And Your Favorite Generation Song Is...

The poll results are out! Around last week, I decided to make a poll about generation songs in light of the upcoming 11th Generation. For my first poll ever made, I got a really great number of votes! 31 total! Which is a good thing too because I was going to put a Perfume song as the winner if no one voted as revenge! So yeah, I'm very happy everyone wanted to pitch in what their favorite Morning Musume "generation song" was and now I'm here to present to you what ranked where and my personal thoughts on each of these generation songs. So without further stalling, let's look at the winner of this poll!

Shabondama (13 votes): Well duh! Of course this song was going to win; I'd pretty much figured that out by day 2 of the poll voting. Even I think this is Momosu's best generation song! It's nice to know the readers of this blog agree! To me, Shabondama is everything a generation song should be: memorable, high-energy, and a standout introduction of the new members. Shabondama isn't just a good generation song, it's a good song. Everything from the vocals (gotta love those trilling r's) to the vocal arrangement to the instrumentals just made the song stand out. The song had so much power and emotion behind it with the lyrics about love being the equivalent of a soap. That opening chorus is like a buildup of energy and then the song just bursts into four minutes of amazing musical output. The girls handled the vocals extremely well, especially Reina! And the vocals were divided nicely too! Everyone got a chance to sing, even Sayu got to shout a few lines! It didn't just feature the 6th Generation, it featured the whole group and it was freaking awesome. So yes, I'm very happy I get to post this as the poll winner instead of... that generation song.

Maji desu ka Ska! (7 votes): And in second place came the song of RiDOS the 9th Generation, Maji Desu ka Ska! I kind of figured this once would rank high up considering it's one of the more recent Momosu singles and the fact that it's at this point in time the only song they've released that has equal line distribution. I mean, seriously. It's been a year and half already and I'm sick of tired of UFA sucking all the limelight from Eripon, Kanon, and Mizuki. But anyways, that's one of the best parts about this song: everyone gets a chance to sing and the 9th Generation was featured equally along with their senpais. As for the song itself... I know a lot of people like it but I really have to be in the right mood to listen to it. If I'm happy and cheerful then I can totally go for some peppy, genki fare like Maji desu ka Ska but if I'm even in the slightest of a pissy mood and this song comes on I want to toss it into a volcano. So yeah, it flip-flops between a burst of energetic fun and ear-gratingly annoying torture. But at least no one got shafted in this song! Take note, UFA.

Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~ (6 votes): Moving on, third place goes to Mr. Moonlight, the 5th Generation's song! Ironically, the 5th Generation was barely present on this single at all! In fact, the only person who got to really shine was Gaki and that was for like 5 seconds. The rest of the song is divided between Nacchan, Maki, and Yossie with the others randomly singing backup... Not that those three do a bad job! Hell no, they're freaking awesome! The trio has so much energy and spunk and really drive the song and make me want to get up and dance! Mr. Moonlight has a very swing-style beat to it and the music video itself is inspired by the Takarazuka Revenue, an all-female theatre troupe in Japan. It was a great song to match the youth and energy of the 5th Generation and it's definitely one of my favorite Momosu songs because it's fun without being childish or stupid. And that music video just tops the song. Mainly because of Yossie. I think I'm in lesbians with Yossie. My only real criticism of the song is that for an introduction of the 5th Generation, it did a pretty poor job of giving them the spotlight. So yeah, great song but not so great as a generation song. Still... Yossie makes up for that.

Onna ni Sachi Are (5 votes): The song just out of the top three goes to Onna ni Sachi Are! You know, I just noticed there are a lot of songs by Momosu with the word "Onna" in the title... Anyways, it seems like a lot of people really liked this song. Which makes me feel like the black sheep because I just... don't. I guess it's not a bad song but for me it's kind of silly. I think everything about it is so over-the-top from the instrumental to the sporadic, almost spaztic vocals and don't even get me started on those god-awful Vegas showgirl costumes. It looks like they slaughtered Big Bird! And it doesn't really strike me as a good generation song either, this song was one of two singles were Junjun and Linlin got solos and they got one freaking line each. Great way to showcase your new members, UFA! Why don't you put them in the back now because they'll clearly never be as vocally talented as your precious Japanese members? Ironically aside from the first sign of JunLin getting shafted, everyone else gets a decent amount of solos, even Aika! Still, the song just isn't my cup of tea. Everything comes off as either silly or over-the-top or an insane combination of both. Next please.

Iroppoi Jirettai (4 votes): Now this is a song I dig! At first I didn't like this song that much but the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me over time! I really love the Spanish-influenced instrumentals and they provide a lot of energy for the song. The chorus is also incredibly catchy which is one of the reasons that I enjoy the song so much. The song just keeps building up until it reaches the final chorus and when it's over I just sit there trying to take in the massive energy of it all. It's a really awesome song with really awesome music and I freaking love it. My one criticism is it's not that good as a generation song since Koharu's barely in it. The funny thing is I'm not a huge fan of Koharu; I mean, I don't hate her but she's not my uber-favorite or anything. But she really wasn't in this song that much. True, she did open the song with sexy whispering but other than that the other members pretty much own the song. I guess I'm not mad about that, since her vocals are... different to put it nicely. But I really love how everyone else sounds and I think it was smart to put Ai, Reina, and Miki as main vocalists because they sound amazing. As a generation song, it probably could have featured its sole member of the 7th generation a bit more,

Happy Summer Wedding (3 votes): And with three votes, comes Momosu's second best selling single! It is second best right? Actually, it might be third... anyways, it's Happy Summer Wedding! The funny thing is, this song doesn't make me very happy! Get it? Happy? Yeah... I'll write about the song now. As I punned about just a sentence ago, I'm actually don't really enjoy Happy Summer Wedding that much even though I know a lot of Momosu's fans love it. I just find it really, really... annoying. I like the Indian influences on the instrumental but the vocals really grate on my ears; I hate those high-pitched "HAI!" notes that are everywhere on this song. Other parts of the song that annoy me are the "Palalalalala", the "YAI YAI", the random "HA!" notes, I just really can't stand a lot of the vocals on this song. Everyone just sounds so... ANNOYING! I can't take it anymore! And it's a terrible introduction for the 4th generation; they barely get to sing! Hell, they're the ones that get saddled with the most annoying parts of the song! Everything about this song strikes wrong with me and I wish I did like it. Once again, I know a lot of people really this song and I feel bad for bashing but I just don't like this song. At all. The end.

