Skip to main content

Art & Creativity Quote by Utada Hikaru

"And it was then that I realized, wow, I'm able to write lyrics and sing and stuff like that"

About this Quote

There is something disarmingly blunt about Utada Hikaru dropping a world-changing realization in the language of a kid talking to a friend: "wow", "able to", "and stuff like that". It refuses the mythology we usually demand from pop genius. No lightning bolt, no destiny narrative, just the sudden click of self-recognition - and the humility of someone still surprised by their own capacity.

The intent feels less like bragging than like documenting a private turning point: the moment a skill stops being an experiment and starts looking like a life. "Able" is the key word. It frames artistry not as an identity you're born with but as permission you grant yourself after evidence accumulates. For a musician who debuted young and became a generational voice in Japan and beyond, that phrasing also reads like a quiet protest against the industry machine that loves to present artists as finished products. Utada re-inserts process: the awkward, human middle stage where you're learning what your voice can do.

The subtext is confidence arriving sideways. Instead of "I knew I was talented", we get the softer, more relatable realization that talent is actionable: you can write, you can sing, you can make something. And the casual "stuff like that" functions as a shrug that guards intimacy. It keeps the revelation from turning into a press-release moment, preserving the sense that the most important creative breakthroughs often happen offstage, before anyone is watching.

Quote Details

TopicMusic
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Hikaru, Utada. (2026, February 17). And it was then that I realized, wow, I'm able to write lyrics and sing and stuff like that. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-it-was-then-that-i-realized-wow-im-able-to-105563/

Chicago Style
Hikaru, Utada. "And it was then that I realized, wow, I'm able to write lyrics and sing and stuff like that." FixQuotes. February 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-it-was-then-that-i-realized-wow-im-able-to-105563/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And it was then that I realized, wow, I'm able to write lyrics and sing and stuff like that." FixQuotes, 17 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-it-was-then-that-i-realized-wow-im-able-to-105563/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Utada Add to List
Realizing My Ability to Write Lyrics and Sing – Utada Hikaru
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Utada Hikaru

Utada Hikaru (born January 19, 1983) is a Musician from Japan.

29 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes