"You Were..." (capitalized as "You were...") is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, taken from her tenth studio album, Rock 'n' Roll Circus (2010). It was written by Hamasaki with production being done by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. The song premiered on December 29, 2009 as the album's second a-side single with album track "Ballad". Four formats were released for the single; a CD format, a CD and DVD bundle, a limited edition box set, and a digital download. The first three artworks feature Hamasaki laying in snow, whilst the limited edition box set has a long-shot of Hamasaki in a dress.

Musically, "You Were..." has been described as a pop ballad that borrows numerous musical elements such as pop rock. Including several instruments like electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and drums, the lyrics to "You Were..." describes Hamasaki's reflection of love. "You Were..." received mixed to favourable reviews from most music critics. Many critics commended Hamasaki's vocal performance and commended the single's composition and production. However, some critics felt the song was inferior in compared to other ballad tracks on the album.

Charting together with "Ballad", "You Were..." debuted atop Japan's Oricon Singles Chart with over 103,000 units sold in its first week of sales. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for physical shipments of 100,000 units in that region. "You Were..." managed to peak at number 14 on Billboard's Japan Hot 100 chart, and the top twenty on the G-Music Taiwanese Singles Chart; it was certified double platinum and platinum for digital and ringtone sales of over 750,000 units together. An accompanying music video was directed by Masashi Muto; it features Hamasaki in a winter wonderland.

While working on her then-upcoming album Rock 'n' Roll Circus (2010), Hamasaki and her record label Avex Trax enlisted Japanese musician and businessman Max Matsuura to work with her again. This marks Hamasaki's eleventh consecutive album to be fully produced by Matsuura. "You Were..." was written by Hamasaki, and produced by Matsuura. Hazuhiro Hara served as the songs composers, with Japanese arranger and long-time collaborator HAL hired to arrange the instrumentation. HAL also served as the song's lead programmers. The song's instrumentation includes guitars, drums, strings, pianos, and subtle synthesizers. The song was recorded in late-2009 by Koji Morimoto, Masashi Hashimoto, Yuichi Nagayama at Prime Sound and Avex Studios, in Tokyo, Japan. Additional recording was handled by Dom Morley and Phill Brown at Metropolis and Sarm Studios in London, United Kingdom. "You Were..." has been described as a pop ballad that borrows numerous musical elements such as pop rock. According to a staff member from Japan's Amazon.com, they compared "You Were..." to previous winter singles released by Hamasaki. The lyrics to "You Were..." describes Hamasaki's reflection of love.

...
Wikipedia