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flakandforay · 7 years ago

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Crystal Snow Analysis

this is the analysis for bngtan’s 8th japanese single, Crystal Snow as part of their MIC Drop/DNA/Crystal Snow release.

i will be analysing 2 components - music and lyrics.

disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion, feel free to disagree. i would love to hear your opinions in my ask box.

overall: can i just say how beautiful this song is? honestly, listening to it, it just reminded me of spring day so much, that kind of vibe and atmosphere that i get from it. and the fact that namjoon has contributed to producing this track which again reminded me of spring day and even young forever, the rawness inside.

i read a tweet that said that crystal snow didnt take spring day’s crown but rather both spring day and crystal snow are queen of spring and winter, and honestly, i could never have agreed so much.

its so calming and the lyrics, oh the lyrics. it makes me feel at peace, so thank you bangtan for this song that puts me at ease during december.

music: tbh, i wasn't really sure what to expect of this, normally because i dont really listen to bangtan’s japanese albums but this song however, oh my. the moment i listened to it, it felt like spring day all over again. and the amount of lines that seokjin has this time round, i am so happy, he shone so much in this song.

okay so starting off the song is basically a short music interlude of a piano being played of about 16 seconds with a little bit of synths being used but at the 7th second, another sound was used, but its the one thats building up and kinda dissipates afterwards, so im thinking it might be the cymbals being used, hitting on it then letting it ring etc. yet only at the 9th second did the percussion is finally introduced. i dont know about you, but the percussion sounds a bit like train tracks for some reason - like those sounds you hear when trains are on the tracks kind of thing, but it gives this really calming vibe if you know what i mean.

and then just nice at the 0:16, with the hit of the cymbals, that one clash to signal the entrance of jungkook mhmm, he starts off with line and a short repetition of the last few words at 0:22 and then continuing with another line but dragging the note for about 1-2 seconds until hoseok comes in at 0:32 with his intro of ‘eh’ and the sound of a clap to signal his rap that will start soon. here hoseok raps pretty slow this time round, i mean then again, theres no need to e spitting words especially with the beat that is given, its slow and its too early for him to be spitting words etc. moreover, i like how he takes his time to do his rap etc to me it sounds really peaceful with the piano and the light percussion and then taehyung comes in at 0:42, the beat hasn't changed yet, but at 0L47, you could hear how there is doubling being used, most likely jungkook and taehyung to sing the line but they're singing it a bit faster, which gives a nice contrast to taehyung’s precious line.

but at 0:50, the percussion was removed and a new piano rhythm is being used with the ad-lib ‘yeah’ and jimin comes in!!! notice how everything kinda calmed down now, to complement jimin’s sweet vocals, giving time before taehyung continues with ‘slowly’ yet having some time for jimin to squeeze in an ad-lib ‘oh yeah’ at 1:01. this is a nice contrast to the verses and the chorus that is about to drop at 1:05!!

i like how before the beat actually drops, jimin already starts singing his line, so its like a rest on the 1st count before the beat comes in! but even when the bet came in, its not so forceful, more on percussions and if I'm not wrong, I'm hearing some violins being used in the chorus!! but seokjin’s vocals are finally here at 1:15. i must say, i really like how seokjin kinda bends the note he is singing, particularly, ‘crystal’ yet he is sort of using a bit of falsetto here to get the higher pitch sound and jungkook comes in at 1:21, but notice how a slightly different beat is used, its the same rhythm but less percussion and more on those strings being used until the end of the chorus at 1:41. yet interestingly, after the chorus, a short interlude of the intro is being used before the 3rd verse starts, specifically where the piano sounds can be heard and the synth that is being in volume is being used with the cymbals used at 1:49 to signal the next section of the song with taehyung.

and at taehyung’s part now, the percussion is back in full swing, giving the beat the much needed bass, yet jungkook comes in as well with ‘how can i be closer’ with an ad-lib of ‘ooh’ at 1:54, a nice way to distinguish their timbres of voices and it seems as if jungkook is responding to taehyung in this case. and this kind of effect is repeated again when taehyung takes over and jungkook answers again for the 2nd time till 2:05 and then at 2:06 onwards, its young’s rap!!

