It's been quite a while since Music Monday has appeared on the blog! But never fear; I haven't forgotten the feature. This week, to mark the tenth (!) Music Monday post, I'm sharing two songs that I've recently discovered and loved.

So, story time: I'm a Korean (you know this) and I'm very, very proud of my heritage (you know this, too). But for some reason, I've never been into Korean music—at least not to the same extent that I'm into English-language music. There are some older Korean songs that I love love love, and I've been hearing them sung by my parents for so long that they're a part of my soul. (No, really. My earliest memory involves my father singing one of those songs.) But more recent Korean music? Not really my thing, mainly because—as most of you probably know—K-pop is a huge deal, both in Korea and internationally. Unfortunately, I don't really enjoy most of the K-pop I listen to.

(Please can no one murder me for that?)

However, something I do love that is recent and Korean is Korean variety TV shows. I'm not big on K-dramas or American variety shows, but I'll take Running Man or Infinite Challenge any day. The most recent episodes of the latter have focused on show members' collaborations with various Korean musicians, and I've found that some of those musicians' work has slipped its way into my ears—and my heart.

Most likely most of my blog readers won't understand the lyrics of these songs, but I wanted to share them with you anyway!

actual dorks. am i right or am i right / [via]

First up is "Wi Ing Wi Ing" (위잉위잉) from the band Hyukoh (혁오). Their lead singer and main songwriter, Oh Hyuk (second from the left), has a really wonderful, distinctive voice and writes surprisingly thoughtful lyrics. Those qualities, combined with the overall sound of their songs, make Hyukoh's work a surefire way to lift my mood. And I'm not the only one who thinks so—since the band's introduction in 2014, their popularity has soared in Korea and beyond.

"Wi Ing Wi Ing", from Hyukoh's debut EP 20, is one of their better-known songs, having climbed up to #2 on Korea's Gaon Music Chart as of July 30. (Their song "Comes and Goes", which I also really like, was #3 on that same day.) Here! Have a listen:



Also, it's most likely just me, but I get major Raven Boys vibes when I see the above picture. (For some reason, they seem like Noah, Ronan, Gansey, and Adam from left to right but in a painfully dorky Korean way. But then again I see the Raven Cycle just about everywhere I look, so probably you should disregard.)

also a dork (do not let his hat + glasses fool you) / [via]

My second pick is "Yanghwa BRDG" (양화대교) by solo hip-hop musician Zion.T. Yes, I know what you're thinking: "Christina—notorious for subsisting on an obnoxiously artsy music diet of film soundtracks, classical music, and indie folk—enjoyed something from a hip-hop musician?"

First: yes. Second: if there's anything I've learned from listening to a lot (and I mean a lot) of music in my life, it's that comfort zones are basically there to be broken. Third: now that I think about it, "Yanghwa BRDG" is probably the most artsy of Zion.T's songs. So.

Anyway, this is a very lonely/lovely song that evokes night driving in the city. The lyrics are poignant but deceptively simple. And I really love it. Released as a single in 2014, "Yanghwa Bridge" was actually #1 on the Gaon Music Chart as of July 30. You can listen to the song right here:

Any lovers of Korean music out there? Or alternatively, if you speak a second/third/etc. language, do you enjoy listening to music in that language?

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For this week's Music Monday, I'm hitting two birds with one stone and completing the Lyric Medley Tag on my Monday feature—for which I was tagged by Alyssa (I'm obviously running out of laudatory adjectives to describe her). 

Anyway, into the mess that is my music taste!

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Oh man.

This song has worked its way into my bones and I don't even know why or how or when. I just love it so much.

So I've listened to three different versions of "Do I Wanna Know?" by Arctic Monkeys.

It seems a little over the top, I know. But it's a great song, perfect for dark musings at ungodly hours of the night, simmering and dusky and cool. All three versions are equally fantastic and have their own appeal, so I've embedded them all below.

The Original: LISTEN ON SPOTIFY / or you can Google it if Spotify isn't working for you

The original evokes the most unique mood, I think, and that's what drew me to this song in the first place. There's a rough, bloodshot, half-crazy aesthetic to the entire thing that carries a dangerous appeal. (In fact, it reminds me so much of Ronan and Adam from Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle series that I want to burst. Right down to the lyrics and the background and everything.)

