Holy Dance

In March 2010, Sakanaction released their fourth album Kikuuiki, after which they wanted to release an "easy to digest" song in a similar vein to the album's lead single "Aruku Around".{{cite web | url=http://musicshelf.jp/?mode=static&html=series_b117/index | script-title=ja:サカナクション インタビュー |author=Yoshiaki Takebe |publisher=Kinyosha Printing |date=March 17, 2010 | language=Japanese | accessdate=April 15, 2015}} Due to Kikuuiki's success, the band felt that it was an opportune time to quickly release new material after the album.{{cite web | url=http://www.hotexpress.co.jp/interview/100722_sakanaction/page3.html | title=サカナクション 『アイデンティティ』インタビュー | language=Japanese |author=Tetsuo Hiraga |work=Hot Express |publisher=Plantech | accessdate=August 29, 2015}} The band toured Japan in April and May, promoting Kikuuiki. During the post-album release period, the band worked on the song "Identity",{{cite web | title=サカナクション インタビュー | url=http://www.excite.co.jp/music/close_up/interview/1008_sakanaction/ |language=Japanese | author=Yuichi Hirayama |date=August 6, 2010 | publisher=Excite Japan | accessdate=August 29, 2015}} which they unveiled at the end of the tour, performing it at their concert on May 28 at Zepp Tokyo and announcing the single's August release on the same day.{{cite web | url=http://ro69.jp/news/detail/35329 | title=サカナクション、8月4日に新シングル『アイデンティティ』、そして10月に初の武道館公演へ | language=Japanese |publisher=Rockin' On |date=May 28, 2010 | accessdate=August 29, 2015}}

"Holy Dance" was recorded in June 2010, after the "Identity" single had already been announced.{{cite web |title=サカナクション、新作にAOKI takamasaリミックス収録 |url=http://natalie.mu/music/news/33400 |language=Japanese |publisher=Natalie |date=June 16, 2010 |accessdate=August 22, 2015}} It was produced straight after the band had been working on "Magic Time", a composition written by band vocalist Ichiro Yamaguchi for Johnny & Associates boyband SMAP, for their album We Are SMAP! (2010).

The song was released as the second B-side of the band's "Identity" single on August 4, 2010. Conceptually, Yamaguchi thought of the single as a piece of fruit, with the lead track "Identity" acting as the skin, "Holy Dance" the flesh and the final track, "Yes No (Aoki Takamasa Remix)", as the pit.{{cite web |title=果実。 |url=http://sakanaction.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html |language=Japanese |author=Ichiro Yamaguchi |publisher=Blogspot |date=August 4, 2010 |accessdate=August 30, 2015}}

{{Listen|filename=Sakanaction - Holy Dance.ogg|title="Holy Dance"|description=Music critics praised the wordplay and "exhilarating" sound of "Holy Dance".|format=Ogg}}

The song was inspired by Yamaguchi's feelings he had when he wanted to go fishing, but was unable to.{{cite web | url=http://www.tfm.co.jp/lock/sakana/index.php?itemid=6537&catid=17 | title=MV「ホーリーダンス」オーディオコメンタリー解説 | language=Japanese |author=Ichiro Yamaguchi |publisher=Tokyo FM |date=August 13, 2015 | accessdate=August 30, 2015}} Yamaguchi felt that the song was produced in contrast to "Magic Time", which had been themed around love. The lyrics describe a dusk scene, of a person at a river, feeling that their pain is like a "dancing lure with a whispering laugh". They decide to throw all of their anxiety into the river, and fly into the sky.{{cite web | script-title=ja:アイデンティティ - サカナクション | url=http://j-lyric.net/artist/a04d6c9/l021ebb.html |language=Japanese | work=J-Lyric | accessdate=August 30, 2015}} Yamaguchi felt that "Holy Dance" had become an important song for the band, and it often made the band's concert setlists.{{cite web | url=http://www.tfm.co.jp/lock/sakana/onair/120910/ | title=カップリング | language=Japanese |author=Ichiro Yamaguchi |publisher=Tokyo FM |date=September 10, 2012 | accessdate=August 30, 2015}}

