frequently i find myself wishing more people knew about songs i came across, and sometimes i just wanna talk about songs i like!
and even though this is unlikely to reach very many people i have opinions and thoughts on so many songs that more people should know about!
i listen primarily to kpop, but i like pop from every country (jpop, cpop, ppop, tpop, american pop, british pop, hong kong pop, latin pop, etc etc) and from the 80s to now. if it was designed to be danced to, i'm listening to it!
i'm going to analyze songs to the best of my ability with extremely limited musical knowledge so bear with me.
and please be in my asks and reblogs with more music! tag me on other people's posts! i'm always on the hunt for more things to listen to.
Sobbing Because of Gay Animated High Schoolers? More Likely Than You'd Think!
Fuyunohanashi by Given
Genres: Anime, J-Rock (unsure of genuine subgenre, but it's rock and japanese so i'm sticking with j-rock)
Written by: centimillimental
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trigger warning for discussions of suicide
back when i was deep in my anime phase in 2019, crunchyroll licensed the anime given, and after getting spammed by my friend telling me to watch it, i succumbed
only for given to be the first anime i ever cried watching, precisely because of this song
i learned to sing lyrics in japanese (a language i do not know) just to sing along to this song because of the way it made me feel, and it was the first japanese song i did this for.
fuyunohanashi (or fuyu no hanashi) translates to "winter's story" and it's about coming to terms with the death of someone who died suddenly and dealing with the grief that follows along with being left behind, using metaphors of winter and the cold to describe the emotions of grief. it's sung by the character mafuyu (which means winter) is singing this song about his ex-boyfriend yuki (which means snow) after yuki suddenly commits suicide after (MAJOR SPOILERS) having an argument with mafuyu, leaving mafuyu reeling from being the guilt of being unable to reconcile with yuki, thinking that it was his fault yuki committed suicide, on top of the trauma of finding yuki's body.
later, mafuyu meets ritsuka (meaning summer) and after hearing mafuyu sing, ritsuka begs mafuyu to join his band, where they eventually develop a new relationship.
the context of the story is important just because of how gut-wrenching the lyrics are. even in the english dub the song is still performed in japanese and even with only a subtitled translation the emotions are so raw that you can't help but cry. (it doesn't help that the performance is peppered with gut-wrenching flashbacks and devastating audience reactions either, but i digress)
i should note that in the anime that ritsuka plays guitar for the band so the sick riffs in the back (arguably the backbone of the track and the most distinct part aside from the vocals) are ritsuka just wailing on the guitar. the drums are also exciting, and at some points of the verses it's just the hi-hat and simple bass chords to highlight mafuyu's voice and raw emotion.
and oh my god mafuyu's voice. i barely have words to describe it. voiced by actor shogo yano, it is so full of emotion and audible grief that you'd think that the actor himself had recently suffered a devastating loss. at one point in the song he even screams (melodically, but still a scream), and it's such a painful sound that it was the exact moment i burst into tears.
mafuyu's english voice actor (brandon mcinnis) did make an excellent english cover, but nothing compares to whatever magic shogo yano was doing in the recording booth.
the whole song is just so raw. it's like someone bottled grief itself and let it loose on stage. at that point in my life i had not yet experienced the death of someone close to me, but this song single-handedly made me understand that kind of grief. it's just so visceral, both in sound and lyricism.
it's mafuyu telling yuki that he resents what yuki did to him and how up until this point he'd been unable to move on, and that even though he's just now moving on with his life he'll never forget yuki and what yuki meant to him. it's a love song, but in the past-tense. mafuyu will always love yuki, but is no longer in love with him (especially now that he has ritsuka).
also bonus, when i say "just now moving on" i mean that literally--mafuyu had no idea what he wanted to sing about and couldn't write any lyrics so within the context of the anime he literally improvised it on stage as soon as he got his feelings in order, much to the surprise of his band members.
there's also some specific things that don't quite translate over because of linguistic differences between japanese and english. when mafuyu says goodbye to yuki, he's saying sayonara, a specific way of saying goodbye that is quite formal and also has connotations of being a kind of final farewell. you say sayonara to people you might not be seeing again.
honestly you should really watch the anime to gain full context for the song
there's also a live action version of given but they changed?? the song?? for some reason?? likely because they couldn't hope to recreate shogo yano's batshit insane performance. it's not a bad song, but it's no fuyunohanashi either.
highly recommend if you feel like crying. in all seriousness it's for enjoyers of high-emotion and high-tension music. you'll like it if you listen to anime intros and centimillimental's other music. it's more uptempo than fujii kaze but it's got a similar level of raw emotion if that's what you're into.
