"Swimming"- Kero Kero Bonito Rhetorical Analysis

^This is me as the "Time n Place" album. 

I wrote this essay for my English class. This is my favorite KKB song so I wanted to write about it. It's kind of ass, especially near the end but that's okay. Hope you enjoy!🌊💜

🌊"Swimming" music video ^^^🌊

Introduction

Kero Kero Bonito’s song “Swimming”, off their album “Time n Place”, expresses the feeling of growing up. Through an analysis on the groups identity, audience, musical composition and culture, Kero Kero Bonito’s influence and impact through this song can be recognized. Their bittersweet lyrics describe the shift in perspective that comes with getting older. From learning new things with guidance from your parents, to having to navigate the world on your own. 

Authorship

To study the authorship of the song “Swimming”, I must first introduce the group and focus on the band's identity more than their purpose. Kero Kero Bonito has never stated what their purpose for writing music is, but one can assume from their lyrics from various albums that they are simply expressing their thoughts through poetic lyrics. As for their identity, Kero Kero Bonito is an indie pop, British music group formed in 2011. The band consists of three members, Sarah Midori Perry, Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled, with Sarah being the main lyricist and composer. The name of their group is derived from Japanese onomatopoeia for a frog croaking, and the Spanish word for “pretty”, but together it doesn’t have any real meaning. Their band name is reflective of their first album, being lots of chaotic noises and nonsense lyrics, while also having a cute, bubblegum sound. The group was formed by Gus and Jamie. Being friends and artists originally, they posted advertisements on an online bulletin board searching for a bilingual vocalist. Sarah replied saying that she just wanted to “try it out”, and so the band was formed. 

It’s important to study the band's discography when talking about their identity. The group's musical style has varied from album to album. Their earlier work, “Intro Bonito” and “Bonito Generation”, is categorized as bubblegum pop, with influences from video game music, j-pop and dancehall. Sarah sings in both English and Japanese in these first few albums. In their 2018 album, “Time ‘n’ Place”, their sound diversified by being labeled as indie rock, including influences from punk music, symphonic pop and shoegaze. By the time they had released this album, Sarah had abandoned singing in Japanese. Their most recent albums, “Civilisation 1” and “Civilisation 2”, are categorized as mainly synth pop and dream pop. Kero Kero Bonito has not only made drastic changes to their musical style, but also in their lyrics. Lyrically, the group has shifted from singing about more childish themes like jumping on trampolines, hearing a catchy song on the radio, waking up from bed, and flamingos. To loss of innocence, loss of a loved one, war, environmentalism, religion and critiques on society. Kero Kero Bonito has also been featured in the song “ringtone (remix)” by 100 gecs with Charli XCX and Rico Nasty, as well as “rom com 2021” by Soccer Mommy. The group has also made the soundtrack for the videogame “Bugsnax”, and Sarah was also featured multiple times singing in episodes of the animated show “We Bear Bears”. The various projects and collaborations that Kero Kero Bonito have contributed to emphasizes their versatility as a band and willingness to work on a variety of projects. The group has also had songs go viral on TikTok, like “Flamingo” and “I’d Rather Sleep”, which brought them an immense amount of popularity.  

Constraints

Kero Kero Bonito’s song “Swimming” is a part of their album “Time ‘n’ Place”, which is the second of their three musical styles produced in their discography. The song has twinkly drums accompanying delicate layers of acoustic guitars and synths producing a swaying and intimate instrumental. Sarah’s voice floats above the track with a distinctive accent and high register melody. Similarly, Sarah sings about floating above the ocean, making even the way she sings the song intentional and unique to the group. The theme of "swimming" and "drifting" (repeated in the chorus) makes the song reminiscent of a modern take on a charming yacht rock song. These nostalgic influences emphasize the sentimental feelings Sarah has as she reminisces about how life used to be under the guidance of her mother. A more obvious example of the theme of growing up, would just be reading the lyrics to the song:

After many years had passed

Hoping I would find the path
I arrived at the start
In the shadow of a cliff
Memories floating in the wind
I squared up to the tide
On my own this time
I could feel the detritus lifting
While a teardrop tickled as it ran away

