"Norotte Norotte" Lyrics and MV Breakdown (=LOVE)
Norotte Norotte
=LOVE's 16th single is "Norotte Norotte" (呪って呪って). With a return to a dark concept, the center would of course be Noguchi Iori. This MV was directed by Kpop director Han Sa-min who has done MVs for artists like Jeon Somi, Jisoo, Rosé, SEVENTEEN, Taeyang and G-Dragon. This song is one of the few =LOVE songs with a chorus of only solo lines, which shows off the member's vocals.
"Norotte Norotte" means "Curse Curse". Just as in English, curses often involve incantations of repeating words. It's unclear here who is doing the cursing and who is being cursed. We'll have to look at the lyrics for details. This song is a lot more cryptic than other =LOVE songs, so there's a lot of room for interpretation. Remember all my views are just my personal interpretation!
The Lyrics: Intense Blossom
Note that I will touch on heavily sexual ideas, so please take care if it's a sensitive topic for you.
The first person pronoun is typically feminine and the lines refer specifically to "woman's intuition" so I will use she/her pronouns for the protagonist. For the love interest, I will use he/him pronouns for clarity. You could easily consider the love interest to be a woman though, which could add an additional layer of interpretation.
宵闇 ようこそ 宴
まじないのように踊ります
愛が陰りで腐食する
その音 聞かせてよね Baby
Evening Twilight, Welcome, Banquet
I dance like a magic spell
Love rots under shadow
That sound, let me hear it, baby
I'll start with my view of the narrative so that we have something tangible in our mind, because the lyrics are quite abstract. It's not necessarily the "correct" view. I think the situation here is that we have a couple who perhaps used to be in a loving relationship. Now though, that love is fading, and the protagonist is desperate for any way to make it continue. It's like a version of the protagonists in "Anoko Complex", "Last Note shika Shiranai" and several other =LOVE songs. It's just that in this case, she will even resort to satanic measures.
Let's try to paint a picture of the scene. The sun has just set and there's some kind of banquet. The sun setting, like in "Natsumatope", is a symbol of impermanence and transition. In fact, the protagonist in "Natsumatope" is also similar in that she knows that the feeling of love cannot last forever, yet she strives to find ways to make it last.
She meets with her love interest and dances to seduce him. There are several layers to this line. Firstly, the word "magic spell" here can be written as "呪い" which in Japanese is a heteronym (word that is written the same but spelled differently) of the word for "curse". It's a reference to the title and an indication of some black magic. Secondly, there's a sense of physicality in dance. Usually, curses are associated with verbal incantations, but not in this case. This idea will return later. Finally, "magic" is a concept that often recurs in =LOVE songs as a representation of love, particularly in fairy tales.
In the next line, there's the concept of love rotting. The word for "rot" here is "fushoku" (腐食) describing how something is decaying due to being figuratively "eaten away". This is the "eating" that will happen at the banquet. Grammatically, there's an ambiguity, which I think is intentional. It could be interpreted as "love itself is rotting" or "love is causing something to rot". The first interpretation indicates a love that is coming to an end, reflected by the setting sun. The second interpretation indicates that the banquet is a feast not for the love interest, but for love itself, and he is the meal. There is also the idea of "shadow" here. Of course it indicates physical darkness as the sun sets, but the word is also commonly used metaphorically to mean gloominess.
At the end, there's a reference to a "sound". Within the lyrics, it refers to the sound of rotting. Thematically though, it could refer also to the sounds of a "curse" incantation. Given the physicality of love in these lyrics, I think it also refers to moans of physical intimacy. We'll see the layering of these particular ideas recurring throughout the song.
あなたの秘密なら
天国にまで
一緒に持って行くわ
私の「恥ずかしい秘密」
地獄でも内緒ね
If it's your secret
Until heaven
I'll keep it with me
My "embarrassing secret"
Don't tell anyone even in hell
The concept of secrecy reminds us of "Teokure Caution", where Iori also had a prominent role. Like "Teokure Caution", we can assume there is something forbidden about the relationship that might be judged by others. This is where there's a possibility that it's a homosexual relationship. Many aspects of intimate relationships could be seen as "embarrassing" though, so the possibilities are endless. It also means almost anyone can relate.
We also have here the setup of the theme of contrast, which is central to this song. There's a contrast between heaven and hell, and between the protagonist and her love interest. She assumes that she will go to heaven and he will go to hell. This is bit strange considering she's doing dark magic, but I think the two people switch roles multiple times in these lyrics. Perhaps there's a bit of heaven and hell in everyone. What it does express for sure is that they will not share an eternal afterlife together. It's the return of the theme of impermanence.
