(captions by @angelade17 on twitter)
FIONA: It's like the alarm clock going off
But instead of waking up
from sleeping
I was waking up from
sleeping on my EMOTIONS
[Rossini's Semiramide Overture plays]
UMU: So now you're reacting to the 5-member K-band called DAY6
HENRY: Why are there 5? [t/n: long story bruh] UMU: First you'll be reacting to their 2017 release called "All Alone"
HENRY: Mmm CLOUD: You failed (referring to what Umu edited out lol) HENRY: I did (UMU: Ok so ending-wise, in the music video)
U: They have flashbacks to a love story that actually took place in the three music videos before this one
One of the main characters of the story, Sungjin, falls for a girl who ended up developing feelings for a different guy
At the beginning of "All Alone" the singer puts on a mask and says
"I'm not lonely, I say to the night sky without any strength, I'm okay today"
But as the song continues they admit that they are lonely and hope that the person they're looking for to comfort them
Is also looking at the night sky with them (DANIEL: Aww) The song is composed by songwriter
[Korean pronunciation jump cut] D: Hong Jisang
And the DAY6 members Sungjin, Wonpil, Jae, and YoungK
MELISSA: Oh, that's so sad. (JAMES: Ughh) This reminds me of the Schubert song called "Loneliness", "Einsamkeit"
HENRY: This better have me crying up in the club
Alright. [inhale] 3 2 1
ELIZABETH: Ooh we got that like, old-time film effect, that's flashback central
HENRY: I'm just gonna point out
Everyone in this band is beautiful [t/n: FACTS]
HENRY: Wow, he's got a nice light head voice
HENRY: I like that it begins with a major 11 chord, at least I think he does
He plays a D chord with a G in the bass
H: That- that's not what that is
That's so interesting
DANIEL: Cool, a second voice? FIONA: Beautiful harmonies! DANIEL: Yeah (F: Yeah)
F: I would say they are floaty
FIONA: Floaty DANIEL: It sounds like counterpoint species
D: You know, with the resolutions in the harmony- the dissonances F: Uh huh
D: Do you remember this? Theory 101? F: Yeah...........
KEVIN: Aw they actually play the glockenspiel, that's wonderful
H: Listen to that vocal harmony
H: Yeah, that's crazy, that's nice
KEVIN: It's such a great synthesis of harmony, the glockenspiel line, and the relatively simple vocal line
DANIEL: It's like andante, you know what I mean? FIONA: [laughs] Yeah........ DANIEL: You're like taking a walk while you think about your girl
K: They don't feel the need to up the ante, they just take it back to verse 1
The same soundscape, which I really like
HENRY: Oh wow, he's really bright clear tone (CLOUD: He's got a really interesting voice)
H: It's kind of nasal but it stands out from the others, it's cool. It adds good variety yeah
K: That C dominant
That C11 chord to F#7 minor is pretty impressive
H: What? C: Bruh, that's not nice
H: I like panning back to this little fencepost guitar, little band mix up
It's a nice thing to go back to, it feels very home
HENRY: I love that. Not gonna lie to you, you hang out on I and then you played I7
And then you go to IV and then (minor) iv and then back to I
It's all pop music, all pop music in the world, but I'm not gonna lie, it slaps
I put it in MANY of my songs
JAMES: It's a really clear resonant belt as well MELISSA: Yaas
FIONA: His voice sounds like a violin!
DANIEL: Oh yeah, with like the (F: Why???) the consistency F: [pretends to play violin]
ELIZABETH: Ah man, that frame is so sad at the end, 'cause they're like all on frame and they're so small and they're together
But they're alone
That was a really- it was really sweet, like you- like, I feel like whenever you get like the acoustic guitar, the like shaker and then it-
When you add in things like seventh and ninth chords, there's always just that like little bit of dissonance happening
ELIZABETH: You know... HENRY: Yeah with the color ELIZABETH: Yeah, that makes it just like that much more like, *UGH* you know
FIONA: The one guy had a voice that sounds like a violin UMU: That's Sungjin FIONA: Sungjin! It was nice
DANIEL: Everything was kind of simple, they kept it simple
And then there were those like, counterpoint species sort of things going on, where there's those dissonances, those resolutions between two different voices especially early on in this piece
F: This song really appeals to like the simplicity and like the comfiness (D: Mm) that like we feel inside
Like with the percussion and the xylophone and like the shaker
Like, the xylophone sounds like every cute like indie song ever
F: I don't know it just- kind of like they played on tropes that are ingrained in us D: Yeah
JAMES: Interesting, interesting. Using happy music with sad lyrics or sad meaning MELISSA: ?????
