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Movin' On Without You

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"Movin' On Without You"
Single by Hikaru Utada
from the album First Love
ReleasedFebruary 17, 1999
RecordedOctober 1998
Genre
Length4:38
LabelEMI Music Japan
Songwriter(s)Hikaru Utada
Producer(s)Hikaru Utada
Hikaru Utada singles chronology
"Automatic"
(1998) 		"Movin' On Without You"
(1999) 		"First Love"
(1999)
Music video
"Movin' On Without You" on YouTube

"Movin' On Without You" is the second single by Japanese–American singer and producer Hikaru Utada. It serves as the second single from her debut studio album First Love (1999). The song was the first song that Utada had written and composed by herself. "Movin' On Without You" was incepted while Utada was attending high school in Tokyo, Japan, during 1997. Utada, who received a recording contract by Toshiba-EMI, had written an English-language version of the song, which remains unreleased to this day.

Musically, the song utilizes dance-oriented music from the mid-1990s and also incorporates the use of R&B music from the parent album and house music. Lyrically, the song talks about an independent woman who can thrive outside of a relationship. The song received favorable reception from most music critics, who praised the musical arrangement and praised Utada's vocals and songwriting. Some have even dubbed the song as a "J-Pop classic" and view it as a memorable song in the Japanese music landscape. An accompanying music video was shot for the single, which featured Utada on a chair in a computer lab and dancing to the song.

Commercially, the song was successful in her native Japan. Both released as an 8 cm and normal compact disc, the song peaked at number five and number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, with the latter format becoming her first number-one single in Japan. To date, the song is her fifth-best selling physical single with over 1.22 million units sold in the country. "Movin' On Without You" has been played live on several occasions including her 2006 tour Utada United 2006.

Background

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Born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, Hikaru Utada had started singing at a very young age; she was a member of U3, a musical act with her mother Keiko Fuji and her father Teruzane. U3 released their debut album Star in 1993, with the hope to debut in America; the album failed to gain any recognition or chart positions.[1][2] Utada's mother was a Japanese enka singer and actress, who released several albums with some topping the Oricon charts during the 1960s and 1970s period, while her father was a Japanese record producer who had contributed to some of Fuji's work. In 1996, the group was rebranded as Cubic U, an R&B project that focused primarily on Hikaru, resulting in the English language album Precious in 1998 with record label Toshiba EMI.[3][4]

Utada had moved to her father's native Tokyo in 1997 to attend Seisen International School and later American School in Japan.[5] During this time, Utada had signed solely with Toshiba EMI and started recording her singles and eventually her then-forthcoming album First Love. Utada, who was fluent in English, was asked if she could write Japanese songs by her record company, Toshiba EMI rather than English language lyrics. This led to the recording sessions for her debut Japanese album, First Love (1999).[6] During the process of the tracks and album, Utada desired to become a singer-songwriter and occasionally practiced producing and composing her music rather than become a Japanese idol.[7] For this, Utada released her first A-side single "Automatic/Time will tell", which peaked at number two on the Oricon chart and sold over two million units, becoming her best selling single to date.

Composition

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"Movin' On Without You" was written, composed and produced by Utada herself, which became her first ever single to have been done by her.[8] Her father, Teruzane, had co-produced and co-composed a lot of songs from Utada's first album First Love, but this song was the only track on the album to have not been produced by her father or Akira Miyake.[8] The song was programmed, arranged, engineered and organized by Shinichiro Murayama, who also played keyboard and the synthesizer on the track while the intro and chorus guitar notes are played and written by Yoshiaki Kusaka.[8] The song's recording demos and programming were in Tokyo, Japan with Utada recording all from them, and Utada was assisted by Motoyama Seiji and Ugajin Masaaki.[8]

Musically, "Movin' On Without You" is a disco and house track that was influenced by the early 1990s dance music throughout the Western part of the world and lasts a total of four minutes and forty-one seconds.[9] The song also incorporates dance-oriented R&B rhythms that were present on her previous single and the parent album and contains more "fresh" and "comfortable" vocal abilities that are delivered by Utada.[10] CDJournal felt that the song fit as one of the introduction tracks to make the album more "mellow".[10]

Reception

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"Movin' On Without You" received critical acclaim from most contemporary music critics who reviewed the track. David Jeffries from AllMusic, who wrote the extended biography of the singer, highlighted the song (viewed as [Untranslated song]) as one of Utada's career and parent album standouts.[11] A reviewer from the online publication CDJournal was positive towards the song, calling it a "speedy dance beat" and praised her lyrical content and vocal delivery for being quite "persuasive" and challenging for a fifteen-year-old.[12] The song had a tie-in as the Japanese CM song for the Nissan Terrano.[13] At the 14th Japan Gold Disc Awards, they awarded the song along with "Addicted to You" and "Automatic" their own special Songs of the Year awards.[14]

