Wednesday Nostalgia...

 ...country music and many more! And by 'more', I mean, 'Jungkookie more'!

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by PAM

Ah, it feels like a lifetime ago since I last wrote a 'nostalgic' post here.  I have been preoccupied with so many things - important, unimportant depending on whose perspective... big things and small things, imagined and real... fun and agonizing, and everything in between... 'this and that'.  Yep, I have been totally buried six feet below 'grown-up stuff'... including stuff that makes grown-ups appear irresponsible to some... such as sleeping. Ah, well... 

There are so many things about the debut studio album by JungKook (JK), "Golden", that inspires musing and nostalgic feels... the most surprising of them all are the country music-sounding songs, "Yes or No" (YON) and "Too Sad to Dance" (TSTD), especially TSTD.  

I am mostly a 'rock chick', and I listen regularly to pop music.  I have soft spot for R&B. Uhm, actually, I am a sucker for R&B.  I never thought of myself as a fan of country music... but having lived in the US for several years in three separate decades and in three different States (and visited a whole bunch of other States), too, without knowing it, I developed some leanings towards country music... okay, 'country pop' is probably the more accurate description of the songs that I like in the country genre, and definitely a lot of 'country rock'.  Then again, even Taylor Swift is, first of all, a country music artist, too!  But if you take a listen to some country songs, you gotta admit, they do have their distinct charm, and they make you suffer from "last song syndrome (LSS)...

"In case you didn't know, baby, I'm crazy 'bout you..."
and I'd be lyin' if I said that I could live this life without you."

Hmmm... 'distinct charm', and that pinch of 'Americana' flavor.  You would think that it is an exclusive 'American thing'.  But then, even that beautiful New Zealand-born Aussie country music phenomenon, Keith Urban, who sings with such soulful depth can give justice to this country con Americana music.  After all, he lived in Nashville for a chunk of his life.  This is one of my favorite songs of his: his first Grammy award-winning song from more than 10 years ago, "You'll think of me".

"I went out driving trying to clear my head

I tried to sweep out all the ruins that my emotions left

I guess I'm feeling just a little tired of this

and all the baggage that seems to still exist..."

He is a native english speaker, and a country music artist, too.  So, his music mind is beautifully wired as such... every note shows it, and it's awesome! I am totally a big, big fan. 💖

Now, came "Golden"...  it is astounding how JK - a S. Korean singer who is not an english speaker with a brain that is "hard-wired K-Pop" could sing a song that is quite obviously written for a country singer, or a country pop singer, in a way that sounded authentic country, or country pop.  The song TSTD is a formulaic country: all that acoustics complete with whistling, the narrative way by which the lyrics are written, the melancholy but romantic words, and that bit about an older and more experienced person imparting wisdom to a younger person foolishly in love, etc. - it has 'country' written all over it.  And yet, JK took it on... wore it, and slayed it!      

"So last night I went to the club

Had a couple too many, threw up

Now, everybody's laughing at me

'Cause I'm way too sad, way too sad to dance

I'm way too sad to dance..."

See?  C'mon, you can say it!  It's good, right?  It is.  I love it!  Some friends of mine in the US who hailed from country music-inclined rural America cannot believe that this country pop song, TSTD, that has thin slices of 'Americana' meat, was sang by a K-Pop artist who is unable to guest on American talk shows without an interpreter in tow.  That is not a bad thing... it a great thing, and I'm so proud of JK! 💜

Here, this is one of those country songs (well, country rock, to be exact) that I like... I even sang it live with a band on stage at some point in my crazy life! My band and I prepared hard for it... and we did quite well (c'mon, a girl can dream!). 😉😅 It's "Play It Again" by Luke Bryan - a 10-year-old song that I only discovered about six years ago while on a roadtrip in rural Idaho, USA. 

"She was like, 'oh my God, this is my song

I've been listenin' to the radio all night long

Sittin' 'round, waitin' for it to come on, and here it is.'

She was like, 'come here, boy, I wanna dance.'

'Fore I said a word, she was takin' my hand 

Spinnin' me around 'til it faded out

And she gave me a kiss."

That was fun, right?  Ah, I love it... and singing it live on stage with a full band and a big crowd was one of the highlights of my craziness!  Uhm... I did sing "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift live on stage, too, at some point in this crazy life of mine! Haha... I had so much fun!  

And then I heard JK's, YON.  I knew right away that, after "3D", YON will be my biggest favorite from the "Golden" album, but I do like all songs.  YON isn't country, it's really a pop song... and yet, the lyrics do give a 'country feels', and the beautiful way that JK sang it can actually compel hardcore country fans to add it in their playlists, and it's great!  Here, have a listen...

"Everybody in this club so faded, I'm trippin' over getting lost on you

If we forever started out as strangers, I think my ever after just came true...

...and I gotta know, are you feeling the rush?

If so, then I think I know what's goin' on.

Are we falling in love?  Say yes or no..."

I definitely know what's goin' on here.  JK just won the world over.  Are we falling in love?  Damn, do you really need to ask?  But if you insist, the answer is a definite and a huge, huge "YES"!  So, yeah, let's keep listening... going back and forth between nostalgia and what is fresh and current - JK's music, that is.

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Video credit:  The owners of the videos are indicated in the videos themselves.  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.