Chemistry Like Apple and Cinnamon

And now, the first song of the day for Between Rhyme and Reason. If you've been around me at all within the last three days, there is a good chance you've heard the following song blasting from my headphones. Of course, you'd have no idea what the song is but like I said, if you've been around me with my headphones on at all in the last couple of days there is about a 95% chance that this song is what I was listening to at the time. Oh that's right, I still haven't actually introduced the song...well without further adieu, the first song of the day for Between Rhyme and Reason is "Apple and Cinnamon" by Utada.

Song Title: Apple and Cinnamon
Artist: Utada
From the Album: This Is The One
Genre: R&B
Year of Release: 2009

Since I realize Utada isn't exactly a household name as far as artists go I'll provide a bit of background on this lovely lady(You can also check her wiki place for more info @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_Utada): Hikaru Utada is a Japanese-American bilingual singer who has been in the entertainment business since she was 13(she is now currently 26). Born in New York City and with both of her parents also in the music industry, she has essentially been raised on music like it was her food. Even though she got her start in the United States under the name Cubic U when she was 13, she is best known in the states for singing "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary", the English themes for the games Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II respectively. Her success however truly began when she moved to Japan in the year 1998, she soon was scouted by Toshiba-EMI records and released her first album under her actual name, First Love. First Love soon went on to becoming the best selling record of all time in Japan. Just her successful is Hikaru Utada(in the states she simply goes by her last name, Utada)? Well she is currently rated as the best-selilng artist of all time in Japan, so yeah I would say this woman is pretty succesful. In 2004, she tried to re-enter the US market with the album, Exodus. A few singles from Exodus like "Devil Inside" went on to become successful on the dance charts but sales were not amazing for this highly anticipated album for the artist. Most critics(and I) generally agree that Exodus while not a horrible album and had a remarkable production was pretty weak as far as the emotion and feeling in comparison to her Japanese and earlier English work went. However, she recently released her second(third if you count her album as Cubic U) English album entitled This Is The One. And that now leads us up to our song of today, my personal favorite off of This Is The One.

Apple and Cinnamon is a moving R&B song about a break-up. Yes I realize that break-ups are quite possibly the most universally sung about topic but this song is a real standout in my opinion. I think its Utada's gentle yet strong voice that makes this track speak so much to me, I can just feel the emotion as she sings the words, "I can't believe that you and me are falling out of love and everyone used to be so envious of us. Chemistry like Apple and Cinnamon, what we had was just too good...too good to last." I can't really tell you why I love this song so much, I really can't but I do...something about it just absolutely possess me. The tragic beauty of a seemingly perfect love falling apart, though it may be cliche, we cannot deny that such emotions pull at our heart and can possibly envelop us. There's a subtle hint of Utada's eastern influences blending with western influences in the production of the song yet it blends into something that I can only describe as beautiful. I'm not sure if you'll like the song as much as I do but I hope you enjoy it at least a bit. Also, I should note that I'm a pretty big Utada fan so don't be surprised to see her work show up again here at Between Rhythm and Rhyme.