Commercially, the song proved to be another mammoth success. The 12cm edition of the single debuted atop the Oricon Singles Chart with 372,170 copies sold in its first week, making it Utada's first chart-topper.[15] The 8cm edition debuted at number five with 101,360 copies sold in its first week.[15] This charted lower than the 8cm version of her previous single "Automatic," which debuted at number four in its first week.[16] The 12cm disc was ranked as the 16th best-selling single of 1999 in Japan,[17] while the 8cm disc was ranked as the 59th.[17] Oricon tabulated the 8cm and 12cm versions separately, but when combined, "Movin' on without you" was the eighth best-selling single of that fiscal year.

In April 1999, the song was certified million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of a million units in Japan, which became her second consecutive million selling single there.[18][19] To date, "Movin' On Without You" has sold over 1.22 million units in Japan, which became her second best selling single of all time, just behind her debut single and was listed as one of the best selling singles in Japan.[20] Following the success of her million selling singles, this effort was followed by "Addicted to You", "Wait & See (Risk)", "For You", "Time Limit", "Can You Keep a Secret?" from Distance, "Travelling" from Deep River and "Colors" from Ultra Blue.[18][21][22][23][24][25][26] [A]

Promotion

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It had a tie-in as the Japanese advertising jingle for the Nissan Terrano.[13] An accompanying music video was shot for the single, which featured Utada on a chair in a computer lab seeing images including flowers, waves and other digitally enhanced images. It also intercuts to her dancing to the song in a laboratory.[27] It was later included in her Utada Hikaru Single Clip Collection Vol. 1 (1999) music clip collection.

The song has been a constant feature of her live concert set lists. She performed the song during her Luv Live concerts in April 1999, as well as her Bohemian Summer 2000 concert tour and at the Utada Hikaru Unplugged event on August 10, 2001. The song was a part of her Hikaru no 5 residency concerts at the Nippon Budokan in February 2004, her Japan-wide tour Utada United 2006, her overseas tour Utada: In the Flesh 2010 and her December 2010 Wild Life concert series.[28]

Alternative usage

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Ayumi Hamasaki version

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Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki (pictured) covered the song "Movin' On Without You" for the tribute album Utada Hikaru no Uta

In November 2014, Universal Music Japan announced that there would be a tribute album to Utada's musical works, with her songs covered by a variety of musicians.[29] During the time of the announcement, however, no specific artists were mentioned and this caused public speculation.[29] It was then announced through AramaJapan.com that the artists had been unveiled for the project, which included Hamasaki. When the track list was announced, it was revealed that Hamasaki had covered "Movin' on Without You" and the song was uploaded to iTunes.[30][31]

Hamasaki's version was produced by Moroccan producer and his team RedOne, who had collaborated with Hamasaki on her track "XOXO" from her 2014 album Colours.[32] The song's composition ditches the disco and house music style from Utada's version and creates a more modern electronic dance music "twist".[9] Villa commented "She's no stranger to the dance floor and easily finds her footing among the beats. The queens of J-Pop collide on this sleek remake."[9] Eventually, the song was released as a promotional single from the compilation album on December 9, 2014, by Universal Japan.[30]

The cover version received favorable reception from most music critics. Bradley Stern from MuuMuse was particularly positive towards the collaboration, stating "Happily, the result sounds exactly like something you might expect to hear on one of Ayu's Ayu-mi-x Euro-dance compilations. It's surging, non-stop nostalgic throwback — for both artists involved, really."[33] Because Hamasaki's version was released only as a digital download, it was ineligible to chart on the Oricon Singles Chart, but charted on the Japan Billboard charts. The song peaked at number thirty-six on the Japan Hot 100 chart.[34]

Commercials and other versions

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During the release of the single, it had a tie-in as the Japanese advertising single for the Nissan Terrano, which became her first commercial singles for the advert.[13] A demo version of the single was featured on Utada's 15th anniversary album First Love; "Automatic" still remains unreleased.[6]

Track listing

[edit]
8cm version
No.TitleArrangerLength
1."Movin' On Without You"Shin'ichiro Murayama4:38
2."B&C"Akira Nishihira,
Taka & Speedy (rhythm track arrangement)		4:20
3."Movin' On Without You" (Original Karaoke) 4:41
12 cm version
No.TitleLength
1."Movin' On Without You"4:38
2."B&C"4:20
3."Movin' On Without You" (Tribal Mix)4:46

