[Lyric + PV Analysis] MALICE MIZER - ILLUMINATI

[jaymee 405]

I figured most people are familiar with this song, and it's a song I thought deserved a better translation than some I've seen, so I decided hey, why not?

 

 

*Disclaimer* Just to cover any bases, I'm putting this here because this song isn't really suitable for people who are underage, but then again the first one that@plastic_rainbowposted probably wasn't either.

 

Now that that's out of the way...

 

Japanese:
 

Spoiler

 

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

服を脱ぎ横たわる姿に祈りを捧げて

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

もう一度手にしてしまえば逃れることは出来ない

ダビデの星のもとで全てと交わる

 

解き放たれたその躰から流れる血も傷みも快楽へと変わる

 

救われぬ躰で踊る仕草はセミラミスのように美しく

身を委ねもがき狂い舞う躰を

ホーリーグレイルで頂へと昇り詰めればいい

 

"CALL BACK"

I'm sunk in the abysmal swamp

"BORN AGAIN"

Where there is no foothold

"GROVE"

I have reached the watery depths

"WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?"

Distorted face...

 

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

モーリヤに身を落とし揺れて…揺れて夢の中で踊る

 

夢の狭間でボアズを口にくわえ揺れる胸も躰も永遠に操られて

 

 

救われぬ躰で踊る仕草はセミラミスのように美しく

身を委ねもがき狂い舞う躰を

ホーリーグレイルで頂へと昇り詰めればいい

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

 

 

English:

 

Spoiler

 

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.*

I offer a prayer to your disrobed body lying before me

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

Once I grab hold of you again, you won’t be able to escape

At the center of the Star of David, everything will join*

 

The agony and blood flowing from your freed body will turn to pleasure

 

The way your helpless form dances is beautiful like Semiramis*

Surrender yourself, rising to a climax

So that I may partake of the Holy Grail that is your mad, writhing body

 

"CALL BACK"

I’m sunk in the abysmal swamp

“BORN AGAIN”

Where there is no foothold

"GROVE"

I have reached the watery depths

"WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?"

Distorted face...

 

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

Lose yourself into Moriah, swaying, swaying, as you dance inside a dream

 

In the midst of your dream, take Boaz into your mouth, and let your heaving chest and trembling body give in to eternity*

 

The way your helpless form dances is beautiful like Semiramis

Surrender yourself, rising to a climax

So that I may partake of the Holy Grail that is your mad, writhing body

Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod.

 

 

Notes:

1. I left MALICE MIZER’s Engrish typos uncorrected.

2. Nimrod was a great architect and king, who founded Babylon and erected the Tower of Babel. He is said to be one of the founders of Freemasonry, who are connected with or controlled by the Illuminati.

3. Literally the “origin of David” or “base of David”.

4. “majiwaru” literally means “mix”, but is often used to mean "fornicate/copulate" or "have sex/intercourse”... You get the idea.

5. Semiramis is the wife of Nimrod/Queen of Babylon.

6. Moriah is a mountain range from the Bible in the Book of Genesis, where Isaac is sacrificed, but there is debate that it was also an altar or a temple. Another name for the Illuminati is Moriah of the Divine Wind.

7. Boaz can either be the husband of Ruth (considered by some Christians to be a kind of Jesus) or one of two frontal pillars from Soloman’s temple. It’s meaning is also heavily debated, and some have said that Boaz is another way of saying Ba'al the (Canoniite god/god of fertility/reproductive organ). Debate aside, I'm like 100% convinced Gackt’s just using it here as a metaphor for dick.

 

I’m not particularly religious, so I used Wikipedia and some other online sources for writing out those notes, but if you feel I got anything incorrect/need to add something, please comment

 

 

PV:

 

 

Some things to possibly consider:

 

• The ILLUMINATI believe that enlightenment, manifestation, or a God-like awareness can be achieved through orgasm.
   
