#re-ver(sing) verses

[walkswithmyfather]

“I have hidden your words in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

—Psalm 119:11 (NIV)

“Psalm 119:11” By Zecqi, (re-Ver(sing) Verses)

“Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and in a Bible study a couple of years back a pastor encouraged us to, if we’re able, memorize the entire chapter, for it will do us much good. (If unable, then memorize Psalm 117, the shortest chapter in the Bible, he joked). With 176 verses (8 verses in each of the 22 sections categorised by the Hebrew alphabets, which was likely written in such a format so that it was easier for the Jews to memorize it in its original language), I’ll be the first to admit that I never did memorize the chapter, and I’m sure none of us in that class did – Still, many verses in Psalm 119 are probably familiar to us – a good number of hymns and gospel songs have been based on verses from this lengthy Psalm. Verse 11 in particular – I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you – was perhaps the very verse that pushed me into the habit of memorizing verses, which ultimately spun into the re-Ver(sing) Verses project.

Analysis: Deter sin. How do we deter sin? Often, we know what is right and what is wrong – so what happened when we sin? Do we not know that we’re sinning? More often than not, we’ve forgotten. In that moment of weakness, God’s words are so far away from us that our immediate unholy desires get the better of us. Of course, there may be other more tricky situations that forces a hard decision, but knowledge isn’t enough when waging a war against sin. A constant application of God’s words is necessary.

David says the mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip [Psalm 37:30-31]. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart [Psalm 40:8]. If we keep all the laws of God in our hearts, we will naturally be strengthened and be able to stand firm against sin. Not only will we not waver (his feet do not slip); we will also have the natural desire to do God’s will.

Analysis: Hiding. We usually hide what is precious to us, what we see as important enough to attempt to prevent others from taking it away from us. How do we hide God’s words in our hearts? By memorizing, I suppose. If we memorize God’s words, they become embedded in our hearts and will appear frequently in our thoughts and feelings. When the Holy Spirit works on you, you are prepared with God’s words in your hearts to do His work. When temptation arises, by remembering the words of God, you will refrain from falling into it. Don’t just read it, don’t just hear it. Memorize it, strengthen your faith with it.

Why do you memorize Bible verses? In Sunday School children are brought up with regular memory verses, and they often compete for prizes and for acknowledgement. We’re not children anymore – we don’t memorize verses so that we can recite it to an audience and be patted on the head. We memorize them to honour God, and when that moment of action comes, we can honour God because we have not forgotten His words. Admittedly, those memory verses that I went through as a child without really knowing why I was memorizing for stuck with me through all those years, and I still find myself saved by some of them in critical moments today. Even if you memorize for the wrong reasons, at the end of the day, when you keep God’s words in your heart, you will surely benefit from it.

Conclusion: Memorizing one verse is not difficult. Memorizing a whole list of them is harder. What do you memorize in your daily lives? When I was a history student, I remember memorizing a large amount of context easily. My mother has the amazing ability to memorize her shopping lists – she never forgets what to buy. The list goes on.You may memorize a verse today, but a week later, you’re sure you’ve forgotten about it. Maybe you only have short term memory. So what’s the point of trying to memorize when you’re sure you’re going to forget? I’d like to think that the human brain is far more able than we are aware of. You may forget the verse, but when your circumstances call for it, the meaning behind the verse will probably strike a chord somewhere in your heart.

If you haven’t already started, why not start today? If you have no idea where to begin, why not begin with Psalm 119:11 as your first memory verse? Let us hide God’s words in our hearts together, so that we will not sin against Him. God bless, Z.”

[chaeryybomb]

JUNE COMEBACKS REVIEW

BLACKPINK: HOW YOU LIKE THAT

ngl I’m kinda sad bc a lot of y’all don’t like the song ;-; but I can’t do anything about it since it’s your opinion so

but I hope that people know the difference between hating and giving criticism saying the song sucks and that it’s trash music is straight up music

I can get why people are disappointed with the song since everyone wanted almost the same thing, “jennie getting a rap part”, “jisoo saying blackpink in your area” and a high note from rosé

personally I really like the song, to me it’s not the same as dddd and ktl tbh I think it’s different

plus I kinda expected it to be like that bc their songs usually follow that yg style ya know the only songs I say that don’t follow that stereotypical yg style is “love scenario”, “stay” and AKMU’s songs

i mean if you compare the song with other yg artists song, they all have the same vibe to it because of the “yg style” we always say

the song also gives me nct and skz vibes too, like specifically “punch” and “side effects” bc of the heavy edm and also bc their songs has been called noise before dhshd

but enough of that

I really like how the song starts calmly in the beginning and then it starts to be more aggressive

also I like the fact that each of the girls get a chance to say “how you like that”

lisa’s rap????? y e s

personally I feel like this time it had more of a fairer distribution, including lines and center parts

like jisoo actually gets some center parts in the dance break and chorus

i also really like the outfits this era, especially the modernized hanboks! though I have mix feelings about the pink wig dhshdh

speaking of hair, jennie!! she fucking dyed her hair!!!

and rosé is no longer blonde dhsjdj

the parts I found weird is when rosé says “look up in the sky it’s a bird it’s a plane” i have no idea how that fits in the song so

and the “dumdudurum” part at the end, it sounds out of place, like especially after it the song ends

i also think that this is their best choreography! right next to don’t know what to do

overall, I really like the song, if you don’t it’s fine! hylt has the most aesthetic mv’s I’ve seen and the outfits are so much better and it has been said that BLACKPINK’s old stylist left the company in January no not maeng

lisa’s fur coat outfit reminds me of yeji’s outfit in wannabe

would I say that hylt is their best song? no, I think playing with fire was their best song but it’s not a terrible song either

another I like is jisoo owning this era, say what you want, hylt is Jisoo’s era period.

STRAY KIDS: GOD’S MENU

what even is a concept anymore

we all thought it was going to be some street racer concept

buT NO

it’s a kung fu panda concept dhshdh

felix!!! my baby has lines !!!!

his demonic voice is bACK

hyunjin’s blond hair 😭😭

what the fUCK

the way he tied it up in a ponytail, like sir that is diSRESPECTFUL he really is jaebum’s son huh

okay okay on to the song

it honestly shocked me so much, like the rap parts were so aggressive like and the vocals are kinda angelic???

i really really like the pre-chorus, seungmin’s voice is just so !!!!! i also like seungmin+i.n’s little duet after felix’s part

spEAKING OF FELIX’S PART

“looking like a chef I’m a five star Michelin” bro that part is lowkey demonic looking in the dance

like mans pulled his knees up and put his hands through them while looking directly at you

does that not look demonic to you??? my friend said it reminded her of a spider dhshdhr

also the “dududu” part instantly reminded me of bp’s dddd dhshd like can someone edit a part of bp going “oh wait till I do when I hit you with that” and cuts to skz “DUDUDU”

the fact that no one has done it yet astounishes me

also what the fuck is that chain thing on Chan’s face, who put it there and why dhshd

bless whoever gave changbin dual contacts lens

AND WHO GAVE JEONGIN SLEEVELESS SHIRTS WHO ALLOWED THAT DHSHD

at first I found the choreography a bit funny bc they added like cooking gestures to it dhshd, like stirring the pot in the chorus but my favorite part of the dance is changbin’s part

the entire album was a bop okay, the fact that “god’s menu” wasn’t even the title track and they decided to change it, the fact that jyp has so much TRUST in bang chan also we get to see chan and sana being best friends uwu

“pacemaker” is literally “my pace” 2020 ver dhshd it even has the “nananana” part!

my favorites from the album is “TA”, “blueprint” and “haven”!!

also “easy”,,,, chan what did u do that it can’t be performed in shows

TWICE: MORE & MORE

wow girl groups are really being criticized this month huh

if y’all don’t know what happened with twice, a lot of people are criticizing twice for not singing live during their encore stages

a lot of them are especially going after momo

I’ve watched their encore stages and I don’t know why people are saying they sound bad???? maybe they need a better vocal coach but the fact that people are taking advantages of the situation just to hate on them smh

a n y w a y s

the song definitely gives a whole lot of “dtna” vibes bc of the tropical concept, its like “dtna” but the mature version

if “dance the night away” had an older sister, it would be “more & more”

also I really like the eve & adam concept, “more & more” is also another “creepy”ish song that is hidden behind a catchy tune, like “yes or yes” where ppl think it’s a cute song but the lyrics says otherwise

okay actually writing this out, it’s mv has “dtna” vibe but the song is so much like “yes or yes”

if you read the lyrics, the girls are basically saying that “no matter how hard you try to hide, you’re going to be mine again”

even in dahyun’s rap she says “I’m naturally selfish, I’m sorry if you didn’t know” and “you will fall for me, you can’t say no no”

it’s almost the same as her part in “yes or yes” where she says “there is no letters n and o” dhshdh sorry this becam a whole theory

back the real song review, I’m so glad that momo got a dance break! I think that this is their fairest line distribution yet. jeongyeon got her lines, dubchaeng got their rap parts and momo has a lot of center parts!!

and the girls look so much happier during their promotions especially tzuyu! she was smiling so much, maybe it’s because mina is with them and I’m so happy they get to perform as nine again

i really like their choreography and the part where they do the chest bounce is really satisfying idk why dhsdh

plus jeongyeon got better outfits this era cough feel special era cough

overall, I really like this comeback and it’s nice that nayeon got the high notes this time instead of jihyo

IZ*ONE: SECRET STORY OF THE SWAN

oh boy this is definitely my favorite song of this month

it’s so much different than their other songs!!!

and there’s so much to go on about!

wonyoung, minju, sakura and hyewon literally improved so much. im so proud of them !!!

hyewon, nako and sakua getting to sing the chorus??? y e s

chaeyena rap parts????? y e s

chaeyeon getting a dance break AND a high note???? Y E S

my favorite parts is eunbi+chaewon pre chorus wow I have a thing for pre choruses don’t I dhsh

i will say that this song vies the girls the chance to show how much they’ve improved throughout the eras, especially the j-line and visual line since a lot of people said they didn’t belong in izone

wonyoung and yujin's expressions are really on point as well

and yena's hip move dhshdhs

it's also rlly cute how eunbi throws confetti at her part dhshd

it’s refreshing to see how the girls improved

unfortunately, izone will be disbanding this year ;-; this is why I never liked the produce series

but we do have some ideas what will happen to the members though, we all know yena will be added into everglow, i having a feeling that eunbi and chaeyeon will be debuting as a soloist, they have so much potential plus the radiate chungha energy

nako, hitomi and sakura would most likely return to Japan, although I see sakura staying in korea to pursue an acting career and hitomi as a producer since she wrote some of izone’s songs

yuri might debut as a solo or debut in a new girl group as main vocalists, the same goes for chaewon

i see minju and hyewon going into acting careers and CF contracts, the same as kang mina, especially since minju is now an mc for music core

whereas for wonyoung and yujin, their both still young so I think they’ll finish school before re-debuting in groups plus yujin will be attending sopa

especially wonyoung, we all know that she’s actually really smart and is good at academics, i also think she might do modeling work, she fits the criteria

i also kinda see yujin pursuing an acting career because she will be in the theatre and film department in sopa. unless starship is going to debut a new girl group, I hope that yujin can debut as a soloist instead

WEKI MEKI: OOPSY

*inhales*

LUCY AND LUA FINALLY GETTING THE LINES THEY D E S E R V E D

I’m so happy dhshdhhs

also lua fits the short hairstyle so much, I’ve literally fallen for her help I can’t get up

as much as I love yoojung, it’s nice to see lucy rapping

the song is very catchy, I especially like rina’s part in the second verse of the song

i also love the “wolf & hunter” concept for the album

like the pictures were very beautiful, I also like how they use white for the wolves and black for the hunters, it’s like painting the hunters at the bad guys and the wolves as the good guys

I am in love with Lucy, Lua and Sei’s “nonono” part in the chorus

and the choreography for the chorus too

as much as I love elly’s blue hair, she slays in black hair dhshd I

I really love their outftis this era, i like how it’s all pants for the girls too

my favorite outfits are the black outfits from the gif

overall, this is definitely their fairest line distribution cough tika taka and dazzle dazzle cough

