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Passion (Utada Hikaru)

Single Cover
Artist
Utada Hikaru
Single
Passion
Released
2005.12.14
Catalog Number
TOCT-5004 (CD+DVD)
TOCT-5003 (CD Only)
Price
¥1,320 (CD+DVD)
¥660 (CD Only)
CD Tracklist
  1. Passion ~single version~
  2. Passion ~after the battle~
DVD Tracklist
  1. Passion (PV)


Information

"Passion" is Utada Hikaru's 15th Japanese single, and the second to be released with a CD+DVD format. "Passion" was used as the theme song for the game Kingdom Hearts II, and is the follow-up to "Hikari", which Utada also sang for Kingdom Hearts in 2002. Rather than the single version, "Passion ~opening version~" was used in the game, though "Passion ~after the battle~" is used as the ending theme song. An English version of this song was also released, titled "Sanctuary". This was used for the English-language releases of Kingdom Hearts II (much like "Simple And Clean" was for "Hikari"). "Passion" only managed to peak at #4 on the Weekly Oricon charts. Despite the single reaching #11 on the World Charts for single sales, it did not chart on the airplay chart. The single charted for 16 weeks, selling 112,345 copies in 2006 and becoming the #91 single of the year.

"Passion" appears on the Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack three times with two new versions (the opening version and "Passion - KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version") as well as "Passion ~after the battle~".

For her In The Flesh performances, Utada combined both "Passion" and "Sanctuary", also including both bridges found in the "~single version~" and "~opening version~".

Song Information

Lyrics
Utada Hikaru
Music
Utada Hikaru
Other Information
Arrangement: Utada Hikaru
All Vocals: Utada Hikaru
Keyboards and Programming: Utada Hikaru and Matt Rohde
Additional Programming: Alexis Smith
Guitar: Ben Mauro
Acoustic Piano: Matt Rohde
Drums: Forrest Robinson
Mixing: Goetz B. for 365 Artists at Bunkamura Studio, Tokyo
Recording: Pat Woodward and Matsui Atsushi at Westlake Audio, L.A., and Bunkamura Studio, Tokyo
Pro-Tools Operation: Glenn Erwin
Mastering: Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound, NYC

Music Video

The PV for "Passion" was directed by Kiriya Kazuaki, and filmed at Gung-Ho Films studios in Beijing, China. Throughout the music video, there are many scenes which include CGI-imagery (which was produced by N-Design), and the opening even included an anime-style animation sequence. The anime sequence was produced by Morimoto Koji and his company STUDIO 4°C (the same people who created the Fluximation-style animations for cellphone services using songs from Utada's EXODUS album). In fact, the same character shown at the start of the music video for "Passion" is shown in the Fluximation for Utada's song "Opening".

Lyrics

In "Passion", there are several layers of English lyrics. Near the end, "My fears, my lies" is audible. There are also many parts of the song with reversed lyrics. A magazine interview confirmed that the lyrics were "I need more affection than you know". In the "~opening version~", another set of reversed lyrics can be heard, which read "I need true emotions". A blog entry posted by Utada on June 10th, 2006 infers to some lyrics she wrote to "Passion" but were never used, such as "Shizuka na tabibito no utau uta ni wa, Mada kotoba ga nai" which tranlates to "The song sung by a quiet traveler has no words yet", and "Hisoyaka na jounetsu ga itsumo, Zidai wo ugokasu" which translates to "A secret passion is the one that makes time move".

"Passion"'s lyrics were written after "Sanctuary", because she had difficulty matching the timing of the melody to the lyrics she wanted.

Disambiguation

There are four versions of "Passion" to be found in Utada's discography. These include:

Passion ~single version~
Found on the "Passion" single as track #1, and on the ULTRA BLUE album as track #13. The single version includes a bridge after the third chorus (where the "~opening version~" has a different bridge after teh second chorus, and has the same arrangement at "Sanctuary"). For the PV and for the album, the subtitle "~single version~" is not used.
Passion ~after the battle~
Found on the "Passion" single as track #2. This version was used as the ending theme for Kingdom Hearts II. The arrangement is much slower than the "~single version~" and is more focused on the piano. Neither the bridge found in the "~single version~" or the "~opening version~" is included.
Passion ~after the battle~ (HOLIDAY LIVE SPECIAL)
Found on the bonus DVD included with the first press of UTADA HIKARU SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION VOL.4 as track #2. This was originally available for download from Utada's Toshiba-EMI website from December 22, 2005 until January 10, 2006. This version was recorded live in one of Toshiba-EMI's offices. Utada first introduces herself and gives everyone a Christmas message before starting the performance. The performance was a live acoustic version of "Passion ~after the battle~", much like the "Be My Last (Internet Live Version)". Also included before the "Passion" performance was a cover of Green Day's song "Wikipedia:Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day song)|Boulevard of Broken Dreams]]".
Passion (Utada United Live)
Found on UTADA UNITED 2006 as track #2. The arrangement is mostly similar to the "~single version~", with an extra pause before the bridge.

TV Performances

Oricon Chart Positions

Utada Hikaru promoting the single
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Week Rank Sales
- 3 4 4 6 5 6 4 49,242
6 9 10 9 7 9 8 10 18,868
7 10 10 9 9 7 12 12 22,877
12 14 13 12 11 14 14
12 16 15 17 16 17 17 16 6,061
15 - - - - - - - 4,117
- - - - - - - 55 2,985
- - - - - - - 77 1,852
- - - - - - - 101 1,198
- - - - - - - 91 1,235
- - - - - - - 111 1,202
- - - - - - - 128 845
- - - - - - - 162 579
- - - - - - - 148 529
- - - - - - - 183 417
- - - - - - - 194 338

Total Reported Sales: 112,345

External Links