"Eye for an Eye" is a song recorded by Rina Sawayama from the soundtrack to the action film John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), where Sawayama co-stars as Akira Shimazu. She co-wrote the song with Jordan Brasko Gamble and its producer Tyler Bates. Lakeshore Records released the song as the soundtrack's lead single on 23 March 2023.

A garage-punk song with influences from "industrial, pop, and '90s alternative rock", the song fits closely with Akira's storyline at the end of the film, and plays during the end credits.

Background and release

In June 2021, it was announced that Rina Sawayama had joined the cast of John Wick: Chapter 4, the fourth installment of the John Wick franchise starring Keanu Reeves. The singer plays the character of Akira Shimazu. Director Chad Stahelski reportedly discovered Sawayama in 2021 while navigating on YouTube and searching for "Japanese pop star", and was "impressed" by Sawayama's music videos for "XS" and "Bad Friend", from her debut album Sawayama (2020). Stahelski contacted Sawayama, who was in London at the time, and invited her to visit the film's set in Berlin to convince her to take on the role. The singer ultimately accepted and underwent five weeks of fight choreography training, followed by an additional five weeks of principal photography.

The song was announced in March 21, 2023, to be featured on the film's official soundtrack album produced by Tyler Bates, through Lkeshore Records.^[1] It was released as the lead single the next day, ahead of the soundtrack album's release date on March 24.^[2]

Composition

"Eye for an Eye" is 3 minutes and 5 seconds long. Sawayama co-wrote it with Jordan Gamble and its producer Tyler Bates, who also produced the whole album. Upon producing the song, Bates said "I went a little bit more garage-punk in the production of the songs on this movie because there's a lot more EDM-ish music incorporated into the film. I thought the punk aesthetic would be a little fresher sounding than the hard rock approach of the past films – a little more abrasive and a little more live."^[3]

Musically, the song is a garage-punk track with influences from industrial pop^[2][4] and alternative rock.^[5] Lyrically, "Eye for an Eye" fits closely with Akira Shimazu's storyline in John Wick: Chapter 4. In the chorus, Sawayama sings, "An eye for an eye / A life for a life / I'll see you in Hell on the other side," which can be read as Akira addressing Caine, who killed her father during a sword fight. A post-credits scene of the film shows Caine visiting his daughter as she plays the violin on the streets of London. As he walks, a vengeful Akira approaches and pulls out a knife, but the scene cuts to black, ending the film just before a confrontation between the two begins.

Track listing and formats

Digital release

	Label: Lakeshore Records Format: Digital download, streaming Released: 22 March 2023 Catalog #: N/A Barcode: N/A Photography: N/A Design: N/A

#	Title	Length
1.	"Eye For An Eye"	3:04

Lyrics

References

v · d · e Rina Sawayama songs
Rina (2017) "Ordinary Superstar" "Take Me as I Am" "10-20-40" "Tunnel Vision" "Time Out" (Interlude) "Alterlife" "Through the Wire" (Interlude) Cyber Stockholm Syndrome"
Sawayama (2020) "Dynasty" "XS" "STFU!" "Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)" "Akasaka Sad" "Paradisin'" "Love Me 4 Me" "Bad Friend" "Fuck This World (Interlude)" "Who's Gonna Save U Now?" "Tokyo Love Hotel" "Chosen Family" "Snakeskin" "Tokyo Takeover" "Lucid" "We Out Here" "Bees & Honey" "Love It If We Made It"
Hold the Girl (2022) "Minor Feelings" "Hold the Girl" "This Hell" "Catch Me in the Air" "Forgiveness" "Holy (Til You Let Me Go)" "Your Age" "Imagining" "Frankenstein" "Hurricanes" "Send My Love to John" "Phantom" "To Be Alive" "Flavour of the Month"
Non-album 2013 "Sleeping in Waking" "Terror" "Who?" 2016 "This Time Last Year" "Where U Are" 2018 "Valentine (What's It Gonna Be)" "Cherry" "Flicker" 2020 "Dance in the Dark" 2023 "Eye for an Eye" Unreleased "6°" "Alone Together" "Animal" "Capital" "Da Beach" "Enough" "How We Were Then" "Louis" "Love Tonight" "Now" "Missing Summers" "Mission: U" "Model Minority" "Play on Me" "Proud" "Same Ol' Mistakes" "Scream It in Your Heart" "Sleeping" "Supporting Role" "Ready or Not" "Rina 2.0" "Wait for Me" "Whatever" "Yesmen"