#beheading dance

To the Oryou who were granted their beheading and to Shikyou, the Amanojaku Give us that basket of the beheaded girl's head! My neck, I need to scratch, scratch, scratch

Kakakakakakakakakakakakaka

"Ignorance is bliss" is all that they know It's Shikyou Hanamitsuki's gift, the dying bugs away from sight My neck, I need to scratch, scratch, scratch

Kakakakakakakakakakakakaka

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko) 4x

The headless peasants, their heads are illuminated by the water's surface. If you dare disrespect their graves, then all shall perish before you A cure for all the headless peasants frayed loneliness- -was to lurk in women's room for a secret gratification

Come here, come and come closer into this graphic place Peer into the depths till all the disgrace you feel is turning into pleasantness Rather than paying in a gold coin, ejaculate all the pain out The absent body is irrelevant, I'll accept you even when there's only your head

Though, they're starving now. The youth still play as the bakeneko As the faceless mistress sees from afar that fireworks are still going up With her braid tied up, she takes out her faded kimono If you dare disrespect their graves, then all shall perish before you

Dying in such a pathetic way Still, this headless girl manages to choke up a laugh Where is the remains of her body, buried? Don't try to ask the cat, even when it cries so loudly

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

The dog, the cat, the lady kitsune, me, myself, (and) I

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

With the eyes I see, a single glance and death is quickly guaranteed

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

In the dead of the night, on the futon, you taught me how to have s\x

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

All night after the next, I walk again and again to lend my body out.

A corpse of a girl has shown up Once more, seemingly appeared headless Whose daughter died tonight? A face that was all too familiar to me Her eyes and mine meet each others, her smile everlasting Thus, the uncontrollable need to scratch- -is because of the absent head at the neck Kakakakakakakakakakakakaka

Come here, come and come closer into this graphic place Peer into the depths till all the disgrace you feel is turning into pleasantness Reach the end, then come and come closer to somewhere that is more graphic than the last The absent body is irrelevant, I'll accept you even when there's only your head

Dance, dance, sing and dance with me on this sanguinary stage Lose our minds, lose our minds, dance with me and let's lose our minds!

(The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading)

Laughing, Laughing, dying while I'm laughing on the night before our wedding Lose our minds, lose our minds, dance with me and let's lose our minds! (Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!!)

(The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading)

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

It's a dance we performed, the search for the location of death

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

Together, at one place. Our existence, unknown

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

In the dead of the night, on the futon, you taught me how to have s/x

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

What I need is the carcasses, to the castle town where they lay

Dance, dance, sing and dance with me on this sanguinary stage Lose our minds, lose our minds, dance with me and let's lose our minds!

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko) (Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

Laughing, Laughing, dying while I'm laughing on the night before our wedding Lose our minds, lose our minds, dance with me and let's lose our minds! (Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!!)

(The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading) (The Performance: a beheading)

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

It's a dance we performed, the search for the location of death

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

Together, at one place. Our existence, unknown

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

In the dead of the night, on the futon, you taught me how to have s/x

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

All night after the next, I walk again and again to lend my body out.

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

The dog, the cat, the lady kitsune, me, myself, (and) I

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

With the eyes I see, a single glance and death is quickly guaranteed

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

In the dead of the night, on the futon, you taught me how to have s\x

(Kakka kokko, kanko kanko kanko)

The Danse Macabre is a very European reference and I don't know if Masa evoked it intentionally, but it surely comes to my mind. It's about imagery of dead people of different classes, all dancing together with skeletons. The meaning is that no matter your social standing in life or your earthly posessions, death comes for everybody, and everybody is equal in death.

In her life before the curse, Mai was sheltered by her family's monopoly of wealth and power. Now she walks through the town she destroyed, seeing the dancing ghosts of the human suffering that took place in it. Headless peasants, starving children, trafficked women. Victims of her family's cruelty, wealth hoarding and disregard for human life.

A faceless woman in a discolored kimono is mentioned watching the fireworks. The woman could be the victim of the first Beheading Dance that was performed to entertain Ryo's guests. The lyrics warn against disrespecting her grave, or the graves of the peasants. In their lives these people had no power. But in death, disrespecting them would have horrible consequences.

Another European historical reference that the song harkens to me is Marie Antoinette's death. As part of the French revolution, she was executed by guillotine, in front of a cheering crowd of the people she used to rule over. Mai as a character has a lot of parallels with her. The method of death by beheading for starters. Also her not really actively contributing to the cruelty of her regime (Mai before her curse, anyway), but unwittingly benefitting from it.

These next couple of points might be reaching a bit, but I still find them interesting. The wealth and extreme consumption of the French royalty was widely publicized, and the starving masses were furious at it. Marie Antoinette was kind of a scapegoat for it, and her with her luxurious taste was seen as the image of overconsumption. This makes an interesting parallel with Mai literally consuming the people of her town. The public's rumors about Marie Antoinette's sexual life were also fuel for the fire of the revolution, and though most of the accusations were very likely fabricated, one of them was that she had affairs with women. This kinda parallels Shikyou's rage at Mai and Akari meeting and getting married, and killing her for it.