Since you only live once
Don’t forget you need me
Take it to the hell!
「好き」の上が欲しい
Since you only live once
Don’t forget you need me
Take it to hell!
I want something more that "love"
Following the last verse, we repeat the theme of impermanence with the common English phrase "you only live once". This idea has also been captured in the past songs "Natsumatope" and "Sagase Diamond Lily" through the word "setsuna" or "kshana".
The protagonist tells the love interest to take "it" to hell. This could be the secret from before, or it could be the feeling of need for her. Even though they can't be together, she wishes to be in his thoughts for eternity. Perhaps, this feeling of need is even a part of the torture of hell, just like for the protagonist of "Last Note shika Shiranai".
Finally, she says she wants something more than just the word "love". This line was also referenced in the title of =LOVE's 2024 tour "Tell me what's more than 'LOVE'". It seems clear now that she's seeking something more eternal, like a curse. Perhaps she's also seeking something beyond words, like physicality. Actually, I propose that it's both simultaneously. The "curse" represents physical intimacy, like the dance in the first verse.
誰かを愛して 呪ってよ
私のことはさ 呪ってよ ねえ
誰が Like a 天使？
聞かせて
Love and curse someone
As for me, curse me, hey
Who is like an angel?
Let me hear you
In the chorus, we have the first mention of a nondescript person with the word "someone". It indicates that one or both of them are unrecognizable. It means they are not the "self" that they normally portray to society in the daytime. This is supported by the next line "Who is like an angel?" Many fans consider this to be a reference to the song "Tenshi wa Doko he" by ≠ME, =LOVE's sister group. The title of that song means "Where do the angels go". ≠ME's concept is the conflict between one's true self and one's self as idealized by society. In "Tenshi wa Doko he", the angel represent the idealized self that the protagonist breaks free from.
With the theme of contrast in this song, I think we can even consider ≠ME and =LOVE as two contrasting components at a meta level. I think ≠ME's concept is about how one is unconstrained from society's definitions, while =LOVE's concept is about how one is constrained by others (for better or worse).
The final line repeats the request for the love interest to let the protagonist hear him. Similar to before, within the lyrics, it refers to a response to the question. Metaphorically, I think it refers to a curse as well as the moans of physical intimacy that the curse represents.
切り花はどうせ枯れるから
それでも それでもって生きさせて
不穏なほど強く咲け
Because cut flowers inevitably wither
Even so, "even so", let it live
Blossom so intensely that it's unsettling
In the second part of the chorus, there's a reference to flowers. It's vague as to whether flowers represent to the protagonist, the love interest or love itself. My preferred interpretation is that it's a reference to love itself. This is because in =LOVE's quintessential song about flowers, "Sagase Diamond Lily", flowers are expressions of love.
Here as well, the main themes return. We have the theme of contrast, shown in the withering and blossoming. We also have the theme of impermanence and the idea of "you only live once". She says that even though their love is doomed, they should live it to its fullest. That brings us to the final line, which I think can be interpreted as an innuendo for sexual climax.
正しいグレーの作り方
ちょっと黒が多かった
How to make the correct gray
The black was a bit much
In the post-chorus, we have the introduction of colors, a concept that recurs in =LOVE songs like "Anoko Complex", "The 5th" and "Teokure Caution". White has been used in those songs to represent a kind of purity and innocence that is lost when stained with other colors of love. Here she refers to a "correct" gray, perhaps referring to some type of love that is socially acceptable. She crossed the lines with her black magic though.
真っ暗な闇に1人
キラリと輝く私は
君の星になれるかしら
ダイヤモンドは腐らない
Alone in the pitch darkness
I sparkle and flash
Perhaps I could be your star
Diamonds don't decay
The sun has completely set. Suddenly there's a change in the second-person pronoun, which you might recall also happening in "Anoko Complex". Before, she used "anata" to refer to "you", which tends to be more endearing. Now, she is using "kimi", which is still intimate but not as endearing. This can be interpreted two different ways. Either she's talking to her love interest or talking to herself. Personally, I like to interpret it as both. I think that it has become unclear who is cursing who. She may be losing track of the boundaries between herself and others.