NATURE: GIRLS

this is my second favorite song of the month

I love the whole horror concept and I also like the fact that they released the uncensored version of the mv

it’s give the song much more of the horror vibe

I’m new to Nature and as far as I know, a member is stuck in China and another member sat out due to an injury. please correct me if I’m wrong

the outfits might be simple, but it fits so right with the song, I prefer the white dresses over the black ones

it kinda gives out the feeling that the girls are like asylum patients ya know, whereas the black dresses gives out that the girls are rich daughters that were sent away

I really like LU and Haru’s parts

the dance is also kinda a simple but it looks great!

overall, I hope that Nature will do this concept again, actually I hope to see more groups do this kind of concepts more

WAYV: TURN BACK TIME

did this comeback scare me? yes yes it did

bro the teasers were so scARY

yangyang was literally laughing like a mANIAC

MANS WAS IN AN ASYLUM OKAY

their teasers gave me so much suicide squad vibes

also, why the fuck were 4/7 members not wearing shiRTS

sm do you have a shirt shortage??? I’m sure nctzens are more than happy to donate some shirts to you

okay anyways, I’ve always liked wayv’s sci-fi concept, I don’t know if the mv’s are connected or not but I think they are

“take off” is them basically flying away from earth and they landed in space in “moonwalk” and it seems they have been captured in “turn back time”

very inch resting dhshd

listen, I may be chinese but I can’t understand 70% of the song because of how fast it goES

so with that saying, yANGYANG DID NOT COME TO PLAY

his rap was amazing !!!! he is definitely one of sm’s best rappers along with taeyong and mark

my favorite part is lucas and hendery’s rap parts and then it switches to xiaojun and yangyang + kun, ten and xiaojun getting highnotes

the dance break is so satisfying to watch too

“stop, rewind, turn back time” and “5432” part is so satisfying

also I’m really impressed with how fast LabelV responded when fans pointed out that some of the outfits had offensive phrases in them, they took the time to edit it out of the teasers and the mv, cheers to them

also! i find it funny that wayv released the Korean version of “turn back time” but all of us were much more shocked at the fact that Ten got another cat dhshd

SEVENTEEN: LEFT & RIGHT

first of all, dokyeom looks so gOOD IN THE MV

second of all, vernon and wonwoo’s “hana dul set” will forever be iconic

third, seungcheol is back 😭😭

just like twice, they get to perform as 13 again dhsjdsn

AND THEY LOOK SO HAPPY DURING THIS ERA TOO

LIKE HAVE YOU SEEN WONWOO?? HE’S SUCH A SMILEY BABY with his orange mic dhshd

also if y’all don’t have tiktok, svt has been doing the “left & right” with so many other idols including chungha and apink’s naeun!

haha joshua hong and wen junhui being real disrespectful with those sleeveless shirts

bonus point we got svt x nct china line + mark and joshua interaction at music bank

their choreography looks so fun too dhshd

the entire comeback is so cute and colorful

my favorite parts are vernon and seungcheol’s rap parts

also vernon be rocking that greaser style

their new album is so versatile, like, “fearless”, “left & right”, “kidult” and “my my”?? who’s doing it like seventeen

i love their new songs so much especially “kidult”

overall, I really really love this comeback

WJSN: BUTTERFLY

I couldn’t find a group scene gif pls forgive me

let me say, I am absolutely in love with the concept, the outfit concept for this is so creative, I don’t know if any other groups have done it before but !!

their outfits evovle like a butterfly!!

at first, the outfits were plain pastel colours but they slowly become more detailed and colourful throughout the stages, like a caterpillar to a butterfly!

center yeoreum!!!

and dayoung looks so pretty in short hair 🥺

and again, as far as I know, the Chinese members are in China, two of them are apart of the Chinese group Rocket Girl and I think Chengxiao recently returned to Korea

I really like their ending pose where their hands are in the butterfly gesture and the “wings” are slowly flapping

and how their arms represent their wings during the chorus

by far one of the moor creative comebacks in my opinion

also, it’s nice to hear soobin doing the high note instead of yeonjung, let yeonjung rest her voice once in a while ya know

SUNMI: PPORAPPIPAM

THE QUEEN IS BACKKK

also wonder girls reunion uwu

the teaser gave me so much "barbie: island princess" vibes so the entire mv was not what I expected

at all

the mv literally describes sunmi a lot, she basically does whatever the fuck she wants like when she posted that pic of jyp on instagram dhshdhs

it’s so funny especially the scene where sunmi is wearing the teletubbies head

and at the end when she wakes up and goes back to sleep is just a mood lmao

something about the song really gives me a lot of “siren” vibes but happier???

i really like the way she pronounces “pporappipam” it took me one week to finally pronounced it dhshd

idk why but I really like the instrumental, especially the intro, it’s very melancholic

also she wears converse while performing the song bc she has to step on the dancers at one part !!

speaking of that part, it’s so cool!!! the way she climbs up the dancers like stairs and then she just trust-falls into their arms

[kpoptimeout]

Top 10 Most Underrated K-pop Songs of 2020 (Idol Edition)

2020 was shit. But oh boy, at least the music was good.

And it took us a good while to decide on these lists.

Continuing with the K-Pop Timeout Tradition (see 2019 Ver) of listing the Top 10 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs because all the other sites are just bothered with the Top 10 that pretty much everyone will have heard of/have fan wars over, below are our top 10 picks of songs that did not rank high but deserves your attention!

Like last year we have a separate post for Top 10 underrated non-idol tracks in 2020 and a list for the Top 10 K-Dramas in 2020 in our opinion, which will drop in the coming days.

Some of the artists have escaped the list in recent years to stardom (like N.FLYING, SF9 and OH MY GIRL), so hopefully, it happens again!

This is in alphabetic order NOT in the order of awesomeness because all of them are awesome. Also, all MVs are linked in the song titles because Tumblr won’t let me share that many videos in one post.

APRIL “LALALILALA”

APRIL is a very well-rounded girl group but their talents have been squandered by DSP’s mismanagement in recent years. With DSP seeming to try again and with member Naeun’s meteoric rise thanks to acting in webdrama hit “A-TEEN” and the internationally loved K-Drama “Extraordinary You”, “LALALILALA” seemed like the song to finally give APRIL the awards they deserve. Except it did not, which is an absolute shame because “LALALILALA” is easily one of the strongest girl group tracks this year. The futuristic synths and snappy drum instrumental made for a delightful pop track and reminded us of DSP’s heydays of churning out similarly pristine and impactful tracks for KARA and Rainbow. If you were a fan of past DSP girl group bops like KARA’s “Pandora” and "STEP”, this is the song for you!

Cherry Bullet “Hands Up”

Whoever thought of putting “Beethoven” and “girl crush concept” together should get a raise at FNC Entertainment because it worked. Sampling Beethoven’s famous piece “Für Elise” in different parts of the instrumental using different instruments ranging from synths to different keyboards, the producer was able to provide rookie girl group Cherry Bullet with a hip-hop heavy girl crush banger that is catchy and fun. Also, it is clear the girls of Cherry Bullet really enjoy this song, exuding confidence and charm in the choreography and overall performance. After a few listens, you would be nodding to this addictive song and body rolling to the chorus. If you are a fan of girl crush songs, you have to listen to “Hands Up!”

Cignature “ASSA”

Honestly, we are annoyed with C9 Entertainment scrapping the highly talented girl group Good Day after merely one song and their relatively strong run on KBS’ “The UNIT” and re-debuting only some of the girls in Cignature under their sub-label J9. However, we cannot deny that “ASSA” is a powerful track. It is many things at the same time - it covered the quirky girl group demographic with the cute and somewhat bratty sounding introduction where the girls seem to be talking and singing at the same time, then a somewhat mature buildup came out of nowhere with a more raspy and charismatic delivery on the vocals front before an aggressively girl crush drop begins the chorus carried by the members feeling themselves (specifically their hair) with attitude. If you love the quirky sound of fromis_9 and Oh My Girl but also want some OG girl crush energy like 4MINUTE, “ASSA” is your song!

CSVC “No Mercy”

Okay, CSVC is not really an “idol” group in the traditional sense. A project group made up of 4 indie artists (CHEEZE's Dalchong, Stella Jang, Lovey and Park Moonchi), CSVC tries to recreate the 90s girl group sound of legends like S.E.S, Fink.L and Baby VOX and we are here for it. Not only do all four members have the pipes to carry the early K-Pop sound that has heavy RnB influences, they went all out in the song production with the retro reverbs littered throughout the track and new jack-swing inspired intro. The MV was also a love letter to 90s K-Pop girl groups with the intense use of flares, extreme use of lighting, the “futuristic” sets seemingly made of tin-foil and the members all donning all black or all white outfits. If you are a huge fan of 90s K-Pop, CSVC’s “No Mercy” is the song for you!

ELRIS “JACKPOT”

Honestly, we have no idea what the hell HUNUS Entertainment is doing with ELRIS but even with the mismanagement, they continuously give ELRIS great songs and “JACKPOT” is easily one of the best girl group songs of the year. It builds up from silky vocals to strong rap, which is followed by wonderful harmonisation before we dive into a two-part chorus which made use of the members’ strong vocals as well as gave us catchy moments to sing along to. The music video is also a delight, with the girls dancing on a stage built to look like a roulette. The addition of the 2 members also made ELRIS’ already powerful stages even more impactful. We have been hearing rumours of disbandment but we hope it is not true. If you want to listen to the definition of a well-rounded and fun K-pop girl group track, ELRIS’ “JACKPOT” is THAT SONG!

IMFACT “Lie”

IMFACT is truly a strong boy band with great vocals and strong song production skills of their own yet they CONTINUE to be SLEPT on. I mean being managed by Star Empire Entertainment does not help but it is ridiculous how little domestic and international support they have. They have a distinct sound which they continue in “Lie” - electropop infused with K-Pop song structures and a generous use of unique drums patterns. If you love electropop and K-Pop, it is time to stan IMFACT and check out this amazing song!

NATURE “Girls”

Maybe n.CH Entertainment go a boost in Mnet money after taking on the job to manage TOO after Mnet’s “To Be World Klass” show because their budget really went up and it shows in NATURE’s “Girls”. This song is truly a masterpiece. The chorus is like what you would expect of a club banger EDM track but the verses are made up of clean vocals exhibiting anguish and longing over a relatively simple beat and the bridge was orchestral instrumentals mixed with the drumming of a marching band and the loud chants of the girls. The music video is also simple yet haunting. If you like the darker tracks of 9MUSES and RAINBOW like “Sleepless Night” and “Black Swan” but also the electronic sound of Berry Good in “Don’t Believe” days, this is the song for you for you!

ONEWE “End of Spring”

We need more bands making it in mainstream K-Pop and ONEWE’s “End of Spring” gives us another reason why we think so. “End of Spring” is a breath of fresh air in this year of mainly 80s retro dance tracks and hip-hop heavy pop songs in the K-Pop world, as it instead went for a pop rock sound more reminiscent of American pop rock acts like Train in “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” and One Republic in “Counting Stars” but with a dose of the energy in a teen summer party. If you enjoy a fun pop rock song, ONEWE’s “End of Spring” is the song for you!

OnlyOneOf “dOra maar”

OnlyOneOf is a rookie group with a lot of potential given their heavily alternative RnB and overall escape room-esque sound. They had many great songs in 2020 with wonderful music videos but our favourite here at K-Pop Timeout has to be the MV-less “dOra maar”. This laid back and smooth song showcases each member’s unique vocals and sounds more like a top Korean RnB artist experimental collaboration than a K-Pop boy band song. Also, it is always fun to see K-Pop artists take inspiration from art and culture of different countries (the titular Dora Maar is a French photographer and the lover of Pablo Picasso). If you are mostly a Korean RnB fan, OnlyOneOf’s “dORa maar” might be your gateway drug into the idol scene!

Weki Meki “COOL”

Fantagio seems to be a bit unsure about which sound to give Weki Meki, as the group swings between aggressive and catchy girl crush songs to more generic cute summer songs like a pendulum. They should really consider keeping Weki Meki with the sound they found in “COOL” because the girls really carried this supermodel runway power walk song with poise and confidence. While we have seen boy bands dabble in the runway model sound such as IN2IT in “Snapshot”, SF9 in “Now or Never” and KNK in “Sunset”, we have actually rarely seen girl groups going for this expensive sound. Additionally, the music video for this song is powerful, with the scene of the girls facing each other and vogueing in a long dark room being highly memorable. If you love power girl crushes or any of these boy band songs we have mentioned above, you would really like this song!

