EVERYONE!!! Hello there!
It’s been a while since I last written a piece. I am kinda busy with my toxic nursing life.
Anyways…
Hello to all, once again, especially to my dear co-Carats.
It’s been a while since I last written a thing about Seventeen, though I always listen to them and watch them every single day.
I’ve been a little bit gloomy since Jeonghan started his military service and my ultimate bias, Jun, focuses on his acting career for the meantime. Then suddenly, I kind of reminded myself why I love these boys so much. I knew, despite Jeonghan’s military service or Jun’s acting, their bond and brotherhood will never change. Seventeen loves Seventeen more than anyone, not even us, their fans, will beat their love and trust to one another. I wanted to remember all the things I loved about Seventeen. I wanted to reminisce all of their songs that had given me comfort and save my life.
So I decided, I will be writing once again.
I’ve written a total of five pieces about my most favourite Korean male group. Most of them were about their concerts I have attended in the Philippines. But the first one I’ve written was how I slipped into the diamond life and the other one was about their contract renewal. You can check all of them out if you want. They are all posted in my blog: kaisarkpoprn.blogspot.com.
This time, it is high time for me to tell the story of my most favourite Seventeen songs.
All of their songs are fantastic, all albums are no-skip albums. But I still have my number one favourite song, my number two favourite, my number three, and so on.
So, I will tell you my top five.
Wait!
I will make that ten!
With all of their discographies, I think, five is a little bit small.
Seventeen’s songs are great, they are absolute bangers. They produce different genres of songs that appeal to the public mass. They are very diverse when it comes to music. I love how Woozi do not stock a single line of music. Whether you’re a Carat or not, you can listen to their songs endlessly. And this is what I love about them. I know, its not like other K-pop groups do not do this one, like having different genres of songs or experimenting new types of music, but I’ll tell you more why Seventeen’s songs are special to me and what sets them apart from other Kpop boy groups.
I’ll tell you, I am picky when it comes to music. I’ve stopped listening to western music because I painstakingly missed the 90’s genre. The last western song I appreciated was Justin Bieber’s Ghost. I love its overall musicality and the meaning of its lyrics.
Now, for Korean songs, I’ve stopped listening to most of it as well. I went back to my hiatus life as a K-pop fan. If you ask me if I know anything about New Jeans Ditto or Hype boy, I didn’t really like them. Just watch them because of Wonu and Vernon covering them during Caratland fanmeeting. It was not my type of music. Well, do not blame me specially their fans, we all have our song preferences.
For Seventeen, NO, I’ve never stopped, and I will never stop listening to them. Their songs are my comfort, my safe place, my life saver.
To begin with how their songs became to be my life saver, I will tell you my top favourites. Just a bit of a spoiler. My top three favourite songs are somehow interconnected with each other. These three songs gave me courage, made me brave, and offered me healing. These songs became the reason why I understand Seventeen and that I trust the members’ trust to one another.
First song, and the most important one, Don’t Wanna Cry (Ulgo Shipji Anha). This song made me slipped into the diamond life. It made me watch Seventeen, stan Seventeen, adore Seventeen.
Firstly, I love its genre, EDM. It was my kind of jam. I love how strong its guitar and drum chords are. I love how the song could make me dance to the hook of the song and is a catchy. I fell in love really hard on this song because of its musicality. But then, watching the whole choreography, everyone will totally slipped into the diamond life. I am not a dancer but I do love dancing. That’s why this song is my type of genre. It’s upbeat, it’s danceable. Their choreography for the song was unique, but more importantly, Seventeen executed the dance neatly with a total of thirteen members. The way each member shine on the song, I saw all of them shining on stage despite the line distribution and hard choreography, I hands down respected them already. Dancing with a hard choreography with a lot of members sometimes become messy but with these boys, they dance to the song very well cut-off.
Now, here comes the lyrics of the song. I am not yet fluent in Korean when I first listen to this song but being a K-pop fan and K-drama fanatic since 2009, I am quite well verse when it comes to some of the lyrics. So, the title of the song itself, Ulgo Shipji Anha, it literally meant, I don’t want to cry. So the first thing that came to my mind was, it is an upbeat, EDM song yet there is a powerful and very emotional lyrics incorporated into it.
Woozi, the main producer of Seventeen and also a member (and also my bias wrecker at the moment), said he never written a song directly about love, or not at least directly mentioning and using the word ‘love’ in the lyrics, this song was the first one containing the word itself. The song was about a lost love and about contemplating oneself of finding it without crying or stopping oneself to cry to be able to find the lost love.
I am telling you, the lyrics weren’t deep.
Or… that’s what I thought.
I’ve listen to many songs about love, lost love, finding love, name them all. So the main reason why I really love this song was its genre, the hook of the song, it was not because of its lyrics or the real meaning of the song. Well, that is not until I watch Seventeen more and more, listen to their songs more and more, I’ve realized, I must have been missing out the real meaning of their song.
