Posts filed under ‘Lee Jonghyun’
I Don’t Take A Break, I Break Bricks: Rhetorical And Poetic Devices In CNBLUE Lyrics
So since I’ve been spending the past 10 days in a quarantine hotel in Taipei as part of the social experiment that is Taiwan’s COVID-10 response, I have a lot of time on my hands. Around the fifth day of my quarantine I came across a twitter thread with examples of rhetorical devices in Taylor Swift lyrics, which inspired me to adapt the idea to a list of rhetorical and poetic devices in CNBLUE’s lyrics. CNBLUE’s leader and chief songwriter Jung Yonghwa, who writes in English and Japanese (in collaboration with Japanese translators) as well as his native Korean, has a distinctive way with words and it was interesting to analyze the craft he puts into his wordsmithing. I’m no rhetorician so some of my examples might not be quite right but I had a good time doing a deep dive into the lyrics of my favorite band.
Lyrics in translation from Korean or Japanese are in italics. All others are in their original English. All lyrics by Jung Yonghwa unless otherwise noted. A version of this originally appeared as a twitter thread. Some lyrics are from solo releases by Yonghwa. Many translations courtesy of justjyh.com
1. ALLITERATION: the succession of words with similar sounds
“Let’s stay sober tonight”
–Stay Sober
2. ANAPHORA: the repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses.
“I think of you at the blowing wind
I think of you at the dazzling sunlight”
–Can’t Stop
“My heart stops at this cold love, my heart breaks into pieces
My breath stops at this sick love, my breath slowly dies”
–Cold Love
“Love is meant to be cruel
Love is meant to be piercing
Love is meant to be like fire”
–Love Is
3. ANTANACLASIS: The repetition of a word within a phrase or sentence in which the second occurrence utilizes a different meaning from the first.
I don’t take a break, I break bricks
–Ryu Can Do It
4. ANTIMETABOLE: The repetition of words in successive clauses in transposed order.
I see right through you the same
Same way you see right through me
–Brothers
5. APOSTROPHE: any instance when the speaker talks to a person or object that is absent from the poem.
Hello Hello Hello Mr.KIA
Don’t be such a snob
Don’t get on the high horse, man
–Mr. KIA
6. ASSONANCE: The repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighboring words.
“You shine a light so bright that it’s blinding
Like a firework that’s blooming in the sky”
–Summer Dream
7. ASYNDETON: the omission of conjunctions from a phrase or sentence.
“People become enemies, piercing, ripping, disappearing”
–Checkmate
8. BLASON: describes the physical attributes of a subject, usually female.
“It’s the stain of your lipstick
On the glass that you share with
Slowly crossin’ your legs
As you’re playin’ with your hair”
–Make You Mine
9. ENJAMBMENT: a line break that interrupts the flow of a sentence
“Slowly tracin’ all the droplets
As they’re drippin’ off your hair it’s
So amazing how you find
Another way to blow my mind”
–Make You Mine
10. EPISTROPHE (aka epiphora): the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases or verses.
“Can’t you be my light?
Please be my light”
–Lonely Night
11. EPIZEUXIS: The repeated use of a word for vehemence or emphasis, generally in the same sentence.
“That day, that day, that day, that day, that day”
–One Fine Day
“I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know who I am who I am who I am”
–Till Then
12. EXTENDED or SUSTAINED METAPHOR; the use of a single metaphor or analogy throughout a poem.
“If life is nothing but a party
Your name is on the marquee”
–Life Is A Party
“Even if there are speed bumps to slow me down
I have to speed up again
I keep stopping, when I start to go, I stop again
I raise the speed but you tell me to stop”
–Navigation
“We’re like a puzzle
I want to put them together
Fitting vivid-colored pieces with each other”
–Puzzle
“Because the heart can act like a mirror
In a reflection of one another
The pieces coming together make the world brighter”
–Mirror
13. HYPERBOLE: The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
“Even sweet rest is utterly bitter survival”
–Royal Rumble
“On the blackest of the nights
My heart burns blacker than the night”
–Tattoo
14. HYPERCATALECTIC: having an extra syllable or syllables at the end of a metrically complete verse
“It’s time of the season
I just wanna breathe it in”
–Summer Dream
15. HYPOCATASTASIS: An implied comparison or resemblance that does not directly name its referent (an implied SIMILE or METAPHOR).
“The streets of Paris speak to me”
–The Moment
16. INTERNAL RHYME: two rhyming words juxtaposed inside of the line
“What can I do to get you through
And make you change your mind?”
–Someone Else
17. LETTER-FOR-LETTER SPELLING
“D.I.A.M.O.N.D girl”
–Diamond Girl
18. METAPHOR: A comparison which directly relates one thing to another unrelated thing.
“Every night’s a breath of life when the city never sleeps”
–Life Is A Party
“We are the fire in the rain”
–Fire and Rain
“I’m your navigation”
–Navigation
19. METONYMY: the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is associated
“Only black and white, like the piano”
–Still
20. ONOMATOPOEIA: a word that sounds like the noise it describes
“Tick tock when I see you”
–Face To Face
21. PARALLELISM: the usage of repeating words and forms to give pattern and rhythm to a passage, either to juxtapose contrasting ideas or connect similar ideas.
“’Cause when I’m with you
You’re not with me”
–Someone Else
22. PARADOX: a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true
“When I see you I can’t breathe, I need to see you to breathe”
–Between us
23. SIMILE: A stated comparison (usually formed with “like” or “as”) between two dissimilar things.
“Something in the way that you laugh is like a sunflower”
–Summer Dream
“Like a child
Just like heaven”
–Like A Child
“Like the water drops that soak the dry earth
You filled my insecure heart”
–Glory Days
“My past times are on film like a movie star”
–27 Years
“I can feel your lips settle down on mine like a butterfly”*
–Daisy
*lyric by Lee Jungshin
24. SLANT RHYME: two words located at the end of a line of poetry themselves end in similar—but not identical—consonant sounds or syllable
“Don’t know how to describe
What’s going on inside”
–The Moment
“Can you let me breath?
Can you let me dream?”
–Lonely Night
“Every day is a miracle
The colors are a spectacle”
–Summer Dream
25. CONCEIT: a typically unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor whose appeal is more intellectual than emotional
“People told me nothing’s easy, that’s why I go hard”
–Ryu Can Do It
“When the cloud covers the sky
And stars have closed their eyes”
–Supernova
“So I’m drunk by noisy sights”
–Jellyfish
Don’t Say Goodbye: Favorite CNBLUE live performances
I just published Have A Good Night: CNBLUE, Band Music, and the Uses of Live Performance in K-pop, my first article in the burgeoning field of CNBLUE studies, in the book The Future of Live Music (Bloomsbury, 2020) and to celebrate that achievement as well as to give the article more context I came up with a list of some of my favorite live CNBLUE performances.
Since CNBLUE is in the midst of reconfiguring from a quartet to a trio and since I wrote the article prior to that in 2019, this post is a bit of a time capsule. The band members were in the army from 2018-2020 and haven’t released any new music since 2017, but more significantly, they had a bad breakup with their guitarist Lee Jonghyun in 2019 due to his involvement with various controversies, so the band is definitely in transitional mode. But their live shows are legendary and as I wrote in my Bloomsbury essay, “In some ways CNBLUE’s drive to excel as live musicians stems from these early perceptions as they have striven to prove their musical legitimacy despite their idol roots.” Since then they’ve gone far beyond that early expectation and have become one of the premiere live performing acts in the world.
With the departure of Jonghyun, who wrote and sang many of their classic songs and whose guitar playing was an indispensable element of their singular sound, CNBLUE is a now different band than the one that performed in the clips below. But nonetheless this post is a tribute rather than an elegy to their prodigious output in the past ten years, as the remaining three members have promised to continue on. As I researched this post I realized that the setlist from one of their classic concerts from 2012, 392 Live, is almost completely different than their setlist from their last tour, Starting Over, in 2017, with only four songs overlapping in both shows. This indicates that although it won’t be easy to move on without Jonghyun, they are capable of remaking themselves almost completely and starting fresh with new material. I’m optimistic that once COVID-19 restrictions on live performances begin to ease up, CNBLUE will resume touring and will light up the sky again with their live shows.
