Damn I was in middle school when HEART STATION came out. I'm now 21 and in college lmao the years really do fly by.

You're still young... :yes

Are we talking about age now? lol.
I was 19 when I entered hikki's world, and now I'm 34... sigh time goes really fast...

And I used to think Niji iro bus as a kiddy song, but not anymore. I have to play this song at least once during spring time everyday.

I get depressed with the later part of that damn song! That's not a kiddy song seriously lol

Tonight. Tonight. I don't want to be alone tonight

I love listening to the karaokes. It's great when you hear an instrument you didn't hear before, or some unwritten english lyrics. (with the karaoke of keep tryin' being my favorite example)

I was 10 when I first started listening to Hikki and I was 12 when I listened to ayu, I'm 25 now

My uncle gave me First Love for my birthday ^.^

What's everyone's opinion of Distance? I think it's her weakest album but it does have some jams.

For me her weakest albums are This Is The One followed by First Love. Distance may not be in my Top 2 or 3 Hikaru albums, but has a lot of nostalgia for me and classic R&B tracks.

Same for me. DEEP RIVER and ULTRA BLUE are my favorites.

^^^If you ask me, yes it's her weakest album. It does have really good songs (mostly the singles).

I think my opinion towards the album was affected by First Love. I was in love with FL and I kept my expectation high for her second album (it was like almost two years between FL and Distance, and back then it was considered a long break for me). I remember I received the album about a month after the release (my friend bought it for me). My first impression was that the album wasn't as interesting as I expected to be. I admit that it has more variety compared to FL when it comes to R&B, but the flow is not that good compared to the former album. I think when two albums were on the similar basis, it attracted comparison easily. Back then I think the majority thought FL was better than Distance. (This is just like UB vs HS, both using synth instruments as main arrangements).

In addition, ayu released A BEST at the same time and my bro felt that A BEST was more interesting than Distance (lol). I dunno, it didn't wow me as much as when I received Duty (it was a hype half a year ago before Distance).

But then, when she released DEEP RIVER, it was totally a wow to the JPoworld. Before she announced the album, the hype wasn't that high. Hikari was three weeks no. 1 but the overall sales was like around 550K (not that high according to her standard back in 2002). Even when SAKURA drops was premiered on radio, I thought it was a boring song. Then all of the sudden she got sick, every promotion was canceled, and Japanese was so concerned about her health. Then about a week or two before SAKURA/letters was released, Toshiba announced DR. Then the cover came out and everyone was so hyper (I admit that even tho the cover was just black and white, it was way better than Distance's cover). DR is really a masterpiece in my opinion... lol


That is a big transition :), from being kid turning into an adult. I assume you started listening hikki around her debut time then :yes.

LOL it should not be if it's something from HS, when the theme of the album was something about death (well with the exception of boku wa kuma :D).

I always thought take 5 and boku ha kuma were supposed to represent reincarnation or something. atleast that's what I got from the songs playing back to back. take 5 being about death and the abrupt ending representing your life ending all of a sudden, and then boku ha kuma being about a light hearted children's song and being young and innocent again.

I really loved that they were together on the album. I thought it was like telling a story.

The later part? I think the entire thing is depressing.

Monday to friday
monday to friday
everybody feels the same
everybody feels the same

Hell, I'm looking at the english lyrics to the song now. the entire thing is about "I hate it here, get me the fuck out of this place."

I never thought this song was cute or happy. lol when I first heard it, I knew something was up when I heard the english parts.

I wrote an essay on here about the themes of Heart Station. There's a lot of melancholy in Niji Iro Bus ( ore however it's spelt) to me, almost kind of bitter sweet?

^ were you the one who wrote about how the album basically flows and then she dies but is reborn? That's essentially what made me love HS above all her other albums.

I most definitely read "excursion" as "execution." Was like the abysmal fuq!?

I'm going to have to listen for this.

lol



Sounds like she was trying to sneak in emotional shade. lol

Utada: "Imma make them bop their head to this undercover $h!t. Hey, daddy zane, gimme a "whoa whoa", up pitch that betch and rep a rainbow. They don't know this song is my resignation. What's Japanese for Hiatus?"

Daddy Zane: Where you going?

Utada: France. ~(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)~

Daddy Zane: No you not. Island Def Jam called. They said, "loooooooooool"

Yeah that was me. I'm glad you love HS :)

Where can I read it?

Lol.