Truthfully, I love Don’t Wanna Cry because of its music type, its genre. But there was a reason why it stayed as my most favourite Seventeen song despite all of their releases up to this year. I’ll tell you more about that as I go on with this literally piece.
Let us move on with my second favourite song.
It is called ‘Run to you’. It was from their Special album ‘Director’s Cut’. Now, I do love the song once again because of its musicality and its type of genre. I am more of a hype person liking upbeat songs. The difference with this song is, it sounded so much like an Anime OST.
I love anime. I love them more than Korean Dramas. Anime taught me about life more than my teachers in school. I grew up watching anime since I was a kid. No matter how my father stopped me from watching it and even telling me I would never learn anything from watching Anime, I still watched it. Because Anime doesn’t teach you the right formula for a mathematical equation or the scietific parts of a cell. It teaches you the fantasies and realities of life. They are fantasies that reflects the realities of life. I will be doing another piece regarding my favourite animes but for this one, Seventeen made a song straightly out of an anime.
I later learned that Woozi is an Anime fanatic as well. He even did a Weverse live for 2-3 hours straight battling out which among all Anime titles is his all-time favourite. So, when he wrote Run To You, anime was really on his mind. And that was the reason why this song became my second favourite song of Seventeen. I even made a novel draft starring all Seventeen members based on the song’s lyrics.
But did I understood really well the meaning of the lyrics of the song, the in-depth meaning of the song? Well, I only understood its outer layer but not the deeper one. So my unending saga of loving Seventeen’s songs because of its musicality and genre continued until I watch them more and more and that their songs didn’t only blessed my ears with its greatness but their songs saved me from darkness.
I started to understand the depth of their lyrics after they released their 6th mini album, You Made My Dawn. This album houses my third favourite song, and most probably, my most favourite ballad song.
Before I continue telling you my third favourite song, let me say something about song interpretations, or lyrics interpretation, and how my adoration to Seventeen became deeper.
We all have our own interpretation of songs. Whether the way you interpret the song is the same way as the producer interpreted it or your interpretation is the absolute opposite of the real meaning of the song, we give meaning to the lyrics of the song the way we wanted them to be. In some cases, when we listen to a song, the lyrics’ meaning will depend on your mood or if there is anything that happened to your life.
Don’t wanna cry was released on 2017. I was in the beginning of my 20’s. I was beginning my career path as a Nurse. I was beginning to stan Seventeen, but that was it. I found a new male group to idolize. I started listening to all of their previous songs and like I said, I was regretful I did not know them since debut because all of their songs were refreshing to the ears.
But did I put an effort in understanding their lyrics, it was a big NO!
I love the genres of their songs but I did not really try to understand their lyrics deeply.
When they had the Diamond Edge concert, which I attended, I began to realize their songs were giving me some comfort, they were giving me hope, they were giving me a new path to take on. The members, themselves, were showing me a future I never believed I would take.
And so, they inspired me to take the new path and the future. Still a nurse, but I ventured to blend in the biggest city. I wanted to save more money to buy more of Seventeen’s merchandises and albums. I wanted to attend their concert in a VIP section. I was slipping hard into Seventeen lives. I was beginning to fall deeply in love with them. This was something I never imagined to do. I stanned a lot of second generation group but I was limited to buying only their albums, not their merchandises.
Working in the city was toxic, it was depressing. Even though I go to malls to vent out my frustrations and stresses in the hospital, my life became hard. I was far away from my family. But I have always been independent. My mother supported me as much as she could but little did she knew anything about my workload in the hospital. I weighed more than 80 tons when I left my province but in only six months time working under the bustling city, I lost more than 15 tons already.
When an unexpected opportunity came to my life, I was very conflicted. Then Seventeen announced their Ideal Cut concert. One day, while searching for a ticket, I made up my mind. I needed to take that opportunity, I needed to sacrifice. And that is all for Seventeen.
When I began working there, in that frightening place, I tried to fit in. While I was just adjusting, I was three months into that country when Seventeen released You Made My Dawn album with its title track Home. That song hits me really hard. All I thought, and even everyone thought, I adjusted really well and that I didn’t really felt homesick; it was only because I grew up independently. But after hearing the song, the sadness and loneliness kicked in. I miss home. I miss my family.
Now, don’t be mistaken. I love Home. Though, it is still a part of my honourable mentions. But it is not my third favourite song.
I was never a fan of ballad. Whenever I start listening to a ballad song, I immediately skipped it. For me, it was boring. Don’t get me wrong especially to those who love ballad songs. It was just that it was not my type of music, not my type of jam. As I said before, I love upbeat songs; songs that could boost up my life with strong, danceable music. Once I start listening to ballad songs, I either fall asleep or thinks the song is very slow that I wanted to finish listening to it immediately.
