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.
Say The Word
安室奈美恵 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
永遠に続く道
遠く果てしなく
新しい風感じながら
今日も歩いて
光さえ見失って
焦らないで戦える
君だけのために
ありふれた言葉がいい
聞かせてほしい
Say the word, and lead me there for you
ありのまま歩けそう
Say the word, and it's my dreams come true
限りなくどこまでも
Here together now and everlasting
ここからすべてが
未来へと音たてずに
動きはじめてるよ
寂しさや切なさも
全て抱きしめる
Say the word, and lead me there for you
一緒ならきっと
Say the word, and it's my dreams come true
求めあうだけでいい
すれ違い 傷ついても
二人だけの場所はあるから
同じ光浴びたい
With you and me
(Say the word)
I'm just waiting for you to say the word
Say the word, and lead me there for you
ありのまま歩けそう
Say the word, and it's my dreams come true
限りなくどこまでも
Say the word, and lead me there for you
一緒ならきっと
Say the word, and it's my dreams come true
求めあうだけでいい
Say the word, and lead me there for you
(The road ahead of us goes on) goes on
Say the word, and it's my dreams come true
I'm just waiting for you to say the word
この場所から未来へ
The lyrics to 安室奈美恵's "Say The Word" discuss the idea of an infinite path and the desire to walk it with someone else. The singer speaks of feeling lost and wandering, but being able to fight through it because they are doing it for their loved one. The repeated phrase "Say the word" is a call for their partner to lead them on this journey, to make their dreams come true and to always be together. The song emphasizes the importance of being able to embrace both the loneliness and happiness in life, holding onto one another through it all.
The imagery used in the song is quite poetic, with phrases such as "the road ahead of us goes on" and "the movement begins towards the future without making a sound." The use of repetition in the chorus creates a sense of longing, as if the singer is yearning for their partner to speak up and lead them on this path. The song can be interpreted as a love song, but also as a message about the importance of having someone to share life's journey with.
Line by Line Meaning
Say the word
Ask me to join you on your journey
永遠に続く道
There is an everlasting path ahead of us
遠く果てしなく
It stretches out far beyond our vision
新しい風感じながら
As we feel the sensation of a new wind
今日も歩いて
We continue to walk today
光さえ見失って
Even if we lose sight of the light
さまよったとしても
Even if we get lost
焦らないで戦える
We'll fight without rushing
君だけのために
Only for you
ありふれた言葉がいい
Just hearing ordinary words is fine
聞かせてほしい
I want you to tell them to me
Say the word, and lead me there for you
Ask me to accompany you on your journey
ありのまま歩けそう
It seems we can walk as ourselves
Say the word, and it's my dreams come true
If you ask, my dreams will come true
限りなくどこまでも
Without limit, we can go anywhere
Here together now and everlasting
We are together here, now, and forever
ここからすべてが
Everything starts from here
未来へと音たてずに
Silently moving towards the future
動きはじめてるよ
We are starting to move forward
寂しさや切なさも
We will embrace loneliness and sorrow as well
全て抱きしめる
We will embrace everything
一緒ならきっと
If we are together, surely
求めあうだけでいい
It's enough to desire each other
すれ違い 傷ついても
Even if we pass by and get hurt
二人だけの場所はあるから
We have a special place just for us two
同じ光浴びたい
We want to bathe in the same light
With you and me
Only you and me
(Say the word)
(Ask me to join you on your journey)
I'm just waiting for you to say the word
I'm simply waiting for you to ask
この場所から未来へ
From this place, towards the future
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Namie Amuro, Thomas Johansson, Ronny Malmberg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind