yestoday | Entries tagged with content: schoolwork

More of me bullshitting some analysis for school—except this time, I add my snarky annotations that cannot be included in the assignment submission for evident reasons.

Prompt:

Collage reflection paper
Once you have everything glued then consider the following:
a. Does you work reaffirm who you are?
b.What area do you like best and why?
c. What would you do different?
d. How was this experience?
Write this evaluation of your work and post it to assignment section.

I believe it does represent myself quite well. The piece is bordered with an arrangement of gradients I like: of sunset hues to various tones of blue. The violet side towards the right is composed of more geometric shapes and sharp lines, while the blue side to the left flaunts a stronger flourish of organic forms and structures—such as a wild spectacle of flowers. The most prominent part is, arguably, two of my favorite photos of my man Yook Sungjae from his photoshoot for Ceci Magazine plastered in the center. He’s one of my favorite singers and celebrities and is quite a big part of my life, at this point, so yes, I do believe his presence reaffirms this collage to represent me more. A variety of fruits make appearances on this piece: peaches, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries (see if you can spot them all!), all of which are some of my favorites! As one can tell, the fruits are quite near Sungjae in placement. This has pretty obvious fruity connotations that you can probably figure out by now. Oh, and the peaches symbolize his thick ass. One may also notice that the majority of the background bordering cutouts display the sky in one location, one time interval, one weather condition or another; for someone who intends on using my life to deep delve into space and astrophysics, the welkin means a lot to me. The last thing I would like to note is the cats. I’m a cat-lover. Those cats (somewhat camouflaged into the elements at first glance, but one is laying her head on Sungjae’s shoulder) happen to be the same cat. That cat goes by the name of Sami, and she is—not mine, but—Sungjae’s beloved pet. I would have printed out a picture of my own cat to accompany Sami if my printer didn’t run out of magenta toner, but alas.

The segment I like best from this artwork is my paper cutting work. I’m unashamed to say I exerted massive energy and spent quite an extensive amount of time on meticulously trimming the flower petals and fruits shapes as to nearly revert it back to its transparent ‘.jpg’ clipart form. So, yeah; please relocate extra attention to any single bud you see and admire the unnecessarily pristine cutwork I put into those. As for my favorite area arrangement-wise, it will have to be my ingenious idea of attaching Sungjae and his cat in the midst of this madness.

Something that began bothering me partway through the process was certain imprecisions of placement. One eminent example—that is on the verge of making this piece become almost unbearable to view for me if I continue to mull over it—is that the leftward Sungjae should have been inched a slight bit to the right so that he covered more of the empty space behind the orange flower. Another thing I would like to do better is the cutwork around Sungjae’s hair; that was only sloppy because, at that point, I’ve almost been completely drained of energy due to working on it for the past six (YOOK?) or more hours straight without consuming any sustenance besides the headstrong spiritual willpower to manifest Sungjae's and Changsub's arrival at Chicago for KCON soon.

This experience… this was certainly a project that I would not have thought about doing if not for a class’s obligations. Originally, I did not intend to spend this much time and effort into it—my agenda today was to quickly finish an assignment and get it over with. That all changed when I had the animalistic impulse to print out Sungjae—no reason or rhyme, just Sungjae in my mind. Then, this became oh-so serious to me. (In other words, I fully intended to half-ass this assignment, until I felt an inexplicable, spontaneous, and unwarranted pull… and printed Sungjae out. Then, it became serious to me.) While I must say: it was taxing, though that’s probably my own fault for going at it for six (YOOK?) hours consecutively. (Music was the only factor keeping me stable during that session; ironically, I was not listening to Sungjae nor his boy group’s songs. I was binge listening to SEVENTEEN's entire discography on shuffle, for the most part, in preparation for my plans to see their concert in D.C. now that they announced their tour dates. Before that, though, I listened to ASTRO's full album comeback four times. I would come up with a review on it, but I regret to inform that my thoughts on most of the songs are relatively middling. I did enjoy the cunty insertion of More and the slightly less cunty—but still cunty—Something Something.) In the end, though, I created something I actually feel unsatirically proud of, which was not something I was expecting from a class I merely took for the credits. Like, this is probably, at the same time, the funniest thing I've ever done and the most brilliant thing I've ever made. I spent a ridiculous amount of energy on this, which, I think, shocked myself more than anyone else because half of the time, I barely have the strength in me to keep myself alert enough to realize I'm existing. Thinking back to this afternoon now, it's still insane that I did that. Something biological in me shifts whenever I have Sungjae in mind. Here's to Sungjae for fueling the artistic outburst? Whatever the case, I doubt I’ll ever be doing anything like this again—the motivation has come once, in a burst, due to graduation pressure, and will be well lost to the wind after this. However, this is certainly a project I’ll end up cherishing.

✦ Current Music: SEVENTEEN - Let Me Hear You Say
✦ Current Watch: BVNDIT(밴디트) - 3rd Mini Album [Re-Original] Highlight Medley

Abstract

Nighthawks is a famous oil painting completed in 1942 by American realist artist Edward Hopper. Hopper places heavy emphasis on lighting contrast and warm versus cool hues, and he paints hard edges to contour the buildings’ geometric shape and make them pop out. Nighthawks depicts four people in a diner at night, and it withholds a sense of sadness and loneliness. This artwork could be interpreted as portraying the somber side of city life; Hopper’s purpose of creating it is to exhibit how city dwellers may still feel alone despite being surrounded by people at all times and extract a feeling of solicitude from viewers. This painting is currently located and being exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

Keywords: contrast, value, warm colors, cool colors, hues, tint, shade, shape, contour, line, realism, cityscape

Analysis of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper created this artwork to contain a palpable mood. It is a scene at an urban night diner with a clear subject: the four people inside the diner. Although the room is lighted and makes obvious use of a bright color palette, the feeling this painting as a whole exudes is not as jolly as expected. Instead, it radiates a sort of dismal energy, as the people in it appear to be noninteractive and isolated in the midst of a deserted, darkness-engulfed urban setting. This painting could be interpreted as portraying the somber side of city life; Hopper’s purpose of creating it is to exhibit how city dwellers may still feel alone despite being surrounded by people at all times and extract a feeling of solicitude from viewers.

Background

Edward Hopper was an 1882-1967 American painter known for his artworks of buildings in his hometown of New York and his sharp emphasis on lighting and planes of color (The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia, 2018). His paintings are composed of distinguished edges and geometric shapes to portray the clear-cut forms of the cityscape. Most of his artworks push an atmosphere of solitude and sentimentality–”the loneliness of a large city,” as Hopper himself acknowledges–which makes them all the more memorable to viewers (The Columbia encyclopedia, 2018). Hopper carefully reproduces the patterns and visual contrast he spots daily in his life in the city, and he integrates his mood into his art, as well, making the stark, lonely aura have a sense of dimension; his artworks feel relatable. Edward Hopper found his signature style through realism–New Realism, to be exact–and is now known to be one of the best American realists (The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia, 2018).

In his youth, Hopper was heavily influenced by fellow painter Robert Henri. He attended the New York School of Art where Henri taught for five years, from 1901 to 1906, where he learned plenty about the elements of art and efficient ways to utilize them in his creations (The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia, 2018). Hopper was also inspired by European styles, as he traveled to that continent multiple times and even stayed in France for one year. The artist spent many occasions wandering the city and painting whatever urban scene that caught his eye the most. Hopper was seldom recognized at the beginning of his journey through art, but he persisted at drawing, working as a magazine illustrator (The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia, 2018). Eventually, about a decade later, in 1925, he decided to return to painting. From this point on was where most of his most successful masterpieces originated (The Columbia encyclopedia, 2018). These include, but are not limited to, Drug Store (1927), Room in New York (1932), and New York Movie (1939). While Edward Hopper did not draw much attention with his artworks at first, he ended up becoming a celebrated American painter. (The Columbia encyclopedia, 2018). In fact, he is widely regarded as one of the most prominent painters of the 1900s.

Analysis

The subject of focus in this painting are the four anonymous people in a night diner, seemingly in an urban area. One of the most prominent elements is the contrast in lighting between the inside of the diner versus the outside. Hopper illuminates the interior--where the main characters of this artwork reside--with glaring yellow walls and the artificial fluorescence of incandescent light bulbs that seeps out of the extended glass window and onto the barren city streets. Warmly tinted hues dominate on the inside of the building, while the exterior environment is submerged with cooler shades. This dissimilarity in value and color creates a false sense of liveliness in the brighter area; the viewers’ attention is drawn to the four people in the diner first, expecting the crowd to be merrily chatting amongst each other and sharing drinks, only to be greeted with melancholic expressions and a heavy feeling of gloom. Then, it suddenly hits one that, despite the obvious company, there is somehow still an overbearing mood of isolation. This is precisely the atmosphere Hopper was trying to capture, and it was the exact thing that intrigued me in the first place. When one looks at this illustration, the immediate impression is most likely to be the literal aspects of it--a 1900s realism artwork of a cityscape–and that there’s nothing much to take note of at first, but it’s the swirl of alluring nostalgia that follows, once one studies this painting for a few moments further. Hopper seems to have enshrouded many layers of emotion underneath the raw paint, detectable only through meticulous analysis. Sandwiched between the oil and the canvas is a latent story: the tale of city life’s ironic loneliness. Through this artwork, Edward Hopper conveys the solitude and subtle despondency of urban folk.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper is currently located and being exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Before that, it had also been displayed at a multitude of other museums and galleries in the U.S., including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1970). Between 1992 and 2013, this artwork had been exhibited at various museums in European cities, such as Essen in Germany, London in England, Madrid in Spain, and Paris in France (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1970). From 2018 to 2019, it was showcased at the “Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865-1945” exhibit in the Shanghai Museum. Originally painted and owned by Edward Hopper, this artwork was consigned to Frank Rehn Galleries in 1942 and sold to The Art Institute of Chicago that same year (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1970).

Reflection

There was a particular aura this painting held that drew me towards it. Shall I say… a sense of mystery? It seems like each subject sitting in the diner has their own story to tell, but none of them are saying a word (at least, of truth). Questions bubble up in my head: How did they end up here? What is really on their minds? It naturally triggers my creative sense and makes me want to write; I feel an urge to pen the woeful tales untold by these characters. (In fact, there are others who already have. Poems by Wolf Wondratschek and Joyce Carol Oates, magazine dramazations by Christoph Schlingensief, and short stories by Erik Jenresen and Stuart Dybek were all derived from this one magnificent artwork. It really shows how this singular illustration can touch so many imaginative minds.) Along with that, I adore the unexpected balance: there is visible contrast between the barren city streets and the “lively” interior, yet both sides are united by the underlying sadness that sprawls beneath eye-level. Intricate emotions are woven into the raw oil, and I can feel them oozing out along the seams of the hard lines Hopper is so well known for. I understand that Hopper was attempting to, and successfully managed to, create a compelling yet somber atmosphere.

Conclusion

Edward Hopper created this painting to touch people, whether in their pathos or creativity, or both. Although Nighthawks is captivating immediately as one’s sight befalls upon it, there are many more layers and realm in this artwork to be explored through further attentive studying. This is why I believe it would be worth the time for others to look into this painting as well. Hopper’s painting has the ability to ignite sparks of inspiration, as proven by the many literary pieces written based off of this illustration’s diner occupants, but this power may not be detectable until the viewer takes a closer look, perhaps even see the artwork in real life, first. However, even if someone is not a writer of any sort, the painting is still worth checking out. Hopper’s most fundamental purpose of creating this is to share his interpretation of loneliness in a big city. Many others living in urban scenes may have the same feeling, whether they know it or not. Perhaps this illustration will touch some part of one’s soul. Even if nothing physical–like a poem–results from viewing this artwork, the moment of understanding could be life-changing to some people. I strongly suggest others delve into the doleful nighttime cityscape that is Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

Figure

References

Hopper, E. (1970, January 1). Nighthawks. The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111628/nighthawks

Hopper, Edward. (2018). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (8th ed.). Columbia University Press. Credo Reference: https://acm.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/hopper_edward/0?institutionId=7767

Hopper, Edward. (2018). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. Helicon. Credo Reference: https://acm.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/hopper_edward/0?institutionId=7767

Last year, for a month straight, I found myself neck-deep in Wikipedia pages relating to quantum jumps and electromagnetic forces, along with a watch history full of the science side of YouTube. Now… how did I get here?

Backtrack to a cozy July evening, around 9 o’clock. I was in my room doing the usual: bingeing ONF music videos with my cat sitting on me, obviously. And that was it. The first time I realized exactly what my topic of study would be was on my indeterminate rewatch of Moscow Moscow’s official video. I’m not being dramatic when I say I slapped my hand over my mouth and my eyes widened and my cat nearly fell off my lap. Booting up Google Docs immediately, I went straight back to the beginning⁠—made a playlist of every single one of their music videos and started from the top⁠—this time, with a new focus and perspective that spontaneously came to me from that burst of an epiphany. With that, everything that previously never meant anything to me began to unveil itself; from On/Off to Why, details started forming ideas, frames started telling stories. Symbolism was abundant in every scene; I was in disbelief I overlooked it all for so long. There is something deeper, more intricate, and more artistic, hidden under the glamorous visual effects and the mellifluous tunes. There is a story left untold. I decided then: I would siphon it out, no matter the number of years it takes as the band continues to flourish and release more albums.

But, hear me out, we’ve all heard of music video lore and song saga theories, yet this one was special to me. Pure fantasy typically fails to ever intrigue me like this. ONF lore, on the other hand, has salient elements relating to quantum entanglement and spacetime travel. All of which⁠—I soon discovered⁠—are, though esoteric, very much real concepts and very much still enigmas to mankind, continuing to be perfervidly studied to this date. This was a curious notion to me. How much of it could there still be left to uncover? Research ensued.

As it turns out: a lot.

Down the hole, I went.