It was pretty challenging narrowing down the list to just 15 clips and in truth the best way to experience CNBLUE live (besides going in person to one of their actual performances) is to watch an entire concert from start to finish, since they are masters of creating setlists and the pacing in their shows is designed for maximum effect. But for those who would like more of a guided tour, here in chronological order is a curated selection of some of my favorite live CNBLUE performances.
1. Hey You, Blue Night in Seoul, 2012
A much heavier version of this song than the studio recording, beginning with each member showing off their instrumental chops. This performance demonstrates their ability to turn even a fluffy pop song into what they call DSM, or dark, sexy metal.
2. Tattoo, You and I, 2012
I can imagine the horror of people who randomly tuned in to this performance on South Korean television during the performance of this ode to sexual obsession. Jung Yonghwa pants and moans into the microphone, thrusts his hips into his guitar, and gets on his knees and headbangs at the climax (and I don’t use that word lightly) of this song.
3. I Don’t Know Why, MTV Unplugged, 2012
CNBLUE shows off their acoustic chops and vocal harmonies in this unplugged concert for MTV Japan, and they really jam on the booming dreadnought guitars. The lyrics are also a good example of Yonglish, Yonghwa’s singular approach to the English language.
4. Y Why, Wave in Osaka, 2014
Slowed down slightly from its original studio version, this performance is a stellar example of CNBLUE’s trademark deep, dark, sexy metal, including Yonghwa’s growling and soaring rock vocals, Kang Minhyuk’s heavy, heavy foot on the drums and a wailing guitar solo by Jonghyun.
6. Lady, Summer Sonic, 2014
The ultimate rave up song and one of CNBLUE’s fastest paced, this tune has been staple in their setlists since its release in 2014. It’s a firestarter of a song and includes a supple bassline by Lee Jungshin. You can literally hear the audience going insane at the end of this version.
5. I’m Sorry, Summer Sonic, 2014
Playing at one of Japan’s premiere music festivals in the heat of the Japanese summer, this performance of their iconic rock track I’m Sorry includes a sweaty AF Yonghwa capping the song with his signature octave-jumping wail. Bonus: a jamming version of Lady, plus a rendition of their sweet sweet 2014 hit song Can’t Stop.
7. Loner, Yu Hui Yoo’s Sketchbook, 2015
An EDM version of their famous debut track, updated with synthesizer, this is one of the first live CNBLUE clips that I saw and the one that started me on this long, crazy journey. It’s also interesting to see the band coiffed and made up instead of sweaty and disheveled like they are in most of their live concerts and it’s pretty clear why they were recruited as idols back at the start of their careers. Even in front of a sedate studio audience they exude sheer energy and blinding charisma, which in combination with their good looks is deadly.
8. Catch Me, FNC Kingdom in Japan, 2015
Just rock. Absolutely electrifying.
9. Lie, We’re Like A Puzzle, 2016
One of CNBLUE’s many vocal duets–here they perform this midtempo rock tune in both Korean and Japanese. It’s a great example of their musical virtuosity on all counts, with the spotlight on Yonghwa and Jonghyun’s perfectly balanced, emotional vocals.
10. Radio, Our Glory Days in Nagoya, 2016
Although pretty much every live version of this song is great, Yonghwa is in fine form in this one, bopping on top of the piano, across the stage and into the audience. He ends up lying flat on his back at the end of the song exchanging a cappella vocal riffs with the audience.
11. LOVE, Between Us in Seoul, 2017
This jazzy rendition one of their sprightly earlier hits shines in the band’s locked-in performance, from Minhyuk’s rat-a-tat-tat drum rolls though Jonghyun’s fluid lead guitar lines, overlaid by Yonghwa’s energetic vocal improvisations and capped off by a monster rock break two-thirds of the way through the song.
12. Wake Up, Between Us in Bangkok, 2017
Wake Up is CNBLUE’s version of a jam band song and the live performances of this song features am extended call-and-response between the band and the audience, Yonghwa and Jonghyun swapping improvised guitar riffs, Yonghwa’s screaming high notes, and endless false endings. The longest version recorded, from Between Us in Seoul, lasts more than 16 minutes, which is pretty impressive for a song that was originally less than 3 minutes in its studio version.
This 2017 fancam is a fragment of a much longer version and demonstrates some of the maniacal improvisational hijinks that typically take place during the song. For a full version go here.
13. Eclipse, Starting Over in Yokohama, 2017
This performance builds beautifully, starting with Jonghyun’s sweet, clear vocal and acoustic guitar. The gradual additions of piano, drums, bass, and Yonghwa’s ragged lead guitar perfectly complement the smooth lightness of Jonghyun’s voice, showcasing CNBLUE’s balanced combination of vocals, guitar, harmony, and beats.
14. Between Us, Arirang I’m Live, 2017
This explosive tune usually brings the house down in 15,000 seat arena shows so CNBLUE performing it here live in front of a tiny crowd is absolutely earth-shattering.
15. Young Forever, Between Us in Seoul, 2017
Besides earworm pop tunes and spectacular rock anthems, CNBLUE also specializes in emotional bops including Glory Days and Book, two of their more recent Japanese releases. Young Forever falls into that category as well and this performance shows off the band’s stellar songcrafting and live chops. A gorgeous roundelay of a song, with three main parts that repeat and overlay each other, this live version beautifully showcases the lovely interplay of the various elements of the song, including layered vocal harmonies, changes in dynamics, and a cappella harmonizing, and which features the plaintive lament “Can we go back/but there’s no way back.”
For further exploration, there are many full CNBLUE concerts on youtube. My favorite full concert is Starting Over, from 2017, and my favorite short concert is FNC Kingdom 2017, which is also the last live with all four members and which demonstrates their ability to whip an audience into a frenzy.
Non, je ne regrette rien: The Package, eps. 1-2 review
Tourism, The Package, 2017
Okay, fuck it. This blog is now all-CNBLUE all the time. Or at least for the next post or two.
After an absence of three years on the small screen, CNBLUE leader Jung Yonghwa has made his latest appearance in a Kdrama in the wacky romcom THE PACKAGE. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from this project except some pretty scenery from France, so the screwball comedy style of the first two episodes has been a really nice surprise.
The premise is simple—a motley crew of seven Korean tourists take a package tour to France, led by expat Yoon SoSo (Lee Yeon-hee), their patient and long-suffering tour guide. As per kdramas, they along the way they discover various things about themselves and each other.
The freak, The Package, 2017
What sets this drama apart from some of the others that I’ve seen is its completely wacky humor. Yonghwa plays the main lead, San Maru, but instead of being a typical dreamboat heroic type he’s a total freak who has random B&D fantasies, giggles while grabbing an armful of vibrators in a Paris sex toy shop, and constantly takes goofy selfies, even while he’s waiting to be grilled in an interrogation room in the Paris airport. But beneath this dorky exterior is a sensitive and upright soul, which Yonghwa ably conveys through his expressive puppy-dog eyes.
Yeon Hee as SoSo, the tour guide with a past, is Maru’s potential love interest, and she hides her mysterious history behind her smiling professional façade. Like Maru she’s fleeing some kind of romantic disappointment so no doubt they’ll hook up sometime before the drama ends.
Boredom, The Package, 2017
Rounding out the cast are a young couple who are past the romantic part of their relationship and are now in the boredom period, a grumpy-ass ahjussi and his forbearing and possibly seriously ill wife, and a man who may or may not be traveling with his young mistress.
Screwball, The Package, 2017
The whole thing is played against the gorgeous French scenery and true to form the cinematography by the Korean cameraperson is top-notch. The first two eps displayed a screwball sensibility that at times hearkened back to the best of Lubitsch or Capra, kdrama style, with characters randomly discussing their bowel movements or making madcap slo-mo dashes through the streets of Paris, coffee cups a-flying, while taking broad pratfalls along the way.
Skinship, The Package, 2017
Yet underneath all of the slapstick nonsense is a more serious tone, as Maru is forced to work on end-of-the-year reports for his shady company back in Korea even while he’s on his vacation, and SoSo deals with the precarities of contingent employment in her adopted country. By the end of the second ep we got a sense of some of the romance to come, too, as the two unattached characters Maru and Soso shared some accidental skinship and bonded over their fondness for the poignant 1991 French film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (The Lovers on the Bridge).
Yonghwa had the dubious good fortune of debuting in the 2009 drama YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL before he had had much acting experience and in that show and his next drama, HEARTSTRINGS, he was as wooden as a day-old bagel. His performances improved quite a bit in subsequent dramas and by his fourth role, in the clever 2014 saeguk THE THREE MUSKETEERS, he had learned how to convincingly create a memorable character through his acting. But first impressions are often indelible so he’s faced a lot of prejudice against his acting skills due to his stiff performances in those first two shows.
Fool, The Package, 2017
So it’s great to see that in the first two eps of THE PACKAGE Yonghwa completely dispels any doubts about his acting skilz, as he nicely develops Maru’s character, at times a wide-eyed fool completely lacking in social skills, and at others an innocent abroad in a world of crooks and thieves. His comic timing is quite on point and he manages to go from gleeful to confused to emo in a split second.
Gratuitous pulchritude, The Package, 2017
He’s also featured in the hallowed and time-honored kdrama convention known as the “gratuitous leading man topless scene.” In this case it takes place at the end of the first ep (if you want to skip to it immediately) as the camera lovingly documents his semi-nude torso, detailing his toned bod from all angles of view.
Tourist herding, The Package, 2017
But despite the allure of this display of pulchritude, it’s Yonghwa’s endearing and layered performance as the loveable oddball San Maru that’s made the biggest impression on me so far. His leading lady Lee Yeon Hee does a good job conveying the banality of her job as she herds cranky tourists around France. I’m hoping that future eps may allow the SoSo and Maru to improve on their verbal sparring ala Hepburn and Tracy. And will we get to see a Yonghwa screen kiss this time around? The truth will only come out in the watching, but this drama is just heartfelt and breezy enough to make me want to see more.
Melo medical, Hospital Ship, 2017
NOTE: This has been a banner year for CNBLUE members appearing in Korean dramas. In addition to Yonghwa’s leading man role in THE PACKAGE, his bandmates have all been cast as the male lead in various shows. Drummer Kang Minhyuk is currently starring in the very popular medical melodrama HOSPITAL SHIP, along with kdrama queen Ha Ji Won (THE SECRET GARDEN; EMPRESS KI), and the show has been one of the top-rated dramas in South Korea much since its premiere in August.
Throwback romance, Girls Generation 1979, 2017
Guitarist Lee Jonghyun has been the male lead in not one but two dramas in 2017, the saeguk comedy MY ONLY LOVE SONG that screened on the Netflix platform in June, and GIRLS GENERATION 1979, the throwback teen drama that aired in the fall. After bassist Lee Jungshin appeared as the second lead in the historical remake of MY SASSY GIRL in early summer he was cast as the lead in LONGING HEART, a time-travel romance that will premiere in December. Somewhere in there in 2017 CNBLUE also managed to release two albums in three different languages and tour twice in Japan and once across Asia. Yonghwa added in his own two solo album releases and went on an eleven-show tour in Japan this year.
CNBLUE’s frenetic activity in 2017 is quite possibly a clue that one or more of them (Yonghwa almost certainly) will be enlisting sometime in 2018, and no doubt at least one of the CNBLUE members will squeeze in a role another drama or two before they start to go off to the army. Sometimes I think that after working so hard for close to a decade the military might seem like a respite of sorts for CNBLUE. But I have hope that they’ll come back from their enlistment and create more glorious music together and appear in even more dramas in the years to come.
We’re Like A Puzzle: CNBLUE in Taipei/Yonghwa in Kobe concert reviews
Concert-going, Taiwan style, Between Us In Taipei, 2017
NOTE: At the risk of CNBLUE completely hijacking this blog Imma post a review of three shows I saw on a recent swing through Taiwan and Japan.
This was the third time I’ve seen CNBLUE live and their ability to run a powerful and entertaining rock concert was very evident, despite the fact that at least two of the four members had been working around the clock filming their respective Korean dramas and were probably fairly sleep-deprived. Drummer Kang Minhyuk is currently the male lead in the medical drama HOSPITAL SHIP and since he’d been shooting all night the night before he had only arrived in Taipei about five or six hours before show that the evening. Guitarist Lee Jonghyun just finished up his own role in the main cast of the throwback nostalgia school drama GIRLS GENERATION 1979 and he too seemed a bit peaked. Most likely the band had had little or no time to rehearse together prior to meeting up in Taiwan that day and they took a very long sound check, playing at least a half dozen songs to limber up their performance skills.
Seamless, Between Us In Taipei, 2017
But once they hit the stage that evening very little fatigue was evident aside from dark circles under Minhyuk and Jonghyun’s eyes. Early in the set Jonghyun missed one of his vocal cues and forgot to sing his lines, and he only rarely cracked a smile during the show, but his guitar runs were as crisp and precise as ever. As always Minhyuk’s drumming was strong and powerful, providing the engine that drove the band. Leader and lead vocalist Jung Yonghwa seemed relatively well-rested and he and bassist Lee Jungshin exerted an extra amount of effort to pick up the energy of their bandmates.
As usual the band worked seamlessly as a unit, though they might have been a tad less perfect than usual. But it was inspiring to see how the two less exhausted members covered for their tired mates so that the show ran smoothly and the audience was happy. A few times Yonghwa worked the crowd by leaping effortlessly from the stage onto the landing next to the railing of the grandstand, with starstruck audience members delicately touching him as he went by. Jungshin also put in double duty, smiling broadly during most of the show and striding onto both extended stages on either side of the hall. By the end of the show even Minhyuk and Jonghyun were smiling, despite their tiredness at the start of the set. The band’s professionalism and long years of playing together also gave them an edge in overcoming fatigue since once they got going they fell into their customary powerful and intense groove.
Top-notch, Between Us In Taipei, 2017, cr. JYH89star
Of course it also helps that CNBLUE’s material is top-notch and they know how to write a setlist. Right out of the gate they opened with four high powered numbers, starting with one of their best live songs, RADIO. This EDM-laced tune showcases their trademark rock sound and includes a killer drop right before the pre-chorus that leads right into the singalong refrain. It’s a breathtaking way to start a show and it got the audience hyped up immediately. They followed quickly with WHEN I WAS YOUNG, a beat-heavy tune that blends a wiggly synthesizer line with Jonghyun’s fuzzy rock guitar riff. Jonghyun and Yonghwa alternate the vocal lead on this one, with Yonghwa’s powerful purring voice complementing his mate’s smooth crooning. Following this were the synth-driven DOMINO and a stripped-down remix of I’M SORRY, which concluded with Yonghwa shrieking an ultra-high rock note, and after that the band had the audience eating out of the palm of its hand.
Notably, the set list had songs released from every single year since the band’s debut in 2010, with each of the songs self-composed. Each of the band members also had a hand in writing and/or composing at least one song in the set (even drummer Minhyuk, who co-wrote the lyrics for SWEET HOLIDAY). This may not seem remarkable in the global rock band world but it’s still quite unusual in KPop, where performers who write their own material are still in the minority, and it attests to CNBLUE’s legit credits as artists and not just idols.
Mesmerizing, Between Us In Taipei, 2017, cr. JYH89star
A highlight of the show was ROYAL RUMBLE, Yonghwa’s moody and evocative track about the perils of life in the entertainment world. Framed metaphorically as a never-ending fight in a brutal arena, the song’s churning, repetitive beat overlaid with a ragged Jonghyun guitar riff was mesmerizing. In the live performance Yonghwa stood center stage at the mic, ringed by lights as if trapped in a cage. He effortlessly rode the melody up and down his vocal range, briefly sliding in and out of a beautiful falsetto, then growling and wailing the powerful lyrics. The effect was completely hypnotic and was a good preview of his solo shows that I saw the following weekend.
They finished out the show by blasting through some of their best live songs, keeping the mood and energy up, and concluded with their BETWEEN US, their single from last spring. Like many of CNBLUE’s songs, BETWEEN US was made for the stage, as it becomes even stronger and more intense when performed live. Although the band may have been tired they never let their energy onstage flag and they didn’t disappoint the audience. They’ve been playing live at such a high level of excellence for so many years that they didn’t allow a bit of sleep-deprivation to put a damper on things.
