Dune (Kenshi Yonezu song)

"DUNE"
Single by Kenshi Yonezu
LanguageJapanese
ReleasedJuly 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Recorded2017
Genre
Length3:58
LabelREISSUE RECORDS
Songwriter(s)Kenshi Yonezu
Kenshi Yonezu singles chronology
"Peace Sign"
(2017) 		"DUNE"
(2017) 		"Lemon"
(2018)
Music video
"DUNE" on YouTube

"Dune" (砂の惑星, Suna no Wakusei, lit. 'sand planet') is a song composed by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu under his alias HACHI, featuring vocals by Vocaloid virtual singer Hatsune Miku. The song was created for Hatsune Miku's 10th birthday and anniversary event Hatsune Miku 10th Anniversary Magical Mirai 2017, and was first performed at Yonezu's solo concert on July 14, 2017. Its music video, released on July 21, received over 1 million views in less than a week.

Music

The song's tune and lyrics were done by Yonezu, with vocals were done in Vocaloid, a kind of singing synthesizer software. The theme of the song is a desert planet where life is dying and "no grass will grow for the next millennium", which Yonezu said refers to the dreary, desert-like atmosphere of the Japanese video site Niconico at the time of the song compared to when he was first active.[1] The song is relatively slow compared to many other Vocaloid songs, at only 95 BPM, in addition to the second half of the song sounding like post-trap hip-hop. Yonezu also likened the new generation of creators to "the wind that blows away the desert" in the song.[2]

The song has abundant references to the Japanese Vocaloid community and past Vocaloid works.[1]

Release

Yonezu performed the song himself for the first time at his solo concert at the Tokyo International Forum from July 14 to 15. On July 21, 2017, a music video produced by Yonezu and Minakata Kenkyūjo, who had worked together many times before, was released on YouTube and Niconico. The music video features Hatsune Miku leading a group of masked, mysterious people through a desert landscape.[3][4] Yonezu performed the song at Hatsune Miku's anniversary event, Hatsune Miku 10th Anniversary Magical Mirai 2017, which took place from September 1 to September 3. Another version of the song was included on the album Bootleg, which was released on 1 November.[5]

Reception

Cosplay of Hatsune Miku from Dune, Nanjing, 2022

After its release on NicoNico, the song surpassed 1 million plays in 6 days and 5 hours, breaking the record in the Vocaloid category previously held by the song "FREELY TOMORROW" by Mitchie M. The controversy surrounding the imagery in the song led to the song reaching number one in Twitter mentions on the Billboard Japan chart in Japan for the week ending 23 July.[5] On July 31, the song reached No. 8 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Michel, Patrick St (31 October 2017). "Kenshi Yonezu hopes for more fireworks on new album 'Bootleg'". The Japan Times. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  2. ^ "初音ミクの10年～彼女が見せた新しい景色～" [Ten Years of Hatsune Miku: The New View She Shows Us]. 音楽ナタリー [Music Natalie] (in Japanese). 10 August 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  3. ^ "米津玄師ハチ名義のボカロ曲「砂の惑星」MV公開、南方研究所と5年ぶりタッグ" [MV for "Suna no Wakusei," a vocaloid song under the name of Hachi of Yonezu Hachi, released; first tag team in 5 years with Minamikata Institute.]. 音楽ナタリー [Music Natalie] (in Japanese). 21 July 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  4. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (21 July 2017). "Hatsune Miku Goes Post-Apocalyptic for Magical Mirai Event". Anime News Network. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Kenshi Yonezu, as Hachi, Shares New Video, 'Dune feat. Hatsune Miku': Watch". Billboard. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100". Billboard JAPAN. Billboard. 31 July 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2024.