To sum it up, I am well aware that the majority of the music video storyline is science-fiction drivel, but with the knowledge that, under the fantastical narration, there is a basis of realism behind it, I took it onto myself to identify where its limits are. Figuring out the mechanics behind the speculative world of ONF lore is ironically easier if assumed the physics of it are parallel to real life. Henceforth, I spent the majority of that summer sifting through various sources with a strong, fixated will to learn as much as I could. I had uncountable Chrome tabs open at that point; my laptop was fighting for its life every single day. From consulting our family friend particle physics professor to looking up reliable YouTube videos (yes, I always made sure they were authentic; that’s how serious I was about getting my ONF theories correct), I truly attempted to gather and make sense of as much information as possible on the topic. By the time my ONF theory Google Doc was nearing one hundred pages, it hit me that all this research and interest could be applied to the real world, that professionally studying this is an option, that this can go beyond my boy band music video ponderings. How about that, I mused, I figure out my little K-Pop boys’ storyline and have the opportunity to contribute to humanity’s sempiternal journey in unraveling the secrets of the universe.

Perhaps I’m yearning to achieve too much. More likely, maybe I’m overthinking it all⁠—ONF’s lore was never that deep, to begin with⁠—but, in the end, doesn’t the world need overthinkers to push us into the possibilities beyond what we have now?

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1461235wpp/watch-upcoming-boy-group-omega-x-announces-lineup-of-11-members-from-disbanded-groups-and-survival-shows

(Yesterday, I had no idea what I was going to write about for this, and I almost did it on something insignificant and boring. Today, I know exactly what event I’m going to do. But first, I have to get through the dull article summarization part before my brilliant and fascinating opinions that I’m sure everyone can’t wait to hear.)

I’m going to assume my audience reading this (you, Mr. Patterson) knows nothing about K-Pop. That’s perfectly fine, this is just going to require a lot of explanation, so I’ll try to take this apart bit by bit for you and hopefully it’ll make sense (but don’t get your hopes up because nothing much I say makes sense).

Starting from the article, Spire Entertainment announced the official lineup of their new group OMEGA X yesterday. Before this, though, for the past eleven days, they have been dropping teaser videos for each of the members. The catch is that you couldn’t fully see any of their faces. And here is where I have to stray from the actual contents of the article and begin explicating.

A news article dropped a few weeks ago declaring that an eleven-member boy group called OMEGA X will be debuting with “all members having already debuted in groups or previously been on survival shows.” Needless to say, this caused a ton of commotion. They’re pulling members out of active groups? We will know all of these people since apparently they’ve all made appearances before, so who’s it going to be? The suspense!

Anyway, before anything else even came up, people were already making ridiculous theories on who it’s going to be--me being one of them--and that was a hilarious phase, not going to lie. Eventually, they began releasing proper teaser videos, but like I said earlier, you couldn’t see their faces clearly. Along with that came other hints such as their birthdays and handwriting. Most have been guessed before the final reveal (because we’re just that attentive and skilled of fans). This brings us right back to the article of which clarifies the members are Seven O’Clock’s Song Hangyeom; SNUPER’s Jang Sebin; 1THE9’s Shin Yechan; ENOi’s Han Jeonghoon (J-Kid), Yang Hyuk (Gun), and Park Jinwoo; SPECTRUM’s Kim Jaehan; 1TEAM’s Moon Jehyun and Lee Jinwoo; LIMITLESS’s Lee Hwichan (Raychan); and GIDONGDAE’s Kim Taedong. There we have it. It’s a motley crew of members of flopped groups. (And here we were, worried that it was going to be the X1 reboot.)

Opinion section? Oh. Oh, I have an unfathomable amount of opinions on this. I won’t bore you with them all, though; I’ve Tweeted most of them already anyway, so I’ll attempt to keep this as not-rant-y as possible. Well, my first thought when the original article came out was that they were getting worse and worse at naming boy groups. (What kind of a name is OMEGA X?) I lightheartedly made fun of it, but was honestly pretty intrigued on where this was going. You don’t get something like this everyday. I couldn’t say I was excited at first sight, more or less I was just very skeptical, but I was rightfully curious.

Before anything else, I would like to address the boys I already know: ENOi members, 1TEAM members, Yechan, and Taedong. Okay. Congratulations to them, and to the others, as well! I have heard of all of them but haven’t looked into the other groups. (That will change soon, thought, perhaps right after I finish writing this.) However, I am just admittedly confused and the slightest bit dismayed.

ENOi, 1TEAM, and Seven O’Clock all confirmed their disbandment shortly before OMEGA X was announced. GIDONGDAE are also safely assumed to have quietly disbanded. This got me wondering: was it because of this that they disbanded? I don’t know Seven O’Clock well currently, but I know ENOi and 1TEAM were both doing decently, and I saw unquestionable potential ahead of them. I did not expect those disbandment announcements. It was interesting because after ENOi disbanded, all of the members made personal Instagram accounts, except for the three that were revealed to be in OMEGA X; I suppose now we see why. But this still doesn’t answer the question of why they decided to join. I mean, they had to have trusted this company a lot if they made the giant, risky decision to leave the group they’ve already made a name for themselves and been in for nearly two years just to join this one. I have never heard of Spire Entertainment before this, so it perplexes me how they managed to persuade them like that. I mean, like, I didn’t think they were that desperate. Honestly, I’m just still in shock over ENOi and 1TEAM’s disbandment--especially 1TEAM; they’ve had some almost-hits, and I really thought their big moment was coming up soon. Now, we’ll never get to see if my premonition was correct. I’ll just have to listen to their ten total songs on repeat and watch their former leader Rubin’s journey to becoming a tattoo artist via his Instagram.

Taedong has a different story. He first stepped into the industry in 2017 on the infamous survival show Produce 101. Besides the main group that show forms, many project groups also come off of it, one of which was the ultimately successful JBJ. Taedong was originally going to be in this lineup, but because of crappy company complications, he never ended up joining. After that he had his second chance with GIDONGDAE, a small group with virtually no background besides Kiwon (another Produce 101 contestant who was in the project group RAINZ) and Taedong’s ever-fading Produce 101 fame. Unfortunately, after a mere predebut summer single, GIDONGDAE quietly disbanded before their real debut. To put it simply, Taedong has been chasing debut for four years straight, and now he finally has it! I’m insanely proud and happy for him. All the doubts I have for OMEGA X are subsided with this thought; it’ll be worth it, in the end.

1THE9’s disbandment had been inevitable, so I can’t say much about that other than the fact that I really expected more 1THE9 members in this group than just Yechan. I’m glad he’s employed now. As for the other four dudes, I don’t know enough about them to say, but I have made a promise to myself and whatever god you believe in that I will fully stan them and inform myself of their history before OMEGA X debuts.

Oh, don’t get me started on their new stage names in OMEGA X. What is a XEN?! And why would Park Jinwoo call himself ‘Kevin’. Come on, out of all the white boy names he could have chosen? With all due respect and love, I am never going to call Jinwoo ‘Kevin’.

I feel like I need a closer now. Well! I’m glad they’ve found a new opportunity in this and have a new, more well-grounded chance to stardom. Despite the event of some members joining this group possibly resulting in the disbandment of some previous ones, I’m truly wishing the best for them from here on; hopefully this will be the turning point of their careers! It better be. All I can do now is pray that their debut song is good. (A song called “Vamos” can’t be that awful right? It sounds alright in the teaser videos, I sure hope the rest of it holds up that quality.) Because I want this to be worth it; I can’t let my poor boys go down the flop road again.

In 2017, renown singer-songwriter and rapper Kim HyunA released her sixth extended play with the lead single titled Babe. On the surface, the song appears to be an upbeat, bubbly EDM pop song, but underneath is a magnificently constructed composition that subtly calls out the infantilization of Asians, especially women in the idol industry, and even pointing a finger towards possible normalized pedophilia and sexualization of minors.

There are a variety of ways to interpret the lyrics. In fact, at first listen, it merely appears to be another cutesy love song. I thought this for the longest time simply because I was vibing so hard and the sweet energy it gave off was extraordinary, so I never thought about looking into the translation. That is, until I told my friend it was one of my comfort songs, and she was like, “BABE BY HYUNA IS JUST DISTURBING // AFTER THE BACKSTORY // IT’S JUST SAD ;; // It’s misleadingly upbeat,” and I was like, “WHAT” (cited from: 2/20/21 iMessages between me and contact name ‘[taco emoji]’).

So this is when I properly looked it up for the first time (‘properly,’ as in, for a reason other than the sake of singing the Hangul I can barely read that fast), and it was extremely clever how she expressed it. Coated by the deceivingly sweet overlay lies a darker, more melancholy meaning. The song begins with a glittery marimba ostinato and HyunA sings the first hook “I am just twenty-six, twenty-six, twenty-six”: her actual age. This melody is repeated throughout the song, however, each time the number gets younger and younger. During the first chorus: “You make me twenty-five, twenty-five, twenty-five // You make me twenty-four, twenty-four, twenty-four // I feel like twenty-one, twenty-one, twenty-one,” and during the second chorus: “You make me nineteen, nineteen, nineteen // You make me seventeen, seventeen, seventeen // I feel like fifteen, fifteen, fifteen.” These refer to the constant infantilization she is subjected to by the audience and the press, despite her clearly adult style of music.

“I can’t tell what my age is when I’m with you” and “I never knew I would change like this // When I look at you, I unwillingly change” describe how vigorously the childlike image is being pushed onto her, even with the theme of her music being vastly different. Though no one is explicitly telling her to act more innocent and childish, it’s deeply implied through reactions and criticism (that I can’t quote here for language reasons) that it’s how they expect her to act, and she It makes you think: “Why do you treat me like a baby?” Why are people attracted to younger girls? Why does she continue even when the lyrics reach down to minor ages…

But then, almost immediately after those words, she adds on, “I must want to hear it // Tell me I’m your babe, babe” (in the case of her song, Babe in Korean is ‘베베,’ which is pronounced more similar to “baby”). She sardonically plays into the role. “Yes, I am being like a baby,” HyunA sings in the second verse; then she starts chanting “Pamper me” in a hypnotic manner, like she’s fallen into the conditioning of the public ideal and being indoctrinated into this persona. She’ll be the baby the weirdos want her to be, because, according to them, this is how she should act and what she should want, right? Hence, the very last lyrics to the song goes “You make me baby girl, baby girl, baby girl // Now I’m your baby girl, baby girl, baby girl,” her voice distorts—like what remains isn’t truly her—and the song fades out, as if she’s mocking, ‘Congratulations! You’ve now regressed me down to the baby you wanted me to be.’

Although visual satire isn’t the prompt, I think it’s worth noting that, in the music video, right before the chorus, it shows HyunA in a box that represents the public eye; she’s in bold makeup and hoop earrings, but sitting on a tricycle like a child. Innocent and juvenile is what the public wants her to act like. “Tell me I’m your babe, babe,” she sings, as he changes into the outfit of a schoolgirl, further representing the young image she has to put on in order to be liked and accepted. Another section of the music video that I believe was quite brilliant, was the moment before the bridge. This is the part where she is singing her age down below legal. When she reaches seventeen, she begins appearing uncomfortable and eventually stops dancing when she hits fifteen. Fifteen is likely not just any random number she selected; that was the age when she debuted in her first group. She stops there because that was when it all started—when she first waltzed into the celebrity world, young and naïve. HyunA in the music video walks off the set there, wearing an grim expression of despondency and uncertainty, substantially contrasting the previously colorful and exuberant scenes.

So why did she have to code this meaningful message obscurely behind these words? Other idols face the same thing, one other has also made a song on this topic before her: our nationwide-beloved genius queen IU. I thought about writing this on IU’s Twenty-Three at first, but IU was a lot more blunt with her words; she was subtly mocking but it wasn’t downright satire, at least not as much as Babe, in my opinion. IU straight out stated the facts rather than concealing it underneath a story. That didn’t sit well with the public. Because of this, IU got a load more criticism—by, let’s be honest, probably mostly incels—many calling her “a sly fox” (in a not-compliment way) or, for the lack of a better translation, “a smartass.” While IU’s 2015 hit still slapped and did spendidly well on charts and with sales, HyunA played it a little shrewder. This is Kim HyunA we’re talking about—the HyunA known for sparking controversy with her wild and rather mature concepts that don’t fit the typical image of an idol, yet still maintaining a stable and successful career. People judged her, yes, but she’s played her cards carefully: never gotten into a serious scandal, never given them a valid reason to bring her down. She was an anomaly, but she was an icon. Through her many years as an artist, she had built up a well-founded fanbase and a solid profile. People knew what to expect from her, so she wasn’t going to ruin that. Instead, she incorporated the call-out into her typical style, blending it together with the artistry of only her expertise. With that, Kim HyunA created an admirable masterpiece, that was also one of my favorite albums of 2017 (albeit, 2017 had some terrific releases, but that’s a story for another time. Shut me up before I pull out my unnecessary, literal fourteen-page essay on Run to You by SEVENTEEN, that I wrote for a band assignment when we first moved to online school—and that I know Mr. Shank did not actually read, bless him. I’m serious, by the way. I can be unhinged. Katelynn knows.)

SKY Castle is a 2018 South Korean satirical drama centered around a group of wealthy families willing to do anything to get their children into the most prestigious college in the country. Now, I know this is one of the blandest synopses you've ever read (I thought this too--what could possibly be so interesting about this?), but, as it turns out, it's one of the highest rated Korean dramas in history. So, I watched it, out of simple curiosity and under a barrage of threats from my friend, and, of course, it truly was eye-opening. Thinking back, I can find a lot of ways that it touched on some of the points of Thoreau and Plato especially. But, fair warning: major spoilers ahead.

First and foremost is the series’ central idea on blind perfectionism. Parents and some of the children alike are driven by an unending ambition to reach the top. Schooling is placed at the core of their focus; if you prove yourself to be the best and the smartest, you’ll be successful and happy, right? Plato disagrees: “...those who never make an end of their education, will [not] be able ministers of State… because they will not act at all except upon compulsion, fancying that they are already dwelling apart in the islands of the blest,” and this is true. Education is not everything. In fact, that is the main moral of the plot; continually climbing this ladder, reaching the utmost peak of the hiearchy will not do the amount of good society sets you to believe. Learning should be an aid in helping one discover themself, not an obsession. Now, this ties into my next paragraph, which will not be as spoiler-free.