Clip From Anime (interrupted with dialogue from show)
Written by: Jason Evigan, Jordan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Stefan Johnson, Sam Watters
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actress, model, icon...musician?
i feel like an oft-overlooked aspect of zendaya's barbie-like career in entertainment is the fact that she's like...a really good singer. true gen-z will remember shake it off where she showed off these skills with frequency, and she's done a number of acting jobs that included singing (greatest showman, euphoria soundtrack, etc). however, in my opinion not enough people talk about her banger (non-acting) solo discography, especially Butterflies off her 2013 eponymous album ZENDAYA.
replay was the promoted track for this album, and while that song is a banger, the best song on that album, in my opinion, is butterflies.
butterflies is a song about not taking one's ex back no matter how much appeal they may have ("So heart don't trust these butterflies"). The lyrics are deceptively simple and incredibly catchy, and the rhyme scheme just fits SO well ("You want another try, like the time before/Then a million more" and "No need to read your mind, I can read the signs" are my favorite lyrics but even though the lines are simple they just make so. much. sense. both lyrically and musically. a true mark of good songwriting)
i'm not sure what was going on in the production room as the only instrument i can reliably identify is the drums, but it's got this great sort of rat-a-tat-tat sound happening in the verses as well as as more explosive electronic sounds in the chorus. the instruments almost stutter at points, like a dj's record scratch, which thematically feels like an allusion to the feeling of stuttering due to nerves when you're in love with someone. it really feels like that's what someone's heart sounds like when they're trying not to fall in love. it just sounds like the feeling of butterflies in your stomach.
zendaya's voice is clear, yet autotuned at parts where they blend her in with the electronic instruments in the back. the high notes hit your emotions exactly where they need to me, and the low notes she hits in the hook to the chorus can only be described as enthralling. zendaya has an excellent lower register and this song makes great use of it.
the whole album has a bit of a jordin sparks vibe to it, maybe cheetah girls vibes? you could compare it to a decent number of other ex-disney star music (selena gomez, dove cameron, demi lovato) but i think that's in part due to the 2010's pop trends. it's a great song off of a great album, although the other tracks are a bit more rnb rather than pop, but if that's your thing then it's perfect!
How To Single-Handedly Launch People Into The C-Pop Stratosphere
Psycho by Jun
Genre: C-Pop (Mandopop?) (might be considered K-Pop)
Written by: BuildingOwner, Glenn, Jun, and PonyZhang (DreamNotes)
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psycho, a 2023 single, was jun's (of kpop boygroup seventeen) solo debut, and boy did he deliver. first off, i love that he did the singing in mandarin instead of korean. it's not immediately obvious, (and this may have actually been due to the nature of his song vs svt songs as opposed to simply being in mandarin vs korean) but his voice was way deeper and more gravelly than it usually is, and i fall apart at the mere mention of deep voices.
i think his voice is generally deeper in mandarin than in korean, but i don't watch enough seventeen content to know that for a fact.
also, i felt like the mandarin really leant itself to the vibe of the song, as the way that words flow in mandarin has a different vibe to it than the way that korean words flow together. it would've been a different song in korean, and i'm glad it was in mandarin.
the grammar structure of mandarin and korean are different, which led to also some great emphasis on some of the lyrics that would've been lost had they done it in korean. i don't have great specific examples because i don't know korean and my mandarin is basic at best but trust i've heard enough of both languages to make these distinctions.
like questions words (who, how, etc) happen at the end of a sentence in korean, but in mandarin they can happen closer towards the beginning so when jun in the outro puts emphasis on the "shei" (who) in "who's the weirdo in someone else's eyes?" it happens at the beginning, which flows. if that emphasis had been at the end of the lyric it would not have flowed that nicely, imo.
