From our other sites
The story
On the September 1 broadcast of All Night Nippon, Sakanaction’s Ichiro Yamaguchi described AI-generated lyrics as “the kind that are smart but not interesting” and said they “have no scent — no color, you could say,” adding that good lyrics are born when they exceed his own imagination. Reactions on 5ch were split: many argued AI and human lyrics should be compared in a blind test, or pointed out that the sense of “AI-ness” is just a preconception on the listener’s part, while others agreed with Yamaguchi’s take, citing the flat contours of AI vocals and the uniformity of AI lyrics.
Sakanaction’s Ichiro Yamaguchi appeared on the September 1 broadcast of “Sakanaction Ichiro Yamaguchi’s All Night Nippon” (Nippon Broadcasting System), answering a listener’s question about what matters most in writing good lyrics.
Yamaguchi explained that what matters most in writing good lyrics is “exceeding your own imagination.” “Even if you write intending to phrase something a certain way, or wanting to write about a certain theme, you don’t end up surprising yourself,” he said.
He considers a lyric complete when it reaches the point of “Huh? That’s not even what I meant to say, but it turned out beautiful” or “Did I really write this?”
Source: sirabee.com / Original article here
What people said
Sounds perfectly listenable to me
Exactly
Re: #1 is just coping (a "moral victory" mindset)
If you lined up a bunch of lyrics
could you really pick out the AI ones every single time?
It's a radio show — I'd love to see them actually try it
The lyrics are completely nonsensical and hilarious
I thought it was the Drifters' "Baban Baban Ban Ban Ban"
The one that was the News Zero ending theme had good lyrics though
It's all been done already
Twist it and it just turns edgy/try-hard
Same goes for the music, not just the lyrics
Feels like AI's losing steam lately too, I wonder how that'll go
I like them both — funny, good talkers
Fully AI, MV too, but the quality blew me away
Made me realize how far this stuff has come
as long as it feels vaguely affirming, you're fine
Just grab a word people don't normally use but that clicks the second you hear it — "oh, that one" — with a sideways, unexpected twist, and you win
Honestly, lyric writing looks like exactly the field AI would be best at
now it's been embraced and put to good use
music's world is still resisting, huh
things with too little irregularity just don't pull people in
Yeah, it's boring
"Gacchanko" is totally Gemini's catchphrase lol
The big AI models have a sheer volume of knowledge beyond any single person
No human could ever compete on that front
so he's surely using AI heavily
It's just that he's not leaving it entirely up to AI, that's all
Poetry might end up being more about the "poet's brand" than the actual content
That's nothing but a preconception based on already knowing it was written by AI
Run a blind test and you won't be able to tell the difference
They should do a New Year's special guessing which lyrics are Yamaguchi's and which are AI's
If he gets it wrong, no point airing it
Bonus points if Daigo guesses wrong and Gackt yells at him (referencing a variety-show bit)
almost went with stainless but got enamel instead
dunno about the lyrics side of things though
if it can do that, then you probably can't tell them apart anymore
like "Aruku Around" or "Native Dancer"
though I don't know about the lyrics
Just tell ChatGPT ("Chappy") to write a prompt that gives it "scent" and makes it gel-like
I think a professional musician could spot it easily
Though you couldn't
I can easily spot it in videos and images too
I guess with humans the edges feel rounded off, huh
It's still just mid-evolution
I use AI 12 hours a day so I'd know
"I made this with AI! Amazing!" — there's a flood of ridiculous output out there that somehow got the OK looking like that
At this stage, it's a tool that only someone who can actually tell what's wrong with AI output can really use well
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Yamaguchi’s remark originally came up as an example within a broader discussion of “what makes good lyrics,” not as a blanket condemnation of AI technology itself. On the thread, opinion split between those who read the comment as a claim that “AI loses to humans” and pushed back, and those who agreed with Yamaguchi’s sense of it. Some pointed to the precedent of shogi software, which humans resisted before eventually embracing and putting to use, suggesting music may follow the same path; others held firm that, for now, you can still sense a difference in texture from human work, citing the flat contours of AI vocals and the “lack of irregularity” in AI illustrations. It’s worth noting that whether people could actually tell the difference in a blind test was never verified on the broadcast — it remained at the level of “I’d love to see them try it.”
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Ichiro Yamaguchi on the something-missing feeling from AI-made lyrics: “Smart but not interesting” “No scent — like stainless steel”.”
Leave a Reply