Living free of the restraints and pressures of society allows us to see the real world, stresses Thoreau. A simple life: that is the key. As, well, rich people, you can most likely imagine that the main characters’ lives were the opposite of simple. Putting the children under intense pressure was a custom; filling up their schedules with math problems and practice tests was form; even hiring sketchy private tutors who somehow manage to guarantee a one hundred percent acceptance rate in their own mysterious (unscrupulous?) ways. The most significant part, however, is the fact that no one even saw a single issue with this system until a new family (the son being played by Kang Chani, my boy) moved into this cursed, elite residency. They were jolly neighbors, doing their best to fit into this new suburb, but after Lee Sooim, the mother, finds out about a suicide and sees families slowly tear themselves apart, she begins to see something wrong. There was something sinister here, but it’s not any mythical evil from fairytales. The villain is their own blinding ambition imprisoning to a small cave of which they believe is all the world is, locking their vision and all they know onto shadows on the wall.

Han Seojin lands herself the best tutor in the nation for her daughter. She thinks she hit the jackpot. Then, she finds herself gradually losing her daughter. She tells herself that it’s alright, all she has to do is make sure she gets into Seoul National University Medical School, because that will be what makes her look good in this society. Not once has it crossed her mind that university is, in fact, not all that there is for Yeseo. Sooim tried to get through to her, but she fought, angrily and firmly announcing that it would be the end of both her and Yeseo’s lives if Yeseo did not get into university--life-long prisoners in a cave refusing their enlightener, calling them delusional.

But wait, there’s more! There is a prominent medical subplot in the midst of this. Our discussions about Selzer on Thursday reminded me of it. This is effectively a contrasting parallel to Selzer’s perspective. Every surgeon has a calling to do their job, Selzer says? Is he certain the calling isn’t the money whispering to them? What about the elevated social status that comes with the title of ‘Doctor’? It’s not always genuine passion that drives, and this leads to the wrong things. Seojin’s husband is one of the most esteemed neurosurgeons in the nation, yet on his quest to elevate his status in the hospital, he let his own illegitimate daughter die in the hospital when he could have treated her. So, why did he become a doctor? He himself asked this to one of his assistant doctors. “Because my mother told me to,” was the reply that unexpectedly struck him hard. Because society deludes people’s priorities. And wouldn’t all these problems be nonexistent if these people who seemingly have everything just lived with simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!

That’s it. That’s the end of my essay. I have to do calculus homework now; it’s big brain time. Watch SKY Castle, if you still want to after all these spoilers. Actually, please do that, or you’ll miss out on the phenomenal acting and beautiful cast (just wait until you get to Park Yoona’s character; she is the most stunning girl alive) and all the indescribable anticipation and little joys speckled throughout.

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/astro-comeback-april-2021-2898360

Alright, I’m keeping it short this time. The article announces that ASTRO have just confirmed their comeback date: April 5th, after postponing it from March. This will be their first full group comeback since May 2020 when they released Gateway, featuring the successful lead single Knock. The article mentions that late last year, a subunit of Moonbin and Sanha debuted with their first mini album, Bad Idea. This upcoming release will also be their second full length album ever in their five year career, their first being All Light, released in January 2019--one of the most beautiful albums every, physically and song-wise.

And here comes my extreme opinions at one in the morning. ASTRO are one of my favorite groups of all time (I only have four utmost favorites at the top of my stan list hierarchy, and ASTRO are one of them, which is saying a lot because there are approximately 150 other competitors on my list), and when I saw the company Tweet that GIF this morning, I was in Environmental Science about ready to lose my mind. We knew it was coming, especially when they already announced it was going to happen in March, and even before that when Moonbin teased in a livestream that their upcoming album was going to have “a lot of songs.” We expected something soon and even had confident hope that it was going to be a full length album. Lo and behold, it was! But it still felt fantastic to see that confirmation and have a date to look forward to. Even aside from my emotional attachment to them, there’s the fact that their music just really hecking slaps. It’s not even bias, because, partially, it was their music that got me liking them so much (besides the fact that they are virtually comedians and make me laugh so hard and are a light of rare joy I can find in this dismal abyss of fifty AP tests and English journals). As I mentioned before, their last full album was flawless--in fact, I got into them right after they released that masterpiece, so another full album? God, who knows what kind of cultural reset they’ll bring into the world this time. I’m just really happy! (Here comes the corniness; brace yourself.) I’m excited. I have been waiting for this for ages; it’s to a point where it feels hard to believe that it’s almost been a year since their last album. Though, a few members have had a lot of solo schedules within the year--Eunwoo and Moonbin especially--and I do want to make sure they have had enough rest before plunging back into the exhausting practicing and promotions cycle. Because, you know what, I care about them! They’ve all worked so hard for the past five years, they deserve to be happy! I can’t bury the excitement for new music or anything, but I hope they’re all well and fine. And I know what you’re thinking: what is this junior in high school doing writing about their K-Pop boys in the middle of the night on a Current Event assignment for history class that could have taken a mere five minutes for?! To be frank with you, I have no idea why I’m still here either, because now I’m all up in my ASTRO feels in the middle of the night even though my SAT test is literally this Saturday. That’s two days away. Oh man. So goodnight, Mr. Patterson, I hope you tune into ASTRO’s new album dropping on April 5th.

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2021/01/has-science-solved-history-greatest-adventure-mystery-dyatlov/

Ah, yes, my first non-K-Pop current event. It’s about time; I know you’re exhausted of me by now. The reason is that, really, nothing much worth writing about happened in that hemisphere recently, and frankly, it’s almost midnight and I don’t feel like going on another awful company rant or writing an essay of an album review on the new CIX mini (which, between you and me, I didn’t like that much as their previous albums.) Along with my ridiculous, unhealthy obsession in the seemingly innocent K-Pop genre, I also find interest in, uh, more messed up things, maybe. Like nine hikers found dead on a Russian mountain in 1959--undressed, skulls bashed in, missing eyes, and severed tongue. Now, I know this just took a dark turn, but hear me out: this is about how science discovered what actually happened to them. The answer is a lot more boring than suspected. It was, simply, snow--an avalanche. But, before you get disappointed, the article also states how they figured it out, which was a bit more interesting, delving in deeper into more science and less conspiracy. Skipping past the statistical bits to the fun part: they figured it out with the movie Frozen and its snow animation codes. The snow animation code was put into a simulator to recreate the weather conditions of the night the hikers went AWOL. With that, came a rare occurrence of an avalanche.

Now, yes, it does seem lame, but I thought it was cool. Honestly, I found this article from a meme. It was a picture of small dominoes leading up to a big domino; the small one was labeled “hans christian andersen writing the snow queen” and the large one was labeled “researchers using snow animations from Frozen II to recreate the exact weather conditions the night of the dyatlov pass incident and solving a 62 year old cold case.” I didn’t believe it at first, but then I found the article linked in the replies, so like any other curious man, I read it. It was National Geographic, too, so it was reliable enough, right? I had never heard of the Dyatlov Pass case prior to this, so it was intriguing reading about the details. Even after I found out the truth was a lot more lame than I anticipated, the described process on how the researchers figured it out was still cool to me. As a shameless Frozen lover, it blew my mind. What can I say, Elsa is hot and so is the insanely beautiful animation in the second movie. Besides, later on, it answers the questions of the other unnerving circumstances of the hikers’ bodies, which made it worth the read to the end. I learned a lot. It’s cool. I will look into more crazy mystery death cases to tell you about so you don’t have to continuously hear about K-Pop.

After 7 years, the renown sensation that is GOT7 leaves their entertainment agency. The article shows the official statement made by the company, JYP, saying that all “seven members of GOT7 will not be renewing their contracts with JYP Entertainment.” GOT7 has been one of the leading acts in the industry for the past preceding years. Having debuted under a prominent company, they had a very successful start (their first album reaching no. 1 on Billboard World Albums Chart) and have remained among the top for the entirety of their career with other legends, such as BTS and EXO. From 2014 to 2021, they have garnered tens of millions of fans across the globe and released countless notable songs. So, this was a big deal, as you can see. While they assured that they aren’t disbanding, GOT7 as we know it is gone.

Now, in retrospect, it’s really saddening seeing them go. They’ve left an eminent impact in the industry throughout the years (obviously, being one of the most successful and respected boy groups of the late 2010’s and all), but they have also released so many distinguished anthems. Put simply, I love them and their music, and more than that, tons of other people do too. They were just a chill, funny bunch, and a lot of their songs are so iconic, as well. Just Right, their 2015 breakthrough viral bop, currently has 358 million total views on YouTube and, more recently, Lullaby the 2018 banger has 48 millions streams on Spotify. Their songs were the kinds like Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars or Closer by The Chainsmokers: everyone knows them. They’ve won myriads of awards, big and small, topped off many charts, and are highly looked up to by younger artists. It’s regretful; deep down I feel they’re too iconic to go. It’s like watching one of the most powerful empires of Ancient Rome fall; except, instead of being stricken down by war and force, they’re giving up their title peacefully and decided to go their separate directions.

Here comes the “however.” However, as grief-stricken I am to see them separate, I’m also glad that they get their chance to try out their own paths now and escape that irresponsible agency that didn’t treat them right anyway. (There’s a reason why zero of them decided to stay in JYP.) I’m not too worried for them, as millions of their fans from GOT7 will be right behind them to support them even individually. They mostly already have stable solo careers going, anyway. Jackson has been working on his own label, Team Wang, for a while already and is thriving back in China. Jinyoung’s going to focus on his acting career; he’s already in talks on signing under a well-known acting agency. BamBam would return to Thailand, where he already has an enormous fanbase. Mark said he would return to America to join his family; he would also start a YouTube channel and begin vlogging. (Fun fact: Mark Tuan opened his channel yesterday, and with zero videos, he is currently at 834k subscribers as I am typing this.) Jaebeom, Yugyeom, and Youngjae are all considering other music companies, though I can’t remember which ones at the moment. I believe Yugyeom is planning on going into AOMG, which is a well-known hip-hop record label founded by the famous soloist Jay Park, who also used to be under JYP. (I find this hilarious because Jay Park was kicked out from JYP ages ago, and now, one of JYP’s prized artists is about to sign under his label.) From the looks of it, all seven of the boys will continue pursuing music, or at least stay in the entertainment industry, in one way or another, and they’ll all make solid bank.

So, in the end, I’m really happy for them. The initial freaking-out phase I had when the news was first announced--officially, that is, as there had been rumors and predictions about their contract ending soon--got put to ease shortly when each of the members posted a group picture on Instagram and Twitter with the caption #GOT7FOREVER (as cheesy as it sounds), along with Mark’s Tweet that basically reassured the continued existence of GOT7, despite all being scattered. They also stated somewhere that they would definitely make time in the future and do group projects together again. GOT7 aren’t gone, per se, but they’re no longer bracketed together by the iron restraints of a JYP Entertainment seven-year contract. That’s objectively good, for them especially. They’re free! But, in all honesty, I’ll miss them as a whole. Their bond is still strong and they’re still great friends, I’m sure. But we won’t get our scheduled group comebacks anymore, and the regular, classic GOT7 sound will start to fade into the background. We have reached the era where the GOT7 will become one of the many ‘definite hiatus’ legends. All kings of great power will eventually drain into the past with time. (I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.)

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1442014wpp/watch-stray-kids-ateez-and-the-boyz-confirmed-to-compete-on-kingdom-perform-powerful-collab-at-2020-mama

Before we begin on the topic of this article, I would like to provide you, Mr. Patterson, with some background information. Assuming you actually read my previous journals, you might remember me mentioning a show called Road to Kingdom somewhere among the text at one point or another. This nuisance-in-disguise of a show aired earlier this year, in the first half of 2020. To summarize in the simplest way possible, it is a Korean survival show program provided by the television channel Mnet, an artistic competition between seven boy groups: Pentagon, ONF, Golden Child, The Boyz, Oneus, Verivery, and TOO. Skip ahead--past all the epic performances and exasperating fanwars--to the final episode: The Boyz won. And, because of that, they gain the privilege of moving on to the next season, which is to be titled Kingdom.

This brings us to the contents in the link above. Kingdom’s existence has been confirmed and teased ever since the initiation of Road to Kingdom (as the central goal of Road to Kingdom for the contestants was competing to obtain a spot in Kingdom.) Ever since the program ended, sealing The Boyz’s fate in Kingdom, fans have been awaiting confirmations on the rest of the lineup for that half-anticipated, half-dreaded show. (Why ‘dreaded,’ you ask? Stay tuned, and I will explain it all soon enough!) This article announces the official addition of two groups to the Kingdom lineup: Stray Kids and ATEEZ. Of course, the announcement didn’t just come from a few statements to be spread through some news sources; that would be a waste of the amount of hype surrounding this subject. So, Mnet being Mnet, made sure that that first lineup reveal was as dramatic as possible.

The Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) is one of the biggest music award ceremonies in the industry. You can compare it to the Grammys: equally as prominent, equally as rigged. Besides the esteemed awards, there also comes breathtaking performances by the invited and nominated artists. I think you know what I’m getting at by now. About two hours into the broadcast came what appeared to be a special collaboration stage between The Boyz, ATEEZ, and Stray Kids. Now, I know this isn’t the opinion section yet, but that their performances were genuinely so incredible and, in my opinion, though I’m sure many others would agree, the most outstanding stage at MAMA this year. You could tell a lot of the budget went into this: all the fancy lighting and holograms, crazy stage effects, abundant props that were probably not too cheap, eye-catching outfits and styling, the amount of backup dancers, and just the general stage setup (if you watch it, you’ll understand; they were really not playing around for this one). I won’t go too in-depth on the nitty-gritty details because I’ve already been rambling for too long and I know you’re just trying to grade these dang journals. But hey, all I can say is that it was insane, and I would highly recommend checking it out to anyone. While I could elaborately write out every intricacy of the entire three-way joint performance and attempt to paint the picture in your head, watching it just hits differently. Also, I have four AP classes of other work to do than to write ten pages about K-Pop (again), as much as my heart would like to. (I’ll leave the YouTube link of this collaboration performance at the bottom, if you’re interested.)

