Bump of Chicken

By Chris Orr

Hello all and welcome to this musical edition of MediaBug. This issue I’d like to introduce the hugely popular band BUMP OF CHICKEN (commonly known in Japan as Banpu).

The name

Since I know you’re all already wondering about it, I’ll start by explaining the origin story behind their fantastical name. The popular explanation is that they originally wanted to name the band something along the lines of “Coward Strikes Back”. However, they clearly weren’t blessed with any of the excellent Aomori ALTs as they decided to use the word “Bump” for “Strike” and “Chicken” for “Coward”. Thus their name was born and since they’ve been enjoying success in Japan for the past 14 years, it seems unlikely that they’ll be in any hurry to change it.

The music

Below I’m going to list a few of their most iconic songs.

Pro tip: learn how to sing Tentai Kansoku because odds are if you’re ever at karaoke with Japanese people, at least one other person will be able to sing it with you, ensuring your status as Karaoke King.

Tentai kansoku (2001)

HAPPY (2010)

Niji wo matsu hito (2013)

The attraction

Almost every time I’ve mentioned to someone in Japan that I’m a fan of BUMP OF CHICKEN, they comment on how meaningful the band’s lyrics are. Obviously not all of our lovely readers fully understand Japanese, but I’m sure you can find English translations floating around out there. My personal favourite lyrics come from their hit supernova. The whole song is written about the singer’s former girlfriend who prematurely passed away and is simply a beautiful tribute.

 

The present

In July this year BUMP released two Greatest Hits CDs which cover all their hits from 1999-2010. Considering the size of their back catalogue and their current level of fame in Japan, there’s never been a better time to jump on the BUMP bandwagon!