is a Japanese

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

sung by

Lia Lia is a feminine given name. In the Spanish-speaking world, it is accented Lía. In English-speaking countries, the name may be a variant of Leah or Lea. Lia may be a diminutive of various names including Julia, Cecilia, Amelia, Talia, Cornel ...

, written by

Jun Maeda is a Japanese writer and composer. He is a co-founder of the visual novel brand Key under Visual Arts. He is considered a pioneer of nakige visual novels, and has mainly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the ...

, composed by

Shinji Orito is a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games. After leaving Le ...

, and

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

by Kazuya Takase. The song was recorded at Paramount Studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

by the

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

studio Key through their

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Key Sounds Label Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Arts. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visu ...

for use as the opening

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

of Key's 2000 visual novel ''

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

''. A short version of the song was first released on

I've Sound I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different vocalists, known as to their fans ...

's July 2000

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Verge''. The full version of "Tori no Uta" first appeared on the limited edition

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

Ornithopter An ornithopter (from Greek language, Greek ''ornis, ornith-'' 'bird' and ''pteron'' 'wing') is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers sought to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may dif ...

'' (September 2000) originally bundled with the first printing release of the ''Air'' game, though "Tori no Uta" was not

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 ...

ed on the album. The song was later widely distributed on the '' Air Original Soundtrack'' (2002), the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the visual novel. The song was later featured as the opening theme to the ''Air'' anime series in 2005. The Japanese

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

''Moteken'' used "Tori no Uta" as the ending theme to their October 15, 2007 broadcast. Shinji Orito commented on the song in the ''Air Original Soundtrack'' booklet where he remarked, "Even though I have made up my mind that the song "Tori no Uta" best captures the themes of ''Air'', arriving at this was extremely difficult. Besides being under a lot of pressure, I'm still quite inexperienced in the field of music; this is the area I want to become stronger in most of all."

Musical structure

"Tori no Uta" is the longest track featured in ''

'', spanning 6:08 minutes. "Tori no Uta" is a

song in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

which begins in the

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

key and waits until the eighth measure for

to begin singing. The song is kept in B minor for the first

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse (poetry), a line or lines in a poetic composition * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but still re ...

, shifts to

G-sharp minor G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has five sharps.Tapper, Thomas. First Year Musical Theory (rudiments of Music)'. United States, A. P. Schmidt, 1912. Its ...

for the second, and again shifts to the previous key's supertonic,

A-sharp minor A-sharp minor is a minor musical scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has seven sharps. Its relative major is C-sharp major (or enharmonically D-flat major). Its parallel major, A-shar ...

(or enharmonically

B-flat minor B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-s ...

) for the third, then after a brief modulation to

C-sharp minor C-sharp minor is a minor scale based on C, with the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of four sharps. The C-sharp natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale ar ...

, continues into the first measure of the fourth verse where it shifts back to B minor for the rest of the verse. After a short

break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

, the key goes back to G-sharp minor and continues the same pattern as before. At the end of this sequence in verse seven, the first verse is repeated as the sole

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

in B minor. An instrumental coda is used to close the song which lasts for about one-sixth of the entire piece's length. The song's instrumentation primarily uses a

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

as a base, but does include a short

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 ...

sequence lasting for the first eight measures, along with piano accompaniment throughout the song. The song moves at 122

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 ...

, and Lia's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

spans almost two

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

s from F-sharp₄ to D₆.

Release history

"Tori no Uta" has been released many times in original and

versions. The song was first released as a shortened version spanning 3:09 minutes on

's July 2000

'' Verge''. The first release of the song on

, the record label affiliated with Key, was on the 2001 album '' Humanity...'' as a remix version subtitled " Bossanova version" and was sung by Mina Minomo. The full-length original version of the song was first released on the limited edition