Special Mentions of Underrated Debuts:

There were many strong debuts this year and I would like to mention 2 underrated rookie groups to look out for in 2021!

Male - E’LAST “Tears of Chaos”

While more and more male groups are debuting with either badass or cute images, E’LAST decided to enter the K-Pop world with a highly orchestral sound. And the boys have the talent and visuals to carry such a dramatic and theatrical concept. Their label E Entertainment, also seems to have every intent to do the most for these boys, as seen in the production quality of their MVs. With these boys already dropping new material right now, you all should keep an eye on them! 

FEMALE - woo!ah! “Bad Girl”

With many strong female group debuts this year, you may have missed woo!ah!, from the small label of NV Entertainment. This small company in fact is led by SM China’s former CEO and this person certainly has an eye for talent because woo!ah! is a very balanced 5 member girl group that has a lot of potential to make it big. In fact, the group is beginning to develop an international following, with “Bad Girl” reaching #1 in the Vietnam's biggest music platform, edging out both aespa’s “Black Mamba” and BLACKPINK’s “Lovesick Girls”. They have already followed up with B-Side track promotions so check out these underrated rookies!

[trinitea-fics]

“Bare” from Bare: a Pop Opera has a time signature change in the last 30 seconds and I think it’s really neat and really important:

I need to brain dump so I’m sorry. Also this took me a month to figure out, and I was a sobbing mess when I added 2+2 together.

It isn’t uncommon to see key or time signature changes in songs, a lot of musical theatre songs will have a key signature change during in the last time they sing the chorus for The Drama (heck, in this song, they go from E major and F# major and back and forth again). Time signature changes are a little less common, and there is one in Bare (between “I have discovered the one thing that’s real” and “That I love you”).

It changes from 3 / 4 to 4 / 4 time in the last 30 or so seconds. For people who have never taken music theory (lucky) let me explain.

All you need to know is that the first number is how many beats are in a bar of music. 3 / 4 time has three beats in a bar and is most associated with waltzes. Different time signatures have different notes that they ‘stressed’. We treat the three notes as ‘strong/weak/weak’, the first note (the one where in a waltz you’d take a travelling step) has the most emphasis.

The first part of the song makes sure to put the most important word of each phrase on that first beat for emphasis.

For example,

“Do you re/member the /day that you/meet me? I / swear it was / yesterday I / knew with a / glance that / you were the / question and / you were the / answer that the / world would make / sense again if / I held your / hand”

Makes sense right? And for the most part it stick to putting your most important words on the first beat (in only a handful of places the first part of the word starts on the third beat and finishes on the first). And you can see how this is just competent, good writing.

4 / 4 can be broken down into ‘strong/weak/medium/weak’ for each bar. Though having that strong beat, it isn’t as strong relative to the other notes in the bar like how 3 / 4 is. To me this really even out the emphasis with the addition ‘medium’ beat, giving each word equal weight.

It’s harder to show here, but I’m going to bold both the ‘strong’ and ‘medium’ beats.

“That I love you / and I / loved you from the /  start and / if you hold that / close to you we’ll / never be a/part”

Sometimes there aren’t words that fill that strong or medium beat, or word that start on the tall end of the fourth beat. And I think we can agree that “love” and “be” (who both have medium strength) aren’t words that generally have the same importance in songs. Even more so than that verse in 3 / 4 did.

So why put it here? It’s so subtle, what different does it make? Especially at the end of the song when there aren’t many words to begin with?

Quite simply, the part in 4 / 4, this can be read as the first time Jason has ever said “I love you” Peter (I might be dumb, but this took me a Hot Minute to figure out, it makes sense. Saying that he loves Peter = Jason admitting he’s gay, the last thing he wanted to do. That’s why up to this point it’s only Peter who says “I love you”). 

Equal weight is put into every. single. word. Jason says to Peter. 

Especially because this is the end of his character arc and on of the most moments for his character, he is finally able to acknowledge his sexually and that he’s “Loved [Peter] from the start”. And because this is basically the last words he says to Peter, they are all important.

This is the attention to detail that makes me really love Bare. Details that you might not notice, but you feel nonetheless.

[kanasmusings]

[Kanji/Romaji/English Lyrics] Musical StarMyu Third Season - “Horizon ~Musical ver.~”

Here’s the musical version for “Horizon”~! If you all remember the Halloween OVA, this was actually the opening song for it~! They never really released a full version sang by the voice actors, but they did make one for the musical! The full musical version includes verses for Team Hiragi, Team Sazanami, and Team Yuzuriha~! It’s sort of the song they sing before the interlude and it’s very great! If you have the chance to listen to it, please do so~! You won’t regret it!

I hope you enjoy~! ※ If you’re able to, please do buy the DVD here or BD here to support the artists officially, thank you~!

Tracklist:

M06 - “Horizon ~Musical ver.~”

※ Please don’t re-post and re-translate these under any circumstances without permission!!!

If you enjoyed this, please consider buying me a ko-fi here to support my work! It’ll be a really big help. (o^▽^o)Thank you!!

[aurora-daily]

For Nor­we­gian singer-song­writer Aurora, mu­sic was the key to un­lock a long-held sense of dis­con­nec­tion

Interview by An­drew McMillen for The Weekend Australian (June 1st, 2019).

Mu­sic writer An­drew McMillen meets Ice­landic sen­sa­tion Aurora ahead of her al­bum re­lease

As a child, Aurora Ak­snes grew up in a town not far from Ber­gen, in south­west­ern Norway, sur­rounded by a for­est, ocean, space and plenty of si­lence — fer­tile grounds in which to plant seeds of imag­i­na­tion.

Her two older sis­ters, Mi­randa and Vik­to­ria, were wor­ried that her strange­ness — es­pe­cially her out-there dress sense — would make her a tar­get for bul­lies. “We were so scared that it was go­ing to be tough for you to go to high school,” her sis­ters say in a video pub­lished in 2016. “But ev­ery­body loved you.”

Singing, song­writ­ing and play­ing piano be­came her three fas­ci­na­tions; all ac­tiv­i­ties she could in­dulge on her lone­some. This be­gan in child­hood and con­tin­ued into her ado­les­cence, when she was plucked from ob­scu­rity and es­sen­tially asked whether she wanted to pur­sue a ca­reer in mu­sic. She said yes, and she hasn’t looked back. In that same video from 2016, filmed in Ber­gen with her friends and family, and re­leased to co­in­cide with her de­but al­bum, Aurora says, “Mu­sic is not some­thing that you should keep for your­self. It can’t be put in a cage be­cause it’s wild and alive.”

On stage in Bris­bane on a Mon­day night early last month, the blue-eyed and blonde artist is mid­way through a pow­er­ful 90-minute set. Dressed in red and flanked by a live band that pro­duces pul­sat­ing elec­tronic pop, the 22-year-old pauses be­tween songs to ad­dress the 800-strong ca­pac­ity crowd at the Trif­fid.

“I feel like I’m in this room with friends,” she says. “It’s a nice feel­ing be­cause I feel so of­ten dis­con­nected to humans. I feel very lucky be­cause I don’t know how the hell I got here. I don’t know how I be­came an artist — but I do know that it’s 90 per cent be­cause of you guys.

“With­out you, it’s an empty room; with­out you, there’s no one that gives my words power.”

Then, with a nod to her drum­mer and co-producer Mag­nus Skyl­stad, the band kicks into the next track as the lights change colour and the crowd thrills to her mu­sic.

She does not so much per­form as in­habit these songs, as if singing them for the first time. There’s not a trace of self-con­scious­ness; in­stead, the young woman danc­ing centre stage, mi­cro­phone in hand, ex­udes a con­ta­gious free­dom and vi­tal­ity. Here, among friends, she is adored. Two days later, in the hours be­fore another Groovin the Moo fes­ti­val sideshow in Fre­man­tle, Aurora perks up when re­minded of her phi­los­o­phy that mu­sic can­not be caged.

“Oh, yes, it’s very true, and that’s why I know I have to share it,” she tells Re­view. “When I per­form, that’s why I’m so ex­cited; it’s like the mu­sic is too big for my tiny shape of a body. I feel very ex­plo­sive when I per­form. That’s the whole point in why I started shar­ing the mu­sic: if you have the gift of making mu­sic, it’s like we’re on a mis­sion, we peo­ple who can trans­late the mu­sic into some­thing that the rest of the world can un­der­stand.”

In a rel­a­tively short time, the rest of the world has come to un­der­stand and ap­pre­ci­ate Aurora’s art. While the story of her as­cent from small-town anonymity to filling clubs and play­ing fes­ti­vals on the other side of the planet is some­what typ­i­cal of the stream­ing era, the re­sults are cer­tainly not.

It goes like this: af­ter up­load­ing a song on­line in 2012, when she was 16, what was in­tended as a Christ­mas gift for her par­ents found its way to the ears of an agent, which set in mo­tion an un­ex­pected but wel­come record­ing ca­reer. Since 2015, she has re­leased an EP, a de­but al­bum — 2016’s All My Demons Greet­ing Me as a Friend — and a fol­low-up LP that has been split into two halves, re­leased last year and this year.

As well, a cou­ple of well-cho­sen cover songs have helped to high­light her ex­traor­di­nary, sin­gu­lar vocal abil­i­ties and opened up new au­di­ences.

First in 2015, her stark take on Half the World Away by Oa­sis fea­tured in a prom­i­nent Bri­tish Christ­mas ad­ver­tise­ment; it re­mains one of her most-played songs on stream­ing ser­vices. Then on an Aus­tralia visit in 2017, she recorded a spell­bind­ing cover of Mas­sive At­tack’s Teardrop for Triple J’s Like a Ver­sion segment. It has since at­tracted nearly seven mil­lion YouTube views.

In turn, the global response to her mu­sic dur­ing the past four years has led to a pleasant awakening: her work mat­ters.

“I want to do this as long as I feel like peo­ple need me to do this,” she says. “Right now, I feel very needed. It’s a job that the world needs be­cause be­ing a hu­man is so hard and mu­sic some­times makes it eas­ier. As long as I feel needed, I’ll do it. I’ll be an artist for­ever; I’m a very hungry woman, and I like to dance and paint, and I want to ex­plore and even­tu­ally share that with the world, too.”

In con­ver­sa­tion, Aurora comes across as re­mark­ably grounded and in­se­cu­rity-free. A month out from the re­lease of A Dif­fer­ent Kind of Hu­man (Step 2) — usu­ally a time of peak anx­i­ety and un­cer­tainty among record­ing artists, who will soon learn whether their lat­est work is judged to be their great­est or oth­er­wise — she shrugs and says that she doesn’t re­ally have any par­tic­u­lar hopes or ex­pec­ta­tions for it. “Whatever will hap­pen will hap­pen,” she says. “I’m al­ready work­ing on my next al­bum; I feel quite far away from this al­bum. I hope at least one per­son will re­ally love it. It is quite di­verse, with many dif­fer­ent moods and per­son­al­i­ties. I am quite ex­cited to per­form the songs live, but it doesn’t re­ally mat­ter how peo­ple per­ceive it.

“Some peo­ple will al­ways un­der­stand it and ap­pre­ci­ate it, and that’s enough.” Be­tween songs at the Trif­fid, Aurora talks a lot, and she’s of­ten funny and en­dear­ing.

‘ In the be­gin­ning I didn’t re­ally talk be­cause I didn’t have any­thing to say. But then I learned that if you do talk to the au­di­ence, peo­ple tend to feel more safe and more connected to you’ Aurora Ak­snes

“We’ve been doing all these shows in Aus­tralia, and it’s so strange we can have our own show in Bris­bane and there are peo­ple here wait­ing for us,” she says at the be­gin­ning. “From the bottom of my huge heart and small tits — ac­tu­ally, no, they are quite big — thank you so, so much for com­ing tonight.”

Later, she ad­mits to feel­ing some snotty con­ges­tion: “It’s kind of loos­en­ing up now as I’m danc­ing and making its jour­ney down my throat. It tastes like salt and I don’t know how I feel about that.” But while in­tro­duc­ing Through the Eyes of a Child, she turns se­ri­ous for a few mo­ments.

