Melissa: [gasp] They did the… [gasp]… the thing.
The sacred music "lick".
[Rossini's Semiramide Overture plays]
Umu: We're so happy to announce that this video is sponsored by Skillshare!
Charlotte: Woohoo! Umu: So when we read the comments in the comments section,
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Umu: With that being said, let's move on to the reaction portion of this video. (C: Boop!)
Kevin: [gasp]
Ahhhhhh…
Umu: Do you like your mom?
James: I do. Melissa: Yes…
James: Am I about to not to? Umu: No no no, you're about to cry.
James: Oh. Melissa: I'm not gonna cry. I don't do that any more.
Umu: Okay. (M: [laughter]) Now you're reacting to the singer-songwriter Yang He Eun, and
her 2015 release called "Mother to Daughter", which features the young singer Kim Gyuri.
Jordan: Yang He Eun is a great person in the folk song history of Korea. For this song, she participated in writing the lyrics.
Umu: She has no child, but the lyrics reflect the stories she received at a radio [station] that she's been hosting since 1999.
The mother in the music video is her sister, Yang Hee-Kyung, the actress.
Melissa: Oh my god, I love it already. Let's see.
M: Aww, piano.
Elizabeth: I know we've talked about how, like, the piano and the high voice…
…is a very intimate texture.
Here it is again.
Oh, you got… and they, like, roll the piano chords, instead of just play them as block chords.
At the beginning of each phrase.
Peyton: I feel like this is a very difficult language to sing softly… and high.
M: [gasp] They did the… the thing.
The sacred music "lick".
[sings portion of backing vocals]
That's, like, everywhere in sacred music.
J: Is it… M: They're like, in a church. They… they know their shit.
This is, like, everywhere in sacred choral music.
Henry: Interesting… voice.
Elizabeth: Acoustic guitar… and strings.
What more do you need?
Fiona: She sounds so sweet, and… like she's lived life,
and knows things. (Aaron: She does, though.) More things than I do.
Elizabeth: So this is, like, the loud dynamic, and I would still classify it as, like, a mezzo piano plus.
So like…
By having it… as sort of a softer dynamic, it seems more gentle.
Aaron: Aww…
Fiona: I like how they play with age.
Aaron: Well, also… (F: To add contrast.) because it just like picked up a little bit in tempo.
Kevin: That… the teenage angst is so real.
F: Aww… don't say that, sweetie…
Kevin: I really like the set. It's like a theatre set. Reminds me of the film "Dogville", by Lars von Trier.
K: It's like… it's the same story.
E: Man, there's something about… like, the timbre of the human voice, when layered.
Like, it's such a… homogenous sound.
H: Instrumental solo.
Peyton: [receives immense pleasure from trumpet solo]
Peyton: Gotta have a trumpet at the wedding!
Aaron: It's like… the approval. Like… Fiona: Ahhhhh!
He's good lookin'… she's like "yeah, mom…" [laughter]
E: Ooh, that's a big mood.
E: Is that a… harp?
Harp and wind chime.
Okay.
E: No, that's just like a thing. Like, harp and wind chime together? That's, like, the…
That's the schmaltzy… that's the, like…
As pastoral as you can get, at this point.
Isaac: Oh yeah! Canon.
K: It's the handing off…
Isaac: [chuckles] Out of the pockets…
K: Like, the generation passing on…
J: That was heavy… man…
And I actually wanted to ask… do you know how old she is?
And… the only reason I ask, is because I thought it was…
…really really really amazing, especially if they're NOT as old as they sound,
because one of the things that I picked up on was the way they were producing syllables.
To an extent, in some places, the way pitch was approached, and even the way vibrato was approached,
it made it sound like… whoever was singing was an older lady.
Umu: She's… she was born in 1952, so she was in her 60s when she…
J: Okay… (M: She's pretty old.) Yeah. So… never mind then.
But… it was… it… it still goes to show how awesome that is, because at times,
her voice also sounded young, and free and unencumbered. And there were times when she did embrace that big, wide vibrato,
that comes with age. There were some notes that weren't quite approached… with the right pitch.
And I think that was on purpose, just to kind of like… show the age coming out.
So I thought that was really kind of cool, and narrative, and a really cool way to tell the story.
And then the little girl singing too was really nice. And I like how it was a dialogue.
Thought that was really cool, how they did that as well.
E: I don't know… I feel like… mother-daughter relationships are very complicated.
And I'm blessed to have an amazing mother, who I love very much.
What it comes down to, is this song… hit all the right points for us, so it was well-written, and well-done,
because here we are, like really, like, thinking, like "oh my god, my childhood, my parent—" like, you know.