'' (September 2000) originally bundled with the first printing release of the ''Air'' game. The song was later widely distributed on the '' Air Original Soundtrack'' (2002), the

of the visual novel, in original, short, and instrumental versions. An instrumental

version of "Tori no Uta" was released on the album '' Re-feel'' (2003) by Key Sounds Label. A remixed version arranged by Cosmic Seekers was included on the albums '' Air Analog Collector's Edition'', and ''OTSU Club Music Compilation Vol.1'', both released by Key Sounds Label in 2006. Another instrumental piano version was released on the album '' Key 10th Memorial Score'', and a remixed version arranged by Blasterhead was included on the album ''OTSU:Blasterhead'', both released by Key Sounds Label in 2009. The song was included on two remix albums released by Key Sounds Label in July 2012: ''Keynote'' remixed by Sōshi Hosoi, ''VisualArt's 20th Anniversary Remixes'' remixed by PandaBoY. A re-arranged version of the song was released on Shinji Orito's album '' Circle of Fifth'' in October 2012. A classical music version was released on the remix album ''Key Classic'' in December 2012 by Key Sounds Label. The song also appeared on several albums released by

. The first was a remix on her first independent album ''Prismatic'' (2004); the song carried the subtitle "2004 summer version: Relaxin' with lovers mix", and later appeared on Lia's

best of 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 ...

album ''Crystal Voice'' (2007). The original version appeared on Lia's best of album ''Diamond Days'' (2007), and a remix version by

StripE Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to: Decorations *Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface *Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration * Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military Entertainment ...

subtitled "StripE REMIX" was included on her best of album ''Spectrum Rays'' (2007). A new vocal recording of "Tori no Uta" was released on Lia's ''Enigmatic LIA 2'' album in early 2007, and another remix by DJ Sharpnel subtitled " he speed freak's noise rave remix was released on Lia's ''Enigmatic LIA 3'' album in early 2009.

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

versions of the song have appeared on two

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

s by Lia. The first was the June 2005

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

album ''Prologue'' featuring tracks performed at Lia's concert of the same name in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in January 2005. The second was the June 2008 DVD album ''The Limited'' featuring tracks performed at Lia's concert at

Zepp Tokyo The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music venues covering every area of the country. They play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in whic ...

in September 2007; this album also contained a bonus track of "Tori no Uta" subtitled "

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers at the conclusion of a show or concert, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford Universi ...

]". Another live version appeared on Key Sound Label's ''List of KSL Live World albums#KSL Live World 2008: Way to the Little Busters! EX, KSL Live World 2008: Way to the Little Busters! EX'' live album featuring tracks performed at the second KSL Live World 2008 concert held in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan in May 2008. Later, a live version appeared on Key Sound Label's '' KSL Live World 2010: Way to the Kud Wafter'' live album featuring tracks performed at one of the May 22, 2010 KSL Live World 2010 concerts held in Tokyo. "Tori no Uta" was sampled for the second

movement Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

of a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

on the bonus CD '' Shinwa e no Izanai'' released with the special edition DVD version of the ''Air'' film in August 2005. A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song, sung by

Asami Imai is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Early Wing. She debuted as a voice actress in 1997 and as singer in 2009 by releasing her first single "Day by Day / Shining Blue Rain" under the 5pb. Records label. She is also well known ...

, was released on a two-disc music album and

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

entitled ''Your Song''. The album was released in January 2007 by

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

for their

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

The Idolmaster is a Japanese media franchise that began in 2005 with a Life simulation game, raising simulation and Rhythm game, rhythm video game series created by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The series primarily centers on the career of a pr ...

''; Imai is the voice of Chihaya Kisaragi from ''The Idolmaster''. The cover version was re-released in August 2007 on an

image song In Japan, an image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, video game, drama, manga, or other commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or a ...

and audio drama CD entitled ''The Idolmaster Master Artist 05 Chihaya Kisaragi'' featuring songs sung by Imai. Another cover version, sung by

Masaaki Endoh is a Japanese singer-songwriter who is prominent in the area of soundtracks for anime and tokusatsu productions. He is one of the founders of the Music in Japanese animation, Anison band JAM Project and has been a regular member ever since its ...

, was released on Endoh's anime song cover album ''Enson2: Cover Songs Collection Vol.2'' sold in December 2008. A cover version of "Tori no Uta" appeared in the sequel of

Front Wing is a Japanese visual novel studio known for the production of adult ''bishōjo games''. Its main office is located in Taitō, Tokyo. The representative producer and president is Ryūichirō Yamakawa. “Frontwing” is the company's main brand ...

