Photo: YouTube/-PIKOTARO OFFICIAL CHANNEL
entertainment

Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen singer has a new song: 'Everyone must die'

39 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

Weird as it was at the time, in retrospect it’s a little easier to see how “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen” became such a worldwide phenomenon when it was released by Pikotaro, aka Japanese comedian/musician Daimaou Kosaka. Yes, it’s a dumb song that’s barely 40 seconds long, and is entirely about combining pens, pineapples, and apples, but Pikotaro handles the borderline nonexistent subject matter with such sincerity and cheerfulness that it’s easy to get swept up in the irreverent fun.

But while “PPAP” is by far Pikotaro’s greatest hit, he’s released a number of other songs since. Remember that time he made a song about vegetables, where idol singers slapped him on the butt? Good times. Good, silly times. So let’s see what kind of wackiness Pikotaro is up to in his latest song, which just came out last week and is titled…”Everyone must die”?!?

As the video opens, we see Pikotaro standing in inky darkness, the only light coming from his halo, which is clearly a round fluorescent light bulb attached to a snaking clip anchored to his back. “The sky is blue and clear,” Pikotaro speaks, sounding like a minister addressing a congregation. “White clouds move slowly. Children Run around. Adults laugh a lot,” he continues, and as he paints this positive mental image, his surroundings become bathed in inspirational light.

“Everyone is born,” he points out, speaking to one of our only communal experiences that we share with every living thing in the world…and then he slams home the other one: everyone dies.

The song settles into an unsettling pattern, doling out uplifting, life-affirming spoken-word statements, but with Pikotaro always eventually coming back to the fact that everyone dies, which is really the only time he does any real singing, smiling as he proclaims “Everyone must die” no fewer than seven times in the three-minute song.

Up until now, it’s seemed like an effort in futility to go looking for any sort of meaning in Pikotaro’s music, but…what’s going on here?!? Maybe he’s slipped into a deep depression after failing to produce another hit on the level of “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen,” which propelled the previously largely unknown entertainer into the international spotlight, collaborating with artists from around the globe? Has his marriage to a beautiful swimsuit model 15 years younger than him hit a rough patch?

Except…neither of those explanations would really make sense, since Pikotaro doesn’t sound remotely sad as he repeatedly sings “Everyone must die!” He’s actually got a smile on his face, and the way he intersperses the harsh truth with gentle statements like “Let’s walk hand in hand. Let’s look into each other’s eyes” and “Where does the wind come? Surely from your heart” show that he’s got neither a personal death wish nor relishes the thought of others perishing.

The timing of the release of “Everyone must die” might be a hint, as it came out right in the middle of Japan’s Obon festival, in which the spirits of the dead are said to come back to their home towns to visit their living descendants for a few days. Death is part of the cycle of life, and it looks like Pikotaro has simply decided to sing about that in a more upbeat fashion than other songs and poems that have examined the limited amount of time we’re given in this world. It’s an unavoidable aspect of being alive, so there’s no use facing the fact with anything other than a smile.

“In the end, I wish you happiness and health,” Pikotaro tells us. “We’ll meet again,” he promises, with his original Japanese vocabulary including “dokoka de/somewhere,” implying that it might be in the afterlife. And then, to wrap things up, we get a final reminder, but for the first time with light radiating from the background, that “Everyone must die.”

So ultimately, there are two possibilities:

  1. Pikotaro’s “Everyone must die” is a poignant, incredibly unique take on life’s impermanence, and also how that impermanence does nothing to diminish life’s value

  2. Pikotaro wanted to make a really weird song, like he’s been doing for pretty much his whole career.

Oh, and of course, there’s also the most likely explanation, which is that both of those are true.

Source: YouTube/-PIKOTARO OFFICIAL CHANNEL-公式ピコ太郎歌唱ビデオチャンネル via Jin

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- PPAP singer gets slapped on the butt by an idol in video for his newest song, “Vegetable”【Video】

-- Pikotaro gets English pronunciation training for PPAP from AI robot, Musio X【Video】

-- Ibaraki Prefecture marketing chief regarding their capital city: “Mito sucks! Die!”