About Take 5... There was speculation about it being about suicide or something but I thought that rumor was debunked. It turned out to be about "taking 5 minutes from reality" - just laying back and kind of escaping for a short time from all the chaos and stress of daily life. The abrupt ending represents a return back to reality and the chaos of it all. "Snapping out of it", that tranquil state within your mind.

I love that take on it because that's often what music is to me. Or when I used to smoke and step outside to put on my headphones and for 5 minutes just relax and escape into the environment of the music.

I have that impression too, but i prefer Nijiiro Bus instead of Boku Wa Kuma. I think NIB can also convey that child feeling

3:40

I never saved it because I didn't think it was any good lol.

Take 5 is an interesting song because she's explained that the main influence was about a children's book dealing with a state that is like death, that book is translated as Night on the Galactic Railroad. I read it as a child, and it always stood out to me, so I can see why she was influenced by it

Yeah, it's definitely not a negative song. To me, it feels like one is at peace or just accepting of a situation and moving on, or even a rebirth. It's a pretty interesting metaphysical approach.

Utada giving me the feels.

I'm 100% sure that Zahara posted it on this forum so all you have to do is go through their posts. Zahara has only 480ish so it won't be so bad :P

Edit: found it!
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=106

I really think you should expand this Zahara, with any further insights you have. It would be a very interesting read all over again lol

Oh wow! Thanks for finding that, I didn't realize I wrote that post up so long ago. I might just listen to HS again and expand on that.

I always loved the Take 5 -> Boku wa Kuma theories. They're always so interesting and shows Utada's craft.

I also loved your explanation on Beautiful World; because that song finally clicked with me after watching Rebuild of Evangelion.

These are the moments that makes Utada an exeptional artist in JPOP world. She's more than just a singer/arranger. I love it when she applies poetry and art to her songs.

Anyone her love the opening narration on Deep River MV? I love it to death. Sometimes i have to wonder if Hikki's a deep person or just someone happy with a kuma by her side LOL

I love that opening too. It's beautiful.

Now that I think about it, I think k&c kind of is hurried. The lyrics are all over a place, and it reminds me how we're kind of rushing throughout the day that we don't take time to actually talk and relax.

But I'm kind of not sober, so lalala!

Yaas drag k&c! I'm still angry that the hot verses where utada 'raps' or whatever only happens twice and she wastes the midsection and after that the song is just repetitive.

Maybe this is on purpose? Contrasting songs

Kiss & Cry is honestly one of my least-favorite Utada songs. The bass is killer but like idk; there's nothing that really catches my attention. I love the self-sample but like idk LOL I just don't like that song at all.

^I concur. I almost always skip. Can't believe it's one of my faves fave. Then again, her favorite Ultra Blue track is the worse one as well.

I remember before HEART STATION came out and Utada was updating us on her progress via her blog and she mentioned how she was really digging this funky song she made and bopping her head to it. That song was Kiss & Cry.

Oh my god! I never knew that's what that part was! I always heard it though even in the vocal track. How could you discern that? I'm all excited and don't even know why lol. I love this.

It definitely feels like it was done that way on purpose.

OMG I used to hate it because of that bass. But I adore the verses in their kind of ironic somewhat uplifting way of mocking monotony. The chorus is a joy to sing too, as her voice is so hopeful despite the reality of the situation. Those somewhat retro-esque synthesizers are heaven too.

I listen to it now and it's strange how much I initially loathed the song. For me, it is one of my favs and what I consider on of her bests.

Also, if you actually like the ballad version of Flavor of life then all your opinions on what constitutes good are null and void.

I always wondered. Does kiss and cry sample some old 1940's/50's jazz swing song, or is it just made to sound like it samples an old song?

Is it the case that it sampled a song?

Random thought: Isn't Uso Mitai Na I love you's chorus like THE EXACT COPY OF Simple and Clean's one?

The other day I listened to it for the first time and when the chorus kicked in I was like "Wait, did I switch to simple and clean?"

Utada actually used the chorus from Uso Mitai Ni for Simple and Clean lol can't recall why but I think she really liked that melody and it fit better in English for Simple and Clean.

Oh okay so she did it on purpose! Thanks for the explanation. I couldn't get over how similar they were, was going crazy XD

I recall her saying how some of the melody for Hikari was difficult to translate into Simple and Clean, so for the chorus she took that piece of Uso Mitai Ni chorus and substituted Hikari's chorus. It made it easier to sing in English.

