Drivin'

Drivin'

Song Information

Drivin's banner.

Artist: NAOKI feat.Paula Terry
Composition/Arrangement: NAOKI
Lyrics/Vocals: Paula Terry
BPM: 155
Length: 1:35
Genre: HYPER EUROBEAT
Movie: VJ GYO
First Music Game Appearance: beatmania IIDX 8th style
Other Music Game Appearances:

• DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA

Lyrics

I knew it had to be you
Fill me with your love
When I thought all was lost
You said "come take my hand"
Take you for a drive, drivin' in my open car

The wind blowing in our hair
Living life without a care
Baby you're so real, baby so strong
I know we can't go wrong

We're drivin' in your car
We have never gone this far
Now the time has come for us
To spend the night together now

Drivin' in your car
You come straight into my heart
Soon I will be yours
And we'll spend tonight together

We're drivin' in your car
Who knew we would come this far
I can't wait for us to spend the whole
Night together now

You drive me in your car
Nothing can keep us apart
I know you and me will be
Always be forever more

Song Connections / Remixes

• A downbeat remix of Drivin' by Yu Takami, titled Drivin' (undulated mix), appears on the V-RARE SOUND TRACK 8 CD.
• Drivin' appears as part of Power 2 Shuffle Mix, from DanceDanceRevolution UNIVERSE.
• According to VJ GYO, the videos for Drivin' and Blame are connected, with Blame the first of the two songs order-wise.

Trivia

This song has different backgrounds, banners, jackets, or other related images. For more information, please see this page.

• Drivin' features VJ GYO's characters Mika, Yuri, and Akane in the video.
• According to NAOKI, Drivin' was originally to have a Japanese name and Japanese vocals to go with the other songs in 8th style he named/were sung in Japanese (蒼い衝動 and 桜). It was through trial and error with Paula Terry that the song was finished.
  • VJ GYO also notes that the video for Drivin' was made based on the instrumental version of the song, before the lyrics were wrapped up or even the name of the song was known, possibly due to NAOKI's difficulty when working on the song.
• In the DanceDanceRevolution series, the artist for Drivin' was slightly changed to NAOKI feat. Paula Terry.
  • In DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA, it was capitalized as NAOKI feat. PAULA TERRY.
• Drivin's DanceDanceRevolution graphics were made by Masaki Sugimoto.
  • Unused graphics for Drivin' were available in Masaki Sugimoto's Photobucket account.
• DanceDanceRevolution ULTRAMIX3's website and manual have screenshots of Drivin', but the song is not included in the game.
• Drivin' received a new banner in DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA CS (Japan). This banner was carried over to the arcade releases in DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2.
• Drivin' does not appear in the nonstop megamix of the DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK album.
• Drivin' received a Double BEGINNER chart in DanceDanceRevolution UNIVERSE.
  • Curiously, this chart can be found unused in the DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA data.
• Drivin' was still present in the location test of DanceDanceRevolution X, with its new foot ratings.

Song Production Information

NAOKI

My three new songs created for 8th style were all intended to contain meaningful Japanese song titles.
It was difficult for me to include English lyrics in Drivin', which was originally intended to be a Japanese song, and I remember going through trial and error with Paula Terry while recording it.
Songs that include Paula's vocals were limited to lyrics about passionate "love".
What will a person receive by repeating encounters and farewells without running out of love?
How much pain has your heart turned to kindness since then?

My eurobeat sound, which I call HYPER EUROBEAT, has a fair number of songs, so I'm expanding my reach in various ways, but when I create my next HYPER EUROBEAT song, I want to create an ultimate version with a feeling like a milestone.

Video Production Information

GYO

Due to scheduling troubles, the production of this movie occurred while the song title wasn't decided yet and the vocal recording wasn't completed, so most of the materials were originally created from the instrumental version.

Well, from the emails sent in the Q&A corner, I was asked if there are there some connections between eurobeat and cars like in this movie. The reason for this is because of my own feelings that I was particularly fascinated by NAOKI's HYPER EUROBEAT.

What kind of image appears when lyrics with a love motif are added on a splendid melody that flows without stagnation even if there is a feeling of melancholy, and a sound which develops with a powerful and fast rhythm like a rapid heartbeat?

The "past" that flashes before your eyes, the "future" that develops at a rapid pace, and yourself in love who turns around and moves forward.
... I think one kind of image will emerge.

I think that this image is similar to the feeling of driving a car on the highway.

The "past" is the "scenery" reflected in the windows and rearview mirrors on both sides of the car, the "future" is the endless "road" ahead, and what kind of future we will have depends on traffic conditions, but it basically it's up to the driver. And all you can do is stop it... isn't it similar?

When I heard the song title, "Drivin'", during production, it seemed like I was able to open the feelings I had so far, and I vividly remember that I was very emotional while continuing to work from then.

I also answered it in the Q&A corner about this movie, but it's connected to "Blame"'s movie and its story.
This kind of movie especially takes a lot of time and effort, so I thought it would be impossible to handle several works with one version, but then a certain designer's adviced me, "wouldn't it be possible if it connects with time?".
When you actually listen to both songs consecutively, the music has similar genres and have the same BPM, but "Blame" is the past, and "Drivin'" (which only had the genre name at that time) is the future, so with a different direction, an image of "Mika" was formed "one day".
From the story's flow, "Blame" comes first, so I will provide a detailed explanation of the story on its new song introduction page.

Difficulty & Notecounts

beatmania IIDX difficulty rated 1 to 7+ in 8th and 9th style, 1 to 8 in 10th style, 1 to 8+ in IIDX RED, and from 1 to 12 from HAPPY SKY onwards.
DanceDanceRevolution difficulty from 1 to 10 from DDRMAX2 to SuperNOVA2, and 1 to 20 from X onwards. (Ratings and notecounts obtained from BEMANIWiki 2nd.)

beatmania IIDX

Game	SP Difficulty					DP Difficulty
	BEGINNER	NORMAL	HYPER	ANOTHER	LEGGENDARIA	NORMAL	HYPER	ANOTHER	LEGGENDARIA
Notecounts	227	465	663	897	-	482	650	799	-
beatmania IIDX 8th style→11 IIDX RED	-	4	7	N/A	-	4	6	N/A	-
beatmania IIDX 12 HAPPY SKY	-	4	7	10	-	4	6	7	-
beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD→14 GOLD	-	4	7	10	-	4	6	↑8	-
beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS→16 EMPRESS	-	4	7	10	-	4	6	↑9	-
beatmania IIDX 8th style CS	-	4	7	7	-	4	6	7	-
beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD CS	2	4	7	10	-	4	6	9	-

DanceDanceRevolution

Game	Single					Double
	Beginner	Basic	Difficult	Expert	Challenge	Basic	Difficult	Expert	Challenge
Notecounts / Freeze Arrows / Shock Arrows	68 / 7	126 / 10	223 / 32	394 / 12	- / - / -	117 / 10	225 / 32	371 / 24	- / - / -
DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA→SuperNOVA2	1	3	6	9	-	2	6	9	-
DanceDanceRevolution X location test	2	4	7	13	-	4	7	13	-
DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA CS JP	1	3	6	9	-	2	6	9	-
DanceDanceRevolution / Dancing Stage UNIVERSE	N/A	4	6	8	-	3	6	9	-

Other charts not shown on the above table:

• DanceDanceRevolution / Dancing Stage UNIVERSE Double BEGINNER chart: Total notes: 68 / 7.