"Holy Dance" was the only song by Sakanaction released in their career that did not feature a live bass guitar sound. Ami Kusakari instead performed synthetic bass sounds for the song. In 2011, a remix of the song was compiled on their fifth studio album Documentaly as a bonus track, "Holy Dance (Like a Live Mix)", almost identical to the original version, except for the addition of a live bass guitar to the mix.

Two live performances have been released commercially by Sakanaction. The first was on the Sakanaquarium 2011 Documentaly: Live at Makuhari Messe (2012) video album, followed by a performance on their Sakanaquarium 2013 Sakanaction: Live at Makuhari Messe 2013.5.19 video album.{{cite AV media notes |title=Sakanaquarium 2011 Documentaly: Live at Makuhari Messe |others=Sakanaction |year=2012 |language=Japanese |publisher=Victor Entertainment |location=Tokyo, Japan}}{{cite AV media notes |title=Sakanaquarium 2013 Sakanaction: Live at Makuhari Messe 2013.5.19 |others=Sakanaction |year=2013 |language=Japanese |publisher=Victor Entertainment |location=Tokyo, Japan}} Though not performed at the concert, a vocal-less remix of "Holy Dance" was used for the end-roll of their performance at the Nippon Budokan on October 8, 2010 was released on DVD as Sakanaquarium (B).{{cite AV media notes |title=Sakanaquarium (B)(C)(D) |others=Sakanaction |year=2011 |language=Japanese |publisher=Victor Entertainment |location=Tokyo, Japan}}

As the leading promotional track from Natsukashii Tsuki wa Atarashii Tsuki: Coupling & Remix Works,{{cite web | url=http://music.bugs.co.kr/album/528803 | title=懐かしい月は新しい月 ~ Coupling & Remix Works ~ |publisher=Bugs | language=Korean | accessdate=September 9, 2015}} the song was sent to radio stations across Japan in August 2015. In its first week of radio airplay, the song reached number 62 on the Billboard Japan Radio Songs sub-chart,{{cite magazine | title=Japan Billboard Radio Songs | url=http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=radio_songs&year=2015&month=08&day=17 | magazine=Billboard |language=Japanese | date=August 12, 2015 | accessdate=August 12, 2015}} and in its second week fell to number 83.{{cite magazine | title=Japan Billboard Radio Songs | url=http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=radio_songs&year=2015&month=08&day=24 | magazine=Billboard |language=Japanese | date=August 19, 2015 | accessdate=August 30, 2015}}

"Holy Dance" was the third song to be given a music video to promote the compilation album Natsukashii Tsuki wa Atarashii Tsuki: Coupling & Remix Works. The video was released online on July 23, and was directed by Yamaguchi personally; the first time that Yamaguchi has acted as a music video director.{{cite web |url=http://natalie.mu/music/news/154815 |title=サカナクション山口一郎初監督「ホーリーダンス」MV公開 |publisher=Natalie |language=Japanese |date=July 23, 2015 |accessdate=August 5, 2015}} The video features Yamaguchi facing 500 people, who are wearing headphones. Interspersed with these scenes are scenes of dancers from the dance troupe Elevenplay: first three dancers dressed in school uniforms, followed by scenes of a woman in a black dress dancing by herself. Other scenes in the video feature high speed camera footage of Yamaguchi fly fishing in a black room, and reverse footage of fishing equipment on white pedestals covered in green liquid.

Yamaguchi based the video on his hobby of fishing, and tried to create a video entirely themed around fishing.{{cite web | url=http://www.tfm.co.jp/lock/sakana/index.php?blogid=4&archive=2015-8-6 | title=遂にリリース！『懐かしい月は新しい月 ～Coupling & Remix works～』 | language=Japanese |author=Ichiro Yamaguchi |publisher=Tokyo FM |date=August 6, 2015 | accessdate=August 30, 2015}} The video is inspired by the imagery that Yamaguchi had when he composed the song. He intended for the three dancers to be a metaphor for fishing lures, and for the single dancer to be a metaphor for the reel. The single dancer's actions were intended to imitate the action of casting a fishing rod. The reel used in the video is a Shimano Calcutta Conquest reel.

On June 14, Sakanaction's management group Hip Land Music posted a request asking for 500 extras for a Sakanaction music video scene.{{cite web | url=https://www.facebook.com/174590592597098/posts/912280058828144 | title=サカナクション：MUSIC VIDEO撮影エキストラ募集のご案内 | language=Japanese |work=Hip Land Music |publisher=Facebook | accessdate=August 16, 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816022358/https://www.facebook.com/174590592597098/posts/912280058828144 |archivedate=August 16, 2015}} These extras shot scenes for the video in a studio in Kawaguchi, Saitama on June 18, 2015.

Yuichi Hirayama reviewing for Excite described the song as "an electro tune demanding an escape from anguish".{{cite web | title=クローズアップ サカナクション | url=http://www.excite.co.jp/music/close_up/1008_sakanaction/ |language=Japanese | author=Yuichi Hirayama |date=August 6, 2010 | publisher=Excite Japan | accessdate=April 28, 2015}} Later, when reviewing the song for EMTG in the context of Natsukashii Tsuki wa Atarashii Tsuki: Coupling & Remix Works (2015), felt that it had all of the "power" of "Identity" and the other band's singles.{{cite web |url=http://music.emtg.jp/pickUp/20150806104463840 |title=レビュー |author=Yuichi Hirayama |publisher=EMTG |language=Japanese |accessdate=August 12, 2015}} Reviewing the "Like a Live" remix found on the band's fifth album Documentaly (2011), CDJournal reviewers praised the song's "rhyme-like wordplay and exhilarating sound".{{cite web | title=サカナクション / DocumentaLy [限定] | url=http://artist.cdjournal.com/d/documentaly/4111080164 |language=Japanese | publisher=CDJournal | accessdate=August 12, 2015}}

Personnel details were sourced from Natsukashii Tsuki wa Atarashii Tsuki: Coupling & Remix Works's liner notes booklet.{{cite AV media notes |title=Natsukashii Tsuki wa Atarashii Tsuki: Coupling & Remix Works |others=Sakanaction |year=2015 |language=Japanese |publisher=Victor Entertainment |location=Tokyo, Japan}}

Personnel

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• All Sakanaction members – arrangement, production
• Keiichi Ejima – drums
• Motoharu Iwadera – guitar
• Ami Kusakari – bass guitar synthesizers
• Emi Okazaki – keyboards
• Masashi Uramoto – mixing, recording
• Ichiro Yamaguchi – vocals, guitar, lyrics, composition

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Music video personnel

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• Kei Fujita – assistant cameraman
• Mei Hashimoto – production manager
• Nozomi Hiramoto – dancer
• Akiyoshi Irio – lighting
• Mikiko – choreographer (Elevenplay)
• Shinichi Miter – stylist
• Asami Nemoto – hair, make-up
• Hideyuki Nomura – production
• Yuka Numata – dancer
• Makoto Okuguchi – director of photography
• Taito Oyama – digital imaging technician
• Saya Shinohara – dancer
• Shin Sugawara – key grip
• Tokyo No. 1 – production company
• Emi Tsuruta – production manager
• Erisa Wakisaka – dancer
• Ichiro Yamaguchi – director
• Yasuyuki Yamaguchi – co-director, editing

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Category:2010 songs

Category:Songs in Japanese

Category:Sakanaction songs

Category:Songs written by Ichiro Yamaguchi