okay, interesting is that yoongi’s rap starts straight away, theres no intro, no pause, no ad-lib, but yoongi kinda dives in with his rap with a short drum beat to signal his rap. but yoongi’s rap is a nice contrast to hoseok’s one, because it seems as if he picked up the pace of his rap, fitting more words within the beat ( actually to be honest, i wasn't so sure if this was yoongi rapping because at first listen, it sounded a bit like hoseok, maybe because it was in japanese but until i heard the whole rap, i was like, ah, this is yoongi, from the timbre of his voice in the later part of his rap and the style of the rap ). again, yoongi has a thing for putting a small ad-lib of ‘eh in between his rap, but i like how he ended his rap by dragging the last word of his rap, to kinda pass it on to seokjin in this case at 2:15 which again has a short ‘eh’ before seokjin officially comes in for a brief pre chorus before the chorus drops again at 2:21 with jimin! i like how they made this prechorus shorter than the 1st time round, so it gives the song a bit of variation to be honest.

and again the chorus at 2:24 with jimin to seokjin to jungkook at 2:37. but whats interesting is that when jimin started off, there was no beat at all until maybe 1-2 seconds later with the return of the percussion and strings but at 2:37, specifically at jungkook’s part, the volume of the strings became more louder, the more dominant sound in this case and the percussion taking a backseat. and then taehyung comes in at 2:47 with the same beat as jungkook aka the strings are dominant. but what i like is how taehyung’s last few words, ‘someday’, he drags it longer till 2:56 for namjoon to come in.

but when namjoon comes in, it sort of is the bridge or 4th verse i guess in this case, makes me remember about Butterfly ( HYYH pt. 1 full version when namjoon took the bridge with his rap ). but during his part, the piano is the one that is more dominant, with some synths being used in between to indicate the pauses or breaks in between his lines of rap, sort of like signal markers. namjoon’s rap is pretty laid-back from when he started but he only changed his style of rapping at 3:13 with ‘oh crystal snow, crystal snow’, ensuring he is enunciating his words more ( but do note that before this, he actually had an ad-lib of ‘oh yeah’ before starting this second part of his rap ). the second part of his rap, the piano takes a backseat and the synths become more dominant this time round. then at 3:21, you can hear jungkook for a short while before namjoon comes in again, but this time, his rap is more faster now, and with more adlibs of ‘yeah’ - a really nice contrast between his rap before which was more slow and laid-back.

then it moves on to taehyung at 3:30 straight away with the beat being unchanged, till seokjin comes in at 3:38. but the more important part is that 3:43 till the chorus drops again at 3:48, the synths stopped, and the piano is being played till 3:45 and then it goes silent as this is where seokjin does that high note for some time, the silence being used to emphasise his vocal tone which is a good thing as now seokjin is shining in his vocals more!! then jin comes in again at 3:49 with the strings and that short drum rhythm again.

seokjin comes in again at 4:00 with the beat being unchanged, bending his note so effortlessly, i really love it ( its at 4:02 ) before jungkook comes in at 4:08 to cover the chorus, but before he comes in, there was a short ad-lib of if I'm not wrong, it sounds a bit like jungkook doing some riffs.

but when jungkook comes in at 4:08, it is in sync with the percussion and with seokjin doing those 3 heavenly high notes ( reason being its him is because of the vocal tone, and is definitely not by jimin, kinda reminds me of seokjin more especially if you watched the Wings Tour Korea Edition DVD specifically during the band practice and it was during the free time that seokjin was fooling around and yelling/singing ( Here ) this definitely showed seokjin’s true potential as a vocalist, that he too can do these high notes, hence now bangtan can actually utilise seokjin too, instead of relying on jimin on those high note adlibs especially. so let us all appreciate these 3 high notes that are done so well for seokjin who didn't know much about singing when he entered bighit.

then taehyung comes in at 4:15 to kinda complete the chorus and then the coda starts at 4:25 with jungkook ‘it’s always your, it’s always you’ but what’s nice is that they actually dragged taehyung’s last note of ‘someday’ to harmonise with the beginning of the coda sung by jungkook. personally, i really love this coda, because theres so many opportunities to do adlibs so it is crucial to not overdo them.