M: It wasn't happy music though, just major
J: I mean, if I didn't have the lyrics I would say it's a relatively cheery song
But I think, you know in movies that's, you know done a lot like in horror movies
They'll play like happy music alongside like horrible visuals, and that's like a good technique to use to really like highlight the cruelty of it all, so to speak
But I think in this context, it's really smart because...
I'm gonna go to the metaphors again because I always go to the metaphors, but like
Loneliness is something that many people feel exclusively like within their own psyches
And a lot of time people will put up the front and the face that they're fine, and they'll have day-to-day interactions with people
When in- you know, that can be cheery, when in reality they're really depressed and no one else knows
Until they speak up or until something bad happens
So I think like in that way
This like, the cheeriness to me was a perfect way to kind of encapsulate that
MELISSA: Okay so we associate major with being "happy", and like minor keys with being "sad"
Upbeat music in minor is always like super lit
Like a lot of kpop does that where it's just like "Yeahh let's party!" but it's in minor [Stray Kids' "Double Knot" plays in the background *taste*]
And then like sad music in major, it's just like, SO sad [DAY6's "Cover" plays in the background *more taste*]
Like you're just like, "Oh my god, my heart is broken and I'm listening to some major chords
So like, that was one of those
UMU: This song is called "I Need Somebody", it is a B-side released in October 2017
HENRY: [sings] You know that I could /need/ somebody UMU: This song illustrates the pacing feel when you're alone and surrounded by people
U: Even though there are so many people around us, no one is there who accepts us for who we are, and we long to have that type of person
ELIZABETH: .....oh [t/n: angst time]
U: This song is composed by mr.cho, Jae Dogi, and the DAY6 member YoungK
H: This is like the difference between the words "alone" and "lonely"
H: Hmm... (C: That's a lot of poems about that) okay, it sounds like this is gonna be very deep
H: Okay, we'll have to wind down our count too--
C: *whispers* 3 2 1 *gasps* *exhales*
[YESSS IT'S TIME]
H: Oh
K: I like how the echo of the piano has its own beat
M: Okay, I enjoy the like, soft triplet echoes in the piano
It's like a sigh fading away
E: Ooh, what is the meter? Help me
E: But like, is it in 3 or is it in 4 and there's like hemiola? H: It's in 4, it's just in 3 3 2, yeah E: Ooh
H: I really like how their voices stand out, you know, they're not too different but you can definitely tell who's singing
C: I love when they go through the slow notes in the piano, they're just like- H: You just like anything bass
H: *shook by YoungK*
C: THAT was cool H: :>
F: YoungK's voice is so like, it's the first non-soft-textured thing in this song
D: Yeah (F: It's like *sssssshoo*) texturally intense, yeah
F: It's like the alarm clock going off, but instead of waking up from sleeping, I was waking up from sleeping on my emotions
D: Ooooh (F: It's like WOOH) That's... profound
K: Ooh yeah, the second time the "hello", the beat is placed a little differently
First one "HEllo", second one "HEL-LO"
K: That's a nice guitar line
[it's coming y'all]
E: Ooh, OOH, hello!
M: *flabbergasted by YoungK*
M: *oh my*
M: It's like he's yelling at me...
I'm sorry you're alone
J: YoungK is like powerhouse
H: [sings along] "Why am I" that's good
They use their falsetto really really nicely
H: Oh that shift between belt back into falsetto C: when they add in the (drum)set
H: Yeah
F: Ooh D: Ohh
D: It sounds like Beethoven or something to me, like *makes noises*
F: See, YoungK sounds chill but he's really not, 'cause that guitar represents his inner like "RAWR"
F: Then- it's gonna come back, he's gonna slice right through right now
*flailing*
H: Big distortion. Big delay!
H: Ohh, coming in on 2? That's a nice drum fill, which of them plays drums? U: Dowoon
H: Huh? U: Dowoon
H: He's a good drummer
K: Yeah even that drum fill, which I think is very well placed, it feels... a little... empty
ISAAC: Hmm
M: That's like, a complicated electric guitar solo, like there- it's like doing stuff, that's a lot of notes. Nice!
