Featured Artist - The Song Stylings of Kim Jaejoong

These are my personal thoughts and opinions appreciating the song styling of Kim Jaejoong. 

Having studied vocal technique, I really really really appreciate singers who can be thoughtful and sensitively expressive when they sing.  Too often, you hear people who just robotically sing notes + rhythm, and not often enough do you hear someone who actually gives the meaning of the song to you.  This is where Kim Jaejoong comes in to save the day and breathe life into pop music.

© Sarininka | Dreamstime.com

It is blissful when a singer takes the time to explore sound and express the musical phrase.  I was so impressed with his musicality in the song "My Only Comfort" from his solo EP, Mine, which is a slow and lyrical song about heartbreak.  (Just as an aside, I read that he wrote these lyrics.  What's with all the K-pop men singing about heartbreak and despair??  It makes me sad...So many gals out there need to stop breaking hearts!)


What's interesting to me about his singing here is that this song seems to be carefully planned and choreographed.  For example, at the ends of phrases, it's kind of a natural reaction that if the notes go up, people sing louder and vice versa if the notes go down.  I noticed the notes go up at the end of 2nd phrase of the first verse "It is only left on my finger, and so sorrow cries."  This is not a place to be singing obnoxiously louder, but a place he expresses sorrow very well by pulling back off the higher note at the end of the phrase.  That takes thought and awareness of how you want it to sound and good musicianship.  (Thank you for doing this!)  This is the kind of singing that immediately gets my attention. 

In voice lessons, we are taught that a long note should change so that it's not boring - either it should grow louder, softer, or the quality should change, such as from a straight tone to vibrato. Though he's singing softly, I can hear the shape of the long notes - sometimes softer, sometimes adds vibrato, sometimes he cuts the end of the phrase with a glottal stop (a throaty end to the sound).

Listen to "Cry, cry, cry again" at the end of the first stanza of the first verse and you can hear the way he stretches the last word very scrumptiously.  The second time he sings "Cry, cry, cry again", he adds an audible breathy "H" sound at the end of the word, making it a different phrase from the one he just sang.  For me, it means he's not satisfied with being a parrot, but wants to make the same phrase subtly different each time. 

Kim Jaejoong

In the chorus, the hissy "S" and inhalation sounds are placed and exaggerated.  Some people might think he's overdoing it and he might be, since the hissy sounds can be distracting.  But I can forgive it because the exaggerated diction emphasizes the word meaning "love", which is an important centerpiece of this song.

Also in the chorus, the phrase, "You are already my soul", well, I'm not sure exactly how to describe this...there is a breathy sound that he adds to the phrase, which kind of sounds like a sigh to me.  A sigh would say a lot about the meaning he's trying to convey. 

"How to live, without you" is sung very softly and is given more meaning by a crescendo (becoming louder) in the middle of the phrase.  Really, I'm impressed because it means his technique has to be very flexible in order to add that degree of shading while still singing quietly.  Like, wow.  My experience in choirs is that most people are rather brutish with crescendos and can't crescendo quietly.  Another (+) mark for Kim Jaejoong.

The second verse is sung a bit more passionately with a bit more vibrato and the addition of more orchestration.  It's nice that the tone of the song changes in the second verse.  The contrast suggests the first verse is holding back, but the second verse is letting out the tears and emotions previously locked within.  The love that abandoned him is dramatically more painful this time around.  The notes are also different on "You are already my soul" and "How to live, without you", maybe because he's not reflecting now, and almost yelling/crying out the experience of loss.  Ending so sadly in "you are my love forever."

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One more thing.  I enjoy that this song doesn't follow the typical formula found in soooooo mmaaaaannnnyy songs (yawn): 

Verse 1 + Chorus + Verse 2 + Chorus + Bridge + Chorus/Finale.  

It is more like this:

Introspective Verse 1 + Introspective Chorus 1 + Passionate Verse 2 + Passionate Chorus/Finale

Having a different structure kind of spices things up and helps you understand what the singer is going through.  I think ending abruptly like this adds to the drama of the song.  So kudos from me to the songwriter. 

