"Suggoi FEVER!"
Coupled with "Wake Up Call ~Mezameru Toki~" and "Neverending Shine"
Release date: October 25, 2023
Oricon Weekly placement: 2nd
Members: Akane Haga, Ako Yumigeta, Ayumi Ishida, Erina Ikuta, Haruka Inoue, Homare Okamura, Maria Makino, Mei Yamazaki, Miki Nonaka, Mizuki Fukumura, Reina Yokoyama, Rio Kitagawa, Rio Sakurai, Sakura Oda
Every Morning Musume music video since 2021 includes a link to a post on Tsunku’s Liner Notes blog where he explains his thought process behind the respective song. For the lyrics of “Suggoi FEVER!,” the producer said he emphasized feeling over meaning. And the groovy funk beat, arranged by Shoichiro Hirata, further helps to ignore any personal hang-ups, centering on this need to get down — a “throw it all away on the dance floor” vibe similar to “Utakata Saturday Night.”
More than the disco beat, the thing from the song that's likely to steal the attention upon first listen is that deep-voiced refrain of “sugoi!” For an insight on how that silly hook exactly came to be, Tsunku lists songs as inspirations on his blog; the devilish cackle of Michael Jackson's “Thriller” makes best sense as its reference. That part appears even more humorous in the music video, where each member lip-syncs to it with a fitting facial expression. My favorite is Rio Sakurai and her little smirk as she mouths the titular line.
In classic disco fashion, Morning Musume insist on crowning you, the audience, as the life of the party. That goofy sugoi! hook echoes the idols like a rap ad lib as they list off a bunch of accomplishments worthy of praise in the verses. But while Morning Musume prop you up as the central star over the flashy groove – “Tonight, you’re the angel,” they ooh and ahh in the chorus – I would need to perform a series of mental gymnastics for the lyrics of “Suggoi FEVER!” to fit in the context of my life.
Because I hear the lyrics of “Suggoi FEVER!” instead as Tsunku praising the idols for their hard work. “Do you know you’re betting / all of your youth?,” Morning Musume sing in the first verse. “You’ve etched in more time than the amount you spend with your own family.” It’s applicable to anyone who’s putting their lives on the line, surely, though between me, the listener, and the idols themselves, it’s clear to whom it speaks to more directly.
When explaining his lyrics in his blog, Tsunku often writes about how he wishes the members would live out their lives this way or that way, looking out for their better good. The more I read of his fatherly ways in his blog entries, the more I get this impression of Morning Musume lyrics in recent singles as a direct message from Tsunku to the idols themselves. Never mind that these lyrics in "Suggoi FEVER!" are written in the second person, coming out of the idols’ mouths: it’s like Tsunku wants the group to internalize what they’re actually singing about as they recite it.
“Enjoy it to the very end,” Morning Musume sing in the chorus. “Whatever you do, shine.” Tsunku has his point as he insists on the members to live a little. Many of my posts here on the singles from the past few years, beginning maybe from “Daijinsei Never Been Better!,” talk about the group being more selfish about themselves and how that very mindset makes for a fresh new attitude after several years of trying to be confident in their own skin. Morning Musume has earned time to reflect on the results of their hard work toward self-development, and in "Suggoi FEVER!," Tsunku seems to give them a silly disco platform to do just that.
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