that was a long sidebar, but genuinely because of the way that this song sounded in comparison to how songs in korean sound, i got way more interested in cpop and songs sung in mandarin, which led to a low-level wayv obsession since they were the most easily accessible cpop i could find and then led to a desperate wish for more chinese singers to put songs on spotify with at least translated titles so i can have an easier time finding more of them. there's only so much my youtube recommended can do.
cpop also has a slightly different vibe to kpop and other pop genres. there's generally more intensity of grandeur in the lyrics and vocal tone, and i'd say that traditional chinese instruments feature more heavily in cpop than traditional korean instruments feature in kpop, although i've seen a decent amount of traditional instruments in both genres.
back to psycho, the lyrics talk a lot about being considered a weirdo by society and about being forced to embrace that kind of identity ("don't think it's surprising, both you and I exist as freaks/don't fool yourself into thinking you're an exception" as well as "don't fool yourself anymore, psycho")
jun uses such intense inflection in his singing that i would almost call it voice acting. he's acting a character of someone disillusioned by society and the vocal tone reflects that--it's a bit dead inside, with a humorous lilt to it like a movie villain that knows he's about to win. very joker-about-to-kill-robin vibes. there are moments where his tone is low and hypnotizing, and moments where he's full of anger and his voice becomes raspier. it's addicting to listen to.
the dance is also excellent. even if you only looked at his face the whole time it would've been it's own performance. the dance frequently calls for jun draw attention to different facial features like having him hook his fingers to pull the sides of his mouth to look joker-ish or to have his hand cover his face so you focus on his eyes, which have no light to them throughout the performance. he also has this excellent sadistic smile used in only the correct moments throughout his performance.
the dance also has a lot of moments where he's contorting his body to either stretch out fully or to shrink in, and the dichotomy of these movements, especially when they're done right after each other, serve to throw you off and unsettle you. this is especially visible when they are used in sequence with other distorting movements, like with the hand twisting move in the chorus or the jerky head rotation right before the second verse. there's never a comfortable moment visually and that discomfort serves the song extremely well
but the highlight of this song to me is the backtrack. featuring the lowest octaves of a piano and a bass drum (i think?) as well as some kind of bell/ringing instrument that had some really interesting horror-style tones, used alongside some creepy sound effects that included breathing and whispering as well as some rattling noises. altogether it created the same kind of dread and anticipation you feel watching scary movies.
fans of seventeen's heavier or more eerie songs (spell, fear, hoshi's spider) are likely already fans of this one. if you like soundtracks to horror movies this might speak to you as well. it's got a similar vibe to witch by xikers and at parts it reminds me of criminal or sexuality by taemin. it's a pretty unique song but it's really amazing.
(also this song coming out at the same time his drama came out with my girl zhang miao yi from when i fly towards you? diabolical advertising with that one i was extremely jun-obsessed for like two months)
that title is clickbait i actually find a lot of satisfaction in my college classes and i learn a lot.
anyways i took a class on african films and the 2021 movie Casablanca Beats was shown as part of the curriculum. Casablanca Beats is about a group of young people in Casablanca, Morocco, figuring out life, religion, and personal issues through song, and dance, specifically rap and hip-hop, genres that are a point of contention with more conservative members of the community. it's a great movie i recommend if you like that style of film. although to warn you is that the characters of the rappers of this song are lowkey dickweeds so don't go into it thinking that because they make banger music that they're also perfect characters.
when we screened this movie in class and heard this song the class visibly got more energy. it was not always the most exciting class but for three minutes while the song was playing half of us were bopping our heads to the beat and the other half were genuinely headbanging. it's just that kind of song, with a banger beat and catchy, easily remembered lyrics, even if none of us spoke arabic. i shazamed the song during the screening and told some of my classmates afterward and you would've thought i was jesus the way they cheered for me when i told them the song title.
