The Birthday - ブラックバードカタルシス

This performance comes from the official Blu-ray LIVE AT NAKANO SUNPLAZA 2022 “GO WEST. YOUNGMAN”. As this release is still widely available, we hope you’ll consider supporting the members of The Birthday. ＞＜ Official Store: https://store.universal-music.co.jp/collec... Limited box: https://store.universal-music.co.jp/collec... ------ Even though Yusuke Chiba’s later lyrics with The Birthday occasionally leaned toward simplicity, a track like “Blackbird Catharsis”—built almost entirely on a single recurring phrase—remains a rarity. Despite the lack of lyrical complexity, Chiba’s signature gravelly voice breathes a fierce, visceral emotion into that repeated line: “Blackbird Catharsis — wings of the night, toward the flame.” Behind these unchanging words, one can almost glimpse a dark bird wreathed in flames, plunging into a forest shrouded in blackness, carving luminous claw marks with fire. In stark contrast to the intensity of the vocals is the extremely restrained instrumentation. The instruments carry an air of indifference—almost as if they “don’t care”—holding back until the very end of the final outcry. Only then, carried by the aftershock of that emotion, does the solo emerge, releasing its own surge. This catharsis rises like a blaze, only to be cut off just before it reaches its peak—as if ending itself with a curt “That’s all.” Then, like the bright moon suspended high above, it recedes once more into silence, leaving behind only the fading rush of wings and the faint echo of a heartbeat.