ARASHI -- Everything

I'm not going to lie. Although I'm far from being an avid ARASHI (嵐) fan, they're the only boy band in the world that I listen to (well, I also listen to a couple of songs by SMAP, but they're very few). It's kind of a shame, but I do admit that I enjoy a good portion of their hit singles and also like to see them perform on TV.

After a very solid debut with the single "A.RA.SHI" back in 1999, the group slowly started to decline. Their significant turnover came in 2007 when Jun Matsumoto (松本潤) acted in the sequel of Hana Yori Dango (花より男子) and ARASHI released the theme song "Love so sweet". One year later, in 2008, the boys achieved the number one spot of the year with the double A-side single "truth / Kaze no Mukou e" (truth / 風の向こうへ). The feat was repeated in 2009 with the single "Believe / Kumori Nochi, Kaisei" (Believe / 曇りのち、快晴). At this time, the AKB48 machine was not popular enough and Hikaru Utada (宇多田ヒカル) was trying to be successul with the album "This Is The One", her second attempt at the American market. As for Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵), she was still rehearsing a real comeback, while J-Pop ladies Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ) and Kumi Koda (倖田來未) were not at their best either. Finally, aidoru technopop unit Perfume, although increasingly popular, was not really a threat to the ruling artists of the J-Pop world. Based on that, during ARASHI's 10th anniversary, Satoshi Ohno (大野智), Sho Sakurai (櫻井翔), Kazunari Ninomiya (二宮和也), Aiba Masaki (相葉雅紀) and Jun Matsumoto were at a very special moment of their careers.

Talking about "Everything", it happens to be my favorite ARASHI song. Although not an upbeat hit like "Believe" or a cheesy-yet-catchy pop tune like "Love so sweet", "Everything" captivated me with its ballad vibe, the gorgeous arrangement and its touching melody (the "hashire! hashire!" part near the end is one of my favorites). I remember that I had some kind of prejudice with ARASHI without having experienced their songs or concerts. This changed because a good friend of mine liked some of their songs, and I basically decided to get an ARASHI concert to watch with him. For my surprise, I got hooked on "Everything", and I still am after three years. Time really flies and "Everything" just adds to this feeling with its nostalgic vibe.

To finish, here's a performance of "Everything". It'll probably not last very long on YouTube, but whatever... (and yep, it didn't)

(instrumental cover version)

"Everything" was released in July 2009 and reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling 431,797 copies. It ended 2009 as the #5 song of the year. Lyrics were written by 100+, while music was composed by Shingo Asari. As for the arrangement, it was done by ISB.