Misia -- Everything

The video for Misia's "Everything" is one of the most memorable for me. I think the three ingredients for a Xmas-themed video are: 1) kids....lots of kids, 2) snow and 3) slow motion. "Everything" has got everything....including footage of what looks like Yokohama's Red Brick Park.

Misia has had a number of uptempo songs and ballads which have become hits since her debut in  1998. But I think when all is said and done, "Everything" may be the one that she will be best known for. It's one of those exquisitely-sung love ballads that depending on the situation and the season, it can just hit me in the throat and tear ducts. At karaoke, if amateur (and decent) singers really want to stop the gang from talking in the booth, they select this one.

Lyrics were by Misia and the notes were by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）, who had also composed Jun'ichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）"Merry Christmas ga Ienai"（メリークリスマスが言えない）almost a decade before. The accolades for "Everything" are many. Released in October 2000, it debuted on Oricon at the top spot and stayed there for a non-consecutive total of 4 weeks, quickly became the 14th-ranked song for the year and even jumped up a couple of more ranks the following year. According to Wikipedia, it is the best-selling single by a female artist in Japan in the 21st-century, and the 3rd-best-selling single overall by a female Japanese artist behind Namie Amuro's "Can You Celebrate?" and Hikaru Utada's "Automatic". It sold 2 million copies. And it just happened to be another hit theme song for a Monday-night-at-9 Fuji-TV drama, "Yamato Nadeshiko".....the sweet spot when it comes to Japanese TV dramas which has been occupied by shows like "Tokyo Love Story" and "101st Proposal".

As is plainly evident, I love everything about "Everything", but the special part for me is that instrumental bridge when the strings go into a gospel mode and just hit this crescendo before Misia finishes up with the final verses.

The single was also a track on Misia's 3rd album, "Marvelous" which was released in April 2001.