“Some­times it’s hard to find peo­ple to talk to about your pain be­cause it makes us feel like a bur­den, or we are taught to feel like a bur­den when we are not happy,” she says. “I know you’re all here for a rea­son. Maybe you’re a bit like me: you’re emo­tional or you look a bit dif­fer­ent on the in­side or the out­side. This next song is for you if you’re go­ing though a hard time.”

This con­nec­tion with her au­di­ence is real and rare, but it wasn’t al­ways this way.

“In the be­gin­ning I didn’t re­ally talk be­cause I didn’t have any­thing to say,” she tells Re­view. “But then I learned that if you do talk to the au­di­ence, peo­ple tend to feel more safe and more connected to you. You show them a spe­cial thing they don’t usu­ally see un­less they go to my show. It’s like they’re my friend or I’m their friend. I do have mouth di­ar­rhoea be­cause I tend to talk way too much, but it just hap­pens. I do what I want and, at the mo­ment, I feel like talk­ing a lot.”

Aurora’s cover of the Mas­sive At­tack hit Teardrop, per­formed for Triple J’s Like a Ver­sion segment, has at­tracted nearly seven mil­lion YouTube views

There’s another as­pect of her artistry that has changed in re­cent years, too. “I used to feel ner­vous be­fore shows, but then it stopped be­cause I re­alised it’s ob­vi­ous I know what I’m doing,” she says. “I know why I’m here; I know how to do this. Now, I find it more scary to be among peo­ple or to have a one-to-one con­ver­sa­tion with some­one. I know what to do on the stage and it feels like it’s im­por­tant.”

With shows booked up to De­cem­ber, in­clud­ing an ex­ten­sive 20date tour of Norway, her re­cent Aus­tralian trip will soon be in the rear-view mir­ror. While travelling here, how­ever, she was par­tic­u­larly in­spired by our na­tive trees, which she found to be vastly dif­fer­ent com­pared with those in her home­land, so per­haps the sights and sounds of our coun­try may feed back into her fu­ture art.

Yet watching her on stage, be­fore an au­di­ence completely in tune with her voice and body, the phi­los­o­phy she out­lined in that video a few years ago comes to mind. Aurora can’t be put in a cage, be­cause she is wild and alive. Luck­ily for us, her mu­sic is not some­thing she has kept for her­self.

A Dif­fer­ent Kind of Hu­man (Step 2) is re­leased on Fri­day via Glass­note Records.

[yutark]

— drunkinlove (comeononeshot)

★ AUGUST EVALUATIONS song : < eoeo (chinese ver.)  > by, uniq (lyric dist.) group members : @rksungho, @rkmxrk, @rkkhg

As the day for the evaluation arrived, Yuta was re-energised after spending a few days home in Japan and using up the last of his vacation before he lost it in September. There was an easily deniable excitement to return to training, after he’d spend nearly five days without having to deal with the coaches and other trainees -- Yuta preferring to excuse the feeling as curiousity if five days was enough for the other trainees to catch up to his level. In his opinion, they weren’t (but he always thought that, regardless). He spent a couple days after his return putting extra time into his Mandarin skills and securing his memory of every dance movement. Being front and center for the chorus and a few major dance parts meant that Yuta was pressured the right amount to put in the effort to perfect them. 

There was a strong sense of confidence and comfort when his groups turn came up and he found his position in the center. His eyes darting aroung at Sungho, Mark and Hyunggu who finished out his group. All of them had been fun to prepare with (especially Sungho). They could handle the dance practices and the choreography, and they put in the time and energy to master the Chinese that came along with the lyrics. Yuta’s fingers combing through his hair as he peered over towards where the music would start to play and he felt the smirk tug onto his lips. Between the lyrics, the dance movements and the flash of his stomach which would come later -- this might have been the exact sort of performance Yuta lived for.

Slowly he turned with the beginning of the song, taking a few steps forward, jumping slightly from the floor and landing into a roll of his body to the floor. His red hair immediately messed around his face, and his knee sliding on the floor as he found his second placement.

E.O.E.O Throw away the shackles that imprison your mind Kio kio, the world will come to photography you Drunk in love come on, one shot Don’t try to suddenly disappear and run away It’s boring being alone and will drive me crazy Hurry and catch up, just hold on

The entirety of Yuta’s rap part was in the beginning of the song, taking steps and moving his arm, selling the meaning off the lyrics as best he could. He could still feel how some of the foreign language fell heavier on his tongue than he wanted, and it might have been a blessing that he had such a small section. For the rest of the performance he could focus on the choreography and trying not to sing any louder than necessary when the chorus came up with harmonisation with his other members. He was thankful that they had managed to lure Hyunggu into the group to cover Sungjoo’s part -- finding a capable dancer who could also sing was much more difficult than he realised. Especially when he usual choices were plucked away for debut or wanted to perform another language.

Hyunggu handled the second verse, and that was followed by Sungho and Mark covering the third verse which was the next rap sections. As they got further along in the song, Yuta could hear the voice of Johnny and Taeyong, asking him how he could let a young boy like Mark perform the upcoming dance section. Voices that he thoroughly ignored throughout practices and even more so on the day of the evaluation. He couldn’t be distracted, and Mark had seemed excited to show off the abs that he’d been working on. Yuta could understand that feeling. 

It was why he liked the dance during the last chorus himself. Anticipated it.

His steps taking him from the right side to the left side, before he dropped to his knees. The movement of his knees, the body rolls as he got to his feet and his fingers catching on the hem of his shirt as he drew it up to secure between his teeth. Each one accumulating until he was rolling his hips towards the floor and then picking himself up with the same smirk he generally had when he was doing something that might make the more morally inclined squeamish. Yuta relished the feeling of anarchy as they gave up formations and choreography for hyping up around the stage, as if they had an audience that was bigger than the coaches and trainers.

An inconsequential rushed feeling keeping Yuta’s heart thumping steadily in his chest as he posed at the end with the other members and flashed the coaches a secondary wide smile. He’d done what they asked, what was required of him; he’d done it his own way and to his own delight. That was his favourite type of evaluation.

[shinesundark]

bestie i need your thoughts on red (tv) kshejshdjd and what your favourite in the vault song was!! the 10 min ver. of all too well makes me wanna CRY in the middle of my history class fr fr <//3

also what's your favourite album in general 👁👁

red (tv) is so good. i know a lot of people have issues with the re-recordings not sounding like the original? but i like how now i can stream red guilt free (a good chunk of my spotify wrapped was red songs... so i really needed the re-recordings)

the vault tracks were so good. my favorite is the atw ten minute but besides that it’s a three way tie between run, nothing new, and i bet you think about me (i’m pretty sure i just listed half of the vault...)

the last verse of it (the part that starts with “i was never good at telling jokes”) literally gives me chills just singing it in my head. also i listened to the whole album right when it came out, so when i heard the ten minute atw it was one in the morning for me and i was expecting all the new lyrics to just be tacked onto the end of the song so when i heard the “fuck the patriarchy” line come out of nowhere it JOLTED me up and took away and feeling of exhaustion from my body

i never really thought about a favorite album in general but i have list and red has been on the list for a VERY long time, along side 1989

[hyyunjinn]

I just wanna talk about the studio versions?

like I’m not gonna lie, I really prefer the live performances versions BUT there are pros to the studio versions!! and idaksdjlfsd idk i just wanna rant

(send me your thoughts on stray kid’s mixtape studio versions ooh i wanna know)

*i’m listening to the songs with earbuds as i write it ahah

GRR’S RE-RECORDING SOUNDS SO AMAZING LIKE HOLY SHT I HAD CHILLS AND I APPROVE SO MUCH LIKE 

CHANGBIN’S “GRRRRR AH” FK RIP I SCREAMED I WASN’T READY

and you can hear the instrumental so much better and sdflkja I LOVE IT

the bleep at the beginning with the talking isn’t my fave but eh, it doesn’t bother me too much

IDK I JUST THINK THEY DID REALLY WELL WITH THIS SONG I DON’T HAVE MUCH TO SAY ABOUT IT 

OH

WAIT

MINHO’S FKN RASPY “LALALALALA”S SCREWED ME OVER I WASN’T READY I WAS SINGING ALONG BUT LIKE, THE ONES WHERE YOU SING EARLIER RIGHT? WELL, HE SANG IT AND I WAS SO SHOOK I GOT CHILLS HOLY C R U D 

Felix’s “we rolling we growling” wasn’t as deep sounding in my ears :( i was sad about that....

Young Wings

ACTUALLY, I’M REALLY HAPPY WITH HOW THIS CAME OUT

LINE DISTRIBUTIONS AND ALL

it’s actually the only studio version i prefer other than hellevator and grr :(

LIKE DID YOU HEAR JEONGIN

OH MAN

I CRIED

I’M SO HAPPY

WE COULD HEAR HIS VOICE AND I 

oh Felix’s rap is really nice too!!

who harmonizes with jeongin/seungmin at the end of “i’m still young, it’s hard now” line tho,,, does anyone know?? 

BUT JEONGINIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I’M SO HAPPY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I HEARD SO MUCH OF HIS VOICE AND ASKLDFJSLADF

bless vocal line

this really is a vocal line song  U GH 

YAYAYA

hmm not gonna lie, i wish the bass was boosted ahah

and the 2018 sounds weird to me ahhhh

SEUNGMIN’S VOICE THO AHHHH

yeah it doesn’t give me the same excitement compared to the busking version

BUT

THE VERSE 2

I APPROVE

EVEN CHANGBIN’S “POP” PART WASN’T ASLKDFJASDF i wasn’t the same sounding ;-;

jisung changing the way he rapped after him was nice tho i liked that hehe

AND VOCALIST CHAN AHHHHHHH

OH MAN

YOU KNO WWHAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED WITH

JISUNG GETTING FELIX’S RAP AT THE BRIDGE I WAS REALLY SAD I LOVED HEARING FELIX RAP THAT PART

oh also, i wish they had more of the group singing kind of thing, school life didn’t have that either c r y 

Glow

hearing Seungmin open it was actually really strange

i hear a smile in his voice ahah

BUT MINHO STILL HAD HIS PART HEHEH YEEEA

aND CHANGBIN WITH THE dings

jisung’s voice also sounds really pretty with this song omg

actually hearing the rap switch off between the rappers is really cool

HELLOOOOO VOCALIST CHAN MAN I LOVE HIS VOICE

does jeongin have both of the beginning of the chorus????? 

wait actually i’m having trouble distinguishing the singers haha

FELIX’S ENGLISH THO I CAN’T REALLY TAKE THAT SERIOUSLY WHOOPS

actually, listening to this again, it’s not too bad

but i still like the live ver ;-;

School Life

i don’t even

i’m actually highkey disappointed with the mix of this song ugh

THE DING DING DING PART

I DON’T LIKE THAT I’M SO SAD UGH NOOOOOOO I LIKE IT WHEN THEY ALL YELLED IT TOGETHER BC THAT WAS FUN

the little sound effects during jisung’s opening rap was cute

BUT THE “AH TEACHER” AND “WHY” PART ASDFKLASJFD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHY DID THEY MUFFLE IT I THINK HEARING IT LOUD IS NICER BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY SOUNDS LIKE A STUDENT COMPLAINING

hello minho i love your singing AHAHAHHAHA

changbin’s part doesn’t sound as powerful?

HYUNJIN’S “I ODN’T EVEN HAVE A DREAM” DIDNT SOUND AS CUTE s i gh

OH

THEY DIDN’T EVEN INCLUDE THE ALARM CLOCK IN THE BEGINNING AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

jeongin’s nananas tho ayyyyyyyyyyyyyYYYYYYYYyyYY

oh and the “today too, I” during the bridge with the echos? i liked that, it sounded cool

MINHO I LOV EYOU

WOOJINI LOVE YOU TOO

i really wished they sang together more thooooo, it just sounds nicer

man i’m so disappointed with this version

4419

wait, who starts it

is it seungmin?

no? hold up i’m confused ahah

but the track sounds more full so it sounds nicer!!

