A carol is in modern parlance a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character.
Today the carol is represented almost exclusively by the Christmas carol, the Advent carol, and to a much lesser extent by the Easter carol; however, despite their present association with religion, this has not always been the case.
The word carol is derived from the Old French word carole, a circle dance accompanied by singers (in turn derived from the Latin choraula). Carols were very popular as dance songs from the 1150s to the 1350s, after which their use expanded as processional songs sung during festivals, while others were written to accompany religious mystery plays (such as the Coventry Carol, written before 1534).
Following the Protestant Reformation (and the banning of many religious festivities during the British Puritan Interregnum), carols went into a decline due to Calvinist aversion to "nonessential" things associated with Roman Catholicism. However, composers such as William Byrd composed motet-like works for Christmas that they termed carols; and folk-carols continued to be sung in rural areas. Nonetheless, some famous carols were written in this period, and they were more strongly revived from the nineteenth century and began to be written and adapted by eminent composers.
"Carols" is the thirty-fourth single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on September 29, 2004. It became her 21st single to claim the No. 1 spot on the Oricon charts and has sold over 340,000 copies to date. Carols is to date Hamasaki's only single to be released on the DVD-Audio and SACD formats. It was the last single to be released from the album My Story.
The music video premiered a few days before the release and was directed by Masashi Muto. The video, filmed in black and white, features Hamasaki singing in an empty theatre.
Hajimete atta hi wo Ima mo oboeteiru?
Tereta you ni kimi wa utsumuite
Me wo sorashite bakari datta ne
Natta no wa itsu no goro datta kana
Sono shigusa wo totemo Itoshiku omou you ni
Nanda ka natsukashii ne
Yagate ikutsumo no kisetsu ga
Kimi no soba ni isasete
Bokutachi no mae wo ashibaya ni toorinuketa
(*) Shiroi yuki ga machi wo someru goro ni mo
Watashi korekara mo
Komarasete bakari ka mo shirenai kedo
Yodooshi hanashiteta Mirai da to ka ima ga
Amari ni watashi ni wa mabushikute
Toudoku kanjite ita
Itsuka kako wo yuruseru hi ga
Kuru to ii no ni to omottara namida afureta
Azayaka ni irodorareru goro mo
(**) Shiroi yuki ga tokete machi ga
Koushite kimi no koto ga
Daiji de shikata nai watashi de itai
Sou donna toki datte
Namida no hi Soshite egao afureru hi mo
Wakariaenai mama Surechigatta hi mo
Itsumo uketomeru yo
Donna kimi de atte mo
(*) repeat