I can't believe no one else has mentioned it yet, lololol. If anything, it just makes Pray even more epic. I honestly think it's going to be one of the timeless gems in her discography. :luv2

I was just slower than you haha And actually, I can hear a tiny bit of You were... in Pray as well, so I'm listening and trying to find maybe there are some similarities with other somgs as well haha

This is like an awesome mashup of her ballads!

If I start humming Pray, when it gets to the chorus, I automatically start humming 'meaning of Love'. I didn't even remember what that song sounded like until I heard Pray. :tired Where do you hear You were...?

A is so amazing I can't even...

Omg HANABI! You're perfectly right...so that's why the song seems familiar in some way..

like... the first couple of notes in the chorus :D though it does remind me of Meaning of Love as well!!

Bridge reminds me of something as well, but I don't remember what ><

Loving Pray right now. This morning was a surprise.. was not expecting the full song!

So true !! from the first listen I immediately recognized HANABI =)

Wow I never noticed it but I def hear meaning of Love and HANABI in here LOL.
In meaning of Love, she holds the "yo" part at the end of the prechorus. Same as in Pray
And the build up's pretty similar too so it's no wonder you sing them together loll.

This reminds me a lot of the No way to say/Part of Me discussion xD;; .

Is it wrong to be tearing up with PRAY? That song already made my 2014!!! ayu!!! Take my money!! throw the tour dates to my face NOW!

I got the HANABI vibe too! Love this song already~

The bit before the first chorus reminds me of MOON for some weird reason xD

^ I don't know but that didn't stop me from doing it. All. Night.

Pray.

Thank you Ayu again for completing my life.

In regards to Pray...
Did anyone else notice, essentially, "If I'm reborn, I'll find you again."

Also said in Part of me and Together when...
Possibly for the same person?
Or is this a common saying in Japan?
I'm unsure.

Yes i noticed it immediately when hearing the song for the first time. It's a motif she uses often, I don't know if it's common in japan, maybe it's just her thing...
It could be directed to the same person, I thought the same. Also because it's the first time that she defines this "promise" as "kattenasugiru", meaning too selfish. She never did that before I believe...so it could mean that she's at a new stage regarding this past relationship...the person she's speaking to, fictional or real, is definetely the subject of together when though.

lyrically, Pray reminds me quite a bit of criminal, although the latter takes "fault" to a negative level and makes the protagonist a, well, "criminal". the former brings about the "greater love" theme, ambiguous and fitting for Buddha

^agreed.
Maybe she hurt the person she was in love with somehow. Being that criminal came out in 2006/2007 maybe it's nagase?
She says there about it being her fault and so on, and that if the other person is fighting alone that's a sign that she cannot be forgiven and can't ask for forgiveness.
In pray she sings about "many things in which she can't still receive comprehension" and that even though she loves him she won't meet him again because she loves him more than anyone. Maybe she knows she'll end up hurting him again?
Sorry if I read too much into this, I love lyrics' speculation XD

btw she doesn't always write lyrics based on her own experiences. during the RAINBOW era she mentioned there were songs (Over) where she wrote based on her friends' experiences.

usually her theme songs touch on a more generic kind of love

oh I didn't know that. Interesting. Maybe sometimes it's also a mix of the two things...

anyway, the lovely "dare yori mo aishiteru kara" got sung BEFORE pray in HERE.
ENJOY ahs.
http://youtu.be/X5O5haDt9Yk?t=24s

and this just because I can:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDWh-TaHk0E

the woman didn't know she was going to become the queen of japa...j-pop-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qeGglwlvK8 <