• In the PV, the women in tanks and the members of the band are separated, but then seem to appear together in some simulated sexual fantasy. Is this some manifestation of each member's (or their character's) sexual desires where they are they are acting as members of the Illuminati, or is it some kind of sexual/mind experiment being performed by the Illuminati? You'll notice than in their alternate costumes for this concept, the band is dressed as doctors.
  
  
   
• At the end of the PV, all of the women die from violent causes. Is this carried out as they climax/orgasm, or has the enlightenment through orgasm theme been replaced with BDSM and violence instead? (Possibly for shock value?) Or are the women being sacrificed like Isaac? (Thanks@Peace Heavy mk II)
   
• Is this MALICE MIZER's retelling of biblical canon plus some kind of Illuminati sex ceremony, or what? Is there some way all of this imagery intersects with each other?

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter!

Edited May 22, 2017 by jaymee

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

When you are referring to sacrificing David, are you referring to the story in the Old Testament? If so, I think you mean Isaac.

[chemicalpictures 1888]

This will be a though one, as I'm not reeeally familiar with Malice Mizer themes and works, and my religion knowledge was left behind in my teenage days, but I'll try to chime in!

Most of this is from memory so take it with a grain of salt. There may be a few confusions on religion mythos as everything is pretty much the same with different interpretations, so be my guest and correct me if I'm wrong!

 

Nimrod was a powerful king/warrior in christian mythology (others too, but I can't say for them, as my background is christian) that is linked to Babel and the Tower of Babel, as @jaymeealready said. After the flood, all descendants of Noah spoke the same language. After the founding of the city, they created the tower as an attempt to reach heaven. God saw it as a transgression, so decided to confuse the people by changing the language they spoke, which created confusion and end up spreading people around the world. Nimrod is also said to have been an enemy/oppositor or having disagreements with Abraham, which is seen as one of the most faithful of god's servants. The Star of David is a symbol of Judaism, and basically represented the kingdom of David and jewish people. There's also an idea that the Star of David is used in occultists rituals, but I don't know to what extent

 

"Magical or Meriment. Comunion with Nimrod. / I offer a prayer to your disrobed body lying before me" -  This implies an occultist/satanic ritual is about to be performed, as commuting with Nimrod, a god defier is said. Also, fornication can be seen as a form of opposing god's laws and the sexual energy is really common and said to be powerful for some rituals.

 

"At the center of the Star of David, everything will join" - This can be seen as another defiance to a holy symbol, or maybe its use in occultists rituals as a symbol (think Fullmetal Alchemist)

 

"The agony and blood flowing from your freed body will turn to pleasure" - Again, the mixture of pain/pleasure and sacrificial rituals, often seen as an worship to evil (do not forget that on Nimrod/Abraham times, it was pretty common for god to ask for sacrifices, tho)

 

"The way your helpless form dances is beautiful like Semiramis" - As far as I remember, Semiramis was indeed one of Nimrod's wifes, and a condecorated warrior... But google checking, she is also credited for spreading several work of arts through old Mesopotamia. I think this is more accurate as a reference, makes sense to compare human beauty to art.

 

"Surrender yourself, rising to a climax / So that I may partake of the Holy Grail that is your mad, writhing body" - Self explanatory, I think. continues the relation of ritualistic sexual pleasure and blasphemy, as the comparison of a sacrificial female body to the Holy Grail.

 

Take @jaymee's notes of Moriah and Boaz into the mix and you get the full picture of the lyrics.

 

HOWEVER, when trying to make a connection with the PV, I think the lyrics lose most of it's intrincacies to a simple sexual pain/pleasure/desire, and Gackt sprinkled a few religion names and references just for shock value. It loses most of its symbolism to pure sexual fetishism and secret inner desires, as implied by the revelation of what each member desired when submited to that VR apparatus, which was studied by the "doctors". This is one of the reasons I don't like/think we should always use PVs as a tool to understand lyrical content.

