When I hear the words “get back” by themselves, I think “get back [away from a dangerous person/situation in front of you].” So this song threw me a little at first. It probably doesn’t help that the way they sing “get baaack” sounds to me like “Bat-maaan” as sung in the theme song from the series starring Adam West. But the Japanese lyrics and miko’s blog post about this song make clear that she means “get back [here, to me],” or, more naturally in this context, “come back.” It has nothing to do with taking cover. (LOL)
In her English-language blog post about the songs included on the Western release NEO JAPANESE HEROINE, miko wrote nothing about this song. She only linked to her old blog post about it (which I’ve translated most of below) and embedded a video of a live performance of it from April of 2021.
Side note: At 1:32 it sounds to me like Jyou yells out 「心の中で思い切り叫べ！」which would mean “Yell out in your hearts with all your might!” This would make sense given the restrictions on singing and cheering that were placed on concerts (as well as sporting events) in Japan as covid prevention measures and lifted barely this January. I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been to try to rile up a crowd at a rock show knowing the audience isn’t supposed to yell out or sing along. Also, Jyou “apologizes” after the solo for having stepped between miko and Omi.
Anyway, lyrics in Japanese can be found here on Rock Lyric: https://rocklyric.jp/lyric.php?sid=169146
☆
GET BACK
HEY, MY SWEETY, chou no you ni
sonna tobimawattenaide
LISTEN TO ME I’M A SPIDER
kon’ya kimi wo wana ni kakeyou
Nee MY DARLING motto hora
chikakujanakya wakannai
NEVER LET YOU GO AWAY NOW
mou dare ni mo ubawasenai wa
omoeba omou hodo tooi keredo
GET BACK dare yori chikaku kara
GET BACK sakende yaru sa
GET BACK “koko ni oide”
GET BACK
GET BACK kakehiki wa iranai
GET BACK kyori wa zero meetoru
GET BACK “kimi ga hoshi”
GET BACK
DEAR MY SWEETY sonna fuu ni
hitomi urumasetenaide
LISTEN TO ME I’M A SPIDER
gin no ito de dakitomeyou
sou nan do demo furimukaseteyaru
GET BACK dare yori tooku demo
GET BACK kizukasete yaru sa
GET BACK “koko ni oide”
GET BACK
GET BACK kirameki no aizu to
GET BACK gokujou no ai de
GET BACK “kimi ga hoshi”
GET BACK
GET BACK dare yori chikaku kara
GET BACK sakende yaru sa
GET BACK “koko ni oide”
GET BACK
GET BACK kakehiki wa iranai
GET BACK kyori wa zero meetoru
GET BACK “kimi ga hoshi”
GET BACK
GET BACK
HEY, MY SWEETY, don’t flutter around so much,
Like a butterfly
LISTEN TO ME, I’M A SPIDER
I’ll snare you in my trap tonight
Hey, MY DARLING, look, if you’re not closer
Then I don’t know
I’LL NEVER LET YOU GO AWAY NOW
I won’t let anyone steal you away now
Though you get further the more I think of you
GET BACK I’ll call out for you
GET BACK From closer than anyone else
GET BACK “Come here”
GET BACK
GET BACK No need to negotiate
GET BACK The distance is zero meters
GET BACK “I want you”
GET BACK
DEAR MY SWEETY, don’t get all
teary-eyed like that
LISTEN TO ME, I’M A SPIDER
I’ll catch you in my silver threads
Yeah, I’ll turn your head over and over
GET BACK Even if I’m further than anyone
GET BACK I’ll make you notice me
GET BACK “Come here”
GET BACK
GET BACK With a sparkling signal
GET BACK And the greatest love
GET BACK “I want you”
GET BACK
GET BACK I’ll call out for you
GET BACK From closer than anyone else
GET BACK “Come here”
GET BACK
GET BACK No need to negotiate
GET BACK The distance is zero meters
GET BACK “I want you”
GET BACK
miko blog, November 14, 2016
[The post starts with the usual messages about new releases, shows, and the spoiler warning for people who hadn’t heard the song yet. This translation excerpt starts from after the second photo in the original post.]
“GET BACK” simply means “come back.” Up till now, exist†trace has put out the message “move forward without looking back on the past” firmly and repeatedly. So why say “come back” at this point? Well, it’s because, unlike past glory and warm memories, as long as we’re alive, human beings don’t become things of the past!
Everyone probably has someone who started to dislike them, or someone who they’ve grown apart from. Oh, it’s like this for bands that have split, too: you want to meet, but you can’t. If there’s someone out there who feels this way, maybe now’s your chance. Muster all your courage and put yourself out there! Why not?! That’s the kind of song “GET BACK” is.
As a band, I want to yell out to those who haven’t been to an Igu show in a while, “Get back here right away! We don’t bite!”
On the way home yesterday, we were saying, “If only such-and-such band were still together, they would’ve been the first invited to SURVIVAL MARCH!” We mentioned so many bands. Like Take, for example!1
Well…a band isn’t something you can throw back together easily. But fans’ passion for a band even after it has split becomes a great source of strength for that band’s members as they move on to their next step.
I went on a little tangent! But anyway, all of us, and all of you, everyone with their own thoughts & feelings, let’s all scream out “GET BACK” at the live shows until we’re hoarse, believing our wishes will surely be granted!
Oh, that’s right! Of course all the members participated in the main part of this song, the call of “Get back!” But even that one very special person joined in. Namely…!
exist†trace’s manager, Asako-sama!!
Also, from ESP, always taking care of our strings section, Hiroshima-sama!!
And our sound producer, Shinobu Narita-sama!!
None of us band members have cute girly voices, and I really wanted there to be a male voice too, so I was pushing staff members into the recording booth. Thanks to them, it came out just as I imagined it. So grateful!
I say “just as I imagined it,” but I don’t really plan on recreating the live show, so I’m leaving open the possibility that when we play it at the show, it’ll turn out like something else.2 After all, we’re not such simple women that we’d show all our cards from the start, so you know.
By all means, come experience “GET BACK” live for yourself!
[She ends by talking about the upcoming and past shows on the SURVIVAL MARCH tour.]
1. SURVIVAL MARCH was a small tour in November of 2016 headlined by Igu and MC’d by Jyou and Omi as a new “group” named Winter Boys. The last image in miko’s blog post is the poster for this tour.
I don’t know what band miko is referring to with 「テイク」(teiku, which I assume to be the English word “take”). Maybe Take ambulance, a screamo band with a female lead vocalist that disbanded in 2014. ⤴
2. I’ve translated this line to be grammatically in line with what miko wrote: 「ライブを完全再現する」means “completely recreate the live show.” We can tell this because the particle is the direct-object marker を (wo). She might be referring to the show at Shibuya eggman, where this song was first played (as she mentions at the very beginning of the post). However, I can’t help but wonder if the を is a typo and she meant で、which would change the meaning to “completely recreate [this recorded version] at the live show.” ⤴
Warped Frost 