Who Wrote The Again Lyrics Yui And What Inspired Them?

I get excited every time someone asks about this because 'Again' feels alive differently on record versus on stage. The studio version is clean and tight: the vocal takes are polished, the guitar tone is balanced, and the pacing is exactly what YUI and the producer intended — you hear the precise phrasing and the lyrical flow as the official reference. That makes the words land a certain way, like a finished painting. Live, though, it’s a different creature. The tempo can breathe faster or slower, notes get stretched for emotion, and YUI sometimes adds little ad-libs or elongated vowels that aren’t in the printed lyrics. Crowd noise, spontaneous harmonies, and occasional line repeats change the texture. Sometimes she’ll strip it back for an acoustic moment or mash it into a medley, which can lead to lines being shortened or rearranged. So if you want the canonical lyrics, go studio; if you want personality and rawness, chase live recordings — both are wonderful in their own way.

Honestly, the first time 'again' kicked in I felt like someone had put words to this weird ache I kept in my chest. YUI's voice is raw but warm, like a friend telling you it's okay to feel broken and keep moving. The lyrics use short, plain lines that carry heavy emotion without pretension — images of stepping forward, looking back, trying again — and that makes them so easy to sing along to even if English isn’t your first language. What sealed it was how perfectly the song paired with 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'. The visuals and story beats gave the words context: every line felt like it was about Edward and Alphonse but also about anyone who's lost something and wants it back. Add the driving rhythm, the hook that swells into the chorus, and you get an earworm that’s also a little therapy session. I still catch myself humming it when I'm cooking or walking home, and it hits me differently depending on my mood — which I think is the real magic.

I still hum 'again' on my commute sometimes, so this is one I've hunted down properly. If you want official translations of YUI's 'again', the best places to start are sources tied to the artist or the labels themselves. First, check the physical CD single or album booklet for 'again' — Japanese singles sometimes include official English translations or at least an official romanization and credits. If you don't own the CD, try looking for a digital booklet that came with purchases on stores like iTunes/Apple Music; sometimes the digital album includes the booklet with translated lyrics. Next, peek at YUI's official homepage and her record label's site (the label that released 'again'). Official music videos uploaded to the artist's or label's YouTube channel may also have subtitle options added by the rights holder. Additionally, licensed lyric providers such as LyricFind or Musixmatch have agreements with publishers and can display licensed translations — check their apps or the lyric panels within streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify (where available). As a last step, if you need absolute confirmation of an official translation, look for a translator credit, publisher name, or contact the label directly; those details are the giveaway that a translation is official. I found a few translated booklets that way for other songs, so it's worth a little digging — and it's a nice excuse to re-listen to 'again' a few times.

Whenever I stumble across another cover of 'again', I always listen for the lyrics first — that emotional phrase-by-phrase delivery is what made YUI's version stick with me. Most covers I hear on YouTube, at open mics, or on friend playlists keep the Japanese lyrics intact because they're so tied to the melody and emotion. People who grew up with 'again' and with 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' often want that exact feeling, so singers usually reproduce the original lines and phrasing. That said, I've encountered several kinds of changes. Some artists translate the words to English (or another language) to make the meaning clearer for new listeners, while others tweak a syllable here or there to fit a lower or higher key. Live performances sometimes shorten verses or add ad-libs. Instrumental or piano/guitar covers obviously remove the words, and a few creative covers rearrange lines to form a medley. If a cover is meant to be a personal reinterpretation, expect more lyrical tweaks; if it's a tribute, expect near-exact lyrics. Personally, I love both approaches: the faithful ones for nostalgia and the altered ones for fresh perspectives.

Whenever I hear 'Again' I get this vivid rush of images from 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'—that pounding guitar and YUI's voice feel like someone sprinting out of the past and refusing to look back. The lyrics don't actually lay out a literal backstory or a character timeline; they're more like emotional snapshots. Lines about trying, falling, and holding on read as internal monologue rather than a biography. That ambiguity is what I love: you can fit them to Edward's guilt and resolve, or to a more personal memory of losing something and deciding to move forward. I also think part of the confusion comes from translation. Different fans translate certain phrases in ways that sound like plot details, but in Japanese the language is often poetic and elliptical. YUI's delivery—soft in verses, raw in the chorus—fills in the gaps, making the song feel like it's recounting a history even when it isn't spelling one out. So no, the lyrics don't explain a concrete backstory, but they absolutely give you the emotional scaffolding to imagine one.

I still get a little spark when I think about that opening riff — it hit the airwaves in spring 2009. 'again' was released as a single on April 8, 2009, and it showed up on the Japanese charts immediately after that. In fact, it entered the Oricon weekly singles chart upon release and grabbed the top spot in its debut week; the tie-in as the first opening for 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' definitely turbocharged its visibility. I was commuting to work when I first noticed how many people were buzzing about it; you could tell from radio playlists and ringtone downloads that it wasn’t just another single. So, short story: its chart debut happened in April 2009 right after the April 8 release, and it opened very strong on Oricon, marking one of YUI’s biggest commercial moments up to that point.

I still get a little shiver when the first guitar strum of 'again' kicks in — because the lyrics put that exact shiver into words. To me the song balances two things: the ache of losing something precious and the stubborn spark that says you can try again. Lines about turning back, about things that were left unsaid, feel like small windows showing regret, but the chorus keeps pushing forward. It's not a victim song; it's a quietly furious promise to keep going. I learned to play the chord progression on a rainy afternoon and it changed how I hear the words. When I sing them, I imagine a late-night conversation where someone admits they failed to protect what they loved. The loss is intimate — not dramatic — and the love is patient and raw. That combination makes the song feel adult and hopeful at once: it mourns honestly, then takes a breath and says, “I’ll try again.” That breath, that cadence, is what turns pain into fuel for moving on, and that's why it sticks with me.

I got excited just reading your question because 'Again' by YUI is one of those songs everyone wants to sing at karaoke nights. From my experience, the short practical truth is: singing it yourself at a private get-together is totally fine, but using the lyrics publicly (like on a karaoke machine that broadcasts, in a bar, or on a YouTube lyric video) falls under copyright rules. Karaoke venues usually handle this by paying blanket public-performance licenses to collecting societies—so if you’re at a licensed karaoke bar, you don’t need to worry. If you want to create and distribute a karaoke version of 'Again' (putting the instrumental up online, printing or displaying the lyrics on screen, selling a CD, or streaming a lyric video), you’d need permission from the rights holders. That usually means getting the appropriate licenses: public performance via the performing rights organization, a mechanical license for reproducing the song, and a sync/license for pairing lyrics with video. In Japan, that’s often through JASRAC; elsewhere you’d contact the local collecting society or the publisher. I usually check the song’s publisher and the relevant PRO first, and if it’s for a YouTube upload I look for the publisher’s claimed policy in the platform’s music tools. It’s a bit of a headache, but once you contact the right people you can get a clear yes or a list of fees—worth it if you want to share a polished karaoke version of 'Again'.