I love everything about it, but I think it could have been even better with someone other than Nakano. However since it is such a personal song, having someone she knows arrange it does make it a bit more... personal lol.

Please do it anyway, I love your translations

Although it is nothing groundbreaking, I hardly understand how people here could say and mean they hate it as it sounds like the most classic Ayu thing.

I didn't like the vocals in the first minute and a half then it got better in the second part. This song feels to me like a mix between Beloved and Pray (Better then beloved but much inferior to Pray in my opinion).

I doubt she will enlarge her fanbase with that title but hey we finally have something new to listen after years.

The song sounds lovely, it got me crying from the first time I heard it
As far as my Japanese goes, the lyrics are wonderful... it does feel like she's singing to her child...
Thank you, ayu <3

I’m impressed with her voice tbh. (Though the first part could be better). It sounds more mature imo, though not near as good as she used to be between her golden years for me (2005-2010). I like the song, but probably won’t listen to it much, I’m not in the mood for that kind of ballads right now. But it’s so nice to see her releasing something again.

I wonder if this is gonna be potentially a part of her a-nation online setlist if she ends up performing for it. Since it's got a "new single" billing as well, maybe she'll do something to promote the song after this sudden release.

Except from the first minute or so she sounds alright and this is what she sounds like live...after a few tries it started growing on me. It’s somehow warm.

I like it better than some of the older songs like Hello new me, Winter diary and I definitely want to listen to it more.

Tbh I’d think that an acoustic guitar or a piano-only would work better for the first half and would make the track stand out more.

They used a lot more of the twinkly chimes in this than a lot of other tracks. Perhaps a smidge less of them in the first half of the song would help. I think they hold back on guitars till about the second half otherwise it’s super light percussion with piano/strings.

I could see this song being a nice concert closer, kind of like Who...

same. this was such a nice surprise to wake up to.

I could see that or part of an encore where she'd usually have like Key or teens.

Finally!!! after 2 years!!:(

It’s now available on iTunes (EU) <3

It's on Spotify, as well! :)

wow I am full of Thoughts, none of which bad :luv2

I love this song. I definitely don't get the filler-ballads vibe from this one. I hope this gets a sweet, proper PV one day.

the lyrics are loaded with meanings, the melody is so beautiful, and the song seems to cater to the current state of her voice. I agree that it kind of get cutesy, but it wasn't annoying to me.)

oh OH also: I'm happy about the mastering! I was worried that it would sound like Last minute or æternal (no hate, but these songs have some of her worst mastering), but nope! all good to my (amateur, untrained) ears <3

While we can hear her normal or almost normal voice from time to time, there's too much baby voice going on, especially when she ends the words with vibrato. Ironically it makes her sound not younger, but like grandma.
Yeah, sounds much better this way.
It's a very safe song and it absolutely has that classic Ayu sound. While I can say it's more of the same, it's a good kind of same.

To my amateur untrained ears, I never understood the difference between good or bad mastering until we got a new car with JBL speakers and NOW I can hear the difference! I still enjoy the songs, but would like to see them remastered in a BEST album or something.

That thing should be banned already. I hate how she's overusing chimes. Arrangement is extremely generic and sounds like "The Way I am" part two. I like the second half though. 2 years for that? Thanks, ayu. Hope to hear something spectacular in a few years. Good luck!

Can we please have a TV performance to promote it?

Twitter user kimonobeat (@kmnbt_lyrics) did a translation of the song.
https://t.co/HxPx845SdA?amp=1

Very heart-warming lyrics. She's a proud mom.

^Definitely! I love the lyrics a lot. :heart

I loved this song. So lovely and heartwarming

so heartwarming. I hope she and her son can lead a happy life.

Loved the lyrics! So touching :luv2 Maybe the baby's name is "Lehua" haha where she says "Like lehuas, closely nestled up against ohia trees" taking it as the baby is the flower and Ayu is the tree, that would be a cute name.

The lyrics are so endearing!!! I love them! :) The lyrics are definitely what makes this song shine.

Thanks for the lyric translation. Go mama Ayu!! That was sweet

Those lyrics are so sweet!! I almost cried.

I loved this song so much, it's so heartwarming and the lyrics made it so special! So happy that ayu shared this beautiful part of her life with us <3

It looks like the physical version of the single is coming with the mu-mo / TeamAyu copy. So.... that was the other CD!

https://i.imgur.com/WCYOUsT.png

［CD DISC-2：SINGLE］
01. オヒアの木
02. オヒアの木 (Instrumental)

I am so glad, finally new music from her. Song is beautiful. :)

Omg this is perfect. I love the concert & the song. So much happiness.:heart

Do you guys think this is the start of a new era of singles?

