安室奈美恵 (Namie Amuro), born September 20, 1977, is a Japanese retired pop ar… Read Full Bio ↴安室奈美恵 (Namie Amuro), born September 20, 1977, is a Japanese retired pop artist from Okinawa, Japan. She is one of the best-selling artists ever in Japan with total sales of approximately 38,000,000 singles and albums. She has released 12 studio albums, 7 compilation albums and 47 singles, as of November 2018.

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.

KISS-AND-RIDE
安室奈美恵 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

コレだなこの感じだな
ココロがまぁるくふくらんでく
かるいキス大好きなあなたの
背中を見送りながら
KISS-AND-RIDE 運転席にもたれ
KISS-AND-RIDE 朝の街を見ている
憂鬱そうなビジネスマンも
はしゃいでる子供たちも

あわててく女の子も
サングラスの警察官も
眠そうなイエローキャブも
バスを待つおばあさんも
ジョギングをするおじいさんも
みんな今日をはじめている
わたしのフツウの幸せ
あなたがそっと守ってくれてる

夕方むかえに来るね
あなたを守るみたいに

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of 安室奈美恵's song KISS-AND-RIDE are about the feeling of contentment and happiness that is generated when two people are in love. The first verse of the song talks about how the singer's heart swells up happily as they see their loved one off with a light kiss while holding onto the car door. As they ride in the driver's seat, they look out at the city around them and notice all the different people going about their business. Whether it is the gloomy-looking businessman or the excited children, the hurried girls or the sunglass-wearing police officer, the sleepy yellow taxi or the old lady waiting for the bus, everyone is starting their day and the singer feels connected to them all. She notes that her ordinary happiness is being protected by her lover and he'll come to pick her up in the evening.

The song is a celebration of love, but it also has a deeper message. It emphasizes how love can be found in even the smallest and most mundane things in life. As the singer observes the city around her, she sees how everyone is living their own lives, dealing with their own problems and challenges, but at the same time, everyone is united by the same human experience.

Line by Line Meaning

コレだなこの感じだな
This is it, this feeling

ココロがまぁるくふくらんでく
My heart is swelling with warmth

かるいキス大好きなあなたの
I love your light kisses

背中を見送りながら
Watching you leave

KISS-AND-RIDE 運転席にもたれ
Leaning on the driver's seat in the KISS-AND-RIDE

KISS-AND-RIDE 朝の街を見ている
Looking at the morning streets in the KISS-AND-RIDE

憂鬱そうなビジネスマンも
Even the gloomy businessmen

はしゃいでる子供たちも
And the kids playing around

あわててく女の子も
And the rushing girls

サングラスの警察官も
And the police officer in sunglasses

眠そうなイエローキャブも
And the drowsy yellow cab driver