Hamasaki Ayumi - & (2003)
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Released July 9th, 2003
1. ourselves
2. Greatful days
3. HANABI ~episode II~
4. theme of a-nation '03
5. ourselves (Instrumental)
6. Greatful days (Instrumental)
7. HANABI ~episode II~ (Instrumental)
Welcome to a time when I actually listened to Ayu. Didn’t everyone start off listening to Ayu anyway?
This single holds a very special place in my heart since it was the first Japanese CD I ever purchased. Actually, it was a split gift between myself and the girlfriend I had at the time; we were pretty big Ayu fans back in the day and also kids who had no money. This was back when Pacific Mall had Music Headquarters right by the Up escalators; it’s a clothing store now but oh, the memories. I think I have one more FML article planned with a CD from that store. 2 actually.
Checking up on when this single was released on her wikipedia discography article, it was released during the last era of Ayu’s that I actually cared about her music. The Memorial Address mini-album was the last thing I ever remember loving to death. After that, I just fell off the Ayu train all together.
While giving this single another spin, I realized that ourselves, HANABI ~episode II~, and the theme of a-nation ‘03 were forgettable tracks. I remembered what they sounded like after the 3-5 second cue of the start of each track but besides that, you could toss them into the pile of songs that you know the names of and confuse with the rest of the discography. This reminds me of a conversation I had with a few #wotachat-ers trying to identify an old Ayu song. It turned out to be Independent+ which we forgot sounded nothing like Independent. Ah well. We scratched our heads for a while on that one… I digress.
The only memorable track on & (and only one I haven’t mentioned yet) for myself would be Greatful days. It’s happy and summery and just reminds me of good times with friends. Also, wasn’t this the PV with the random alligator?
Yup, it was.
A song this catchy deserves to live on. I can’t remember if I found a translation to this song. Frankly, I don’t really care since the song is awesome regardless. Though, I just wonder if the lyrics have anything to do with the PV…
Nothing to do with the PV. I lol’d. Alligator. :3
