Format Digital download Genre J-pop, Pop Label EMI Music Japan | Recorded 2000 Length 4:45
4:49 (Drama Mix) | |
Released March 10, 2008 (2008-03-10) | ||
"Eternally" is a song by Japanese musician Utada Hikaru, from her 2001 album Distance. It was re-arranged in 2008 as "Eternally (Drama Mix)," for the use in the Maki Horikita starring Fuji TV drama Innocent Love. It was released as a digital single on October 31, 2008, and eventually released onto CD in March 2009, on an EMI compilation album I: Zutto, Zutto, Aishiteru (i(アイ)～ずっと、ずっと、愛してる～).
Innocent Love director Toshiyuki Nakano originally decided that Utada's voice would suit the themes of the drama well. Hearing "Eternally," he felt the song was a perfect choice for the drama, as the song's melody, lyrics and title fitted, in his opinion, as if the song had been specifically commissioned for the drama.
Writing
The song is a R&B ballad, featuring an arrangement of strings, background percussion and guitar. The lyrics describe a person addressing their lover, who is describing how much they treasure a single moment they are sharing with this person. They believe that even if they cannot stay with their lover forever, at least "the feeling (they) have now will last forever " (今の気持ちだけはずっと永遠, ima no kimochi dake wa zutto eien).
The drama mix of the song features a different take of Utada's vocals during the recording sessions of Distance in 2001, however it was given a new mix in 2008. The new version is very similar in structure to the original, however with more prominent strings during the chorus.