Thoughts of Sparkle FULL SONG
 

Now that it's out...

ITS VERY DIFFERENT!!! OMG...

This song is hot and there is that slight techno march. I'm really one who loves almost any song with a march hahaha. About the lyrics, i realy can't tell how sensual/mature they are but ffrom the song, I guess they fit?

I can't believe Ayu made this song. I feels very danceable and JUST KAKOII!!!!!!!!

I like it, but I think it gets kind of uninteresting after the first chorus. Nothing "new" happens for the rest of the song. :P

i absolutely love it!!!! i love the new styles ayu is trying out!!!! i love how techno it sounds!!!! and the parts when she say no no no :luv2

I was underwhelmed personally.

It's different and unique for Ayu, but I felt like it was... lacking something. Rule drew me in a lot more.

The "No No No"s are rather epic, but the chorus in general just sounds out of place.

I do like it though XD , just like Rule, I think the verses save the song <3

This is the type of song I've been wanting from her in such a long time! I knew I'd like it more than Rule and this song just makes me anticipate NEXT LEVEL even more! I expect it to be a hot album!

AMAZING.

Best track off NEXT LEVEL... the breakdown at the final chorus is amazing.

100x better than Rule.

An epic new sound from ayu. Pure awesome. Only thing I regret is no PV! It probably woulda been an abstract Kouki Tange-ish PV. Oh well, its still awesome :thumbsup

seriously. it's different than anything she's done. it reminded me of 'TABOO' a bit but like a million times better. this single is AWESOME

OMFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG


i dont have words right now


great great great song!!!!!!!!!! totally new level



and complainers, eat your words or im gonna .... ^^



(had to edit it :P)

Now all she needs is o dance like Perfume with this song! :D hahahaha

I love it, it's so cool and GREAT so different! so fresh! it makes me wonder what's he next level! I'm kinda scared about it! but It will be epic!!!

I don't know what to expect before I heard Sparkle but I really like it , it's so different from what I imagined it to be

:thumbsup

Best song of 09 for me thus far. (Right up there with WILD) I love the composition and arrangement. Been waiting for an electronic song for a long while.

It's crazy! I had no idea that it was going to sound like that!! I hope there are more tracks like Sparkle on the new album!

its different but I like it :D No I just like it, I love it.

I still have to read those sensual lyrics everyone is talking about cause I can't understand much xD

I am absolutely ecstatic over how this song turned out. The intro is awesome, and the verses are like jaw-drop worthy. I almost wasn't expecting the chorus to happen but then it just BURSTS out and blows your mind! The guitar riffs are awesome too.

asgjksahjshahjhm.

EVERYTHING about this song is awesome!

I have not fanboyed this hard over Ayu since alterna and Will. In my opinion, this is truly her best song in a long time~ It's like the last Ayu release I remember is HEAVEN. It's making me forget all about GUILTY, Secret, and (miss)understood.

ooooooooooooooooooooohhhh its very master work is a song very electro/house very wonderful

This is seriously like THE SONG of the last two years.

I just was NOT expecting anything like this from Ayu...

and my initial reaction was HOLY ****ING **** THIS IS AWESOME.

And I'm in love with it.

So much better than Rule in soo many ways.

I really do hope that this is the direction her music goes in terms of how perfectly arranged it is, and the professionalism in the composition and everything.

I've never been so excited to be an Ayu fan.

And now I MUST HAVE THAT USB STICK.

Yeah! I Love it!! Great Song!! :D
Too bad there's no PV for Sparkle.. :(

Absolutely amazing. That's all i can think of to say about it.

Absolutely amazing.

haha
i also love the no no no part xDD

this song is just awesome *0*

This song should've gotten a PV. I love it :heart

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Japan Music Award - Song of the Year - Sparkle - Ayumi Hamasaki

OMG, the song made by day!
If this is next level, I'm satisfied, a complete new sound from ayu!
I don't mind a trance and techno album from her~

BTW, I absolutely adore "no, no, no~"

It's amazing, just as everyone else said. Perfect type of song I was anticipating. The new album is going to kick major ass. I wish that I could go to the tour now! Lol. Love the synths so much I could eat them up. Can't wait to dance to it!