SEUNGMIN--wait is it chan i honestly i have no idea who wait what

either way

it sounsd really pretty

UNTIL 

FELIX’S 

AGHHHHHHHHH

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I WANTED AN HQ VER OF HYUNJIN SINGING “HOW HAVE YOU BEEN THESE DAYS” BECAUSE IT’S SO CUTE WHEN HE SINGS IT 

WHY DID FELIX GET THE PART I AM SO SAD

WHY DID HYUNJIN GET THE NEXT PART 

AHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

honestly

that is the reason i’m disappointed with 4419 lmao’

ugh

NO

NO

W H Y

i’m not saying felix is bad

i just

;-;

i wanted an hq version of hyunjin rapping that part 

>:(

WOOJIN’S VOICE SOUNDS SO PRETTY WITH THIS SONG THO ASLKDFJASLDFJASDLF 

minho’s singing ;)))))))))))))))

also

changbin’s rap sounds so cool and idek what he’s rapping but it sounds like i’d like the lyrics 

OH THE BRDIGE IS CUTE I DIDN’T REALIZE THIS BEFORE OOOOOHHHH IT SOUNDS NICE

felix getting hyunjin’s first half of the verse ruined the song for me tho >:((

edit: jk listening to it again, it’s really nice I JUST WANTED TO HEAR HYUNJIN SING “HOW HAVE YOU BEEN THESE DAYS”

okeee that was my rant ahahahhaha send me your thoughts on the studio versions!!

[harmonicatabs]

Elvira!

New Post has been published on https://harmonicatabs.net/?post_type=lyrics&p=6501

Elvira!

ELVIRA KENNY ROGERS/OAK RIDGE BOYS

Hey Y�all its TIN MAN again giving you Even more country greats!! Where would country music be if we don�t Acknowledge the old timers! That influenced Our modern day superstars!!!

YOUR GONNA NEED A C HARP TO PLAY THIS!!

DON�T FORGET TO VOTE AND ADD TO FAVOURITES!!!

5 4 5 5 4 5 El-vi-ra, El-vi-ra

4 5 5 -4 -4 -4 5 4 5 My heart’s on fi-re for El-vi-ra

VERSE 1

4 4 4 4 4 4 Eyes that look like hea-ven,

4 4 4 4 5 lips like cher-ry wine

4 5 5 5 5 5 That girl can sho� nuff make

5 5 -4 5 -5 my lit-tle light shine

-3b -3b -3b -6 -6b -5b -4 I get a fun-ny feel-in’

-6b -4 5 -4 -4 up and down my spine

-5b -5b -5b -4 -4 5 5 -4 5 ‘Cause I know that my El-vi-ra’s mine

(CHORUS)

5 5 -4 5 4 5 5 4 5 I’m sing-in’ El-vi-ra, El-vi-ra

4 5 5 5 -4 5 4 5 My heart’s on fi-re El-vi-ra

5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 -3 4 Gid-dy Up a oom Pa-pa Omm Pa-pa Mow Mow

5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 -3 4 Giddy Up a oom Pa-pa Omm Pa-pa Mow Mow

5 5 5 -4 5 5 Hi-yo Sil-ver, a-way

VERSE 2 plays as verse 1 Tonight I’m gonna meet her at the Hungry House Cafe And I’m gonna give her all the love I can She’s gonna jump and holler ’cause I saved up my last two dollars We’re gonna search and find that preacher man

CHORUS TO END

ENJOY!!!

[tipsycad147]

CELEBRATE WINTER SOLSTICE AND ALIGN WITH THE SEASON

It’s dark. The days are short. The nights are long. Let us be here. In the darkness.  

WELCOME THE DARKNESS

The holiday lights and festivities can be good medicine, but they can be unhelpful if we use them as distractions. Let’s not pretend it is light. It is dark. The Buddha teaches that suffering comes from craving what we want and avoiding what we don’t want. Are we putting up twinkle lights to avoid the darkness?

So, let us sit here for a moment, and embrace what is - beautiful, rich, mysterious darkness. Stars and moonlight. Deer, fox, and owl. Our bodies, like bear and groundhog, seek rest. Our souls enjoy dreamtime, in the darkness.

BRING YOURSELF INTO RIGHT RELATIONSHIP

I find deep joy in this practice of tuning into the season. When we take time to appreciate the benefits and challenges of this unique moment in time, we embrace our place in the cosmos. We know we are in relationship to the Sun and the Earth. We belong here. This is our rhythm; together we are spinning through space, twirling and tilting as we dance with the moon. Let us weave our personal stories into this cosmic tale. Know that you belong here, in the darkness.

Notes on Winter Solstice from My Personal Grimoire.

BE THE LIGHT

AND, we have power. We have memory and consciousness. WE are light. THAT is why we light fires in the darkness. Not because we are avoiding the darkness, but to give voice to our hope, our faith, our courage. We glow with gratitude. We shine a light in the shadows and illuminate our fears so that we may grow wiser and more joyful. We strike matches, plug in twinkly lights, and burn logs because this, too, is part of darkness. When we celebrate the Winter Solstice, we honour darkness and celebrate light. We tune into seasonal markers of change. We invite our body, mind, and soul to align with here, and now.

WHEN IS YULETIDE?

Technically the Solstice is the shortest day of the year. But, the holiday of Yule is so much more than one day. Only you know the right time to begin your observance. This year, our family moved from California to New York. The darkness feels different this year. The cold has us turning inward, sooner. And, so, we find ourselves meditating on fires, huddled around the woodstove. We decorate our home with fir and pine, appreciating their greenery in this leafless landscape.

Photo by Erin Mahollitz

ALTAR MAGIC

My favourite way to align with the season, make an altar. Ok, I’ll be honest; I have multiple altars. What is an altar? It’s basically any spot adorned with symbols that connect you with divinity. Some of mine are filled with items found on nature walks, and some are covered with decorations collected over generations. Here are some ideas for transforming any surface into a sacred space,:

Colours: Red, Green, White

Candles

Cider and/or wine

Branches and moss from local hikes

Evergreens, holly, mistletoe

Dried Fruit and nuts

Bits of Paper and Ribbons from package wrapping sessions

Citrus Fruit

Image of the Wheel of the Year / Spiral

Antlers

Bells

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

CHRISTMAS AND SHARING LIGHT

Coming from Catholic families, Christmas still takes on a leading role during this time of year. Heck, even I believe in Santa Claus. I mean, sort of. He embodies the Spirit of Christmas, and we all have a little Santa inside us, right?. So, I guess, I believe in us. THIS is the story I tell my kiddos. I emphasise the importance of spreading joy and light. I also emphasise that Santa needs A LOT of helpers. I invite them to help out. “How would you like to spread light?” My boys love making (and wrapping) gifts. My favourite moment so far... hollering “Merry Christmas” to our mail carrier as she plucked a bag of cookies from our mailbox. Gift giving is just one way to bring joy into the world. Our family enjoys creating experiences together, like breakfast dates with the nephews or Handel’s Messiah with my mom.

MEDITATIONS ON THE SUN

This year I am excited to simply sit and think about the sun. Here is a list of my favourite activities.  

Writing thank you letters to Grandfather Sun.

Colouring images of the sun. Check out this collection.

Reading books about the Sun, like this one, and this one.

Listening to stories about the Sun:

'Maushop And Grandfather Sun' from Circle Round

‘The Owner of the Sun’ from Circle Round Podcast

Creating Sun-Like Decorations

Orange and Clove Pomanders

Dehydrated Orange slices

SPIRAL WALK CEREMONY

This year we are taking it to the next level and celebrating with a ritual filled with fire, verses, candles, story, and cocoa. At the heart of the event is a Spiral Walk, inspired by the Waldorf Advent Spiral. I love walking labyrinths and the symbolic movement of leaving the outerworld and turning toward the centre. Our Yule ceremony incorporates a similar walking meditation, as we look to our inner light on the darkest night.  

MATERIALS:

Evergreens (or something else to mark the spiral)

1 larger pillar/votive candle

20 tea candles

Taper candles for each participant

Matches/lighter

Small pieces of paper

Pens

Optional

Paper, sticks, and logs for a bonfire

TO BEGIN:

Optional: Prepare a bonfire with paper, sticks, and logs. Light it if you need it for warmth.

Create a spiral on the ground. Traditionally it is made with evergreens (ours is made from extra branches from at the Christmas tree farm), but it can be made with chalk, ribbon, garland, rope….

Place one larger votive/pillar candle (unlit) in the middle of the spiral as a symbol of the enduring light of the sun and the light within ourselves.

Place 12 smaller candles (unlit) along the path of the spiral, symbolic of the 12 months/moons of the year.

Place 8 candles around the outside of the spiral, one for each cardinal direction and each equal division. It demarks the sacred circle.

AT DUSK

As the sun’s light begins to fade, distribute long/taper candles to each participant.

Recite the Brief Homily on Darkness (By John Halstead) - adapted by Erin Mahollitz “The winter solstice happens in nature, but it also happens inside of us. It can happen inside of us in summer or winter, spring or fall. In the dark place of our soul, we carry secret wishes, pains, frustrations, loneliness, fears, regrets, worries. Darkness is not something to be afraid of. In the the dark place of our soul we can find rest and rejuvenation. We can find balance. And when we have rested, been comforted, and restored, we can return from the dark place in our soul to the world of light and new possibilities.”

Call in the elements and directions asking for their love, protection, light, and energy. *Light the candles around the spiral while waking clockwise

The designated “keeper of the light” lights the candle at the centre, while others recite

Prelude: “Solstice Prayer” chant by Thorn Coyle “We wait in the dark for the light to appear, Mother, give birth to our brother the Sun. We wait in the dark for the light to appear, Mother, give birth to our brother the Sun! We wait. We watch. Out of the cold comes the promise of newness. We wait. We watch. Out of the cold comes the promise of day!”

WALKING THE SPIRAL

*Note: I will go first to model how this is all done. I will do it once while narrating my actions. I will do it a second time, in silence. Then, the kids will have a go. Eric will go last.

One at a time, each person silently walks to the centre with their unlit taper candle.  This is a meditation on personal darkness (that which no longer serves you).

When you get to the centre, silently light your taper candle from the central candle.This is a symbol of the eternal light of the sun as well as the eternal the light within you. This is also a good time to ask, “What light do I wish to cultivate in the new year?”

As you walk out of the spiral, use your lit candle to light a few candles along the spiral. This is a symbol of carrying your light out into the world and into the coming year.

After exiting the spiral, write down an intention/light you want to nurture in the coming year, this may be an attitude, a goal, a behaviour, a relationship you will tend. These can be saved in a “manifesting box,” turned into a mobile or prayer flags, incorporated into a family vision board, or thrown into the fire so the winds can carry your wishes into the ether.

When everyone is done, recite “The Light is Reborn” by John Halstead Take turns reading a line of the “call”.   Everyone responds with the line, “The light is reborn.” When the earth is barren. The light is reborn. When the animals sleep. The light is reborn. When the leaves have all fallen. The light is reborn. When the rivers are frozen. The light is reborn. When the ground is hard. The light is reborn. When the shadows grow long. The light is reborn.

Sing “Pagan Silent Night” (UU Hymn 251) adapted by Ellen Reed Si – lent night, Sol – stice Night All is calm, gone is light Na- ture slum – bers in for – est and glen Till in Spring – time She wakens a – gain Sleep – ing spir – its grow strong! Sleep – ing spir – its grow strong! Si – lent night, Sol – stice Night Sil – ver moon shin – ing bright Snow – fall blank – ets the slum – ber – ing Earth Yule fires wel – come the Sun’s re – birth Hark, the Light is re – born! Hark, the Light is re – born! Si – lent night, Sol – stice Night Qui – et rest till the Light Turn – ing ev – er the roll – ing Wheel Brings the win – ter to com – fort and heal Rest your spir – it in peace! Rest your spir – it in peace!

Close the sacred circle by thanking the directions and blowing out the four directional candles. (You can leave the other four outer candles to burn. They’ll look pretty.)

Blow out your personal candle. (Find a place for it in your home, and relight it when meditating on your intention.)

