is a song recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai. Initially released to radio on October 4, 2021, the song was later released digitally on November 1, 2021, via EMI Records. "Aldebaran" served as the theme song for the Japanese television drama, Come Come Everybody and subsequently served as the third single from Ai's twelfth studio album, Dream.

Upon its release, "Aldebaran" received critical acclaim from critics for its composition and lyrics. The song debuted and peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and number 6 on the Oricon Digital Singles Chart. In May 2022, "Aldebaran" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

Background

On September 27, 2021, Ai announced on her social media of a song she recorded for an upcoming NHK TV series. Written by Naotarō Moriyama and featuring arrangements by Neko Saito, the song is named after the star of the same name in the Taurus constellation. Regarding the song, Mone Kamishiraishi, one of the actresses to be in the film, commented that the song was "beautiful" and "nice and encouraging". Eri Fukatsu also commented she was wary of Ai's recording but stated, "My heart was shaken, robbed and filled." Actress Rina Kawaei, also an actress in the film, commented that she was "impressed by the gentle singing and the wonderful lyrics". The song was originally written by Moriyama on New Years in 2021 about environmental issues and was originally titled "Daphnia Pulex". "Aldebaran" was not intended to be the theme song for Come Come Everybody until Moriyama allowed Ai to record the song with reworked lyrics.

Promotion To promote "Aldebaran", Ai was to appear on NHK's Utacon to preview the song on September 28, 2021, however the event was cancelled and moved to October 4 due to an emergency deceleration. Universal Japan issued a compilation chapter titled Self Selection "Piano Ballad" on the same day the single was announced. On TikTok, a 30 second television version was released to the service. On October 4, a radio edit of "Aldebaran" was sent to Japanese radio stations. An official audio of the radio edit was uploaded to Ai's YouTube channel. On October 26, Ai performed the song on an NHK broadcast show.

Commercial performance "Aldebaran" debuted at number 5 on the Oricon Daily Digital Singles chart on November 2. The song later peaked at number 4 on the Daily Digital Singles chart. On the weekly Oricon Digital Singles chart, "Aldebaran" debuted at number 11. For the week of November 16, 2021, "Aldebaran" reached a new peak at number 6 with 8,331 total downloads. On the Billboard Japan Hot 100, "Aldebaran" debuted and peaked at number 37. "Aldebaran" marked Ai's first appearance on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 since her 2017 single, "Kira Kira". In March 2022, "Aldebaran" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Japan Top User Generated Songs chart. The song was later ranked at number 29 on the Billboard Japan Top Download Songs year-end chart for 2022.

Accolades YearOrganizationAward/workResultRef.2022The Television Drama Academy AwardsBest Drama Song15th Tokyo Drama AwardsTheme Song Award

Music video A music video for "Aldebaran" was announced on October 25, 2021, and premiered on YouTube on November 5.

Live performances Ai performed "Aldebaran" on the day of its release during her 20th anniversary tour It's All Me at the Tokyo International Forum Hall. Ai performed "Aldebaran" at the 72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, her fourth appearance on the show. Ai appeared on 193rd episode of The First Take, a YouTube channel where singers perform a song recorded in one take. She performed an excerpt of "Story" prior to "Aldebaran". It marked her first appearance on the channel.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Dream liner notes and Tidal.Dream (CD). Ai. EMI Records/Universal/Def Jam Recordings. 2022. UPCH-20614. Ai Carina Uemura – lead vocals, production Naotarō Moriyama – songwriting Neko Saito – production, arranging Midorin – drums Tomohiko Ohkanda – bass Fumio Yanagisawa – guitar Satoshi Onoue – guitar Hideaki "Lanbsy" Sakai – latin percussion Tomoyuki Asakawa – harp Great Eida – concertmaster, strings Jo Kuwata – violin Nagisa Kiriyama – violin Haruko Yano – violin Yukinori Murata – violin Akane Irie – violin Ayumu Koshikawa – violin Akiko Maruyama – violin Yui Kaneko – violin Masahiro Miyake – violin Yuji Yamada – viola Mayu Takashima – viola Ayano Kasahara – cello Yoshihiko Maeda – cello Taiji Okuda – mixing Randy Merrill – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts + 2021 chart performance for "Aldebaran" Chart (2021) Peakposition Japan Hot 100 (Billboard Japan) 37 Japan Digital Singles Chart (Oricon) 6

+ 2023 chart performance for "Aldebaran" Chart (2023) Peakposition Japan Top Download Songs (Billboard Japan) 72

Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for "Aldebaran" Chart (2022) Position Japan Top Download Songs (Billboard Japan) 29

Certifications

Release history + Release history and formats for "Aldebaran" Region Date Format Version Label Japan October 4, 2021 Radio airplay Radio edit Universal Japan Various November 1, 2021 Original March 11, 2022 First Take

Notes

References

External links

"Aldebaran" Special Site