Identity (song)

"Identity"
Single by Sakanaction
B-side "Holy Dance"
Released July 7, 2010 (2010-07-07)
(see release history)
Format CD Single, digital download
Genre J-pop, electropop, rock
Length 4:13
Label Victor Entertainment
Writer(s) Ichirō Yamaguchi
Producer Sakanaction
Sakanaction singles chronology
"Me ga Aku Aiiro"
(2010)		 "Identity"
(2010)
Digital download cover

"Identity" (アイデンティティ Aidentiti?) is Japanese band Sakanaction's third physical single, to be released on August 4, 2010.[1]

Contents

Writing and inspiration

The song is an upbeat dance/rock song, with a Latin beat. The lyrics centre around the lines of the chorus, "There's no identity, it can't be born." The verses question whether a person's likes and dislikes are a good measure of identity. The song's narrator notices they've been reclaiming their lost teenage years' memories.[2]

Vocalist Ichirō Yamaguchi described the song as a Sakanaction version of Southern All Stars' song "Katte ni Sinbad."[3] The inspiration for the song came from that Yamaguchi realised that he only considered his identity when writing songs. After moving to Tokyo, he began noticing a lot of the small differences in people on the streets from different areas of Japan (clothing, hair-styles, etc.).[4]

Cover artwork

The centre point for the cover artwork is a question mark symbol, created from previously released Sakanaction CDs. The question mark theme was used to complement the self-questioning message of the song.[5] The iTunes version of the single cover is different, with the grass plain removed and the photo shot at a higher angle.[6]

Music video

The music video was shot by director Hisashi "Momo" Kitazawa.[7] The bulk of the video shows the band performing the song in a dark room, lit from behind by a row of white bars forming a triangular/heart shape. The final half of the video pans backward extremely slowly, revealing the band to be performing on a boxed screen on a pachinko pinball machine.

The video was uploaded to YouTube by the Victor Music Channel on the 10th of July, 2010. As of August 2, the video has been viewed 200,000 times.[8]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ichirō Yamaguchi. 

No. Title Arranger(s) Length
1. "Identity"     4:26
2. "Holy Dance" (ホーリーダンス "Hōrī Dansu")   5:12
3. "Yes No (Takamasa Aoki Remix)"   Takamasa Aoki 4:19
Total length:
 13:44

Chart rankings

Chart Peak
position
Billboard Japan Hot 100[9] 7
Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay[10] 5
Oricon daily singles[11] 9
Oricon weekly singles[12] 12

Reported sales

Chart Amount
Oricon physical sales[13] 20,000

Release history

Region Date Format
Japan June 30, 2010 (2010-06-30)[14] Ringtone, radio debut
July 7, 2010 (2010-07-07)[6] PC digital download
July 21, 2010 (2010-07-21)[14] Cellphone full-length download
August 4, 2010 (2010-08-04)[3] CD single, CD single+DVD
August 21, 2010 (2010-08-21)[15] Rental

References

  1. ^ "サカナクション｜アイデンティティ｜@Victor Entertainment" (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A020936/VIZL-386.html. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  2. ^ "アイデンティティ - サカナクション" (in Japanese). Goo Music. http://music.goo.ne.jp/lyric/LYRUTND95787/index.html. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  3. ^ a b "サカナクション、新作にAOKI takamasaリミックス収録" (in Japanese). Natalie. 2010-06-16. http://natalie.mu/music/news/33400. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  4. ^ "サカナクション 『アイデンティティ』" (in Japanese). Hot Express. http://www.hotexpress.co.jp/interview/100722_sakanaction/page2.html#0. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  5. ^ "サカナクション、新曲「アイデンティティ」ジャケは「？」" (in Japanese). Natalie. 2010-06-27. http://natalie.mu/music/news/33898. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  6. ^ a b "サカナクション「アイデンティティ」、iTunesにてオリジナル・ジャケで配信スタート！" (in Japanese). CDJournal. 2010-07-07. http://www.cdjournal.com/main/news/sakanaction/32281. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  7. ^ "サカナクション 楽曲名 アイデンティティ" (in Japanese). Space Shower. http://www.spaceshowertv.com/search/detail.cgi?mu=0081274&ch=0. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
  8. ^ "サカナクション／アイデンティティ" (in Japanese). Publisher. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1awua0YrSRs. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  9. ^ "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard Japan. July 17, 2010. http://www.billboard-japan.com/system/jp_charts/hot100/11-50/page:2. Retrieved June 26, 2010. 
  10. ^ "Japan Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay". Billboard Japan. July 26, 2010. http://www.billboard-japan.com/system/jp_charts/adult_airplay/11-50/. Retrieved July 26, 2010. 
  11. ^ "シングル デイリーランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. August 4, 2010. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5rqkKyT3y. Retrieved August 9, 2010. 
  12. ^ "アイデンティティ（初回限定盤）" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/detail.asp?itemcd=874478&samecd=1. Retrieved August 21, 2010. 
  13. ^ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2010-09-10.  (subscription only)
  14. ^ a b "サカナクション Official Site > News". Hip Land Music Corporation. January 25, 2010. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5rVKZX1OX. Retrieved July 26, 2010. 
  15. ^ "アイデンティティ/サカナクション レンタルCD". Tsutaya. http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_cd/003515093.html. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 

External links