Go inside for cocoa and cookies. While eating and drinking, you can take turns reading…

https://magicalhomemaking.com/blog/celebrate-winter-solstice

[rksaememories]

╰ °✧ hongdae talent show — wild thoughts ( dance cover ) by son juyeon ( ver. )

                  “wild, wild, wild. when i'm with you, all I get is wild thoughts.”

as a little girl, juyeon was always told to never judge a book by it’s cover; meaning, you should never look at someone and make an assumption until you truly know them. and while she tries to resist the urge to presume, people often than not are quick to make assumptions about her. she thinks that’s the reason things fell through with the whole mga season three audition, during the deathmatch. or maybe she just wasn’t talented enough. but, then again, it could be a little weird to see a seemingly pretty, feminine girl sudden bust a move to rather heavy hip-hop. that’s what she did best, that was without a doubt, her forte, her passion. but then again it wasn’t enough.

she’s spent countless hours, weeks, months contemplating on her direction and where she’s to go. having pulled out of each and every opportunity to show her skill and talent to the world had juyeon questioning herself and her love for what she did best. eve now, she’s kicking herself for letting the triple threat challenge opportunity fall through. she still recalls standing in the audience way at the back, misty eyed, supporting each and every person who went up on stage and did their very best. only she couldn’t help but wonder when her turn would arise. maybe today.

     or maybe never.

it had been over a year, coming two in the may approaching since juyeon auditioned for the mgas, alongside seokjin. the only thing is that he went on to take out the entire competition, with an immense amount of controversy, whereas she fell flat on her ass. and she’s been sitting there, not really moving, not really driving herself or this passion very far. until now. something just happens to click within her at the announcement of the talent show in hongdae at the end of the month. she’s suddenly got the will, the inspiration to go out and actually do something. and only now is it that those very words pop straight into her head. never judge a book by it’s cover. so maybe that’s what her concept would be. she’s done heavy hip-hop, so maybe now was the time to explore her sensuality as an artist and make a couple of heads turn.

she looks into the guidelines, instructions for the talent show; discovering that one doesn’t have to dance, sing or rap; but what other skills does she have asides from dance? is she going to do some sick tricks on her board? or show off her competency as a ferret handler? neither seem to be talent worthy and neither really scream juyeon. nothing screams juyeon louder than a dance routine, and besides; she’s been off her feet for a while, so now is the time to make a re-debut. she shuffles through routine after routine throughout the week, trying out different choreographies and styles, seeing what could possibly work and what couldn’t. juyeon considers going down the safe route, but no one ever got anywhere by taking short cuts or by not taking risks. and son juyeon was all about taking risks.

juyeon arrives early as she can, despite staying up late the night before. rewatching seoyoung on royal survival the night before had given her strength to go out today and do her best. she could only hope that her people would be watching the stream sometime today, and long enough to see her perform. she stands amongst people, supporting those who stand on stage and perform their hearts out. juyeon scopes out the competition, but she doesn’t judge or critically evaluate anyone. she simply enjoys their performances, leaving her at ease before it’s her time to approach the staff to prepare for her own performance. this was it.

juyeon makes her entrance on stage in style. a rather well executed flip onwards towards the ‘x’ marked out with tape. microphone in one hand, the other goes for the flower crown atop of her head, holding it in place. although, if anything did go wrong, the flower crown would fall, surely. she lands upright on both of her feet, soaking in the applause of the crowd who seem to be impressed with her smooth entrance to the talent show. juyeon laughs, waving at the crowd.

she stands centre stage, microphone in her hands. her grip is tight as butterflies fill her stomach and flood through her veins. nonetheless, her smile is warm, a bright beam. she looks out over the audience and raises a hand to wave.“hiya!” juyeon says warmly, falling into a rehearsed bow. she stands up once more and looks out over the audience with wide, curious eyes. “my name is son juyeon and i’m nineteen years old.” she begins, a simple, mundane introduction for a girl who’s about to leave jaws somewhat ajar. perfect. a hands goes upwards to adjust the flower crown atop of her head, an array of different flowers sitting in amongst a wreath of small greens. “i’m a student, skateboarder and ferret handler- i mean wrangler and i’m here to perform for you today, so-” juyeon purses her lips together, looking around, both left and right. she winks at the audience, only to then chuckle. “less talking more, entertaining?” juyeon turns on her heels and walks to the side of the stage, handing her microphone to one of the staff members on duty.

returning to the centre of the stage, she takes in a deep breath, counting down from three to one. and in a few, mere moments; son juyeon would come alive. her back to the audience, juyeon closes her eyes and lets the music sound and the moment the song begins to play, she begins to play too. the choreography comes to her as though it’s second nature. a sharp turn, a flick of the head. this choreography was all about being sensual and powerful, and while not necessarily difficult, juyeon aimed to execute the moves precisely and still keep the audience on the edge of their seats. or maybe that was impossible to do, with a dance like this? oh well, she couldn’t back out now, nor could she change her mind. one should just keep in mind to not judge.

come the beginning of the first verse, the flower crown, a prop, not a legitimate accessory she had planned to wear, comes in handy. she pulls it from her head and throws it into the crowd with a wink, noticing that a young man catches it with a rather surprised look upon his face. juyeon smirks, throwing him a wink before she moves into the chorus. juyeon feels bad, most of the choreography being hairography; hair flips, turns and twirls, luring in admirers or haters. she keeps in mind to display appropriate emotions across her face, dance was about telling a story and the best dancers are the ones that keep you interested.

the choreography has juyeon using the stage, strutting about; she wishes she had back up dancers, or at least people dancing alongside her but she makes the most of it on her own. the choreography is easy in comparrison to what juyeon usually does, compiled of hip thrusts and butt shaking with some simple footwork, this performance didn’t challenge juyeon’s skill, rather than accentuate her capability as a performer. having spent a week or so perfecting the routine, that left her with time to focus on herself perfecting more than the steps. she had to appear alluring and mature, somewhat sexy, to convince people about how genuine she was doing this. it wasn’t an easy feat, but it was a step foward in growing as an artist.

and she drops it low, her back to the audience. juyeon looks over her shoulder, a smirk rests on her pink lips. the music ceases as juyeon flips her long blonde hair out of her face, still holding the pose until the audience ceases it’s applause. the charismatic facade falls away before their very eyes, revealling a very happy, bubbly teenage girl who gets to her feet and bows at ninety degrees without question. not wanting to waste anymore time, she waves to the crowd and makes her way off stage, and juyeon is nothing but ecstatic. 

only now she can hope that her message was established and understood.

[seungcheolrk]

● SPHERE AUGUST EVALUATION: BRANCHING OUT !

ALL MINE (ACOUSTIC VER) — F(X) ( WITH ROYAL ENT’S BAEKHYUN )

after july’s evaluation, sphere could’ve asked him to cartwheel a full route of the seocho building this month and seungcheol would have sighed with relief. thankfully, they don’t, however, though seungcheol notes that the task they do give him initially feels of the same difficulty level. 

talking to new people is a skill seungcheol should really be making sure he improves on given that the idol life is equal parts communicating with everyone you see as it is actually performing. fans, show hosts, backstage staff; seungcheol would be coming into constant contact with unfamiliar people and whilst still a trainee is the best time to master that — or at least, get to a point where he perhaps doesn’t stutter every time. now, out of the public eye, he can afford to mess up a little (within reason). once he debuts, or even once the samsung ads air and he’s a public trainee, people will be watching and a seemingly unapproachable and uncooperative idol isn’t likely to get anywhere (and it’d be a great shame, since seungcheol is neither of those things). 

말이 맘대로 안돼 내 맘을 따라 잡을 수 없어 

he assumes it can only be the world repaying him for the work he put in last month (and the price he paid for it) when baekhyun approaches him.

their collaboration is something mostly new to seungcheol and his excitement to finally perform it begins to outweigh his nerves towards the end of the month. truthfully, he expected to worry endlessly about carrying baekhyun’s success on his shoulders like he did in every collaborative performance, especially those where they choose to work together, but as they progress through converting the strong edm beat to the soft acoustic, he finds he focuses less on failure and more on success. 

like last month, it’s a challenge, and that’s exactly what seungcheol feels he needs — albeit this one is much, much more achievable. 

널 내 품에 안고 dive

it comes as a surprise to him once it’s all done and they’re playing it through from beginning to end for the first time, that the song actually sounds quite natural in acoustic form. since the original is so different, he imagined the vocals would feel disconnected and they’d have to look at changing it further, but it’s not even close. that doesn’t subtract from how difficult it had been to convert in the first place, though, but seungcheol’s honestly quite glad it’s ready to practice at that point, because he has to balance two performances this month, plus a well overdue monthly cover... at least no one can say I don’t work hard, he muses, right? 

he plays gently, as not to overpower baekhyun’s voice or bring attention away from the sweetness of it. if baekhyun’s friendliness had awed him, then his voice leaves him speechless. seungcheol knows the other trainees are talented; each and every single one of them has to be in some way, shape or form to be here at all, but he sometimes forgets just quite how impressive they all are, especially outside sphere, always hiding away in his protective bubble alone. at first, it scares him — can I keep up with him? do his voice justice? — but after a while, like everything else this evaluation, it becomes more an honour he isn’t prepared to mess up or miss out on. 

so he doesn’t.

(for the most part, anyway.)

(무지개도) (저 바다도) (햇살까지) oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, all mine

all mine 온 세상이

his throat is fully healed from his cold and his body from the beating it’d taken against the stage floor, but he still stays reasonably still, swaying only slightly as he plays and keeping his voice stable and soft. it’s lucky, really, that it had only taken a couple weeks, with as much rest as he could possibly fit in and plenty of fluids, for him to recover. he doesn’t know what he would have done if he’d have still been sick come the end of the month— he doesn’t know what sphere would do. it’s not a crime to skip an evaluation, but he doesn’t want to find out what comes of it. (though he imagines it’s probably just a stern lecture about dedication and the cost of keeping a trainee, which sounds like the opposite of fun. at that point, he’d rather just sneeze his way through a performance.) 

(꿈의 그림) (my heart)

a lot of his lines are necessary, to fill in the gaps where baekhyun can’t sing two different voices at the same time, but seungcheol still thinks he’s been given too much. with his guitar strap over his shoulder, he would’ve been content just taking the rap and the necessary backing vocals, but he also didn’t want to come across uncommitted either. it had been a dilemma at first, but he soon embraces it. as much as he wants baekhyun to shine, his partner likely wants him to, too. it doesn’t reflect well on either of them if the performance is unbalanced. 

(and truthfully, he really loves his small chorus lines and harmonising with the older. it’s not often that he gets to harmonise with anyone but himself, so it’s nice to remind himself that he can actually do that from time to time. it seems silly, but he performs alone so much that he forgets how useful he has the potential to be in certain collaborations— or maybe that’s just plain, old insecurities. either way, it’s warming to rediscover each time.) 

이 순간 보여지는 모든 환상이 내 거라고

so far, his performance is clean. he’s focusing mostly on himself, on timing his vocals perfectly and playing the backing without fault for baekhyun to follow with ease — just like they practiced. but, he knows that’ll catch him out soon; it’s always misplaced focus that does.

난 네 손을 잡고 fly

the chorus arrives before he knows it and in truth, his stumble is barely noticeable, especially after re-imagining the song, but that doesn’t stop his cheeks from flushing a delicate pink as he transitions into the rap. 

(흰 구름도) (이 바람도) (향기까지) oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, all mine

oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, all mine

oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, all mine

he starts the verse late— only a few beats, and it’s probably the best time to mess up, if he has to at all. with years of practice, he fits back into the normal beat with ease, prays it hadn’t been obvious that his priority had been the guitar. maybe he should’ve recorded a backing track in the studio, then he could’ve added extra instruments, but it feels more authentic like this. is that what they wanted? right now, he can’t really afford to think about it. 

상상했던 사랑인 거죠 하늘 위 바다 끝 어딜 보아도 알록 달록 아름다워 도무지 난 눈을 뗄 수가 없죠 꿈에서도 펼치게 밤새 설레설레 잠도 못 들게

thankfully, the rest of the performance continues without any more slip ups. a bright smile and sheer determination (and also a little of that fear of failure that he had, until now, avoided) get him through to the end of the song, his fingers shaking as the room falls to silence. gently, he bows his head in thanks. 

all mine, all mine, all mine oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, all mine

(꿈의 그림) (my heart)

oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, all mine

one down, one to go. 

[kpoptimeout]

Top 20 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs of the Decade (2010-2019) PART 1

The 2010s has come and gone before we knew it.  

Continuing with the K-Pop Timeout Tradition (see 2018 Ver) of listing the Top 10 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs because all the other sites are just bothered with the Top 10 that pretty much everyone will have heard of/have fan wars over, below we have created a list of the Top 20 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs of the Decade because 10 spots is not enough to cover the amount of talent slept on.