Charts

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12cm version

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Chart (1999) Peak
position
Japan Weekly Singles (Oricon)[15] 1
Japan Monthly Singles (Oricon)[35] 2
Japan Yearly Singles (Oricon)[17] 16

8cm version

[edit]
Chart (1999) Peak
position
Japan Weekly Singles (Oricon)[15] 5
Japan Monthly Singles (Oricon)[35] 9
Japan Yearly Singles (Oricon)[17] 59

Certifications and sales

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[18] Million 1,226,580[36]

Notes

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  1. ^ According to Oricon, the songs "For You", "Time Limit", "Travelling" and "Colors" did not sell over one million units in Japan but was certified Million by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ)

References

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  1. ^ "U3" (in Japanese). New Century Records. Archived from the original on August 29, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  2. ^ "U3 / スター [廃盤]". CDJournal. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  3. ^ "Cubic U / クロース・トゥ・ユウ [廃盤]". CDJournal. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  4. ^ "Cubic U / プレシャス [廃盤]". CDJournal. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  5. ^ "Ranking in 1999: No.1 Utada Hikaru" (in Japanese). Nikkei Trendy. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
  6. ^ a b Liner notes of First Love by Utada Hikaru.
  7. ^ "From cotton candy to acid rebels, Japan's pop scene heats up". CNN. June 15, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c d Utada Hikaru - First Love (CD, Album) at Discogs. Discogs.com.
  9. ^ a b c Villa, Lucas (9 Dec 2014). "J-Pop queens collide Ayumi Hamasaki sings Utada Hikaru's 'Movin On Without You'". axs.com. AXS. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b "宇多田ヒカル / Movin".
  11. ^ "Hikaru Utada Best Songs List: Top, New, & Old". AllMusic.
  12. ^ "宇多田ヒカル / Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL.1 - CDJournal".
  13. ^ a b c "TV CM 日産 テラノ_Nissan TERRANO (PATHFINDER) R50_Hikaru Utada_JAPAN". youtube.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  14. ^ "第14回日本ゴールドディスク大賞". Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d Oricon Style Staff (March 1, 1999). "Oricon Singles Chart – Chart Week March 1, 1999". Oricon; published through Yahoo! GeoCities (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  16. ^ "Ａｕｔｏｍａｔｉｃ／ｔｉｍｅ ｗｉｌｌ ｔｅｌｌ". Oricon. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d "Orikon 1999-nen TOP100" オリコン 1999年TOP100 [Oricon 1999 TOP 100]. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  18. ^ a b c "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年3月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. March 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 474. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 9. May 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  19. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年2月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. February 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 473. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 9. April 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  20. ^ "歴代シングルランキング TOP241". Archived from the original on 2007-03-28.
  21. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年11月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. November 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 482. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 9. January 10, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  22. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2000年5月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. May 2000 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 488. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 8. July 10, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 29, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  23. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2000年7月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. September 2000 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 490. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 8. September 10, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  24. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2001年2月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. February 2001 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 497. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 8. April 10, 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  25. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2002年1月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. January 2002 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 508. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 12. March 10, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  26. ^ ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2003年12月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (December 2003)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. January 10, 2004. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  27. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  28. ^ "宇多田ヒカル一時休止前ラスト公演で感涙＆Ust新記録樹立" (in Japanese). Natalie. December 13, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  29. ^ a b "Various artists to pay tribute to Utada Hikaru via a cover album". 21 October 2014.
  30. ^ a b "浜崎あゆみの「Movin' on without you - Single」". iTunes. 9 December 2014.
  31. ^ "『宇多田ヒカルのうた』全貌明らかに。井上陽水、椎名林檎、浜崎あゆみ、吉井和哉ら参加アーティストコメント" [All details revealed for Utada Hikaru no Uta, comments from contributing artists such as Yosui Inoue, Ringo Sheena, Ayumi Hamasaki and Kazuya Yoshii.] (in Japanese). Barks. December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  32. ^ Liner notes of Colours by Ayumi Hamasaki, July 2013. Avex Trax.
  33. ^ Reviewed by Bradley Stern. Various Artists, 'Utada Hikaru no Uta' (Album Review).
  34. ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  35. ^ a b "オリコン(oricon)「1999年03月」の月間シングルCDランキング". Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  36. ^ オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」 [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Taiju']. Oricon. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
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