is a song recorded by Japanese singer

Shizuka Kudo , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese singer, actress and former idol, born in Hamura, Tokyo, Japan. She was a member of Onyanko Club between May 1986 and September 1987 and went on to have a successful solo career with 11 number-one hits. ...

. It was released as a single through

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

on October 6, 1993. It made its first album appearance on the compilation album, '' Super Best'', released later that same year.

Background

"Anata Shika Inai Desho" was written by

Gorō Matsui is a Japanese lyricist born 11 December 1957 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, though he considers Tokyo to be his hometown. Beginning with participation in the Yamaha Popular Song Contests, he made his debut writing the lyrics for the 1981 Chage and As ...

and composed by

Tsugutoshi Gotō is a Japanese songwriter, bassist and music producer. Gotō broke into the Japanese music industry playing bass on tour for artists like Sadistic Mika Band, Bread & Butter and Shiro Kishibe. He went on to write and produce songs for other artist ...

. It marks Kudo's tenth single, out of twenty released at the time, to be co-written by Matsui and Gotō. It is the last song with lyrics written by Matsui to be released as a single, as well as being the last track of Kudo's to be co-written and produced by Gotō, notwithstanding the novelty single " A.S.A.P." (1997).

Composition

It is a slow,

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-tinged rock ballad. Lyrically, Matsui describes a protagonist confidently professing her love and vowing to stand by her companion, whom she refers to as "the only one". The song is written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the cont ...

. Kudo's vocals span from F₃ to D₅. The song kicks off with a guitar solo and incorporates a soulful brass section while also featuring a backing choir harmonizing throughout the track.

Critical reception

Similarly to " Koe o Kikasete", also penned by Matsui and Gotō, the song is noted for its distinctively Western sound and

southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

influences. Kudo was praised for the breathy tone she uses on the track.

Chart performance

The single entered the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

at number ten, moving 62,000 units in its first week. It peaked at number five the following week with 59,000 copies sold. "Anata Shika Inai Desho" stayed in the top 100 for a total of seven weeks.

Track listing

Charts

Certification

References

{{authority control 1993 songs 1993 singles Rock ballads Songs with lyrics by Gorō Matsui Songs written by Tsugutoshi Gotō Shizuka Kudo songs Pony Canyon singles