[Subtitles by youtube @anisian] Kevin (he/him): What is going on everybody, this is Kevin
and I'm a pianist from 'Classical Musicians React' and apparently today, I am the king of the foreheads as well
I will be reacting alongside Yunyi to BTS's 'Life Goes On'
Yunyi (he/him): Hi, my name is Yunyi, some of you might remember me from the earlier seasons of 'Classical Musicians React' if not um-
I play piano and harpsichord, I left the channel after I graduated, but I am really excited to be back today,
and really excited to hear some BTS
Kevin: You know, they are number 4 on trending right now on YouTube
Kevin: You know, they are number 4 on trending right now on YouTube and they've-they've blown up with "Dynamite" and it's being played all over the radio
So a quick update on my thoughts on "Dynamite" I know when I first reacted to it,
I had nothing but the most glowing praise for it, that-
that has changed a tiny bit since I've heard it a lot on the radio,
I still think that the production is very good, but-
because radio tends to compress things a little bit more, every time I hear it on the radio,
it doesn't sound as good, but that's not the songs fault, that's more like the radio's fault
Some of the more unnatural moments, like some of the voices on the bri- *sings 'light it up like dynamite'*
um, that's getting a little grating and also that key change,
is growing off on me more and more, I think that key change is a- they tried a little too hard with that one,
but otherwise I still thought, I still think the song is very good, I think it deserves its praise, and it was about time for BTS
to make it in the US chart, in this- in this fashion, so I'm very happy that its everywhere now
And now, its time for life to go on
Yunyi: Okay, so admittedly, I have listened to like absolutely zero Kpop,
BTS was one of my favorite groups when I was active as a reactor,
but I actually don't think I can recall their names except for my main man Suga so like, I'm really sorry, this is just gonna be about music,
I'll do my best haha I- if anything it uh stays true 'tHe aRt oF reaCtinG'
Ok anyways, 3, 2, 1
Life goes on, Life indeed does go on, especially in Corona times
Times still moves at the same pace
Kevin: I can't tell if this is like a folksy energy... is it more synthy?
What an interesting vibe ooOO~
Spring
Yunyi: Well, they are as cute as I remembered them so-
Kevin: Its ooh-
What is that percussion instrument on my left channel?
That's so interesting, its only on the left
I really like it, this is such an interesting-
world of sound
Oo~
And the downbeats feel hard hitting, unlike some of the other songs where I've been a little bit more critical in the past
Yunyi: I love the... high pitched background vocals that's been going on this whole time, it just gives everything such an upbeat vibe
Kevin: Woah, I didn't know if it was like a still frame
Aw, look at that
And their vocals are less edited than compared to 'Dynamite' which may be the only thing I don't like about that song
Aw~
Its so nice, it's going it-it's comforting the fans you know, including the newfound fans
You know they've gone through their struggles and their artistic struggles and they came out with 'Dynamite',
and now they're keeping up the sunny persona because, an-and it feels genuine, and that's the part that really impresses me about this
Yunyi: You know its that same-
Oh I was gonna say something, but then this is just so beautiful that I lost my train of thought, I'll come back to it
Are they singing for an empty stadium?... oh- they are....ohhhhh
Kevin: Yeah, definitely going for the old film, slightly grainy quality
Yunyi: That little dissonance, you know at the end of that phrase
right there, you know life goes on, but it's not all good
That was beautiful, yeah they've been... um-
They've been on point with their sound of creating those really nostalgic harmonies,
and I think just spinning on them tastefully with these beautiful melody lines,
and, you know like the structure of it is like so simple, and the harmonies are pretty simple, but they sprinkle like a little bit of-
a little dissonance here, a little dissonance there, so even though when it repeats, you know, like a-like a little flourish here, a little flourish there,
a little dissonance here, a little dissonance there, so even though when it repeats,
it still feels you know som-somewhat oddly familiar but completely new,
its like being completely nostalgic about like something you've never seen before, so that-that's really... really nice
K: Okay, so we're gonna focus more on the lyrics on a second run, yeah
I-I like this vibe so much, we're just gonna go straight in, I mean there's nothing much musically innovate per se to talk about, although I do think-
Yeah, let's just start form the beginning again,
I'm so curious about that-
Cause it sounds folksy at the beginning but yet-
yet it doesn't...
