Hikaru Utada was born to Japanese parents who both had roots in the Japanese music industry; her father, Teruzane Utada, was a producer, while her mother, Junko Utada, was an enka singer (she performed under the stage name Keiko Fuji (藤圭子). Utada Hikaru has been recording since 1993. She made her first professional recording at the age of twelve, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U. This album led to her career overseas. In an interview for MTV's, You Hear It First, Hikaru said: "Someone in Japan heard it, at a Japanese record company, and he said, 'Oh, can't you write in Japanese? You speak Japanese.' And I didn't want to say no, so I had to try it."
Hikaru moved to Tokyo in late 1997 and attended Seisen International School, and later the American School in Japan while continuing to record on a new contract with Toshiba-EMI. Unlike other pop stars at the time, she was more focused on becoming a singer and songwriter while other Japanese female singers were attempting to become idols. Leading up to the release of her Japanese debut album "First Love", Hikaru released two successful million-selling singles: "Automatic/ time will tell" and "Movin' on without you". "Automatic/Time Will Tell" sold over two million copies. Backed by her singles, First Love went on to sell over 7 million units in Japan alone (with an additional 3 million overseas, bringing it to a sum of at least 10 million units), becoming the highest-selling album in Japan's history.
After a two-year break, Hikaru released her follow up album "Distance", garnering first-week sales of 3 million units sold. Backed by her singles — "Addicted to You", "Wait & See ~リスク~", "For You / タイム・リミット" and "Can You Keep a Secret?" — Distance became the best-selling album of the year, with almost 5 million copies sold in Japan alone. Additionally, "Addicted to You" became Hikaru's best-selling single, selling one million in its first week. Hikaru went on to release a single which was dedicated to the female victim of a murder case in Ikeda, Osaka, titled "Final Distance".
Leading up to the third album, "Deep River", Hikaru released "traveling", "光", and "SAKURAドロップス"; all the songs reached the top of the charts. Deep River sold 2.35 million copies in its first week. Oricon reported that sales eventually surpassed 3.6 million, making Utada the only act in Japanese music history to have three consecutive albums surpass the three million mark. The album was cited by many fans and critics as Hikaru's most acclaimed work, as well as achieving the Triple Crown at the 17th Golden Disc Awards in Japan. Later, she attempted to break into the US market under her stage name Utada with her album Exodus.
A year after the release of Exodus, Hikaru moved back to Tokyo and started work on her next album. Leading up to the release of her fourth album, "Ultra Blue", Hikaru released a string of successful hit singles: "COLORS" (no. 1), "誰かの願いが叶うころ" (no. 1), "Be My Last", (no. 1), "Passion" (no. 4), and "Keep Tryin'" (no. 2). The digital single "This Is Love" was released to promote the album, netting around one million digital downloads. Ultra Blue sold 500,317 copies in the first week, lower than that of the previous album, although it still topped the Oricon Daily, Weekly, and Monthly charts. Ultra Blue gave the artist her fifth consecutive chart-topping Japanese album (excluding her English album) to sell in excess of 500,000 copies for first-week sales. On July 13, Toshiba EMI published a report stating that Ultra Blue had sold over one million copies worldwide and four million digital ringtones already making it one of EMI's 10th best-selling albums of the past year.
A tour of Japan, "Utada United 2006," commenced on June 30th, 2006 (Two weeks after Ultra Blue's release) and ended on September 12th, 2006, after Hikaru Utada's performances at Yoyogi. Ticket sales started on May 28th, 2006, with the majority of venues selling out in less than two hours.
Hikaru Utada released the single "Flavor of Life" on February 28th, 2007. Her next single, "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry", was released in Japan on August 29th, 2007 - A track which also doubled as the theme song to the anime movie "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone".
On February 20th, 2008, she released her 20th Japanese single, HEART STATION/Stay Gold which reached #1 on Japan’s weekly radio charts, which was followed shortly after by her 6th Japanese studio album, HEART STATION released on the 19th of March 2008. Hikaru intended to go for a "simpler" approach for the album; she stated, "From the beginning, I had always intended to make this album easier to listen to so anyone can enjoy it. I always aimed for a simple melody, simple lyrics and a simple message rather than over-complicating it all. But overall, I had a lot of fun making this album." Utada then returned to the US market, releasing This Is the One. She also went on tour with 'Utada: In the Flesh', playing in cities around the world, such as Los Angeles, New York, and London.