Let's consider the first case. Perhaps her feelings towards her love interest have changed slightly leading to the change in pronoun. Maybe it indicates she's no longer her loving and caring self, but a kind of dark satanic version of herself. The sparkling and flashing is perhaps a selfish and deceptive curse. The deception is that love could be eternal like a diamond, while in reality, as we discussed, love actually comes to an end like all other feelings. In the next single "Zettai Idol Yamenaide", the love interest is similarly represented as an idealized eternal star that does not reflect reality.
Considering the second case, perhaps the pronoun changed because the person she's talking to changes. She's now not talking to her love interest, but to the dark version of herself. It could be a situation where her "angel" self is guiding her dark self to the surface.
In the final line, what the diamond symbolizes is a bit unclear to me. Does it symbolize true love, false eternal love, marriage, the love interest or the protagonist? I'll have to leave that for you to ponder.
私だけ はみ出す
この小説に
ピリオドを打つの
さよならは言わない
To be continuedって事
I'm the only one sticking out
In this novel
I end it with a period
I don't say bye
It's "to be continued"
For some reason, she feels she doesn't fit in. Similar to the verse about "angels", this is a statement on society's expectations. There are many ways to interpret it. From a queer perspective, certain forms of sexual identities might "stick out". From a feminist perspective, certain sexual behaviors are heavily judged.
In any case, she is not like the fairy tale princesses of the novels. Of course, this idea of fairy tales is one that comes up all the time in =LOVE songs ever since "Want you! Want you!". In her novel though, there isn't a "happily ever after". It's "to be continued", again emphasizing her desire to have a love that continues eternally.
In Japan, "To be continued" is a meme originating from the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. One part of JoJo's story is called Diamond is Unbreakable, which resembles the final line of the previous lyrics. I don't know anything about JoJo so I can't say how deep this reference goes.
On and on, I get you
女の勘 Isn't it?
Now how do you feel?
私 君のものよ
On and on, I get you
A woman's intuition, isn't it?
Now how do you feel?
I belong to you
Here again, there's the second-person pronoun "kimi", which is intimate but not so endearing. If "kimi" refers to the love interest, this verse indicates an entanglement between him and her. If "kimi" refers to her dark self, then it indicates an entanglement between her conflicting selves. Again, my view is that both interpretations apply.
There's another reference to eternity here with "on and on" followed by "I get you," which is a bit of an ambiguous phrase. "Get" can refer to either possession or understanding. In this case, it's probably possession, in contrast with the final line "I belong to you". Both people possess each other.
The phrase "a woman's intuition" is a bit vague. This phrase is often used in Japanese to refer to suspicions of cheating. Perhaps in this scenario, it's referring to her intuition that the love seems to be fading.
侵略して もっと 悪いとこ
蝕んで 辿って 呼吸して ねえ
住み心地はどう？
教えて
Invade me, more, in the bad places
Gnaw at me, trace me, breathe me, hey
How is the feeling of home?
Tell me
追憶の中で抱き締めて
呪った その後 思い出して
1番 良い女でしょう？
In reminiscence, embrace me
After having placed the curse, remember
Aren't I the goodest girl?
This verse is an incredibly sensual physical description of the rotting and decaying that is happening at this banquet. Again, there's the ambiguity of whether she's talking about him or the darkness in herself, which I think is intentional. It's a metaphor for being consumed by this desperation for love, while at the same time it's a description of physical intimacy. The physicality is also conveyed by the "embrace" of the second part.
Ultimately, this is where they both belong, as captured by this "feeling of home". She asks again to hear his voice. Again, it represents three things: an answer to the question, a voicing of a curse and a voicing of sexual intimacy.
The embrace is said to be in reminiscence, indicating that in the past, things were probably better. Like in "Anoko Complex" and "Last Note shika Shiranai", the protagonist holds the impossible fantasy of returning to the past where love may have been more pure. Here, she wishes the flowers had never withered.
Finally, there's the concept of a "good girl" (良い女). In Japan, the "good girl" is an idealized personality type that is considered to be attractive to men. It includes personality traits like being considerate, being kind and being bright. Many women don't care for the label though. The word here plays the same role as "angel" previously. It's this idea of a mold that she's expected to fit into, yet she questions the idea of fitting into this mold.