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

39 Comments
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Weirdly... I don't hate it.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I am sorry, but Pikotaro is never going to be the second coming of PSY.

PSY speaks fluent English, Pikotaro doesn't.

English is a must for any Japanese talent to reach for a global fame and audience.

-7 ( +7 / -14 )

I am sorry, but Pikotaro is never going to be the second coming of PSY.

He's probably not trying to compare himself to PSY. So why does it matter?

16 ( +18 / -2 )

Made me laugh

music was good enough

a lot better than most of the music I hear these days.

Invalid CSRF

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Pikotaro, lead by example pls.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Trancr DJs could run wild with that song.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Just the latest in a long line of ippatsu-ya, one gag entertainers. We had the "kankei nai" guy, Hard Gay, and blouson Chiemi, but this guy outdid them all and went worldwide. This just sets the bar even higher for anything he tries to do now. If I may make a criticism, he should at least realize that part of apple pen is the cutesy 1980s pocket keyboard/Casio VL-Tone/Kraftwerk/Sparks sounding backing track and leopardskin combo. I think there is still potential in the same kind of 8-bit low tech nostalgia vibe. Apple pen on a guitar would not have gone global.

They'll still wheel him out at the Olympics for apple pen, no doubt.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

He's back...

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Everyone must die? Or, did he mean ... Everyone will die? Things that make you go ... Hmmmmm

5 ( +6 / -1 )

English is a must for any Japanese talent to reach for a global fame and audience.

Tell that to Mari Kondo.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Sounds like something Japan does not want.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think "Everyone will die" rather than "Everyone must die" would be better.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

He is killing everyone with that horrible tune.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

English is a must for any Japanese talent to reach for a global fame and audience.

Tell that to Mari Kondo.

People connect visually with what Kondo has to offer. Comedians, singers, and actors have language-focused content that loses a great deal via translator.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I am sorry, but Pikotaro is never going to be the second coming of PSY.

PSY has been long forgotten by the World even as much as he keeps trying to put out new songs with cute dances.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

He's probably not trying to compare himself to PSY. So why does it matter?

If you look carefully, that fella almost had nothing nice to say about Japan in all of his previous comments, from politics, economy, business to entertainment industry. Too much negativities

2 ( +2 / -0 )

All careers must die.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This comparison is ridiculous. Psy produced not one, but two songs that were absolute bangers. They broke the "English lyrics-only" bias that dominates the American market (among others) and received so much airplay that people grew sick of him. He was asked to perform at the Grammy Awards. It's true that he couldn't maintain that momentum. But Pikotaro, on the other hand, never actually produced anything good that was enjoyed by foreign audiences. His "hit" was more of a curiosity - "Who's this strange internet guy with the weird costume singing in strange English?" People weren't sure whether they were laughing with him or laughing at him. He wasn't even "forgotten" - he wasn't known that much in the first place to be forgotten. If you were at a club today and "Gangnam Style" was played, people would scream and run to the dance floor. No one's ever going to play Pikotaro - not at a club, not on the radio, not on your ipod.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

This comparison is ridiculous.

Enlighten us, onegai shimasu. Where did in the article mention any comparison between Pikotaro & PSY?

or rather look into the comment section, & you'll see who started the ridiculous, imaginary comparison first

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Samit BasuToday  07:04 am JST

I am sorry, but Pikotaro is never going to be the second coming of PSY.

PSY speaks fluent English, Pikotaro doesn't. 

English is a must for any Japanese talent to reach for a global fame and audience.

The same Psy who is a druggie and had to enlist twice in the S.Korean army in order to be forgiven?

The same Psy who is involved in the Malaysian scandal and received money stolen from the Malaysian Government ?

The same Psy who is under investigation in South Korea at the moment for hiring prostitutes some underage while being under his former YG agency?

yeah, Pikotaro and Psy have nothing in commun as far as I know.

No one books Psy for shows at the moment unlike Pikotaro.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I think his career just died.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

What does Pikotaro have to do with Psy?

