| "Passion" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Hikaru Utada | ||||||||||
| from the album Ultra Blue | ||||||||||
| Released | December 14, 2005 | |||||||||
| Format | CD, Digital Download | |||||||||
| Genre | J-pop, pop-rock, ethereal wave, electronic rock, alternative rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:44 (Album Version) 4:27 (Opening Version) 5:58 (After the Battle) |
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| Label | Toshiba-EMI | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Hikaru Utada | |||||||||
| Producer | Akira Miyake, Hikaru Utada and Teruzane Utada | |||||||||
| Hikaru Utada singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Passion" is a song by Hikaru Utada, released in Japan as a single on December 14, 2005. It was used as the theme song for the Disney Interactive Studios/Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days in Japan, while an English version also sung by Utada, titled "Sanctuary", was used for the international release of the games.
In an interview, Utada said, "It's like... as if 'Hikari' was the dawn, and 'Passion' has a concluding or 'dusk' feeling to it. The lyrics of 'Passion' show how phases of the past, present and future of the character in my song relate to each other."
During her 2010 international tour, Utada: In the Flesh 2010, Utada combined "Passion" with "Sanctuary", alternating between the Japanese and English versions of the songs.
"Passion" was performed during Utada's two date concert series Wild Life in December 2010.[1]
British rapper Devlin sampled "Passion (After the Battle)" on his song "London City" from his 2010 album Bud, Sweat and Beers.
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The video was partially shot in Gung-Ho Films studios in Beijing, China. The introduction of the video is an animation by Koji Morimoto with a render of a character that is supposedly a symbol of Utada. The music video was directed by Kazuaki Kiriya.
It is worth noting that the version of "Passion" found in this single differs slightly from the version used for Kingdom Hearts II, which is missing the last verse, and also has the added lines, "Hito shirezu/My Heart's a Battleground" (Hidden Away/ My Heart's a Battleground.) It has been titled the "Opening Version" on the Kingdom Hearts II soundtrack. Its counterpart, also known as the "after the battle" version, is a stripped version of the single version, with only piano and vocals, following by the instrumental with piano, drums, guitars and cold electronic foreground synths.
All songs written and composed by Hikaru Utada.
| CD | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Passion (Single Version)" | 4:44 | |||||||
| 2. | "Passion (After the Battle)" | 5:58 | |||||||
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Total length:
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10:17 | ||||||||
| DVD | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Passion (Single Version) (Music Video)" | -:-- | |||||||
| "Sanctuary" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Hikaru Utada | ||||||||||
| from the album This Is the One | ||||||||||
| Released | July 21,2009 [both versions] | |||||||||
| Format | Digital Download | |||||||||
| Genre | Pop-Rock, Ethereal wave | |||||||||
| Length | 4:25 (Opening Version) 5:58 (Ending Version) |
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| Label | Toshiba-EMI | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Hikaru Utada | |||||||||
| Producer | Akira Miyake, Hikaru Utada and Teruzane Utada | |||||||||
| Hikaru Utada singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Sanctuary" is the theme song for the video game Kingdom Hearts II's international release. It is also the second single from This Is the One, released only in Japan (both the Opening and Ending versions), thereby under the name Utada, not Utada Hikaru.[2] However, Sanctuary was not included in the Japanese version of the album (it was on the US as a bonus track [physical release only]).
Utada sung "Sanctuary" (in combination with "Passion") during Utada: In the Flesh 2010.
In the videogame Kingdom Hearts II, the "Opening" version of the song is played during the opening movie; the more emotional "After the Battle" (titled "Ending" on This Is the One) version is played after defeating the final boss of the game, much like the theme song of the first Kingdom Hearts, "Simple and Clean". The arrangements of the two songs differ in some aspects, much in the same nature as "Simple and Clean" did in comparison to its "Hikari" counterpart.
"Sanctuary", like "Passion", includes several instances of reversed lyrics throughout the song; these lyrics are the only official backwards lyrics. Played throughout the song are the lyrics "I need more affection than you know" in the "battleground" stanza, as well as the phrases "So many ups and downs" and "I need true emotions".
Unlike "Passion", "Sanctuary" had not received any official release on CD until 2009, where its opening and closing versions were included as bonus tracks on Utada's album, This Is the One.
It is also interesting to note that "Sanctuary" does not feature Utada's vocals in the background of the song (as "Passion" does), a notable difference throughout the song.
Both the Opening and Ending versions of Sanctuary were included on Utada's first English compilation album, Utada the Best.
In 2011, Sanctuary (Ending) was sampled by American rapper XV in the song When We're Done contained in his "Zero Heroes" mixtape.
All songs written and composed by Hikaru Utada.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sanctuary (Opening)" | 4:25 |
| 2. | "Sanctuary (Ending)" | 5:58 |
| Charts | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Oricon Weekly singles[3] | 4 |
| Oricon yearly singles[4] | 91 |
| RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100[5] | 75 |
| Chart | Amount |
|---|---|
| Oricon physical sales[6] | 112,000 |
| RIAJ physical certification[7] | 100,000+ |
| RIAJ full-length cellphone downloads[8] | 100,000+ |
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