You already know, right, Seventeen has three different units. One of them is the Vocal unit. And what you expect from a vocal unit, mostly ballad songs. Well, Seventeen is diverse even the Vocal unit songs. They were not always ballad. But because of this, Vocal unit is my least favourite unit, sorry to all Carats. But I do love 20 and Pinwheel. They were not slow ballads but has catchy rhythms and is a little bit upbeat. They are good to listen while having a drive.
Now, a turning event happened. As I said, Home is not my third favourite song. But my third favourite song is a song from the same album.
It is titled Hug.
For the first time ever, this is not an exaggeration, but for the first time in my life, I cried while listening to a ballad song and understanding its lyrics. Like I said, I am not fluent in Korean but I do understand some common words. That moment when I first heard Hug, Joshua starting off with “Mollae utgo, mollae ulgo” (secretly laughing, secretly crying), I knew this song would be emotional.
Then here comes Jeonghan, uttering the same word three times, “Himdeuro, himdeuro, himdeuro.” Unknowingly, and most shockingly, I felt the hot tears immediately falling down from my eyes ruining my cheeks. Mind you, I was on duty in ER when I first heard it.
That word, only meant one thing that I was certain even if I didn’t search its meaning on Google.
“I’m tired, I’m tired, I’m tired.”
This could also mean, “It’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard.”
Either of the two, for me, it only meant one thing.
I’m exhausted.
When I went to Saudi Arabia, I was twenty-four. I had experiences in the Philippines as a Nurse, a total of four years in three different hospital institutions and in between them, I never had a break. After my first experience that showed me the realities of a Nurse’s life, I immediately started in my next hospital only a week apart. Then when I went to the big city, only five days was given to me to prepare myself for another start. Then when I went to another country, much worst. I was only given three days to say goodbye to my usual life in the Philippines and to the people I love and care. It was so sudden. Even my friends were surprised. We never properly said goodbyes or see-you-soons.
I know, a lot of Nurses or people are more stressed in life, they are probably more exhausted or tired than I am. But I was in my mid-adulthood problem. I did not know what I want in life. I did not know what my dream was. I did not know what my purpose was.
I was just completely lost.
I knew, as I stated, Seventeen helped me built a dream. But even that dream was nowhere to be found. Even when everyday, I listen to their songs, I was just… simply lost.
The chorus of the song get me even more emotional. Without Google’s help, I understood its lyrics.
“Mianhaji ma. Geogjeonghaji ma. Museowohaji ma. Ijen ulji ma.”
“Don’t feel sorry. Don’t you worry. Don’t be afraid. Now, stop crying.”
“Naega issdago. Sugohaessdago. Saranghandago. Kkwag anajundago.”
“I am here. You did well. I love you. I will hug you tight.”
Those simple words, those simple statements. I cried my heart out.
It was very comforting.
The comfort those words had given me were indescribable. I knew Woozi wrote it to each and every one who listens to their songs but for me, Seventeen was directly talking and comforting me with those words.
My tired body was strengthened by a ballad song I never imagined would comfort me so much. My emotional mind and heart was healed and uplifted by a song I never wanted to listen. For a moment, I felt caring arms hugging me and comforting me telling me everything would be fine.
I’ve never cried because of a song before. Until I went home that day after listening to the song, I felt my tired body and mind. I felt my exhausted heart. But listening to this comforting song, I knew Seventeen was there to save me.
And to this reason, I avoid listening to Hug.
Quite the irony, right? It’s my third favourite song but I try to avoid listening to it as much as I could.
Why?
Well, every time I hear it, I just start crying. Whenever Jeonghan’s part came, no matter how I stop it, my tears just starts falling down. But whenever I feel really down, whenever I have a long, tiring and hard day, one play of this song, and I am being healed immediately. Just the essence of knowing that someone is trying to comfort you means a lot to me already.
Then… not long after, I was succumbed into total darkness. I fell deep into nothingness. I was totally helpless. I felt no one was there to save me. I was hypnotized by the grim reaper’s whisper. I just wanted to rest… for good.
I completely lost my way, my path.
I lost myself.
I tried hard to find me but it was very hard. People around me had betrayed me. That someone I treated as a real sister assassinated me with cutting words that stabbed me into thousand pieces. Those friends I treated as real abandoned me hanging on a thread. I was with no one. My visions was getting dark. The more I stay there, the more I suffered. I wanted to escape but I could not drag my feet away. The shining, silvery small blade, its sharp end was waving in front of me and I was tempted multiple times. Even the balcony was saying its welcoming greetings to me.
I tried really hard to find my way back. I listened to Seventeen songs everyday. Then one day, suddenly, Wonwoo’s bridge part in Don’t Wanna Cry rang differently. “How can I live as one if the other half is gone?”
I said this one before that lyrics maybe interpreted in different ways, sometimes, in a way when we are all facing a very hard or tough day.