Ok, now that I've heard the song, oh- it's nice to be able to hear the percussion,
and the panning without the rest of the instrumentals
But it's like a hug, it just hugs you in
But the percussion is not compromised and I've repeated that a ton of times already but that's like my favorite part about this
Hmm, definitely feeling that rain in Rochester, New York right now
When he said, 'I'm trying to run faster than a rain cloud' I literally had that experience today, and-but I felt like-
this really hit-this really struck a chord because today I was driving on a spare tire, and I had to go longer than a spare tire should,
and there's this rain cloud that I just feel like I was just one step ahead of it, I-I was worried it was gonna turn into snow,
because this place [Rochester] it snows, it didn't, but I was still scared, so I felt like on my way back,
I had to drive a little under speed in the highway and with a spare tire,
and it felt like I was racing ahead just,
trying to- run ahead from that rain cloud
It's a happy feeling, I don't know caus-cause right now,
despite the pandemic, I've been feeling, I'm- artistically fulfilled more or less and-
when BTS is singing about this stuff from a happy vantage point, I can really really feel that right now
It's so content, some of the lyrics here are so- are so downer-
but you know they're just..
hmm, ok we are going to pause again this is 1:32
Um, what I like about this is um-
when they're singing about these troubles that people are having,
they don't say 'You're having this problem, let me hold your hand' no they're saying it like they're having the problem,
but then, but then they say 'let me hold your hand for when you have these trying times' and so it-it's so inclusive again,
that musical hug really reflects in the lyrics, and it's quite moving, it's what we need right now
And this is the part I caught the first time around
Ugh! I love that, I-I really like the 'mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm' because I thought they were gonna go-
every moment this song could become corny,
they could say 'mmm-mmm-mmm, nope, nothing has changed, the world hasn't changed if you got, if you got high hopes, or whatever'
it could be something empty like that, but no instead mmm-mmm-mmm-mm,
they-they're actually foreshadowing their next line which is 'nothing changed between you and me'
and, ugh, it's just so earnest, it's so earnest, it-it's one of those moments where I-I can forget there's an industry behind this music,
I can forget that you know, the-it may- it's more corporate than I'd like to think it is
so, it-ugh, it feels like the walls have broken between sort of the group and the listener,
and ugh, it's so-it's magic, it's magical
and I can hear-
so someone it singing in falsetto, and someone's singing an octave lower with their chest voice and um-
the falsetto is just a hair more prominent, a hair louder, and I think that texture is really nice
Ends on the minor 4, nice, nice
Great, no fancy credits, no weird outro, just- it just ends, love it
Y: Time to- time to break it down with my boy Kevin!
No they did their whole thing of like sounding super nostalgic but like spicing it up with like you know something different each time,
so it's like they're not going too wild, but at the same time they like kind of sneak these little dissonances under you and they like-
give you this lush, comforting harmony with like just little pangs of you know hurt, and that-that's kind of something they've been doing really well
K: I don't hear-I didn't hear many dissonances Y: OH, THEY WERE THE BEST PART come on!
K: Yeah? I thought the whole song (Y: Cause it-) was just such a nice, nice feeling, and I really got into the lyrics, cause I had those on,
there wasn't anything that took me out, the whole song felt like one continuous hug
Y: Yeah when they did *vocalizes* oh my god, I'm so bad at singing, I'm gonna sing, ok but it's like-
*sings prechorus* and then the second *da-dah* is OVER A TRITONE AND IT'S SO GOOD! Because the entire melody is just like pretty much there in pentatonic,
so when they (K: Uh-huh) sneak in those little things, (K: Uh-huh) and it's like at the end when uh-
They were riffing on 'life goes on' and they just like had all the- that's where they broadened out their um-
into their chromatacism and it's like everything's not alright you know? It's just at the very end-
K: And it ends on a minor 4, (Y: That the- yeah) it doesn't end on a- it doesn't resolve at the end so that uh, that solidifies it as well
K: Exactly, but-but I do think they offer comfort you know,
and it feels very earnest which really, really struck me
There's nothing about this song, there's not a sing- a hint of phoniness
and usually with these types of songs, I can always sense like at least like 5% of phoniness
I think they really (Y: Yeah) really hid it, and-and you can tell they're in a good place to offer their fans this type of-this type of comfort,
because they've-they've had the 'Black Swan' they've had all these you know artistic-
I don't want to call- they're not artistic low points, but they-they're are points where they have to find what they really want to do,
and then you know (Y: Mhm) they had the big hit with 'Dynamite' and I think now they're at this place where they can offer their fans this kind of comfort
and it comes out as really genuine
Y: I think that's what like you know, what all musicians (K: Yeah) try to do,
they, you know- they have these tools that you know- sway emotions and convey a certain affect
and they try to (K: Mhm) use them in a way that you don't notice and I think that's exactly what they did, so you just come off with this,
very genuine kind of- very natural expression,
like emotionally we all need this right now (K: Absolutely) I mean like thi-thi-this shit sucks so- (K: Yeah)
like they really captured the feeling of being optimistic but also being...
kind of downtrodden about what's going on (K: Mhm, I agree) there is that like hint of darkness (K: Yeah) in this song
K: I mean the black and white concert scene where they hold their mics at the end, it's like a bit of wishful thinking, but it's a bit like-
In the past like oh you can't- you can't watch us perform live because of all these restrictions, and the-
cause there's that transition when he just-it just turns black and white and they're singing with mics,
I really felt that the video was communicating that like- no concerts... but they will happen, but will they?
K: I don't know Y: Dude, that- I thought that scene was just freaking heartbreaking,
cause its like you-you know that stadium would be like filled up in like half a second haha (K: Exactly) and it's just like,
they're there because they still want to perform, that's what I feel like (K: Yeah) and- they can't perform for anyone,
so they have to sing to an empty stadium (K: Mhm) and it's just- I don't know, that scene had that like deep sense of artistic longing they're there because they still want to perform, that's what I feel like (K: Yeah) and- they can't perform for anyone,
so they have to sing to an empty stadium (K: Mhm) and it's just- I don't know, that scene had that like deep sense of artistic longing
K: For sure, the first time I pressed play and it started...
I didn't know what to make of the beat
There was that moment where I'm like is this going for a folksy? Is this a little synthy?
And then when the- when the- entire-when the lush harmonies came in, I-I actually, the whole time I just felt like-
they created the soundscape that is reminiscent of things I've heard (Y: Mhm) but it is-it is unique
It's not like (Y: Yeah) anything I've heard before, wow
Y: They did something that was extremely smart...
I thought, which I talked about a little bit earlier was keeping mostly the melody in pentatonic, so you (K: Mhm) have like this kind of general floaty-
very positive vibe and the thing about pentatonic though is that it's so easy to sneak other chords outside of the mode under it,
and what they did was kind of at least maybe-maybe it was my earbuds, I don't really know, but it was definitely more heavy on the vocal,
like they had the backing vocals, they had like the layered vocals of the members and not so much like instrumental stuff, like they had a beat,
and they had like pretty light synths, so it was actually pretty hard to hear the harmonies for me, so you get the general effect of you know-
what they like harmonic landscape is, but you can't (K: Mhm) pick apart the distinct harmony changes, and it was more so like a texture- and they had like pretty light synths, so it was actually pretty hard to hear the harmonies for me, so you get the general effect of you know-
what they like harmonic landscape is, but you can't (K: Mhm) pick apart the distinct harmony changes, and it was more so like a texture-
that (K: Mhm) you would hear, but then every once in a while they would peek out with those dissonances,
so I think that's how they kind of created that feeling of like you know familiarity and like- but that subtle shading just takes it to the next level
K: I think BTS deserves a Korean language song in the American consciousness
and I think this song can-can bring up the holiday spirit in um- in a very unique way
Alright, anything else to add? Y: uh-I'm alright-
Y: SPEAKING of holiday music have you heard *chuckles between words* Jonas Kaufmann's Christmas album?
K: No... Y: Damn, so uh..
K: Should we stop recording at this point? (Y: I dunno) or- we can-
Y: Everyone should listen to Jonas Kaufmann's Christmas album (K: Ok, listen to Jonas Kaufmann-) its some good shit,
listen to some operatic tenors cover Mariah Carey hehe
K: Alright, thank you for watching, yay~ (Y: Yay) I'm glad I was able to-
Yeah give you the live reaction to this live, well guess it's not live
This feels live right now, but it won't be live-
Y: This-this is-this is live, you are alive, I am alive, this is live
K: This is true, this is true, Okay~ Y: Okay
[Subtitles by youtube @anisian] K: Bye~~