She initially debuted in 1992 as the lead singer of SUPER MONKEY'S, with fellow Okinawa Actors School classmates MAX as back dancers. After the group disbanded, she eventually had her solo debut in 1995 on the Avex Trax label with the Tetsuya Komuro produced single "Body Feels EXIT", which was an instant hit. The following singles "Chase the Chance", "Don't wanna cry" and "You're my sunshine" all sold 1 million copies during a short period of time. In 1996, Namie released her debut solo album "SWEET 19 BLUES" which sold 3.8 millions of copies throughout Japan and broke sales records at the time. It is the 12th most selling album of all time in Japan. At the end of 1996 she won the Grand Prix Award, the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards, for "Don't wanna cry". Another monumental release for Amuro was 1997's "CAN YOU CELEBRATE?", which was the best selling release of the year, and remains the best-selling physically released single by a solo female artist in Japan.
In 1997, Namie shocked everyone when she announced that SAM (from the band TRF) and she were getting married and that she was pregnant. Namie took a break from the entertainment business and her son, Haruto, was born on May 19, 1998.
Her comeback single, "I HAVE NEVER SEEN", released on December 23rd the same year, gave Amuro a warm welcome back to the industry. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN" became Amuro's 9th number-one single.
On March 17th, 1999, Amuro released her 12th single, "RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE". On the same day, Emiko Taira, Amuro's mother, was murdered. All promotional activites for the single grinded to a halt as Amuro flew to Okinawa to identify Emiko's body. A short break followed for Amuro to recover.
A few months later, Amuro began to work with producer Dallas Austin, known for his work with American hip-hop/R&B trio, TLC. This shift was in part to Amuro's personal desire to create more R&B and Hip-Hop oriented music. In 2001, Amuro parted ways with long-time producer Tetsuya Komuro, as part of her musical direction shift. From this point on, Amuro always would be in complete creative control of her career. Around this time, Amuro made a few attempts at writing lyrics for her songs, including her single "Say the word", which hit #3 on the Oricon charts, and remained a fan-favorite with Amuro performing the song over numerous tours, including her final tour, which included 20 songs that garnered the most fan votes.
Amuro and SAM would divorce in 2002, and Amuro would completely mmerse herself in her work, hardening her R&B and Hip-Hop sound, collaboriating with a number of artists under a sonic project entitled "SUITE CHIC". "SUITE CHIC" helped empower Amuro to not "be stuck in the past" with her music, as she felt mentally constricted by her name at the time. Feeling liberated after releasing a SUITE CHIC album, Amuro would continue to refine her sound and image with the following albums "STYLE" in 2003, and "Queen of Hip-Pop" in 2005.
"PLAY", released on June 27, 2007, became Amuro's highest-selling studio album since her 2000 album, "GENIUS 2000", sold 540,000 copies, and contained another fan-favorite release, "Baby Don't Cry", which reached #3 on the Oricon charts.
2008 marked a new peak in Amuro's career. In March, she released a new single, "60s70s80s", which became her 10th #1 single, the first one for Amuro since 1998's "I HAVE NEVER SEEN".
Amuro released her third "best of" album "BEST FICTION", on July 30, 2008. "BEST FICTION" proceeded to spend 6 weeks at the #1 position on the Oricon charts, had the highest first-week album sales of any release in 2008, became the #2 best overall-selling album of that year, and has sold more than 1.4 million copies since its release.
Namie started a new arena tour called Namie Amuro BEST FICTION 2008-2009 tour. It ran from October 25, 2008 to May 31, 2009. This was her first tour Amuro held sans songs produced by Tetsuya Komuro.
From 2009 on, Amuro would steadily release chart-topping studio albums. Straying from the traditional methods of the Japanese music industry yet again, Amuro decided to utilize a strategy of focusing on touring as means of promotion, rather than TV and commercial appearances. What resulted was a beneficial business move, while fulfilling Amuro's long-time preference to perform over giving interviews. This cultivated a very loyal and diverse fanbase that would consistently result in sold-out shows whenever Amuro toured.
From 2010 to 2018, as Amuro performed relentlessly long tours every year, Amuro remained consistent and dedicated to giving performances she felt she could be proud of, and in the process, quietly withheld that after a vocal cord injury in 2010, Amuro's vocal cords slowly were deteriorating. Amuro later revealed this was the deciding factor in her retirement, as she did not want to perform at a level she personally could not accept.
After her 25th anniversary concert in Okinawa, Amuro announced that she would retire from the industry on September 16th, 2018. The masses, aggrieved with this announcement, even created the name "Amuloss" for the emotion that was felt, knowing Amuro would leave a great void in the music industry.