The song was not all about loving others. It was also about loving one’s self. On my way of losing myself, I didn’t know how to live already. It was as if I was gone… for good. But I knew, a part of me was hanging hard into life, it did not want to let go. And so Wonwoo’s words left a deep meaning to me.
I didn’t know if it was God or Seventeen, but whoever it was, they helped me found a way to escape. I needed a space to breath in. I needed to get away to sort my thoughts. I needed to leave that darkness. And when I’ve move out, with what I’ve done, half of myself became free and relax. It was like removing a kiloton of cement off my chest. I may still have to see them everyday, but I found a safe place for myself to heal already.
Few weeks after, I continuously listen to Seventeen. Then I listened once more to Hug. I felt the warmth once more. I was on the brick of grim reaper’s footstep, only an inch away from his doorstep, but then I felt comforted once more. I was reminded why I was there in that depressing country. It was for my family, for myself, and for Seventeen.
Gradually, I found my reasons back to being alive. I ran towards my dream of meeting Seventeen when the lyrics of Run to you came into life once more. I may have lost my way and that it took a while before I found it again, I always run towards myself and meeting the people who saved me from hell.
And so, the lyrics of all Seventeen songs made me realize that life is full of hardships but you will always find yourself back. With this event in my life that I would never, ever forget, Seventeen played a big part in my life and that I would always be forever grateful to them. This is the reason why these three songs, Don’t Wanna Cry, Run to You, and Hug, are interconnected to one another. These songs save me from total darkness. These songs showed the brightest light I have ever seen in my entire life.
After this, whenever I listen to Seventeen new songs, I would look deeply into their lyrics already and that I knew all of their songs have deep, emotional meanings.
And with this, enough with my drama, let us move to my fourth favourite song.
This next favourite song, another masterpiece. It was not again a title track but a B-side. This was from their 4th full album, Face the Sun. The song is titled Shadow.
This song has again a mellow, heavy rhythm incorporated in a danceable track. The pace of the song is intense as if it was telling a mysterious, thrilling story.
Well, the song is indeed telling a story about one’s self own shadow. All of us are hiding something, a secret we never wanted anyone to know. In the darkness, we hide a personality we never wanted anyone to encounter. Sometimes, a darker side of us who we kept hidden because it is not acceptable to everyone. Sometimes, we hid a lonelier, sadder self masked by bright smiles. We denied them because we know they are our weaknesses, our shadows that can ruin us. In the end, these shadows hiding in plain darkness are still us making ourself complete.
This track once again proved that Seventeen’s diversity in music is upscale. The song tackles how a person hated his other self, his shadow. If possible, the person wanted to run away from this shadow. But in the end, the person realizes that no matter what he do, the more he hate this shadow, the more he hurts himself. In the end, he extended his arms and embraced the shadow he hides. After all, they are one.
While I listen to this song, I am quite reminded of Naruto when he was training to control his nine-tail fox, Kurama. The first step was the fountain of truth. He needed to pass this fountain to be able to move on and control Kurama’s power. In this episode, he had to face his dark side. He had to face the darkness he kept hidden deep in his heart because of the loneliness he felt when everyone saw him as a monster. This is his other self and for him to be able to control Kurama’s power, he had to accept his darkness. In the end, he had accepted his flaws and the darkness lingering inside his heart diminished.
Yet again, Shadow made me realize that I needed to embrace my personality. I had to embrace myself as the imperfect one, the girl who hid in the dark, the lady who once succumbed into darkness. No matter how many times other people disliked me or assassinate me with their heartless and untruthful words, I will embrace myself as who I am. This song reminded me that no matter what happen, despite the darkness I had lived before, I was able to overcome it and became a better person because I accepted all of my flaws in life.
Moving forward to my fifth favourite song, another song that I hold dearly in my heart because it made me cry once again, Circles.
Lalala lala lalalalalalala...
All Carats know how special this song is to Seventeen specially to Wonwoo and Woozi. Woozi wrote this for Wonwoo who took hiatus because of his mother’s death. Seventeen’s relationship to one another is lovely and emotional. Their bond is beyond friendship, it is brotherhood. Although at times, they argue with one another, as they are the ones always telling they really argue, it is the real sign of brotherhood. They are brothers not by blood, but by fate and destiny. Their parents are every one’s parent. The death of one’s mother is not devastating to only one but to all of them.
