[Utada Hikaru] Japanese music waits in despair for the Goddess's return in her 44th thread

[amorphose]

Goodbye Happiness was Recochoku commercial. So yep! All the songs have tie-in's now. Single Collection's Disc 2 basically would've been a 5A-single had their been one or two more videos. Hell, by Utada's standards, it was a 5A.

[Keiichi_JPU]

Why is it that every time I listen to Exodus after not hearing it for a while, I end up having a minor emotional breakdown over how incredibly heartbreakingly good that album is? Is it just me?

[KremlinChaos]

^No, it happens to me too lol. I fall in love with it all over again <3.

[emi♡]

I fall in love again with specific songs...

there are songs on it that are not so great.

Example: I can't have an emotional breakdown over Easy Breezy. It's just too much of a joke.

[Keiichi_JPU]

Originally Posted by emiko

Example: I can't have an emotional breakdown over Easy Breezy. It's just too much of a joke.

haha yeah me neither. For me, the album roughly has 2 parts.

The light part: Devil Inside, Exodus '04, The Workout, Easy Breezy. Tippy Toe.
The dark part: Hotel Lobby, Animato, Kremlin Dusk, You Make Me Want To Be A Man
(and the s**t part: Wonder 'bout, let me give you my love, about me. not a 100% perfect album for me, but the good tracks totally balance it out)

Hotel Lobby might sound a bit light / cheerful, but the lyrics always make me sad so I counted it to the dark part. Animato and Kremlin Dusk are clearly dark songs, I love them. I think Hikki created a masterpiece with Exodus, just my opinion.

[koumori]

I love Exodus haha~ It's an awesome album. Hikki should be proud of it.

[HULUFan]

cause she's so otaku.. sigh...

[hayasaki]

Listening to EXODUS brings back good old memories as myself and specifically as a Utada fan.

[Polyrhythm]

I hate Exodus lol. It's like the little blip I can't remove from my mind when I try to tell people how amazing she is 0_o Everyone to their own tastes I guess.

[JackieRos]

Exodus is super awesome
idk why many people don't like it and like TITO

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by JackieRos

Exodus is super awesome
idk why many people don't like it and like TITO

Because it's English, not Japanese?
And that's why I dun really like both Exodus and TITO that much. Also, her lyrical content is shallower compared to the Japanese side...

[JackieRos]

Japanese is a different language,
if most of us knew japanese we would think
her lyrics would be so cheesy.
I love her lyrics in any language but she tried too hard in TITO

Originally Posted by bluegie

Because it's English, not Japanese?
And that's why I dun really like both Exodus and TITO that much.
Also, her lyrical content is shallower compared to the Japanese side...

I think she tried too hard to be westernize in TITO with her lyrics
But I disagree 50% about english lyrics being shallower

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by JackieRos

Japanese is a different language,
if most of us knew japanese we would think
her lyrics would be so cheesy.
I love her lyrics in any language but she tried too hard in TITO

I think she tried too hard to be westernize in TITO with her lyrics
But I disagree 50% about english lyrics being shallower

thanks for agreeing 50% lol.

Yes in TITO she made it sound like another pop album in the western world. She tried very hard in Exodus as well, except in another way. She tried making the contents (or thoughts) that resembled to her Japanese work (i.e., deeper thoughts, with something a bit philosophic). And it failed, period.

Maybe I shouldn't use the word "shallower" because this is not what I wanna express (yeah I fail to express my thought again ). Her English contents just fail to deliver what she wanna say (or maybe the Western world just dun really completely understand her concept?). It's much easier to talk about dish washer or greeting cards or shoelaces in asian languages (as I speak Canto). It's simpler for me to interpret those kinds of stuff in poetic feel in asian forms.

[JackieRos]

OMG I WISH IT WAS TRUEEEEE
OH MAN

Originally Posted by bluegie

thanks for agreeing 50% lol.

Most artist songs in the USA are about getting into someone's pants but
Like they are other artist who don't focus on that.
So yeah 50% 50% hahhahah so weird ^.^

[ストロボ・EdGE]

Exodus only gives me gas

[amorphose]

I'm so sick of people saying that her English lyrics are inferior to her Japanese lyrics. -_-;
Japanese is a far more poetic language than English. Read the translation of SAKURA Drops or Passion (two fan favorites as far as Japanese lyrics are concerned?) and really try to imagine that in English? No, in English it would sound so weird to sing about your worn out shoes or a your ponderings on whether or not your ex-lover's New Year's card will include a picture.

Sorry, it just doesn't work. This Is The One, yes, it has shallow lyrics for the most part, but that was done intentionally and if you ask me, she did it rather cleverly throughout the entire album. EXODUS, on the other hand... Find me a Japanese song more lyrically amazing than Kremlin Dusk. Please.

[Lady~Deviance]

Originally Posted by amorphose

I'm so sick of people saying that her English lyrics are inferior to her Japanese lyrics. -_-;
Japanese is a far more poetic language than English. Read the translation of SAKURA Drops or Passion (two fan favorites as far as Japanese lyrics are concerned?) and really try to imagine that in English? No, in English it would sound so weird to sing about your worn out shoes or a your ponderings on whether or not your ex-lover's New Year's card will include a picture.

Sorry, it just doesn't work. This Is The One, yes, it has shallow lyrics for the most part, but that was done intentionally and if you ask me, she did it rather cleverly throughout the entire album. EXODUS, on the other hand... Find me a Japanese song more lyrically amazing than Kremlin Dusk. Please.

This.

You took the words right out of my mouth hun. You can't compare languages together in this regard. It's like comparing apples and oranges. It's just irrelevant.

[CoriKaru]

I just read this on Wikipedia so I don't know how much regard to hold this in but this quote is concerning "Goodbye Happiness":

"The song features background vocals by four women recorded in London in August 2010, described in the documentary Hikaru Utada: Ima no Watashi, as Celtic.[3] Utada chose this singing style for its nostalgic, dream-like qualities.[3] This is the first instance of background vocals in a Hikaru Utada song not being performed by her."

If that's true, it's very interesting. I really thought it was her voice reverbing. Sounds like her anyways.

Oh yeah........sorry.....but.......ANOTHER VIDEO~!

This is Utada during an Interview to promote her "Singles Collection Vol. 2" on TOKIO HOT 100. She speaks in English and Sings a bit starting at 6:15. I've only gotten up to the 8 minute mark so I don't know any other special points to point out at this point. (3 Points)



EDIT: I see they've disabled embedding. Silly.

EDIT: I've found another video at Youtube. I'll put this up and keep the other one up as well in case you still want to see that one. They have different time lengths. I think the first one I posted is the 2nd half of the interview, since this one below shows her walking in.



EDIT: Just tried to play this video........EFF YOU YOUTUBE.

[amorphose]

^Didn't you watch Ima no Watashi? It's true; they showed Utada telling the women how she wanted them to sing it.

[CoriKaru]

^Oh crap. No wonder. That's where this vital information is from.

I still haven't watched it yet. My laptop died and so I've been posting for the most part from my phone and have nothing to download the video too. Well a new harddrive was put in, but until my old harddrive is recovered with all my 5 years worth of stuff on it, I have no time for that poser laptop that sits in the corner of my room collecting dust.

I'll periodically check Youtube until the documentary makes its appearance. I really want to see it now. Especially if the ladies Utada chose to sing for her sung it live. It meant more when I thought Utada was singing it though.