to. For the hip hop genre, the men are outside the norm, using "ore" once more yet also "anata."
In the US, I've noticed that the singer and protagonist generally share the same gender when using first and second person pronouns. However, if third person pronouns are used, then the protagonist can be a different gender. That isn't to say there aren't crossovers, but I haven't heard as many and would be surprised to hear one. However, it wasn't until someone commented to me that the "flipped perspective" in the Vocaloid songs must be a trend that the difference between the two cultures was truly present to me. For someone who doesn't know about the singer-protagonist difference, it would seem like something new and different when really it's not.
This is also why I make an effort to guess the perspective of the song because it can change the meaning in those romantic songs at times.
Here is a Google Spreadsheet that breaks down the changes. I would have made the table in this page, but I have yet to learn the CSS for it.
In songs, the gender of the protagonist can be found through the pronouns used along with word choice and sentence ending particles. The singer does not always share the same gender as the protagonist. A female voice can sing through the perspective of a male protagonist. Similarly, a male voice can sing through the perspective of a female protagonist. This has been in practice for a long time in Japan (since Enka), and it's quite natural for the singer and protagonist to not share the same gender. It only takes one look at the Utatte Mita song cover scene in Nico Nico Douga to see this in action. Some may change the pronouns to create a male perspective, but others leave them as is.
The change of pronouns used in songs occurred over time as women gained more power and respect, and men could be seen as softer or gentler. Women also became more independent and was a new market to sell songs to. For the hip hop genre, the men are outside the norm, using "ore" once more yet also "anata."
In the US, I've noticed that the singer and protagonist generally share the same gender when using first and second person pronouns. However, if third person pronouns are used, then the protagonist can be a different gender. That isn't to say there aren't crossovers, but I haven't heard as many and would be surprised to hear one. However, it wasn't until someone commented to me that the "flipped perspective" in the Vocaloid songs must be a trend that the difference between the two cultures was truly present to me. For someone who doesn't know about the singer-protagonist difference, it would seem like something new and different when really it's not.
This is also why I make an effort to guess the perspective of the song because it can change the meaning in those romantic songs at times.
Here is a Google Spreadsheet that breaks down the changes. I would have made the table in this page, but I have yet to learn the CSS for it.