For these reasons, we will list 10 of them here in PART 1 and an additional 10 in PART 2. This is in alphabetic order NOT in the order of awesomeness because all of them are awesome. Also, all MVs are linked in the song titles because Tumblr won’t let me share that many videos in one post.

100% “U Beauty” (2014)

TOP Media has really failed to make their groups successful since TEEN TOP (and have not really promoted TEEN TOP these days either) and 100% was the first group to fall victim to TOP Media’s poor promotions. Debuting in 2012, the group had so much potential and talent. Rockhyun is arguably one of the best K-Pop main vocals of his generation (which global superstar Rain concurs as a coach on KBS’ “The Unit”) but most K-Pop fans won’t even know.  Out of their repertoire, we found “U Beauty” to be worthy of being in the Top 20 most underrated tracks of the decade because of how catchy and wholesome the song is - boy groups often go for either a very cute or very powerful sound and this was a perfect balance of the two. The boys are able to show their cool and manly side through the powerful choreography and the soothing bridge while the rest of the song is cheerful and sweet. It blows our mind that these boys did not receive more attention in 2014 following such a great track. The boys are still an active boy band so go support their latest releases and check out this underrated gem called “U Beauty”!

A-JAX “INSANE” (2013)

A promising boy band which debuted during DSP Media’s more problematic years (essentially this whole decade until 2016/17), A-JAX never got the promotions they deserved. “INSANE” could have been the right direction for the group to pursue (except DSP gave them cute songs afterwards and later no songs at all). Perhaps because this song was slept on at the time of promotions (the album only sold around 2000 copies) that DSP did not try the sound again. However, it is powerful, slightly dark, yet poppy and fun with a good amount of EDM thrown in. We have had lots of quirky sounding girl groups like f(x), Orange Caramel, Red Velvet and Oh My Girl but not many quirky sounding boy bands since SHINee. “INSANE” was a unique song that could have paved the way for A-JAX to have gone down such a path. While the group has officially disbanded this year, “INSANE” is without a doubt one of the top underrated bops of the decade that you should check out!

B.A.P “WAKE ME UP” (2017)

B.A.P had a great start during their early days and were essentially EXO’s rivals in the 2012-13s and brought the powerful self-produced boy band sound before BTS’ debut. However, likely due to a combination of TS Entertainment being shit and them being shittier after the members sued them during 2014-15, B.A.P never reached the heights of their early 2010s popularity again after returning in 2016 and have officially disbanded in 2019. While B.A.P dropped many underrated bops in their final years, we found “WAKE ME UP” to be the one making our Top 20. Not only was this song wonderful to listen to with the haunting repeats of “WAKE ME UP” in the intro and chorus, but it also has a brilliant message as one of the first K-Pop MVs to clearly illustrate different types of mental illness. Especially since the lyrics also spoke to some of the members, especially leader Bang Yongguk’s own mental health struggles, it was frustrating seeing such a good and heartfelt song receive so little attention in South Korea. If you love meaningful K-Pop tracks, you would love “WAKE ME UP”!

C-Clown “Shaking Heart” (2013)

C-Clown was one of the many amazing new groups in 2012 and had a clear sound and direction of ballad-pop bops. “Shaking Heart” was the last song they made in that style before their company made them go for the more generic mainstream hip-hop heavy sound and it definitely one of the best songs of the decade that was heavily slept on. It showcased the vast talents of the group - Kangjun and Ray’s amazing vocal colour and range (and lowkey still most visually powerful vocal line from a small label), Rome and TK’s contrasting rap styles, Siwoo’s consistency and Maru’s potential in becoming a golden maknae. The group has unfortunately disbanded in 2015, only 3 years after their phenomenal start. While most of the members appear to be doing quite well, with Rome (now going by his birth name Christian Yu) having founded DPR and being a famous K-Pop MV director, Kangjun having a solid modelling career and Maru re-debuting as the main vocal for RnB trio TREI, the group itself could have done so much more if more people took notice of what a bop “Shaking Heart” is and gave them the opportunity to do more tracks of that style. Hence, if you enjoy boy band tracks that combine more ballad styles with pop, this is the song for you!

Dalmatian/DMTN “E.R.” (2012)

Dalmatian, later styled DMTN, was famous K-Pop producer MC Mong’s boy band that was gaining positive attention until member Daniel’s marijuana scandal. Member Simon often still does impromptu fan meets when he travels for work (he is now a coach and producer for idol groups in Japan) but the group has been inactive following 2013. While DMTN may now be a group of the past, their music was without a doubt amazing, with “E.R.” being a perfect example of the epitome early 2010s K-Pop sound (those who heard the DMTN “E.R”/B2ST “Fiction” mashup back then knows what’s up). The song had an emotional chorus filled with amazing ad-libs and beautiful piano instrumentals, a subtle yet sexy choreography and dramatic MV. If you love the early 2010s K-Pop sound, you would love this underrated bop!

GLAM “I Like That” (2013)

Many new K-Pop fans either don’t know them or only know them as the reason Big Hit Entertainment has not been recruiting female trainees for many years now (because one member went off to blackmail world star Lee Byunghun - you can learn all about the drama here). However, GLAM was actually an extremely promising girl group and the first idol group fully produced by Bang PD under Big Hit. Like their now world-famous brother group BTS, GLAM was a group with great vocals and rap, with no problem going hard in choreography and making woke statements (their debut song includes lyrics about being down to kiss boys or girls). “I Like That” was a perfect example of their style and abilities. While the song was just a remake of 1990s K-Pop track "Why Do You" by Chuli and Miae, it was done so well it was essentially GLAM’s own song. It is fun, it is catchy and just a strong and confident girl group bop that existed early in the decade when most girl groups besides 2NE1 and 4Minute did not go hard but cute or sexy. If you love powerful girl group tracks, you would love “I Like That”!

HISTORY “DREAMER” (2013)

The first boy band ever debuting under LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao M), the 5-member group of all visuals had many amazing tracks usually in the vein of dark and sexy concepts. The members were also active in song production and choreography and honestly had everything one could ask for to create a successful group. However, South Korea and overseas K-Pop fans both did not seem to have noticed the existence of such a talented and consistently awesome group and they disbanded in 2017. “DREAMER”, their debut track, is arguably one of the best songs of the decade because of the stage musical style of the song - the piano instrumentals in the verses and the marching band inclusion in the buildup to the chorus, with the crazy smooth footwork and wonderful harmonisation of the boys. There is no other K-Pop boy group song like this. If you are a fan of musicals, this is the song for you!

Ladies’ Code “Galaxy” (2016)

Ladies’ Code had a strong debut, being one of the top rookies in 2013 along with current superstars BTS. While their developing career took a huge blow after the car accident which claimed the lives of two members, EunB and Rise, the remaining girls Ashley, Sojung and Zuny powered on to continue creating amazing music. It is painful to see how their excellence is still ignored by the K-Pop fan base at large. Even Billboard listed “Galaxy” as the #19 best K-Pop track of the decade and very deservingly so. “Galaxy” was their first return as a 3-piece and see the girls take a darker and more mature sound following their earlier fun and quirky retro bops. This transition was done well, as more retro sound choices like jazz instrumentals and 80s chime synths were still used in this comeback as a bridge between the sounds of the two Ladies’ Code eras. The song also complements main vocal Sojung’s exceptionally raspy and low voice very well. These girls are still active and deserve so much more. If you enjoy the darker experimental tracks of f(x), Red Velvet and LOONA, “Galaxy” would be your jam! 

MYNAME “Baby I’m Sorry” (2013)

Debuting in 2011 under legendary Korean RnB duo Fly to the Sky’s Hwanhee’s label, MYNAME was the boy band you knew could sing. And damn they could sing so well. Even the rappers of MYNAME sing typical K-Pop lead vocal quality. For this reason, it made a lot of sense for MYNAME to go for a more ballad-pop sound and flourish in such a musical environment. While they did produce a lot of great songs of that sound, the lack of attention from the Korean public pushed them to go for a more generic hip-hop based boy band sound in 2015. “Baby I’m Sorry” was an example of the greatness of their earlier sound which was just brilliant Korean action drama OST material. The MV was also one of the rare story MVs that make it seem like you are watching a movie (plus the boys acted well). While MYNAME is still active, they now pretty much exclusively promote in Japan, where they are actually appreciated and chart high. In Korea, the members gave their last shot as being idols in KBS’ poorly received survival program “The Unit” and now just act sometimes or model. If you love dramatic ballad-based boy band tracks, you should check out MYNAME’s “Baby I’m Sorry”!

Nine Muses “Wild” (2013)

Once known as the real generals of the Korean military due to their huge fan base among conscripted soldiers, Nine Muses was THE sexy girl group of the decade who somehow always existed between real fame and nugudom during their active years from 2010-2019. Like they have dedicated fans but they never win music show #1s. And the song that should have really put them on the map for all Koreans and K-Pop fans is their 2013 comeback “Wild”. This was just pop perfection - it is catchy, showcases each of the 9 members’ unique vocal colours and performance style, and had some of the sharpest and most in-sync girl group choreography execution of all time. It was also one in a long line of Nine Muse songs that sound like high fashion runaway music and arguably one of the peaks due to the specific line-up of members at the time. Check out “Wild”, if you would like to listen to one of the best K-Pop girl group tracks of the decade!

The other 10 Top 20 Underrated K-Pop Tracks of the Decade are listed in PART 2.

[asksabhaniblog]

EVOLUTION OF WOMEN IN CINEMA

(Seema Faruqi)

Bindu scandalises Asha Parekh in a song from the film Kati Patang (1970)-IMAGE01 A typ­i­cal Bollywood film fea­tures an al­pha male who is most­ly do­ing the right thing, can sing, dance, fight the bad­dies (some­times si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly) and usu­al­ly gets the girl in the end. It is the last part of this def­i­ni­tion that has changed re­cent­ly in Bollywood films where get­ting the man (or not) where the her­oine is con­cerned, doesn’t ham­per the chan­ces of the film’s suc­cess. With gut­sy mov­ies like Highway and Queen, Bollywood has com­ple­ted 100 years of film­mak­ing as well as 100 years of wom­an-in-films. A trip down the mem­o­ry lane re­veals how wom­en evolved in Bollywood, and at times, out­shone the men in the proc­ess.

In the be­gin­ning, there were noneWhen Dada Saheb Phalke pro­duced the first ev­er Bollywood film Raja Harischandra (1913), his big­gest ob­sta­cle was the un­avail­a­bil­i­ty of fe­male ac­tress­es. Not on­ly did he have to make male ac­tor Anna Salunke dress up as a wom­an, it was such roles that got Salunke his rec­og­ni­tion. Four years lat­er, he be­came the first ac­tor to play a dou­ble role in Bollywood — both the hero and the her­oine in Lanka Dahan. All in all, he played the fe­male lead in five films.

The sassy Helen in the film Caravan (1971) song, Piya tu ab to aaja-IMAGE03

Then en­tered the 14-year old thes­pi­an Kamlabai Gokhale, who was fea­tured in Dada Saheb Phalke’s Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), in which her moth­er Durgabai Kamat played the char­ac­ter of Parvati. These two wom­en were the pio­neer fe­male ac­tress­es in Bollywood and al­though they were a stop-gap at first (their the­a­tre com­pa­ny was clos­ing for six months) they sow­ed in a seed that is still bear­ing fruit. Kamlabai be­came a ce­leb­ri­ty even be­fore she turned 16, and con­tin­ued to work in films till 1980.

Goray rang ka za­ma­na

In the 1920s, cin­e­ma in the sub­con­ti­nent was in its de­vel­op­ing stage, so no lo­cal fam­i­ly was al­low­ing their daugh­ters to act in films. The pro­duc­ers’ prob­lems were solved by trav­el­ling for­eign­ers or the many Baghdadi-Jewish and Anglo-Indian fe­males who had no qualms about be­ing fea­tured in a film.Since those were the days of si­lent films, pro­duc­ers pre­fer­red looks over ev­ery­thing else and searched for gori miss (white lady) and/or hou­ris (fair­ies) from para­dise — a prac­tice that was re­pea­ted in Dhoom 3!Some changed their names and some, like Patience Cooper, didn’t. Ruby Meyers be­came Sulochana, Renee Smith changed her name to Seeta Devi, Susan Solomon be­came Firoza Begum, Iris Gasper was (re)named Sabita Devi, Effie Hippolet changed her name to Indira Devi, Bonnie Bird be­came Lalita Devi, Winnie Stewart was re­chris­tened Manorama and Beryl Claessen be­came Madhuri (yes, this one was the orig­i­nal one!). Even Italian ac­tress Signora Minelli ac­ted in one of the films op­po­site Esther Abrahams aka Pamilla in Madan Theatres’ Pati Bakhti (1922).