taehyung being the first to do an ad-lib at 4:28 and then at 4:35, its jimin’s turn doing an adlib and then at 4:40, jimin took over to sing a line, not the coda though, but he made use of his line to actually even riff off it at a higher pitch, a nice contrast to taehyung’s ad-lib beforehand. and then at 4:44, its jungkook’s famous adlib of ‘ooh’ ( for some reason, i just know its him, this is a common ad-lib for jungkook to do even at concerts especially during the fan song, 둘!셋! towards the end ) and it kinda breaks into a falsetto and then seokjin comes in at 4:49 with his own version of an ad-lib, not so much of riffing this time round. throughout this, the beat remains constant and the same line ‘it’s always you’ is being repeated. then jungkook ends it at 4:56 with the percussion dying down, and its more of chords of a guitar being sounded ( most likely an electric guitar but muffled ) yet jungkook finds an opportunity to still squeeze in an ad-lib at this time to not make the song sound empty towards the end, even at 5:11 and ending it nicely with ‘crystal snow’ at 5:15 with the guitar sound echoing till the song finally ends at 5:17.

lyrics: oh my, looking at the translated lyrics, wow. this song talks about unrequited love. the distant looks, the walls built around one and the one who attempts to tear down those walls.

apparently, according to Billboard , crystal snow is what bangtan compares to love - a beautiful, temporal romance that they hope to hold once more before it disappears ( somehow reminds me of their outro: her, how is there possible to love without any pretence etc, I'm not too sure why )

yet love that was once there, is now fading.

君を抱き締めたい消えてしまう前にもう一度 Ah どこまでも舞い上がる crystal ねぇ何もいらないからもう少しだけ感じてたい Can I touch your heart? 触れたくてもすり抜けていく someday, someday

I want to hold you one more time before you disappear Ah, crystal flies high wherever it goes Hey, there’s nothing else I want, I just want to feel a little more Can I touch your heart？ I want to touch it but it keeps slipping through my fingers, someday, someday

somehow, this talks about how the person they love is being distant, building walls, and slipping away from them, the person who they didnt fall in love with at first

もう二人は遥か遠い一つのはずなのに今では僕らを彩る絵の具など選べやしない黒い息も深い君の白い霧も I feel, I feel, I feel, I feel Oh yeah, oh, crystal snow, crystal snow 真っ白なその中で君が僕を通り過ぎ水になろうと胸でまだ流れてる (奏でてる) 輝くもの全てに映る光る君を見つめてる待ってるさまたどこでも会いたい嘘でも握ってこの手を

The two of us are already far apart Even though we are meant to be together Now we can't choose the paint that colors us Even the black breath Even your thick white fog I feel, I feel, I feel, I feel Oh yeah, oh, crystal snow, crystal snow Inside the white fog Even though you pass through me and turn to water, you are still in my heart (You are in my heart) I watch you shining and reflecting on every single sparkling thing I’ll wait for you no matter where I want to see you, even if you're pretending, please hold this hand

i really love namjoon’s verse, the longing of wanting to wait for someone no matter what, to just be with them even though they dont feel the same way. a pair who was destined has now been distant.

愛する温度が溶け出すメロディ確かな温もりよ永遠に続け

The warmth of love started melting This genuine warmth, please stay forever

the love that first started is now dying, and how they wished it stayed forever but of course, people change, its not always the same.

It’s always you, it’s always you, crystal snow (Let me see your smile, oh baby, eh) It’s always you, it’s always you, crystal snow (Let me feel your love そうどこまでも hoo) It’s always you, it’s always you, crystal snow (Let me feel your love, our crystal snow yeah) It’s always you, it’s always you, crystal snow Oh yeah, crystal snow, oh, oh どこまでも baby (baby), crystal snow

then the coda right here, pay attention to the lyrics in the brackets. you can see the need of the person wanting to feel the love from the other, who doesn't feel it. then again, the love is temporary.

last thoughts: i really love how the whole song panned out together with the lyrics, its as beautiful as spring day, and we all know how beautiful spring day is. crystal snow is definitely a sister song to spring day. a song that will touch any listener’s hearts with the vocals and the rap.

a definite listen.

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