Time Will Tell (Utada Hikaru song)

"Time Will Tell"
"Time Will Tell" promotional single cover.
Single by Utada Hikaru
from the album First Love
Released	1998 (see release history)
Format	8cm CD single, 12cm CD single, vinyl record, Digital download
Recorded	2010
Genre	Contemporary R&B
Length	5:30
Label	Toshiba EMI
Writer(s)	Utada Hikaru
Utada Hikaru singles chronology
"Close to You" (1998) "Time Will Tell" (1998) "Automatic" (1998)
"Automatic/Time Will Tell" 12cm CD single cover.

"Time Will Tell" (stylized as "time will tell") is a song by Japanese musician Utada Hikaru. Originally released in the United States and Japan on a promotional vinyl record, the song was Utada's first to be released under her own name, separate from her Cubic U moniker. In December 1998 the song was packaged with "Automatic" and released as a double-A side single, successfully managing to reach number two on Japan's Oricon singles chart and sell over 1,000,000 copies.

Background and development

Utada began recording music as a small child, as a member of U3, a musical unit with her mother, enka singer Keiko Fuji and her father, producer Teruzane Utada. The group released an album in 1993, Star, when Utada was nine. After several years, the project focused more on Utada, being retitled Cubic U. In early 1998, Utada released the album Precious as Cubic U, an album featuring mostly contemporary R&B songs composed by her.

In 1998, Utada was asked if she could write Japanese songs by her record company, Toshiba EMI. This led to the recording sessions for her debut Japanese album, First Love. (1999)^[1]

Writing and production

The song was recorded in June 1998, at Quad Recording Studios in New York and Studio Terra in Tokyo.^[1] Utada wrote the song at age 15, and it was her second Japanese language song, after "Never Let Go".

Promotion and release

In 1998, the song was used as the ending theme song for the Fuji Television program Gokigenyō. Utada performed the song at her Luv Live concerts in April 1999, as well as during her Bohemian Summer 2000 Japan tour. After 10 years, she performed the song again as a part of the encore for her two date concert series Wild Life in December 2010.^[2]

A music video was produced for the song, included in her Utada Hikaru Single Clip Collection Vol. 1 (1999) music clip collection. It features split-screen videos of Utada singing the song on a set, interspersed with promotional photos taken of her.

Cover versions

Signer Daichi Muira covered the song at the J-Wave Zero Gravity concert, held on December 29, 2010. In 2014, musicians Tofubeats and Bonnie Pink collaborated to record the song for Utada Hikaru no Uta, a tribute album celebrating 15 years since Utada's debut. Tofubeats took only three hours to create the backing track for the cover.^[3]

Critical reception

CDJournal noted the song's African American music and "jazz funk" influences, and praised the ability of "Time Will Tell" to balance the genres of pop and dance, while remaining a medium tempo song.^[4]

"Time Will Tell" was given the silver award at the 2000 JASRAC awards, for being the second most royalty receiving song in 1999, after her own song "Automatic" was ranked the highest song for 1999.^[5]

Track listings

'Japan press' DJ promotional vinyl
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Time Will Tell (Club Mix)"
2.	"Time Will Tell (Heart Mix)"
3.	"Time Will Tell (Heart Mix) Radio Edit"
4.	"Time Will Tell (Alt.Mutes Mix)"	5:30

'New York press' DJ promotional vinyl
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Time Will Tell (Dub Mix)"	5:36
2.	"Time Will Tell (Club Mix)"
3.	"Time Will Tell (Heart Mix)"
4.	"Time Will Tell (Alt.Mutes Mix)"	5:30

Japanese promotional CD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Time Will Tell (Alt.Mutes Mix)"	5:30
2.	"Time Will Tell (Dub Mix)"	5:36
Total length:		11:06

Commercial "Automatic/Time Will Tell" 8cm CD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Automatic"	5:12
2.	"Time Will Tell"	5:30
3.	"Automatic (Original Karaoke)"	5:11
Total length:		15:53

Commercial "Automatic/Time Will Tell" 12cm CD/vinyl record
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Automatic"	5:12
2.	"Time Will Tell"	5:30
3.	"Time Will Tell (Dub Mix)"	5:36
Total length:		16:18

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from First Love's liner notes booklet.^[1]

Musicians and personnel

• Bob Allecca – recording
• Mike Brown – recording
• Masayoshi Furukawa – guitar
• Hotoda Goh – mixing
• Julian Hernandez – additional chorus
• Jun Isomura – arrangement
• Takehiko Kamata – recording
• Toshiyuki Mori –arrangement, keyboards, programming
• Masaaki Ugajin – recording
• Hikaru Utada – writing, vocals

Chart rankings

Charts (1998)	Peak position
Japan Oricon weekly singles[6] "Automatic/Time Will Tell" 8cm	4
Japan Oricon weekly singles[7] "Automatic/Time Will Tell" 12cm	2

Sales and certifications

Chart	Amount
Oricon physical sales[8] "Automatic/Time Will Tell" 8cm	772,000
Oricon physical sales[8] "Automatic/Time Will Tell" 12cm	1,291,000
RIAJ physical certification[9] "Automatic/Time Will Tell"	4× Platinum (1,600,000)

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Distributing Label	Catalogue codes
United States	1998[10]	Promotional vinyl record	Toshiba EMI	PRT-8397
Japan				PRT-8396
	August 1998	Promo single		PCDS-0208
	December 9, 1998[6][7]	8cm single, 12cm single		TODT-5242, TOCT-4127
	February 17, 1999[10]	Vinyl record		TOJT-4140

References

1. First Love 15th Anniversary Edition (Media notes) (in Japanese). Hikaru Utada. Tokyo, Japan: Universal. 2014.
2. "宇多田ヒカル一時休止前ラスト公演で感涙＆Ust新記録樹立" (in Japanese). Natalie. December 13, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
3. "『宇多田ヒカルのうた』全貌明らかに。井上陽水、椎名林檎、浜崎あゆみ、吉井和哉ら参加アーティストコメント" [All details revealed for Utada Hikar no Uta, comments from contributing artists such as Yosui Inoue, Ringo Sheena, Ayumi Hamasaki and Kazuya Yoshii.] (in Japanese). Barks. December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
4. ミニ・レビュー (in Japanese). CDJournal. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
5. "JASRAC賞" (in Japanese). JASRAC. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
6. "Ａｕｔｏｍａｔｉｃ／ｔｉｍｅ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｔｅｌｌ". Oricon. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
7. "Ａｕｔｏｍａｔｉｃ／ｔｉｍｅ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｔｅｌｌ". Oricon. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
8. "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved June 17, 2014. (subscription required (help)).
9. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年2月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. February 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese) (Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan) 473: 9. April 10, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
10. "CubicU「Precious」再発に関して/「time will tell」アナログ盤に関して" (in Japanese). U3 Music. January 25, 1999. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.