To Be (song)

"To Be" is the English title of a Japanese-language song by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released as the singer's eighth single on May 12, 1999. The song begins "Dare mo ga toorisugite...", and does not contain the phrase "to be" or any other English lyrics.

Information

"To Be" was released less than a month after her first number one single, "Love (Destiny)." Hamasaki's first song to be composed by Do as Infinity composer DAI, "To Be" was unable to reach the top position on the Oricon, unlike its predecessor. Hamasaki re-recorded "To Be" in celebrating her 10th anniversary in the music business in 2008 and it appeared as a B-Side on her Days/Green single.

PV

The music video for "TO BE" was directed by longtime collaborator Takeishi Wataru. It shows Hamasaki singing as seen by a little boy through a kaleidoscope. It makes use of various backgrounds, outfits, makeup, and wigs to bring as much color as possible into the world the little boy sees. At the end, the kaleidoscope lens breaks, and Hamasaki is seen in black and white.

Commercial tie-up

The song was used as background music in a commercial for the JT Peach Water drinks featuring Ayumi herself.

Charts

"To Be" debuted on the Oricon at number four, with 109,860 copies sold in its first week^[2] and over 400,000 copies sold to date. "To Be" was the 67th best-selling of 1999.^[3]

Track listing

1. "To Be"
2. "To Be" (Dub's cool wind remix)
3. "To Be" (instrumental)

Re-release

"To Be" was re-released on February 28, 2001. The single had four extra songs, besides the original ones.

Track listing

1. "To Be"
2. "To Be" (Dub's cool wind remix)
3. "Appears" (HW Tokyo Hard House mix)
4. "Fly High" (Sharp Boys U.K vocal mix)
5. "Fly High" (Supreme mix)
6. "Fly High" (Sample Madness remix)
7. "To Be"

Live performances

• May 8, 1999 – Countdown TV – To Be
• May 13, 1999 – Utaban – To Be
• May 14, 1999 – Music Station – To Be
• May 22, 1999 – Pop Jam – To Be
• May 28, 1999 – Music Station – To Be
• June 21, 1999 – Hey! Hey! Hey! – To Be
• May 17, 2003 - Ayuready? - To Be

Chart positions

• Total Sales : 324,500 (Japan)
• Total Sales : 400,000 (Avex)

¹Original version ²Re-release version

References

External links

• "To Be" information at Avex Network
• "To Be" re-release information at Avex Network
• "To Be" information at Oricon
• "To Be" re-release information at Oricon