Returning for the encore, they included a couple songs custom-made for the Taipei audience. Throughout the show Yonghwa had spoken to the audience primarily in Mandarin, with a bit of help from Minhyuk, who also has decent Chinese-language skills. The two even made a bit of game of teasing Jungshin for his inability to speak Mandarin, much to the amusement of the crowd. But during the encore Yonghwa really rolled out the treats for the local crowd. At one point he sang an impromptu version of Taiwan-based singer JJ Lin’s LITTLE DIMPLES, with the audience happily singing along. And during the acoustic version of MANITO, which has become the singalong anthem of the tour, Yonghwa switched out the Korean lyrics, “neoreul saranghae,” with the Chinese translation, “wo ai nimen.” It was a subtle switch because in the Chinese variation he used the plural form, changing the meaning from “I love you,” to “I love you all,” thus directing the phrase outward to the audience instead of to an individual loved one. Both the audience and the band sang the phrase repeatedly to each other, creating an emotional loop of sentiment between them, which both actively drew in the audience as well as expressing the band’s affection for the fans. By the song’s end the audience was repeatedly singing “wo ai nimen” and the emotion in the crowd was palpable as many fans shed tears. With Yonghwa’s military enlistment almost certainly happening in 2018 this may have been the last CNBLUE concert in Taipei for as much as four years (if the members stagger their two-year enlistments), and in that context the crowd and the band repeatedly singing “wo ai nimen” to each other was quite poignant, as they could be bidding farewell to each other for quite some time.
Before the show, Summer Calling In Kobe, 2017
The weekend following I traveled to Kobe, Japan, to catch the last two shows of Yonghwa’s solo tour, Summer Calling. Whereas the CNBLUE show was a stellar example of teamwork amongst bandmates, the solo concerts by nature focused on the Yonghwa the singer. In fact, unlike his earlier solo tour in 2015, during these concerts Yonghwa didn’t play the guitar or keyboards at all, choosing instead to focus solely on singing. Fortunately, in the past few years he’s developed his voice into a glorious instrument, bringing to maturity the potential he’d shown in the past.
Over the course of two nights in Kobe Yonghwa held the stage for a total of 7.5 hours in front of 8000 people each night and he sang 23 songs the first night and 28 songs the second night. I don’t like to be hyperbolic but both performances were nearly flawless in all aspects of their execution. The concert was a complete treat for Yonghwa fans as he sang every song from his three solo albums as well as several covers and a few CNBLUE songs as well.
Since Yonghwa was relieved of his regular guitar and piano playing duties during this tour he was able to fully focus on his singing and in the past few years he’s perfected his technique so that he now has the chops to match the emotional intensity that has always been present in his vocals. This was evident throughout the set as he ranged from the rapid-fire English-language delivery in the fast-paced dance tune SUMMER DREAM to the slow, drawn out sustains in the moody ballad LOST IN TIME. He also made good use of his lower register, most notably going from low crooning to a strong high belting in his cover of the Japanese song KONAYUKI. It was also nice to hear him nail the high falsetto in the Prince-esque tune LIFE IS A PARTY. The live versions pretty much improved on every one of the studio tracks as Yonghwa poured his heart and soul into the emotion of each song. Watching his face on the video screen as he sang was particularly enlightening as you could see the sheer intensity of feeling he put into every note and line.
Yonghwa started the second half of the show by popping up through a trap-door in the front of the stage at high speed, then performing two of CNBLUE’s recent high-energy Japanese singles, PUZZLE and SHAKE. Though this got the crowd going, and intending no knock on the backup band, I still much prefer CNBLUE’s live versions of these tunes. Yonghwa’s backup band were pros and there was nothing wrong with the execution or the arrangements (except maybe a bit too much tenor sax) but when CNBLUE is locked in they are a machine. The backup band’s skill and competency were there but not the passion and intensity that comes from a group of musicians who have worked together for years as have CNBLUE. As if acknowledging the synergy he has with CNBLUE, when he sang Jonghyun’s part during PUZZLE Yonghwa also dragged his mic stand to his bandmate’s side of the stage and mimed playing the guitar.
Off the chain, Summer Calling In Kobe, 2017, cr. JYH_羊白菜
Yonghwa also had the dancing going on, seeming to feel it in his body instead of thinking about it with his brain as he had in previous attempts in on music shows earlier in the year. Most of the show’s uptempo songs featured a quartet of male backup dancers and Yonghwa would occasionally join in with some of the milder choreography. This added a bit of flair to the proceedings and really jacked up the energy for the last song of the set, an off-the-chain version of the ultra-hooky jam THAT GIRL, with Yonghwa coolly leading the audience in dancing to the kicky choreo.
Emotional connection, Summer Calling In Kobe, 2017, cr. roki
During the encore at the end of the second night’s show, which was the last stop on the tour, Yonghwa spoke to the audience for quite a long time. Though I have no Japanese language skills it was clear that he was thanking the fans and saying goodbye, since his military enlistment is looming. Most of the audience was in tears by the time he finished speaking and the emotion connection again was tangible as the fans understood the ramifications of his words. He followed this with one of his equally emotional compositions, the mid-tempo ballad BECAUSE I MISS YOU from the drama HEARTSTRINGS. The choice of song was especially apt since the lyrics are a lament to a lost loved one and the 6/8 time signature adds a melancholy swing to the poignant words. Yonghwa nailed his performance too, with breathing, technique, phrasing, and emotion completely on point.
Glorious, Summer Calling In Kobe, 2017
He finished the show with ONE FINE DAY, the gorgeous ballad from his first solo album of the same name. During the crescendo of the song, when Yonghwa sang out a beautifully sustained high note, there was absolute appreciative silence where it seemed no one in the hall breathed for about ten seconds, allowing the note to reverberate as his voice rang like a bell throughout the venue. It was a glorious moment.
Eyes don’t lie, Summer Calling In Kobe, 2017 Cr.JYH_羊白菜
After taking his bows Yonghwa left the stage fairly quickly, and the video feed showed his mouth smiling but his eyes seemed quite sad. As his enlistment date nears this may well have been his last solo concert for years. This also may be the last time I’ll be able to travel to Asia for a while, so I’m really glad I was able to witness what may be his final solo performances, as well as one of CNBLUE’s last concerts outside of Korea, before he joins the military. He’s at the top of his game right now, but despite this, I still don’t think he’s reached his creative peak yet. The ceiling is high for Yonghwa, and somehow I think it may be limitless.
Wake Up, Wake Up: CNBLUE live at Budokan concert review
Fangirling, Shake Shake, CNBLUE at Budokan, May 17-18, 2017
I recently joined the cult of CNBLUE so when I lived this spring in Hong Kong I made a side trip to Tokyo to attend my very first CNBLUE concerts. For the dedicated CNBLUE fanbase, going to a live show is like making a pilgrimage to Mecca and the band is famed for putting on amazing performances. I’m happy to report that they did not disappoint. They demonstrated exactly why their live shows are so popular, as they are consummate musicians and showmen.
The concerts were held at Nippon Budokan, the music hall in Tokyo that’s hosted many a legendary show. CNBLUE plays there on the regular and they clearly understand the significance of performing in that hallowed venue. On Day One they came onstage with guns blazing, playing an incredibly explosive set of high-energy songs including their latest Korean single BETWEEN US, followed in quick succession by RADIO, PUZZLE, and I’M SORRY, which are some of their fastest paced and hardest rocking tracks. This combination was ridiculously incendiary, and there was an unbelievable amount of energy crackling off the stage. Band leader Jung Yonghwa was obviously hyped up as he seemed to literally burst onto the stage and continually ran around and jumped up and down nonstop for those first twenty minutes, soaking through his shirt by the third song. At several points it seemed like he would bounce off the stage he was so excited.
Incendiary, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 17, 2017
Following this rock-based opening they rapidly switched gears, going into an EDM-based set that showed off their recent forays into electronica. One of the things that makes CNBLUE concerts work so well is the pacing and the attention to detail in the set list, as well as the way that the band seamlessly integrates the elements of each song. In this set during the smexy midtempo dance track WHEN I WAS YOUNG guitarist Lee Jonghyun played a riff from SUPERNOVA, the song that immediately followed, which musically linked the two songs and created a seamless transition between them. Next up following SUPERNOVA was DOMINO, and it was interesting to hear the two songs back-to-back since they share a similar chord structure. However, they sound quite different from each other, again demonstrating CNBLUE’s wide musical range. While DOMINO is a spare, synthesizer-based, beat-heavy track, SUPERNOVA is more lush and trip-hoppy.