I had a thought of them releasing the DVD with the song's PV as a bonus track, guess this will do (kinda) lol.

And the lyrics, they're so sweet, you can feel the motherliness coming from them, very heartwarming.

I hope she riding this wind and at least trying back to the music scene once again. Hopefully collaborate with a new arranger.

Does that mean the single won’t be released as a standalone? :-(

#2 iTunes Japan

Sadly. Seems it's a "first press" only kind of thing.

Beautiful lyrics i love the new Ayu a "mom" finally has a son so she won't be alone forever ☺️

That's cool

anyway, your profile picture bring back memory to Carols' era.

The more I listen to the song..the more I feel that her vocals add so much more, especially after reading the lyrics.

She sings carefully, in a very very controlled way. And it feels like at the beginning of her pregnancy, she was cautious, wary and maybe had lots of uncertainty.

But as the song progressed, she sounded stronger and as a fellow AHSmember said, she sounded "mature" vocally and very confident in the way she came across. I think it also signifies how after the birth of her son, and seeing him, it just made her stronger moving forward.

It's such a beautiful song when it all comes together. No way could this be some experimental ballad. It was just what it had to be. This woman could sing offpitch live and whatever but her voice. HER VOICE still carries so much emotion in what she sings and it comes across here more than ever.

I'm so happy that single will have physical release!
And I like that it's so special! It's just a letter to her baby included into other release, called Promised Land by the way. Isn't it cool? Nice that it's not directly on sale, it will ruin all the romance and tenderness of the song.

that bag is very much inspired by Virgil's collection for LOUIS VUITTON last summer which bags ayu actually has :D

OMG, I’m so glad it will have a physical edition. What a lovely idea! It makes this release very special IMO. Super happy about this. Thank you Ayu <3

This song is so precious, I love the way it opens with a reserved sounding cutesy/shy tone and then as it progresses, Ayu's voice seems to become warmer and, I dunno how to explain it, "freer"?

I sort of feel a mix of beloved and Zutto's chorus but it also sounds like a kind of sequel to The Way I Am. At this stage there's inevitable similarities in the songs she releases but I loved hearing it. Ayu seems like a really proud mother, I hope she maintains that happiness with her baby for a long time :)

I really liked the song when I was first listening to it yesterday and now with knowing the lyrics I like it even more... :love
Like others said before. So wonderful lyrics, a really heartwarming song! I am happy she released this.

She’s doing really well on YouTube views too! Over 230k in less than a day...god I wish she would ride this wave and blow our minds with Colours 2.0 lol

If it involves some trashy music video like Girls just wanna have fun, I'm all for it.

I like the song but thie is a grower, I need more time to appreciate it more.

However, I think releasing this song as a "comeback" right after the drama ends isn't the best choice imo. To me, this is such a huge wasted opportunity. I think that aeternal should have been released instead because aeternal's lyrics scream Max/Ayu relationship to me lol

Avex could put ayu on music station and have her sing aeternal + ohia no ki

Piano version

I think some are reading too much into the song. It's very much a Kazuhito composition, and it definitely sounds like an idea from A ONE that was maybe too similar to Walk and Anything For You to include on the album. So, I don't think she's singing cautiously as an art form, or that this was intended to be a big comeback. I think it's just a tie-in thing, a way of wrapping up the television series about her career.

The lyrics are definitely new, but some of it reads too like lyrics she's held onto for some time. Anyone remember when Ayu used to do this? IIRC, some of the songs on (miss)understood were ideas she had during the MY STORY era, but just hadn't found their right time and place. And I know Secret was a song she'd held onto for some time. She'd wanted to do something Enka for awhile, and it just happened to come together at the last minute for the album. This feels like a mix of writing styles from A ONE and however she's approaching writing now. She's evolved a lot, from the more quirky and pop-inspired writing on songs like Startin' and RULE/Sparkle, to the more difficult to describe ideas on projects like A ONE. These lyrics read more like MIJ/TROUBLE were one-off projects, and like Ayu personally wanted to keep the more mature and elegant writing style that she had during A ONE and sixxxxxx.