On August 9, 2010, Hikaru announced on her personal blog that beginning in 2011, she would go on an indefinite hiatus, citing fatigue since her debut 12 years previously. She also stated a need for rest, to study new things and learn more about the world, as well as see to some personal matters. It was unclear as for how long this break would last and if she would ever return to the music scene. Before the hiatus began, she said that she would go "full throttle" on her artistic activities, and soon after her site was updated, a new compilation album, "Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2", was announced, with a release date of November 24, 2010. This new album would include all her Japanese singles from "誰かの願いが叶うころ" to "Prisoner of Love" on disc one, as well as an extra EP, featuring five new tracks.
From November 24, 2010, first-week sales for Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 were 231,000 units according to Oricon album daily charting. On April 10, 2011, Utada won the award for "Best Conceptual Video" in the SpaceShowerTV Music Video Awards for the PV for "Goodbye Happiness", which also marked her directorial debut. An announcement was made that Utada would perform a two-night concert titled Wild Life at Yokohama Arena to promote the album, her first Japanese concert since 2006's Utada United.
On August 8, 2016, her sixth Japanese album's title was released: "Fantôme", French for "ghost". Following its release on September 28, Fantôme was commercially and critically successful. It debuted atop the Oricon Albums Chart and stayed there for four consecutive weeks, the most of any Utada studio album since First Love. It was awarded Album of the Year at the Japan Record Awards and received positive reviews from media outlets. Musically, Fantôme is a collection of tracks that emphasize acoustic and stripped-down instrumentation, alongside influences of pop, electronic, and R&B music. The lyrical content delves into themes of grief, sadness, love, and death, mostly influenced by the death of her mother, her second marriage, and the birth of her son in 2015.
Hikaru's seventh album, "初恋", was released on June 27, 2018. The release coincided with the commemoration of her 20th anniversary as an artist in Japan. A national tour was announced to support the album in November 2018, "Laughter in the Dark 2018", her first Japan concert tour in 12 years. It is currently available on iTunes for digital download and Netflix for streaming.
Hikaru released her eighth album, "BADモード" on January 19, 2022. It features production from musicians such as Skrillex and A. G. Cook.
Official sites:
www.emimusic.jp/hikki
http://www.u3music.com/
Ｅｔｅｒｎａｌｌｙ
宇多田ヒカル Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
周りが見えない
私達はどこにいるの
ざわめき始めた背景の中に
まだ消えないでね
もうなんにも聞こえない
But I can feel you breathe
おどろく程気まぐれな
展開に少しだけ
私らしくない期待を
Oh, oh してる
I wanna be here eternally
このまま見つめ合っていたい
I can feel you close to me
いつまでも側にはいられない
この瞬間だけは ずっと永遠に
戦いに出かける前の一休み
あなたと過ごしたい
約束は今度会えた時に
Can you hear me breathe?
おどろく程ではない
展開にも 感動しちゃう時が
誰にだって
Oh, oh ある
I wanna be here eternally
誰にも見つからないところに
I can see you are all I need
明日まで助けはいらない
この瞬間さえもきっと just a fantasy
Oh, I can feel you close to me
あの場所に帰れなくなっても
今の気持ちだけはずっと永遠
I wanna be here eternally
I can see you are all I need, yeah
この瞬間だけは
永遠に
The lyrics of "Eternally" by Utada Hikaru beautifully capture the desire to hold onto a moment forever and the bittersweet feeling of knowing it's impossible. The song starts with the lines, "The person in front of me shining a little bit, I can't see around us, where are we?" These lines express the feeling of being present in the moment and being lost in the bliss of it all. The singer then talks about wanting to stay in that moment forever and just look at the person in front of her, though she knows they can't.
The song then goes on to talk about the feeling of being in love and how it can make you feel unpredictable and emotional. The lines, "Unpredictable enough to have some unexpected expectations that aren't like me," speak to this feeling. Even though it's not typical for the singer to have these expectations, she feels them because of the intensity of the love she's feeling. The song then goes on to talk about wanting to take a break before fighting and spending it with the person she loves.