After the three finished up this performance, the screen suddenly transitioned to the Kingdom logo. Havoc ensued.

And that leads me directly into the opinion section. What are my thoughts on Kingdom? Well, well, well.

I, for one, watched Road to Kingdom while it aired in April to June. And I, for one, support every group that was on there. I am one of the few people who have been a fan of all seven of them since before the show started, while most people just stick to one group or two, so you can imagine how big of a deal it was for me when the lineup for Road to Kingdom was first announced. I was excited for it at first, I really was. The fun didn’t last long, however. It was simply a friendly competition for the artists, a way for them to showcase their talent and improve their own skills. The competition among the fanbases of each group was not-so-friendly. Keep in mind, Road to Kingdom groups were all less known, so most of their fanbases were small and, hence, never got much hate, never have experienced people at their throats like this. Obviously, we can’t tell who initiated which fight, but it didn’t matter because we all knew it was inevitably going to turn out like this anyway. I just sat back and watched all my friends fight--free entertainment. It was all fun and games until people actually began dragging the artists. That was when it stopped being fun. Those were dark times for each of their fandoms; everyday I would log onto Twitter and see one person getting bullied or another. I could get into the details and explain each of the fandoms’ dynamics in the fighting, but I’m sure you’re not interested.

The infamous Road to Kingdom fanwars eventually faded away with the end of the show and The Boyz taking the crown, giving their already ruthless and egocentric fandom yet more boasting rights. I’m happy for The Boyz; they deserved every bit of that (they worked so hard and their performances were beyond astounding). But, at the same time, I’m slightly ticked because their fandom, Deobis, were probably the most aggressive towards the other groups and fans throughout the majority of the show.

The aftermath of Road to Kingdom simply left exhausted fans from each of the groups, exhausted from keeping up with the show, exhausted from voting, exhausted from defending their idols, exhausted from fighting other fans. It was a complicated mess. Despite all the life-changing performances and fun interactions I got from my favorite artists, there was also so much hate being thrown towards them that I do not want to subject any more talented artists that I care about through anything like this. In fact, most people share this ideology.

(Personally, I don’t see why everyone couldn’t just ignore the fighting and enjoy the hecking show. I understand the feeling of needing to defend your group, but fighting fire with fire simply creates infernos. Throughout Road to Kingdom, I was either the mediator or the bystander during the raging battles I was subjected to witness on my Twitter timeline. My friends described me as this meme: [picture of a dog sitting in a room on fire and saying 'this is fine'],

[picture of a dog sitting in a room on fire and saying 'this is fine'],

and I have never seen anything so accurate in my life.)

These notorious fanwars explicate the mayhem caused by the unexpected Kingdom lineup reveal at the recent MAMA performance. Here’s the thing: Stray Kids fans and ATEEZ fans have been at each other’s throats for nearly two years. I really cannot tell you the reason, though my best guess is that because the two groups debuted the same year, they are at around the same places in their careers, therefore their fans see one another as competition.

So, here we have it. The holy trinity of this K-Pop generation’s worst and most combative fandoms--ego-inflated Deobis (The Boyz fans), overprotective Stays (Stray Kids fans), and aggravating Atinys (ATEEZ fans)--all about to fight it out in only a few more months. And, remember, it’s not even over; there will definitely be more groups confirmed to this lineup very soon. But a Deobi-Stay-Atiny mega-war already sounds horrid enough… How much worse can it really get?

(I probably just jinxed it. They’re going to add Treasure and the defensive Teumes now, aren’t they…

There have been many different predictions of the full lineup, and I have my own hypotheses too, but I won’t get started on that now. That topic can be for another day, assuming the full lineup hasn’t been revealed by then.)

The rest of the world is already shaking; we all know how bad Deobis, Stays, and Atinys can get alone. Now, they’re basically being forced into a gladiator rink together. Buckle up, boys, because World War III begins in the first half of 2021.

Links to their MAMA stages, as I promised:

The collaboration stage was split into four sections. The Boyz went first with a mashup of their two most noteworthy performances from Road to Kingdom. Then, ATEEZ performed the title tracks from their two latest albums in some awesome makeup and outfits. Stray Kids went last of the three with a powerful B-side track from one of their older albums with this, uh, Sparta concept(?). At the end, Juyeon from The Boyz (red hair), San from ATEEZ (black hair), and Hyunjin from Stray Kids (blond hair)--one of the main dancers and, I suppose, most popular member of each group--come together and have a special collaboration choreography. A “triangular fight,” it was titled.

Without further ado, here are the links (flashy lights and extravagance warning ahead!):

The Boyz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8aOScCgPYg

ATEEZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQJIszK1EOo

Stray Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1QMXlDbUJ0

Triangular Fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FAHOyL0sog

(If you’re running low on time, I recommend just watch the triangular fight one then, since that was the final one that led to the reveal.)

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1438145wpp/shinees-minho-shares-stories-from-the-military-talks-about-keeping-up-with-members-activities-meeting-akmus-lee-chan-hyuk-and-more

This is it: Choi Minho has returned from his mandatory military service! SHINee’s back! This article sums up his discharge on November 15, and his live broadcast after his return on November 17. It was titled “I’m Home” which was a reference to a special solo song he released right before he enlisted two years ago (a lovely song, if you ask me; even though I’m not one for ballads, “I’m Home” has a special place in my heart). In the article, they mention the things Minho talked about in the livestream, such as how he listened to the hit song “Fancy” by Twice a lot in the marine corps, and meeting up with Lee Chanhyuk of the duo AKMU there, as their service periods overlapped by a couple weeks. Other members of Shinee also appeared in the live: Onew was there in person and Key talked to them over the phone. They all joked around a lot, and it was so nice to see that their friendship never died and the SHINee spirit was back.

It was a really great day for all of us, really, as we have been waiting for the group’s reunion ever since Onew, the first member to enlist, left. While I didn’t catch the livestream myself, the bits and clips on my Twitter timeline were enough to make me feel that happy. I’ll probably go back and watch it sometime soon. I would give a five page essay on the background on SHINee to inform you of their eminence, but I have three worksheets of AP Calculus homework to do later, so maybe some other time. But you do need to know that this was a big deal, as SHINee were indeed extremely prominent and successful; they left an impact on the industry like no other (heck, even Obama and his daughters like them; I can find the video of him saying that if you’re curious). SHINee’s reunion was probably one of the best things to come out of 2020, if I do say so myself. Yesterday, in Taemin’s vlogs they showed all the hugs and embraces when they all met Minho at the back of the Inkigayo stage after Taemin’s performance. (Taemin, being the only active member of SHINee right now, but hopefully not for long!) Honestly, if I keep talking I’m just going to get emotional, so I’ll cut it off here. It’s nothing to get emotional about, but seeing them hanging out and joking around with each other again, it feels like we’re back to the old times and nothing has changed even after all this time. I think that’s just swell. I saw their Instagram posts with each other, too; they look so happy. It’s the nostalgia rushing in, I guess. Hopefully soon we’ll get new music from the group!

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1434534wpp/mnets-kingdom-reportedly-to-begin-filming-in-january

Late yesterday night, news broke that the Mnet survival show ‘Kingdom’ will begin filming in January next year and airing in February. This article takes us through the background information about the show, as well as announcing that information. The ‘Kingdom’ series is a competition show between established groups. To sum it up, the first season was called ‘Queendom’ and had a lineup of girl groups ranging from second generation groups, such as AOA, to then-rookies (G)I-DLE. When that ended up being successful, Mnet created a male version of ‘Queendom’ called ‘Road to Kingdom’, and the winner of that will move onto the next level, ‘Kingdom’. The group called The Boyz took on a victorious, yet kind of predictable and inevitable win, on ‘Road to Kingdom’. (I watched it air live at seven in the morning, and man, let me tell you, I was going through it. But I’ll get more in depth to that later.) The article also states that Mnet is “currently casting artists with the goal of airing the first episode in the first half of 2021. The exact details of the filming and broadcast have not been decided.” This means that the highly anticipated details of the lineup for that show is currently not yet confirmed, which leaves fans wondering and guessing. It also mentions that earlier this year, the originally late-2020 planned ‘Kingdom’ got delayed and was not going to be airing in 2020.

Alright, this is going to be a long story. Me, having watched ‘Road to Kingdom’ as it aired from April to June earlier this year, along with many others, remember clearly the chaos and headache-evoking havoc it brought. First off, having competition among groups will surely bring aggression among fans. I’m not going to go into detail about that because it houses some awful memories for me… but basically, my Twitter timeline was a mess and I could not go a single minute without seeing some form of hate being thrown around to one group or another. I didn’t mess with any of that, obviously, as I happen to stan all seven groups that were on that show, so in a way I (and of course a select few other multis) was the mediator. The Boyz taking that final crown brought celebration but also hatred from others. In conclusion, it was just insanely messy.

Despite the breathtaking performances and my personally favored interactions, no one wanted to repeat that terrible cycle of cyberbullying and just pure mental exhaustion. That’s why when the news that ‘Kingdom’ was back into works after its delay, we all started losing our minds. Of course, it was inevitable, so the next question is: who will be up against our rising stars The Boyz? Well, there are multiple predictions and hopes, and I thought I’d list my own and my logical reasoning for this opinion section.

My official bets are on: Monsta X, SF9, VICTON, NU’EST, possibly ASTRO, and in my wildest dreams, N.Flying. (And The Boyz, of course.)

Now, to clarify, this is not what I want, but rather my most logical guesses, based on reasoning and my knowledge of Mnet, the show, and the groups. For Kingdom to be the next level up from ‘Road to Kingdom’ means that the competition for The Boyz should be harder, therefore the other groups should be older and more experienced than them. The Boyz debuted in 2017, so I’m aiming for active and fairly popular (but not too popular) boy groups that debuted in 2016 or earlier (but obviously not too early). All the groups I listed above fit that category: Monsta X and N.Flying in 2015, SF9, VICTON, and ASTRO in 2016, and NU’EST in 2012. The only one among there that could be leaning towards the ‘too popular’ side would be Monsta X, but knowing their company, Starship Entertainment, the chance is there. Furthermore, it was stated somewhere that they will be choosing the lineup based on the group’s wins, and each of those groups have had at least one win. SF9’s company, FNC, have sent their girl group AOA onto ‘Queendom’, so it’s definitely possible that they’ll send another one of their groups to ‘Kingdom’. VICTON are also plausible, especially with the fact that two of their members, Byungchan and Seungwoo, were already on an Mnet survival show before. (Though, I sincerely do not wish for them to have to go through another one again.) NU’EST are under Pledis Entertainment, and they too have been put on an Mnet survival show a few years ago. Pledis will likely send someone, simply because they want clout. But SEVENTEEN would be too popular and overpowered to go, so NU’EST is a more plausible option. I also chose ASTRO, simply because they’re a decently popular boy group who debuted before The Boyz and has a win, but really, I don’t see them as a survival show group. Like, I physically cannot imagine them on one, but hey, the chance is there and reasonable. In fact, I really hope they don’t go because their member Eunwoo has been incredibly busy recently, filming for dramas nonstop, and if he immediately goes to ‘Kingdom’ with ASTRO, he’ll have absolutely no time to rest, which is definitely not good for his health. Now, N.Flying, on the other hand, is actually a group I hope will be on there. They’re also under FNC, and they do pretty well on the charts, but recently FNC has been ignoring them and not giving them anywhere near the amount of promotion they need or deserve. Hence, we as their fans are desperately hoping for the chance to get some attention, so much that we are even turning to the soon-to-be craphole that is ‘Kingdom’. Honestly, I don’t think FNC would put them on there, considering their drummer, Jaehyun was sent to Japan to film a drama for supposedly the entire winter. But, you know what, I can dream a little. Imagine: N.Flying, the only instrumental band to go onto ‘Kingdom’, and then they win and get popular, and then we finally achieve world domination.

Sorry if this wasn’t that clear. There is actually a lot more information I excluded, but I ran out of brain power. I originally wanted to write this as soon as the news dropped yesterday, but my brain was too intensely fried from keeping up with the Twitter timeline and the rumors and updates about the show (as well as the upcoming big award ceremonies, as that time of year is coming once again). Now, my brain is still fried because of Twitter and how less sleep I got. So, once again, I apologize if this wasn’t as entertaining as my others or if it was too confusing. I will gladly explain clearer if you insist! This is the one field I am knowledgeable about because I’m useless in everything else. (That’s a joke. Please do not report me to the counselors.)