I thought it was the other way around. Simple and Clean made first, then when she wrote the Japanese lyrics, it didn't fit with the melody. So she re-composed the chorus for Hikari. In the end she used the original melody to create Uso mitai na I Love You...

Hmmmn.. I need to check. :P

Edit: I found both explanations online. So I dunno. I just remember she talked about that in 2003 when releasing COLORS...

Simple and Clean wasn't made first as far as I can tell.


Utada: Uh-huh. Well, from the beginning, yeah, before doing that contract, I'd done a few songs where I had to translate, like for Kingdom Hearts, I had to make an English version of the song "Hikari," which became "Simple and Clean," and then also for Kingdom Hearts II, I had to make the Japanese version which was the song "Passion" and then the English version that was "Sanctuary," and that was so hard, it's just, and it felt strained, and as a result, I'm happy that I worked hard to do those, because those English versions are really good and "Simple and Clean," I think, is a really good song, and people- most of the people that know me here, they know me for that- but it's not ideal for me as a writer, to- because, actually, I changed the melodies for "Simple and Clean" and "Hikari," because when you change the language you're singing in, the same melodies don't work- and as a writer, it's just very frustrating to have, like- I wrote these melodies for Japanese words, and to have to write in English for that, it's just not right. And then, so, for this, uh, this contract with Island Def Jam, in the beginning I separated it to this English language album, and I don't do Japanese translations. I just, my integrity as an artist just would not take that, could not take that.

:yes and lol at the SNL sketch. I started to try and keep some interviews with her due to that question usually being asked, oohh about every few months.

Thanks for the explanations, that's interesting. Switching languages is not easy when it comes to sing, it's true that the same melodies don't work anymore, so I can understand her point in changing it. And LOL, she really can't complete a sentence straight XD

simple and clean has the chorus instrumental of that japanesjapaneseILOVEYOU!! song from Deep River (or is it on distance) and not hikaris original instrumental for those who did not know that.

Man, I remember having Uso mitai na I LOVE YOU on one of the first ~japanese mix CDs~ my friend ever made for me back in 7th grade and loving it soooo much. Along with Play Ball. :laugh Which would have been right around the time Deep River came out, now that I think about it. I've never even bothered listening to Simple and Clean or Sanctuary just bc I thought the Japanese versions were flawfree and had no interest in them...but now I'm kind of curious about Simple and Clean!

Hmmn, I guess she explained again that during Ultra Blue period then (if she talked about Sanctuary as well). Cuz she talked about Simple and Clean and Uso's similar melodies when she released COLORS. And it was from an long interview in a Japanese magazine. I guess back then the translation went wrong lol.

I miss the energy of y'all in this topic. I wish she would just announce something already so we can go back to talking about it for a page and then start discussing her hair or whatever we talk about lmao

I remember random J said that the cover of HS looks like Utada's channeling her inner (butch) lesbian and that she has an organ failure.
Ironically HS is my fav album cover from her.

The cover was really nice, but the photos inside were not that great.
DEEP RIVER's cover was excellent, and the inner photos (including the foot) were great lol :D.

^The foot should have been the album cover.

That's the hawttest album cover I've ever seen.

Foot fetish Kween

OMG...no comment o.O

Does anyone know what's going on with Hikki, is she in Italy or Japan?

HS has a better cover than Ultra Blue (imho). I'm not saying its a BAD cover, but she has more life in the HS cover (or at least in expression).


Aiya! That's hilarious but so artsy.

This is what it has come down to. This is what a 5 year hiatus from an artist who already releases stuff slow as hell does to her fans. We're comparing album covers which are all face forward head shots from the neck up.

We have officially run out of topics.

At least we're not comparing her back covers ;). And maybe she will release a new song since the new EVA movie will be released this year rite?

lol nah the foot should be kept inside the booklet.
If she really used her foot pic as the cover tho, it would be a fantastic piece of art :D.

^ I've been praying all year for the possibility of a new song. This b**** teases new music and then goes back to hiding

Maybe we should talk about her back hair I mean back covers. Mines still HS because I'm biased and pissed that this trick isn't giving us new music. What is she, bjork.

Haha, yup!

For the record, Deep River and Ultra Blue have great back covers.

LOL so we're really talking about the back covers now :D This should be the very first time we talk about her back covers haha.

And I agree that DR and UB have great back covers :yes. There are only three back covers we can compare though (Distance is the only other one with hikki at the back).

