Misia -- Believe

I think it's because of her videos which have often shown the relaxed life out in the countryside, but I have felt that Misia's brand of R&B can be quite heartwarming and homey. Misia's "Believe" is her 3rd single from April 1999 that's also a track on her 2nd album, "Love Is The Message" from January 2000.

With lyrics by the singer and music by Jun Sasaki（佐々木潤）, "Believe" is a warm and sunny ballad that rather sums up that walk along the rice paddies on a summer day. I guess for me, if I were to compare Misia's vocals with anything, the word for me would be "honey". The times I have listened to "Believe", it didn't exactly fill me with power to lift the world on my shoulders despite the optimistic words, but it did reassure me with "Don't worry, everything will be all right". It's the musical equivalent of Honey Hot Chocolate with that extra pat on the back.

The song peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and became the 82nd-ranked song of the year.

I would also like to note that as of yesterday, "Kayo Kyoku Plus" hit its 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe that the blog could get this far and I can't really say when we will all stop putting up articles. However, until that eventual day comes, I would like to thank JTM, nikala, Marcos V. and jari for all of the work they've put in over the past year and hope that they will continue to share with me and everyone their favourite songs from what is admittedly a very niche genre in music. But I think it's for that reason that their insights have been very special. And of course, I would like to thank all of you, the viewers, for taking the time to look in and hopefully enjoy some of what Japanese popular music has been offering in all of its myriad forms for the past number of decades. I'm not sure how things were going to go on January 31 2012, but as of January 31 2014, I can echo what Misia is saying and say "I believe".

２周年まで来て本当に驚いて感謝しています。御覧の皆さんにありがとうございますと言いたくて、参加していただいているJTM, nikala, Marcos V. and jariにもお世話になっていると言いたいです。これからもよろしくお願いします。