사랑해

I'll back off so you can live.

Age 27
Female
North Carolina broooo
Seen August 7th, 2011
Posted August 4th, 2011
18 posts
11.8 Years
J-pop is really on the rise, but lots of people (probably at least 50% of listeners) don't understand what they're saying. So, my question to you is, do you listen to j-pop just for funsies, or do you know what they're saying?

NYANYANYANYANYANYANYAN

Esper

California
Seen June 30th, 2018
Posted June 30th, 2018
When I stop to listen to the words, yes, I often do. I'm not exactly fluent, mind you, so I have to learn a song before I really know what I'm listening to sometimes. Not that I would need to understand to appreciate the music. Usually I don't. There are a couple of songs I like for the lyrics though.

Corvus of the Black Night

Wild Duck Pokémon

Age 30
Non-binary
With the Birds
Seen January 9th, 2015
Posted January 9th, 2015
3,416 posts
14.3 Years
I understand a grand total of one word in Jpop and that word would be itsumo. And that's it.

You'd think living in Japan as a kid for a year would have helped but no :P

Also I don't listen to a lot of J-Pop (or watch anime, or read manga), but a lot of it seems to have the word itsumo... lol. Even in English I don't really listen for meaning so even if I knew Japanese I don't think I would really acknowledge the meaning all too much.

I'm going to be taking Japanese in college soon though, I promise! Might be going back some day, and then I BETTER understand more than just itsumo in the music!

ナギ

P r e p a r e .

Age 28
Female
UTC+2
Seen September 20th, 2014
Posted September 2nd, 2014
338 posts
13 Years
even though i have nearly all my knowledge of the japanese language from anime,
i daresay i definitely understand my fair share of japanese in jpop.

...
still,
i can't read kanji worth clap, so yeah.
that's my disadvantage. XD;
-- i don't need promises.

digi-kun

Hourai NEET

Age 33
Male
Seen March 12th, 2018
Posted July 12th, 2016
4,638 posts
19.3 Years
That'd generally be a yes. I tend not to listen to lyrics for songs in the first place, though when I actually listen for lyrics, I generally know how it is. My main problem is the differentiation between words and between Japanese and Engrish.
Age 31
Female
Bronx, New York
Seen September 4th, 2014
Posted September 4th, 2014
12,048 posts
17.3 Years
I only listen to Japanese Rock and Japanese Metal (when it comes to foreign music) and no I do not understand what the heck they are saying. I have to translate the whole song a few times. I usually listen to songs based on the sound rather than the lyrics.


:t354:TG

Friend Code: 3136-6961-3807 Friend Safari:Steel: Metang, Magneton and Klefi

psyanic

pop a wheelie on a zeitgeist

Age 26
Male
USA
Seen April 10th, 2023
Posted June 30th, 2018
1,284 posts
12 Years
I can understand quite a few words, partially due to watching anime for a long time, also because there is a large Japanese community where I live, so I get involved quite often and you pick up a few words here and there.

But mainly, I can only understand songs if I actually try to listen to the words. Otherwise, simply the sound is satisfying to me.

Graceful

あぁ、たいさ!♥

Age 25
Female
Staffordshire, England, UK
Seen July 19th, 2014
Posted June 28th, 2014
2,253 posts
14.8 Years
I can understand some words in J-Pop/J-Rock songs, but it's like I know one word and have no clue about the rest. But I am going to start and save up some money for when I leave school, so I can quit trying to learn it myself and hopefully, take a course of Japanese instead.

And apparently Graceful is still alive after a very long hiatus ♥

alisaie

they/them
Seen March 14th, 2023
Posted February 3rd, 2022
13,598 posts
14.8 Years
If it's just a song that's nice to listen to that doesn't have any more meaning to me, then I'll just listen to it without bothering to know what they're saying. I know a few words here and there, but other than that it's mainly how it sounds than the lyrics themselves. On the other hand, for those songs that do have more meaning to be (it's a song from one of my favorite animes, etc etc) then I'll generally look up the lyrics so I could understand what is being said. One example would be the song in my signature. It's a fan song, but it's a song based on a poem in the manga, and knowing the lyrics to the song and understanding it just gives it so much more meaning.

Chikara

ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ

Age 31
Female
Missouri, why? ◉◡◉
Seen April 11th, 2021
Posted March 27th, 2021
8,284 posts
18.6 Years
I don't understand what they're saying most of the time, but I know simple words and I can sometimes figure it out. But I listen to Japanese music so much, I can recognize the syllables and sing along easily enough.

Positive I get it wrong more than half the time, but it's whatever.