 

[Pretsy 1343]

2 hours ago, chemicalpictures said:

@jaymeeThere's also an idea that the Star of David is used in occultists rituals, but I don't know to what extent

 

 

 

Some food for thought from christian conspiracists a la "Triumphpro" w/ some literary references  (let's hear some opposite opinions as well since it's more likely that Gackt looked into these words for sensationalism)

 

Quote

  "The so-called “Star of David” is essentially a “hexagram,” nothing more, nothing less.  There is no Biblical or Jewish evidence that traces this ancient occult symbol with king David of Israel.  However, there is evidence that it was used by king Solomon, after he turned to pagan gods and the occult, late in his life, causing God to become very angry with him .

 

            A Masonic book called The Second Mile, an Eastern Star book, reveals that the “six pointed star is a very ancient symbol, and one of the most powerful.”  The hexagram is used in magic, witchcraft, sorcery and occultism and the casting of zodiacal horoscopes by astrologers.  “It was considered to posses mysterious powers,” says A Concise Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry.

 

            The six pointed star is used as a “stand-by for magicians and alchemists.  The sorcerers believed it represented the footprints of a special kind of demon called a trud and used it in ceremonies both to call up demons and to keep them away” (O. J. Graham, The Six Pointed Star, New Puritan Library, 1988, p.35).

 

            Says Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, by Dr. Cathy Burns, “The Hexagram is formed by united the Water Triangle with the Fire Triangle, which is the Six-pointed Sart, Star of David, Solomon’s Seal, etc.  When the two triangles (the ‘Water Triangle’ and the ‘Fire Triangle’) are joined together into one symbol, it forms a six pointed star known as a double triangle, hexagram, Crest of Solomon, star of the microcosm and the Shield of David, among other names.  It is even called the ‘talisman of Saturn’” (p.38).

 

...

            The hexagram also has a sexual connotation.  It represents sexual union.  The triangle pointed downward is a female symbol and the triangle pointed upward is the male symbol; when they are interlaced it represents coitus, or sexual union of the active and passive forces in nature.  A former witch reveals, “When the male triangle penetrates the female triangle it produced the six pointed crest of Solomon or hexagram, the most wicked symbol in witchcraft” (Burns, ibid., p.39). 

 

            In fact, the hexagram was also used by the ancient Hindus in the worship of their divine “Trinity” – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – as the “unity” of three gods in one.  J. S. M. Ward adds that it is “strictly the sign of Trimurti, the Three in One, typifying the creative, preservative and destructive natures of the Deity.”

 

We do know that Japanese in overall do not really give a flying fuck about "threatening" religious correctness, right? Not just another VK gimmick that is.

[jaymee 405]

3 hours ago, Peace Heavy mk II said:

When you are referring to sacrificing David, are you referring to the story in the Old Testament? If so, I think you mean Isaac.

 

Oops, I did mean to write Isaac instead of David like in the notes. Thanks for pointing this out! I'll correct it.

Edited May 22, 2017 by jaymee

[jaymee 405]

I will say I find it interesting that MALICE MIZER chose to keep the lyrics of the song more subdued than the video. Although it wasn't uncommon for indie VK bands at the time to make PVs that would be shocking by society's standards, you have to keep in mind that at this point MALICE MIZER was already major, were becoming somewhat mainstream (even now it seems like most Japanese people who grew up in MALICE MIZER's heyday at least know their name, even if they were never VK or rock music fans), and performing in bigger venues like Budokan. So to release something so shocking that would reach such a large audience and possibly turn off newer listeners, was pretty ballsy of Mizer and their record label at the time, Nippon Crown. Most artists on a similar status level would have made the video far less explicit than the lyrics.

 

I mean I think most people even now in the West would find this video explicit, and especially when it came out over 15 years ago. At that time and still today, Japan still tends not to show a lot of kissing or sex scenes on TV or in movies (obviously not counting porn or media exclusively directed to an adult audience), so I can only imagine how shocking it would haven been in Japan when it was released.

 

Also, going back to "take Boaz into your mouth" in all likelihood being a metaphor for "eat some dick", you'll notice that this is the exact lyrical timing Mana, Gackt, and Kozi decided to do that infamous acting out a blowjob fanservice stunt.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2017 by jaymee