Drahem is one of the songs that is made in-movie by two of the kids, and imo it's the best one, although the other songs weren't bad either.
drahem is an alternate spelling of dirham, moroccan currency. most of the kids live in some amount of poverty, and the song's lyrics express wishes to have money, to work, to live, to spoil their parents, and even to get married. the song expresses the frustration these kids feel while at the same time remaining a sort of anthem for the moroccan youth in the movie.
the backtrack is a simple repeating drum and i think it's a flute? either way the beat is soft and hard at the same time which lends itself for the double sided nature of the song being both pessimistic about a lack of money and optimistic about having money in the future.
the vocals themselves have been adjusted with slight autotune which honestly lends itself for the two rappers of the song to really blend their voices together as one unit.
i genuinely don't have much to compare it to. i don't listen to a lot of similar music, and the only other arabic song i have saved to spotify is also from this film, called "Angry girls" (also a banger, that one is about misogyny and sexism in morocco and what it is to be a female rapper).
drahem really is its own unique style. all you need to know is that it's an absolute banger and a must-listen song, if not a must-watch movie.
Once I Went to a Taco Place That Was Korean/Mexican Fusion Food (eg Carnitas Con Kimchi) and This is the Audio Version of That
Blind by Ateez
Genres: K-Pop, with exteme latin influence (reggaeton? maybe banda or norteño, i don't know enough about any genre to distinguish that well)
Written by: Eden, Ollounder, Maddox, Oliv, Peperoni, Alexander Karlsson, members Hongjoong and Mingi, Door, and BALM
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where do i even start with this song...
Blind is a track off of Ateez's 2024 EP "GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1"
it's probably one of my favorite songs of all time. it has an addicting beat, lyrics that are fun to sing to, and makes me feel like i'm at a cookout or a club or even a bachlorette party even in the comfort of my pajamas at home.
it's also quite difficult for a non-musician like me to describe but it's got everything--drums, horns, an accordian? i think? and sampled sounds in the back (the sound in the intro is the same sample as seen in super by seventeen)
it's like if you went to go see a mariachi band at a rave, this is what would happen
of course the lyrics match up to the latin influence, including the overarching line "el amor es ciego" ("love is blind").
ateez lyrics are generally mystifying for me to try and understand, as either some combination of whack lyrics or whack translation render it impossible for me to understand.
to the best of my understanding Blind seems to be about meeting someone and dancing (or f***ing) the night away, with their dance moves (bed moves?) blinding ateez to any possible red flags, and even if anything does seem amiss ("devil or angel in just one smile") it doesn't matter because they can "take my soul/take my heart" because...love is blind.
and the bridge/outro...oh my god the bridge/outro. how does one even begin to describe what i could only describe as the best final forty seconds of music in recent memory? it just may well be the bridge that is the most fun to sing and dance to.
when i heard this song for the first time i just about passed out from excitement, then proceeded to play this song another ten times in a row, only to play it about fifty times more in the next two days. it was my most replayed song of 2024 according to spotify wrapped.
despite knowing exactly zero korean words i've managed to memorize much of the lyrics because this is the kind of song you want to scream as you drive 80 mph on the highway. it's like the auditory equivalent of watching noah lyles cinch gold in the 100m dash by 0.005 seconds, or the auditory equivalent of participating in those red bull stunt tricks.
that's the kind of excitement that this song generates. it gives you an adrenaline rush just listening through headphones. i could only imagine what this would do to me physically if i had the chance to see it live.
the lack of a music video or performance video is truly devastating but i'll live. maybe. KQ ENTERTAINMENT GIVE US AN MV I BEG.
basically, if you're like me and you like you latin music, this is for you. i don't have great specific recommendations but it hits the same way that pitbull and daddy yankee do (a la "Hot" or "Gasolina" or "Rompe").
actually thinking about it, Blind could really be Hot's little primo.
you really can't go wrong listening to ateez, and especially not with this song. if ateez released a full latin album i'd be first in line to buy all the copies.
Of Course My Favorite Song is the One That Sounds Completely Different From The Rest of Their Discography
Strings by BINI
Genre: P-pop
Written by: BINI, Jonathan Manalo, Robert Perena
Choreography by Reden Blanquera and Mickey Perz
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first post for an outside recommendation! @bini-ph told me i had to listen to BINI, a P-pop girl group, and since I wasn't given a specific song to listen to, I watched all their music videos!