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1431553wpp/cix-excites-with-date-for-october-comeback-after-postponement

First things first, I would like to say: hello sir, I hope these musical rants aren’t getting irritating yet. (I will stop once you start making us share these.) Second of all, here we have it! The highly-anticipated CIX comeback finally announced! Speaking technically, it was confirmed a few weeks ago to be in October. Speaking even more technically, it was announced back in June. This article explains that; CIX were originally planning to drop their new album in June, a ton of attention-grabbing and clearly high-budget teasers were released and everything. A few days before the release date, however, the company issued a statement that their member Bae Jinyoung hurt his ankle, therefore thwarting their comeback plans, and they declared it to be postponed until further notice. This would be the group’s third mini-album, the article states. It’s titled “HELLO Chapter 3. Hello, Strange Time” with the lead single called “Jungle”. Today, the group shared a new schedule for this return, with it officially revealing that the album will come out on October 27.
I watched as the teasers came out, one by one, back in June. It very obviously seemed to be interconnected with the lore of their past two music videos, albeit on a whole, more intense level. It’s been a while since I’ve watched them, given that they were released four months ago, but I remember so clearly being shocked because, while it stayed on their theme, it was vastly different from where I had expected them to go with their concept. Nonetheless, those videos and pictures were pretty stunning, so I, along with millions of other fans, was disappointed by the postponement. Of course, we knew it was right of them to do that; we were all glad that the company was taking Jinyoung’s health into priority and not pushing him through a rigorous promotion schedule with a sprained ankle. Not to get suddenly emotional, but this is the opinion section, so I think I’m entitled to this--I’ve been a fan of him since his days in his temporary previous group, Wanna One, so like, I care about this dude a lot and I’m glad he got some time to rest, you know? Anyway, we all knew they were coming back soon (four months is surely long enough for an ankle to heal). A few days ago, they even had an online concert (or participated in one, I can’t remember), and yes, Jinyoung was there, on stage, performing. I woke up to videos of Jinyoung with bright blonde hair on my Twitter timeline that day, and bro, let me tell you, he looked so freaking good; my entire Twitter feed was yelling. Alright, moving on to present time again. So, there I was, having just got off my third period Spanish IV class and getting ready to start on homework. I check the time: it’s 11:00 A.M., which converts into midnight in Korean time: the typical time for any type of teaser or announcement to drop. I open Twitter to check for news on any of my currently-131 groups I follow, and then boom, I see the brand new CIX comeback schedule, Tweeted from the official account ten seconds ago. October 27, it says in the smack center of the aesthetically pleasing picture. Perfect. (I scroll a bit more and see that JBJ95 also announced their long-awaited comeback on the date of their two year anniversary, as well as the first official music video teaser for one of my favorite groups SEVENTEEN’s upcoming comeback. It looked and sounded fresh as heck, by the way.)

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/10052182/superm-kpop-new-album-super-one-music-video-review?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss

A few days ago the supergroup project of SM Entertainment made their first comeback with a full album titled “Super One”. This article takes us through a brief history of the group and describes their new album. Said group, called SuperM debuted with their first mini-album about a year ago. What’s so special about this group is the fact that the seven members are actually composed of the aces of the company’s previously debuted groups. It consists of our seasoned icon Taemin from the highly respected and esteemed SHINee, legends Baekhyun and Kai from the worldwide phenomenon EXO, aces Mark and Taeyong from the yet-still-rising leader of this generation’s sound NCT 127, and gems Ten and Lucas from WayV, the Chinese subunit of NCT that collected guaranteed success as soon as they were announced. SM, taking the most popular members of their most popular boy groups, put them together to form “the Avengers of K-Pop”. (I know I shouldn’t insert an opinion in this paragraph, but yes, you can laugh. It sounds a little dumb; we all went insane when they first said that, but we’ve accepted it now. SM’s shenanigans never cease, so what can we do.) After their debut and tour in 2019, the members returned to their individual or original group’s activities for a while, but earlier this week, they came back with three music videos and a banger album which brought upon infinite hype and, well, fifteen dubiously epic songs.

So my opinion on it? Well, I planned on this being an album review, but I might voice my thoughts on this group first. SuperM was quite a questionable idea, but I’m not surprised, as it is SM Entertainment. My, along with a lot of people’s, main concern when this project was first leaked back in August 2019, was the overworking of members who were already very active with their original groups. Specifically, we were concerned about Mark and Taeyong, and we still are, as NCT are to have a comeback the second week of October. Lucas and Ten are also going to be in that comeback, but NCT 127 have been active for the majority of this year, having two comebacks and an online concert. And you know what, good for them! Good for them; they’re making that cash! But at the same time, SM clearly favors those two (understandably so, the talent they hold is wild) and has them marketing them to the maximum extent possible. It makes you think: how are they holding up? I don’t know, but I sincerely hope they’re not getting pushed too hard. They, as well as Lucas and Ten, are releasing a new album in the highly anticipated NCT 2020, so they likely won’t get to rest anytime soon for the next two months at least. Taemin also had a glorious, elegant solo comeback earlier this month. Baekhyun and Kai… well… Baekhyun got to sing an original soundtrack, a beautiful ballad, for a TV show recently and as for Kai… SM promised that he would have solo music before the end of this year, but haven’t mentioned it since. (EXO, please come home. We need you back.)

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: shall I move on to the new album review? “Super One”, I said it was called, and “dubious”, I described it. And “dubious” would be right because there is probably not a better word to describe it than that or “questionable”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fifteen-piece, no-skip masterpiece. But maybe that’s because my taste in music sucks, and I accept that. Either way as long as I can acknowledge that this music is objectively… not ideal, but we are Gen Z living in 2020; it’s all about breaking standards now amirite?

Starting off, the first song on this is the main title track “One (Monster & Infinity)”. See, this is an interesting concept, and I, personally, think it’s very innovative. The next two songs listed are titled “Infinity” and “Monster” respectively. “One (Monster & Infinity)” is essentially a mashup of those two songs, forming an amalgamated loud banger. SM Entertainment has done this before with an old renown classic of SHINee’s: “Sherlock”, which used this same idea, mashing up two songs which were both included after it on its mini-album, “Clue” and “Note”.

Next up is my self-acclaimed best song on the album, “Wish You Were Here”. I loved it the moment I heard it, honestly. To be honest, I expected this entire album to be fairly noisy to stick with its theme, but oh, this song right here stood out immediately. It was smart of them to sequence this right after the three introductory songs. It brings in a new suave, elegant mood in its minor key that you wouldn’t have expected coming at all, especially after just finishing the energetic “Monster”.

Okay, Mr. Patterson, I’m going to cut it off here now because I don’t think you want a ten-page essay analyzing fifteen different newly released Korean songs. Or maybe you do. No, like, if you want to hear the rest I will gladly grind out an extended review of this full album for the next journal; literally, just tell me. I could do this with so many others if I had time, or a purpose--that you’re providing me with for making these mandatory, obviously.

Today, September 16th at 11:00 A.M. EST, marked the release of the first teaser video of the much anticipated comeback of the Korean Pop girl group LOONA. This article discusses its hype among fans and its mystifying contents. The video was dropped with minimal warning, being posted on the group’s Twitter account as a YouTube video link. It was puzzling, albeit insanely intriguing. Altogether, two things can be concluded certainly from that teaser: LOONA were dropping a new mini album titled 12:00 and the release date is October 19.

I, along with millions of fans around the world, are excited out of our minds. Moreover the fact that this is the group’s first time releasing music since March of this year, and that all of this is happening as their company is struggling with a lawsuit, the teaser video appears to have twelve cutscenes. If you’ve watched it, you would obviously see that it shows twelve major cities around the world, along with a clock counting down to midnight in Seoul’s timezone. What’s so interesting about this is that the group’s leader and main vocalist, Haseul, has been on a hiatus for health reasons for almost a year. For the majority of 2020, LOONA has been promoting as eleven members, as Haseul was absent. I miss her; we all do. But, as I said, in this video there showed twelve locations, one of them being Reykjavik, Iceland. Coincidentally, Haseul’s designated location from her debut back in 2016 was Iceland. Now, if it wasn’t clear enough, Haseul is most definitely returning for this album and I absolutely cannot wait. The end of the teaser also showcased a short audio of which will likely be the instrumental of the song, if not, then at least on the album somewhere. My opinion on it? It sounds heavenly. From what I can gather, this sounds like a very high energy and lively song, straying from their original concept, but not too different from their last album’s theme. Personally, from that short sneak peak on the video, I already think this is going to be better than their last song, but of course, I could be blinded by the raw, raging exhilaration rushing through my veins right now. Anyway, I wish them the best of luck this comeback, and I sincerely hope their old lore-writer returns here and gives us the thrilling plot description on their music videos again. LOONA is coming.

— [Weekly Assignment: Write a Paragraph About a Piece of Music That Brings You Joy]

Now, this is going to be a short one. But, as a disclaimer, this is not my favorite song by PENTAGON. However, this is the one that went viral and introduced me to them, similar to Rooftop by N.Flying — except, I think this gained the artist a bit more attention than N.Flying, possibly due to the fact that they’re an actual idol group rather than a band, but who knows, Shine came out a year prior to Rooftop, so it’s kind of difficult to compare the two. I won’t elaborate too much on this group, though, because I know I’m going to go into much more detail than necessary.

Let’s start with a sample of my sudden Twitter meltdown over this masterpiece a few days ago when sudden went into ten-membered-PENTAGON-missing-hours and impulsively rewatched the Shine music videos. Well, honestly, it wasn’t completely out of the blue; it was kind of triggered by a Spring Snow Music Bank stage video popping up in my recommended YouTube videos. Then, I was like, Do I watch this? Or do I save my tears for the AP test tomorrow? And me, being the impetuous annoyance I am, watched it. Obviously. Which led to a series of events, one of which including:

“shine fr just the embodiment of 👉👈 in song form fr fr. like it's part of the choreo for a reason ptg did it before it was cool”
“why was shine so legendary WHY DID she have to be so legendary SHE DID NOT have to go so hard THE MV did NOT have to be so feel-good THE POSITIVE VIBES DID not HAVE TO be so strong SHE DID NOT NEED TO pop off like that IN 2018
shine… <333 i love her she was so influential she did wonders for this planet who would've known she was gonna be THAT legendaric legendary legend that would take over the world with her unexpected power”
“she was such an era god she was SUCH a legend i cannot stress this enough but the impact she had on the world? on me?? it goes BEYOND DIMENSIONS she was truly immaculate. she's so quirky. she's not like the other girls in the best way possible”
“you know what remember when i said the jpn version of shine's mv was better you know what perhaps i. perhaps i'll officially declare i love them both equally now. both mvs are top tier elite tier GOD TIER [stuff] the world truly did not deserve shine by pentagon. we were not ready
although i will say <yuto's japanese rap3”
“enough about shine let's discuss the best song on the album OFF-ROAD
actually no let's not i'm gonna go insane i'm not gonna shut up on here maybe i should save that for the essay”

Clearly, I am not writing about Off-Road. Though, I could. Would you like me to? I will gladly talk about my top three PENTAGON songs: Runaway, Off-Road, and Pentagon, in no particular order except Runaway being first place.

To end this off, PENTAGON have a really nice discography, if I’m honest, one of my top five favorites, probably. Their songs all have that feel-good vibe; the energy makes me so happy, or, maybe, just blithe. I’m always in a nice area when I’m listening to their music.

✦ Current Music: PENTAGON - Off-Road

— [Weekly Assignment: Write a Paragraph About a Piece of Music That Brings You Joy]

Hello, Mr. Shank, welcome to Part Two of Apple’s ‘Piece of Music That Brings Me Joy’ Six-Piece (yes, I counted the number of weeks of school we have left) Essay Collection that you predestinately inflicted upon yourself and me, but it’s too late to turn back, even for myself. Now, I’m nearly one hundred percent sure you did not read the Rooftop one, which is completely understandable because I wouldn’t have either. This week, however, I would like to discuss my favorite song of all time. My favorite song by that artist? No. My favorite song in that genre? No. My favorite song, period, with no other complications. Without further ado, Run to You by SEVENTEEN.

Like, last time, I think the best way to get started is with an introduction to the group. Saying this while trying my absolute hardest to not sound like a Wikipedia article: SEVENTEEN is a thirteen-member Korean boy group who debuted in 2015 under Pledis Entertainment. Before you say anything, I know what you’re thinking, why the heck are they called ‘SEVENTEEN’ if there are only thirteen members? And before I answer, I’m going to tell you to unthink that. It’s a whole other story not-so relevant to this certain exposition you are about to definitely not read. (However, if you’re really curious, you can, I don’t know, leave a private comment on Google Classroom or something, and I’ll gladly explain it to you because I doubt searching it up will do much help.) As for the origin of the group itself, the boys had a pre-debut reality program called ‘SEVENTEEN TV’ that spanned from 2013 to 2014; through that, it’s viewable how they went through various member lineup changes but ultimately ended up with the current thirteen. The group’s official debut was probably as low-budget as possible. It’s honestly kind of depressing. Pledis was on the borderline of going bankrupt at that time, and I would actually feel bad if the company isn’t a piece of trash. But, hey, at least the brokeness of the music video it gave it its own unique appeal… the charisma of being poor, I guess. Anyway, they put out SEVENTEEN as the final risky gamble, their last hope, a chance at a miracle. Okay, now I’m just being dramatic, but in conclusion, debut album 17 Carat slapped hard and got them attention — thank you, Woozi’s huge, gigantic, genius, musical megamind for creating the revolutionary funky fresh banger that is Adore U. They continued working their way up the charts and industry like that, each album gaining more sales than the last. Along with the spellbinding bops that they continue to release, they’re also recognized for being a ‘self-producing’ idol group, meaning that the members largely take part in the songwriting and choreographing processes of their releases. At this point, SEVENTEEN is very well-known in the industry and respected by many newer artists for their achievements and performance quality.

And that leads us up to their inevitable, yet much more belated than deserved, mainstream breakthrough with the song Don’t Wanna Cry and, subsequently, Clap, both in 2017. After that came a small special album titled Director’s Cut, with the lead single title track Thanks, also known as my number one sacred go-to emotional EDM anthem that I routine cry healthily to every other business day, spiritually, that is; I would physically have a routine sobbing session too if I had the time, of course. But for now, I just learn the dance and break inside every time I hear it. It was this song that got me into the group that fateful, snowy February day, after all.

Director’s Cut contained four new tracks: the brilliant album introductory and mood setter of a first track, Thinkin’ About You; our beloved fan-dedicated title track, Thanks; the cornerstone of this essay, Run to You; and a relaxed coffee shop melody — a simplistic, yet touching, duet to close it all off, Falling for U. It was technically a repackage album, so after that came the songs of Teen, Age, the full-length album of which housed Clap, as mentioned before. Now, merely to make this a bit longer and to emphasize my raw adoration for Director’s Cut, I’m going to get statistical just to brag about Her Highness’s impact. She sold for a total of 188,911 copies in 2018, making Her the twenty-sixth best selling album on Gaon Charts that year (and yes, I just spent an hour digging around the Gaon website for that exact number). She now accumulates to over 200,000 sales, which is fantastic, considering She’s a reissued album. Thanks also charted at first place on iTunes in 29 countries all across the world and has a current YouTube view count of 45,157,126 views as of May 9, 2020, at 10:51 PM EST. (I had to click on the music video for the first time for a while to get the view count and I can’t even begin to describe the way my soul ascended, boy, I missed this. Maybe I’ll go on a SEVENTEEN music video binge soon and sob my eyes out like last time from seeing the way they grew and progressed over time because wow. I’m so proud of them.)