's visual novel ''

Time Leap is a Japanese visual novel developed by Front Wing. It was first released as an adult game for Windows on December 27, 2007, and it was followed by an all-ages version release for the Xbox 360 on June 25, 2009. ''Time Leap'' is Front Wing ...

'' titled ''Time Leap Paradise'' released in July 2009. Another cover version by

Chihiro Yonekura is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. History While Yonekura was attending university, she sent off several demonstration tapes to recording companies. She was scouted out, and received the opportunity to do the op ...

appeared on her 2011 cover album ''Nakeru Anison''. A cover version was released in January 2012 as an official demo for the

Vocaloid 3 Vocaloid 3 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 2 in the Vocaloid series. This version of the software is a much more expansive version, containing many new features, three new languages and many more vocals than past software ...

product IA: Aria on the Planetes; Lia is the voice provider of IA. "Tori no Uta"'s melody has also appeared in two of the medleys in

Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga is a series of video medleys, and is also the title of one of the videos in the series. The original video was created by Shimo (), a user of the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga. Overview Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga was first uploaded at 5 ...

. A portion of "Tori no Uta," sung by Nikki, is present in the Chinese hip-hop song "Looking Back" by Yin Ts'ang.

Hiroko Moriguchi (born June 13, 1968, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name is a female Japanese singer and tarento. Moriguchi is affiliated with the talent agency NoReason Inc., where she also serves as Second Production Departm ...

covered the song on her 2024 album ''

Anison Covers 2 ''Anison Covers 2'' is a cover album by Hiroko Moriguchi, released by Sonic Blade on August 7, 2024. The album features 10 anime theme songs covered in jazz, acoustic, and bossa nova. It is offered in two editions: CD only and CD with Blu-ray. ...

''. In Japan and the Chinese community, "Tori no Uta" has been referred as the "National Anthem" of ACG.

Shaun Yu controversy

On August 27, 2005,

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

reported that

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an musician Shaun Yu may have

plagiarized Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of anothe ...

"Tori no Uta". Yu's current album, ''The Best of Shaun Yu'', features a track called "Melody" which sounds like the ''Air'' theme. Though Key made no official statement at the time, an investigation was initiated. On September 21, 2005, it was reported that a second song on ''The Best of Shaun Yu'' may have been plagiarized from a song composed by Hiroyuki Tōshima, "Tenshi no Kyujitsu". Yu had stated that his producers, YesMusic, had arranged both tracks, and that he was unaware of the situation. YesMusic, in turn, had stated that it licensed the rights to the song from Key/VisualArt's for

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

distribution, but that the album came out in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

before licensing could be arranged for that territory. However, Key/VisualArt's denied this, as per a statement on Key's website: :Official Announcement Regarding Plagiarism of "Tori no Uta": :Thank you very much for supporting products of our humble company. According to information provided by fans, we've learned that Shaun Yu's distributed by Sony BMG Entertainment (Taiwan) is suspected plagiarizing our music—"Tori no Uta". We apologize for worrying supporting fans. We have filed a formal complaint to Sony BMG Entertainment and made following demands: :*Apologize publicly on the web. :*Credit the composer of "Tori no Uta" to

clearly. :*If the above two requirements are fulfilled, we will not ask for financial compensations. :We have been negotiating with Sony BMG Entertainment (Taiwan) with those terms. Regrettably, Tommy Chi, director of YesMusic, the production company of this CD, has made a false announcement today that he had purchased distribution rights from us. It is a pity and is regrettable. In order to show our objection to his plagiarizing actions and his dishonest attitude, we shall not license any of our creation to them, including Tori no Uta. These days, we have received supports from both Japanese and Taiwanese fans. You have our immense gratitude. Please keep supporting our humble company, Key, in the future. :''Translation from

, not the official website.'' On September 29, 2005,

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

Taiwan posted a statement of apology in both Chinese and Japanese on their official website. CD shipments were cancelled and recalled.

Notes and references

External links

Key Sounds Label's official website

Lia's personal website
{{Authority control 2000 songs Key Sounds Label Lia (Japanese singer) songs New-age songs Trance songs