Morning Coffee (2 votes): Ah, here it is, the song that started it all with... 2 votes!? What!? I find this song to be highly important to the creation of Morning Musume and it only got 2 votes? I think it shows just how different Momosu has become since its creation. It went from five members from a reject audition to one of the most successful group in Japanese idol history. And I like this song a lot! It has very old, vintage feel and not just because it was released in the 90s. There are a lot of harmonies and expert blending in the vocals that give the song a nostalgic feel. I don't really hear this style of music in MM's current music these days but I wish I did because it's very pretty, very sweet, and just a very nice song. I think it was a great way to start of the Morning Musume we all know and love! All five members got to shine in the song and we were first introduced to the future faces like Abe Natsumi. It makes me sad thinking that none of these girls are in Momosu anymore and almost makes me wish I could remember when this song came out (I was like... one at the time XD). Overall, a good song to start off the career of Morning Musume.

LOVE Machine (2 votes): Whaaat? Morning Musume's trademark single only got 2 votes? Well, there's something you don't see every day! I was incredibly surprised that LOVE Machine ranked so low! Is it because it's old? Or because it's just overplayed? I admit, the song does get a little old what with Dream Morning Musume performing it left and right when they were still active. But that aside, how does the song itself stand as a generation song? Personally, I love it. I think it's a winning combination of fun, catchy pop and help root the style of music that would later help shape Morning Musume as the group as it is today. If you listen to it, you can hear bits of it in other Momosu songs from the future. And it did a great job of showcasing the person who would later become the face of Morning Musume alongside Nacchan, Goto Maki. The whole song just felt very polished but it also sounded like the girls had a lot of fun singing it when it was so popular. As for the music video it's... well... dated but it's the thought that counts! Then again I believe this was the first sign of UFA's imminent cheapness for future Momosu PVs.

Egao YES Nude (2 votes): Another surprise for me was Egao YES Nude only got 2 votes. Am I the only one who freaking loves this song? I like it much better than Onna ni Sachi Are anyways... Maybe it's all the sexual undertones that Tsunku dared to write into the lyrics of this song that turn so many people off when they listen to it. I'm serious, the sexiness surpasses Kimagure Princess but unlike Kimagure I think I like this song better because the tone is just handled so much better and doesn't come as trying to be sexy. It simply just is. You get some incredibly well-done ad-libs from Ai, deep-voiced singers like Gaki and Yossie get the lead, and even the less talented singers in Momosu at the time (Sayu and Koharu) sound like they're putting a lot of effort into trying to match the tone of the song. And to me this is only time where I think Aika has sounded truly amazing. It's funny isn't it? It's like the longer she was in the group, the worse her voice got! Egao YES Nude still introduced her into the group and gave her more attention than she ever got any other time in MM. Overall, the chorus was memorable, the vocals had lots of effort put into them, the song was sexy without vulgar, and all that added up to create one of my personal favorite generation songs.

Summer Night Town (1 vote): Coming in at last with 1 measly vote was Summer Night Town, the song of the second generation. I'm actually not terribly surprised that this song didn't get a lot of votes. Mainly because it's really not one of the strongest singles from 90s Momosu as say, Daite Hold on Me or LOVE Machine. I mean I guess it's not bad. It just doesn't stand out to me very much. The vocals sound tired and half-assed and for some reason I didn't like the way the girls blended on this song. It sounded like they recorded the vocals with a potato. That might have been intentional, but I didn't like it. I will admit at some parts the song does have a very ethreal and dreamy feeling to it which can be cool at times. And I like that there a boatload of harmonies in this song; actually, there a lot of harmonies in older Momosu songs that show how well the vocals were. You don't really get that much in terms of harmony nowadays for their more recent songs and it's nice hearing how some vocals blend and others don't. The second generation also got some pretty decent spotlight but it pales compared to the vocals the first generation gets. Oh well, Summer Night Town's a pretty mixed bag and not my favorite but it's pretty good!

PyokoPyoko Ultra (1 votes): Also in last is... the one song I think is in its rightful place! You know what? I'm not surprised. I think I secretly knew this heinous piece of bird poop would be earn this place. I won't talk too much about it since anyone who reads this blog is very aware of my opinions on this song. But if you're interested to read more then here. That's a part review/part rant on how I feel about this song. As for now, I just have on thing to say...

YES! WE HAVE DEFEATED YOU FOR ALL TIME!!! You will NEVER rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!!!


...Well. That was fun.

Seriously! Thanks for voting, everyone! Making that poll was fun because you guys voted and I loved watching how the voting went! So... because this poll was so successful, I was thinking about doing another one. Maybe I could make a once-a-month thing, like a monthly poll! And then I'd post the results and so on and so on! The thing is... if I do this, I'll need to think of some more ideas... So, what do you guys think? Should I make another poll? Or should I toss the idea into the ashes of shame and humiliation PyokoPyoko Ultra resides in now? And if you think I should, then please please please give any ideas you'd want for a poll! I will seriously take anything. Until next time! As for now, I'll leave you with a picture of Kashiyuka:

WITH A SNAKE!