The Vitamin String Quartet Cover:

This is a tiny bit slower than the original (a really tiny bit!), but I love string quartets with the fire of a thousand suns, and the way VSQ has interpreted the song here makes it just as amazing even without the lyrics. 

The Paola Bennet Cover:



I've talked about Paola Bennet before - in the very first Music Monday post I ever did, in fact. But I couldn't resist featuring her again for this cover because it's gorgeous. It makes me ache in corners of my heart I never knew existed.

So I know this is a bit of a short post, but hopefully the music rec makes up for it! I'll leave you with a snippet of my favorite part of the song:

So have you got the guts?

Been wondering if your heart's still open 

And if so I wanna know what time it shuts

Simmer down and pucker up

I'm sorry to interrupt

It's just I'm constantly on the cusp

Of trying to kiss you

Enjoy, and do comment with your thoughts!

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May it be an evening star

Stars... I remember when you could see the stars at night. Little twinkling lights, blinking at you, and you could imagine you could hear them laughing, a wonderful laugh, like it said in that book, oh, what was it called? Before the smog floated up and the stars went away. Now the night sky is dull and does not laugh, no, not anymore.

Shines down upon you

What a wonderful wish for days past. The light of the stars, a reliable guide in dark times, when you must sail a stormy sea or walk a rough road. A beautiful blessing for times of old.

May it be when darkness falls

Darkness has fallen on our earth now, nothing can save us, no, nothing. Smoke billows into the graying sky; the world is suspended in perpetual twilight. If we ever needed a star to shine down, to light the way, it would be now. A fervent plea rises up towards the heavens in this darkest hour.

You heart will be true

Will it be true? Darkness changes people, twists their hearts. Whispers to them in the dead of night. But I'll hold on to that shred of hope.

You walk a lonely road

All of us do, today and every day. We are so tightly packed together, and yet each to his own thoughts. So alone. No one knows how to reach out anymore, how to comfort, how to smile. In our clumping together we've undergone an ironic separation. And the road stretches out before us, countless miles walked but so many more still.

Oh! How far you are from home

No home for anyone in this world. As we travel we lose that feeling. Of embraces, of a good hearty meal in front of a leaping fireplace. Everyone is far from home, always, to try and get away from feeling trapped. But it's always the same, always trapped. Nowhere for us to run to now.

Mornie utulie (Darkness has come)

Oh yes, ever does the darkness hang over our weary heads. Ever do we yearn for the stars, twinkling in some heavenly garden above. Ever to we look to the skies only to be greeted by a curtain of smoke.

Believe and you will find your way

If only it were true! But no one has the strength to believe anymore. No, no, no hope left. We have almost forgotten the meaning of that word, so cool and strong on our tongues. We have almost forgotten how to speak it in harmonious unity. Maybe if someone had the courage to utter that one word, a shaft of light will break the ceiling of the earth and lead us to a new life where people believe and are happy.

Mornie alantie (Darkness has fallen)

Darkness deeper than the night shrouds our days. We no longer fight to live. Eyes dead, limbs creaking, our heads barely lifting to scan the heavens one last time. 

A promise lives within you now

The only promise I see is that of death, soon, very soon, to relieve our misery. In a ruined world full of shadow, how can a promise glow in the new day? 


May it be the shadow's call

The shadow calls us, everyone, to death, and more go every day. In the unending darkness just like a storm, countless souls float away, throwing themselves into the murky, fast-flowing river. They go all the way out to the salty sea with its stinging water and nasty smell. I hear the water was blue once, but now it's greenish-brown, foul with all the waste of a dying earth.


Will fly away

Some days, I wish a great strong torrent of wind would blow the clouds away so that we could see what the sky really looks like. 

May it be you journey on

Nowhere to walk, nowhere to journey to bring back a casket full of hope and good things. Endless roaming around the earth, once, twice, five times and nothing to bring back with a smile and warm feelings. 

To light the day

I don't even know what light looks like anymore.


When the night is overcome

Only the hateful shadow.

You may rise to find the sun

Where is it?

Mornie utulie (Darkness has come) 
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (Darkness has fallen) 
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now

(Song is "May It Be" by Enya - written by Howard Shore, Enya, Nicholas John Ryan, and Roma Shane Ryan)

According to the I Write Like software:

I write like
Neil Gaiman

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

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