Hurry Go Round Explained

Hurry Go Round
Cover:Hurry Go Round.jpg
Type:single
Artist:hide with Spread Beaver
Album:Ja, Zoo
Released:October 21, 1998
Genre:Rock
Label:Universal Victor
Producer:hide
Prev Title:Ever Free
Prev Year:1998
Next Title:Tell Me
Next Year:2000

"Hurry Go Round" is the eleventh single by the Japanese musician hide, the fourth to bear the hide with Spread Beaver name, released on October 21, 1998. The song was left incomplete at the time of hide's death on May 2, 1998, being finished by his Spread Beaver band mates and included on the album Ja, Zoo. It reached number 2 on the Oricon Singles Chart and has been certified double platinum by the RIAJ for sales over 500,000.

On May 2, 2007, the single was re-released with a new cover.[1] On December 8, 2010, it was re-released again as part of the third releases in "The Devolution Project", which was a release of hide's original eleven singles on picture disc vinyl.[2]

Background

At the Visual Japan Summit on October 15, 2016, Teru of Glay said that he was told their 1997 single "However" inspired hide to write "Hurry Go Round".[3]

"Hurry Go Round" was one of the songs from Ja, Zoo that was unfinished at the time of hide's death. Eric Westfall, one of the album's recording and mixing engineers, revealed that a week or so after hide's death, he and I.N.A had an emotionally difficult time finishing the album as televisions they had on in the studio were still showing footage of and talking about the dead musician. He said that "Hurry Go Round" gave them particular difficulty due to its "heavy" or somber lyrical theme about "the circle of life", with them both crying while working on it individually. He said that I.N.A only had one or two temporary vocal recordings from hide with which to finish the song.[4]

Westfall claimed that the liner notes crediting Rich Breen for mixing the track are incorrect and that the mix actually used was done by himself. Despite him being told that it would be, it was not corrected in later pressings.[5]

Reception and legacy

"Hurry Go Round" reached number 2 on the Oricon Singles Chart.[6] By the end of the year it had sold 567,890 copies and was the 41st best-selling single of 1998.[7] The single was certified platinum by the RIAJ in November 1998, and double platinum in February 2020 for sales over 500,000.[8]

Some of the lyrics to the song are engraved on hide's tombstone.[9] "Hurry Go Round" was chosen as the title for a May 26, 2018, documentary film about hide.[10] Its ending theme is a new version of the song titled "Hurry Go Round (hide Vocal Take 2)". This version of the song has only hide's vocals and Pata's acoustic guitar, and is included on the June 6, 2018, tribute album Tribute Impulse.[11]

The 251st chapter of the manga series Rurouni Kenshin, published in September 1999, is titled "Hurry Go Round" after the song.[12] The author, Nobuhiro Watsuki, was listening to the song a lot while drawing the final arc of the series and felt it fitted well with the characters Yukishiro Enishi and Hitokiri Battōsai, and referred to it as the Jinchū arc's theme song.[13]

Track listing

All songs are written by hide.

Personnel

Personnel per Ja, Zoo liner notes.[14]

Personnel (2024 REPSYCLE Ver.)

Personnel per Ja, Zoo (2024 REPSYCLE Ver.) liner notes.[15] [16]

Cover versions

The song was covered by Scarlett for Crush! 3 - 90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Love Songs-, which was released on June 27, 2012, and features newer visual kei bands covering love songs by visual kei artists of the 1990s.[17] It was covered by Cell for the Tribute II -Visual Spirits- tribute album and by Hero for Tribute III -Visual Spirits-, both albums released on July 3, 2013.[18] Shion recorded a version for Tribute VI -Female Spirits-, released on December 18, 2013.[19]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: hideの"誕生会"今年も開催決定!!. Barks. ja. June 26, 2011.
  2. Web site: hide singles on vinyl. Tokyo Hive. June 26, 2011.
  3. Web site: VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT 2016 Day 2: Part 3. Jame. November 14, 2016. Tomo. December 13, 2020.
  4. Niwa, Eric Westfall. 2014. X Japan Podcast: Episode 2, Part 1 - Eric Westfall/hide. Podcast. SoundCloud. 51:00. January 15, 2016.
  5. Niwa, Eric Westfall. 2016. X Japan Podcast: Episode 20 - Eric Westfall Returns. Podcast. SoundCloud. 21:03. December 29, 2016.
  6. Web site: hideのシングル売り上げランキング . ja . Oricon . July 8, 2012.
  7. Web site: What's This Year - Music 1998 . ja. July 16, 2004 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120310102413/http://www1.interq.or.jp/kunioki/year/music/rc_ms98.shtml . March 10, 2012 .
  8. Web site: Japanese album certifications. Recording Industry Association of Japan. ja . Enter Hide into the アーティスト then select 検索. 2021-05-30.
  9. Web site: hideのドキュメンタリー「HURRY GO ROUND」にYOSHIKIが出演. Natalie. ja. April 13, 2018. April 13, 2018.
  10. News: Sakamoto. Masako. Film explores lyrics' meaning in last single of guitarist hide. The Asahi Shimbun. June 23, 2018. June 26, 2018.
  11. Web site: hide未発表音源が主題歌に、映画「HURRY GO ROUND」に生駒里奈も感激. Natalie. ja. May 26, 2018. June 16, 2018.
  12. Web site: 週刊少年ジャンプ 1999/09/06 表示号数39 . Media Arts Database . . ja . April 24, 2017.
  13. Book: Watsuki, Nobuhiro . . 28 . 78 . 2006 . . Free Talk . 1-4215-0675-0 . Nobuhiro Watsuki.
  14. Ja, Zoo liner notes, 1998-11-21. Retrieved 2013-01-27
  15. Web site: REPSYCLE〜hide 60th Anniversary Special Box〜. February 27, 2024.
  16. Ja, Zoo (2024 REPSYCLE Ver.) liner notes, 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-08
  17. Web site: Crush! 3-90's V-Rock best hit cover LOVE songs-. CD Japan. July 7, 2012.
  18. Web site: Two hide Tribute Albums to be Released Simultaneously!. Music Japan Plus. May 5, 2013. October 22, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131022040254/http://www.musicjapanplus.jp/news/1/22063/two-hide-tribute-albums-to-be-released-simultaneously/. dead.
  19. Web site: hide Tribute VI -Female SPIRITS- . CD Japan. December 15, 2013.