J: Hmm. Yeah it was interesting
So YoungK and Sungjin were both kind of like, the belters in the song
Like they frequently like went up and did the like power belting which is the moment you were like *slayed*
M: I was shook J: And it was interesting because like, to my ear
Their tones, like sonically they sounded similar when they were both singing in that like upper belt register
But the colors and the timbres were different
And then conversely, Wonpil and Jae were sort of the ones who kind of like, took over the softer lower register
And the other thing is they harmonized in pairs as well
So I think they understand who sings well blending-wise as pairs and they pair them together
And then they also delegate like, different parts of the song depending on what their strengths are
F: I liked the militaristic beat that just happened in the middle of nowhere for like five seconds and had the whistling
D: *whistles* F: And I'm all about the sounds, so like I'm very impressed with how they're able to just throw in stuff
But it not derail the whole idea of the piece
D: It was like a very strange, even, character interruption
D: Which otherwise it's like very much (F: Homogenous) homogenous texture and character throughout
That was like the most notable thing in the sense that it just like, just interrupted everything, y'know
F: You know what else Interrupted everything? (D: Like *whistles* y'know)
F: Um, YoungK with his
HEUGHGHH
D: *groans* F: Right off the bat from the beginning, i was like AUGH I have to feel more emotions now
K: So what was up with- what do you think of the whistling section?
ISAAC: Uh a little misplaced, slightly
It kind of depends on how they experience loneliness and how they interpret it
I really liked the beginning because there's a aspect of when you're lonely
And then represented in music usually have texture that sits below in volume or in register
And then you have one, just one little figment which is your voice
Or in this case it's a piano with a lot of reverb, flying up out from the texture and standing out
it's very good to have that because it sets the loneliness, and then that's when you can start spiraling to whatever emotion you want because
Loneliness for instance, if you stay in it you might get more frustrated
I totally get the whole, the rougher brash section of the song
But I guess the whistle was a bit weird, because I would never see myself whistling before it
K: And with the snare too (I: Maybe it's-) it's like *does rhythm*
I: Yeah, and maybe it's something I don't understand because I don't experience loneliness or frustration in that same manner
K: Actually, with you explaining that I think I understood what they're going for in this
Because the snare drum feels like a march and I think
That section is supposed to be the protagonist of this song
K: Marching along to and PRETENDING to be happy (I: Trudging along) That's why he's whistling
K: But I think (I: Hmm) IF that's the case, it would have been better if the section were twice as long
It felt like it was just interrupted and I get what they were going for
It's like de-de-de-de-de- OH SHIT I'm alone
K: I get it, it's like that sudden outburst (I: Yeah) but still
K: For a first listen, it still hit me in a sudden way where I didn't feel like I even got a grasp of that emotion yet
U: So do you guys prefer "All Alone" or "I Need Somebody"?
K: "All Alone" was the opposite of this in many ways, because it felt like it was this one atmosphere
And they didn't feel like they needed to do anything else, they had a vision and they kind of just went for it
When here, it feels like they had this giant buffet of stuff
I: Here, there, there K: Yeah, and they- yeah, it was a little bit like that I: Mm-hmm
M: I think I can't say which I like better 'cause they're just different like emotions
Like it's the same emotion, which is like "sad", "lonely"
"All alone" is like, just like "I'm so sad..."
And then like, "I Need Somebody" is like "I'M SO SAD"
And like, those are just like differentI
J: "All alone" is more relatable, especially in like
I'm gonna talk about
Like meaning again, but
You'll rarely see people like, straight-up like bawling and wailing like openly
J: Just like "WHY AM I ALONE" M: Bro
J: Like people won't do that, they'll put up a front
And so I think in terms of like, getting to the listener and affecting them and then
Making them feel emotion, I think "All Alone" is maybe a little more effective
Because it just kind of mirrors what most people do today
But at the same time you could argue that people today who don't actively you know, communicate how sad they are
NEED to hear a song like "I Need Somebody"
That like it's- you could argue that that's also their way of like getting out the grief is like listening to the song and maybe singing along or something like that
M: Yeah I think there's something like really cathartic about like singing really loud to like some music that's sad
And I feel like we need to hear like more shouty sad songs, and not just like... *sigh*
J: That was great M: I think that's healthy
M: I like his voice a lot J: Me too
U: Which one is his? M: Uh, all of them :D U: *wheeze*
J: ..........wait were there different people singing?