"M" is a song written by Japanese singer

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

from her album '' I Am...'' (2002). The lead single from the album and Hamasaki's nineteenth overall, "M" marked Hamasaki's increased creative control over her music, as it was the first song she composed, under the pseudonym "CREA". The single is to date one of Hamasaki's most commercially successful; it peaked at the top 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 ...

weekly charts, selling over 500,000 units on its first week. Moreover, the single eventually sold over 1,000,000 copies over its seventeen-week run and became a

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 ...

-certified million-seller; "M" also won the

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan 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 Associa ...

for "Song of the Year".

Background and themes

Shortly after the release of her studio album ''

Duty A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...

'', Hamasaki began writing "M". Before then, Hamasaki's staff had composed the melodies; Hamasaki only wrote the lyrics. However, with "M", Hamasaki felt that none of the melodies composed by her staff fit her vision of the song. Consequently, she decided to compose the melody herself. She began work on an electronic keyboard; however, as she had little proficiency in the instrument, Hamasaki eventually resorted to singing the melody into a voice recorder.Shikano Atsushi. ''

Rockin'on Japan ''Rockin'On Japan'', often stylized in all caps, is a monthly magazine that covers the Japanese music scene and various cultural events in Japan, such as art venues and culinary expos. History The magazine was founded in 1972, and focused on prov ...

''. February 2001. Volume 165. Throughout the song, Hamasaki addresses "Maria". Hamasaki is ambiguous as to the identity of "Maria"; however, she has stated that the song was inspired by a story told to her by a friend about a saint named Mary.''J-Point''. December 22, 2000. Volume 75. The story was pivotal in the shaping of the theme of the song, which, according to Hamasaki, is about a "woman who won't change with time". Finally, like other songs from ''I am...'', Hamasaki explores the topics of couples and love.

Composition and musical style

According to Hamasaki, the melodies composed by her staff for "M" did not fit her image for the song because they were too "warm"—she had envisioned a melody with a "cold" feeling. That, according to Hamasaki, meant a melody that was "difficult to grasp" and started in a lower key before progressing to a higher key. The song is written in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and begins in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

before progressing to the key of

C-sharp major C-sharp major (or the key of C-sharp) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. It is enharmonically equivalent to D-flat major. Its key signature has seven sharps. The C-sharp major scale is: : It ...

. The song uses

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

, and various stringed instruments. "M", unlike Hamasaki's antecedent songs, does not follow the verse-chorus form; rather, the song opens with an introduction that is followed by a brief instrumental bridge that precedes two verses.The sheet music of "M" from ''Ayumi Hamasaki - Piano Solo - New Piano Sounds Top 25''. Volume 7. The verses are followed by a pre-chorus after which comes an instrumental bridge; that is followed by a repetition of the pre-chorus and the verse. The chorus and a repetition of it follow; the chorus and its repetition are separated by another instrumental bridge. Finally, a second verse is sung before the repetition of the introduction, at which point the song ends.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "M", directed by Wataru Takeishi, opens with Hamasaki singing the introduction against a stained-glass window. The first instrumental bridge follows, during which is seen the exterior of a church. When the first verse starts, the doors of the church open and glowing particles sweep into the church; at the start of the second instrumental bridge, the particles merge and Hamasaki appears in a white gown, at the intersection of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

and the aisle, also in this scene she is wearing blue contacts. When the chorus starts, Hamasaki is seen outside the church (no longer in a gown) singing with her band; subsequent scenes switch between Hamasaki singing outside the church and standing inside. At the end of the video, the glowing particles sweep out of the church and the gown-clad Hamasaki disappears.

Chart performance and sales

"M" debuted at the number-one position on the Oricon weekly charts on its first week of release, selling 541,350 copies.Oricon Weekly Charts for the fourth week of December 2000

. Retrieved July 5, 2008. The single remained atop the charts the second week; however, the total sales for that week had dropped to 185,290. The sales rose the third week: the single sold 246,150 copies; however, it was only able to reach the number-two position, as Every Little Thing's single "

Fragile/Jirenma "Fragile", released with a B-side track "Jirenma", is a single by the J-pop group Every Little Thing, released as their eighteenth single on January 1, 2001. It was their fourth single to top the Oricon chart. "Fragile" is the theme music of Fu ...

" debuted that week with 278,120 copies. By the fourth week, "M" remained at the number-two position with 95,770 copies sold. It remained in the Top 10 the following three weeks, dropping from the number-five position to the number-seven position. It remained in the Top 30 for two more weeks; it reached the twenty-third position before dropping out. By the end of its nine-week run in the Oricon Top 30, "M" sold 1,279,830 copies, making it the best-selling single from ''I am...'' and adding to Hamasaki's million-selling singles.