This is the second version of the pre chorus. The first time she sings these lines, she’s introducing us to her memory about when her mom would bring her to the beach. She describes her feeling of newfound confidence when navigating the world with the help of her mother. On the contrary, the second part of the pre chorus describes the shift in emotions she experiences when she visits the beach again, only this time alone, as an adult. Every line of this section of the song is powerful on its own. The lines, “hoping I would find the path, I arrived at the start”, describes the literal, physical experience she has of visiting the same spot on the beach as she did before, but the lines also describe her feelings of that she never truly became an adult, and never truly found herself. She’s back where she was before, in her child mindset, trying to figure out who she’s meant to be. It could also mean that arriving at the beach brought back all those old memories, this can be supported by the next line “memories floating in the wind”. The lines, “I squared up to the tide, on my own this time”, are very clear, she’s telling us that she’s there alone. But, the specific use of the word “squared”, shows that even though she felt some uncertainty about her identity, she’s more confident this time, and feels powerful in front of the beach instead of helpless and unsure like years before. Finally, the line of  “a teardrop tickled as it ran away”, has the very obvious meaning of that she was crying when revisiting the beach, but the use of the word “tickled” suggests a sense of lightheartedness, playfulness, and hints towards her feelings about the beach being more bittersweet. 

Audience

The audience of Kero Kero Bonito varies. The band is not mainstream, but because of the group’s viral songs on social media, the group even managed to garner fans of mainstream music. It is inferred that most fans of the band would be those who are English or Japanese, because of those cultural influences in their discography, and the bilingual lyrics. The reason why there’s not one specific audience that listens to Kero Kero Bonito, is because the group has released music of all different genres that attract different audiences. For the most part, though, the band’s audience for this song would already be listeners and fans of indie rock, and most likely already fans of Kero Kero Bonito. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the song “Swimming” specifically, is described as having more of a dreamy, delicate, indie rock sound. Meaning that fans of Kero Kero Bonito who also enjoy this genre of their discography over the others, would be their main audience. Infact, the audience’s previous expectations for what this song would be does not align at all with what the song is. Fans of Kero Kero Bonito were only familiar with their one style of music (bubble-gum, and dancehall) until this album was released, leaving audiences expecting more of this lighthearted, cheerful music. Instead, this album added more of a rock, experimental feel, while still including influences from their previous albums.

Not only did the group change their musical composition, but the topics they chose to write lyrics about became more personal and melancholy. The audience of the song “Swimming”, would also have a deep connection to the lyrics and meaning of the song. “Swimming” follows the universal theme of growing up, and the feeling of insecurity when having to navigate life on your own. Through Sarah’s lyrics, the ocean can be viewed as a metaphor for life, understood by listeners even if they haven’t had the exact same experience. 

Though previous Kero Kero Bonito fans are the band's main audience, it’s important to consider the other few listeners of the song that weren’t previously exposed to their music. For those who are listening to the band for the first time, “Swimming”’s audience would consist mostly of younger adults, teenagers to early twenty-year olds. Because the song describes the feeling of maturing, this can be felt most by those who are at this age of change, such as going through high school or college. Both of which are times where people are expected to live and think independently, and are often more distant from their parents. 

Exigence

Kero Kero Bonito’s album “Time n Place”, which features the song “Swimming”, was released in October, 2018. In the context of the world’s music scene,  2018 was the peak of songs with sad, honest lyrics, with higher, smoother vocals, and slow pop beats behind it. This genre of “sad girl music” was made popular in western media by Billie Eilish, but other mainstream artists such as Juice Wrld, and XXXTentacion, also wrote songs following this trend. This trend's popularity made it also carry across into Europe, and even made its way from the pop music scene, to the indie music scene. Indie artists like Kero Kero Bonito were inspired by this trend, and decided to make some changes to their music style and release something unlike what they had done before. Additionally, in the late 1990s, sub genres like British pop and experimental music emerged due to a surge in popularity of indie rock. This album is labeled as an indie rock album, but some would also categorize it as British pop because the band is based in the United Kingdom, and many of these cultural influences can be seen in their music. Kero Kero Bonito’s “Time n Place” and their other indie rock extended play, “TOTEP”, ended up influencing various small British bands to experiment with that style. 

It’s important to also analyze the historical significance for Kero Kero Bonito’s discography specifically, along with the more broad historical/cultural context. Their songs are reflective of the various situations and emotions the members are experiencing. They show the bands growth, not only through more advanced musical genres, but also as they experience more of life and several of the negatives that come with growing up and becoming more mature. The members of Kero Kero Bonito had all gone through a difficult moment in their lives before writing this album. Sarah had recently discovered that her childhood home had been demolished, the other members had also lost a very close friend. The group felt that this next album should stray away from their previous very lively, and happy albums, to a more visceral and honest portrayal of their emotional health. This led to the drastic change in their musical genre.

In conclusion, because of Kero Kero Bonito’s use of strong musical composition, and influence from their culture and their own experiences, the band was able to create “Swimming”, a song that resonates with all kinds of listeners, communicates a more personal message through experimenting a completely new genre, all while still staying true to their unique musical style.