Soba ni Iru ne

"Soba ni Iru ne"
Single by Thelma Aoyama feat. SoulJa
from the album DIARY
Released	January 23, 2008 (JP)
Format	CD single
Genre	J-pop, R&B
Label	Universal
Writer(s)	SoulJa
Thelma Aoyama feat. SoulJa singles chronology
"ONE WAY" (2007) "Soba ni Iru ne" (2008) "Nando Mo" (2008)

Soba ni Iru ne (そばにいるね I'm by Your Side) is Thelma Aoyama's second official single, released on January 23, 2008, featuring SoulJa. It is an answer song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo." B-side "My dear friend" was used as the ending theme to anime Shion no Ō, and the opening theme to television show Ryuuha-R.

The single reached the number 1 position on Japan's Oricon charts in its second week and sold over 450,000 compact discs. In addition, it sold over 7 million downloads, including 2 million complete downloads, by July 2008.^[1] In September 2008, the Guinness World Records certified the song as "the best selling download single in Japan" for the number of full-track downloads.^[2][3] On May 28, 2009, however, it was announced that the record was replaced by Greeeen's song "Kiseki".^[4] It was later admitted by the Guinness World Records.^[5]

It was also the best-selling download single on the iTunes Store 2008 yearly charts in Japan.^[6]

Taiwanese band Da Mouth sang their cover version of "Koko ni Iru yo" on their album Wang Yuan Kou Li Kou.^[7]

"Soba ni Iru ne" was also covered by Sly and Robbie on their album Amazing.^[8]

Track listing

1. "Soba ni Iru ne feat. SoulJa"
2. "My dear friend"
3. "This Day feat. Dohzi-T"

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak position	First week sales	Total sales	Chart run
January 23, 2008	Oricon Daily Singles Chart	#1
January 23, 2008	Oricon Weekly Singles Chart	#1	50,158	464,835	46 weeks
January 23, 2008	Oricon Monthly Singles Chart	#2
January 23, 2008	Oricon Yearly Singles Chart	#7		456,479

Total sales as of 11th Feb '09 - 464,835　

References

1. "'Sobaniirune' hits 2 mil download mark". AllBusiness.com. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
2. "Certificate". natalie. 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
3. 青山テルマ、ギネス認定…そばにいるね「日本で最も売れた着うたフル楽曲」 (in Japanese). Sports Hochi. 2008-09-12. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
4. 「キセキ」着うたフルＤＬでギネス申請 (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 2009-05-29. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
5. "GReeeeN、「キセキ」がギネス認定" (in Japanese). Barks. 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
6. "2008年、「iTunes Store」で最もダウンロードされた楽曲が発表" (in Japanese). Barks. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
7. 大嘴巴發新專輯　「王元口力口」耍神秘 (in Chinese). NOW news. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
8. "Amazing American Version". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-12-12.

External links

• Official music video for "Soba ni Iru ne" from Universal Music Japan on YouTube