Yume ga Chikara
Encyclopedia
is Kokia
's 12th single, released on June 23, 2004. It was the lead single from Kokia's fourth studio album Uta ga Chikara
, and was used as the official cheering song for the Japan team at the 2004 Summer Olympics
.
. During this stage of her career, Kokia had releases that generally charted in the low end of the top 40.
This song was the second official encouragement song picked by the Japanese Olympic Committee
, after "Sui Riku Sora Mugendai" by Japanese band 19
was used for the 2000 Summer Olympics
.
's involvement as the sound producer. The song took two months for completion, and was officially announced and first performed at a press conference on May 11. The song was often performed or played at official Japanese Olympic events, such as the end of the torch relay, the Japanese Olympic Concert 2004 held on June 20, the unveiling of the official Olympic poster competition, and the farewell party for the Japanese delegation. Both "Yume ga Chikara" and Kokia's studio album Uta ga Chikara
were released earlier than the Olympics, with the album being released less than a month earlier, and the single almost two months. Kokia visited the Olympic village during the games, encouraging athletes such as female wrestler Kyoko Hamaguchi
, singing the song a cappella and creating a hi no maru flag of encouragement.
Along with official Olympic promotion, Kokia was featured in many music-related and fashion-related magazines in June 2004, such as "CD Data," "Gekkan Piano," "Gekkan Songs," "Weekly Oricon," "What's In?" and "Zappy." "Yume ga Chikara" ringtones were released free of charge to Japanese Vodafone
customers between July 1 and September 30. The music video for the song was available for streaming on the Yahoo! Japan
top page until August the 30th.
Kokia wrote the song "not as just a song to encourage [the Japanese Olympic] athletes, but a song to empower everybody with bravery in the same way that athletes use all of their effort."
(the arranger for the original) was featured as a bonus track on Kokia's 2004 album Uta ga Chikara
. Instead of the standard band arrangement, the acoustic version was backed by a string orchestra and piano. "Yume ga Chikara / Brave Warrior," is a version of the song that appears on Kokia's 2006 greatest hits album Pearl: The Best Collection
, and features a guitar-based arrangement created by Kokia herself. This version features a new introduction section, with the lyrics .
Critically, CDJournal praised the song for its ability to quietly push people forward with its "gentle melody and Kokia's phosphorescent singing voice." Music critic Kenji Ueda believed the song was "appropriately grand" for use as the Olympic team encouragement song. He described the song as "truly refreshing," praising the string section that he felt was like "[water] streaming past," Kokia's voice as being "without even a spot of haze" and the song's melody as "overflowing with liveliness."
Kokia (singer)
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, who performs under the stage name Kokia . She is best known for her songs and "The Power of Smile." She is also recognised for her numerous contributions to anime/game soundtracks, the most notable being "Ai no Melody/Chōwa Oto " for the film...
's 12th single, released on June 23, 2004. It was the lead single from Kokia's fourth studio album Uta ga Chikara
Uta ga Chikara
-Singles:-Japan Sales Rankings:-Personnel:* Kiyotsugu Amano - acoustic guitar * Katsuhiko Asano - recording/mixing* Masashi Fujimori - art direction, art work * Sayaka Hayakawa - violin * Ayako Himata - violin...
, and was used as the official cheering song for the Japan team at the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
.
Background
"Yume ga Chikara" was one of two singles released after Kokia's commercially successful third album, Remember MeRemember Me (Kokia album)
The album was Kokia's first to chart on the Japanese Oricon albums charts, reaching #15 and selling over 45,000 copies. It is currently also Kokia's most sold release, as of 2010....
. During this stage of her career, Kokia had releases that generally charted in the low end of the top 40.
This song was the second official encouragement song picked by the Japanese Olympic Committee
Japanese Olympic Committee
The Japanese Olympic Committee is the national Olympic committee in Japan for the Olympic Games movement, based in Tokyo, Japan...
, after "Sui Riku Sora Mugendai" by Japanese band 19
19 (band)
19 was a Japanese pop music duo. Its members wereKenji Okahira and Keigo Iwase. The group broke up in March 2002. Kenji is now a member of the band 3B LAB.☆.-Singles:* 'Ano Ao wo Koete'...
was used for the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
Promotion
Kokia's involvement with the games was first announced in a press conference on March 3, 2004, along with Akira SenjuAkira Senju
is a Japanese composer, arranger and conductor. Composition credits include Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Yomigaeri, Fūrin Kazan , Nada Sōsō , Rampo and the soundtrack of Red Garden. Arrangement credits include Hikari. Performance credits include Handsome...
's involvement as the sound producer. The song took two months for completion, and was officially announced and first performed at a press conference on May 11. The song was often performed or played at official Japanese Olympic events, such as the end of the torch relay, the Japanese Olympic Concert 2004 held on June 20, the unveiling of the official Olympic poster competition, and the farewell party for the Japanese delegation. Both "Yume ga Chikara" and Kokia's studio album Uta ga Chikara
Uta ga Chikara
-Singles:-Japan Sales Rankings:-Personnel:* Kiyotsugu Amano - acoustic guitar * Katsuhiko Asano - recording/mixing* Masashi Fujimori - art direction, art work * Sayaka Hayakawa - violin * Ayako Himata - violin...
were released earlier than the Olympics, with the album being released less than a month earlier, and the single almost two months. Kokia visited the Olympic village during the games, encouraging athletes such as female wrestler Kyoko Hamaguchi
Kyoko Hamaguchi
is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. She has won five FILA Wrestling World Championships and two Olympic Bronze medals in the 72 kg weight class.She is sponsored by Japan Beverage Inc...