The band also keeps things fresh by re-arranging their hits and adding in songs they’ve never played live before and this tour is no exception. Old favorites I’M SORRY, IN MY HEAD, and FEELING all got makeovers, and two older songs from their back-catalog, STILL and ANGEL, made their live-show premieres. They also played two different set lists on each of the two nights, for a total of 28 different songs over the two nights. This prodigious amount of music kept both the band and the audience on their toes and with encores both shows ran nearly three hours each.
Post-show, rotating stage, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 18, 2017
Despite the length and intensity of the performances the band did a great job keeping the energy level quite high throughout both nights. After literally hundreds of live shows both Yonghwa and Jonghyun are pros so they are all about sustaining their voices and not running out of steam. There were definitely moments where Yonghwa passed up on a really high note and let the backing track or the backup vocals carry on. This allowed him to save his voice for the more high-impact moments like his famous high-pitched wail at the end of I’M SORRY, which brought the house down, or the impossibly long sustained note at the crescendo of CAN’T STOP. CNBLUE is literally in it for the long run, both in their concerts and in their career, so it’s all about creating a great show, not necessarily showing off vocal gymnastics. Yonghwa has blown out his voice at least once before in past years so he’s learned how to pace himself, and now he knows how to give just enough to make songs work.
Which is not to say that he didn’t put out a huge amount of energy in both of the shows. On the first day his shirt was soaked through almost from the start because he was belting out songs and playing guitar and piano as well as tossing the mic in the air and running around the stage nonstop. He is very light on his feet and made an amusing show of tiptoeing around the various speakers and monitors around the stage, doing little dances, running all over the main and extended stages, and leaping up and down onto the stage, the risers, and into the walkways between the stage and the audience.
Beauty queen, Shake Shake, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 18, 2017 cr. celia&chifang
Yonghwa also took full advantage of the round revolving center stage, at times perching on the edge like a beauty queen as it spun slowly around, the audience egging him on as he waved and posed. Although security guards shadowed his every move in case any overly enthusiastic audience member decided to jump the barriers and do a tackle, Yonghwa seemed to trust the audience, as if he realizes that he has nothing to fear from his fans. The other band members are also comfortable and charismatic onstage as well, showing their veteran performance chops even in a large venue like Budokan.
Unlike their appearances on South Korea’s televised music shows, it was also clear at Budokan that they were playing live, although some songs that featured strings or synthesizers had backing tracks. In particular Lee Jonghyun’s guitar was mixed up nice and high so his crisp, precise guitar runs came through loud and clear. Drummer Kang Minhyuk is also a monster, with the ability to range from hard rock to more delicate and subtle pop songs. He also works the electronic drum pads really well, seamlessly integrating his technique into the more EDM-esque tunes. Lee Jungshin is solid on the bass, and he and Minhyuk make up a strong, versatile rhythm section. Yonghwa held it down on rhythm guitar, though there were several times he sang without an instrument, the better to run around the stage. He also played synthesizer and piano and his piano intros were particularly lovely to hear.
Interestingly, the setlists from the two nights didn’t include any ballads, as most of the songs were mid to uptempo, ranging from melodious EDM-laced tunes to hardcore rock songs. What they also did not include either night were some of the more downbeat and introspective tunes they’d played in last year’s tours, including ROYAL RUMBLE, YOUNG FOREVER, and BE ALRIGHT. They seem to be emphasizing the positive these days and looking forward again, whereas during OUR GLORY DAYS, the tour immediately following last year’s controversy, they still seemed be processing the entire ordeal.
The wave, Shake Shake, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 17, 2017
The shows at Budokan were very collaborative between the audience and the band and in that way differed from most other live shows I’ve been to, which are mostly one-sided affairs with the performer performing and the audience listening. Aside from the requisite “throw your hands up” there’s not a huge amount of interplay at your standard rock concert. At CNBLUE’s Budokan shows the audience became an integral part of the performance, with band members spending long swaths of time talking directly to the audience (Yonghwa in particular seemed to enjoy sharing his thoughts) and with the audience singing along to every song, and in many songs serving as the chorus. CNBLUE designs their songs with their live shows in mind and Yonghwa has stated that he writes some parts of his songs specifically for the audience to sing in concerts. The band also stopped playing music for a good ten minutes while they made the audience do the wave, which I hadn’t experienced at a music show before. Their level of interplay with the audience was probably the most interactive I’ve ever seen at a concert and the show felt like a true collaboration between the band and the audience.
There’s an art to writing a good set list and Yonghwa, who’s also in charge of this aspect of the show, has mastered this invisible but crucial aspect to their live shows as well. He’s clearly involved from the micro to the macro level of each show, from composing most of the songs to singing lead to playing multiple instruments.
Running the show, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 18, 2017 cr. celia& chifang
CNBLUE plays the concert hall, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 18, 2017
But his real instrument is the audience, which he conducts like an orchestra. He often directly addressed them or prompted them to sing lines from songs or to cheer or clap along. Probably the most extreme example of this was the call-and-response portion of WAKE UP. While the trusty Kang Minhyuk kept a rapid beat on the bass drum Yonghwa played a variety of licks on his guitar that the audience then mimicked. He also shouted, whispered, shrieked, and screamed the song’s refrain and the audience likewise echoed him. This went on for a good ten minutes, with Yonghwa making the audience roar or fall completely silent with just a gesture. It’s an amazing thing to witness his ability to bring a full house of 15,000 people to complete silence or complete chaos by merely waving his hands. He plays the concert hall like a fiddle.
Yonghwa takes control, FOXY, CNBLUE live at Budukan, May 17, 2017. cr. silodoan
Yonghwa also runs the show onstage as well. Videos clearly show him directing the band on stage and he frequently cues the his bandmates by calling their names or gesturing or nodding toward them, and you can see their non-verbal communication throughout the show. During the intro to FOXY, when Yonghwa sensed that the audience wasn’t hyped up enough he elevated the mood by bellowing “FIRE!” making the energy in the arena immediately shoot up and creating a lot of heat between the band and the audience.
Yonghwa has a performance style that switches from playful and cheeky to focused and intense in a split second. What makes this so brilliant is that he understands that it’s all a performance and that he’s playing the part of “rock star.” That doesn’t keep him from making it the best rock star performance ever, but he follows some of his most clichéd moves such as lying flat on his back playing his guitar or belting out an octave-jumping wail with a broad smile and laughter. He’s completely meta as Yonghwa the star, and in that way he’s in line with artists such as David Bowie, Madonna, and Prince, all of whom understood the performativity of their roles, or what music scholar David Shumway calls “the constructedness of the rock star and the crafting of the rock performance.” Shumway was talking about Bowie but he could easily be referring to Yonghwa as well.
Precision, CNBLUE live at Budokan, May 17, 2017
In some ways CNBLUE carries a particularly Kpop aesthetic into its concerts, which means, not unlike the highly choreographed dancing Kpop is famous for, that they are incredibly precise with their performances. The Budokan shows ran like a well-oiled machine and when they were truly locked in their performances soared. This was evident in their seamless renditions of songs such as RADIO, a fast-paced tune that relies on rapid-fire vocal swapping and complex breaks and meter shifts. That they could effortlessly perform this song with such meticulous coordination, with Yonghwa additionally climbing on top of his piano, running up and down the length of the stage, and leaping over amps and monitors, is a testament to their musical virtuosity. After touring intensively for so many years CNBLUE can probably play some of their songs in their sleep by now, but instead of becoming lackadaisical or rote their shows have only increased in ferocity, which was clearly evident at Budokan.
I credit that in no small part to Yonghwa’s drive and vision as a leader, and CNBLUE’s committment to their craft. They’ve taken what could have been an ordinary Kpop group and turned it into a real musical entity. CNBLUE is smart and dedicated enough to follow Yonghwa’s lead and they’ve spoken in the past of how they draw inspiration from him and emulate him, challenging themselves to be the best that they can be. Having a visionary leader, whether in sports or music or any other practice that requires teamwork and dedication, is a wondrous thing that can make individuals push themselves beyond their perceived limitations. CNBLUE has that leader, who is willing to work beyond his limits and constantly change and evolve. This is a true gift, and to be able to inspire others to do well is a rare gift as well.
