Father’s Day is tomorrow! Whether you’re giving your dad a new lawnmower, a Burger King gift card, a hug, or even a dead bird (uhhh… maybe if you’re a dog..), its a great time to pay a well-deserved tribute to the man who is 50% responsible for your existence.
GACKT has always been great at writing tribute songs to people who made an impact in his life. U+K, anyone? The b-side from his wild and racy single Koakuma Heaven, entitled My Father’s Day, is a little-known and widely ignored piece that I felt deserved some attention.
The story behind the song is that GACKT wrote it in honor of Ogata Ken, a man he looked up to as a father figure as they worked together on Furin Kazan. Ogata passed away recently, and deeply saddened by this, GACKT took it upon himself to write this touching tribute to the man he regarded so highly.
If you just listen to the song its hard to tell that this is such a deep and poignant song, because the depth and meaning is hidden beneath a punk-rock style tune. Read the lyrics. Yeah, there’s mention of some kind of “neo universe.” To me, I felt that symbolized a father encouraging his child to do anything. At the end, GACKT says “Good bye, dad.” I didn’t only take this to mean that the father had died, even though this is what GACKT probably meant. I also saw this as the child going out on his own, saying goodbye to the father, and thanking him for all he has taught the child.
Another good thing about this song is that since it was written about a father figure, the meaning is not simply limited to biological fathers. We can apply this song to any man who has made an impact on our lives.
I don’t know why I like this song so much. Perhaps its because its based on a real experience, and it brings me closer to GACKT. I can see him as a real person in this song, not the angelic being who sings about far-off ideals in other songs. Who knows. But its an inspiring tune and I can take a lot away from it.
Happy Father’s Day!
~Alisa~
Sakurayume 