I traveled with a girl once in Europe. Every time I pointed out some scenery, she responded with "well, you should see Tasmania. It's much prettier than this." Didn't matter whether it was mountains, ocean, or green fields. "This is nothing compared to Tasmania." Nothing was as good as Tasmania. I was happy when we split up and she went to Berlin, which I presume was not as good as Tasmania.

These Psy comments brought back memories of her for some reason.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

This comparison is ridiculous.

Enlighten us, onegai shimasu. Where did in the article mention any comparison between Pikotaro & PSY?

The article didn't mention it. Samit Basu proposed it in the comments and several other commenters have been discussing it. That's typically how conversations go.

@Hachidori: Do you evaluate music and art by the personal lives of the artists? That's a shame. If drug use and arrests are your main criteria, then you have to rule out the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Bob Dylan...and many, many, many others. So, if none of those musicians meet your moral standards, then what do you consider "good music"? In that case, maybe you're stuck with Pikotaro, the 2-week YouTube star (as far as international audiences are concerned).

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

This comparison is ridiculous.

Yep. You should have stopped there before continuing the comparison.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

English is a must for any Japanese talent to reach for a global fame and audience.

Most Definitely

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Actually, I liked the first song better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Given the doomy environment I was raised in, this song would've freaked me out badly back then.

Pikotaro does have a humorous charm about all this. And musically this song shows some Kraftwerk/Devo influence to me and that is a charmer! Peculiar, quirky but I think this is kinda cool in its own unique special comical way.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Freedom of expression.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Since PPAP, Pikotaro has made an estimated 12 million dollars in YouTube and commercial endorsement revenues, married a supermodel, performed with Justin Bieber, met the Trumps and Abe twice, and had TV and stage appearances increase by several times.

I don’t think he really cares who the haters compare him too.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

That said, I did catch a bit of a “Time of a Lifetime” by The Talking Heads vibe in this one.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

BeerDeliveryGuyToday 03:52 am JSTSince PPAP, Pikotaro has made an estimated 12 million dollars in YouTube and commercial endorsement revenues, married a supermodel, performed with Justin Bieber, met the Trumps and Abe twice, and had TV and stage appearances increase by several times.

Those aren't aspects to be proud of, except for the TV and stage appearances.

And it's 'Once In A Lifetime' by the Talking Heads. I love that song, same as it ever was....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

bass4funkAug. 21 10:03 pm JSTEnglish is a must for any Japanese talent to reach for a global fame and audience.

Most Definitely

Not always. In the great wave of entertainment stars dying off in the past 3 years or so, a Japanese singer who had a #1 hit in several countries (incl. the US) that was sung in Japanese passed away in 2017 or so.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

starpunk

I stand corrected.

I’m not exactly a fan of Trump, Abe or Beiber either, but it is a fact that Trump and Abe are leaders who’s decisions have global consequences and Beiber is one of the most popular pop icons today. No matter what yours or my opinion is of them, being in their social circle does carry a degree of prestige.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

boring, not funny and not interesting at all. just bizarre.

and why the comparisons to psy? (just because we,re in a JapanvsKorea game lately?) seriously? as if that guy,s something special -_- ... no. just no. neither of them.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

BeerDeliveryGuyAug. 22 03:45 pm JSTstarpunk

I stand corrected.

I’m not exactly a fan of Trump, Abe or Beiber either, but it is a fact that Trump and Abe are leaders who’s decisions have global consequences and Beiber is one of the most popular pop icons today. No matter what yours or my opinion is of them, being in their social circle does carry a degree of prestige.

That depends on the person. I don't know much about Bieber really except that he's a 21st century Leif Garrett (only middle school girls like him), and Abe I can't really have an opinion because he's Japan's PM and he handles issues that I don't relate to.

But Trumputin is so rotten, egotistical, vain and obnoxious I wouldn't want to be in the same building as him. And he is committing various crimes. Notice how many celebrities don't come to the WH to meet him, and look at the events from the past 2 years where he was not invited or even banned. He's an embarrassment and nobody respectable wants to be seen in any way with that scumbag. Big difference.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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