so at the beginning of this year i hear about utada making a remix of eternally for some drama called innocent love; im like awesome, lookin forward to it. then im watching dramas and keep thinking, hey i want maki to be in another series soon, and i read that shes starring in one this fall, cool. finally her show starts airing, and guess what the theme song is. coincidence? guess im just pretty damn lucky.

here it is, the first shoutout in honor of my two girls utada hikaru and horikita maki

宇多田 光
Utada Hikaru
Eternally
2001/2008
Japanese

imeem original
imeem drama remix
mv
karaoke!

this track is from her 01 album distance (my personal favorite if you couldnt tell, or didnt know) so its definitely getting pretty old. i dont think it was one of her most famous songs, but it was good enough to be chosen seven years later to be a theme song. incidentally, the screenwriter and several directors of innocent love were also responsible for the drama last friends; which also used a very popular utada song as its theme, prisoner of love.

while eternally probably isnt even one of my top 10 utada songs, i will say that it does hold a place as one of my all-time favorite intros. as far as piano intros are concerned, its perfectly balanced between simplicity and being over-done, with some light violins, progressing into a bass line that isnt overbearing. the lyrics were well written and sung to fit every bit of the song (one of the wonders when you take the care to write and compose your own stuff) and everything flows perfectly through the first two minutes solid.

i can never get enough of the first two verses, that part of the track just feels so, right. (up to 50 seconds)

basically what it all comes down to is utada hikaru is bomb. her arrangements, lyrics, style, feeling, creativity, diversity, everything are always perfect. she really never fails to deliver. i cant say shes the best vocalist, but if she were who else would this planet need?

comparing the two versions, id say the originals bass and parts of its arrangement were a little too hard on the ears and slightly repetitive toward the end. while the drama mix is more light and keeps the song feeling clean. however, it really depends on your sound system and mood. for example i know the og sounds really nice in the car.

anyway this just came to mind after i remembered the drama again, there is definitely much much much more to come about utada and why shes so amazing.

Labels: utada hikaru horikita maki eternally drama innocent love japanese