Just by the behind story of making Circles, no other reason needed to be this song as my top five favourite song. I felt their brotherhood in this song. Then what makes the whole song beautiful are the voices of the kids singing the Lalala part. That was them, Seventeen, during their youth, dreaming as kids to be on stage and fate brought them together. But the part where I cried the most was Woozi’s part. No background music, only his raw, emotional voice singing Lalala was the most heartbreaking. You could feel his emotions running down while singing that part. Bumzu even said that it was very hard for Woozi to record that part. During Caratland where they had to sing Circles, Woozi failed to sing his last part for two days straight because he could just not finish it with all his emotions swelling up. He is known to be the tough one, the last one who will cry among them, but with this song…
They are always there for each other no matter what. If one is on hiatus and having problems of their own, the rest fills in the gap as if that member is still there performing with them. That is their true essence of brotherhood. I guess, I would never adore any other group than them. Seventeen until Seventy, there will always be a special part of my heart for this guys.
Okay. So, my top five is finish. But like I said, Seventeen have too many discographies. Up until now, they kept on releasing new albums. So my top favourites kept on piling up.
The next one, my top six to eight favourite songs are part of one album. The album is entitled Seventeenth Heaven. Arranging which is the sixth or seventh or eight is quite difficult as they are equally beautiful and powerful. But if I had to arrange… well, then.
My top six, SOS. All of us knows the meaning of SOS, right? When you needed a help, you will send an SOS message mostly used by seafarers being withheld in an island or in the middle of the sea or nowhere.
What does SOS stands for? Nothing. It is not an abbreviation of some sort. As I stated, it is something we use if we needed a help mostly used by seafarer. It is also used as a Morse code for a disaster. When an individual is stock in a building or someone needs an emergent help, an SOS message is delivered. This can be in any form. It is as long as someone can see it.
Now, many individual used SOS not only in the middle of a disaster or as a distress signal but they also used it to ask for personal help. Between friends, an SOS message sent means a friend needed a help, be that physically or emotionally. Sometimes, they send SOS because they needed someone to talk to as they are having their problems. In this sense, Seventeen used it to reach people who are in need of emotional support.
Suicide is, nowadays, being prevalent.
Why? Let’s see.
Social media works in a very different way. The new generation uses all kinds of platform to broadcast all of their inner thoughts. Posting on their accounts their my days, commenting endlessly on different topics, voicing out their opinions through their cutting words; there is no limit in using the social media these days. No one would stop you from posting ridiculous comments or photos. No one will deny you your freedom to post abusive words towards other people. Social media is getting out of hand. But it still is being used widely.
Before, during our time, social media is used for spreading awareness. It is used to communicate serious topics that needed to be discussed. It is used as a way to speak our voices into public.
But, nowadays, it is already being used to bully others. It is used to trample others using different, undignified words. Social media, right now, is the main source of depression. The so-called Online Cyberbullying is burning lives like a wildfire. Mostly affected by this bullying are teenagers. Age of using social media are getting lower and lower. Even if different social platforms set up a minimum age, the generation of today are highly technological already. They knew how to manipulate the age and can create not just one, but multiple accounts.
During the 90’s and early 2000’s, you will find kids playing in front of their houses with dirts, bicycles and cans. Now, most kids, as young as five years old, already knows how to navigate a smartphone. They are better than their grandmothers and mothers in using technology already. Because of this, they knew how to set up a Facebook account already. While in grade school or high school, every student knows how to post online already.
Even before, bullying was already prevalent. A lot of countries face this bullying cases among teenagers even before the age of social media. But with the rise of different social media platforms, the rate of bullying rises. Kids threat other kids by posting videos online where everyone can watch. Then the deadly comments will come after. Every one on the community will post endless, malicious comments even if they don’t know the real context of the situation. Everyone will point finger to the one on the video like he or she is the dirtiest of all species on Earth. Every one will leave cutting words that that someone in the video will only think of one way to escape embarrassment and humiliation; suicide.
Now, why this topic is important to this song of Seventeen? Let me tell you.
Suicide rate in South Korea is very high. The country has one of the top highest cases of suicide in Asia, or maybe, in the entire world. The data is clear. Teenagers getting bullied in school are mostly the victims. The social standing is somewhat prevalent in schools in South Korea. If you belonged to the lower class, your tendency of being bullied by your classmates are very high. South Korean government are doing their best to fight against these bullying but the numbers of incident are still high.
Now, teenagers are not the only victims of this deadly rate. As I said, social media is now being used to voice out opinions of users, or they called them Netizens, in commenting and attacking others on the comment sections even without knowing the real context. This has been the main problem of Korean celebrities.
One issue, one comment, one statement.
The severity of an issue, the heartless comments left, the stabbing statements, all can make an artist turned into ashes.
If you think an artist only enjoys the lavishness of popularity, you might think twice. If you think all the smiles they show in front of the cameras are all real and genuine, you might have to think thrice already. Who said celebrities enjoy the life an ordinary, normal people doesn’t have? No, they don’t.
Maybe for a while, they enjoys it, but the realities of being a celebrity hits them hard. They cannot enjoy everything that were given to them. Being a celebrity is also being a normal worker. They work hard to earn money. The only difference is that they show their faces in front of thousands of cameras and their lives are being open-booked.
