After 10 years, she became one of the best-selling artists of the decade and one of the most popular and influential artists in Japan.
Koda officially debuted with the single TAKE BACK in December 2000.
In 2002, after the release of several singles, she released her first studio album affection, which charted at #12.
Some success came her way when she was asked to do the main songs for the video game, "Final Fantasy X-2", with real Emotion/1000の言葉 (1000 words), Koda also provided the voice for the character Lenne in the Japanese version of the game as well as the character, "Yuna's", opening sequence dance via motion capture. The single proved to be a success, debuting at #3 and becoming Koda's first release to enter the top ten. It sold 282,734 copies and became the #24th highest-selling single of 2003. A few weeks later, Koda released her second studio album, grow into one, which debuting at #9.
In 2004, Koda released three more singles before the release of her 3rd studio album, feel my mind which again showed Koda's determinated progress, charting at #7.
From here on, Koda's success increased and her popularity rose with the release of her 11th single, a cover of 1970's anime opening, キューティーハニー, debuted at #4. This single also marked the start of Koda's to be trademark, new style: "ero-kakoii" (or "ero-Kawaii") which roughly translates as: "sexy-cool" or "sexy-cute". Koda's fourth album secret was released in February 2005. The album debuted #3 with 505,600 copie sold, making it the #22 album of 2005.
With Koda's popularity reaching new heights, she held her first live show, "secret ~FIRST CLASS LIMITED LIVE~", (later becoming one of the top 10 selling DVDs in Japan) and released her sixteenth single, Butterfly. Debuting at #2, it became her highest charting single of her career to date and was very well received by the Japanese public. Following this success, she released her first best-of compilation, BEST ~first things~. This is the album which is said to have skyrocketed her career, reaching #1 on the weekly charts and selling 1,207,793 copies, making it the #6 album of the year and the highest selling female album of 2005.
In December 2005, Koda Kumi began her 12 Singles Project in which she released one single each week for twelve consecutive weeks. The first single, you, became Koda's first ever #1 single. Each of the remaining singles from the project charted in the top five of the weekly singles chart. The success of the project was celebrated with the release of Koda's second best-of compilation album BEST ~second session~ which sold over a million copies in just over a week. It became the #2 album of 2006 with 1,768,628 copies sold. During this time, Kumi also won the 47th Nihon Record Taishō (best award prize in Japan) with Butterfly.
Her 30th single, 恋のつぼみ, the first single to be released since the 12 singles project, was released in May 2006 and debuted at #2 with 140,000 copies sold. The track became one of the most downloaded single of the year, with more than 2 millions legal downloads in just a few weeks. After the release of several successful singles, including 4 hot wave (a maxi summer single) and 夢のうた, which had become her #1 and #2 best selling singles with more than 300,000 copies sold, Koda released her fifth studio album, Black Cherry which remained at the #1 position for four weeks, selling more than 1 million copies. By the end of 2006, both BEST ~first things~ & BEST ~second session~ had nearly sold two million copies. Koda Kumi became the highest selling female artist of the year.
In 2007, Koda Kumi released several singles including 愛のうた, which became one of the most sung songs in Karaoke and one of the biggest hits from Koda’s discography. On the December 21st 2007, Koda Kumi became the seventh Japanese female artist to hold a solo concert at Tokyo Dome. During the concert, she celebrated the 7th year anniversary since her debut in front of 35,000 fans. By the end of the year, Kumi became, for the 2nd time running, the highest selling female artist of the year.
In January 2008, during the promotion of her 6th album, Kingdom, Kumi appeared as a guest on TBS radio show, "All Night Nippon". During which Koda mentioned her manager had recently got married and that she had asked her manager, "whether or not they would have children". When her manager replied that they wouldn't for the time being, Koda responded with her opinion that they ought to have children as soon as possible, as, "when women are around 35 years old their amniotic fluids go bad."
The comment was deemed so offensive that many radio shows and newspapers received angry complaints from women around the country. Koda's official website was shut down, along with endorser websites featuring her. Despite the public backlash, the album reached #1 on the Oricon charts for two weeks, selling over 600,000 copies.
4 months later, Koda made a return to the market with Moon Crying. Through the song, Koda expressed her real feelings and her apologies. The song quickly became a success and Koda was able to make a return to performing her songs on TV and radio. Shortly after the release of her 40th single, Koda released the upbeat single TABOO (to become one of the most popular song with her overseas fan-base) as well as the winter ballad single stay with me (which reached 2,000,000 downloads in few weeks) before the release of her 7th album : TRICK, which topped the Oricon Charts at #1 for 2 consecutive weeks.
In 2010, Koda celebrated the 10th anniversary of career beginnings, making it know that she wished to make the year special for her fans, the first project of the year was the release of her 8th album, UNIVERSE, coupled with a best album containing the biggest hits from her 2006~2008 works. During the year, she released several singles, including Lollipop & 好きで、好きで、好きで。, the later became her biggest digital success since 2008. She later released her first cover album, ETERNITY ~Love & Songs~, and held her first Stadium Tour in Summer 2010. In December, 2010, Koda Kumi hold a special concert in Tokyo Dome, for the 2nd time, in order to close the first chapter of her career with her fans.
Koda released her ninth studio album named Dejavu in March 2011. Shortly after its release, the singer started her national tour. Although Koda decided to perform in hall in order to be closer to her fans, this live tour is so far her longest tour to date with 72 dates from April to October.