I'm also thinking that this might be the song that Ayu was pondering as to if she should use the CREA composition or not. She's always got amazing ideas. Definitely sounds like a CREA song.

I love the no no no so much it's saying "you want this but you can't have it" hahaha it's so cool!

OMG AYUUUUU!!! CRAZY SONG!!!

Some really amaaaazing stuff right here.

Definitely something new that Ayu has done and it's really AWESOME. Me likes!

HOT! HOT! HOT! amazing song!
i knew this song was gonna be awesome, but its EVEN BETTER than i thought! ;)
reminds me of "WILD" from namie amuro a bit XD

OHMYGOD I LOVE THE SONG! It's so different! It makes a much bigger impact than Rule for me. Ayu really took it to the NEXT LEVEL with Sparkle :luv2

well....

i thought it would be like STEP You from the preview

BUT BOY WAS I WRONG LOL
the beginning threw me off... and the entire song changed how I see it. i really like it,

but if the lyrics really are "erotic" it makes me a bit dissappointed

SPEAKING OF WHICH LOL
this song for some reason reminded me of a britneys spears song
which freaked me out

but yaya for good new song?

the instrumentals are great... but i just don't feel for the vocal track melody... same goes to rule... the rockish instrumental for RULE and techno for Sparkle is just AMAZING... but the vocal track melody is just meh...

It's very refreshing and very different from what I have expected.
I really like this single a lot~!

Truely a NEXT LEVEL

I love it omg :spazzed :spazzed :heart

I wish Sparkle was the main aside instead of Rule :weep

Simply amazing in musicality!
It reminds me of LOVEppears with those electronica stylings.
I like the NO NO NO part! :D


Indeed, a NEXT LEVEL thingy!

The only thing we should wait is for the translation itself!

when i first heard the intro, i screamed and yelled~ and then she started singing and i screamed some more, and being an asian, my parents weren't too happy ...with the loud music and screaming X_X!!~ ...i LOVE the song..~

2 words...PURE LOVE!

AWESOME, DIFFERENT, I JUST LOVE IT !
it's so amazing!!!!!!


so happy it finally leaked! gosh! :yatta
and on MY B-DAY! so great :D

The intro reminds me Genie in a Bottle 2.0 of Christina Aguilera (yeah i love that song...).

I think that Ayu is frown up, and that she maybe is thinking in out of Japan, and chaging something her style, for enter to all the world, i think that all can love this song...i say is so...great, yeah, so...sexy!, it let me perplexed!

Yeah in some way, that is truth, the instrumental part is great, but that is more than the vocals...of Ayu...

Wow!! :love

Why cant Sparkle have a PV?!!
This is song is pure awesome!
So fresh and different for Ayu!
Woo!

And "Sparkle" reminds me of Boys & girls meets alterna :rolleyes

wow :O

if next level is at least 30% like sparkle it will be a win.

Nice example :D

Wow this is really different from what I expected. I wonder if this was the CREA song she talked about in her messages. It reminds me very much of Ladies Night in regards to the distortion and synthesizers. I'm not sure if I like it very much though. I think it's a good song and catchy as hell but I'm not feelin' it like I do when I listen to some of her other stuff.

i feel that this song is only average..

yes the music does make me wanna dance with it. but it doesnt make me sing with it.. the verses were monotonous...

I feel like it's a fusion of LOVEppears' Techno-Pop and GUILTY's Rock genres, which is great for me because those are my favorite albums.

Very well put. This is exactly how I feel. Monotonous is the word. I don't like how her voice is basically static in regards to the distortion. There's little to no change in it throughout the whole song. I get really jaded with each listen.

A+! So much better than Rule.

I like this song alot especially the whole no no thing and the last chorus.

All I gotta say..are those No's..

..*happy sigh*

I like it, but I think I'm still...digesting. I'm not too sure if I'm going to LOVE it or just think "it's different." I'll have to listen to it over a few days, I think.

I don't like how it starts and I actually am not that fond of the "no no no" part like everyone else is. I REALLY like the chorus and wish it were longer.

Where is everyone getting this idea of "erotic" or "sensual" lyrics? From what I understand, it's a pretty typical "stop standing around and change your future" kind of message. I don't see a single erotic thing in there.

way better than rule! :yes

horrible single covers, one horrible a-side.. but sparkle saved the single from being complete crap.

the chorus is my favorite part.

I don't know if I'll like this after hearing it for a while; but I'm really glad it excists! This is a great addition to Ayu's many faces and styles. Especially the soft parts before the chorusses are awesome. Wow what a weird song

yep i agree with juicy

the covers werent the best, etc

but Sparkle is just too good :D


even if someone personally didnt like it, doesnt mean that the song is bad

the song is just great, no matter what a hater could say :D:D:D

I love this song! :luv2 It feels like something off of loveppears but more remixed and modern. I'm happy with all the songs released so far for NEXT LEVEL. Thanks ayu!~

I heard the entire song,
And the lyrics posted on all websites seem to be slightly off..
But still, very true to the songs lyrics, the verses sound still a bit rude, and really unlike her messages in the past.

The song sounds like this:

EDIT: AHHH
I made a mistake.. I wrote stop instead of start for the chorus.. I am sorry..
It's a bit late.. 2:30 am in here... T_T
Sorry.

Look, over there, there's some hot and cute boys,
And the girls they are with tonight,
They've all taken a break from acting strong.

Feel it with your body,
In the way of your heart.

The beautiful voice in your head
(I can't understand what she says...)
So in that time, you should
Give your body to the beat.

It doesn't start with just staring,
It won't/can't (can't hear it properly) become your's.
Until when do you plan to do that,
And be sucking your thumb? No no no,

Don't get into a defensive,
Try to show me your offensive,
If it's possible or not,
Who's standard is that, and where are they? (dont know how to translate this one well.. it literally says "Who of where's standards is it?")

Be more daring, until you are shameless.

And after, if you do regret after,
Then that's an ordinary small talk.
If you obey this beat that you hear,
Then it's not a mistake.

If you do it only half way, then it doesn't tell me anything.
If you don't try to touch, then I don't understand.
Until when do you plan on doing that,
And be seized with fear? No no no

It doesn't start with just staring,
It won't/can't (again can't hear it properly) become your's.
Until when do you plan to do that,
And be sucking your thumb? No no no

If you do it only half way, then it doesn't tell me anything.
If you don't try to touch, then I don't understand.
Until when do you plan on doing that,
And be seized with fear? No no no

---

For me, it's too Koda Kumi.
TOO Koda Kumi for sure.

These lines she uses..
Defensive, offensive..
And the beat thing..
It sounds in the club, and she wants some guy to get with her, etc, etc
And he is too shy, so she wants he to attack her.. etc...
At least, it sounds like this way to me.

At first, I liked the beat, and the sound, but after listening to it, to get the words,
I am so tired of this song.. ahaha.
It's a bit repetitive.. actually.. a lot repetitive.. ahaha.
I love Rule more..
Also mainly because the message in Rule is very good and cool~
This one is just.. whatever.
It sounds like a remix~~ ahaha.

But as I said, many people here love these sexual and Koda Kumi like things.

But I already rejected one Koda Kumi..
I hope Next Level isn't all like this message.

I was watching my Stadium Tour dvd today..
Ahaha.. I cannot believe the same person made these lyrics..
Those days seem so far away~

hahaha
maybe she wrote the song together with her best friend Koda kumi LOL


koda has always being "naughty", all her musical career is based in sexual-related songs,

why cant ayu have one sexy song at least?!?



i found it very selfish not to acept that shes a woman with sexual desires as any other human being!

plus shes young still, i prefer her singing songs like this NOW, not in 20 years eek lol

O_O

But anyway, I quite like the song, it's definitely different fron all the songs that she made for the past 2-3 years. I wonder how japan will react to the ayu-writing-koda-lyrics though.

Maikaru, thank you for clearing up those lyrics! I was having trouble understanding a lot of what she was saying. I KNEW I heard something about hot "boys" at the beginning, haha! They are very different from her usual tone, that's for sure.

one of her best songs in a lonmg time! just amazing!

