Carnation (song)

In 2009, Sheena released the solo single "Ariamaru Tomi" and the album Sanmon Gossip after mostly focusing on her band, Tokyo Jihen. Since then, Tokyo Jihen released their fourth studio album, Sports, the single "Sora ga Natteiru" / "Onna no Ko wa Dare Demo" (2011) and their fifth studio album Dai Hakken (2011).

The project began when Shin Yasui, music supervisor for the film Sakuran that Sheena had worked together with, recommended her for the team working on Carnation.[3]

Originally, Sheena was asked to create an upbeat song for the drama. As the drama was set in Kansai, Sheena decided to similarly give the song a Kansai feel, and created the song "Jinsei wa Omoidōri." However, after reading the script and watching the stop-motion sequence Koichiro Tsujikawa created for the opening, she decided an entirely different song with a universal feel would be better suited. This led to the creation of "Carnation."[3]

When she first created the melody, she added a harp backing to the demo. This lead her to ask her frequent collaborator, conductor Neko Saito to work on the song as well.[3] The song was recorded with a 40-person orchestra, led by Saito and concert master Great Eida.[4] Even though she was asked as a soloist to create the theme song, Sheena wanted to include her band Tokyo Jihen in the process. Hence, Sheena invited the members to perform the backing tracks and instruments for the songs on the single.[3] Sheena had wanted the song to be released as a single by the band, however the staff involved with the drama specifically requested the song be under her solo stage name.[5] The lyrics were completed at the very end of the song creating process, after the song arrangement.[3]

The B-side "Jinsei wa Omoidōri," as it was a candidate song to be used in the drama, was inspired by fashion designer Ayako Koshino, the subject of Carnation. Sheena wrote the song about the strength of a mother.[3] The other B-side, "Watashi no Aisuru Hito," was a song Sheena had already thought of before working on the single. She added it to the single as she wanted "a different hook" to those of "Carnation" and "Jinsei wa Omoidōri."[3] "Watashi no Aisuru Hito" was recorded with a 34-person orchestra, and "Jinsei wa Omoidōri" with a team of 11 other than Tokyo Jihen.[4] The B-sides, like "Carnation," were also given French titles by Sheena. "Watashi no Aisuru Hito" became "Mon Amour" ("My Love"), while "Jinsei wa Omoidōri" became "Le monde est à moi" ("The World Is Mine").[1]

The song was performed three times on television. The first was at Count Down TV on October 29, followed by Music Station on November 11.[6] At the 62nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, 2011, Sheena performed "Carnation" in a medley with the Tokyo Jihen song "Onna no Ko wa Dare Demo,"[7] along with the other members of Tokyo Jihen.

The song was performed during Tokyo Jihen's 22 date tour Discovery, which was held between September and December in 2010. An instrumental of "Carnation" was performed during Tokyo Jihen's Bon Voyage farewell tour in 2012. During Sheena's Tōtaikai solo concerts in November 2013, Sheena performed the song again.[8]

The Yuichi Kodama-directed music video was first released on October 21, 2011.[6] It features a starry night motif, where an orchestra performs the song with Sheena. Her Tokyo Jihen band members also make an appearance in the video.[9]

Reception by critics was positive for "Carnation." Takahashi Tomokita from Rockin' On praised the song for its simple and pure melody.[10] CDJournal reviewers agreed, stating that three aspects, the song's "retro world view," Sheena's "whisper-like mysterious voice" and the "calm strings" came together to create a "beautiful waltz."[11] Haruna Takekawa from Hot Express enjoyed the "magnificent orchestra sound" and Sheena's vocals that had the ability to "change expressions" during the song.[12]

Personnel details were sourced from "Carnation"'s liner notes booklet.[4]

Tokyo Jihen

Other performers

Technical and production