In an interview with Time Asia, Amuro stated that she had been asked to sing at the summit by Obuchi at a party in November or December of 1999, which had occurred after Komuro had already been approached to write the song. Komuro agreed, and visited Okinawa many times to get a feel of the culture while writing the song.Īmuro performed the song at the summit on July 21, 2000, in front of Japan's sitting Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, as well as world leaders such as Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin. The song came about after the former prime minster Obuchi Keizo urged Tetsuya Komuro to write a song for the summit, stating 'I want you to write a song that will be loved by many people, a song that gives us a vision of harmony and interaction in the world of the 21st century'. 'NEVER END' was used as the theme song for the 26th G8 Summit that took place in Okinawa, Amuro's birthplace and hometown, in July of 2000. It was the first single in advance of Amuro's 5th studio album break the rules (2000) and is one of her most iconic releases. 'NEVER END' is the 15th single by Namie Amuro, released on July 17, 2000. Re: The Ultimate J-Pop Queens SHOWDOWN -A FINALE- (Results LIVE)Īverage score: 8.02 / Highest score - 10 (x4) / Lowest score - 5 (x3) Should be required listening for anyone between the ages of 18 and 21. Sung beautifully (not perfectly, but beautifully), the production is quintessential T.K which makes an otherwise grave tune sound soaring and rich, almost hymnal. Really captures the awkwardness of finding yourself as a young adult better than any song I know. J-Pop's quintessential coming-of-age story. MY TEIKU: SWEET SWEET NINETEEN DREEEEEEEEEEEEEEAMSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Following in the footsteps of the original it would go on to become a hit in its own right, selling more than 750,000 downloads and being certified Triple Platinum. In 2008, fellow J-Pop singer Miliyah Kato released her 12th single '19 Memories', which is a partial cover of Amuro's original, interpolating the chorus and sampling the production. 'SWEET 19 BLUES' is now considered a classic record and has been covered many times over the years. On the Oricon, 'SWEET 19 BLUES' performed strongly despite being a re-cut single, peaking at #2 and selling 452,890 copies in all, charting for 13 weeks. Amuro's next album, 'Concentration 20', was thus the sequel to 'SWEET 19'. On the album it is the penultimate song, followed by a short spoken interlude titled '.soon nineteen'. 'SWEET 19 BLUES' is titled so because Amuro was coming up on her 19th birthday at the time, and this song was meant to capture the feelings of a 19 year old. The song ultimately ends on a positive note however, with Amuro resolved to overcome her feelings - 'SWEET, SWEET 19 BLUES / But I’m just the kind of person that gets lonely easily / SWEET, SWEET 19 DREAMS / Maybe I’ll show a side of me no one’s ever seen before'. In the song, Amuro sings of feelings of sadness and loneliness that come with the transition from childhood to adulthood - 'Soon I won’t have to pretend to be an adult / And still possess the weapons of a child / This is where it all begins / Loneliness seems to have become more real'. 'SWEET 19 BLUES' is a soulful blues record with gospel influenced production and vocals, produced by Tetsuya Komuro. It was also used as the theme song for Amuro's first and only film vehicle That's Cunning! ~Shijousaidai no Sakusen~, in which she starred as the lead female role. Due to popular demand, it was put out as a re-cut single on August 21, 1996, serving as the album's final single. 'SWEET 19 BLUES' is the 5th single by Namie Amuro, and the title track to her second album of the same name, released one month prior.

The last results left me heartbroken, and tonight isn't going to be any easier to get through, so bear with me.Īverage score: 8.00 / Highest score - 10 (x4) / Lowest score - 3 (x2) Re: The Ultimate J-Pop Queens SHOWDOWN -A FINALE- (89 ~ 80)Īlright, let's get back into it.

Everything sweet sweet j pop song