Amazing. I love that every couple of years Ayu does something that gets me totally hyped. This is just the kind of techno/dance influence I like. Best song since my favourite Secret album-only tracks. I've got such high hopes for NEXT LEVEL now.

I made a mistake.
I wrote stop instead of start in chorus 1.
I am sorry~

anyways.

Since I already said that I dont like Koda Kumi for that reason,,
Your argument is really not understandable.
Since even though Ayumi has sort of mature type of songs,
She always makes a meaning behind it, a great meaning.
You can have such powerful and mature songs like my name is WOMEN,
or 1 LOVE,
Or Ourselves too.

You can find it very selfish all you like..
If I feel very uncomfortable listening about a song like this, then I think I also have that right about it.
I feel like this song is too far away from what she normally writes about for me.
I am not asking you to be changing your thoughts on this matter.
I am just sharing my opinion about it.

You asked why she couldn't have a sexy song..

I feel, to me, because everyone has always praised her about her really deep, thoughtful, and touching lyrics,
Lyrics she made from her heart, to reach everyone, and connect everyone,
That her lyrics are the heart of her songs,
That these Sparkle lyrics are just a sexy song for the sake of a sexy song.
I can't find the meaning to connect to.
It's so shallow..
To me, it's just a song... nothing more.

If this kind of song was just an album song, I wouldnt have a problem with it.
I would say, yeah, it's a song.. I can skip it.
But this is a single.. it is supposed to be significance to her...

and I don't want another Koda Kumi.. as I said before.

I can't explain it well,
And I know for sure many people will try to criticize it..
"Why do you say this, selfish, etc. etc."
So I will just say that I dont like the emptyness of the song.
That's it.

I don't want to sound rude, but, based on your own translation, I'm not seeing how it's Koda Kumi. Koda Kumi rapped about sex VIVIDLY. Koda Kumi sings about sex VIVIDLY. This doesn't even have to be about sex unless you want to see it that way. She never once makes any direct reference to sex in your translation, so I'm failing to see where you see it.

The song seems to be about taking love into your own hands. That you shouldn't be afraid to make a move to win the heart of someone you like. It's telling you to listen to your heart, and letting go of your inhibitions, such as nervousness and shyness to try to make what you want yours. It's very Ayu.

^ i never really listened to Koda Kumi that much, but..after reading your post...i kinda have a new-found DISLIKE, not hate, for her.......Y_Y......

i would think that, if there was cheesey engrish inserted in the lyrics (like HEY BOY U MAKE ME WANNA HOT or something) :yes

even with the suggestive lyrics, the song is far from overly sexual :no

that's pretty silly, the only reason kumi is viewed as a sexual artist is because that is how avex used her to get attention for her career. she is a pretty versatile artist imo. :shrug

I have to agree with what you said here. Ayu is 30 years old and I feel at this age she's allowed to have sensual song every now and then. If she would have done this back when she was first starting then I might have had a bit of a problem but she a mature woman now so I see no harm. Not to mention these lyrics are definitely nowhere near as sexual as Kuu's can be (I love Kuu by the way).

:yes so true. .
Simply LOVE IT
> Been waiting for this kind of songs :D

Tanoshimi mashou :D

lol dw
it was obvious that someone wasn't going to like the song

have u readed the until that day... lyrics?? theyre pretty loose too lol

well kinda...

anyway, i dont want to make you upset!


but yea... madonna did a sexual revolution xDD and this is just a song as you said ^^ nothing much too worry about in your case

just pray for the album to be ayu-ish more than koda-ish LOL

Thanks for the translation maikaru! Going to wait for masa's translation before I start to make comparisons and judgments. I have to disagree a bit with what you said there though. It's quite unfortunate these days that the first person that comes to mind when comparing Ayu with someone is...you guessed it: Koda Kumi. While she is very well-known for writing/doing some steamy things, in no way does this mean she's the only artist doing such things. It seems like every little thing is being compared with her and like she's the only one who can do it, for better or for worse.

