Silent Majority

“Silent Majority” by Seiko Oomori | draw (A) drow, 2017

Renowned idol-geek Seiko Oomori's latest idol-pop cover is Keyakizaka46′s “Silent Majority.” Her covers usually don’t go beyond the live-show set list. This one too almost shared the same fate, but enough push from supporters got a legit studio rendition for Oomori’s latest single, “Draw (A) Drow.”

Keyakizaka46, meanwhile, has been promoting “Silent Majority” on mainstream media all year despite it being released since April of last year. The group's live-for-TV performances of the song has done wonders to push the single's popularity high enough for it to compete with sister group Nogizaka46′s big 2017 hit “Influencer."

Keyakizaka plays the contrast of its image to the idol-pop poster children of Nogizaka as the group's main draw, especially for “Silent Majority.” TV shows like to highlight the seriousness of the Keyakizaka members during performances, their facial expressions opposite to the camera-ready bubbliness of Nogizaka. The stern mood reflects the lyrics of the single. "You have the freedom to live how you want,” members sing in the chorus. “Don’t let adults take control of you.” Not only does the group attempt to inspire, it stands up in unison as the moral good against an oppressor – a bit of a far cry from the romancing of its sister group's "Influencer."

The heroism sung in Keyakizaka’s “Silent Majority” is one I approach with deep skepticism, though. No matter how noble its message, nor how different its pitch as idols, the group is still part of Yasushi Akimoto’s theater-idol franchise, home to AKB48 and its siblings. With the groups, including Keyakizaka, taking massive stock in not only idol pop but J-pop in general, it’s the very mainstream which the public wishes to seek its alternative. The us-against-them narrative behind “Silent Majority” then rings contrarian. The group fights on record to break away from a structure which so happens to be built by its home organization. The song ends up giving me a false sense of power.

Seiko Oomori's cover rids some of that context to fulfill the promise behind the song. The overall message of "Silent Majority" fits well with what the musician usually writes about in her own songs, which focus a lot on the process of self-realization. Though the antagonism against adults may not exactly be her way of play, she's not new to calling out unjust forces of power. “Dogma Magma” is the very song where she says “fuck you” to the rigid societal roles and systems while the single’s home album kitixxxgaia explores the responsibility to have such a voice as an artist.

The title of "Silent Majority" itself is admittedly a rough import especially for an U.S. audience. The negative connotation of the phrase within American politics initially turned me off from engaging with the Keyakizaka original. Does the minority-representing voice of Oomori make the song easier to swallow? Maybe, maybe not, but her sense of responsibility as a musician with such a platform suggest she's up to the task to rightfully re-claim some of that power.