However, Yonghwa would be nothing without his bandmates, which was abundantly clear in the Budokan shows where CNBLUE worked together as a unit and where each element was indispensable to the success of the performance. When they were locked in they were a powerhouse, on both the high-energy rock songs such as IN MY HEAD or I’M SORRY, as well the more introspective tunes like the gorgeous duet LIE. Anyone who thinks that Yonghwa can be as effective without his mates has no comprehension of how a band works or how music is created collaboratively. It’s the synthesis of the individual parts meshing together that makes successful music, and CNBLUE demonstrates that most ably. They are a team, a band, a group, not just individuals who happen to play under the same banner, and the way that they perform together seamlessly has been honed over almost a decade of working with each other, living with each other, and getting to know each other. It’s not something that can be replicated with anonymous session players or interchangeable studio musicians. Each supports the other and the beauty of their music is the interplay between them. Although Yonghwa has had a successful and acclaimed solo release (with his second due in July), and Jonghyun has also released a solo album, their work with CNBLUE is remarkable, significant and unique. This kind of magical synergy only comes from musicians who are deeply in sync with each other and who are dedicated to their music.
Burning down the house, CNBLUE live in Seoul June 5, 2017
CNBLUE just played a pair of live shows in Seoul, after an absence from the stage in South Korea of more than a year and a half, and by all reports those concerts were a whole nother level of explosiveness. While they certainly left it all out on the stage in the shows I saw in Japan, apparently in Seoul they completely burned down the house in front of their hometown audience. Local critics marveled at the dynamic energy of their performances and observed that they have moved beyond simply being an idol group and are true musicians and artists now. CNBLUE also created a lot of buzz at their recent appearance at KCON in New York, which may plant the seed for a broader international audience base.
This is a good sign and hopefully will enable them to grow beyond their KPop origins, which will most definitely aid in their longevity. Band leader Yonghwa has also started to diversify his financial interests, investing in an expensive retail building in the tony Cheongdongdam district in Seoul and establishing his own entertainment company. These steps will enable them to escape the clutches of FNC, their management agency, once their contract expires in 2021 and once they’ve all completed their mandatory military duties. Along with their innate talent, their increasing musical and performing skills, and their tenacity and hard work, this may enable them to play together for many years to come.
Nevertheless I Dream On: CNBLUE Euphoria album review
Yonghwa dreams, Glory Days, 2016
With EUPHORIA, CNBLUE’s latest Japanese album that dropped last October, the band continues its ongoing musical evolution and growth. While probably best known for its incredibly catchy early power pop hits like I’m Sorry and I’m A Loner, or it’s more densely produced later tracks, including songs such as Can’t Stop, Cinderella, and You’re So Fine, with this new release CNBLUE goes back further to the roots of its sound, to a more stripped-down early rock and roll and R&B style.
CNBLUE has always worn its musical influences on its sleeve and EUPHORIA is no different, with nods to artists as diverse as Peter Gabriel, Coldplay, Wiz Khalifa, and Sam Cooke, among many others. Their particular talent is taking those influences and synthesizing them into something new and energetic.
The album is frontloaded with six incredibly strong and diverse tracks, but in truth each of the album’s ten tracks ranges from good to excellent. Though the album isn’t quite as perfect as CNBLUE’s best release Can’t Stop, which is a masterpiece from beginning to end, EUPHORIA is still full of high-quality songwriting, performing, and production.
The lead track is the melancholy mid-tempo cut Be OK. A plaintive lament about fighting uncertainty, pain, and self-doubt, the song recalls Coldplay and other Brit-pop in its simple, guitar-based structure. Jung Yonghwa and Lee Jonghyun’s vulnerable, evocative vocals and the sadness and longing in the lyrics create a lovely and unadorned sonic picture. As with many CNBLUE duets between the two of them, the track alternates the wistful delicacy of Jonghyun’s vocals with Yonghwa’s explosively raw and emotional voice. The song ends with Jonghyun barely whispering the affirmation, “I’ll be okay,” which lends a hopeful fragility to the song’s message. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite CNBLUE tracks as the passion and power in this song is no joke.
As if to counter the melancholy of Be OK, the next tune, the album’s title track Glory Days, is a more uptempo track that picks up the pace without sacrificing the emotional thoughtfulness of the prior song. The lyrics describe the “long, long journey of my dreams” which the band has traveled, encountering obstacles and difficulties along the way but never giving up on their vision. The arrangement and production on this track also contrasts with the spareness of Be Okay, with a dense wall of sound combining close vocal harmonies and a rich interplay of synthesizer, piano, and guitar that provides a bed for Yonghwa and Jonghyun’s confident vocal relays. What may not be immediately apparent is the bass line of the song, which travels from thumb-popping plucking to deep, resonant hums. CNBLUE’s musicality is apparent in this track where every element highlights the band’s chops, creating a gorgeous sonic pop music palette.
Take Me Higher, the rockingest song on the album, shows off the band’s signature passion and intensity, as if to prove they can still kick it with guitar-based hard rock. On top of the driving 4/4 beat the song adds a funky James Brown-style guitar riff that demonstrates the evolution of their sound beyond straight-up rock music. Interestingly, this song was composed before the band’s recent insider-trading scandal in June 2016, and the track, including its chorus “direction of my hope,” expresses an exuberant optimism and confidence not found in the rest of the album, much of which was likely composed post-scandal.
Face To Face is another incredibly hooky tune, with Yonghwa crooning and belting like a 60s R&B soul shouter. Although some of CNBLUE’s past English-language songs have been a bit cringeworthy in their awkward phrasing, here the syncopated beat works with the lyrical structure. The old-school keyboards and horns and the doowop refrain adds to the R&B feel as the band channels Stax-Volt stalwarts like Booker T and the MGs and Sam and Dave.
Following Face to Face is Puzzle, the first single off the album that was released in spring 2016 and also composed pre-scandal. Another densely produced and upbeat track, Puzzle starts with Yonghwa belting the title lyrics acapella and the song never lets up after that. As usual Yonghwa and Jonghyun provide energetic vocals but the track is really driven by a zippy arrangement that rides Kang Minhyuk’s relentless drumming skilz. Althought it’s a hooky tune, it’s a tad less interesting upon repeated listening. The tune works much better as a soundtrack to the song’s crazy and whimsical music video.
The next track, however, is the album’s standout. Royal Rumble is pretty much unlike anything I’ve ever heard from CNBLUE. The song uses a syncopated, polyrhythmic Latin beat and a complex guitar line under Yonghwa’s evocative vocals to create a beautiful, singular track. The lyrics, which describe a fighter who faces countless opponents in a battle royale, echo Yonghwa’s experiences in the cutthroat K-Pop world, where even the winners are eventually beaten down and worn out. One of the last lines “I must hurry” repeats before the last haunting chorus. Images of fear, drowning, suffocation, and pain reflect the traumas of existing and surviving in the competitive South Korean music industry. Yonghwa has written eloquently in the past about the vicious nature of the K-pop world, most recently in Checkmate from his solo album (Around here/swords and shields/We become enemies/rip apart each other/and vanish), but Royal Rumble perhaps best reflects the intensity of his experiences there. The last line of the chorus, however, translated as “nevertheless I dream on,” is a moving testimony to Yonghwa’s hope and optimism in the face of ongoing suffering and strife.
Following Royal Rumble is another throwback R&B-style cut, Every Time, with a syncopated beat under Yonghwa and Jonghyun’s confident and soulful vocals. Once again Kang Minhyuk provides a strong and steady beat to anchor the track. Bassist Lee Jungshin contributes the midtempo ballad Stay With Me, with Japanese lyrics that seem to scan successfully. Yonghwa sings it well, in an unembellished style suitable to the song’s clarity and simplicity. Slaves, another upbeat R&B bop, is a goofy tune about cell-phone addiction. But damn if it isn’t catchy as hell and again Yonghwa has fun singing it, belting out the chorus like the legendary soul shouter Wilson Pickett.
