"Longing" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

by Japanese heavy metal band

X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...

and written by

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

. The song has been released in several versions, most notably in two different single variations. The first, , was released as their eleventh single on August 1, 1995 and reached the number 1 spot on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

chart. The second, , is their twelfth released on December 11, 1995 and reached number 5.

Summary

The song was first released as a demo tape titled "Longing ~Togireta Melody~", which was given out at X Japan's December 30–31, 1994

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

concerts. The demo also included a recording of the band practicing "Longing", " Break the Darkness", "

Scars A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natu ...

" and "

Dahlia Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, ...

". In 2007, this demo tape was re-released on CD in the ''

Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Complete Edition ''Aoi Yoru Shiroi Yoru Complete Edition'' (青い夜白い夜 Complete Edition) is an X Japan box set released on July 25, 2007 as a limited edition. It collects the ''Aoi Yoru'' and ''Shiroi Yoru'' concert DVDs released separately on the same d ...

'', a DVD set of the two concerts where it was first released. The first single of the song, released on August 1, 1995, is very similar to the demo and as such shares the same name. Although it is nearly a minute longer and includes drums, which the demo lacked. This is the version of the song that was included on the album, ''

''. Released on December 11, 1995, the second single "Longing ~Setsubou no Yoru~", only includes Toshi's vocals and a symphony, and is much more melancholic than the other. This single's third track is an English version of the song, where, instead of Toshi singing, Yoshiki reads the lyrics as one would a poem.

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

directed a television commercial to promote "Togireta Melody". Shot on a beach in Malibu, it only features Yoshiki. He also created a music video for "Setsubou no Yoru", that was recorded in a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

studio and at Coyote Dry Lake, though it has never been released. In his 2018 autobiography, Lynch described the experience as "really fun" and said "Some of the frames are so fuckin' beautiful you can't believe it." Behind the scenes footage of the making of these videos is included in the 2016 ''

We Are X ''We Are X'' is a 2016 documentary film about the Japanese rock band X Japan and its co-founder, drummer, pianist and leader Yoshiki. Directed by Stephen Kijak, it premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 23. The film covers the h ...

'' documentary. A live performance of the "Togireta Melody" version was included as a B-side of the 1997 "

Forever Love (Last Mix) "Forever Love" is the fourteenth single by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, released on July 8, 1996. Summary The song was written and composed by Yoshiki. An acoustic version appears on their album ''Dahlia''. The single has been reissued ...

" single, titled "Longing (Bootleg)" due to the poor audio quality of the recording. Yoshiki would create another orchestrated instrumental version of the song, simply titled "Longing", for his 2005 solo album ''

Eternal Melody II Eternal Melody II is the second classical studio album by Japanese musician Yoshiki. It was released on March 23, 2005. Overview In 1993, Yoshiki recorded his first classical studio album, ''Eternal Melody'', in London at the studios owned by E ...

''.

Commercial performance

The first single "Longing ~Togireta Melody~" reached number 1 on the

charts, and charted for 11 weeks. In 1995, with 476,170 copies sold it was the 76th best-selling single of the year, being certified Platinum by

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

. The second single, "Longing ~Setsubou no Yoru~", reached number 5 on the chart and charted for 7 weeks.

Track listing

Personnel

"Longing ~Togireta Melody~"

*Co-Producer – X Japan *Orchestra arranged by – Yoshiki,

Dick Marx Richard Henry Marx (April 12, 1924 – August 12, 1997) was an American jazz pianist and arranger. He also composed for film, television, and commercials. Personal life Marx and wife Ruth (née Guildoo) had a son, Richard Marx, pop singer, s ...

Shelly Berg Shelton "Shelly" Glen Berg (born August 18, 1955) is an American classical and jazz pianist and music educator. He is the dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and the school's Patricia L. Frost P ...

*Scored by – Tom Halm *Mixed by – Mike Shipley *Recorded by – Rich Breen, Mike Ging *Assistant engineers – Tal Miller, Mike Stock, Cappy Japngie, Richard Landers *Mastered by –

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

(Precision Studio) *A&R Directed by – Hiro Inoguchi, Yoshinobu Toida *Art direction and design – Mitsuo Izumisawa *Executive producers – Ryuzo "Jr." Kosugi, Takashi Kamide, Sekiji Murata, Yukitaka Mashimo

"Longing ~Setsubou no Yoru~"

*Co-Producer – X Japan *Orchestra arranged by – Yoshiki, Dick Marx, Shelly Berg *Scored by – Tom Halm *Sound effects by – Yoshiki, Toshi *Mixed by – Rich Breen (tracks 1 & 2), Mike Ging (track 3) *Recorded by – Rich Breen, Mike Ging *Assistant engineers – Tal Miller, Cappy Japngie, Richard Landers *Mastered by – Stephen Marcussen (Precision Studio) *A&R Directed by – Yoshinobu Toida, Hiro Inoguchi *Executive producers – Ryuzo "Jr." Kosugi, Takashi Kamide, Sekiji Murata, Yukitaka Mashimo *Art direction and design – Shige "#11" Komai *Flower photography – Hajime Kuroda

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longing (Song) X Japan songs Songs written by Yoshiki (musician) Oricon Weekly number-one singles Heavy metal ballads 1994 songs 1995 singles Japanese-language songs Torch songs 1990s ballads