Accolades

In early 2014, in honor of Hamasaki's sixteenth-year career milestone, Japanese website Goo.ne.jp hosted a poll for fans to rank their favorite songs by Hamasaki out of thirty positions; the poll was held in only twenty-four hours, and thousands submitted their votes. As a result, "M" was ranked at #2 behind

Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

, with 93.2 percent of the votes. Additionally, the Above & Beyond remix is considered a

vocal trance Vocal trance is a subgenre of trance music that focuses on vocals and melodies. The subgenre came into existence in the early 1990s, when trance was still developing. Although many early trance records used vocal samples mixed in with the beats, ...

classic, ranking at #653 in Trance Top 1000 in 2011, and #177 in

A State of Trance ''A State of Trance'' (often abbreviated as ASOT) is a Dutch trance radio show hosted by Armin van Buuren and co-producer Ruben de Ronde that first aired in June 2001. It is aired weekly every Thursday at 20:00 (CET) and 14:00 (EST). As of Jan ...

Top 1000 in 2021.

Track listings

Japanese maxi-single # "M" (original mix) # "M" (Dub's Hard Pop Remix) # "

" (Yuta's Weather Report Mix) # "M" (Nicely Nice Winter Parade Remix) # " Far Away" (Laugh & Peace Mix) # "M" (Rewired Mix) # "M" (Smokers Mix) # "M" (Rank-M Mix) # "M" (Neurotic Eye's Mix) # "M" (original mix instrumental) Japanese 2×12-inch vinyl E.P. :A1. "M" ( Above & Beyond Typhoon bub mix) :B1. " Boys & Girls (

Push Push may refer to: Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010 Songs * "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...

instrumental dub) :B2. "

Unite! "Unite!" is the twenty-third single by Ayumi Hamasaki, released on July 11, 2001. It is her sixth single released in Germany. Unlike most of her other A-sides and some of her B-sides, Unite! has no PV. It has been performed on various occasio ...

" (Airwave dub) :C1. "Unite!" (Airwave remix) :C2. "

Appears "Appears" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released by Avex Trax on November 10, 1999 as the sixth single from her second studio album ''Loveppears'' (1999), which was released on the same day. Alongside thi ...

" (

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...

's Sunset dub) :D1. "Unite!" (

Moogwai Chab is the stage name used by Switzerland, Swiss trance music record producer, producer and remixer François Chabloz. Known for his progressive trance style, Chabloz has an extensive history as a remixer and he has also released original mate ...

dub) :D2. "

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

" (

Darren Tate Darren Tate (born 22 October 1972, in London) is a British record producer, film composer and club DJ. Biography As a classically trained musician, Tate has worked with international artists and songwriters with whom he collaborates regularly. ...

instrumental) German 12-inch vinyl (Part 1) :A. "M" (Above & Beyond Typhoon dub mix) :B. "M" (Above & Beyond vocal mix) German 12-inch vinyl (Part 2) :A1. "M" (Van Eyden vs. M.O.R.P.H. remix) – 7:31 :B1. "M" (Tectonic Shift vs. André Visior remix) – 7:55 :B2. "M" (Above & Beyond instrumental mix) – 7:47 German maxi-single # "M" (Above & Beyond edit) – 4:20 # "M" (Van Eyden vs. M.O.R.P.H. remix edit) – 4:19 # "M" (Tectonic Shift vs. André Visior remix edit) – 3:36 # "M" (Above & Beyond Vocal dub mix) – 8:11 # "M" (Above & Beyond Typhoon dub mix) – 8:31 # "M" (Above & Beyond vocal mix) – 8:01

Personnel

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

: Ayumi Hamasaki * Melodic Composition: Ayumi Hamasaki (under the pseudonym "CREA")Takeuchi Cullen, Lisa.
Empress of Pop
. ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''. Retrieved July 5, 2008. *

Arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

: HΛL * Mixing: Koji Morimoto *Production:

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...

*Sound production: Naoto Suzuki *Production assisting: Yuka Akiyama * Mastering: Shigeo Miyamoto

Charts

Release history

References

*Walters, Barry.
Turning (Japanese) Point
. ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

''. May 5, 2002. Retrieved July 5, 2008. *The liner notes for "M" (Overseas CD version). Avex Trax. AVCD-30197

External links

*
M
information at Avex Network. *
M
information at

. * {{authority control Ayumi Hamasaki songs 2000 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Songs written by Ayumi Hamasaki Song recordings produced by Max Matsuura 2000 songs