Anyway, I'm impressed with the lyrics. Definitely something fresh for her to sing about. And even if the composition and production sound very same ol', same ol', the message and theme seems more purposeful. I can only describe it as sounding *not* like Ayu is obsessed with love (AGAIN... sorry, I had to roll with the pun here.) Instead, it seems replaced with an Ayu who is confident that "love" is what makes the experiences she has with others meaningful. That it's not some thing she can go hunting for, but is instead something she's learned to tap into as a woman, a mother, and a veteran of her line of work. She sounds like she's grown past a lot of insecurity. And that is, at least for me, the best part of this song.

I am very curious if she has been recording a lot more than just this song lately because she's posted about work and being very busy, which is odd for someone who just canceled months of tour dates. She's also been unusually lowkey on social media, which in the past has been the pattern for her during the 2-3 months she'd record. Ayu is a workaholic. Always has been, probably always will be. And it's been four years since MIJ. She's grown as a person, matured. I think the angst of MIJ and feeling trapped by the industry could be behind her. She's looked so much more self-assured in her photos, both on tour and on social media. So, I feel like she's in a good position to write about new things, like motherhood and self-reflection and hope, more now than even one year ago. I'm now super curious to see if Ayu does put out a new album in the near future, and what it could (or will) sound like.

Agree. Would like to see a new arranger for her songs. I have a feeling ayu has a really good friendship with Yuta Nakano. He's been responsible for a large selection of her songs since talkin 2 myself

Hey this is not the 50 tracks special album feat the one-eyed lady form the TV drama I was waiting for! :o
Okay I really didn't expect new music haha. She surprised me and all of us! I almost couldn't believe it when I saw the instagram story.

When it comes down to the song, I really like the lyrics, it's a fresh topic for her and it's a welcome change. It's lovely. I'm so happy for her.
I was worried by her voice the first minute, but it definitely went better as the song progressed. It's gentle and sweet as it should.
As other people said the arrangements are really dated and she's already been there like a hundred time. To be honest I was already bored by this kind of song coming from her 10 years ago... imagine now haha. But the thing that annoys me most is how cheap the arrangements sound. It doesn't seem to include any real instrument and it really shows. It's so flat and bland. I wish they would put more money into this special song and be more demanding... I've never understood all those orchestral type songs with fake instruments. It's a big no for me.
But at this point I'm just really glad she's finally released a new song. Even if normally I would definitely skip it to listen to something more creative, interesting, something that draws me to it.

I'll try to enjoy it more, because in the end it's a nice surprise after all those times...

Still can't get into it. But I never been the biggest fan of Who and I#m aways slipping the dreadful 5+ minutes of beloved.
To me, this is not classic ayu. Seems like people have other ideas when it comes to what makes her, but whatever this is is not part of how I would describe her sound.

I also agree very much with the post above this.

Reminder what songs Kazuhito Kikuchi composed for ayu

As if..., Depend on you
immature, WHATEVER, appears, Who...
vogue, Far away*, SURREAL
About You, Replace
HEAVEN
Beautiful Fighters
* + D.A.I

I love the song and I like it even more after reading the lyrics :heart

#1 on Recochoku and #5 on iTunes Japan!

https://recochoku.jp/ranking/single/...ate=4410101045

Yay I was waiting for the Recochoku position. We are the QUEENS managed to reach the 3rd position back then, so this is very nice!

Finally after 2 years we have a new song from Ayu!!!! Plus the lyrics!

So touching I wanna cry!!

Also Masa did mentioned in his social media earlier this year that Ayu is recording something. I hope we'll see a new album soon! Trouble has been 2 years ago!

@hidekirby & @thinkingoutloud89 : Preach! :yes

Sidenote: A COMPLETE #3 and A BEST #4 on daily album charts as well!
(nothing new but she's rocking those digital charts for a while now!)
https://recochoku.jp/ranking/album/daily

Did he? I think he mentioned more that he wanted Ayu to record something with Komuro for the book release but that tweet was deleted. Komuro also did not want to compose something allegedly because he doesn't like Ayu.

Usually I find they program drums/guitar more than strings which usually leads to strings credits. Those at least seem like real strings but the drums/guitar seem like synth. If they did this really rather recently, could just be lack of resources to go all in, but they usually don't do that even pre-pandemic precautions.

Komuro doesn’t like Ayu?

It was a weird exchange that went on for a full day or so on Twitter. I think it was just alleged that Komuro said "Ayu can't sing" and so on.

I wanna know the tea too haha!

Oh okay...Wasn't he the one who messed up the CDL performance a couple of years ago? (or do I mix him with someone else?)

To me this new song doesn't include any real strings. It's been a long time I noticed she's been using like fake violins for the arrangements. Sometimes they even mix them with real strings (some parts are programming some parts are real strings).

https://gachi-spo.com/art-sports/18823.html

This shows a lot of the old tweets from the exchanges Max had, some of the tweets don't exist so they're screencapped or quoted.