So now, we’re back to Run to You, because that’s what this is supposed to be about, and if I get off-track again, I give you permission to freely flop my grade, because this is most likely going to be turned in late anyway… speaking of “off-track,” that word sounds an awful lot like another really good song called Off-Road by PENTAGON which-

Run to You is an enchanting ‘future rock’ — I suppose that’s what you would call it — tune with electronica influences. It’s not exactly future bass; Thanks is more of that, whereas Run to You is more guitar-heavy, so I think ‘future rock’ is a fitting way to categorize it, though I’m not sure if that’s a proper phrase. (I’ll make it a proper phrase; Her Highness Run to You deserves her own category separate from the other lowly peasants anyway.) I say it’s enchanting because have you ever seen those really beautiful and evocative animations? You might have heard of Shelter by Porter Robinson and Madeon and the official short film for it? What comes to mind first are those stunning, nostalgic Japanese animations. Everyone who’s listened to this song collectively agrees that it sounds like an anime opening theme, and there have been countless fanmade edits and videos of this track over popular anime, such as Haikyuu (which, if I’m not mistaken, I believe I have heard was in fact what Woozi was thinking of when writing this, but I’m not certain because I haven’t found the original source yet). The most common association, however, is the critically acclaimed animated movie Your Name. Parts of the lyrics even fit perfectly with the film, so I would honestly believe it if Woozi announced that he wrote this piece based on that animation.

Let’s walk through the song now, shall we? Soft, magical cymbal roll at the start, the release on the song’s first word, and begin. Joshua opens up the song with refined, mellifluous vocals; the first line is fully his, but in the second, they do a cool thing where he leads in with the beginning half, and then Seungkwan’s voice suddenly cuts through and picks up the last two words. Personally, I love that a lot because, I don’t know, the immediate distinction between their voices really added a flare. And behind all that, what’s cool is that, in Joshua’s part of the second line, there are precisely four quarter note counts of ride cymbal taps: slightly louder on the on-beats. Then comes the guitar pickup on the fourth beat of that very same measure, which happens to also be where Seungkwan’s voice chimes in to finish off Joshua’s sentence. See, it all fits together, and I’m looking into this way too deeply than necessary, but I swear I go feral for little things like that, like, the effect is so good, it sounds so good, Woozi you are SO GOOD for this.

Anyway, Seungkwan has his three syllables of a pickup note and promptly gets cut off as the song explodes on itself in the best way possible, oh my god. Everything comes in at once; the track was gentle in the first ten seconds with nothing but Joshua serenading us and some minor background effects for flavor; you almost couldn’t have expected this, but the buildup becomes obvious as soon as you hear the ride cymbals halfway through his second line. Nevertheless, the meager buildup wouldn’t have prepared you for this unexpected burst of a drop. The guitar that came in previously with Seungkwan’s vocal pickup goes out vibing an exciting, epic solo. The drums kick into double time and suddenly space-time is zooming around you and the fabric of reality shifts under your call and the world goes glittering vivid. Now, you’re hooked and thunderstruck. It’s incredible, it’s so perfect.

I sound like I’m on drugs. I swear I’m not, this is just a really nice song.

Alright, so that four measures of pure euphoria is over (though not completely, as its invisible essence will live on for the rest of the song which is why I deem Woozi and the other composers, Bumzu and Park Gitae, were genius for putting that section where it was put, and also not completely because the electric guitar holds out a long sustain of a Concert G4 Natural. I think. That’s on me hearing the note and then humming it to my phone tuner as quietly as I can because it’s nearly two in the morning. I did it like five times though, so I’m, like, eighty percent it’s right. Plus, this is in the scale of G Major, so it would make sense). After that, it goes quieter, but the magic is still palpable, floating around like little silver pixies dancing and sparking their hexes around you. The bass drum is still pushing you steadily forward on the adventure, keeping perpetual, stable eighth notes grounded underneath you. At this point, it’s Jeonghan singing. And I’m going to take a brief pause here to deliver a small disclaimer: I am likely going to unintentionally continue throwing an ungodly amount of names at you because there are indeed thirteen members to have the lines of this song distributed across, so I apologize beforehand if this gets confusing, especially if you don’t know who any of these men are, but I’ll try to make it as clear as possible as well as only use stage names.

Jeonghan kicks off the first verse of this song. His voice has a similar pitch to Joshua’s, so I believe it’s a nice reflection back to the opening, a parallel of the intro since it’s softer here as well. Two lines later, a cymbal crash and Hoshi takes over. Here, the drum revitalizes the formerly constant eighth notes that became a grounding pulse settled in the back of your ears; it added some syncopated rhythm licks for a pleasant surprise of flavor before it could get too bland. Hoshi’s lyrics introduce the general theme of this song, I believe. He says, “I go out to walk // But just like my heart, I’m running” (cred: Hamtaro Gasa). The original title of Run to You directly translates to “I’m Looking For You Right Now” and its overall idea is missing and wanting to run to someone who is important to you but far away or unreachable. His lyrics indicate that his heart is instinctively tugging him in the direction of the said person, or “you,” as going off Jeonghan’s preceding lyrics.

The following half of that verse comes Dino’s cool back-and-forth thing between himself and, well, himself. I’ll give some light criticism here on the fact that they missed a perfect opportunity to make that part, like, an echo-and-response kind of concept, and I’m kind of disappointed it wasn’t like that. To explain it, it’s basically him singing a phrase normally, then the next but with a more special effect that makes his voice sound more muted, more distanced. I think the lyrics here are sweet as well, “Even though I don’t know where you are // I’m following the compass of my heart” (cred: pop!gasa), although it doesn’t really make sense with the echoey effect being used here, but hey, who am I to complain.

Woozi, my main man himself, comes in next. He builds the abstract bridge connecting this particular section to the next, which reminds me, I think this is a suitable time to mention that the structure of this song and the execution of it is impeccable. If we compare the lines of this verse to a poem, it follows an AABC form where Jeonghan’s and Hoshi’s lines are the A section, Dino as B, and Woozi’s is the C that leads up to the next verse. In fact, I think it’s brilliant because, in the latter half of this line, Woozi builds up a brief but audible crescendo that creates suspense. At that point, the rhythm guitar that has been working constantly behind everything takes the lead again, striking down louder with the boost of a few distortion effects, as if warning of its arrival, before it kicks back in with the melody again. It tricks you into thinking the chorus is coming next, the accumulation of buildup releasing the sensation that the climax is near, but then, it doesn’t.

Instead, there’s an interesting cut-off effect, like, when the crash cymbal hits and immediately, they mute it. That happens a select few times, and on the last two, they add in some enlivening drum fills in between. All the while, the new guitar lead rings out, takes its solo, and soars with the new melody. This all happens behind the introduction of Vernon’s unique voice. What makes it even more powerful is the way he sings, “As long as I can find you, so what if it’s a bit far? // I’ll follow the line that connects us two” (cred: cheolwangja, pop!gasa) so compellingly. Maybe, it’s his rapper intonation; maybe, it’s the flow and how his words line up like puzzle pieces with the syncopated cymbal mutes in the most satisfying manner; maybe, I just like his voice a crap ton.

About fifty seconds into the song, after Vernon, comes the real buildup to the chorus. The lead electric guitar continues flying strong, but other sounds clutter back around, immersing you in the environment even more. The rhythm bass pulse returns, going up a whole step note every measure. A regular, steady hi-hat beat also initiates here, just for the thrill. The8 and DK share this part. The8 sings his line in a manner similar to Woozi, previously, in his lead-on buildup: low and intriguing, rooting the heartfelt words into your ears, “When you said you engraved my name in your heart” (cred: pop!gasa). DK finishes off the sentence with mesmerizing passion in a beyond-delightful voice, “Remember the reason my eyes went big” (cred: cheolwangja). The imagery that transfers? Sensational. During this is when the overdrive power chords return, but this time, it truly leads to the song’s peak.

Here we are: the chorus. Woozi’s captivating, angelic voice returns, stronger and packed with more emotions than ever. (How many divorces did he go through?) Seungkwan’s invigorating power vocals connect Woozi’s lines, “Right now, you and I need the same thing,” with his own, “But I don’t have it in me, so let’s meet again” (cred: Hamtaro Gasa). I can’t even describe it with words, but this part is just wow. The gorgeous blend of harmonies and audio layering… The way they can convey such breathtaking colors through sound… The way Seungkwan sings the word before “so let’s meet again” with an arching lilt before closing off with equally ravishing cadence. Can I start a SEVENTEEN Vocals Appreciation Club at my place, first meeting in five?

We’re still in the chorus, by the way, I just took too long swooning over those ten seconds, but moving on now. Joshua’s velvety timbre makes a comeback here, as well, after Seungkwan. “Until I arrive, you have to be well,” he says, with spectacular swerving vocals, to which Hoshi follows up with, inevitably, the title of this song, “I’m looking for you right now” (cred: cheolwangja). The entirety of the chorus has been rather full, filled to the brim with any and every sound possible, not leaving a single monochrome gap across the bright, starry universe it painted around you. Approximately halfway through Hoshi’s line, he pauses for a millisecond, and all the instruments cut out. This lets the world flood back through you in that one break of calm, letting your mind single in on just his raw, amazing voice. It only lasts a blink of a moment though, because soon after, you get dunked head-first back into the heavenly, post-chorus guitar overload.

A moment of silence, please, for my soul as it gets tossed through fifty galaxies and celestial masses simultaneously and back.

And we’re back. Verse two arrives; it’s in the same structure as the previous one, except incorporating altered lyrics as to move the story onward. Mirroring the beginning of the first verse, it quiets down a little more to make way for, wait for it, the moment of truth, WONWOO SINGING! This is a treasured moment throughout this entire piece, his rapping is godly, to say the least, but his singing voice is godly and rare. Now, let’s take some time to worship, “Your time, one by one // Times without you, one by one” (cred: pop!gasa) in the most wonderful, warm chocolate voice. I cannot express how soothing and exquisite he sounds. Here, Wonwoo’s voice and lyrics — along with the rhythm bass that returned after the final electrifying sustain of the guitar melody, replicating the start of the song — create an ethereal impression of… time-travel? I don’t know, maybe there’s something wrong with me, but close your eyes and listen for these four seconds. Doesn’t it sound like you’re strolling through a time loop, or skipping across a timeline, either your own or that of someone else’s who is important to you? The unwavering sixteenth notes in the bass line sound like sempiternal glistening ticks of meandering, liquid time. Perhaps, I’m insane.

Up next, we have another moment to be cherished: MINGYU SINGING! Once again, we hear more sublime vocals that have, for the most part, been tucked away and hidden under many layers of concentrated hip-hop (which I’m not complaining about; he’s marvelous at his job, but I will start a petition to be able to hear Mingyu sing more if I must). You’re still gliding between timestreams, but now, with the ring of a cymbal release and swift drum lick later, Mingyu guides you to your destination.

A group of awesome guitar riffs later, Jun brings in the B section of this verse, with fleeting phrases and distant echos, imitating Dino’s part at the beginning, albeit with the words revised: “All of the times in this place without you // Follows the hands of my heart” (cred: pop!gasa). It’s fascinating; these words are twisted around and woven into different lips, yet the meaning remains to have the exact same energy as Dino’s lines. Both are following something in their hearts to “you,” whether it be a compass, for Dino, or a ‘ticking,’ as some other translations suggest, for Jun. Both own up their lines, however, using their individual unique vocal techniques: Dino’s with youthful, yearning energy, Jun’s with an airy, delicate, fairy-like tinge. The raw emotion dripping through the unusual special echo effect can singlehandedly drive me insane (and has done so a gratuitous amount of times already anyway).

Hoshi does the ‘fake buildup’ this time around, and I love the energy he protrudes. It’s suitable since we’re about halfway through the song now, so all the introductory stuff is over with; this is where the full potential of the track begins revealing itself. Like, here, I can hear all of the expression, see an entire movie splayed across the canvas of my mind. While Woozi’s first one was packed with emotion but delicate, his is pure vigor and force. And wow. All of the tiger ferocity he has stored inside him becomes evident at that moment. I just think Hoshi is great.

The cut-off part repeats itself, as anticipated from the precursory pattern. Instead of Vernon, S.Coups takes on his first lines. The lyrics remain identical to Vernon’s part at the beginning, and so do the instrumentals and sound effects, but the power S.Coups propels behind those words hit unlike before. Since the two’s voices are distinct from one another, the characteristic of those lines would also contrast with their own touches. Their interpretations of those lyrics may also vary, therefore resulting in slightly different executions and feels when recording those. I swear, it probably isn’t that deep, but this is typically when I get really into this song, and when this S.Coups part comes, sounding a little but also a lot different than Vernon’s corresponding part at the beginning, I mentally spasm. It’s like… familiar but with a new touch to it: the same tune and rhythm but acquiring different timbres and therefore triggering a slightly varying sensation. Man, is this starting to get weird? Anyway, I love both Vernon’s and S.Coups’s voices, and I love the way that verse sounds, so I suppose I just love it twice as much when they both get to vocalize that part. That was basically what I was trying to sum up, I think. But, I don’t know, maybe I’m insane, but I do think that was kind of a pretty cool move of them to switch that part up between the two of them, even if it was just to make sure they both got to be in the song at least once.

