Wishing For Sky High Sound

Ayumi Hamasaki
“We Wish”

Chorus
Tsuyoku tsuyoku negau kotode
Subetewa hajimatte ikunda
Shinjiru kotosorega
Negai sonomonosa

Jibunga iyadatte betsuno nanikanitte
Kawarouto kangaete mirukedo
Yosooi bakaride tsukuroi hajimete
Kanjinna kotoni kizukasareru

Watashitachiwa watashitachi jishin
Deinakereba imiganai

Chorus

Naniwo matte iruno
Kitaikakeru kototo
Negaikakeru kotowa
Niteru youde marude
Chigaumono

Doumirareterutte naniiwareterutte
Sonna kotowa moudoudemo yokutte
Kokorokakusazuni irareru daijina
Hitoga hitsuyo dakedonemazu

Watashitachiga watashitachi jishin
Mitomenakereba imiganai

Shinjitsunara hitotsu nante
Ittai daregaitsu kimetano
Sonna jidaiwamono
Touri sugitakoro

Obienaide hikarinosasu
Sonohoukouwo mitsuketara
Tsubasa hiroge takaku
Takaku mai agare

Chorus 2x

Naniwo matte iruno
Kitaikakeru kototo
Negaikakeru kotowa

Born in October 2nd 1978 in Fukuoka, Japan, Ayumi Hamasaki or also known as Ayu, she was just a toddler when her father walked out. She claimed that she never knew her dad whether he is dead or still alive. Raised by a single mother and a grandmother, she began modeling locally at seven, in part to earn money for the family. It was an unusual and lonely childhood in this country of steadfastly nuclear families, but Hamasaki says she wasn't aware of what she was missing. Move to Tokyo at age 14, she pursues her career in modeling and acting. Old magazine spreads feature the sweetly smiling young starlet clad in bathing suits or prim outfits that would never make it to her own wardrobe. After bit parts in five low-budget movies and a handful of TV dramas, she tired of acting and, with her tiny frame, did not have a future in modeling. Canned by her talent agency and dropping out of school in the 10th grade, Hamasaki frittered away her days shopping at trendy shibuya boutiques and her nights dancing at the massive Velfarre nightclub in Roppongi. Her friend, who worked at the club, had introduced her to Masato “Max” Matsuura from Avex, which is one of famous record label in Japan. She recalls that she never heard of Avex and then again, she thought that Max was doing something is not good to her.

Over a year, finally, she relented to his request that she at last attend vocal training, only because she nothing better to do. Max decided to send her to New York for some real training and staying in a midtown hotel for three months, taking singing classes a few blocks away. When Hamasaki returned to Japan, Matsuura proposed another challenge. Because she has trouble voicing her thoughts, Hamasaki had over that year corresponded with Matsuura through letters, which must have echoed of simple yet poignant lyrics. He stuck by her, too, when superstardom didn't occur overnight. Her first two singles in 1998 stopped at No. 20 on the charts; her next four barely broke the Top 10. Then Love ~ destiny ~ busted into the No. 1 slot in April 1999 and every one of her singles have hit the top ever three since. The responsibilities that came with her ascension as a recording star were a fair trade-off for the joyous release of writing. She is complicit in the brutal arithmetic of fame: trading the freedom she cherished for the right to tell her story through songs. Indeed, she has transcended mere songstress status and become something even more venerated in our consumer driven society.