In TROUBLE they had "real strings" for most songs that had them, but instead of a whole group, I think what they did was record a single violin and multiplied it for different parts. Rather than the usual crediting of "strings", it was just "violin". Usually it would be like Gen Ittetsu Strings or Yuko Kajitani Strings, but only Yuko Kajitani has been credited for some recent songs as solely violin. It could result in a less full sound but could still be considered real at that point.

He did mess up at the M(A)DE IN TOKYO thing from what I recall. The performance was really awkward.

I wanna know more about this TK-Ayu spat. She seems to like his compositions (ex. Love songs, LOVE again, A ONE, teens/Happening Here, Many Classic Moments). I'm sure he could make a song that does not require hitting so many high notes considering ayu's current vocals

It was more of a Max vs. Komuro thing. On Twitter, he mentioned that "Komuro hasn't made hits in years after giving him so many chances" and fans started talking to Max about it since they were more sympathetic towards Komuro and it led to stuff like "I asked him to make a song but he refused" or whatever.

https://twitter.com/maxmatsuuratwit/...45051861381120

For more context here's one of the tweet threads.

Also what led to some discussion of it here in the CDL threads:
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=451

I'm really surprised because it was particularly noticeable on TROUBLE specifically. You can hear this constant electronic and flat "wind" sound everywhere which tries to imitate violins. I can't find scans anywhere so I couldn't verify in the credits.

Haha ok so that's him! Too bad I liked what they did with his compositions on Love Songs : /

A few fans always update her credits on Discogs, so if you wanted to look that up, you have to go to a specific entry there and it'll usually be there! It will be interesting to see the Ohia no Ki credits whenever we get them in August.

The two violin-only tracks on TROUBLE. Also funny to mention that aeternal and WORDS were both arranged by basically old H/\L. Back then when they did more arrangements for Ayu, they were known for a loooot of synths after Yuta left to do stuff on his own. H/\L as a unit seems to have worked with Ayu all in varying combinations since they sort of 'split'. (Toshiharu Umezaki, Takehito Shimuzu, Atsushi Sato, Yuta Nakano)

Thank you! I totally didn't think about Discogs!

That's what I felt while listening through the instrumentals. I was convinced that it was almost full programming but wasn't sure for some accents on those 2 songs (the beginning of The way I am for example you can hear the real violins). So the sound I don't like is indeed full programming.

Definitely not Komuro's fault that Japan doesn't care about Ayu and her music. He's composed so many great songs.

^But was that comment about him not having made hits in years referring to his work with Ayu or in general?

I think they were just talking about Komuro in general and then Ayu came up in a tweet afterward He worked with quite a lot of artists not just Ayu when he 'returned'. Nothing quite got to hit status like his old stuff but the bigger songs were probably Ayu songs... or AAA.

Btw M is #25 on the recochoku daily charts~

Yeah looks like this for today:

Singles
no.1 - Ohia no Ki
no.25 - M

Hi-Res Singles
no.1 - Ohia no Ki

Video
no.18 - M

Albums
no. 3 - A COMPLETE
no. 4 - A BEST
no. 18 - A SUMMER BEST

I do wonder whether Ohia no Ki will be able to hold the position for the whole week...

Probably not, but it's been a while since any Ayu track got close to that spot even on dailies.

I'm happy with the new song. It doesn't break any new ground and it doesn't really do anything interesting but I think it is a well crafted ballad. I don't hear Ayu's cutesy voice really. Maybe it creeps in here and there but I felt Ayu sounded pretty natural in this recording. I actually feel that Ayu's voice sounds healthier here than it has the last few years. I would also agree that the mastering is a bit better this time which adds to the enjoyment of listening for me, it's not as flat and loud like past ballads.
I was not expecting a new song at all. I'm hopeful she chooses to return to making an album.

It's been ages since the last time she got that number 1 position for daily single chart

so proud and happy

Almost 500K views on youtube, I'm so proud of her. By the way, the song is very sweet & touching in the good way and the lyrics are just perfect for his son. It reminds me, meaning of love & LOVE again era. As usual Yuta Nakano is very predictable but the melody is beautiful.

Also ayu's voice is pretty good except in the end of the song with the "ah" But overall I really enjoyed it. I feel her emotion during the song & I'm really happy.

Now let's go for the next album girl !!!!