The closing track, Blessed, is a sweet lament to the uncertainty of love, but Jonghyun’s English lyrics are somewhat less effective here than in Be OK. As with Every Time, the syntax and phrasing are just a bit awkward, which detracts from the song a bit. Yonghwa’s plaintive singing utilizes the deeper end of his vocal range to good effect, with Jonghyun contributing ably as well. The emotions of the song ring strong and true and this song, together with Be OK, create an evocative conceptual frame for the album. Although some of the tracks are upbeat and positive the uncertainty of these two songs create a lingering sadness and a sense of emotional complexity that perhaps reflects the band members’ state of mind after their troubles this year.
The quality of the songwriting, the increased maturity of the lyrics, and the general excellence of each track on Euphoria speaks to CN’s continued growth and development as artists. Although the guitars are mixed a bit lower than in some of their previous releases, the rock-based backbone of their sound is still there, enhanced with a more sophisticated sense of rhythm and beats. The result is more evidence of the band’s restless creativity and its desire to continue developing musically as they move beyond the constraints of their K-Pop origins into a more elevated artistic territory.
Three versions, You’re So Fine
POSTSCRIPT: CNBLUE recently performed You’re So Fine, their hit song that dropped back in April, on several televised year-end gayo (K-pop) music shows. But instead of simply recycling the song’s original arrangement for their performances, Yonghwa re-arranged the track differently for each of the different live performances. And it wasn’t just a bit of tweaking here and there—each version was radically different and included different instrumentation than both the original track and the other versions they played that week. It seems like Yonghwa’s collaboration last year with indie queen Sunwoo Jung Ah is still reverberating through his musical consciousness as he’s been heading in a decidedly jazzy direction lately. All three arrangements of You’re So Fine on each of the gayos featured improvisational vocals by Yonghwa as he snaked his way around the melody with various rhythmic and harmonic counterpoints to the original tune.
I’m pretty sure that there was no requirement that they come up with a new arrangement for each show, so the band’s insistence on giving an original performance every time no matter what the circumstances is a testament to their desire to be known as musicians and artists, not just idols. They continue to blaze trails in the K-pop world and their only dilemma may be figuring out how to graduate from K-pop and move on artistically from the confines of the genre. I hope their talent and vision is recognized and rewarded accordingly both in South Korea and beyond.
UPDATE: Yet another brand new arrangement of You’re So Fine, this time for the Golden Disk awards on Jan. 13. Orchestral and jazzy, with strings, horns, and added percussion, as well as Yonghwa prowling around in his long black furry coat. He owns the stage in this clip and also throws in a short interaction with EXO singer Baekhyun. You can see he was dying to find a way to get down into the audience this time too. Genius.
Bonus track: Yonghwa sings a smexy version of Sunwoo Jung Ah’s Spring Lady on Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook
160115 Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook Spring Lady Jung Yonghwa & Sunwoo Jung A from CNBLUECL on Vimeo.
Can’t Stop: CNBLUE addiction, in which I fall down the K-Pop rabbit hole
CNBLUE doing their thing live, 2016
So here’s how it happened. My family spent this summer in Taiwan and I was hoping we could brush up on our vernacular Mandarin by watching some Taiwanese television. I thought we could acquaint ourselves with Asian pop culture in general as well, so Korean dramas could also be a part of that mix. I wanted to look at Taiwanese dramas to work on our Chinese-language skills, but somehow my daughter ended up watching the gender-bending K-drama You’re Beautiful instead. Because the plastic surgery on the boys’ noses was way too distracting I only followed it intermittently, but I would occasionally glance over at the screen and watch a bit with my daughter, since the show is charming and amusing.
Yonghwa, You’re Beautiful, 2009
And then, boom! I caught a glimpse of a boy with the most amazingly beautiful and fascinating face, who stood out even amongst his very pretty co-stars. I literally could not take my eyes off of him, he was that mesmerizing. Although he didn’t seem to have any plastic surgery and his teeth were distinctly crooked, it was impossible to stop looking at him, he was so charismatic. I soon found out that the actor in question was Jung Yonghwa, the leader of the Korean rock band CNBLUE.
K-Pop is a very strange universe and the more I find out about it the less I’m sure I like it. Commercial pop music around the world is by nature a very capitalistic place but K-Pop in particular seems to be pop music to the nth degree. The songs are hyper-catchy but not necessarily very deep or meaningful, and seem to be designed to be listened to for about a week maximum, after which they are supplanted by another hyper-catchy and not very deep tune. The performers are uniformly young and beautiful, either by nature or makeup or cosmetic surgery. Most of them are drilled to be precision dancers, and the fashions are ultra-trendy, with mas de moda hairstyles in many rainbow colors. The music videos are glossy and slick, with crazy dreamlike imagery meant to stick in your backbrain just long enough for you to pay your money and download the songs.
Keeping score
Plus, in order to sell songs, groups go on a variety of music shows and compete viciously for trophies every week. There seems to be about a half-dozen of these and the groups make the rounds after dropping each song, participating in a sadistic hazing ritual that pits group against group based on digital streaming, record sales, music video views, and popular voting both ahead of time and live as the shows progress. It’s kind like the hunger games for pop music except without the literal dying, but the humiliation for the losers and the jubilation of the winners is similar enough to a fight to the death. So it’s not exactly the most nurturing and comforting creative atmosphere.
Boys over flowers, CNBLUE
CNBLUE is a bit of an anomaly in the K-Pop world. Along with their labelmates FT Island they are one of the few bands, as opposed to dance groups, to become K-Pop stars. CNBLUE is partly an idol group, partly a pop-rock band, and partly a collection of male supermodels, as each member is pretty damn good looking. But the band can also play their own instruments and sing, and they also compose most of their songs, so they don’t fit the typical K-Pop mold. They are also most emphatically not a dance group, and their music is much more rock than hiphop or dance-oriented like other K-Pop groups.
So I’ve become completely fascinated by Jung Yonghwa and CNBLUE. Some reasons for my interest include:
Yonghwa and Jonghyun with axes
Boys with guitars
I’ve always loved rock music, from punk to metal to power pop, and CNBLUE plays some of the catchiest pop-rock around. Yonghwa has a knack for writing hooky, complex, and accessible tunes that earworm into your brain immediately. I’m Sorry, Can’t Stop, and Cinderella, to name just a few of their most popular tracks, are all catchy as hell and each is unique and distinct from each other as well.
Great live shows
CNBLUE is famous for their balls-out live performances and Yonghwa in particular leaves it all out on the stage for every show. The interwebs are full of youtubes of their rocking live shows which seem to get better and better as the years go by. No doubt their grueling touring schedule of the past six years since their debut has helped them improve their live performances immensely, as they have literally played hundreds of shows in that time, which is par for the course for many top-tier K-Pop groups. (From 2013-2016 CNBLUE played more than 100 concerts, as did Big Bang and Super Junior, two other kings of the K-Pop world). Ironically, when appearing on Korean television shows (which K-Pop groups do incessantly) CNBLUE doesn’t always get to play their instruments live, since the TV shows are designed for dance groups, not bands with guitars and amps. But even when hand-syncing CNBLUE members manage to rock the house with their sheer energy and stage presence.
CNBLUE in modeling mode, 2015
Visuals
K-Pop has this thing called “visuals,” which basically means how good-looking your group members are. Members are usually recruited for their physical beauty and if they are not up to snuff then their agencies aren’t shy about sending them out for a spot of plastic surgery to fix things up. CNBLUE, however, is pretty well-known for their excellent visuals without going under the knife (and the rumor is that their agency, FNC, picked the members in particular because it was too broke at the time to afford plastic surgery). In other words, CNBLUE’s members were chosen specifically because they are tall and good-looking first, with their relative musical skills secondary. They’re widely regarded as having “no visual flaws,” which in K-Pop fan parlance means each member is exceedingly handsome.
More visuals
So all four members are supernaturally beautiful, with guitarist Lee Jonghyun in particular possessing inhuman good looks. Yonghwa not only has a beautiful face, with large, wide-spaced eyes, an elegant nose, and a narrow jawline, but he also possesses a remarkable amount of charisma, charm, and stage presence for a young man in his twenties. So it’s a lot of fun to watch CNBLUE since they bring the pretty. Although this has certainly helped with their mass appeal, in some ways their beauty has worked against them as far as being taken seriously as musicians, since they are considered idols first and musicians second, despite their musical skills. I’ve had a hard time convincing my friends that it’s about the music and not just the visuals when it comes to CNBLUE since their good looks are so immediately overwhelming at first.
