[Author’s Note: Since I have nothing better to do on a Sunday, I decided to examine the latest comeback single from Super Junior entitled Mr. Simple. And for my brain to finally make a move on to other pressing matters...]
Introduction:
Two of my college friends are avid listeners of Kpop (Korean Pop). At first, I do have reservations about this type of music for the fear of being called baduy (uncool) or being typecasted to be just a blind follower of what’s new and “hip”. Korean music is what sells with Filipinos right now, and it’s not going to die anytime soon. Just like Manny Pacquiao or the Azkals, they are inevitable media forces. If anything, I really don’t like joining media bandwagons. Aside from English, I don’t speak any other foreign language so listening to something I can’t understand a word of seems to be well, rather stupid and pointless. But whenever my friends and I would hang-out, every so often they would talk about these sorts of things and gush about cute boy vocalists and gossip about female ones. Since I really don’t want to be left out from their conversations anymore, I decided to give it a try. After all, I consider my music taste to be eclectic. I appreciate a good song when I hear it. And it doesn’t matter what genre they belong to or who sang it. I love songs from classics like The Beatles, ABBA, The Carpenters, rock bands like AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, U2 to boybands like 5ive, N SYNC to videoke regulars like Aegis and Celine Dion to name a few (Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver is still a guilty pleasure of mine). Hey, if it’s a good song, then it’s cool. Plus, I thought that listening to Asian pop artists can make me appreciate their culture more. So excuse me for promoting cultural diversity into my life.
So after checking out a few songs I came to realize that some of them aren’t half-bad. Although, the only way I can truly understand what their saying is for me to watch an English-subbed version of their music videos in Youtube (or if the artists decided to throw in an English phrase or two in the chorus), sometimes the music itself speaks volume. Catchy beats, well-played melodies and synchronized rhythm are enough to make a genuine music lover stop and listen. Sometimes, lyrics are not always what makes a song a good one. Add this to aesthetically well-produced music videos and fun, color-coordinated and sometimes loud and avant-garde fashion styles, listening and watching Kpop music is a definitely an experience that appeals to the senses.
Recently, Super Junior or SuJu, one of Kpop’s giant boy group, decided to make a comeback with a new single entitled Mr. Simple. Being the natural Kpop fanatics, my friends couldn’t get enough of it when the music video was launched online. After downloading the song and playing it in endless loop (redundancy intended) on one of our overnight hang-outs, it subconsciously became my LSS (Last Song Syndome). I must admit that as much as I detest SuJu for their recent remark on obese people, I find the song catchy. So let me try and dissect it more by examining the three main aspects of it: the music, lyrics and the corresponding video.