I'm not a big fan of Sparkle myself actually, but is it really a big surprise to people that there's a change in the direction of Ayu's lyrics and music? This is something that has been consistently seen throughout her whole career as a musician all the way from ASFXX to up until now.

If you can say this, I think you can say also say the exact same thing about the "2002 era Ayu" listening to her first 3 original studio albums and disbelieving of the fact that the person who wrote all those songs could finally come to terms and have closure with that part of her career/life. After that, I don't think there's much that can surprise me much. What she's doing is within reasonable boundary for me.

I agree with you...when I heard ppl say the lyrics are very ero and koda kumi, I was really expecting the lyrics to be like that...but based on the translations by maikaru, its not even close to that...close to say singing about getting it on with a guy and stuff...>_>...its only sucking your own thumb XD...

The song doesn't have to be about sex unless you, the listener, insert sex into the situation. The song doesn't even have a sexual SOUND. If it sounded like it was a Koda Kumi "i can do it put your ass in to it" song, you'd be able to tell from how it sounded not just by how what she's saying.

true that.

I think it's hilarious how serious you all are about the lyrics. They are no where near as sexual as the lyrics to some of Kumi Koda's songs. I wouldn't even call these lyrics sexual. They're just fun. Ayu has plenty of songs that are not exactly deep with their lyrics. Stop taking things so seriously and enjoy it.

Does Ayu says "NOM NOM NOM" at 1:20 til 1:33? apparently she says that many times i n this s ong.

:tired:tired:tired:tired:tired:tired:tired

If it wasn't for those intro lines, it wouldn't sound like boys/girls things at all. It seems more like "Give yourself to the moment, don't be afraid, even if you regret it, it's meaningless talk". I think the "beat" might not literary be a "beat". Maybe she took music and dancing as a symbol to talk about life. So "beat" may be thoughts, emotions, ideas that you have in mind, but are afraid to follow. It's seems like saying "Don't be afraid to live", "Don't be afraid to live the way you want".
And why is -tachi added to boys/girls? lol Wouldn't boy/girl-tachi make more sense?

To the actual song (I have only listened to it once, though): The arrangement is really cool. I still think the intro lyrics are kinda ridiculous, so that takes some points off, but other than that a cool track.

it's interesting that ayu kept the consistency:

sparkle:「眺めるだけじゃ始まらない　君のモノにはならない」
catcher in the light:「眺めているだけじゃ　君の物にはならない」

and in sparkle 3:14, there's the sound effect from CITL (the moment before the first BANG)

OH I LOVE THIS SOON!!! it's such a shock listening it to the first time! It's soo different!! and I just LOVE IT!! tooo bad they didn't make a PV for it!!

I swear, this single is orgasmically wonderful. Probably one of the strongest since "STEP you/is this LOVE?". Like someone said, it makes me forget of the other singles released before.

It won't matter if the remixes aren't that good, because she honestly has the strongest double A-side on the market (may be besides Amuro, but hey, she's regained her greatness since "60s70s80s". That was an AMAZING single, too.), which is something she doesn't normally have. It's always one or the other, but never both. Her best single since the (miss)understood era, if anything.

I've noticed though, her early and late releases are always the strongest in terms of quality. Even though I thought Days/GREEN was a little forgettable, this one will probably stick with me. :)

And I can so imagine this playing to some test drive. hahaha.

So what? Another girl power song! Let's burn some bras!

I see that as "if you want one of the boys, go after it"... I never lived on Japan, but as far I know about its culture (I have a friend that lives there, a uncle, a aunt, their sons and I know some people that lived there for some time...), it's a very sexist country... So I think it's pretty cool to see ayu releasing a song about girls that take the control of all the boys&girls relationship stuff...

Another song in the line of Real me, my name's WOMEN, beautiful fighters, ladies night... I really like when ayu do that feminist songs... I think it's very daring for japanese standarts, no? Hikki said once when promoting Exodus that she knew that if she acted like a strong woman, people would not buy her albuns... So... bold ayu... the ayu I like the most =)

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO

xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

I don't see the sexually suggestive elements in the lyrics at all. From the translation it comes off as more "girl power" and "the only way you are going to get want you want is doing something about it instead of sitting around", which both of them align themselves well with my philosophy.