That moves us on to the next part where The8 and DK return to sing the exact same things they sang earlier. Which I believe is fitting; their voices suit this part faultlessly. Something about The8 singing, “When you said you engraved my name in your heart,” (cred: pop!gasa) in his sleek and elegant voice really awakens something deep inside me. DK has a full, solid voice with an amazing range perfect for buildups like these, and the way he draws out, “Remember the reason my eyes went big,” (cred: cheolwangja) creates imagery that is unmatched; no one can do that line like him. DK and his immaculate voice return later during the bridge, but unfortunately, these are the only two lines The8 receives throughout the whole song. They happen the only be a half of a sentence repeated twice, as well, which is mildly disappointing, but it’s understandable that we can’t have absolutely everything good in one song; that would be impossible anyhow.

DK’s buildup leads up to the awaited second chorus. Woozi and Seungkwan take on the first two lines like before, eating it up with the equivalent aforementioned enthusiasm as expected. After that is when the variation comes. Instead of Joshua, Jeonghan’s voice appears. Here’s another Vernon-S.Coups situation. Joshua’s and Jeonghan’s voices have similar pitches, both sweet, comforting, and appealing in many different aspects. They switch Joshua to Jeonghan here so that the general essence lasts, spanning from person to person, but the change of voice makes all the difference. Subsequent to Jeonghan follows Dino, taking over the part that was originally Hoshi’s in the first chorus. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but I noticed that the vocal pairing of Dino succeeding Jeonghan mirrors the line distribution at the start of the song when the order was Jeonghan and Hoshi, then Dino and Woozi. That verse could’ve been split into two sections, as there were two different patterns. They took the two that lead in the two parts of the verse, Jeonghan and Dino, and slid them into the second chorus. It’s irrelevant, and I, too, am losing brain cells as I type this, but I’ve developed a hobby of nitpicking things and I thought this was interesting; it’s a nice detail.

Back to Dino; I did all that talk on him doing Hoshi’s lines here, but I didn’t mention yet that it changes. Earlier on, this was when Hoshi sings the title of the song, “I’m looking for you right now” (cred: cheolwangja). However, this time, Dino comes to an abrupt halt halfway through the sentence, and along with it, the rest of the instrumentals cease as well. It’s a surprising silence, unnatural yet not unsatisfying. A mystical silence hovers in the air, almost like weightless glitter drifting down upon you; soundless, fluffy snowflakes fluttering around before slowing and settling into your hair. It makes the listener anticipate a brief moment: what comes next, surely it’s not over? That thought would be correct, for this is merely the eye of the storm.

From here, the bridge ensues. Joshua picks up two notes, sweet and tender, and then piano fills the emptiness with a gentle, yet colorful, Em7. Soft whole note chords and piano runs continue for the rest of this select section of the bridge, mixed with muffled snare and softened beats to fill the void so contradicting to the rest of the song. The song takes an extremely unexpected ballad-y turn here, and it’s beautiful, to say the least. Better yet, after Joshua’s lines, Wonwoo sings here yet again, his deep and comforting voice making a long-wished-for return! It’s an actual blessing from the heavens.

The gentleness eventually finished its job of taming you; it couldn’t drag on for too long because where’s the exhilaration in that? As soon as Wonwoo’s melodic words conclude in his line, the rhythm bass and electric guitar instantly kick back to life, and here we are, DK’s original-soundtrack-voice building us up again, guiding the previously known vigor back into formation. With sudden accidentals, key changes, and an illusion of speed, a sensation of excitement spikes, the rush of life floods back into the music. You sit there waiting, holding your breath, knowing it’s currently building up to its best.

Along with all of that, the very first line of the buildup reads, “Even if I get more breathless, I’ll go right away,” (cred: cheolwangja) and you can feel that so clearly; the auditory image and scenery it creates of someone sprinting, picking up their pace endlessly despite already panting and being out of breath because whatever is calling for them, they yearn for it; they have to reach it. And perhaps it’s impossible to reach; perhaps they’re chasing the sun, and perhaps they are aware. Even then, they’ll follow it to the ends of the earth, knowing that as long as they’re running towards it, it’ll be enough for their heart. “So please stand in that place,” (cred: Hamtaro Gasa) DK falsettos, and with a rainbow of a crescendo, you become that person with the racing heart and racing legs. The instrumentals fade out again, for one beguiling measure, to leave space for a swift, twinkling Gsus4 arpeggio. “And wait a little longer,” (cred: Hamtaro Gasa) he whispers, a scintilla of warm, liquid hope on his tongue. The tone reverberates inside your heart; the phrase bouncing vehemently off the internal walls of your ribcage. You’re so close to it.

Without more than a millisecond to indulge in that wonder, the familiar post-chorus guitar wraps around you entirely, each riff intertwining into your spinning head, and it’s just so immersive. I forget everything here, my mind goes blank, letting the colors swirl into my brain, painting the empty canvas with whatever it desires. The resulting artwork is always a masterpiece anyway.

This epic section is unlike the original post-chorus, however. Incipiently, this instrumental sample was merely just that: instrumentals to luxuriate in after some godly vocals were just freely handed to you. This time, after the first loop, Woozi’s, Seungkwan’s, DK’s, and Joshua’s magnificent voices, respectively, make a powerful comeback with a brand new never-before-heard verse, lyrics- and melody-wise. This qualifies as the outro (yes, after seven pages, we did it; we’re finally at the end. You made it, congratulations).

Now, look, the lyrics really hit different this time. And maybe, it’s because it’s completely dissimilar to anything heard before in this piece, or maybe, it’s because of the nearly direct correlation to the movie Your Name. I’m going to write this assuming you, the reader, have already seen this film or at least know its general plot. The first thing said in this piquing verse, by Woozi’s refined fairy voice, is “Your time and my time” (cred: cheolwangja). Sounds kind of suspicious already right? [shady website advertisement articles voice] What comes next will blow your mind! Seungkwan finishes Woozi’s sentence fragment with, “On the day they meet, I will hug you” (cred: cheolwangja). SIR?! ON THE DAY BOTH OF YOUR TIMELINES MEET?! I don’t know about you, but that’s screaming interdimensional star-crossed love story to me. And you know what’s a stellar Japanese animation film about star-crossed lovers over an intersecting timeline? Do I have to say it again?

But, anyway, yes, good stuff, good stuff. Not to mention, words aside, Seungkwan’s tone is absolutely mindblowing. His voice and the fervor loaded in it was made for this song. He and DK both were, I swear. Because, the very next moment, DK rightfully returns in one final time for some of the very last lines of the song, and words cannot describe how that part makes me feel. DK sings a line that has been repeated in the song multiple times before: “Until I arrive, you have to be well” (cred: cheolwangja). This exact pleading statement has been sung by Joshua and Jeonghan in the first and second chorus respectively; it’s the second-to-last line in the choruses, right before the title of the song, “I’m looking for you right now” (cred: cheolwangja) is sung — or half-sung. This sense of familiarity hits you wildly, as it’s integrated in a previously-completely-new-sounding part of the song. An unheard of outro verse began, filling you with an awestruck astonishment, but the third line in, you hear the special melody and lyrics of the specific part of the chorus you’re so accustomed to already, and the familiar feeling flood back into your soul. However, what I ceased mention yet is that DK adds a twist to that line. After all, this is the finale of the saga; there is no better juncture to go all out than here. And so, he does. Instead of the usual tune where the notes get lower at the “you have to be well” part, DK goes into his head voice; he lifts you up beyond all burdens of time and space and purpose. Now, that. That really makes me some sort of high no matter how many times I listen to this song. I really don’t know, but just DK as a whole, like, me knowing it’s him and his voice right there, it really pulls it together. I’m writing this at four in the morning, so I really don’t know what I’m saying anymore, but I’m going to be honest; his unique emphasis on “you have to be well” really drives into me differently. I feel so much there. The song all leads up to this: DK’s empyreal god voice. His voice fits this so well; I really cannot find another way to explain it. This song was just made for that voice which just so happens to be owned by our sunshine DK himself. Do we need a paragraph closer? Should I restate my thesis? Seungkwan and DK are some of the best vocalists of our time, of this millennium.

Inescapably, DK brings you back down, with great care and dignity, from that little blissful area above all laws of logic that he sent you to beforehand with that euphoric emphasis on his line. Typically, if this resumed in the pattern of the choruses, the name and subject of the song would be sung here. But, of course, it doesn’t; this is a novel variation, a sweet mixture of what was already used in the music and new twists and additions. Joshua joins in here with a simple repetition of two words. His first “really,” ending on the first beat of the measure, comes with a glint of a bell overtop the unison of seraphic sounds. A catch of breath, a two-count rest, and his second “really” sails into your heart. Precisely zero seconds after the sixteenth note drum toms run and a guitar mute, Woozi saves the last fragment of the sentence to himself. And together, they make the concluding line in this piece. “I really, really,” from Joshua, over the ongoing assortment of prismatic refrains, to Woozi’s “want to see you” (cred: Hamtaro Gasa) and the sudden, brief, intoxicating silence under it, the kind that makes you gasp out of amazement.

As mentioned before, though, the instrumental mute was short. Barely before Woozi ends his vocal recording, the guitar is already booting back up leading us to the electrifying post-chorus refrain. It’s identical to its preexisting samples, but somehow the vibe is ten times more intense here. Most likely, it’s the context: we’re at the end of the song, the end of the movie, the end of the adventure, and it’s moving; this is the finale. Also likely, it’s the fact that you’re still in the midst of coming down from whatever the outro verse sent you to. It’s insane, I think, how well they fit the pieces of this arrangement together. All parts of it link into each other, having an effect as well as a cause on the sections that come before or after it. The melody loops twice, as it did in its antecedent occurrences. Then, it stops. Nothing fancy, nothing special, the music simply ceases. It’s like a screen turning off: unquestionable and conclusive, nothing more to it; you’ve reached the end of the story. The journey ends here, but it breaks off in a satisfying way, leaving you content without an ounce of regret. A calm, vacant quietness settles in, leaving only memories and the feeling to linger. You bask in that, not regretting a bit, knowing that even though it’s over; the experience it provided you with will flourish within. It ignited you, unlocked your caged flame, and will burn with a raging fire inside of you forever on.

And yeah… I think I like that a lot.

That, dear friends, is my favorite part of this song. And this, dear friends, is my favorite song of all time. Run to You by SEVENTEEN, everyone, can we all rise up and give Her Highness a standing ovation?

Now, let’s talk about the live performance of this absolute triumph. (Did you really think it was over?)

Obviously, they’ve performed this many times (though, not as many as I would like), so for the time being, I’ll focus on the performance on their Ideal Cut in Seoul concert DVD, since it’s the most viewed and most iconic one. I’ve always watched this video imagining if I was there. This tour took place in the second half of 2018, and it was only in Asia, so I wasn’t able to attend. Though, even if it was a world tour, I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to attend. Anyway, I would assume this video was recorded at one of the Seoul concerts, considering it’s titled “2018 SEVENTEEN CONCERT IDEAL CUT IN SEOUL,” which started and ended the tour. The first dates were from June 28th to July 1st and the last were November 3rd and November 4th. Judging by their hairstyles and common sense, it’s pretty safe for me to say this was filmed in June.

If you haven’t watched it, reader, I recommend you do so immediately. Go to YouTube and search “seventeen ideal cut run to you,” and it will be the first thing to pop up; I promise you. I will wait.

Waiting.

Okay, welcome back. So, I assume the first thing to catch your attention, besides Joshua and his voice, would be the background because it starts off from a wide, far away audience view. The stage and backdrops for this song aren’t top-tier or too striking in any way, but it’s still pretty. I’ve never been one to turn down a spacey swirl of galactic blues and plasmic purples with glimmering stars speckled about that explodes into a cool rhythmic pattern of drifting hues when the guitar comes in. Not to mention, their positioning and the stage layout is also not bad, if you ask me. It begins with them all on the ground, but soon, the platform for four in the very back begins to ascend, as well as the two on the very sides. Later, during the first verse, every other person out of the seven standing in the front also begins to rise. Then they’re in that formation for the remainder of the song, which gives it a nice touch and a special peculiarity since it’s one of their purely vocal tracks.

Back to Joshua. He looks drop-dead gorgeous here; like, I kid you not, the blue contacts and brown hair has always been one of my favorite looks on him. That and the light brown slightly wavy hair both were. The most important thing, though, is patently his crystal clear voice, leading the song’s introduction. Him shining on the big screen, the hand on the microphone, his live vocals ringing out… this is everything I could ask for.

The beat drops and the camera focuses on Wonwoo. His little pout as he throws his hand forward to the beat, oh my god, I cried. Simultaneously, someone, most likely Hoshi, yells, “Let’s go!” and they continue to make noises to hype this up. I would be bawling so hard already if I was there, god.

I won’t make this as elaborate and as in-depth as the entire music analysis thing or whatever I had going on for twenty paragraphs. Just a general summary in appreciation of SEVENTEEN’s stage presence and performance, even for a song without a choreography, is what I’ll aim for. Speaking of choreography, the group’s dance performance has been widely praised by nearly everyone. Most say it’s the group’s best feature; it’s what highlighted them distinct from others because, arguably, they’re one of the best dance groups out there, currently. Opinion section here: the dance aspect of groups is one of the first things that stand out to me when I look into them. I have a weird, overwhelming addiction to choreographies, so realizing that my favorite song ever is one that does not have a dance kind of surprised me. But at the same time, no, it really didn’t because this song slaps. On other days, though, I sometimes imagine how powerful Run to You would be if it had a choreography… it’s more of a rock-style song, so I myself can’t easily think of it with one, but I’m certain the boys would definitely be able to pull it off.

Right, back to the performance. Despite having probably just danced for an hour or more, their vocals still remain perfect. And what really pumps in the serotonin is how happy they look and how much fun they’re having on stage. Every time they smile my lungs bloom. The outfits for this were also pretty nice, they look like Prince Charmings, royal and untouchable, but all the while exuding best-friend-energy from the playfulness they’re showing. It’s the best. They’re the best.

