Time Will Tell (Hikaru Utada song)

Born and raised in New York City, Utada had their first solo experience in professional recording with Cubic U, a pseudonym used for their earlier English language work. After completing their first record Precious (1998),[1] with the help and guidance of their parents, musicians Teruzane Utada and Keiko Fuji, it failed to generate interest in both the United States and Japan, with the record only appearing at number 38 on the Oricon Albums Chart in the latter country. At the time however, Utada had moved to Tokyo and attended Seisen International School, and later the American School in Japan, subsequently scoring a record contract with label Toshiba-EMI.[2] Executives at the company worked with them to become classified as a singer-songwriter instead of an idol singer, but prompted them to write and record songs in Japanese language rather than English.[3]

From the bunch, Utada solely wrote "Time Will Tell" in Tokyo, and recorded a demo tape in mid-1998—which then appeared on the special 15th Anniversary edition of their album First Love (1999).[4][5] An English language version was recorded, but it appeared as an additional recording on the physical release, titled the "Dub mix". They received help from their father, his friend Akira Miyake, and they both served as producers on the track. Additionally, the singer acts as a co-producer and co-composer on the recording, two roles which they felt were necessary in becoming a singer-songwriter.[3][4] The trio began working on their debut single, and recorded it in June 1998 at Quad Recording Studios in New York City and Studio Terra in Tokyo.[6]

Musically, "Time Will Tell" is a dance tune that incorporates elements of pop, jazz and funk. According to a contributor of Japanese magazine CD Journal, they noticed that the sound was "very mid-tempo" and believed it to be inspired by contemporary American culture.[7] Kano, writing for Rockin'On Japan, felt the song infused contemporary R&B and hip hop elements. The writer commented that their experimentation with R&B music was signfiying to Japanese culture, as he felt the country did not emphasize the genre. Additionally, he noticed their "positive" songwriting.[8] In a similar review, Mori Tomoyuki from Amazon.com believed that the singers use of R&B "influence the country" and other growing musicians.[9]

"Time Will Tell" was released as a double A-side with "Automatic", which premiered on December 9, 1998, through Toshiba-EMI in three physical formats: mini CD single, standard CD single and 12" vinyl. All three packages feature the two song, but included a different third track; the mini CD featured an original karaoke of "Automatic", while the vinyl and standard CD single included an English-dub mix of "Time Will Tell".[4][10] The cover art for the mini CD was a shot from the accompanying music video, which has the singer sitting on the yellow sofa.[4] In the United States, "Automatic" and "Time Will Tell" were added onto a special 12" vinyl that was published for promotional usage, namely through underground clubs.[11] Furthermore, the artwork for the standard CD single was yet another shot from the clip, this time with Utada standing in the blue room wearing white clothes.[12]

Since its release, "Time Will Tell" has received positive reviews from music critics. A journalist of CD Journal awarded it a special star recognition, praising Utada's songwriting and their vocal performance. Additionally, they commended the singer's experimentation of genres.[7] Kano, writing for Rockin'on Japan magazine, examined the single's ability to re-ignite J-pop globally, and praised their vocal performance and sound.[8] While reviewing their greatest hits album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.1 (2004), Satoshi Shimada of Yeah!! J-Pop! and Kanako Hayakawa from Shinko Music both felt it was one of the strongest hits from the collection.[13][14] "Time Will Tell" has been nominated for the gold award for most royalties received from the previous year at the JASRAC awards, but "Automatic" was the winning recipient. Despite this, it achieved the silver award instead.[15]

Commercially, the mini CD single of "Automatic" / "Time Will Tell" experienced success in Japan. It opened at number four on the Oricon Singles Chart, their first charting experience in that category, and spent a total of 23 weeks.[16] By the end of 1999, Oricon ranked the single at number 22 on their year-end chart, with estimated sales of 772,080, making it the seventh highest entry by a female artist—five of which were claimed by the singer.[17] Meanwhile, the 12 cm CD single edition of "Automatic" and "Time Will Tell" peaked at number two, two positions higher than the former format. In total, the single spent another 23 weeks, tallying it up to a run of 46 chart appearances.[18] This release claimed an additional 1,290,700 units, making this Utada's best-selling physical single; it was listed at number five on Oricon's year-end chart for the same year.[17]

Because of their individual releases, "Automatic" / "Time Will Tell" has sold 2,062,780 copies together, effectively marking it as the second highest-selling single of 1999, just behind "Dango 3 Kyodai" which was a collaborative release between Kentaro Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori, Sunflower Kids, and the Dumpling choir.[17] Furthermore, it is the second highest-selling single by a female artist, only behind Namie Amuro's hit "Can You Celebrate?" which has amassed 2.750 million copies in the region.[17] It was certified million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for physical shipments.[19]

An accompanying music video was directed and produced by Tomu Izawa, and despite Utada's previous musical work, it is their visual debut.[20] It depicts the singer in a red and white room singing the track, whilst a pictorial slideshow of them is played throughout the visual. The clip was included on their 1999 DVD collection Singles Clip Collection Vol. 1, and subsequently on the 15th anniversary edition of First Love, which included all the visuals from the record.[21][5] In order to promote the single, Utada performed it on two concert tours; its first appearance was their Bohemian Summer Tour in 2000, where it was scheduled as one of the opening numbers.[22] 11 years later, its most recent appearance was on their December 2010 show Wild Life.[23] In 2014, musicians Tofubeats and Bonnie Pink collaborated to record the song for Utada Hikaru no Uta, a tribute album celebrating 15 years since Utada's debut. Tofubeats took only three hours to create the backing track for the cover.[24]

Credits adapted from the CD liner notes of First Love: 15th Anniversary edition.[5]

Musicians and personnel

• "Automatic" / "Time Will Tell" Mini CD single on Hikaru Utada's official website. (in Japanese)
• "Automatic" / "Time Will Tell" CD single on Hikaru Utada's official website. (in Japanese)