Doraemon no Uta

"Doraemon no Uta" (ドラえもんのうた / Doraemon's Song) is a single by Kumiko Ōsugi. The single was the main theme song for the 1979 Doraemon series^[a] and was briefly the main theme song of the 2005 series before being replaced by Hagushichao in October 28, 2005.

"Doraemon no Uta"
Single by Kumiko Ōsugi
from the album Doraemon
A-side	"Doraemon no Uta"
B-side	"Aoi Sora wa Poketto sa and Doraemon's Drawing Song"
Released	April 25, 1979
Recorded	1979
Genre	Anison, Children's music
Length	2:57
Label	Nippon Columbia
Composer(s)	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Lyricist(s)	Takumi Kusube
Kumiko Ōsugi singles chronology
"Beaver-chan Come on in" (1979) "Doraemon no Uta" (1979) "Josefina the Whale" (1979)

Despite the song's retirement in 2005, it is still widely referred to as Doraemon's theme song^[1] and has become an iconic song in Japan^[2] as well as most countries that have received dubbed versions of the song.^[3]

Composition

The original composition is coincidentally composed in D Major but many versions switch its composition to other keys like C Major. Three gadgets are explicitly mentioned in the original lyrics, the Takecopter, the Toy Soldiers and the Anywhere Door^[4] with those lines being sung by Doraemon's voice actor Nobuyo Oyama.

In the Misato Watanabe edition of the song, the second verse's lines for Doraemon were changed from "Here! Attack!" to "Everyone! Don't give up!"^[5]

History

While serving as the main theme song for the 1979 series, its main singer was changed five times, from Kumiko Ōsugi to Satoko Yamano in October 9, 1992^[b], from Satoko Yamano to Tokyo Purin in October 2, 2002, from Tokyo Purin to Misato Watanabe in April 18, 2003 and from Misato Watanabe to AJI in April 30, 2004. The song was then performed by the Twelve Girls Band instrumentally while serving as the theme song for the 2005 series.

The song also managed to achieve the top position for the children's song and TV anime song charts in 1980.^[6]

After being retired as the main theme, the song was then used as an insert theme in the first two movies of the 1979 series and as an ending theme for the 2005 series in 2006 specials. The song was then made one of the currently used ending songs in April 5, 2019 with a special rendition by all of the current voice actors for the main five characters.^[7]

Notes

1. "Boku Doraemon" (ぼくドラえもん / I'm Doraemon) took its place from October 1, 1979 to September 23, 1981 while airing as part of the weekday Fujiko Fujio Theater block and was used as the main theme in the movies and short films released during this period. However, the song was kept for weekend broadcasts and specials during this period.
2. The switch occurred in for the movies in 1989 with the release of Nobita and the Birth of Japan and was kept until 2004 with the exceptions of the films in 1998 and 2000 which were done by Hinano Yoshikawa and the Vienna Boys' Choir respectively.