Now, that is the main problem. Your life being an open-booked.
People thinks your life is their life already. This is where the biggest role of social media comes in. As I stated, one issue can tarnish an artist reputation. No matter how small that issue is, it will spread like a wildfire. A scandal can make an artist lost everything. Not just popularity, but his or her life. The scandal will have different versions until the truth will be buried underground. Then heartless comments will emerge like a flood accusing the artist. Each killing statement cuts an artist heart into pieces until nothing else is left but to rest for good. The exhaustion from the issue, the mentality of reading all the comments, and the emotions that are turning into darkness are making these artists lost the will to live.
No matter how much they earn, how much they save, how popular they can be, their lives can end in just a blink of an eye.
Even if Seventeen did not directly told that this song is for this purpose, I believe this has been Woozi’s and Seventeen’s message to every one most especially to their colleagues in the industry. Not to mention that one close friend of theirs had recently lost his life on the same manner.
The whole song was written in English. They wanted to spread the awareness to the entire world.
I always said this but as I am a fan of K-pop since the second generation, I’ve seen too much death from the industry. And every time, my heart aches for them. I always asked myself, ‘Why?’ Why would they do such thing? They have everything I wish I have. They can travel around the world, they can buy almost everything they wanted to buy. But the reality kicks in.
The pressure was too much to handle. The burden was too much to carry. The expectations were too much to meet. People wanted these people to become perfect. They wanted them to be the best. People wanted them to work as much as they could to increase the revenues and popularity. Never did these judgemental individuals think that these celebrities are also humans in need of rest, comfort and peace.
I thanked Woozi and Seventeen for bringing in on this song. As someone who had the same experience as the others, I was glad I was able to fight off the whispers, the heartless comments and the assassinating words they threw at me. For those who were not able to regain courage and strength to fight for their life, I pray for your souls to have finally found the peace and freedom you longed seek. For those who were able to continue on living, may this song be an inspiration to seek peace and comfort from someone you trust who will always be there for you in times of your greatest need. Send them your S.O.S and they will be there for you.
Moving on to my seventh favourite song… or maybe… can I tell you first my eight favourite song?
Because my eight favourite song is relatively related to my sixth favourite.
Coming from the same album, Seventeenth Heaven, this is titled Yawn, another ballad song from the Vocal unit.
For all the Carats who knows behind the meaning of this song, probably you were the same as me, cried a river while listening to this special song.
For those who doesn’t know, I’ll tell you the story behind this beautiful, yet heartbreaking song.
When I say heartbreaking, it doesn’t mean broken-hearted from a relationship between a man and a woman. But this still means broken-hearted, between a male friend to a male friend.
Like I explained, suicide is really high among celebrities in South Korea. No matter how popular you are, the pressure is too much to bear. Even there is no issue or scandal circulating around, the burden of the industry and to do well is too much to carry on. Even if all of your fans love you and there are friends beside you, you will still succumb into total darkness as if you are alone.
Nothing really is certain in this world. No one knows what is inside the mind of a person with jolly personality. When the whispers of death strikes, it doesn’t do twice. One is enough to fall into temptations of a long lasting rest.
Yawn is written and composed by Woozi towards Seungkwan who lost a very dear and close friend, Moonbin of Astro.
I knew little about Astro but I’ve been really fond of them. Cha Eunwoo is the most famous member starring in different dramas as an actor. I also knew Moonbin. Before I got to know Seventeen, I think I heard about Astro first. So I knew Moonbin before Seungkwan.
Both Moonbin and Seungkwan are 98-liners alongside former G-Friend members and now, Viviz members, SinB and Umji. They had other two friends who were also idols. All six of them are very close friends. Suddenly, one day, their friendship was challenge with an unexpected and devastating event. Moonbin lost his life.
When I first saw that news on X, my clock stopped, my heart skipped a beat, my breath withheld. I was in dazed for a whole minute.
My heart broke once more.
Moonbin was a ray of sunshine. Like I said, I knew little of him as I do not really follow their group. But from time to time, I saw several videos of them and his laughter was bright and it radiates happiness. I kind of like his eyes when laughing. So to hear the news and the thought of never seeing his bright smiles once more, my heart saddens.
He was found on his apartment like the others, cold as snow. But unlike the others, unlike Sulli who was bullied online or Hara who faced a big problem on her life, I never heard any issues or scandals involving Moonbin. He was actually actively promoting with fellow member, Sanha, with their own sub-unit. So to hear this devastating news was shocking.
Then I thought of the 98-liners, Seungkwan and the rest. It must have been really hard for him, for all of them. Seventeen was about to release their 11th mini-album, F.M.L. in few days, a pre-recording was scheduled for their comeback.
But how will you perform when a very long and dear friend suddenly passed away?
