Originally Posted by isthisLOL?
I watched the video with subtitles and this is the conclusion I got to personally:
PONPONPON has surprising depth to it, but I think it's wrong to try to look too deep either.
The lyrical idea expressed is the desperate attempt to hold up an ideal you are not sure you can hold up anymore. That ideal is living in the world of children. Free of dangers and hatred, full of fun and love. That's seen at several points in the lyrics. Right at the beginning there is a contrast established between symbols of adult civilization(the streets and the city) and the sky(a symbol of hope and something neverchanging), note that this contrast happens in an upwards move. First the streets(ground level), then the city(what is above the ground) and then the sky, the highest you can go, an upward movement usually expresses hope. At another point Kayry wishes to be on a merry-go-round, that is the point in the lyrics that convinced me the ideal is childhood, not peace or individualism(which would be another possibility, as there are elements of the New Subjectivity movement in the lyrics). The lyrics express the wish for people to stick together, to just be happy and all like each other, but the lyrics also question that. There are "what if...?"s, doubt is expressed directly through that.
So the protagonist of the lyrics wishes for childhood, to live in such a state, but realizes it is not possible anymore.
Yet she is desperate to keep it up, she makes up reasons to stay in that state as long as possible. (Which is an interesting link to many of Ayumi's lyrics, as the fear of growing up is often addressed in similar ways) She thinks that moving forward, forcing yourself to remain moving, will stop you from maturing.
The chorus contrasts the illusion of individualism children have with the integration into society adults are forced to accept. It's a form of escapism for the singer. She realizes she can't stay a child forever, so she pretends to be a child, the repetitiveness of the lyrics emphasizes that, as does the reliance on music as symbol of freedom - but only in form of headphones, meaning only in your own make-believe world as you push away reality. That's where the music and the video come in, but I'll get to that a bit later. First, the title of the song: The subtitled version I got from jpopsuki explained that "ponpon" is a typical japanese term meaning "wearing nothing at all, showing everything" - in the sense of showing your true self, your individuality. One of the main ideals she wishes for throughout the song and repeats throughout the song. She wants to be herself without having to play a role in any way - in other words, she wants to be a child.
The pure happiness the music suggests is both a contrast to the lyrics AND escapism in itself, it creates a carefree enviroment upon superficial listening.
The video is what I think shouldn't be analyzed too deeply. I think as a whole it is a direct visual representation of the lyrical concepts, but I think most of the details are purely design choices, not artistic choices. The Kyary in the room full of child toys is the Kyary that has build a fantasy world around her as to stay a child forever(hello, Peter Pan!), but through the open window - open windows are symbols of both longing and barriers that have to be crossed - reality and the adult world slowly invade. The window being open symbolizes that this change HAS to occur, that you HAVE to enter reality sooner or later. So throughout the video we see more and more symbols of adult society and even death entering, but Kyary closes her eyes to it. The big number of eyes may symbolize judgement. The adult world does not approve of her wanting to stay a child, so they watch her. The TV set we see her in towards the end is striking, as TVs are a symbol of death. Not literal death, but symbolic death. The death of the mind, of the creativity, of your self. The head of the real Kyary has disappeared at that point, it is being morphed into something new - she is forced into the adult world and what she wanted to preserve is being destroyed in the process. There are a couple more less significant symbols, but I don't think they are all worth explaining to grasp the overall themes.
In the end PONPONPON, the lyrics, music and video, is escapism in it's most pure form: An anthem for something you know exactly you can't have. The desperate longing for the carefree life of a child in a world that forcefully integrates you into a whole.
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