Great job!

Today being Labour Day is as good as any to introduce Black BABYMETAL with the song 'GJ!"

As we've seen, a BABYMETAL 'live' show is a full-on high energy effort that often goes on a few days running. The concept of Black BABYMETAL has a lore to it which I won't get into as it is confusingly inconsistent, and much is probably lost in translation. Regardless, to give each other a break without disrupting the momentum, parts of the performance are taken by SU solos, and some are MOA and YUI duets under the Black BABYMETAL label.

GJ likely stands for Good Job, as the phrase appears in the chorus. The opening beat is a cheerleader rhythm of encouragement for the team to put in extra effort, but done in metal with a bass guitar assist, the sound is heavy -- more like the beat of galley drums, getting the slaves working together to pull the oars.

Picking up from the instruments, YUI and MOA launch into rhythmic verse about the daily grind of sheeple going to work, comparing the daily commute to a 'wall of death', a term describing the commencement of a mosh when people from opposite sides of the pit run headlong towards each other and collide in the middle. Pretty accurate description for rush hour at the MRT station. During the verse, their movements are punchy sharp, imitating the pushing and shoving on jam-packed trains. For the pre-chorus, they revert to cheerleaders egging on the crowd. But their gestures are from their fingers and below their shoulders while leaning slightly back, which suggest less encouragement and more taunt, as if to say, 'is that all you got?'

The second verse is about the opposite of going to work, and that is going shopping. Likewise, shopping is yet another mosh pit as everyone tears through malls looking for the best discounts and offers of free extras. The movements here have become more combative, showing finger guns in the short instrumental break, and some defensive shielding amidst more pushing and shoving in the verse.

In between, the chorus hits with contrasting melodic lightness, incredibly catchy as their choruses usually are. Their movement also lightens up a little. They keep their sharpness, but throw in more fluid, rapidly flickering movements as they sing of escaping the crush and grind of the work-consume cycle. Being "happy-go-lucky" is the way to go: 'aiming too high brings us no good' so 'take it easy' instead.

Easy for these girls to say. It's clear they work very hard at what they do, and aim for the stratosphere with their ambitions of changing the world for the better with BABYMETAL music. The big difference is that they found their ikegai (the intersection of passion and competence in supplying what people need and are willing to pay money for) while they were still relatively babies, and went ahead to pursue it. The rest of us will just be grateful for Labour Day when we can put up our aching feet for a while, and hopefully not squander it on meaningless shopping. Take it easy, folks!