BINI generally has a fun bubble-gum pop sort of sound, like if illit had red velvet's vocals. a great example of what their music usually sounds like is their latest release Cherry On Top, a fresh song with a great hihat and kick in the back and fun lyrics about being so awesome that your presence is a gift to those around you.
however, i live for heavier sounds so of course the song that spoke to me the most was their one song that doesn't sound anything like the rest of their music, Strings off of their 2022 album "Feel Good"
Strings is more like if itzy and nmixx collabed.
The intrumentals are literally to die for. It starts the first five seconds with piano before jumping in with a horn section, then alternating between verses and prechoruses that are emptier to showcase the vocals and more intense (yet still harmonized and smooth) choruses with more intense instrumentals.
the girls themselves have insane harmonizing talents and they can belt like nobody's business. it's also a great song for learning the members' names since they introduce themselves during the bridge so I can identify Maloi, Colet, and Jhoanna as having some truly insane vocal moments. Especially Jhoanna and Colet those girls can SING.
BINI has moments where their voices are intentionally almost breaking, forcing out some really intense emotions surrounding vulnerability and an emotion that not quite anger but something that tells you they're upset with the bullshit you're putting them through.
the lyrics use the metaphor of a marionette on strings, among other delicate balancing metaphors, to talk about how they're walking a thin line between functioning and falling apart, and how the situation/relationship they're in isn't good for them in the long run. over the course of the song they recognize that the situation sucks and they need to find strength to escape.
in the bridge where they introduce themselves it's like they start to recover identities lost in a toxic relationship, and in the outro they say "Untie all the knots, believe and you’ll make it" after saying in the choruses "I'm on strings, don't cut me off" signifying that they've reached a level of strength where they can stand on their own without these restrictive supports and leave the situation on their own two feet.
Blanquera and Perz did an excellent job doing the choreo for this song, making great use of levels and interesting formations, making great utilization of 8 members and frequently having these balanced 4+4 formations where half the members were doing one thing and the other half were doing something similar either mirrored or opposite, all for the vibe of a marionette or a puppet following instructions, until they find their own strength, of course.
all in all it's a great song about strengthening oneself, but if you really want to know what BINI sounds like, Cherry on Top, Karera, and Salamin, Salamin are better places to start.
as i only know how to give recommendations in the form of kpop, if you like any of the groups i mentioned above (illit, red velvet, itzy, nmixx) there's a strong chance you'll like the music BINI puts out. In terms of western pop, maybe Ava Max? Strings gives off a bit of "Kings and Queens" vibe.
i'm always on the hunt for more filipino music and i'm so glad BINI was put on my radar! they definitely deserve more recognition! thank you @bini-ph for putting me on!
Why Labels Should Always Listen to the Artist Instead of Executives
Straight Up by Paula Abdul
Genres: dance-pop with "new jack swing" R&B influence (according to the wiki page for this song)
Written by: Elliot Wolff
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gotta start this one by saying this song is absolutely not underrated, as according to its wiki page it spent 25 weeks on Billboard Hot 100 when it released in 1988, and spent three of those weeks at #1. however it's been almost 40 years since then and i didn't know about this song until recently--truly a travesty of the ages.
Straight Up was a single off of Abdul's debut studio album "Forever Your Girl" (1988) and to me is her best song, although i'm not a Paula Abdul connoisseur and i would not say i know that many of her songs.
my dad showed this song to me when we were talking about how music videos have changed over the years since their conception on MTV. he cited Straight Up as being one of the earliest and best examples of when music videos started to move away from simple white tv set backgrounds (a la "Mickey" by Toni Basil) or throwing weird camera shots together to show off the new technology of video editing (a la "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles) and actually having concerted efforts towards aesthetic and story, and BOY does having a good music video change how someone interacts with a song.
Abdul uses black and white to visually enforce the binary of a "straight up" Yes or No answer she seeks from her man on whether or not they have a serious relationship or if he's just playing her.
It's really just stunning visually. Everything in the music video accentuates the black and white nature of her lyrics, and even the lighting is done in a masterful way to accentuate light and dark.
The song itself is also just amazing. The lyrics are pretty simple, with bars such as "Do you really wanna love me forever?/Or am I caught in a hit-and-run?" and "I don't mean to make demands/But the word and the deed go hand in hand" she's really just asking a guy not to play with her feelings, and in the era of situationships i appreciate Paula Abdul telling a man to just be fucking honest.