I never read the lyrics before writing this entry.  Although the lyrics made this song more poignant, the flexibility of his voice and technique means you don't have to understand the words to just enjoy his interpretation of the song.  Now that I've read the lyrics, I appreciate even more the musicianship and he got my attention for singing so artistically.

I trust his abilities and can just lean back, give myself over to the song and let him take me on a journey.  LOL is that too sappy?  Squinchee is just gonna lean back now.  Take me away Kim Jaejoong.

For more info:
The lyrics I used are here "My Only Comfort" lyrics  (follow outside links at your own risk.)  If you don't have this song, iTunes has a healthy sample (1:30 min) to help while you're reading this.  (No, I'm not being paid to advertise this.)  (Yes, I do try to be a good citizen on the net.) 



Join us next for "When Will the Men of K-pop Ever Be Happy?"  
(Just kidding) 

"Hey Goldmember" from Austin Powers Goldmember soundtrack

I don't always like songs that are made for movies, but in all seriousness, I must have listened to this song at least 600 times.  It's sassy, funny and they actually have the balls to sing about.......it......  Do I really need to explain it?  If you've ever seen the movie, Austin Powers in Goldmember, then you know what and why it's so gold.


"He's got the midas touch, but he touched it too much. Hey Goldmember." Dude, it's not just gold, its SOLID gold.  I'm imagining a bunch of girls hunched together, chittering about Goldmember's golden member. 

Let's not forget this is Beyoncé singing. The video is a little distracting, but here you go:

I learned something new today.  I had heard the musical theme in  before in "Shake Your Booty", I poked around a bit and found out this song was arranged by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch (www.imdb.com). Both are members of KC and the Sunshine Band.  They also include "That's the Way (I Like It)" and "Get Down Tonight" (but I didn't hear much of it in there).

Some of my favorite songs are willing to go there, like "Scotty Doesn't Know" from Eurotrip, or songs made by die Ärtze or Farin Urlaub (Germany).  Sometimes it's good to just shake it up with some humor.

More Info:  I bought the soundtrack just for this song.  If you like it, you can get it here (this is not an affiliate link and I'm not being paid for this):  Goldmember soundtrack on Amazon  As far as I know, you can only get it on the CD.

Beast 12시 30분 (12:30) MV

I'm analyzing this because it's fun and I like to.  The views expressed here are my own opinions and interpretation (and maybe long-winded...uh...)

Before we start, here's the video from Beast's official channel:

I'm interpreting this from the standpoint that this video is allegorical in reference to relationships, not the actions of an actual couple.  So we can breathe freely even though there's a dead girl (or listless girl) on the bed, because she represents the status of the relationship. 

One theme that weaves through the video is Doojoon (DJ) holding the watch and looking at it.  This makes me think all this is taking place in DJ's mind and these are his thoughts at the end of the relationship as he is looking back over the course of what happened.

The video starts with DJ sitting on the floor with the girl looking fairly dead on the bed.  It's interesting to note that DJ is holding the timepiece, stands up and looks back at the girl on the bed, then sets down the watch on the floor.  Setting the watch down could signify the end of the relationship, it's over, time is up and you have to leave it behind and move on.  (Skip to the end though, and he's actually picking up the watch, as if trying to salvage the relationship.)

Then the minute hand starts to move all the way to back to 12:00, where DJ was happy with the relationship.   It is cute, cuddly and sweet in the beginning.  As the clock moves forward,  the girl appears to be disconnected and unhappy, growing distance.

Showing them sitting together back to back is interesting.   Though they are physically close, even touching, it shows an inability to face each other.  If she is a symbol of the relationship, then he could be avoiding addressing problems that are surfacing, pretending the problems are not there.  

mom would've made me wear shoes

I noticed the Beast members are singing in desolate, barren looking sets. Go figure.

Skip ahead and they are fighting on the street.  He's struggling to hold on to the relationship.  Then she takes off her shoe and throws it.  That would be confusing if it were really a girl in a dirty looking alley throwing her shoes away.  Wouldn't she need them to continue walking down the road?  (Silly girl could step on something.  Go pick your shoes up!)    Not having shoes is symbolic that the relationship has nothing to stand on and won't go farther on that path.  It could also be saying there's danger ahead (her feet could get cut by glass.)  Or maybe the shoe just doesn't fit anymore...

