"Wildflower" is a song by Japanese musical act Superfly. Used as the theme song for the drama ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'', it was released as a single on September 1, 2010. The single release was packaged as "Wildflower" & '' Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3''', a four-song

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

featuring a

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

as a bonus disc.

Background and development

In September 2009, Superfly released the act's second studio album ''

Box Emotions ''Box Emotions'' is the second studio album by Japanese pop-rock band Superfly, released on September 2, 2009. It debuted at the number-one spot on the Oricon weekly album charts, making Superfly the first female artist in six years, since Chito ...

'', their second release in a row to reach number one on Oricon's album chart. This was followed by a single, "

Dancing on the Fire "Dancing on the Fire" is a single by Japanese rock act Superfly, the group's ninth single overall. Released on November 18, 2009, "Dancing on the Fire" is Superfly's first single after the release of their second album ''Box Emotions''. The title ...

", Superfly's second upbeat dance song to be used in commercials for

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

's Digital IXUS range of cameras. On June 18, Superfly released the song "

Tamashii Revolution is a song by Japanese band Superfly. It was used as the theme song of the NHK broadcast of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, played during relay clips and highlight shows. It was released as a digital download in Japan on June 18, 2010, and was later inc ...

", a song used as the theme song of the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

broadcast of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, played during relay clips and highlight shows. It became one of Superfly's biggest commercial successes, eventually becoming certified platinum twice by the

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 ...

. "Wildflower" was first announced as being the theme song for the drama ''Gold'' on June 15. It was the second drama starring

Yūki Amami is a Japanese actress. Career Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western- ...

, after " My Best of My Life" was used for ''Boss'' in 2009. Ochi wrote the lyrics for the song after reading the script for the drama, and was inspired by the stoic story-line and language. Ochi wrote the song about wildflowers, wanting to create a song that reflected the feeling of wanting to live earnestly and strongly. The single's jacket features vocalist Shiho Ochi holding a different object representing each song on the single: a

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, ...

flower for "Wildflower", a

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

drum for "

", a globe for "Free Planet" and on the back cover a rainbow for "

Roll Over the Rainbow "Roll Over the Rainbow" is a song by Japanese musical act Superfly. Released as one of the songs on "Wildflower" & '' Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3, a four-song extended play featuring a cover album as a bonus disc in September 2010, it ...

Promotion and release

"Wildflower" was the leading track of a four song single, commemorating Superfly's 10th single since their debut in 2007. Each song featured a different style of rock, and a different commercial tie-up. The single came packaged with ''Cover Songs: Best 'Track 3, a compilation album compiling Superfly's English language cover songs that were featured on the B-sides of her singles, as well as three new recordings. One of the new recordings was a cover of Elvin Bishop's 1976 song "

Fooled Around and Fell in Love "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" is a song written and performed by blues guitarist Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas on lead vocals. It appeared on his 1975 album, ''Struttin' My Stuff'', and was released as a single the following year. Backgro ...

", which was used in the drama ''Gold'' as an incidental song, alongside "Wildflower". A limited edition version of the set featured a bonus

8cm single Mini CDs, or pocket CDs, are CDs with a smaller diameter and one-third the storage capacity of a standard 120 mm disc. Formats Amongst the various formats are the * Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD s ...

, featuring an acoustic version of "Fooled Around and Fell in Love". On September 15, ''Wildflower & Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3 was released as an

iTunes LP iTunes LP (referred to in pre-launch press by the code name Cocktail) is a format for interactive album artwork introduced by Apple Inc. on September 9, 2009. It is similar to the CMX format being developed by the three major record labels, a ...

, the first such download released by a Japanese artist. Superfly performed "Wildflower" at ''Music Japan'' on July 18, followed by performances at ''

Bokura no Ongaku was a Japanese music television show which aired weekly from April 3, 2004 to September 19, 2014 on the Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, ...

'' on August 27 and ''

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

'' on September 3.

Music video

A music video was released for the song, directed by Shuichi Banba. It features scenes of Ochi in a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-style prairie, standing in wooden farming structures and next to a

windpump A windpump is a type of windmill which is used for pumping water. Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The use of wind pumps became widespread across the Muslim world an ...

. The music video also features an old man dressed in Western clothing, and a little girl who resembles Ochi. Many scenes depict the old man next to the little girl, who is replaced by the fully-grown Ochi. The man gives some seeds to the little girl, who plants them. In the final scenes of the video, one of the seeds sprout into a red wildflower.

Critical reception

Hirokazu Koike of ''

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 pr ...

'' praised the song developing from its minor chord progression into a bold chorus. He was deeply impressed by the song's ability to make you feel a sense of a tough life force. ''CDJournal'' reviewers described "Wildflower" as a "medium" rock song, that was simple and driven with strong vocals. They praised the song's subtle guitar riff introduction which lead into a firmly charming song, as well as the "international atmosphere" caused by the mandolin accents. They felt that the song had strong imagery of a flower rooted firmly in desolate earth, caused by the song's strong sound and heart-resonating vocals.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from the liner notes booklet of ''

Mind Travel ''Mind Travel'' is the third studio album by Japanese pop-rock band Superfly (band), Superfly, the first studio album from the group fronted by Shiho Ochi in nearly two years. The record features guest musicians from Beat Crusaders, Tatsuya Nakamu ...

''. *Ittetsu Gen Strings – strings *Hideki Matsubara – bass *Yukio Nagoshi – electric guitar *Shiho Ochi – lead and background vocals, tambourine *Yutaka Odawara – drums *Yoshiyuki Yatsuhashi – electric guitar, mandolin

Chart rankings

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildflower 2010 singles 2010 songs Japanese-language songs Japanese television drama theme songs Billboard Japan Hot 100 number-one singles Superfly (band) songs Warner Music Japan singles