, singing the song a cappella and creating a hi no maru flag of encouragement.
Along with official Olympic promotion, Kokia was featured in many music-related and fashion-related magazines in June 2004, such as "CD Data," "Gekkan Piano," "Gekkan Songs," "Weekly Oricon," "What's In?" and "Zappy." "Yume ga Chikara" ringtones were released free of charge to Japanese Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
customers between July 1 and September 30. The music video for the song was available for streaming on the Yahoo! Japan
Yahoo! Japan
is a Japanese internet company formed as a joint venture between the American internet company Yahoo! and the Japanese internet company SoftBank. It is headquartered at Midtown Tower in the Tokyo Midtown complex in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo.-History:...
top page until August the 30th.
Composition
"Yume ga Chikara" is a pop song, with an orchestral and standard band backing, with extended instrumental sections. The song's vocal sections have a structure of two verses and a chorus, repeated twice, followed by a final extended and elaborated chorus. The song's lyrics begin by telling people that dreams have to be built up from somewhere. The first chorus makes the statement that "everyone can dream freely," and that "dreams come true, not by magic, but through your own strength." Further lyrics expand on this theme, also telling people to "not forget that they aren't alone."Kokia wrote the song "not as just a song to encourage [the Japanese Olympic] athletes, but a song to empower everybody with bravery in the same way that athletes use all of their effort."
Re-recordings
The song has been re-recorded by Kokia two times in her discography. "Yume ga Chikara (Acoustic Version)," a rearrangement by Akira SenjuAkira Senju
is a Japanese composer, arranger and conductor. Composition credits include Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Yomigaeri, Fūrin Kazan , Nada Sōsō , Rampo and the soundtrack of Red Garden. Arrangement credits include Hikari. Performance credits include Handsome...
(the arranger for the original) was featured as a bonus track on Kokia's 2004 album Uta ga Chikara
Uta ga Chikara
-Singles:-Japan Sales Rankings:-Personnel:* Kiyotsugu Amano - acoustic guitar * Katsuhiko Asano - recording/mixing* Masashi Fujimori - art direction, art work * Sayaka Hayakawa - violin * Ayako Himata - violin...
. Instead of the standard band arrangement, the acoustic version was backed by a string orchestra and piano. "Yume ga Chikara / Brave Warrior," is a version of the song that appears on Kokia's 2006 greatest hits album Pearl: The Best Collection
Pearl: The Best Collection
Pearl: The Best Collection is Kokia's first greatest hits album, released on December 2, 2009. It was released simultaneously with her first video clips collection, Jewel: The Best Video Collection....
, and features a guitar-based arrangement created by Kokia herself. This version features a new introduction section, with the lyrics .
Music video
The music video was directed by Jun Hara (原淳). It centres around two different scenes, Kokia performing the song in a massive wooden indoor stadium with an orchestra surrounding her, and also scenes of Kokia performing the song against the single cover art as a background.Reception
Commercially, the song debuted at #30 in its first week, selling over 4,500 copies. It spent one further week in the top 100, and three further weeks placing between 100 and 200. By the end of its chart run, the single had sold 8,300 copies. Compared with other Kokia singles, "Yume ga Chikara" was relatively one of her more commercially successful releases.Critically, CDJournal praised the song for its ability to quietly push people forward with its "gentle melody and Kokia's phosphorescent singing voice." Music critic Kenji Ueda believed the song was "appropriately grand" for use as the Olympic team encouragement song. He described the song as "truly refreshing," praising the string section that he felt was like "[water] streaming past," Kokia's voice as being "without even a spot of haze" and the song's melody as "overflowing with liveliness."
Track listing
Japan Sales Rankings
| Release | Chart | Peak Position | First Week Sales | Sales Total | Chart Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon daily singles chart | |||||
| Oricon weekly singles chart | 30 | 4,500 | 8,300 | 5 weeks | |
| Oricon yearly singles chart |
Personnel
- Kiyotsugu Amano - acoustic guitar
- Shoji Kobayashi - score copyist
- Kokia - arranger (Brave Warrior), chorus work, song writing, vocals
- Fumiaki Miyamoto - oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
(standard and acoustic) - Hajime Mizoguchi - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
(standard and acoustic) - Masayoshi Ookawa - recording/mixing (standard and acoustic)
- Akira Senju - arranger, conductor, keyboards (standard and acoustic)
- Takeshi Sennoo - piano (standard and acoustic)
- Setsuko Sugita - strings (gallery music/leader) (standard and acoustic)
- Yoji Sugiyama - coordinator (Witch Craft) (standard and acoustic)
- Takefumi Wada - manipulator