A greatest hits album, "Finally" would be released in November of 2017 and would go on to sell over 2.5 million copies and be the best-selling album in Japan for both 2017 and 2018. Starting in March 2018, "namie amuro Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~" would result in Amuro breaking both ticket and Blu-ray/DVD sales records. With shows in all 5 major Japanese domes, including and a handful of shows outside of Japan, nearly 800,000 were in attendance. Pre-orders alone for the Blu-rays/DVDs would exceed the best-selling concert video release at that time. Combined DVD and Blu-ray sales for "namie amuro Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~" have sold over 1.74 million since its release in late August 2018.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN
安室奈美恵 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
気づかずに忘れそうな時もある
Don't you think so
きっと忘れたい出来事
死んでも忘れたくないとても切ない
とても優しい出来事もある
I have never seen 見たこともない
感じたこともない二人の
生きてくだけで十分
北も南も東も西も
どこへでも小さなバッグで
いつでも旅に出る用意する
けっして no は言いたくない
何よりも大切だった
こだわりや好きな色
誰とでもどれだけ
もめても苦しくもない
あなたとは何一つ駆け引きできない
甘え続けていきたい
昨日も今日もそばにいたい
何もくれなくていい
一緒にこんなにも
長く時を過ごすだけ
短く白いままの日記
結局読み返さなくても一番うれしい
ページを分かってる ha
I have never seen 見たこともない
感じたこともない二人の
柔らかく素朴な愛情
生きてくだけで精一杯
I have never seen 奇跡に近い事
一緒に創っていくだけで
孤独で力強い愛情
とてもとても感じてる
I have never seen, I have never seen
I have never seen 見たこともない
感じたこともない二人の
孤独で力強い愛情
とてもとても感じてる
北も南も東も西も
どこへでも小さなバッグで
いつでも旅立てる用意する
けっして no は言いたくない
I have never seen
I have never seen
I have never seen
I have never seen あなたは
The lyrics of "I Have Never Seen" by Amuro Namie depict a deep and complex love that the singer is experiencing with someone. The opening lines talk about the possibility of forgetting the first kiss with someone, even though it was very important. The singer acknowledges that they have had both painful and sweet experiences with their significant other. The chorus talks about a never-before-seen love that is tremendous and powerful, which makes it hard for the singer to even think of saying "no" to anything their significant other wants. The verse talks about how love is more important than things like preferences or favourite colors and how the singer is willing to continue to be dependent on their significant other.
The second chorus describes the uniqueness of the love the two share; it is gentle, naive, and hardly ordinary. The love is so strong that it takes all that the singer has to just stay alive. The final chorus repeats the feelings described earlier in the song and ends with the singer stating that they have never seen anyone like the person they are singing to, with the last words of the song being "you are."
Line by Line Meaning
初めてのキスの事
Sometimes I forget about our first kiss and how it felt
気づかずに忘れそうな時もある
There are moments when I might forget without even realizing it
Don't you think so
Do you ever feel the same way?
きっと忘れたい出来事
There are things I want to forget
死んでも忘れたくないとても切ない
Even if I die, I don't want to forget them because they are so painful
とても優しい出来事もある
But there are also very gentle memories
I have never seen 見たこともない
I have never seen or felt before
感じたこともない二人の
Between the two of us, we've never experienced it
孤独で力強い愛情
A lonely yet powerful love
生きてくだけで十分
Just living is enough
北も南も東も西も
No matter where we go
どこへでも小さなバッグで
We can go with just a small bag
いつでも旅に出る用意する
Ready to go on a journey at any time
けっして no は言いたくない
I never want to say no to you
何よりも大切だった
What was most important
こだわりや好きな色
My preferences and favorite colors
誰とでもどれだけ
No matter who or how much
もめても苦しくもない
It doesn't hurt or bother me
あなたとは何一つ駆け引きできない
I can't play games with you
甘え続けていきたい
I want to keep relying on you
昨日も今日もそばにいたい
I want to be with you yesterday, today, and always
何もくれなくていい
You don't have to give me anything
一緒にこんなにも
Just being together like this
長く時を過ごすだけ
Spending a long time like this
短く白いままの日記
A short and blank diary
結局読み返さなくても一番うれしい
But I'm happiest even if I don't read it again
ページを分かってる ha
I understand the pages, haha
I have never seen 見たこともない
I have never seen or felt before
感じたこともない二人の
Between the two of us, we've never experienced it
柔らかく素朴な愛情
A soft, simple love
生きてくだけで精一杯
Just living is all we can do sometimes
I have never seen 奇跡に近い事
It's almost miraculous, what we have
一緒に創っていくだけで
Just by creating it together
とてもとても感じてる
I can really feel it
I have never seen, I have never seen
I have never seen or felt before
I have never seen 見たこともない
I have never seen or felt before
感じたこともない二人の
Between the two of us, we've never experienced it
孤独で力強い愛情
A lonely yet powerful love
とてもとても感じてる
I can really feel it
北も南も東も西も
No matter where we go
どこへでも小さなバッグで
We can go with just a small bag
いつでも旅立てる用意する
Ready to go on a journey at any time
けっして no は言いたくない
I never want to say no to you
I have never seen
I have never seen or felt before
I have never seen
I have never seen or felt before
I have never seen
I have never seen or felt before
I have never seen あなたは
You are something I've never seen before
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Tetsuya Komuro
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind