Mayday! what the heck is a Bump of Chicken?

A couple of posts ago I featured "Mayday" by Bump of Chicken. While trying to nail down an explanation for the unusual band name, I came across two:
1 - The term for "goosebumps" is "torihada" - but instead of "goose" they use "tori=chicken." Maybe the band's music is so amazing, listeners get "torihada"...
OR (and this one is from my resident "Bump of Chicken" student expert in ichikumi)
2 - In Japan the chicken is seen as a weak creature***. However, when the chicken is "bumped" or attacked, it "counter-attacks" (hangeki suru is what my student used). My student said that Bump of Chicken's message was about "fighting back" when you're knocked down - don't just take it. Stand up for yourself.

So - Bump of Chicken mystery solved.

***I got HOWLS of laughter as I explained the whole "You're a chicken" insult to my students. Of course I hammed it up with a proper "brock brock brock" (I have NO idea how to type chicken clucking) and doing a little chicken dance...

And, for those of you in a karaoke mood - here's "a" translation of the chorus and romaji lyrics to a song that'll put you in a good mood:

Mayday (excerpt)

Are you holding your breath
down to the bottom of your heart?
You are sinking (drowning/hiding?)
So I won't stop diving till I find you
The closer I get to you
The more harder it gets
When I have to take another breath
I'll take it with you

Iki wa motsu darou ka
Fukai kokoro no soko made
Kimi ga shizumeta kimi wo
Mitsukeru made moguru tsumori sa
Kurushisa to hireishite
Bokura wa chikazukeru
Futatabi kokyuu wo suru toki wa
Kimi to isshou ni

Bump of Chicken

Here's an experiment - well, it's two-fold, actually. One, I'm embedding a music video file in this post, let me know if it worked, ok? Secondly, I'm trying to study this foreign language through it's popular music. The problem I'd faced was I had NO idea where to start - remember - all the stuff in the music stores is IN said foreign language. Then I discovered the miracle of youtube.com and jpopasia.com, so now I can find at least ONE thing I like, and then use that as a point of departure to find other things I like. Then, of course, there are the kids. This week we're listening to songs they like and translating them into English. I'd actually started that task on my own with a new CD I got called "The Elephant Kashimashi" - then I thought, "Hmmm, why don't the KIDS do this?"

Here's one they chose. It's called "メーデー" ("mayday") by Bump of Chicken. I don't know what it's about yet, but the sound of it puts me in a good mood :)