The ad­vent of Bharti nari

Durga Khote may be re­mem­bered as Jodhabai in Mughal-i-Azam but her big­gest ach­ieve­ment was be­ing the first high­ly edu­ca­ted, English-speak­ing Brahmin girl to break the ta­boo and en­ter films.She, along with her con­tem­po­rary Devika Rani (daugh­ter of no­ted Indian Surgeon General M.N. Chaudhry) came, saw and con­quered. They weren’t as beau­ti­ful as the gori maims but they fit­ted the char­ac­ters that were writ­ten with a Bharti nari in mind. They used their voi­ces to their ad­vant­age as they could speak dia­logues in Urdu/Hindu, which their pred­e­ces­sors couldn’t.Durga made her de­but through Ayodheycha Raja (1932) and Devika through Karma (1933) and from then on­wards, lo­cal wom­en were giv­en pref­er­ence as the love in­ter­est, the dam­sel in dis­tress or the wom­an be­hind the suc­cess­ful man!There were some ex­cep­tions as well. In the mid-30s, the Wadia Brothers gave India its first khi­la­di and trust me; she wasn’t a bhayya-like Akshay Kumar.She went by the name Fearless Nadia (re­al name Mary Ann Evans) and was the orig­i­nal ac­tion wom­an of Bollywood. She per­formed in a cir­cus be­fore join­ing films and was one of the first ar­tists in India to per­form their own stunts. Her mov­ie Hunterwali re­mains one of the best films pro­duced by Bollywood dur­ing that era.

Evolution of wom­en in Bollywood

From the 1940s to the ear­ly 1970s, wom­en were trea­ted in Bollywood with ex­treme care.

They didn’t kiss open­ly (ex­cept for few like Devika Rani who kissed her hus­band Himanshu Rai in her de­but flick), didn’t wear bi­ki­nis (that was be­fore Sharmila Tagore did so in An Evening in Paris in 1967 or Dimple Kapadia in Bobby in 1973) or do any­thing sin­is­ter since it was the job of the vamp to do that.As good ba­hus, the her­oines were well-versed in bha­jans, looked beau­ti­ful 24x7 and re­solved the prob­lems of the house (or the en­tire vil­lage) de­pend­ing on the sce­nar­io.Premarital sex was a no-no (un­til Sharmila Tagore had a con­sen­su­al li­ai­son in Aradhana) and all those wom­en who did bad things were ei­ther vamps, pros­ti­tutes or ta­waif i.e. cour­te­sans.Mothers were used as sup­port­ing char­ac­ters and they al­most in­var­i­a­bly loved sew­ing clothes so that her son could study and ac­quire a re­spect­a­ble job, where­as the bha­bi kept the house­hold in check and was termed as maa sa­maan in pla­ces where the moth­er was dead.

Mere Paas Maa Hai!

The moth­er did have im­por­tant roles in Bollywood — be it in Mother India (1959) or K. Asif’s mag­num opus Mughal-i-Azam where Shahenshah Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor) roared ‘Aap maa hain, sirf maa!’However, dur­ing the ’70s, it was Nirupa Roy’s moth­er roles that hel­ped maa be­come the cen­tre of the fil­mi uni­verse — be it Deewar, Trishul, Suhaag, Amar Akbar Anthony to name a few, what­ev­er maa said, hap­pened. In Karz, Durga Khote played the maa who asked the ‘high­er maa’ to send back her dead son (Raj Kiran), and he was re­in­car­na­ted as Rishi Kapoor — no­body says no to a griev­ing moth­er!Who can for­get Shashi Kapoor’s icon­ic re­ply in Deewar when asked by broth­er Amitabh Bachchan “Tumhare paas kya hai?” to which he re­plies “Mere paas maa hai!”

Then there was the ‘oth­er’ wom­an!

Shashi Kala, Helen, Bindu — what comes to mind when you hear their names? Plotting the down­fall of the pro­tag­o­nist, the good ba­hu or some evil deed that will change the course of the film, of course!

Shabana Azmi in Arth They even had songs filmed on them, al­though they usu­al­ly met their fate by the end of the mov­ie. They were dressed in sexy out­fits as per their era (sleeve­less sa­ris in the ’60s, west­ern out­fits in the ’70s and any of the two since the ’80s and be­yond). After Kajol’s suc­cess­ful at­tempt at do­ing the neg­a­tive role in Gupt, lead­ing la­dies in­clud­ing Priyanka Chopra in Aiteraaz, Kareena Kapoor in Fida and Urmila Matondkar in the re­make of Karz, ex­cel­led in roles of a vamp – some even went on­to bag the Filmfare Award for their per­form­an­ces. Had there been a Best Villain Award in the ’50s, the leg­en­dary Waheeda Rehman would sure­ly have bag­ged one for her neg­a­tive role in Raj Khosla’s CID, her de­but film.

Older the in­dus­try, bold­er the roles

Big, bold and beau­ti­ful

People say that Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957) changed it all for Bollywood, but it was in fact its ear­li­er ver­sion —Aurat (1940) by the same di­rec­tor that did the trick.The her­oine in both ver­sions Radha — Sardar Akhtar in Aurat, Nargis in Mother India — do what is best for the fam­i­ly and come out un­scath­ed as the quin­tes­sen­tial moth­er. Similarly, films such as Khilona, Insaaf ka Tarazu, Arth and Masoom saw ac­tress­es don the role of the hero and give the per­form­an­ces of a life­time.In Khilona (1970), it was Mumtaz who played a cour­te­san who was tak­en ad­vant­age of (in a fit of mad­ness) by the very man she was nurs­ing; Insaaf ka Tarazu (1980) was about rape vic­tims and their plight, Arth (1982) and Masoom (1983) had Shabana Azmi play­ing a wife who feels cheat­ed in dif­fer­ent as­pects.Till the 1990s, wom­en used to play tor­men­ted souls in films and Juhi Chawla’s Kiran in Darr (1993) was one such ex­am­ple. While some like Hema Malini (Seeta aur Geeta) showed the world that wom­en can fight, some like Sridevi set the stage on fire with their sen­su­ous dan­ces (Kaatay na­hin kat tay from Mr. India).There were a few who came and went af­ter play­ing their re­spec­tive in­nings. Be it Tina Munim (now Mrs. Anil Ambani), Jaya Pradha (now a pol­i­ti­cian and oc­ca­sion­al ac­tress), Manisha Koirala (now gone from the scene) or Shilpa Shetty (now co-own­er of an IPL team), they played their cards right when they had the chance, but didn’t go for our of the box roles.

Except for maybe Ashwariya Rai (now Mrs. Abhishek Bachchan) who played a strong wom­an who went back to her lov­er af­ter get­ting mar­ried in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), or a wom­an who de­ceived his for­mer fiancé in Raincoat (2004).

It took a brave at­tempt like Deepa Mehta’s Fire (1996) which hel­ped Bollywood step up and de­liv­er. In the mov­ie, Shabana Azmi (again) and Nandita Das played mar­ried wom­en who be­come in­ti­mate­ly in­volved with each oth­er af­ter be­ing ne­glec­ted by their re­spec­tive spou­ses. The film was criti­cised for its theme but is con­sid­ered icon­ic when it comes to wom­en-ori­en­ted films. On a light­er note, ac­tor Biswajeet is still re­mem­bered for the con­tro­ver­sy sur­round­ing the Kajra Mohabbat Wala song in Kismat (1968) where he dressed as a fe­male, on­ly to be dub­bed as ‘bet­ter-look­ing than his male ver­sion’ by the press!

Highway & Queen push the men away

Emancipation

The ’90s and be­yond saw Madhuri Dixit (Ilzaam, Mrityudand, Gaja Gamini and Lajja), Juhi Chawla (Darrar) and Karishma Kapoor (Fiza) play cen­tral roles in quite a num­ber of films; but they were more pop­u­lar for their non-hero­ic roles. All that changed in 2014 — ex­act­ly 101 years af­ter Bollywood came in­to be­ing. Two di­rec­tors — Imtiaz Ali (Highway) and Vikas Bahl (Queen) as­toun­ded all by do­ing the un­im­a­gin­a­ble. Imtiaz Ali’s film fea­tured one-film old Ali Bhatt who took the view­ers by sur­prise since she gave the per­form­ance of a life­time. Not on­ly was she con­vinc­ing as the dam­sel-in-dis­tress in the first half, she rocked as the girl who trans­formed the bad guy in­to a good one, and al­so faced the man who vio­la­ted her when she was young.

A fort­night lat­er, Queen pro­vi­ded Kangana Ranaut a chance to break away from reg­u­lar roles, and she ex­cel­led as the girl from a con­ser­va­tive fam­i­ly who goes on her Honeymoon alone, and re­turns as a free wom­an. Both the ac­tress­es set the bar high with their in­cred­i­ble per­form­an­ces and it will be tough for oth­ers to fol­low now. There are many ac­tress­es with the ca­pa­bil­i­ty to do out-of-the-box roles but they re­al­ize their po­ten­tial on­ly when young­er ac­tress­es have tak­en their place.

Waheeda Rehman plays the  vamp in CID-IMAGE04

The wom­en in Bollywood are evolv­ing at the mo­ment, and at 100, they have giv­en hun­dreds of per­form­an­ces that have made Bollywood what it is to­day. Yes they ha­ven’t made an ‘ex­clu­sive’ en­try in the 100-crore club but if di­rec­tors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Imtiaz Ali and oth­ers con­tin­ue to make wom­en-cen­tric films, who knows the 100-crore club might be in their reach.

[bonkins]

The Ending -Hobo Johnson

She said

She said, "You're like Jason Biggs, in all the Jason Biggs movies"

She said

"Hey!"

She said, "You're like the weird... guy... in all the movies, who turns into the hero at the end and gets the girl"

And I was like, "Shut your mouth"

But I'm gonna take over...

The world

As soon as everybody dies

I'm gonna take over your heart

As soon as I get the balls to try

Ima re-arrange the alphabet

And then take "U" and "I"

And put a bit of space between 'em

And hope that nobody cries

Ima run around this city, wondering why shit is like this

Ima be a nice guy

Might fuck around and make a difference

Ima hope for the best, but prepare for the worst

They're gonna focus on their hooks

And then say, "fuck it" to the verse

Like, goddamn, but look at me

Then look at them

Now look at me

How's it going?

My name's Frank

Wassuuup?

Today, we're looking into what really fucking matters

Gucci bags, money bands, trap beats, and sarcasm

I hope that you don't fall into their schemes and what they say

When you look them in their eyes, that they don't choose to look away

'Cause you don't deserve to be fucked with

Unless you're a fucking asshole

And expect two-hundred dollars every time that you pass "Go"

Your life isn't fair

Life is like a fair

That only lets in white people with blue eyes and blond hair

And big tits and small waists

Let's cut-paste the same face

The same smile

The same type

That's been stuck here for a while

I hope that you don't fall into my schemes or what I say

When you look me in the eye, I'll look you dead into the face

'Cause you don't deserve to be fucked with

Unless you're a fucking asshole

And expect two-hundred dollars every time that you pass "Go"

Your life isn't fair

Life is like a fair

That only lets in white people with blue eyes and blond hair

And big tits and small waists

Let's cut-paste the same face

The same smile

The same type

That's been stuck here for a while

Yeah, I ain't shit

I ain't shit

Compared to them, right?

I ain't shit

Yo

My friends say that I have poor face structure

I said, "You look like Alien vers. fuckin' Predator

Both of 'em"

'Cause right before the movie starts, there's a weird type of scene

That's awfully sensual with rose petals and Marvin Gaye sings

I think people would watch that

Probably on pay-per-view

On a Tuesday night, like, what else is there to do?

Like, a lot of things

Fuckin' read a book, I guess?

Like 50 Shades of Gray, except Alien and Predator making the schtukkus

That's great fan fiction for a great man missin'

The spice of life

The price is right for species all alike

Like this, the night was young and I could feel it on my lipsIt's the taste of Predator's... wit