"Top Secret" is a Japanese-language song by South Korean

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

F.T. Island F.T. Island ( ko, 에프티 아일랜드, or FT아일랜드, short for Five Treasure Island), is a South Korean rock band formed by FNC Entertainment in 2007. The band currently consists of main vocalist Lee Hong-gi, bassist Lee Jae-jin, and d ...

. It is their eight single under

Warner Music Japan Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * Nipsey Hussle, All Money In * Mike Caren, Artist Par ...

and 11th single overall in Japan. The song was written by

Kenichi Maeyamada , also known as , is a Japanese composer, lyricist, and musician. His primary work is composing anime theme songs and for J-pop musicians. He contracts through Supalove, a Japanese record label. He has released a number of anime and video game mu ...

and composed by Corin. It was released on August 8, 2012, in four editions: a CD-only edition, a first press edition, a tour venue edition, and Lawson edition. The single debuted at number six 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 chart, selling 34,000 copies in its first week.

Composition

"Top Secret" was written by

and composed by Corin. "Beloved" 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 Lee Jae-jin and Suzuki "Daichi" Hideyuki. "Here" was written and composed by Nobuaki Hiraga. The lyrics begin ''"Kiken'na kaori.. (危険な香り dangerous scent)"'', and contain the refrain "Top Secret kimi dake daze". F.T. Island stated that "Top Secret" was different from their previous singles. The song was described to be more on the adult and sexy side. On the lyrical content, lead singer

Lee Hongki Lee Hong-gi (; born March 2, 1990), also known mononymously as Hongki, is a South Korean singer, actor, and media personality. He is best known as the front man of rock band F.T. Island. In 2015, Lee debuted as a solo artist with the release ...

explained that the person in the song displayed "the image of the playboy who's good on love affairs and going out with many girls at the same time". The coupling tracks "Beloved" and "Here" were explained to be sorrowful and lonely songs; the former was classified as an energetic song, while the latter is slow-tempo, where the lyrics narrated a hopeful future. Guitarist

Choi Jong-hoon Choi Jong-hoon (, ; born March 7, 1990) is a South Korean former musician and actor. He served as the leader, guitarist, and keyboardist of rock band F.T. Island from its debut in 2007 until his retirement from the entertainment industry in 2019. ...

compared the sound of "Beloved" to that of the English rock band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Release and promotion

For the month of July 2012, "Top Secret" was used as the ending theme song for

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

's music show '' Happy Music''. "Top Secret" was released on August 8, 2012, in four editions: a CD-only edition which includes one of seven random trading cards; a Lawson edition which includes performance footage of " Satisfaction (Korean Version)", "Wanna Go", "Paper Plane", "Yuki", and "Stay" from the ''

20 (Twenty) ''20 wenty' (stylized as ''20 wenty') is the third studio album released in Japan by South Korean rock band F.T. Island. It is their second studio album under Warner Music Japan and third studio album overall in the country. Recorded in South K ...

'' album release event held at Zepp Tokyo on May 19, 2012, as well as a special feature of the event; a first press edition which includes the music video for "Top Secret", a special feature, and a clip of F.T. Island discussing the song; and the tour venue edition which includes footage performance footage of "

Let It Go! "Let It Go!" is a song by South Korean rock band F.T. Island. It is their fifth single under Warner Music Japan and eight single overall in Japan. The song was written by Kaji Katsura, Choi Minhwan and Lee Hongki, and composed by Corin and Choi ...

", "I Hope", and " Flower Rock" from Mezamashi Live held in

Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded durin ...

on August 7, 2011. F.T. Island held their first performance of "Top Secret" at Mezamashi Live in Odaiba on July 28, 2012.

Chart performance

"Top Secret" debuted at number six on the

weekly singles chart, selling 34,340 copies in its first week. On the issue dated August 20, 2012, the song debuted at number 14 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

Track listing

Chart history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Top Secret 2012 singles 2012 songs F.T. Island songs Warner Music Japan singles Songs in Japanese South Korean rock songs Songs written by Kenichi Maeyamada