This month, more specifically the 19th marks the 10th anniversary of the release of DEEP RIVER.
Singles:
The somber and touching Final Distance.
Rearranged from the original Distance that appeared on the album of the same name in honor of a girl named Rena Yamashita who was tragically killed in the Osaka school massacre, Final Distance was chosen as the lead single, released on July 25th, and went on to sell 582,120 copies with a peak chart position of #2. Final Distance also has a remix, the M-Flo remix.
The upbeat and infectious Traveling.
Traveling, released a whopping 5 months after Final Distance on November 28th, is the second single from DEEP RIVER. It was released in two forms, CD and DVD, making it the 2nd single from Hikaru to receive this treatment. The song turned out to be quite successful, charting for 21 weeks with two of those being at the #1 position. Traveling later became DEEP RIVER's most successful single, selling 277,100 in it's first week and 856,140 over it's lifetime. Traveling was the 2nd best selling single for the year 2001, blocked by only Ayumi Hamasaki's H.
The song representative of the 'Heart', Hikari/Simple and Clean.
Hikari or for the English fans, Simple and Clean, is the third single from DEEP RIVER and one of the two theme songs made by Hikaru for the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Released on March 20th, 2002, Hikari is the product of Tetsuya Nomura's desire for Hikaru to be the singer behind his new video game's theme song. Said the be "the only singer" he had in mind to make his new theme song, Hikaru wrote and produced this outstanding track and an completely different english version to go along with the western release of Kingdom Hearts. Hikari proved to be popular among gamers and music fans alike, selling 270,370 in it's first week and 598,130 over it's chart run. Showing no signs 'lost steam', Hikari became Hikaru's first and so far last single to reach the summit of the Oricon Weekly Singles charts 3 different times. In 2008, 6 years after it's release, Guinness World Records named it the best selling Video Game Theme Song of all time in Japan. It's KH counterpart, Passion/Sanctuary was released 3 years later in 2005.
The surreal and melodic Sakura Drops/Letters.
Sakura Drops/Letter is the final single from DEEP RIVER. Released on May 9th, 2002, Sakura Drops became the theme song to the drama First Love while Letters became the Docomo Foma CM theme. Sakura Drops' music video was directed by Kazuaki Kiriya, Utada's ex-husband and was the last (and best) of the famous Kiriya/Utada Promotional Video trio with the other two being Traveling and Hikari. Unfortunately, Letters did not get a PV. Sakura Drops/Letters promotional uses paid off well, selling 400,390 first week and 686,720 in total with a peak position of #1.
DEEP RIVER opened with Utada's third biggest first week numbers, selling just over 2.35 million first week. Recent numbers put it's total sales at 3,605,000, enough for a Multi-Million certification from RIAJ. DEEP RIVER is also Utada's third album to make it among the Top 10 Best Selling Albums of All Time, tailing Distance(#4) and First Love(#1).
Happy 10th anniversary to my favorite Utada album!
Well I've wanted to learn it forever but I don't have enough time. I know a couple short phrases.
But I've loved her music for a while regardless
I actually learned a lot of Japanese phrases from listening to artists like Utada. I'm glad you are a fan of her Japanese work, as well as (hopefully) some of her English work.
Does anyone still use Wild Life? I know it's not as good as the best concert DVD of all time (until Tiziano's new one comes out later this year), Utada United, but it's still great to watch.