Overall, "Eternally" is a song that captures the beauty and fragility of love and how it can make us feel. It's about wanting to stay in a moment forever and knowing that we can't. The song is powerful and evocative, with lyrics that speak to the universal human experience of wanting to hold onto happiness forever.
Line by Line Meaning
目の前にいる君が少し輝き
You are shining a bit in front of me.
周りが見えない
I can't see anything around us.
私達はどこにいるの
Where are we?
ざわめき始めた背景の中に
Amidst the noise starting in the background,
まだ消えないでね
Don't disappear yet.
もうなんにも聞こえない
I can't hear anything anymore,
But I can feel you breathe
But I can feel you breathing.
おどろく程気まぐれな
Unpredictable to the point of being surprising,
展開に少しだけ
Just a little bit from the development,
私らしくない期待を
I have unexpected expectations that aren't like me,
Oh, oh してる
Oh, oh, I'm having them.
I wanna be here eternally
I want to stay here forever.
このまま見つめ合っていたい
I want to keep staring at each other like this.
I can feel you close to me
I can feel you close to me.
いつまでも側にはいられない
I won't be able to stay by your side forever.
この瞬間だけは ずっと永遠に
But in this moment, it feels like eternity.
戦いに出かける前の一休み
Taking a break before going to battle,
あなたと過ごしたい
I want to spend it with you.
約束は今度会えた時に
Our promise is to meet again next time.
Can you hear me breathe?
Can you hear me breathing?
おどろく程ではない
It's not to the point of being surprising,
展開にも 感動しちゃう時が
But there are times when I'm moved by the development.
誰にだって
It's something everyone
Oh, oh ある
Oh, oh, experiences.
I wanna be here eternally
I want to stay here forever.
誰にも見つからないところに
To a place where no one can find us,
I can see you are all I need
I can see that you are all I need.
明日まで助けはいらない
I won't need help until tomorrow.
この瞬間さえもきっと just a fantasy
Even this moment is surely just a fantasy.
Oh, I can feel you close to me
Oh, I can feel you close to me.
あの場所に帰れなくなっても
Even if I can't return to that place,
今の気持ちだけはずっと永遠
These feelings right now will be eternal.
I wanna be here eternally
I want to stay here forever.
I can see you are all I need, yeah
I can see that you are all I need, yeah.
この瞬間だけは
In this moment,
永遠に
it feels eternal.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Hikaru Utada
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@alion0099
目の前にいる君が少し輝き
周りが見えない
私達はどこにいるの
ざわめき始めた背景の中に
まだ消えないでね
もうなんにも聞こえない
But I can feel you breathe
おどろく程気まぐれな
展開に少しだけ
私らしくない期待を
Oh, oh してる
I wanna be here eternally
このまま見つめ合っていたい
I can feel you close to me
いつまでも側にはいられない
この瞬間だけは ずっと永遠に
戦いに出かける前の一休み
あなたと過ごしたい
約束は今度会えた時に
Can you hear me breathe?
おどろく程ではない
展開にも 感動しちゃう時が
誰にだって
Oh, oh ある
I wanna be here eternally
誰にも見つからないところに
I can see you are all I need
明日まで助けはいらない
この瞬間さえもきっと just a fantasy
Oh, I can feel you close to me
あの場所に帰れなくなっても
今の気持ちだけはずっと永遠
I wanna be here eternally
I can see you are all I need, yeah
この瞬間だけは
永遠に
@user-em4wu3lv6j
今も聴きに来てる人いる？
@miawmiaw-fp3ze
はい🖐️
@user-he2bq9du6h
いつ聞いても色褪せない！！！！
@user-dx7ft7bv8e
昔付き合ってた人とドライブしながら「Eternally」を聴いてました。いつ聴いても良い。宇多田ヒカルさんの歌は何年経ってもやっぱり色褪せない。
@anly0108
なぜかこの曲が1番すき
@user-br2gx5mq4z
私も！
@user-yk1su3tp9d
@@user-br2gx5mq4z 私も
@user-ug6ny1ir8b
わたしも
@nyao3240
私も
@user-tu8it5uh6s
@@user-br2gx5mq4z の