誰そ彼様
あの人から
全て奪って欲しい
永遠に 愛してる
Ah
Dear Stranger
That person
I want to you to take it all from them
I love them forever
Ah
We come to the bridge of the song and she addresses a "Stranger". Actually, the phrase used is "tasogare" (誰そ彼), which is an archaic word in Japanese meaning "Who is that?" It was used during the evenings to refer to people who are unrecognizable due to the darkness. The word would later evolve to mean twilight, written "黄昏". The implication is that here, she's talking directly to the dark version of herself that has come out at sunset. It's the version that is unrecognizable to others in society. Finally, she again repeats the desire to make her love be "forever".
白に(黒を)
ちょっと溢し (I'm in love)
嘘を(吐いた)
あなたの愛は(What's your love?)
Into white (black)
Spill a bit (I'm in love)
Lies (I told)
Your love (What's your love?)
グレーになれなくて
濁ってた
Unable to turn gray
It became impure
Here, she once again describes adding black into white like in "Anoko Complex" and "Teokure Caution". Mixing in black is a metaphor for placing a curse representing physical intimacy. It's also an attempt to turn a dying love into a lasting one, but perhaps that's not true love. Something about it makes her question the nature of their love. The "lies" here probably refers to the reason that their love is dying.
The second part is interesting because you'd expect a mixture of black and white to turn gray. I think what we should picture here is the traditional symbol of yin and yang (also known as a taijitu in Chinese), representing the unification of two opposite concepts. Black and white come together, but they are still separate entities. It also reflects the unification of two people in physical sexual intimacy, coming together but still their own separate selves.
To become "gray", would mean to be one with the other person. In her words, it means she belong to him, and he belong to her. This also makes sense of the ambiguity of pronouns in the lyrics, where sometimes she's talking about herself and sometimes she's talking about him. Additionally, sometimes it seems like she is cursing him but other times it seems like she's asking him to curse her.
It doesn't seem like it's working though. She just turns "impure". The word for "impure" is a word used to describe impurities in liquid like muddy water, or in this case, the mixture of black and white ink. It's also used to refer to impure hearts and minds.
透明じゃない
水をあげて
枯れた花を
愛でて潰して
Not transparent
Add some water
Withered flowers
Cherish them and crush them
悪魔と私の契約成立
この物語 ハッピーエンド
ずっと私を呪って
A signed contract between me and the devil
This story, a happy ending
Curse me forever
The first part of the final verse seems to be an allusion to "Anoko Complex" as it uses the exact same metaphor of watering plants through feigned cherishing, with the goal of prolonging a ruined relationship. The word for "transparent", similarly to "impure" in the previous verse, refers to a physical state of transparency, but also to a metaphorical meaning. In Japanese, the idealized woman is often said to "have a feeling of transparency" (透明感). At the very end however, it's no longer a question whether she is the idealized woman. She knows she's not.
She has decided to sign a contract with the devil. It feels contradictory because she calls it a happy ending. She's just like the protagonists of the other sad love songs referenced throughout these lyrics. She is willing to settle for the curse of false love through physical intimacy, because she can't bear to accept the reality of an impermanent love.
The MV: Fresh Snow
We start with Iori in a fox mask. The fox mask is typical of traditional Japanese theater and is representative of the fox spirit, a messenger of the ancient Shinto god Inari Okami. This is the god of fertility and harvest. Fox spirits are said to bewitch humans and act mischievously. When someone is acting particularly abnormally in historical Japan, they were said to be bewitched by a fox spirit. This is sometimes called "kitsunetsuki". This concept tended to be applied disproportionately to women due to historically ingrained misogyny. It's similar to Western society at the time, where women who behaved abnormally (often sexually) were accused of being witches.
Iori opens up a school locker and pulls out a stack of envelopes. In Japanese high school love stories, this is a typical way of giving a love letter to a love interest. Iori, the school girl in this idealized love story, has been possessed by a fox spirit. Like in the lyrics, there are two versions of her, the masked version and the unmasked version.
The envelopes are unopened. I think we'll get to learn what's inside them. My theory is that the fox spirit, as a messenger of the god of fertility, is delivering love envelopes to people. However, the fox spirit can't help but be mischievous as we will see.
The girls appear in the dance scene in their sexiest outfits yet. Instructions from Sashihara were to make the costumes "sexy but not too provocative". The costumes are black and white, with more black, as the lyrics dictate of course. Their dance somewhat resembles a burlesque dance, which is fitting of the jazzy melody and the themes of the song.
It's night time, as expected. They dance at an intersection where the streetlights alternate between red and green, representing the conflicting sides of the protagonist. The zebra stripes of the street crossings also represent the black and white colors in the song.
