"No Way to Say" is a song by Japanese singer and songwriter

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter and producer. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" on account of her influence throughout Asia, she is widely recognized for her versatile music production, songwriting, and live performances. Hamasaki is the List of ...

. It was released on November 6, 2003, by

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

. The track was written by the singer herself, while the composition was done by the singer herself under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Crea with the assistance of Bounceback. Production was handled by long-time collaborator

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notab ...

. "No Way to Say" is musically a soft

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ball ...

with an emotional and melancholic tone. The song lyrically conveys a sense of longing and regret, emphasizing the difficulty of putting deep emotions into words. Upon its release, "No Way to Say" received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, praising its production quality. Commercially, the single experienced success in Japan, debuting at number one on both the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

and

Tokyo Broadcasting System (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as ...

's (TBS) '' Count Down TV'' singles chart. Despite being a pre-release single, it became a long-running hit with cumulative sales of 371,000 copies, and was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

(RIAJ). It won the 45th Japan Record Awards' grand prix by the end of the year. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by Ukon Kamimura, with Hamasaki portraying a character grappling with insecurities, longing to communicate deep emotions but feeling held back by the limitations of language and personal fears. The video won the award for "Best Pop Video" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. In order to promote the single, it appeared on several

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

and

greatest hits albums A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

and live

concert tours A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

conducted by Hamasaki. It was also used as the

opening theme A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an opening theme song with visuals ...

of the TBS

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

Koisuru Hanikami is a Japanese variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

''.

Background and composition

"No Way to Say" is a melancholic

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

that features a blend of

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

. The song includes

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, and orchestral strings, creating a melancholic yet elegant atmosphere. The song is written in the key of

A-flat major A-flat major is a major scale based on A♭ (musical note), A, with the pitches A, B♭ (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D♭ (musical note), D, E♭ (musical note), E, F (musical note), F, and G (musical note), G. Its key signature has fou ...

with a common time tempo of 82

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. Lyrically, it explores themes of

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...

, emotional vulnerability, and unspoken feelings. The song's narrator conveys a sense of longing and regret, emphasizing the difficulty of putting deep emotions into words; the song suggests that everyone carries feelings they cannot fully express.

Reception

This song won the grand prix at the 45th Japan Record Awards, making her the first artist in history to win the award three times in a row.

Music video and promotion

for "No way to say" was directed by Ukon Kamimura. The video shows a

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

scenery, with a

Santa Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

giving away handkerchiefs while people close up in the warmth of their house. He offers some to Hamasaki but she didn't take it; a boy takes it instead and runs after her to give them to her. The song's video won the award for "Best Pop Video" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. The music video was included on several DVD compilations released by Hamasaki: the CD+DVD edition of her 2003 mini album ''

Memorial Address ''Memorial Address'' is the debut mini-album by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. Avex Trax released the album on December 17, 2003, in both physical and digital formats; it was her first album to be released in CD+DVD format in addition to the ...

'', and the digital release of ''A Clips Complete'' (2014). With this song, they made their fifth appearance at the ''

NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen , also known by its romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestrial television channels (NHK General TV and NHK ...

'' in the same year.

Track listing

# "No Way to Say" – 4:46 # "No Way to Say" (acoustic version) # "Seasons" (acoustic version) # " Dearest" (acoustic orchestra version) # "Voyage" (acoustic orchestra version) # "No Way to Say" (Vandalize/Realize mix) # "No Way to Say" (instrumental) – 4:46

Live performances

*October 3, 2003 – Music Station *November 1, 2003 – Ayu Ready? *November 6, 2003 – AX Music *November 7, 2003 – Music Station *November 15, 2003 – CDTV *November 15, 2003 – PopJam *November 19, 2003 – Sokuhou Uta no Daijiten *November 28, 2003 – Best Hit Song Festival *November 29, 2003 – Ayu Ready? *December 1, 2003 – Hey! Hey! Hey! *December 3, 2003 – FNS Music Festival *December 17, 2003 – Best Artist *December 20, 2003 – Ayu Ready? *December 22, 2003 – Hey! Hey! Hey! Christmas Special – "No Way to Say: Acoustic Version" *December 23, 2003 – Happy X-mas SHOW! *December 26, 2003 – Music Station Super Live *December 31, 2003 – Kouhaku Uta Gassen *December 31, 2003 – Japan Record Awards (2 performances) *December 31, 2003 – CDTV Special 2003-2004 *March 14, 2004 – Japan Gold Disc Awards *December 23, 2007 – HAPPY X-mas SHOW!

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

External links

"No Way to Say"
information at Avex Network.
"No Way to Say"
information at

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

. Ayumi Hamasaki songs 2003 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs written by Ayumi Hamasaki 2003 songs Song recordings produced by Max Matsuura Avex Trax singles {{2000s-Japan-single-stub