Dino at the beginning was also remarkable: his candy pink hair with the bangs cascading down in front of his eyes, holding his microphone with both hands like that, and hitting beautiful notes. He’s so pretty, oh my god. Then Woozi comes in the same way with his blonde bleached hair and his little nose scrunch when he belts the high note. Then, Vernon’s part arrives and I want to note that Vernon’s fluffy reddish-brown hair here is my absolute favorite. Oh My! was my first ever SEVENTEEN comeback, and when I saw Vernon there in that music video with his soft messy bedhead, I made that my Twitter profile picture for a month. But — back to the present — Vernon was sitting down during this concert since he injured his leg a couple of days earlier, but that didn’t make his sing his one singular line with any less energy, because he’s a king.

Skip to the post-chorus guitar refrain, and Minghao and Mingyu are in the back pretending the microphone stands are guitars. I adore them; they’re nothing less than precious.

Then comes Wonwoo and Mingyu singing, of course, and seeing them as well as hearing them is such a mesmerizing sight. This is literally the Eighth Wonder of the World.

At S.Coups’s section, you can hear the smile in his voice as he raps, and when you see it, you’ll surely agree that he is happiness embodied into a human. Hoshi, as well, looks like he’s the best boy in the world with the cutest, squishiest cheeks, and I want to cry out of love.

Do I even need to mention Seungkwan and DK? Their voices and the looks combined together make this all the more magical, DK embodying the world ‘regal’ and Seungkwan downright resembling a transcendent deity. And of course, needless to say, they eat up their many marvelous lines, especially at the end. God, I have no words for the ending, just straight-up awe.

This particular cut of the video ends with the camera shot at Jeonghan looking… very nice. It’d probably be a bad idea to let me say any more than just ‘his side-part hairstyle and color is so, extremely hot.’

And here we are, I have ten minutes before this is due, so I’ll wrap up now; it’s about time. I still cannot believe how legendary this song is. No matter however many times I listen to it, I can never figure it out: how did he do it? Woozi said made this while he was bored one day after Don’t Wanna Cry promotions. How can one song created by a little 5’5” twenty-one-year-old man with a neon Sharpie-highlighter-colored undercut when he was bored be this fantastic? We all knew he was impossibly talented before, but this was just on a whole other level unknownst to me. He really opened my third eye with this one; I would’ve never even imagined music this profound in my lifetime. Even the rest of the team loved this anthem, especially Hoshi, who stated at the Director’s Cut Special Q&A Guest Visit event, “I loved this song since I heard the guide version… I listened to the continuously while we were on tour,” and even, “Wonwoo… I listened to this song on repeat in the hotel,” (cred: HAMZZI) implying that Wonwoo was his roommate there, to which Wonwoo confirmed. Consequently, they played the guide version of the song, which was basically just the song file with only Woozi’s voice singing, as the other members weren’t recorded for it yet. Though the audio was a bit of lower quality since the recording was from a distance, Woozi’s unique voice is still audible and unmistakable. The song itself was evidently of the same superb quality as ever before, despite the unclear sound quality of the video, just, of course, lacking the flavor that is the other members’ individual voices. The members took to praising Woozi as well, Seungkwan saying, “I think [Woozi] is good at expressing the feeling of each song,” (cred: HAMZZI) and I agree, Seungkwan, I STRONGLY AGREE.

Anyway, I think what we can conclude from all of this is that I’m obsessed with Run to You by SEVENTEEN and that I support the Woozi gigantic brain agenda. I also believe that Run to You deserved so much more promotion, more than just being performed in one tour and a few other special times such as at award shows, like that one singular time at the Gaon Chart Music Awards where they didn’t even perform the full thing. In an ideal world, Run to You would also have a music video — I believe there is technically one where it’s just the boys playing around, but it was only played as a VCR during some concerts and was never fully and officially released — and perhaps even a choreography. I would like to see that. I still have not completely given up the hope that they might possibly release a special music video in the future, though I probably should.

That’s it; all I have to say if you made it this far, congratulations! Now, I need to go do my AP world history homework that I put off until last minute.

✦ Current Music: SEVENTEEN - Run To You

— [Weekly Assignment: Write a Paragraph About a Piece of Music That Brings You Joy]

See, I don’t know if I’m doing this right but I guess I’ll just pick out a song and write about it. Anyway, this is Rooftop by N.Flying, and oh boy, brace yourself, Mr. Shank, because this might end up becoming longer than a paragraph.

(Oh, would you look at that, it’s already more than a paragraph.) Before we get started, maybe I should give a brief history of the band. N.Flying first debuted in 2013 as a small indie band in the Japanese market, mainly doing busking and other minor musical activities, but they had their official Korean debut in 2015. And honestly, their company let them drop their first album and dipped. They had a two-year hiatus, which was kind of concerning, as no one knew if they were going to disband or what. Fortunately, a savior came in the form of a new member and main vocalist in 2017, and the group was back in business, releasing three new mini-albums within less than a year. Their career was pretty decent: they had a solid fanbase, their albums charted a few times but nothing too major. And then the dark times came back… I won’t elaborate too much other than a scandal happened and the bassist left the group. This was in late 2018; it was a sad period, as there were a lot of things going on at that time… but I won’t get into that.

Now, Mr. Shank, you may be thinking (assuming you actually read these), how the heck is any of that important? Just get to the song already so I can grade this, which is honestly fair; it’s really not that important and I should probably get on with it now so I can hurry up and get this assignment over with… BUT MAYBE I JUST WANNA TALK ABOUT N.FLYING, OKAY? Still, maybe knowing the background will also kind of help you understand why I’m so ridiculously emotionally attached to this song and this band. Or maybe it won’t, and I’m just humiliating, which is perfectly fine. I will gladly accept that; it’s my brand at this point.

So, here we are: January 2, 2019. The band drops their first single after the departure of a member. This single [pause for dramatic effect] was titled Rooftop. (Yes, I told you I would get to it eventually.) And you know what, Rooftop was a good song. It was a great song. The fans liked it, they performed it a few times afterward. It was great, but nothing special. Then, approximately a month later, Rooftop suddenly surged up the charts to spot no. 1. Now, this is surprising. Or, no, no it isn’t, because the song SLAPS AND IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC FINALLY FOUND OUT ABOUT IT AND LEARNED TO APPRECIATE IT AND ITS CREATORS TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT.

Everything went uphill from there. Their popularity soared instantly. N.Flying got their first-ever music show win. I’m not sure how much you know about the Korean music shows system -- and I don’t recommend searching it up in the likely case that you don’t because the Wikipedia page will likely confuse you more -- but let’s just say that was a huge accomplishment for them, especially considering it was their first win throughout their whole four years of debut. And now I’m all emotional thinking about it and writing this with tears in my eyes, god, this wasn’t planned. In fact, just earlier today (when it wasn’t three in the morning), I was rewatching the video of their first win and gratuitously sobbing my eyes out, again. But like, man, I don’t know… every single time, the moment I see Jaehyun begin bawling his heart out, I think my soul collapses or something BECAUSE IT HURTS! AND THEN I START THINKING ABOUT HOW PROUD I AM OF THEM AND HOW FAR THEY’VE COME AND EVERYTHING THEY’VE DONE AND WENT THROUGH TO BE IN THAT MOMENT AND eventually lose my mind, yet again, at this dang video that I’ve seen an ungodly amount of times anyway.

Yeah, back to Rooftop. (Here’s the important part, Mr. Shank. You may start reading here.) Since this was their breakthrough song, the one that finally went viral after four years of hard work, this was also the first song I heard by them and naturally got me into them. Now woah. Woah, woah, woah. Miss Apple, you only got into them after Rooftop? After talking about like you’ve been with them since forever? Yes. Yes, I know it’s embarrassing as crap how depressingly late I found out about them. Jesus, I’m always late to everything anyway; don’t even be surprised. At least, I made it here in the end.

Rooftop was written, composed, and arranged by the band’s leader. It was first posted on his Soundcloud, and the ironic thing is, it was originally going to stay that way: a small personal project, an unofficial track tucked away in his Soundcloud user profile where he goes under the producer name of JDON. I can’t stress this enough but thank every freaking god in the world that their company heard it and decided it was a hard enough banger to be released officially as their next comeback title track because, WHEW, the joy it brought the world and the success it brought N.Flying.

It’s a simple song, cozy and sweet. It doesn’t have too many layers or special effects, being fairly acoustic besides the electric guitar, and actually, now that I’m listening to it again I’m noticing these quiet higher-pitched synth chord hits or something -- I don’t know music terminology -- in the background of the choruses and the latter halves of some of the verses; never heard those before, but now that I have, wow it adds flavor. The whole lighthearted, floaty, carefree vibe of this song is honestly mesmerizing, I think, how easily it immerses you completely in its aura when you listen to it. Almost immediately you feel comforted and wrapped in a breezy fireplace warmness.

(Or maybe I’m just weird. I don’t know, man, good music has strange effects on me sometimes, and I’m not exactly complaining, but if this starts getting really cringeworthy, just stop reading and fail my grade because I’m probably doing this wrong anyway.)

The beginning of this song starts off simplistic: Seunghyub’s (or JDON’s) vocals over playful piano and a steady beat. The verse happens to mirror the tune of the chorus, just changing some lyrics, because Seunghyub is a musical genius.

At the end of that, Jaehyun comes in with the drum fill, a cymbal crash, and then the song picks up: the rhythm thickens, Cha Hun comes in with the guitar, main vocal Hweseung repeats Seunghyub’s intro with more fervency as the song’s first chorus. It’s a really unique form, as choruses aren’t typically put so early in a song. It’s an eye-catcher, or, ear-catcher, if you will. From there, it knows it has the power to already grab any listener’s attention, but it only gets better because don’t you ever underestimate Lee Seunghyub’s songwriting skills!

…Moving on, the song dies down a bit again after it guaranteed to hook you on, moving onto Seunghyub’s first verse besides the intro. The lyrics are honestly kind of cheesy, but I guess that adds to the charm. Plus, it’s cute. Sometimes we all need a little bit of sappy gooeyness in our tastes just to… I don’t know, melt our brains a little? I’m making it sound a lot worse than it actually is; I swear it’s not bad at all, it’s just really cute and I’m more used to listening to edgier, darker lyrics, that’s all. Peep the first two lines of the chorus: “You pulled my hand, saying you wanted to see the stars // We sat on the rooftop at sunset;” and Seunghyub’s verse after it: “If these words in this song // Can comfort you, I'll grab a pen” (cred: Genius). It’s just really comfortable and has a homey kind of charm to it, you know. I like it. It’s metaphorically telling me ‘everything’s okay’ in F Major and a few hundred words.

THEN! Oh boy, THEN, at the pre-chorus, it goes into half-time, which is the absolute most satisfying thing. My soul ascends every time; I swear, I feel it. Personally, I think it’s the best part of the song, besides the ending. Seunghyub and Hweseung have, like, this alternating duet thing going on. Not to mention, Jaehyun has this sexy bass drum triplet the second measure in. (And I know that how? Because I’ve listened to this three minutes and thirty-one seconds of audio more times than I can count? No, because I’ve tried it before, which enlightened me that I suck miserably and should stop trying and just enjoy watching Jaehyun have fun instead.) The guitar rests here, so I can’t really say anything about Hun, sorry, bae. He probably vibes hard during this part, though.

But then, the chorus hits and now I can start gushing about Hun and his epic guitar riffs. Albeit they’re still in the background, obviously, behind Hweseung’s full and loaded power vocals, but you can hear the clear heavy boost of the power chords and how much it adds to the atmosphere and the feeling. Every strum is another wave of emotions hitting my eardrums and delivering pure serotonin to my brain folds.

Repeat the verses, pre-chorus, chorus again. I like the lyrics in Seunghyub’s verse this time, too: “You're floating around like a sky that lost its star // The path we took is like a constellation // Let's follow that path // Remember me” (cred: Genius). Okay, simply reading that as text makes it seem really depressing, but it’s not; it’s upbeat as heck. Although, I suppose it may have a slightly sentimental and nostalgic vibe to it, even then, if so, it’s referring to happy memories only.

Next comes the bridge. I’m sure you’re dying to know what the bridge is like since this song so far is already gorgeous. In my opinion, well, the bridge is an iffy part. I’m not saying it’s bad, no, it’s far from it. As I said, this full track is flawless. However, I did think the bridge was a slight bit of a let-down, as I expected more from how good the song already was. It pretty much just introduces a new line, repeats it a few times, and called it a day. The line’s lyrics weren’t even too spectacular, at that. So, I dare say it’s my least favorite part, which isn’t saying a lot at all, considering the entirety of this song is thoroughly elite.

Hweseung eats the last high note of the bridge and it immediately flows into a mini one-measure guitar solo. Hun leads that riff into the sky, like, this is probably an unnecessarily dramatic elaboration, but whenever I hear that part, I always imagine a really cinematic camera view panning up into the air.

The hypothetical camera pans back down, and the revolutionary masterpiece of a catchy chorus strikes once again! This time, it goes into the outro, which honestly shouldn’t be acknowledged as anything too special, as the lyrics are literally just “yah yah yah yah yah yah” for, like, eight lines, but for some unknown, questionable reason, I adore this part. I don’t know man, it just hits different. That seemed to work out well for me anyway because that section goes on for a solid twenty seconds before this musical masterpiece ultimately concludes with our beloved last two lines of the chorus “There's not a single star // It's alright, you're my universe, shine bright for me” (cred: Genius).

Alright, if you managed to read through all that, congratulations, you get a cookie. If not, then that’s valid because I wouldn’t have either. I really don’t know if you actually look at these or not, but with the slim chance you do and the even slimmer chance that you’ll bother to scroll all the way down to this last paragraph, if you decide to listen to Rooftop by N.Flying, let me know what you think about it… Or, like, correct all the musical terms I misused during the deep analysis section of this inadvertently-long-essay-that-unintentionally-took-an-all-nighter or something. Actually, you know what, I’ll ask nicely: Mr. Shank, please check out the song Rooftop by N.Flying; you won’t regret it. I’m still trying to gather support for them; despite going viral one time, the boys are still dreadfully underrated, especially for a group with such a gold discography.