Fly Away (Lead song)

Fly Away (stylized as FLY AWAY) is the third single by Japanese hip-hop group Lead. It peaked in the top ten on the Oricon charts at #10 and remained on the charts for seven weeks, charting longer than their previous singles.

"Fly Away"
Single by Lead
from the album Life On Da Beat
B-side"Shining Day"
ReleasedFebruary 5, 2003
Recorded2003
GenreJ-Pop, hip-hop
LabelFlight Master
CD (PCCA-70032)
Songwriter(s)Yasushi Sasamoto
Producer(s)Yasushi Sasamoto
Lead singles chronology
"Show Me the Way"
(2002)		 "Fly Away"
(2003)		 "Funky Days!"
(2003)

Information

Fly Away is the third domestic single by Japanese hip-hop dance group Lead. It charted in the top ten on the Oricon Singles Charts, taking the number 10 slot for the week and remaining on the charts for seven consecutive weeks.[1] It became their longest charting single, only being met by their later single Get Wild Life.

Fly Away was released as a standard CD, not carrying a CD+DVD counterpart. The CD contained the title track, the b-side "Shining Day" (stylized as SHINING DAY) and the corresponding instrumentals for both songs. The single came with one of five possible Lead trading cards, a specialized URL to download a wallpaper and a discount coupon for the 2003 film Boutaoshi!, of which all four members of Lead starred in.[2] While the music video was released for syndication to the public upon the single's release, it was not available for the public to purchase until their DVD/VHS release Lead Movies 1 in September of the same year.[3]

Both "Fly Away" and "Shining Day" were written and composed by musical composer Yasushi Sasamoto. Yasushi had worked with Lead on their previous singles. The strings arrangement for the a-side was performed by Gen Ittetsu, who is best known for his works with famous Japanese soloist Gackt.[4] The rap portion of the song was written by KATSU.[5]

This would be their last single released before their debut studio album Life On Da Beat on April 23, 2003.[6]

Promotional advertisements

To help promote the single, "Fly Away" was used as the theme song to the movie Boutaoshi!, which the members of Lead also starred in. It was also used as the opening theme for the TBS Television series Count Down TV throughout the month of February.[7]

Boutaoshi!

"Fly Away" was utilized as the theme song to the movie Boutaoshi!. The members of Lead were featured in the film, playing different characters.

Boutaoshi! (棒たおし! / Pole Toppling!) is a 2003 Japanese film by director Tetsu Maeda, released on March 21, 2003. Based on the Japanese game bo-taoshi, a capture the flag-like game played during sports days, the film centers around Tsuguo Takayama (Shinya Tanuichi), who has a talent for the sport. The mischievous Isamu Hisanaga (Kyohei Kaneko) sees him and delves a plan to test his skills. Tsuguo is conned into joining the annual competition, but how he fares in an event is something else entirely.[8]

The film's screenplay was written by Minoru Matsumoto and directed by Tetsu Maeda. It featured artists from the Pony Canyon record label, including the members of Lead and Flame. Production committee members included those from Pony Canyon, Japan Skyway, Jesus Vision, Tokyo Theaters Company, Inc. and PAL Planning, with distribution being done by Tokyo Theater and PAL Planning.

Boutaoshi! was later released on DVD and VHS on August 20, 2003.[9]

Cast

Music video

The music video for "Fly Away" was not included with the release of the single; however, it was given a physical release on their Lead Movies 1 compilation VHS and DVD on September 18, 2003.

The music video was shot in what appears to be a shipyard during sunset. Hiroki opens the video as each member is introduced before cutting to the four members break dancing. For the dance segments, the boys don two outfits: a red parka with black clothes and a white parka with white clothing. The rap break in the video utilized the wide-angle lens, which was predominant in late-90s and early-2000s rap and hip-hop music videos.[10]

Lead's official YouTube uploaded the full video on their account on March 11, 2012.[11]

Track listing
CD
No.TitleLyricsMusicArranger(s)Length
1."Fly Away"Yasushi Sasamoto • KATSUYasushi Sasamoto • Gen Ittetsu (strings)Yasushi Sasamoto 
2."Shining Day"Yasushi SasamotoYasushi SasamotoYasushi Sasamoto 
3."Fly Away" (Instrumental) Yasushi Sasamoto • Gen Ittetsu (strings)Yasushi Sasamoto 
4."Shining Day" (Instrumental) Yasushi SasamotoYasushi Sasamoto 

Charts
Release Chart Peak position
February 5, 2003 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart 10
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gollark: Try osmarks internet radio™.

References
  1. "ＬｅａｄのCDシングルランキング". Oricon Style (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-03-04. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  2. "棒たおし！". allcinema. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  3. "Lead MOVIES 1[PCBP-50910][DVD]". Kakaku. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  4. "Gen Ittetsu Discography". Discogs. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  5. "Lead FLY AWAY lyrical information". J-Lyric. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  6. "LIFE ON DA BEAT / Lead / Oricon News". Oricon. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  7. "CDTV カウントダウン 2003年". Music TV. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  8. "棒たおし！ - 作品情報・映画レビュー". KINENOTE. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  9. "Boutaoshi (Japan Version)". YesAsia. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  10. Carol Vernallis (September 5, 2004). "Experiencing Music Videos: Aesthetics and Cultural Context". p. 77. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  11. "【PV】FLY AWAY / Lead". Lead Official YouTube. March 11, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
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