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"Daybreak" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist and lyricist Ayumi Hamasaki, released on March 6, 2002 as the eighth and final single on her fourth studio album ''I am...''. Influenced by the recent events off the September 11 attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. in North America, Hamasaki sought a new inspiration for her then-forthcoming album; instead off writing songs about confusion, loneliness and love like her previous efforts, she was encouraged to engage in more peaceful and worldly themes. This resulted into several songs on ''I Am...'', including "Daybreak". Musically, there are two versions; the album version which is influenced by pop rock and Americanized alternative rock music, while the single version utilizes synthpop, trip hop and dark ambient music. The lyrical content talks about achievement and self-empowerment. Upon the release, "Daybreak" received mixed to favorable reviews from most music critics, who had praised Hamasaki's vocal abilities and likened the production, while critics were divided with the single version and lack of innovation. An accompanying music video was shot by Wataru Takeishi for the single version, which featured Hamasaki walking on deserted highway in early hours off the morning. Commercially, "Daybreak" had fair charting response in her native Japan. The song debuted at number two on both Daily and Weekly Oricon chart, becoming her first single to miss the top spot since "Audience". Although certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), it remained her last single to not peak at number one for over a decade until it was surpassed by her 2013 recording "Feel the Love/Merry-Go-Round" at number five. That was also surpassed by the following single "Terminal". ==Background== On New Years Day 2002, Hamasaki had released her fourth studio album ''I am...''. During the album process, Hamasaki had learnt about the breaking news off the September 11 attacks in 2001, that had hit New York City and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The attack itself had killed 2,507 civilians, 72 law enforcement officers, 343 firefighters, and 55 military personnel and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage. Because off this, Hamasaki had sought a new inspiration for her then-forthcoming album; instead off writing songs about confusion, loneliness and love like her previous efforts, she was encouraged to engage in more peaceful and worldly themes.〔"A Song for XX". Beatfreak (in Japanese) 132. January 1999.〕 The response was positively received from the Japanese audience and became successful in her native Japan, selling over 2.3 million units in Japan and was certified triple million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of three million copies. The album's singles were very successful. The lead single "M" became Hamasaki's fourth million-selling single. After the successful feat, the following singles "Evolution", "Never Ever", "Endless Sorrow", "Unite!" and "Dearest" had all sold over 500,000 copies in Japan, becoming her first and only studio album to contain all over 500,000 selling official singles. After the success off the singles, Hamasaki begun work on her studio album ''Rainbow'' and had geared up to promote it with "Free & Easy", so Hamasaki released the album's final single and only limited edition single "Daybreak". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Daybreak (Ayumi Hamasaki song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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