Hikari (song)

] and "". Utada was the only singer Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Kingdom Hearts, had in mind for the Kingdom Hearts theme song.cite web| author = Stephen Coleman| url = http://games.ign.com/articles/368/368583p1.html| publisher = IGN| title = Square, Disney and Japanese Pop Star Utada Hikaru Collaborate on Kingdom Hearts| accessmonthday = May 13| accessyear = 2007] This also marked the first time Utada had produced a song for a video game.

The English language version of the song, titled "Simple and Clean," was used in the English release of "Kingdom Hearts". Although the two songs share a similar melody and background music, the meaning of the lyrics is significantly different. Simple and Clean was also used in both Japanese and English-language releases of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. A similar melody to "Simple and Clean" is present in the chorus of "Uso Mitai na I Love You", on the same album.

Track listing

#Hikari
#Hikari (Planitb Remix)
#Hikari (Godson Mix)
#Hikari (Original Karaoke)

Music video

The music video (directed by Kazuaki Kiriya) for Hikari is a simple one. Utada washes dishes, and enjoys a glass of water through its course. Utada, in an interview, explains how she enjoys washing dishes at home as well, which contributed to her making this music video. Fact|date=February 2007

:"Actually we were to shoot the PV of 'Hikari' with him (Kazuaki Kiriya) but it didn't come true due to his scheduling conflicts at the last moment and that's why we requested Kiriya urgently to shoot that dish-washing video." --Utada Hikaru [cite web| url = http://www.emimusic.jp/app/scripts/emilog.php?id=hikki&no=389| publisher = Toshiba-EMI| title = Message from Hikki "びーでーおー"| accessmonthday = July 26| accessyear = 2007] (They were able to reach Kazuaki Kiriya eventually, but they had no time to shoot a complex video.)

Reception

The single proved to be very popular. It hit #1 on Oricon charts for a lengthy three weeks, selling 270,370 in its debut week.Fact|date=May 2007 By August 2002, it had sold over 598,130 copies in Japan.

Charts

"Hikari" - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

References

External links

* [http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/hikki/ Hikki's Website] — official Toshiba EMI site