The secret menu: Japanese releases
CNBLUE has released a huge number of albums in Japan that contain a whole nother catalog of songs created for the Japanese market. Not only does this mean that they’re sung in Japanese but the music tends to be more the rock side rather than the pop side. Which means these albums contain many more heavy-duty power chord guitar-based tunes specifically designed to be played at full speed in live stadium shows. Their first major-label Japanese release, Code Name Blue, rocks hard and loud and contains several of their best J-Rock style arena songs (Where You Are; Come On; In My Head; Have A Good Night). Many of these were written by Yonghwa, whereas the songs on their Korean albums they were releasing at the same time (2012) were still mostly written by other people. Even second vocalist Jonghyun, who leans toward pretty crooning on their Korean releases, rocks out on the Japanese albums, and Yonghwa belts like a boss. For those who prefer their tunes to rock a bit harder, the Japanese releases are the way to go.
New directions
CNBLUE just dropped their latest mini-album at the beginning of April, a five-song EP called Blueming (hint: flower pun). Included is the lead track “You’re So Fine,” which includes a poppin’ bass line and some soulful vocals from Yonghwa, who also wrote and produced the cut. The tune is a fat and catchy track, with its synchopated rhythms and swinging horns giving the song a 60s R&B feel. Yonghwa is a smart and savvy songwriter and he includes four or five singalong hooks in both Korean and English. His vocals are impeccable as well, with effortless octave jumps, seamless transitions to falsetto, smooth dynamics shifts and rhythmic patterns, and an easy control of his tonal and volume range, whether spitting a syncopated patter, swinging a sweet ad lib, or belting out the chorus. In most K-Pop songs the vocals are divided among the various members, with one person singing the lead, one the chorus, one rapping, one in falsetto. Here Yonghwa sings almost all of the parts himself, with a little help from second vocalist Jonghyun, which is an impressive feat for song with such variations in the vocal line.
The song’s music video is quite K-Pop, with over-the-top costuming, hyperkinetic editing, and a hypersaturated color palette, as well as the ridiculously handsome look of the four band members—if you aren’t used to the genre it’s probably best to listen to the song without watching the MV as its high-gloss styling can be quite distracting and overwhelming.
There’s been some bitching and moaning among certain CNBLUE fans since this release is much more on the pop side (and the title track is very retro R&B), rather than rock. To a western observer such as myself it’s odd to hear a musical group criticized for stretching its creative boundaries and trying out different genres. I’m used to artists like Prince, David Bowie, and the Beatles, to name just a few, whose sound always changed and evolved with every release. To me it’s strange that CNBLUE has been criticized for trying out new musical styles, which seems like a healthy sign of creative growth and maturity. CNBLUE has already mastered the art of the power chord blues-based rock song so it’s nice to see them moving into jazzier compositions and arrangements. To my mind there’s nothing wrong with some syncopation and a bit of scatting to liven up a song. It also shows a more sophisticated musicality that’s promising for the band’s future releases. What I’m hearing is the convergence of their musical styles between their Korean and Japanese releases. With the exception of You’re So Fine, the tracks on their most recent Korean release, Blueming, sound a lot like the ones on their two most recent Japanese albums, Colors and We’re Like A Puzzle, showing a heavy dose of Oasis and brit-pop influences.
Their most recent Japanese single, Glory Days, which dropped last week, is an effortlessly listenable slice of J-pop-inspired pleasure, with a pretty piano line weaving through the melody and the lead vocal relaying between Yonghwa and Jonghyun to create a catchy, upbeat track. The subtle addition of strings and a church organ adds a reverent and dare I say spiritual atmosphere which is echoed in the beautifully conceived and shot music video to the song. Not as hard-edged as some of their other Japan releases, the recording has a delicate and wistful beauty to it. Despite its seeming simplicity the track reveals its complexity after several listens, attesting to Yonghwa’s increasing skills as both a composer and a producer.
Jonghyun pays his variety show dues
Right now there are some obstacles that may keep CNBLUE from fully exploring new musical directions. The first is that, as part of their job as K-Pop idols, they also are required to be active in other entertainment fields, including modeling for fashion magazines and appearing on variety shows and in advertisements. Whereas Western pop stars mostly have the luxury of focusing primarily on their musical output and somewhat less on their public image, in K-Pop world it’s a different story.
Airport fashion, K-Pop style
Like their fellow K-Pop idols, the pressure is on for CNBLUE to constantly produce new musical product, pose languorously for various fashion spreads, wear stylish and trendy outfits at the airport, appear in dramas and variety shows, tour around the world, and otherwise live their lives as South Korean pop music celebrities. All four members have acted in Korean dramas, and Yonghwa is awaiting the 2017 release of his very first movie, the Chinese film Cook Up A Storm with Hong Kong superstar Nicholas Tse. And as per all South Korean males, the four members will soon have to serve their mandatory military duty, which lasts a little under two years and which will probably take place in the next couple years for the two oldest members, Yonghwa and Jonghyun.
A more immediate threat is the involvement of both Yonghwa and Jonghyun in an insider stock trading scandal earlier this year surrounding CNBLUE’s fucked-up agency, FNC Entertainment, which by all accounts is sleazy and badly run. After almost of week of mudslinging and speculation Yonghwa was cleared of all suspicions of insider trading, but in a surprising twist, the investigation then revealed that Jonghyun was also involved in the case. Despite Yonghwa being declared innocent of all charges and Jonghyun only receiving a small fine, some K-netizens feasted on the possible downfall of two of K-Pop’s biggest stars. It was an unsavory spectacle to observe and some online commentators took a particularly vicious glee in attacking the squeaky-clean idols. The whole situation was really distasteful and in my opinion was being used as a distraction from various political scandals happening now in the country including a multi-billion dollar scam involving the Lotte group, one of the country’s biggest corporate conglomerates. I also suspect that Yonghwa’s shady boss may have been throwing Yonghwa under the bus to keep himself from being implicated.
Yonghwa sad
It’s hard at this point to tell exactly what the turn of events were due to the opacity of motivations of all concerned but by all accounts Yonghwa bore the brunt of the bad publicity . As a side note, Yonghwa is hugely popular in China and interestingly enough, the Chinese press was much more supportive of Yonghwa than was the South Korean media.
If for some reason Yonghwa’s career takes a damaging hit it will be a loss for everyone concerned because he’s the real deal and not just a run-of-the-mill disposable idol. The only possible silver lining is that it may scuff up his clean-cut image a bit, which ironically may make him more marketable in the West, where being a bad boy is a badge of honor, not something to be shunned as it seems to be in South Korea. Also notable has been the unwavering love from most of CNBLUE’s and Yonghwa’s devoted fanbase, thousands of whom throughout the length of the scandal expressed their undying support across social media platforms such as twitter, weibo, and instagram.
But despite the admirable loyalty of the fans (along with some petty bickering), after following the insider trading accusations and its aftermath I’ve liked K-Pop and the whole bloodthirsty South Korean entertainment scene even less. It’s heartbreaking that someone can be crucified in the press without even going to trial and Yonghwa’s case was a very ugly spectacle. God help us as a species if this is the way we treat our artists, especially young people like CNBLUE. Capitalism eats us all and it will be especially tragic if the aftereffects of the scandal hinder Yonghwa and CNBLUE’s ability to make music. Because in the end, despite their physical gorgeousness, their modeling talents, their fashion sense, and their acting skilz, CNBLUE is really about making great music. Everything else is just gravy.
UPDATE: As another example of their artistry here’s a link to the lyrics for “Glory Days.”
http://justjyh.com/xe/music/305010
Sample lyrics:
who gently nudged my back
Most likely written by Yonghwa after the insider trading mess this summer, the song is all about keeping faith during hard times. When read together while watching the MV of the track the entire song comes together beautifully as an expression of Yonghwa and CNBLUE’s state of mind during and following the nasty controversy they faced.
beyondasiaphilia 
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