We are then introduced to all of the members in some interspersed scenes. What many of them have in common seems to be that they are representative of concepts that are important to the image and mythology (both current and historical) of Japan as a nation.
We saw already the common fictional tropes of love letters in lockers and fox masks. We also see Iori in front of a painted backdrop of Mt. Fuji, a historical symbol of Japan. Next, we have Mirinya (Otani Emiri) in an iconic blue schoolgirl outfit, in a traditional Japanese room. Hitomin (Takamatsu Hitomi) is partially robotic, representing the rich history of sci-fi stories in modern Japan. Saito Kiara runs late for something and drops a homemade lunch box. It's common in Japanese love stories that a girl gives her love interest a homemade lunch box. Sasaki Maika practices kyudo, traditional Japanese archery. Sanatsun (Morohashi Sana) has a traditional Japanese fan, called a sensu, and wears traditional Japanese clothing.
Another commonality is that many of them are representative of some idealized image of a girl. Notably, there is Yamamoto Anna, who seems to be the ideal student, with a big trophy in the back of her room. We also have Mirinya who is an angel, a direct reference to the lyrics. She has ballet shoes, which is a typical hobby of an idealized rich girl in Japan.
Otoshima Risa represents hanakotoba, the Japanese tradition of communicating messages through flowers. This concept of hanakotoba is used often in =LOVE's MVs originating from "Sagase Diamond Lily". The image of the flower coming through her mouth represents her speaking the message of the flowers. According to hanakotoba, white roses convey the message "to be dyed with your colors". That's a clear reference to the concepts of color mixtures in the lyrics.
Takiwaki Shoko plays a slightly different role. She works at a cafe called "Fujun Kissa Dope", which translates to "Impure Cafe Dope". This is actually a cafe that exists in real life. Historically in Japan, there was a concept of "pure cafes", which were cafes that did not serve alcohol. The owners of this cafe named it "Impure" to indicate that they are not like the others and they serve alcohol. The cafe itself is representative of the protagonist of the lyrics who "sticks out" and is "impure". The cafe's tagline, written on the sign, says "the garbage bin of sad feelings". This is also fitting of the protagonist and her struggling relationship.
In comes Oba Hana who is unlike the other girls. She wears street clothes with intense makeup. She's walking by a Japanese Shinto shrine, the home of fox spirits, and picks something up off the ground. I think it's the contents of the envelopes that the mischievous fox spirits left for her. It's the Lovers tarot card depicting two skeletons embracing in the night. The two skeletons capture the idea of eternal love even in death, which is the goal of the protagonist of the lyrics.
Things start to go wrong for all of the other girls. Strangely, Hana seems unaffected. Some fans believe Hana represents the devil who orchestrates the whole thing. Or maybe she is the "Stranger" of the lyrics. Or perhaps she has just unwittingly triggered the following events.
Things start turning black, as per the lyrics. It's the curse that was seemingly triggered by Hana's tarot card. Things that represent "ideals" or "love" turn black. That would be Iori's love letter, Mirinya's ballet shoes, Hitomin's lip stick, Shoko's cell phone charm, Anna's dry flower, Kiara's bento, Maika's archery equipment and uniform, Sanatsun's fan, and Risa's rose. Just as in the lyrics, the blackness eats away at their belongings. In particular, Kiara's heart-shaped lunch box appears to have a black hole in it. It's the metaphor of a "hole in ones heart" when losing a loved one.
According to hanakotoba, the black rose conveys the message "forever undying love". This is exactly what the protagonist of the lyrics wanted. Risa consumes the black rose, physically making it a part of her. It represents the protagonist's desire to physically make her "white" one with the "black".
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I really love you. I truly love you.
Foreeeeeever together
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
Love you so much. Love you so much. Love you so much.
Why can't I be together with you?
How can we be together again
Why? Why?
Why do you see another girl?
Why, why???
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
Anna also scribbles out her diary in frustration. In the diary, we see the writing translated above. Just like the lyrics, it seems she is in a relationship that is doomed to fail. The love is fading away, but she is desperate to maintain it.
At the end, all the characters gather at the crossroads. It starts to snow, symbolizing the start of a new season with a re-purification. The moon is full, which also represents re-purification as it did in the lyrics of "Anoko Complex". All of the objects turn back to their original color, such as Mirinya's ballet shoes in the image below.
In the end, the curse doesn't last. Curses are just a part of our stories and fantasies. In reality, nothing can last forever, not even love. As seasons change and years go by, heartbreak too will fade away.
