Private (Ryōko Hirosue Song)

is a song by Japanese entertainer Ryōko Hirosue, written by Ringo Sheena. It was released as the B-side to her fourth single "Jeans" on October 7, 1998, and was the title track of her second studio album ''Private'' (1999). Hirosue performed it on her first live tour in February 1999. The Budokan performance on February 7, 1999 was released as a CD/DVD set called ''Hirosue Ryoko First Live: RH Debut Tour 1999'' on May 26, 1999. "Private" was also featured on both of Hirosue's greatest hits albums: ''RH Singles &...'' (1999) and ''Hirosue Ryoko Perfect Collection'' (2002).

Background and development

Hirosue released her debut album ''Arigato!'' in 1997, after releasing the singles "Maji de Koi Suru 5-byō Mae", "Daisuki" and "Kaze no Prism", all of which were certified platinum by the RIAJ. She followed up this with the single "Summer Sunset", and released the single "Jeans" in 1998. "Jeans" was used as an ending theme song for the anime ''Kindaichi Case Files'', and "Private" was featured as the single's B-side.

Ringo Sheena released her debut single " Kōfukuron" on May 27, 1998, and her second " Kabukichō no Joō" on September 9, 1998. Sheena came to fame in 1999, after her single " Koko de Kiss Shite." and album '' Muzai Moratorium'', the later of which sold over 1,200,000 copies. During her early career, Sheena wrote "Private" for Hirosue, and several recordings for fellow actress and singer Rie Tomosaka, such as "Cappuccino" (1999) and " Shōjo Robot" (2000).

Writing and production

The song was written by Ringo Sheena, featuring production by Yūta Saitō. The song was recorded as a demo by Sheena before her debut with entirely different lyrics, and was her first song she had given to another musician. The new lyrics were tailored for Hirosue, with Sheena attempting to use words that sounded as if they had come from Hirosue herself for the lyrics. The lyrics, despite their tone, use non-standard, historical kanji versions of words such as , , , and .

Promotion

The song was used as the ending theme song for the NTV variety show ''Ojamanbō'' in 1998. "Private" was succeeded by "Cappuccino" by Rie Tomosaka in January 1999, a song also written by Sheena.

Ringo Sheena version

In 2014, writer Ringo Sheena released her own version of the song for her album of self-covers, '' Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku''.

Background and development

Sheena performed the at her ''Jisaku Jien Nama Jitsuenkai'' and ''Kōkotsu Gokuhi Ensōkai'' concerts in June 1999, but it was not a staple of her set-list.

To re-record the song, Sheena enlisted producer Kenichi Maeyamada, also known as Hyadain, as she saw him as someone developing a new sound in Japanese music. The pair had never met before, but Maeyamada felt he had been inspired by Sheena's single "Stem" and album ''Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana'', especially due to their multimedia aspects and how they interacted with the short film ''Hyakuiro Megane''.

After Maeyamada listened to Hirosue's original version, then had a single meeting with Sheena about the song. Sheena had requested Maeyamada to "make it sparkle", as she felt uncomfortable singing the girly lyrics now that she was in her 30s. Maeyamada took the subway in Tokyo as inspiration for the song, due to the song's lyric . Maeyamada thought was peculiar and humanising for Hirosue to sing this, as at the time she was at the height of her fame, and probably did not ride on subways. Maeyamada had the concept of a "strange amusement park" in mind, so raised the key and the tempo, and added "cheap-sounding" synths. He further added bowling and cuckoo clock sound effects to the song. The pair then mixed the song together at a later date.

On May 14, "Private" was released on iTunes, when ''Gyakuyunyū: Kōwankyoku'' was made available to pre-order, along with the songs "Seishun no Matataki" and " Amagasa". The song received enough airplay to chart at number 68 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary Airplay the week before the album's release.

Chart rankings

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Private
1998 songs
Japanese-language songs
Songs written by Ringo Sheena
Ringo Sheena songs