Colors

"Colors"
Single by Hikaru Utada
from the album Ultra Blue
B-side	Simple and Clean
Released	January 29, 2003 (2003-01-29)
Format	CD, DVD, Maxi Single
Recorded	—
Genre	Pop
Length	3:55
Label	EMI Music Japan
Writer(s)	Hikaru Utada
Producer	Hikaru Utada
Hikaru Utada singles chronology
"Sakura Drops/Letters" (2002) "Colors" (2003) "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro" (2004)

"Colors" is Hikaru Utada's 12th Japanese-language single (14th overall), and is the only single she released in 2003. It was released on January 29, 2003 and debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts with 437,903 copies sold in the first week, and became her fifth single to perform the rare two-consecutive weeks at the #1 slot feat. Two versions were released, CD and DVD.

Included as CD-Extras on this single was a multimedia section containing 13 exclusive screensavers and 13 exclusive wallpapers. A special feature on the "Colors" DVD Single is the Kanzou-sensei Report, which is a mini-documentary showing the production that went into the DVD, as well as behind-the-scenes shots of Utada working. This single reached #1 on Oricon charts and charted for 45 weeks, her longest charting single ever. Though Kazuaki Kiriya was behind the art direction for the single, he did not take an active part as usual, with the single photography going to Kaoru Izima and the PV directing going to Donald Cameron. On the cover and the inside covers, there are drawings done by Utada herself (some designs include musical notation, the word 'yes' and a drawing of the Vatican). This single became the #3 single of 2003 in Japan. "Colors" had an extremely long performance season, which included 11 performances spanning over two months (except for the last performance, which was a special). This single reached #27 on World Charts for single airplay, and reached #6 for sales. The most recent figures (May 25, 2006) show that the single sold 893,790 units in total^[1].The song featured heavy ethereal and experimental tones for the first time in Utada's discography. It became her longest charting single ever with a 45 week trajectory on the Oricon Singles chart, selling 881,000 copies, and was #3 on the Yearly Singles chart.

Commercial Tie-Ins

A special remix of "Colors" was produced to promote the Toyota WISH in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia. The remix is not included on this single or any of her releases.

The B-side, "Simple and Clean", is used as the main theme of the Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (Released in Japan only) and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories video games. "Simple and Clean" is included on the international release of the Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack. The song has been remixed multiple times,^{[citation needed]} with the "PLANITb Remix" version used as the opening theme to the English language edition of Kingdom Hearts, with minor changes to the instrumental sounds compared to the original opening version. In addition, an orchestral version of the song was created for use in the game during certain scenes and was also used for several of the trailers for Kingdom Hearts II. The melody used in "Simple and Clean" is exactly the same as in "Hikari" (光^?), but in the chorus she uses melodies from the chorus of "Uso Mitai na I Love You" (嘘みたいな I Love You^?) instead.

Track listing

• CD version

1. Colors - 3:59
2. Simple and Clean - 5:03
3. Simple and Clean -PLANITb Remix- - 5:46
4. Colors -Original Karaoke- - 4:02

• DVD Version

1. Making of Colors
2. Colors
3. Kanzou-sensei Report (Bonus Track)

TV Performances

• [2003.01.12] CDTV
• [2003.01.29] Viewsic
• [2003.01.31] Music Station
• [2003.02.05] Sokuhou Uta no Daijiten
• [2003.02.06] Ax Music TV
• [2003.02.08] Pop Jam
• [2003.02.08] CDTV
• [2003.02.13] Utaban
• [2003.02.17] Hey! Hey! Hey!
• [2003.03.03] SMAPxSMAP
• [2003.12.17] Asahi Special

Charts

"Colors" - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

References

1. ^ Colors - Wiki.theppn

External links

• The Colors Fanlisting — Includes further information about the song and PV