Meh, maybe I'm disillusioned by the more sexualized American mainstream pop culture, but this is not even close to vanilla.

I do not like how this song sounds. However, this is why I love Ayu's music. It's changes and sometimes unexpected. Being a fan of many techno/trance/electronic/dance songs, I wished this song had a more progressive feel. I am very interested on the remixes going to be made for this song. The best thing I can say for Sparkle is that it's danceable. Just give me time and I'll dance to this song in my room alone (very poorly) and maybe I love the song eventually. ^_^;

I'm kinda glad that they didn't make a PV for this song only because it seems to me, just by reading the lyrics, the PV might be cliche as any other sexy music video. Not that I don't want to see Ayu do sexy things (I really do want to see more sexy Ayu), but there's not much meaning behind the lyrics, so the PV probably won't have much meaning. Also, as much as I like eye candy, there has to be some kind of creativity behind it. And if there would be a dance in it, I'll maybe in support for a PV, but Ayu is not a great dancer.

If I were to compare this to Rule, I'll just say that Rule left more of an impression. I think it's more powerful and with better lyrics. Sparkle, in the other hand, is danceable but lack the creativity I hoped for (not that it is uncreative, I think there could be more done to this song because it can get monotomous after a while, I'd only listen to this over and over if it's in the middle of some megamix).

Loving it~

thanks for the translation. I really think you've miss interpreted the song. Please stop mentioning Koda's name, as she isn't in any way related to this song and it really doesn't sound like one of her songs.
Until that Day.. even has the body selling line...
"I can't yet end up, I can't stop
I've always got it over in such a way, haven't I?
uh- lalala...
uh uh-

If I throw it out and turn my back
It's rude to the tears I shed at that time, isn't it?
uh- lalala...
uh uh-

You see? I don't care at all
Whenever and however I may sell this body by the piece
But I never give over my heart alone to anyone else"

and no one complained about it. But then again, if you don't like the song it's ok.

Wow.. it surprised me..
Not the best song, but I like it.

Well, for the first time I listened to it I was a bit on the verge of liking it or not, because 1) it reminded me too much of madonna and britney in the beginning 2) when I heard the "kawaii boys" part of the lyrics I was like no ****.... Ayu can't be starting to sell her music with such cliche stuff?

But then I read maikaru's translation and listened to the song for the second time and realized the lyrics aren't anything like "I want to have sex with that boy who's so cute" or anything but more of a "every girl out there get what you want and don't let fear come in your way!" type of a song and now I really like it xD even though I still pretty much HATE techno stuff but when it's Ayu she can make it listenable.

Now while waiting for the error in AHS to go away I actually think this song is pretty dark and at parts a little depressing o_o And I like it that way xD


oh and I do like Kuu's music though. But that's because she's pretty much always been like that, "ero" and stuff but it's a bit different when it comes to Ayu since to me she's the one with really touching and deep lyrics and her songs mean so much more than are just for fun (well something like HONEY maybe... xD).

Awesome awesome.. definitely 100% fresh and innovative. nothing close to what i expected from the CM preview. Ayu's coming back with a blast ^^ the single and new album is so gonna ROCKS.. haha.. i love namie's wild, but i love sparkle even more =P

I somehow don't get the girl power-vibe at all. lol It seems more like directed to the teen generation, both boys and girls alike. *shrugs*

this is really NEXT LEVEL!! :love
its dance music!! :luv2
i want the lyrics and translation!! :D pleaseee anyone~

I don't claim to know a lot about the Japanese culture, but from what I've read, it's still a fairly patriarchal culture, and I always get this impression that the "ideal" female tend to lean more toward the "cute, obedient", especially in romances and stuff, rather than the "sexy, take-charge" type. (note: this is a generalization, I'm fairly certain not all aspect of the culture is like that)

I guess in the western context it wouldn't seem to make that much "girl-power sense", and I think it can apply for both ways, but in cultural sense I feel like there's a much bigger impact in aiming at the female audience than the male audience.