I, too, was having a hard time processing the sudden news. My heart was very heavy I could not even think of going to my duty. I called in absent because I knew to myself I will not be able to work properly with the heaviness I felt. He maybe someone I do not know personally and someone I only watch on television but the mutual feelings of having to fight the darkness was similar. I mourned for him because he was not able to see the light. His bright smiles was trampled and covered with darkness. He was not able to fight this silent killer.
I was greatly worried about Seungkwan but knowing his Seventeen brothers were there for him was a bit re-assuring. Although, I knew, the heaviness he felt will never be lifted. I knew, a part of his life was taken away because I knew his friendship with Moonbin was deep. Every Carats mourned with Seungkwan and Seventeen. So when they announced he will be on hiatus after their F.M.L album promotions, everyone wished him to heal and recover. It may never be easy but like their brotherhood, he will be healed.
During their interview with Seventeenth Heaven album, Seungkwan said his Woozi-hyung immediately sent him the demo version for Vocal unit’s song, Yawn. And once again, Woozi perfectly conveyed the heart of Seungkwan. The entire song can be interpreted by Woozi saying the lyrics to Seungkwan or the lyrics can be towards Moonbin. What hits me the most on this song was Seungkwan’s part in the chorus. It was as if he was directly talking to Moonbin. Then as explained by Woozi, the yawn part at the last are two different versions. The first yawn was when you yawn after a very tiring day. Then the second, a longer one, was when you were finally at rest and peace.
To the shining Moonbin, keep on shining brighter than when you were here on Earth. Your smiles will forever be remembered by your loved ones. The memories you shared with others will be forever engraved on their hearts. Thank you for being a light.
To Seungkwan, I was grateful you were able to recover from the heaviness and sadness inside your heart. There may be times you will remember you dear friend, always remember that he will always be there guiding and protecting you from above. Thank you Seventeen for being each others’ shoulders. You really have the best brotherhood I’ve ever seen. Additional thank you to Na PD-nim who brought them to a place where they find healing and peace. I knew that trip was more than important to Seungkwan.
So, may we go back to my seventh favourite song.
Still a part of Seventeenth Heaven album, this next song is titled Headliner.
How do I describe this song? Hmmmm.
Well, I’ll go with ‘simply wonderful and lovely.’
What does goes your mind when you say Headliner?
You may think of the news headline, right? It may be the main event or main news.
Well, the meaning of the song is similar to that of a news headline. A news message Seventeen wanted to tell to everyone; Carats, you’re my headliner.
I just love the intro of this song. The bass guitar and drums along with the mellow and dreamy rhythm of the song was captivating. I just love how Woozi incorporates this kind of instrumentals into some of the songs he made. For me, this is his signature style.
Anyhow, Headliner can also be his song to his members. For him, Seventeen is the biggest news he had in his life. Seveteen members may have felt the same. Like I stated, Seventeen loves Seventeen more than anyone. They are committed into this family no matter what happened. No issue or scandal can tear them apart. This is also Mingyu’s favourite.
Like in the lyrics, even before they met each other and Carats, their heart flutters, folding hands, waiting to meet each other. The amount of being loved while listening to this song is touching. I think I really felt loved.
Nothing else to add to this song. Search the song’s lyrics online and you will know why I love this song.
Let’s keep moving on to the next favourite song, my top nine favourite. It is a recent one from their Best Album. This song is titled Cheers to Youth.
Cheers to Youth is another Vocal Unit song.
Did I say Vocal unit was my least favourite unit? But their songs keep coming on my top favourite songs.
The story behind the making of the song was because of one simple comment from the resident Tiger of the group, Hoshi. He just randomly threw the cheer comment on one of their concerts and it became a song already. That’s why I respect Woozi the most.
Well, the lyrics behind describes how a normal person encounters difficulties in everyday life. Being a worker, a student, an introverted person, or just being an ordinary person; we all have our problems we face. But at the end of the day, it is our youthfulness that will save us from these problems.
The first part of the song is describing how to ignore and not to care about what other people say despite knowing that their hurtful words would make us hate ourselves more when we started to live for the first time. That part hits differently for me.
Then on Jeonghan’s part on the first verse, I had the same experience. You see, being in a workplace, you will be part of the group chat since it became a new way to communicate especially if the head had something to announce.
In the Philippines, Facebook Messenger became the main way of communication between people. Chatting on messenger with the use of internet rather than loading your number to text other became the new norm. Well, in chatting through Messenger, the conversation is unlimited. While texting, if you didn’t subscribed to unlitext or call, then your load will be consumed immediately.
So when I worked in my Manila, my head nurse created a group on Messenger for our floor and ever since I started working there, I became a part of the group. The group is made for special announcement, or I thought so. It was actually made for complains and issues and pending works. If there were any kind of issues raised or complains from patients regarding patient care or discrepancies on the files or any pending works, your name might be mentioned. And I never had that kind of level of anxiety because of Messenger before I joined that hospital. When I became a part of that group, that kind of fear where you don’t know when will your name be mentioned and that you just wanted to delete the application already was absolutely depressing.