The backtrack has a strong twangy bassline as well as simple drums in the back and interspersed with some great moments with a synth(?)(not great at recognizing synths, it's an electric keybaord of some kind) and electric guitar chords to emphasize some of the lyrics.
Abdul herself has that unique sound female 80s pop stars have, sounding on the verge of tears while simultaneously sounding like the vocal equivalent of stepping on someone with high heels. That is to say is that she has a strong yet vulnerable sound, perfect for the nature of the song she's singing.
the verses flow into the chorus with a slight upbeat change, and the song fades out as if asking you to listen for longer. it's easy to listen to, and it makes me want to dance by myself in my underwear like Tom Cruise in Risky Business. I feel as though I should be using a mop handle as a microphone to serenade myself or something, i just want to groove when I hear this song.
i genuinely can't believe that her label didn't originally want to put this on her album and that she had to fight for it. it's crystal clear that company executives should never be in charge of creative decisions.
I don't listen to a lot of similar music to this, but if you like 1st/2nd gen kpop like SES, T-ara, or Miss A, this song is for you. If you like Selena or Janet Jackson there's a strong chance you already listen to Paula Abdul but the similarities exist nonetheless.
What Would Happen if Your Teenage Garage Band Had Millions to Spend on Production?
Bittersweet by xikers
Genres: K-Pop, with what i would say are rock anthem influences
Written By: EDEN, Kwon, Maddox, Oliv, Ollounder, Peperoni, and members Minjae, Sumin, and Yechan
Choreography by BB Trippin
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this song is what inspired me to create this blog. Bittersweet is a criminally underrated track off of xikers' fourth mini-album "HOUSE OF TRICKY: WATCH OUT" (2024)
the lyrics, similar to the rest of the album, discuss getting mesmerized by xikers and trapped in the "Tricky House" (part of their lore) and even if you try to run away, "Just like Bittersweet and sour candy" you'll still come back and listen. That is to say, xikers are saying they're addictive to listen to, and i can't disagree.
i grew up listening to a lot of rock n roll, and i had an emo/punk rock phase in middle school. this song spoke to me and the inner depths of my soul as soon as i heard it for the first time. in this song xikers have that raw and full of emotion sound of punk rock, while still maintaining that perfectly-engineered sound of kpop. even the imperfect sound of electric guitar feedback in the beginning segues perfectly into the intro.
xikers makes good use of the variety of voices they have, from rougher-voiced raps to smooth sounding verses to choruses with a vocal fry that is reminiscent of a garage band.
the backtrack is a deceptively simple sounding drumkit and electric guitar, interspersed with the sounds of a heavenly sounding chorus and a couple of other instruments/electronic instruments i don't quite have the knowledge to name just from listening.
the dance is addicting to watch. BB Trippin knows how to make a choreography that enmeshes itself with the song it's for. during the verses there are members carrying and holding each other up as tension starts to build throughout the verse. when they segue from the calmer verses to the intense chorus, it's aided by a member literally jumping and slamming into the chorus. there's flowing movements where there needs to be and intense sharp movements where there needs to be.
my favorite part of the song, however, is the final chorus/outro. the energy and the notes get significantly higher, and it includes one of my favorite dance sections i've ever seen. the energy getting stronger towards the end both vocally and with the most intense dance of the choreo keeps a strong momentum through the final parts of the song to end with a bang, much like all the best rock n roll songs.
the only thing it could have been missing was a classic bass drum "BOMP" ending that you might see in your average rock song, although i can't say i was necessarily missing it.
if you listen to Xdinary Heroes, this song is like an upbeat Strawberry Cake. The backtrack reminded me a lot of I Don't Care by Fall Out Boy, and vocally reminded me of Teenagers by My Chemical Romance, but that could just be my inner middle school emo projecting things.
If you like your kpop to have a bit of a heavier sound, and if you like to watch excellent dancing, and if you like rock, rap, and pop, this song is for you.
overall this was one of my favorite songs released in 2024 and i essentially created a blog just to yap about it! truly 10/10 music for me!