I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. This style doesn't really interest me, I think I'm too old for it, but there are some parts of the song that I like. I'd leave it in my playlist though, as it's something different from Ayu and makes a nice change.

this song is <3 !!
It reminds me of Kylie Minogue's songs..
And~ her voice at the beginning sounded lyk Britney's !!
Anyways... I LOVE SPARKLE :D

Oh.My.God. I love it!!! It new, but still a bit Ayu. The good thing about this thread (just browsed through), no comparisons to other songs! I think the first chorus sounds a bit out of place because I have been listening to it out of context for so long. The second chorus seems to fit right in.
You know what it does remind me of a bit though, Gwen Stefani What Are You Waiting For? Only a little tiny bit. And the no no nos are a tiny bit like WHATEVER.
And obviously a bit like Koda Kumi, but I only ever really listened to Koda for this kind of style (I love Taboo and BUT) so Ayu doing it is wonderful!
Lyrics seem like usual Ayu girl power song...

Hmm, I've just heard the full song the 1st time..how to say..can't really describe it properly in words. Currently, I would say Rule sounds better to me.

:luv2:yes

OH

MY

GOD

I can't believe she's releasing this. It's... :love:thud

I LOVE This song. SHe hasen't done anything like this or even close to this since RAINBOW (everywhere nowhere).

I don't know (or care about lol, the song is too good) the lyrics, but the song itself is edgy and sexy without being cute and "quirky" like most of ayu's former sexy songs. It's really the first time she arrived successfully in this genre.

:luv2:luv2


(LOL I just wanted to add though, this would be the perfect sound for Maki Goto in avex. I also agree it blows the watr out of what I thought ould be the best pair of songs for a long time in 2009; WILD/Dr. ;) )

I like SPARKLE.

I think the arrangement is really great and it's really catchy.

But I do agree with one point maikaru made about the song being 'empty'. I understand the interpretation of it being a girl-power song but I dunno, I just don't feel the meaning in it unlike the way I did for my name's WOMEN and Real Me...

This might be because I really don't like the first line about kawaii boys. v_____v

But even so, I DO really like the song anyway. I hope Ayu won't make NEXT LEVEL an album filled with songs with lyrics like this though!

It was not about the cultural context, but about the lyrics itself. But when I listened to the lyrics more closely, I came to see the girl power vibe. ^^;

I really don't know what to think about the lyrics. They don't seem to be about hitting on one another, but about being more confident to live, but on the other hand..... they do look shallow.

Sparkle is AMAZING. I absolutely love it and I can't stop listening to it <3
It so much better than Rule, even though I love Rule too...
Seriously, it needs a PV! I really hope there will be one in NEXT LEVEL!

I totally know that ppl will think that I over react and such and so on and so on. But maaan, this is sooo diffrent!

Just like keikeiaznqueen says, I can get the girl-power thing going on but this is just diffrent from like she said, mnW or other power/diva songs like MW. But those songs always keept a secret ingredient that Ayu always have had and thats her lyrics. They have always (and that for mnW and MW too) got this typical Ayu-deep in them. But this, its too simple, its like shes thinking, "man Im 30 now, time to go in Madonnas tracks and make this disco-music with brain-dead lyrics..." Well, now Im a stupid fan that goes overkill with my emotions I know. ;) But I simply feel like this. Im not too pleased.

And if the new album is going this way, like the texts worries me about, then I will only look back at our old Ayu, realise that I have lost my favourite part of her (music, lyrics, and image) and try to like her new style.

Its hard to describe, but the green text on her official website makes me worry that we never again will get songs like, Memorial Address/untitled ~for her~/I am.../AsfXX/And then... and such songs ever again...

Speaking of Sparkle, its to much Madonna for me at the moment. It doesnt feel that new to me and well... the preview of the chours made me really excited but the full song got me quite dissapointed. :(

It sounds like a remix! A damn good remix! I like it, Rule is better, but I like it, I just hope it stays a "special" song, like In the Corner for example, she never did another song in that style and that makes it unique. I love the chorus and the nonono, I don't know about the verse yet...

^

Well actually SHE never did In The Corner as it wasn't composed etc by her team. ^^

That's why that song and Pride sound so different.