Still he wants to hang on.  People are stubborn like that. 

Then they are fighting in the bedroom and she throws the timepiece which hits the floor, clearly signifying it's over.  Time up.  Game over.  No more time.

(And here we throw in Beast dancing.  YES!  More dancing please.) 

Back in the bedroom, DJ begins to struggle harder to hold on even though it's slipping away and falls from his grasp.  I don't approve of the depictions of men manhandling women throughout this video, but especially here where he shoves her.  If you look at it as a symbol though, it would be like someone arguing so much and then saying, "Fine!  Just leave!  I'm done with you."  Then sitting down and regretting their actions, moping in bitterness.
 

Wondering what's in the jar that shattered, but it's not really important.  The jar tells us that it is broken beyond repair.  No one will be able to put it together again. 

As if it's not already loaded with enough depressing symbolism, suddenly there is a winter storm inside and it freezes the romance.  Everything has its season, even relationships.  DJ mournfully reaches over and holds on, even though it is already dead.  Here, we are back in real time, because he's no longer looking at the timepiece (no longer reviewing the past).  He's experiencing the desire to not let go even though it's done.

A lonely chair sits by itself in an unfurnished gray room and it burns.  (Maybe they burned it because it was dang cold!)  Significantly, it's a chair for one person - there isn't room for two people - so it's not a loveseat.  It's a piece of furniture and could represent the home he wanted to build, or dreams of the future, or what they had built together.  His plans for the future are going up in smoke and the only thing left is burning fragments of unresolved dreams.  Nothing more final than the feeling that you have lost everything.  Heartburn.

At the end, the clock moves on but he hasn't.  Time to move on.

I was ignoring the big wall clock previously, but took another look at the video and paid attention to the fact that the clock is unbalanced.  There are too many minutes and 12:30 actually arrives before the point where it would be on another clock, at section 5 of the clock.  In other words, if 12:30 is the end of the relationship, then it occurs before DJ recognizes it.  He finally acknowledges the end at the point 12:30 would occur on a normal clock, well past the end.  Isn't that the way with relationships?  Sometimes people hold on past the point when it's over.
  

It could also symbolize that relationships don't go the way you expect them, because the hour hand at 12 is in the middle of the 12 section.  So things are a little vague and unclear, confusing just like real life.  Where is 12:30 anyway?  Because you don't know where to start counting - is it at the beginning of the 12 section, or does it begin where the hour hand stands?  Real life also holds uncertainty and can't be measured exactly.  It's not completely clear where is the end and what caused it.  From one point of view, it happened sooner and from another it happened later. 

Almost every moment of this video has a meaningful image and I think they communicate very well a longing for things to be back the way they were.  People can relate to the desire to turn back the hands of time and make things better or try to see where things went wrong.  

The MV seems to be making a very depressing comment that relationships are doomed to fail and can't be saved.  Things happen without our awareness until the romance has already cracked to pieces.  The more you try to save it, the more it slips away.  Not a Disney ending.

Bring in the lyrics and you see these are the thoughts of someone who knows they are about to lose the one they love.   The lyrics explain the broken bottle - the bottle is broken just like them.  It also explains why "12:30", because they are back to back and facing opposite directions similar to the hands of the clock, and are about to go their separate ways.   He feels time has stopped on the relationship and as he's trying to let go, he's still hoping time will resume for them, or that they will have more time together. 

So the lyrics tied everything in a little differently, but it was fun to analyze all the same before reading the lyrics. 

So you've watched the video, what do you think?

As an aside:

Beast has done two videos recently showing a dead girl on the bed and a man ("Good Luck" is the other.)  Why is the girl always dead/listless on the bed and nowhere else?  She could be dead/listless on the couch or the floor or any number of places.   I'm starting to wonder if they are making a sexual reference to women being cold in bed.  What?  I did just say that.  I suppose that a bed + man + woman clearly signifies a relationship.  So much for my dirty mind.  Did anyone else wonder the same thing?  Let me know.