Now, it’s all about Whats App here in Saudi Arabia. How many groups did my higher heads created that my phone is keep on buzzing? I lost count already. Well, I learned my way and I started to care less. There are times I care but mostly, even if my name is mentioned, I became to care lesser and lesser. Like the chorus of the song said, try not to care whatever hurtful words they utter and just sing the song.
Cheers to Youth became my get-to-go song when going home after a toxic duty from the hospital. Woozi’s lyrics on the chorus described perfectly how I view my work. I always tell myself “You’ve worked hard, you’ve done enough.” Although the duty was toxic and wasn’t overall good, it wasn’t that bad either. At least, I still had the time to drink my cup of coffee while at work and go home and had the appetite to eat dinner before sleeping.
“In this suffocating world, I smiled for a moment over something small.”
That is Seventeen for me.
Listening to their songs gives me a smile despite a tiring day. Watching their videos gives me laughter even just for a moment. And knowing that they will always be there gives me peace when sleeping.
One of my favourite part of the song as well is Seungkwan’s part.
“When the loud alarm rings tomorrow morning, I hope I will hate it lesser than I did yesterday even for a little.”
That is literally me every time I hear my noisy alarm and how I hate to wake up and stand up from my bed and go to work for another day.
I always think, “Another day, another work. Please, let the day be good to me.”
Adulthood really is something very draining. But thanks to Seventeen and specially to Hoshi who reminds us that despite the problems we face and heaviness of our responsibilities, we are still able to enjoy life and the so called Youth.
Now, moving to my last, my top ten all time favourite Seventeen song until to this year.
Choosing songs to be part of this list is quite difficult. As I said, all of Seventeen songs are great. I love all of them. So choosing the last song is a bit bothersome.
But if I had to choose one, it will go with Thanks, the title track of their Special Album Director’s Cut.
The song has the same rhythm and beat as Don’t Wanna Cry which made this song a favourite of mine. But the deeper lyrics hold a more emotional meaning.
This song is specifically for Carats who supported Seventeen through the years. It is the group’s way to express their gratitude to their fans.
It is indeed a simple word like in the lyrics, and sometimes, telling it is very hard. You do not know if your thankfulness will be delivered properly. But in any way, it is something you wanted to tell with full pride.
Idols are only just ordinary people as well. They knew that in their chosen industry, they may fall at one point. The support they get from people kept them to where they are. They knew that without their fans, their popularity will decline and be eventually forgotten.
These exact words are written in the lyrics.
“Because I want to be your tomorrow, I lived through today.”
Seventeen knew from the start their career will be full of challenges. Before becoming famous the way they are today, they started with uncertainties. Just like the beginning of the lyrics, all they knew was to be playful and perform like idols but the moment they saw the smiles of the crowd, their dreams became bigger.
They started with a big debut plan only to almost end up breaking because of the company’s impending bankruptcy. They thrived to appeal to people through busking on the streets. I may have not been there since the beginning but I watched how they started. The simple joy they had when they gathered enough people to support was emotional. Because of this, they kept on going, continuing to produce music and sing songs. They want to keep going for their fans who supported them. And that is how they live through to this day.
When they became big enough to be recognized internationally, they knew that it may not last long. They knew how fans would be there for them now but later will leave them. Thus, the lyrics in Seungcheol’s part and proceeds with everyone’s voice.
“I won’t change my heart. I won’t change it ever, even if you forget me. We won’t be changed because it is engraved in each of our hearts.”
No matter what, they will embrace all and continue to thank their fans, even those who will eventually leave them. They knew that people change, that the hearts of people change. But for them, even if you move forward and eventually forgets them, they will always be forever grateful to you as you were there for them once in your lifetime.
That is how thankful Seventeen is to their fans. The lyrics of this song perfectly conveyed their genuine gratefulness to their fans. The song became even more beautiful because of the choreography. You know their move for the chorus? The sign language for ‘Thanks’. And this is how the song became great. They incorporated the sign language into their choreography so that people who are not able to hear their songs can still be part of their fandom, their family.
I appreciated Seventeen because of their musicality. It is diverse and refreshing to my ears. But more so because of how they convey incorporate meaningful words into their songs.
Up to this day, despite starting already their military service one by one, Seventeen will continue their activities and will continue creating and releasing masterpieces. Seventeen, themselves, said to wait for them until the day will come when they will be able to stand together as thirteen once again.
I still have a lot of songs to list down. There are too many great songs they release up to their latest album Spill the Feels. There are still songs I appreciated and love. But this ends my entry for now. I will always be grateful to Seventeen for saving my life.
Like them, I know one day, my heart will definitely change as well. But no matter what, I will never forget the people who give me life and courage.