H: This… I said one thing about a ii-V-I to IV, at the beginning of the video.
But I wasn't thinking about how the song went, when I was listening to this song.
Because I was thinking about what it was about.
I often… say "the chords were just boring"… as a way to qualify music that doesn't have anything else going on in it.
So I… I automatically default to a boring harmonic rhythm, or boring harmonic choices, as a default critique.
I would prefer that a song have six chords, and be as honest and… and, like, heartfelt, as that…
…than hear something as complicated as… Trane [John Coltrane], you know?
I didn't think about the fact that it was… I didn't think about the fact that I was reacting to a song.
I reacted to something that was actually being, like, emotionally given to me.
I: The… the girl's voice… I'm just like "wow." That's a good pairing, of both of them, so you have, like, a lighter…
…like, two different types of light textures.
K: Yeah, I think the fragility of her voice… really gets to me.
And I actually prefer the version with, um, the sister with AKMU… from, from AKMU.
In terms of, like, the younger daughter's voice, I think I prefer that… exchange.
Also just seeing… seeing her expression in, like, that live performance setting… that's very touching.
Umu: Sadly, it's strikeable. That video, even when I pitch-shifted it…
…whatever, (K: Oh really?) copyright still striked, yeah.
K: Oh wow, that's pretty strict. Well… yeah… you saw that.
It's probably the only time I'll tear up during a reaction.
Umu: And you felt like… the music supported what was going on?
K: Yeah! Absolutely. There is that… Isaac mentioned a Pachelbel's Canon, but like…
That little bridge… it did have, like, this weird baroque vibe.
Where it did the applied… it's like an applied V, so it's a V/V,
and… which is a thing that you only hear in classical music. (I: [laughter]) So it actually took me
out of it, like "oh, whoa, I forgot about this part." But I think, yeah… it's… it fits, like…
…the music video going into the wedding near the end, like it kind of…
It gets more grand, and a bit more monumental, and…
…with the choir… like, the choir, it risked almost becoming a little tacky, but I think it still worked.
P: [snaps] C: Yeah…
P: Although I noticed that the Korean language is, like, very hard to sing, like, that high up, like…
…softly, and make the, like… the vowels and stuff, and the consonants, like…
…not sound too, like, I don't know, not to like… like, they… so they don't bump, if that makes any sense.
'Cause, like, some of the, like, "ch" sounds… they can pop out of the texture real easily.
So to kinda smooth those out, that high up, in that delicate of a texture, it was like… oof.
But they… they really did a great job. And obviously the message was awesome. I mean…
…really hits you. Like, the drum set in the back was like…
…was active, but not too active. Like it wasn't like [sings loud drum part]
You know? It was just, like, enough to let you know: this is a drum set. It's got a good, like a rock feel, y'know?
Like, just enough to let you know it's there. And that kinda… pushes it forward, you know?
Adds a little bit of intensity.
While all the soft, emotional stuff is going over the top.
C: I mean, I think for me, it was more of the lyrical, like…
…like, the actual lyrics… that, um…
…brought it to life, I think. I think it kind of perfectly symbolizes the…
…mother-daughter relationship, in a nutshell.
'Cause when you do go through your teen years… you just have to hate your mother, as a girl.
At least, I know that 'cause I watched my sister do it, and then I turned around and did it.
Like… you hate your mom. No matter, like, what she tells you, it's wrong in your eyes.
And you just… you have to go through that phase. Like…
If you've already been through it, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't,
it's coming, I promise you. Even if you and your mom are, like, BFFs…
There's gonna come a day where she just makes you angry… all the time, for no apparent reason. And…
…then you're gonna go through this whole stage in life, where, like, you're actually trying, to like…
…make her proud, and you never feel like you're enough.
And then it suddenly turns around, and you realize that…
…all this time, your mom has just been trying to do the absolute best that she can do, as your mom…
…and as a role model for you as a woman, and just… everything in life.
And SHE feels like she hasn't done enough.
And I think… this song, and the music video, perfectly capture that… that she's ultimately…
…thinks, you know, she did everything she possibly could think of to be the best mom ever.
And she still thinks… she wasn't good enough. And she just hopes that you can do better.
Umu: Hello everone! I'm Umu, ReacttotheK channel creator, and I'd like to thank you for watching this video.
I really hope you enjoyed, or learned something from it.
If you'd like to support us, or help ReacttotheK grow, you can do so by visiting our Patreon, and help us out by pledging any amout you can. 'Til next time!