Ai No Uta
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| Ai no Uta | ||
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| Single by Strawberry Flower | ||
| Released | December 6, 2001 | |
| Recorded | 2001 | |
"Ai no Uta" (愛のうた Song of Love?) was an image song released in conjunction with the video game Pikmin for the Nintendo GameCube. The song was only used in commercials for the game and does not appear in the game itself, and those commercials appeared only in Japan. A small clip of the song though can be heard being sung by the Pikmin in Pikmin 2. The lyrics are, not surprisingly, in Japanese. The song is sung by the group Strawberry Flower, who also produced the theme song for Pikmin 2. The title of the song translates to "Song of Love," so named because the song expounds on the emotions the Pikmin feel in relation to their involvement in the game, and also their devotion to their given task of helping the game's protagonist, Captain Olimar.
The song was featured in commercials for the Pikmin video game, in order to stimulate flagging sales. The song became immediately very popular and soon became one of the most recognizable songs in Japan at the time. Many people had memorized the song from the commercials, and soon after the sales of the video game rose nearly fivefold. The song itself was released as a CD Single on December 6, 2001 and remained in the top ten for several weeks. Unexpectedly, the song actually outsold the game it has advertised, beating Pikmin's sales figures shortly after its release as a single. The song was a remarkable media phenomenon in that it sold equally well to people of all ages and tastes. Strangely, the largest purchasing demographic of the song was middle aged men, who seem to relate strongly to the song's lyrics, which stress the Pikmin's loyalty and feelings of duty, both of which are very strong in the Japanese workplace.
