Private (Ryōko Hirosue song)

"Private" (プライベイト, Puraibeito) is a song by Japanese entertainer Ryōko Hirosue, written by Ringo Sheena. It was released as the B-side to her fourth single "Jeans" on October 7, 1998, and was the title track of her second studio album Private (1999). Hirosue performed it on her first live tour in February 1999. The Budokan performance on February 7, 1999 was released as a CD/DVD set called Hirosue Ryoko First Live: RH Debut Tour 1999 on May 26, 1999. "Private" was also featured on both of Hirosue's greatest hits albums: RH Singles &... (1999) and Hirosue Ryoko Perfect Collection (2002).

"Private"
Song by Ryōko Hirosue
from the album Private
Released1998
Recorded1998
Genre
  • Pop
Length3:53
LabelWarner Music Japan
Songwriter(s)Ringo Sheena
Producer(s)Yūta Saitō

Background and development

Hirosue released her debut album Arigato! in 1997, after releasing the singles "Maji de Koi Suru 5-byō Mae", "Daisuki" and "Kaze no Prism", all of which were certified platinum by the RIAJ.[1][2][3][4] She followed up this with the single "Summer Sunset", and released the single "Jeans" in 1998. "Jeans" was used as an ending theme song for the anime Kindaichi Case Files, and "Private" was featured as the single's B-side.[5]

Ringo Sheena released her debut single "Kōfukuron" on May 27, 1998, and her second "Kabukichō no Joō" on September 9, 1998. Sheena came to fame in 1999, after her single "Koko de Kiss Shite." and album Muzai Moratorium, the later of which sold over 1,200,000 copies.[6] During her early career, Sheena wrote "Private" for Hirosue, and several recordings for fellow actress and singer Rie Tomosaka, such as "Cappuccino" (1999) and "Shōjo Robot" (2000).

Writing and production
Ringo Sheena wrote lyrics that she believed Ryōko Hirosue (pictured) would say herself.

The song was written by Ringo Sheena, featuring production by Yūta Saitō.[5] The song was recorded as a demo by Sheena before her debut with entirely different lyrics, and was her first song she had given to another musician. The new lyrics were tailored for Hirosue, with Sheena attempting to use words that sounded as if they had come from Hirosue herself for the lyrics.[7] The lyrics, despite their tone, use non-standard, historical kanji versions of words such as kore (是, 此れ), soba (傍), tada (只), iu (云う) and sono (其の).[8]

Promotion

The song was used as the ending theme song for the NTV variety show Ojamanbō in 1998.[5] "Private" was succeeded by "Cappuccino" by Rie Tomosaka in January 1999, a song also written by Sheena.[9]

Ringo Sheena version
"Private"
Promotional single by Ringo Sheena
from the album Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku
ReleasedMay 14, 2014
Recorded2013
GenrePop
Length3:19
LabelEMI Records Japan
Songwriter(s)
  • Ringo Sheena
Producer(s)

In 2014, writer Ringo Sheena released her own version of the song for her album of self-covers, Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku.[10]

Background and development

Sheena performed the at her Jisaku Jien Nama Jitsuenkai and Kōkotsu Gokuhi Ensōkai concerts in June 1999, but it was not a staple of her set-list.[11][12]

To re-record the song, Sheena enlisted producer Kenichi Maeyamada, also known as Hyadain, as she saw him as someone developing a new sound in Japanese music.[13] The pair had never met before, but Maeyamada felt he had been inspired by Sheena's single "Stem" and album Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana, especially due to their multimedia aspects and how they interacted with the short film Hyakuiro Megane.[14]

After Maeyamada listened to Hirosue's original version, then had a single meeting with Sheena about the song. Sheena had requested Maeyamada to "make it sparkle", as she felt uncomfortable singing the girly lyrics now that she was in her 30s.[13][15] Maeyamada took the subway in Tokyo as inspiration for the song, due to the song's lyric man'in no chikatetsu ni noru (満員の地下鉄に乗る, "riding on a fully packed subway"). Maeyamada thought was peculiar and humanising for Hirosue to sing this, as at the time she was at the height of her fame, and probably did not ride on subways.[13] Maeyamada had the concept of a "strange amusement park" in mind, so raised the key and the tempo, and added "cheap-sounding" synths. He further added bowling and cuckoo clock sound effects to the song. The pair then mixed the song together at a later date.[14]

On May 14, "Private" was released on iTunes, when Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku was made available to pre-order, along with the songs "Seishun no Matataki" and "Amagasa".[16] The song received enough airplay to chart at number 68 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay the week before the album's release.[17]

Chart rankings
Charts (2014) Peak
position
Japan Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay[17] 68

Release history
Region Date Format Distributing Label
Japan May 14, 2014 (2014-05-14) Digital download EMI Records Japan
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References
  1. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1997年5月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. May 1997 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 453: 9. July 10, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  2. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1997年7月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. July 1997 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 455: 9. September 10, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  3. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1997年10月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. October 1997 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 457: 9. December 10, 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  4. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1997年11月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. November 1997 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 458: 9. January 10, 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  5. ジーンズ. JBook (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  6. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2000年3月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. March 2000 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 486: 8. May 10, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  7. Ringo Sheena (May 25, 2014). "生中継直前！椎名林檎 WOWOW特別番組～セルフカバーアルバム『逆輸入』の件～". Wowow Premium (Interview) (in Japanese).
  8. プライベイト. J-lyric (in Japanese). Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  9. カプチーノ. JBook (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  10. "椎名林檎、初のセルフカバー集『逆輸入 ～港湾局～』リリース＆レコ発ライブ開催発表" [Ringo Sheena, first self-cover album collection Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku release and release party live]. Barks. March 25, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  11. Toshiba EMI (June 14, 1999). "自作自演生実演会" [Own work own performance live concert]. Universal. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  12. Ken Tsuda (June 20, 1999). "「インストアミニライブin 渋谷」レポート". RAT: Shena Ringo News Paper (in Japanese). Universal. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  13. Uchida, Masaki (May 26, 2014). "椎名林檎×ヒャダイン対談" [Ringo Sheena x Hyadain talk]. Universal. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  14. Uchida, Masaki (May 26, 2014). "椎名林檎×ヒャダイン対談" [Ringo Sheena x Hyadain talk]. Universal. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  15. Masaki Uchida, Ringo Sheena (May 7, 2014). "Commentary from 椎名林檎" (in Japanese). Kronekodow. Archived from the original on May 9, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  16. "セルフカバーアルバム『逆輸入』より先行配信開始、iTunesプレオーダー開始！" [Preceding downloads from self cover album Gyakuyunyū, iTunes preorder start!]. Universal. May 14, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  17. "Adult Contemporary Airplay 2014/06/02". Billboard (in Japanese). May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
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