Never End (song)

"Never End" is Namie Amuro's 16th single on the Avex Trax label. The single was made specifically for the G8 Summit that took place in Okinawa, Japan that year. Released in July, the song debuted at #2 becoming Amuro's 16th consecutive top 10 solo single. This was Namie's last single to debut with over 100,000 copies in sales until 60s 70s 80s in 2008.

"Never End"
Single by Namie Amuro
from the album Break the Rules
ReleasedJuly 12, 2000
RecordedThe Hit Factory
TRUE Kiss Disc
Record One
ajima studio
On Air Azabu Studio
Guillaume Tell
Stanley House
Length25:04
LabelAvex Trax
Songwriter(s)Tetsuya Komuro
Producer(s)Tetsuya Komuro
Namie Amuro singles chronology
"Love 2000"
(2000)		 "Never End"
(2000)		 "Please Smile Again"
(2000)
Audio sample
"Never End"
  • file
  • help

Overview

The song was commissioned by late Prime Minister of Japan, Keizo Obuchi, who personally asked Tetsuya Komuro to write it for the event. Obuchi stated to Komuro "I want you to write a song that will be loved by many people, a song that gives us a vision of harmony and interaction in the world in the 21st century" . Komuro agreed to do the song and began a process to get to know Okinawa and its music visiting the country time and time again.

In an interview with Time Asia, Amuro stated that she had been asked to sing at the summit by Obuchi at a party during November or December which had occurred after Komuro had already been asked to write the song. As the song itself, Amuro stated in the same interview that she felt the song had many meanings and that people would have their own interpretations of it.

G8 Summit

"Never End" was used as the theme song to the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit 2000. On July 22, 2000, Amuro and Komuro performed the song at a reception for the event in front of several world leaders including Bill Clinton, at that time the President of the United States.

Humanitarianism

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the single were donated to the Japanese chapter of UNICEF.

Accolades
  • Millennium Award (33rd Japan Cable Awards (Nihon Yuusen Taishou))
  • Special Prize (42nd Japan Record Awards)

Track listing
  1. "Never End (Radio Edit)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:26
  2. "Never End (Original Mix)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:26
  3. "Never End (Chanpuru Mix)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:08
  4. "Never End (Acapella)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:04

Personnel
  • Namie Amuro – vocals
  • Wurasoe Shonenshoko Gashodan – background vocals
  • Andy Caine – background vocals
  • Jennifer Carr – background vocals
  • Juliet Roberts – background vocals
  • Tetsuya Komuro – piano
  • Sadao China – sanshin
  • Keiko Higa – taiko
  • Nenes – hayashi

Production
  • Producer – Tetsuya Komuro
  • Arranger – Tetsuya Komuro
  • Mixing – Dave Ford, Tetsuya Komuro
  • Mastering – Ian Cooper
  • Programing – Akihisa Murakami, Toshihide Iwasa
  • Engineering – Eishin Kitajima, Dave Ford, Toshihiro Wako
  • Direction – Tetsuya Komuro, Kenji Sano, Kotaro Takada
  • Art Direction & Design – Tycoon Graphics
  • Photography – Shoji Uchida
  • Styling – Kyoko Tsunoda
  • Hair & Make-Up – Akemi Nakano

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)
Release Chart Peak position First week sales Sales total
July 12, 2000 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart 2 268,920 640,310

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)
Release Chart Position Sales total
July 12, 2000 Oricon 2000 Year-End Chart 32 640,310

TV performances
  • December 31, 2000 – Kōhaku Uta Gassen
gollark: It might not be *technically wrong* by a strict definition to say that trying to improve health standards and whatever to reduce population growth is culling, but it's not... helpful? As in, it doesn't really matter whether the relevant actions fit into [bad and emotionally charged category], but whether they're actually bad.
gollark: "Culling" is generally meant to mean something more like actively going out and killing people.
gollark: It probably comes out net-positive, if they vaccinated a lot of people and didn't have too many issues.
gollark: I am trying to think of a not very politically charged example. This is hard.
gollark: Secondly, what dictionary site you got it off is entirely orthogonal to this.

References
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