There's more than 2. She (barely) has more concerts than albums (7 japanese/english albums versus 8 concerts or "performances". I know unplugged isn't a concert, but I'm throwing it in there because why the hell not?).


My favorite is UU06, although it sucks that she sounds like she has a cold the whole time. The cello version of Be My Last would have been absolutely magical if it didn't sound like she needed to blow her nose. Despite the allergic reaction to the stage though, she pulled it off and it's a great concert.

^we're working with what we have! lol

Wild life because it's the only one I watched and I watched it on Blu ray.

I bet she is going to comeback in the Olympics Game of Tokyo ;)

She's too lazy for that.

Ugh she's never coming back.

I think all fans should record themselves singing "Come Back To Me" and we can splice it together showing all types of individuals across the globe calling out for her return.

This is actually a really cute idea except for the fact i'm ugly

http://i59.tinypic.com/wc204m.jpg

Me in the background with a wig on.

^You're hot !

^^ WaiT...

Oh girl, that would be amazing. 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo opening ceremony has great potential for big things to happen.
A little bit OT but, my ideal dream for 2020 Tokyo would be a surprise collab between the J-Pop queens, just imagine :heart

Not only that, but imagine if this got out of hand and we ended up with +1,000 recordings. A. I'd feel bad for the person mixing all that, and B. It would sound like a monster.

We could lip-sync it. :D

We gotta get ha back somehow lol

BABY COME BACK TO ME

I'LL BE EVERYTHING YOU NEED

GHERL, YOU'RE ONE IN A MILLION (copies sold of the smash hit single, Automatic/Time Will Tell)

*one in 7.6 million

I think it will be hard to beat this record :shimmy

I think the combined sales of 8cm and 12cm of Automatic/time will tell were more than that. Probly 1.8 to 2 million copies :P.

Actually, a community for a Let's Play gamer named Markiplier compiled a video like this. You should watch it, it's AMAZING. I feel like we could totally pull something off for Utada if we are dedicated enough.

Action starts at :30.

Yeah of course we'd just dub the song over the videos audio, essentially muting the original voice and just doing a lip-sync type media project.

I wouldn't be able to participate because of my hatred for Come Back To Me lol.

Although I would like some more Hikaru music I feel like, unlike with Olivia, that she is going to come back sometime. We don't know when but there will come a time where we will be buying the new Hikaru Utada album!

Does ANYONE like Come Back To Me? I don't see it being in anyone's top 10 list, lol. It's gross.

Objectively, it's a pretty awful song lol

It is awful imo like like below generic lol

I like it. I don't love it, definitely not in my top 20, but it's a solid piano ballad with a beat. I don't think I'd ever call an utada song "gross". I'd call Meg's song "FREAK" gross, or Ayumi's song "Bold & Delicious" gross. but not cbtm

I prefer the SINR remix of the song though.

this one (crying like a blah blah) shouldv been the lead single of this is the one.

AGREED.

She should've hammed up the Asian US college student thing more instead of akward tortured jpop artist

I've been listening to HS again. It's so nostalgic I can't handle it!! Especially Beautiful World.

^I get the Nostalgia when I listen to Ultra Blue and Exodus. So many dear moments I spent with Ultra Blue honestly. One of my ties to my early teen years.

Can Hikki please come back and slay all of these basics. The stage has been set. This is the year bihh.

Normally I'm satisfied with ayu. But I just need more out of this year. Ai was great...but still not Hikki levels.

I'm probably getting hyped for nothing tbh though. Maybe in a couple years we'll get some Distance demos.

*sigh*

I like it, it's generic but better than most of her japanese discography

I like Come Back to Me, however, Apple and Cinnamon and This One (Crying Like a Child) gave me more feels so no matter how much I like it, it gets overshadowed by those two, haha.

Same here, This One is so much better than Come Back To Me. Why didn't she released that as a single instead

The question is other
Do you have any "This is the one" song in your top 10 Utada?
daartttyyy deeesiiireeee~~~~~aaaaa aaahh aaa

And what the hell does the cover for this album stands for? Utada dressed like a bear?

^Dirty Desire is my favorite song off that album

Not only because of the lyrics, but because I really like her vocal delivery. It's such a great song to sing along while your driving or working out. I've done both hahahaha

Assuming we're not counting bonus tracks (because let's be honest, no song on this album can even hold a candle against Simple and clean, and Sanctuary) my favorites off the album are apples and cinnamon, this one, dirty desire, FYI, and On and on. Also Taking My Money Back deserves an honorable mention, it's pretty solid.