Easy Come, Easy Go!

Easy Come, Easy Go!
Single by B'z
from the album RISKY
Released	October 3, 1990
Promotions	#1 (Kameria Diamond CM)
Length	9:42
Label	BMG Rooms; Vermillion Records (2003 Remaster)
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z singles chronology

Easy Come, Easy Go! is the sixth single by B'z, released on October 3, 1990. This was the band's first contemporary rock single and was released during the busiest year in their history: a year in which they found time to release five new singles, two full studio albums, an English-centric mini album, and their first home video—all while spending seven months of the year on two separate tours and performing nine different times on television. The guitar-driven song was especially divorced from their dance-rock roots and began to form the image of what B'z would come to represent. "Easy Come, Easy Go!" would mark another first in the band's catalogue when it became one of their earliest songs to be recorded in the United States on a visit to New York City. This fact was evidenced during FILM RISKY and acknowledged on stage by Koshi during the band's first performance at the Best Buy Theater in New York during B'z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free-. Additionally, this would be the single with which Tak would begin directly presiding over the entire recording process and sound of the band as sole producer and began composing entire songs with only an acoustic guitar. As of 2015, it is their second most performed song after "ZERO" with over 370 performances to date.

An earlier version of the song, labeled "EASY COME, EASY GO! -RISKY STYLE-" would a few weeks later appear on studio album RISKY. This version is more raw and features a saxophone to bookend the song. This version was produced previously, but it was decided that the version produced in America offered a more satisfactory result and thus it was issued as a single. Another version of the single could be found in karaoke form with the lead vocals removed in 1992 with the release of B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION. As one of the band's most popular early singles, "Easy Come, Easy Go!" has been featured on numerous compilations, including B'z The Best "Pleasure" in 1998, B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure" in 2008, and B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998 in 2013.

Of the many noteworthy moments in the song's history is the fact that Koshi occasionally takes to playing acoustic guitar during live renditions. He has taken to this numerous times on stage, including during B'z LIVE-GYM "Pleasure'91", B'z LIVE-GYM '99 "Brotherhood", and the aforementioned North American tour in 2012. As a result, the song has appeared during more than a dozen separate tours, with additional key performances coming during LIVE-GYM '93 "RUN", for which an acoustic version was prepared, and in the form of a special Claptonesque rock version that was played only during LIVE-GYM '94 "THE 9TH BLUES -Part1-". An ineradicable song from which the band cannot be separated, it has likewise found its way onto many home videos, including B'z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free- EXTRA from limited edition copies of EPIC DAY and earlier on the band's first concert home video JUST ANOTHER LIFE in 1991. The latter was never released on DVD, though performances from it were substituted for conventional music videos for the first XXV anniversary collection.

The only music video for the single was a specially-produced vignette included in the band's inaugural home video entitled FILM RISKY, released in December of the same year. The video is part travel film and part music video compilation, featuring all original footage not released elsewhere with the band in New York and London. In the portion dedicated to "Easy Come, Easy Go!", Koshi and Tak are seen performing on the city's streets throughout. The song has been performed twice on television: once in 1990 on Hit Studio Night R&N, and once on the Fuji TV special program MUSIC FAIR in which Tak and Koshi played a mini-concert with other artists as collaborators. The night began with "Easy Come, Easy Go!" but also included covers of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and John Lennon's "Jealous Guy". Tak performed one of his early solo compositions "Love Ya" as well before the band closed things out with "BLOWIN'". Additionally, "Easy Come, Easy Go!" served as the theme to a Camelia Diamond advert in Japan.

The release of the single gave the band their second straight and second total top debut on the Weekly Oricon Singles chart. The single sold nearly 97,000 copies, effectively double that of their previous effort, "Taiyou no Komachi Angel". Such a hit was the release that it spent three consecutive weeks in the number one spot before ultimately spending 28 weeks on the charts by the end of its run. Likewise, the single finished in 28th place for the year of 1990 and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

The single was simultaneously remastered and re-released on March 26, 2003 along with nine other of the band's older singles and the then-latest single, "IT'S SHOWTIME!!". On the daily chart at launch, B'z held a monopoly over the chart's top eleven slots, with the new single ranking at the top and the re-issues covering the remaining ten. Ultimately, B'z would set a record that week for holding nine of the Top 10 slots for the week of release, with "Easy Come, Easy Go!" coming in seventh place. Notably, popular Taiwanese musician Eric Suen Yiu Wai covered the title song for a Taiwanese drama in his home language under the title Wei Feng Shi Ke in the year 2000. In 2013, "Easy Come, Easy Go!" was one of four B'z songs to be released for guitar-learning video game Rocksmith 2014 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The song was packaged in a three pack of downloadable content alongside "juice" and "girigiri chop", joining "ultra soul" that was already available with the game itself.

Track listing

All music and guitar by Tak Matsumoto. All lyrics and lead vocals by Koshi Inaba.

Easy Come, Easy Go!
File:s06 01.ogg As one of the nearly unparalleled early fan-favorite works by the band, "Easy Come, Easy Go!" was a first in many regards. It was here that Tak began his trademark routine of composing music and melodies with only an acoustic guitar. Ultimately, the song came about because Tak felt he needed to do "something new and soon". In fact, there was a concern shared by staff members and record store owners that the song would not be a hit due to its somber pace that was not in accordance with the upbeat music of the era. Tak wanted to take risks from that point, feeling that doing another album in the same vein as their previous ones would be too restricting, and this led to the next album to reflect this ideal with its title of RISKY. Tak claimed this was the band's "first time doing a pure, 8-beat song". This was a grand departure from their dance roots and he was openly vocal with being anxious at the prospect of it not working out. The lyrics are an encouraging chorale to youth and were written from the perspective of a male speaking to a female companion undergoing hard times. In Be With! Vol. 86 from 2010, Koshi commented that "Easy Come, Easy Go!" was an "easy B'z song to sing along to with fans". Later, in 2011's Be With! Vol. 90, Tak claimed it was a simple but fun tune that student bands could also play and later, in 2012's Vol. 94, recommended it as a good beginner choice for learning B'z songs on acoustic guitar.
GO! NUDE! GO!
File:s06 02.ogg Despite being performed 51 times between both shows for B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure'93 "JAP THE RIPPER" and all of B'z LIVE-GYM '90~'91 "RISKY", "GO! NUDE! GO!" has never been featured on home video. Unlike the title song, it throws back to the digital roots of the band and is very reminiscent of other tracks featured on the earlier studio album BREAK THROUGH. It has not been collected on a compilation album.

Reversion history

Main article: B'z Reversioned Songs

Original Song	Reversion History
Easy Come, Easy Go! SINGLE & ALBUM SONG* (1990)	RE-RECORDING: EASY COME, EASY GO! -RISKY STYLE- (1990) An album version released only on RISKY. Recorded before the single version, this rendition includes a prominent saxophone and numerous other arrangement differences. KARAOKE: EASY COME, EASY GO! [Karaoke Version] (1992) Karaoke version found only on B'z TV Style SONGLESS VERSION based on original single.