I think it isn't so much that Yuta is predictable but the sound he makes for Ayu is the one she wants, that is why she goes back to him. He is very capable and versatile if he isn't in that mid-tempo mode Ayu seems to ask him for in recent arrangements.

I know Yuta Nakano is very versatile, I love a lot of songs he arranged. It's just typical ayu's ballad with the same arrangements like meaning of love, walk, anything for U etc..... It seems very generic to me like a lot of songs this days... I know Ayumi probably wants this kind of arrangements & it's ok for this song but verryyyyyyy safe. By the way I love it anyway :p

https://twitter.com/rice20000/status...54450183237638

Ayu's audio director "Kome" commented on the firsts. He said thanks for the first place and that there's lots of 'firsts' attached to this and that he is glad many people listened to this song that has 'Ayu's unchanging character'.

Daily positions are only an indicator, important are the daily numbers published by e.g. Oricon or Billboard, covering all big download sites.

Saying that, Ayu is at #1 on the first day with 5k sold digitally:
https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dis/d/2020-07-05/

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/QZJ548.png

Congrats to her!

You guys talking about the fact she dropped this just after the drama finished got me thinking about if it aired a year or two ago or if she had held on to The Way I Am and dropped that instead?

I feel like the impact on the forum would have been wild lmao

Either way I'm so happy she's charting so well and is overall getting a positive reception to Ohia's release :)

Daily no.1 is still nothing to scoff at. I don't think anything really got to that position with TROUBLE or M(A)DE IN JAPAN, but at the same time it's just been a while since new music that being no.1 again after that long of a break it's even more amazing.

I love The way I am, the lyrics and melody are not quite matched by the arrangement though.

At this point in her career, she just needs to lean hard into the sound that has defined her music. Some might say this sounds dated, but I think it perfectly encapsulates the Ayu sound, with a chorus that I can actually recall for the first time since, what, 2013/2014? This is the right way forward for Ayu. I hope she sustains this direction. The last seven years really felt like unremarkable filler.

Forcing Ayu to experiment or break new ground will just turn her into a caricature like what Madonna has become since Confessions on a Dancefloor. Ayu’s musical identity has already been fully formed and shaped. She just needs to thoughtfully re-explore the musical geography she has carved out in the past.

^Just a matter of taste tho.

Sad thing is I’m in the mood for drama Ayu in the vein of party queen, not this cheesy (but sweet) ballads. I think she’ll write about completely different things from now on lol

I really like that she uses the Japanese title for her song.

It's really nice to see her at #1 again, even if it's just for a day. I wonder where she will rank on the weekly chart, any predictions? Usually new singles come out on a Friday, don't they? In that case, Ayu is missing two days worth of sales.

But in the end, I am happy either way. The most important thing is the fact that we have a new song. :heart

Given how downloads seem to be rather low overall, I would think top 5 at the least. MAYBE top 3?

Also I finally saw what mimika was talking about with Max's tweets earlier in the year! He basically held a camp for songwriters/producers to make stuff for Ayu, lol.

http://ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124947

Pretty much covered it in this thread. It bodes well for more Ayu music down the road. It seems Asia is a big target from now on along with general global appeal?

That would be really nice! :)

Ayu saw that she's #1 and posted screen of recochoku ranking at her instastory with "arigato gozaimasu"

Nice! She may have seen it from Kome since he also posted it.

Good single. Deserved #1

It isn’t, however the number of streams on Spotify is ~4k. I guess the majority of people are using Youtube 😅

Isn't Japan prefer awa over Spotify?

I'm not really sure what Japan is using but Spotify is usually pretty low for Ayu as well as AWA overall. It's sort of everywhere so a bunch of people are doing it via Apple Music and then the other 10 services that have the song.

They just really split up how people can listen to it. It's on AWA, Apple Music, iTunes Store, LINE Music, Spotify, Recochoku, Utapass, DwangoJP, mora, Amazon Music, and mu-mo.

I think given the positions on charts and trending, a lot of people listened to or purchased it on Apple Music/iTunes or Recochoku if they could and a lot of people had their first listens on YouTube. There are also two versions of the song on YouTube, the one on Ayu's channel as official audio and one just as a single release.


^559k+ views


^17k+ views

Also 4k seems a bit low. I checked my Spotify and it was at 17k streams.

https://i.imgur.com/s9fibP6.png

Right now the most popular services are according to the ICT inquiry we get every year:
01. Prime Music (amazon)
02. Apple Music
03. LINE Music
04. Spotify

AWA is only at 7.
Spotify got more.popular in the last two years.

https://mag.app-liv.jp/archive/35240/