Koda's 50th single was released August 2011 titled 4 TIMES. It included 4 songs as well as 4 music videos (first time since Summer 2006). The main song of the single is Poppin' love cocktail feat.TEEDA, a summer song produced by the pop rock band BACK-ON. The same year, she released 2 more singles where Koda shows the sexiest image of herself. In November 2011, Koda performed in Singapore for Mnet Asian Music Awards. She was the only Japanese star to perform and won the "Hottest Asian Artist" award. Koda's tenth album album was announced on December for a release in the beginning of 2012. Entitled , JAPONESQUE, the album includes a music video for each song, 17 in total. In the same time, Koda surprised everyone by writing on her official site that she is engaged to Kenji03 from BACK-ON. She announced her wedding by the end of the year. Few days after, Koda also confessed that she was 8 weeks pregnant.
On your side
倖田來未 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
朝から晩まで do our thing
それぞれリズムkeepして
成り立つday 過ぎてくday
無駄なこと考えるほど暇じゃない
そんなものでしょ?
でもふとした時感じない、
わけじゃなくて はずもなくて
タフで居続けることで everyone
保つ何か
誰も見てないから
流す涙なら
せめて I'll say it loud,
Oh baby I'm on your side
一人で everyday
戦うの慣れすぎて
抱え込まないで
Oh baby I'm on your side
一晩寝ればスッキリ
基本的に living happily
それなり上手に消化し
成り立つweek 過ぎてくweek
悪目立ちしたくないけど
偽るのも違うでしょ?
だから時々感じない、
わけじゃなくて
はずもなくて
Ooh, I know what you're going through
強く居続けることで何か
失うなんてイヤ
誰も聞いてないから
吐ける弱音なら
せめて I'll say it loud
Oh baby I'm on your side
一人で everyday
戦うの慣れすぎて
抱え込まないで
Oh baby I'm on your side
Baby I'm on your side
本当は so am I
Baby I'm on your side
誰も見てないから
流す涙なら
せめて I'll say it loud
Oh baby I'm on your side
一人で everyday
戦うの慣れすぎて
抱え込まないで
Oh baby I'm on your side
The lyrics to 倖田來未's song "On your side" convey a message of support and understanding for someone who is going through a challenging time. The song starts off by describing the everyday routines and rhythms that we all go through, suggesting that there is no time to waste on unnecessary worries. However, despite putting on a smile and carrying on with life, there are moments when the person being addressed in the song feels something deeper and more difficult to express. The singer acknowledges that they know what the person is going through and wants to reassure them that they are on their side.
The song emphasizes the importance of not bottling up one's struggles and not being afraid to show vulnerability. The lyrics encourage the person to let go of their burdens and not fight alone. It suggests that a good night's sleep can bring clarity and that it is essential to handle life's challenges in one's own way.
Overall, "On your side" is a comforting and empathetic song that recognizes the battles we face and the need for support and understanding in difficult times.
Line by Line Meaning
いつものsmile浮かべて
Wear your usual smile
朝から晩まで do our thing
Do our thing from morning till night
それぞれリズムkeepして
Keeping our own rhythm
成り立つday 過ぎてくday
Passing by days that make up our lives
無駄なこと考えるほど暇じゃない
Not enough time to think about pointless things
そんなものでしょ?
That's just how it is, right?
でもふとした時感じない、わけじゃなくて はずもなくて
But it's not like there are moments when you don't feel anything, of course not
'Cause ooh, I know what you're going through
'Cause ooh, I understand what you're going through
タフで居続けることで everyone 保つ何か
By being tough and persevering, everyone holds onto something
誰も見てないから 流す涙なら
If no one's watching, then at least shed tears
せめて I'll say it loud, Oh baby I'm on your side
At least let me say it loud, Oh baby I'm on your side
一人で everyday 戦うの慣れすぎて
Getting too used to fighting alone every day
抱え込まないで
Don't keep it all to yourself
一晩寝ればスッキリ 基本的に living happily
If you sleep one night, you'll feel refreshed, basically living happily
それなり上手に消化し 成り立つweek 過ぎてくweek
Digesting things in our own way, weeks pass by
悪目立ちしたくないけど 偽るのも違うでしょ?
Don't want to stand out in a negative way, but pretending is also different, right?
だから時々感じない、わけじゃなくて はずもなくて
So it's not like there are moments when you don't feel anything, of course not
Ooh, I know what you're going through
Ooh, I understand what you're going through
強く居続けることで何か 失うなんてイヤ
I don't want to lose something by staying strong
誰も聞いてないから 吐ける弱音なら
If no one's listening, then at least vent your complaints
せめて I'll say it loud
At least let me say it loud
Oh baby I'm on your side
Oh baby I'm on your side
一人で everyday 戦うの慣れすぎて
Getting too used to fighting alone every day
抱え込まないで
Don't keep it all to yourself
Baby I'm on your side 本当は so am I
Baby I'm on your side, actually so am I
Baby I'm on your side
Baby I'm on your side
誰も見てないから 流す涙なら
If no one's watching, then at least shed tears
せめて I'll say it loud Oh baby I'm on your side
At least let me say it loud, Oh baby I'm on your side
一人で everyday 戦うの慣れすぎて
Getting too used to fighting alone every day
抱え込まないで
Don't keep it all to yourself
Oh baby I'm on your side
Oh baby I'm on your side
Lyrics © HIPGNOSIS SONGS GROUP, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kipp Williams, Kyle Shearer, Momo'mocha'n
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind