Bang Yong Guk (ft. Yoseob) - I Remember

Ohaiyo gozaimasu~ to kick start my series of sharing & comments, I will be starting on the very song I loved (and still do), Bang Yong Guk's "I Remember". This song was the first song I've heard which had both strong vocals & main rap parts accompanied with guitar-driven melodies. I was immediately addicted to Yong Guk's deep, raspy voice which is quite rare in the kpop industry (from the artist i know) other than TOP of BigBang. Personally, I have a thing for deep, raspy voices so Yong Guk's voice was THE voice in my ears.

The song itself stands out with its combination of rock & ballad, both combined with the rap sequences. As far as my knowledge on kpop songs I've heard, it's not common for this sort of combination as kpop songs are usually Pop or Ballad with mixes of auto-tunes & electronic instruments. The song immediately gains your attention (and possibly addiction) with a catchy piano+guiter intro, which quickly mellows down into the first rap verse. Then it builds up again into the chorus. Some people may find it a little heavy to listen on a frequent basis (strong chorus) but if you need something to "rock" your inner self up, this song is much recommended. Yoseob's young(slightly high) voice gave a little contrast to Yong Guk's deep mature voice, adding some variety in the feel to the song which is about the conflicting feelings of a man towards a women.

The lyrics may confuse some listeners at first ( I know I was), especially when you watch the MV. It took me a few views + analysis of the lyrics to actually understand both the MV & lyrics of this song. In the MV, many were confused on whether the GUY was regretting himself for leaving the girl or making up for his mistake. Truthfully, the confusion is actually part of the whole lyric. In the verses, Yong Guk expresses his anger to HER on how he would stand through the pain SHE gave him, forgetting the past but in the chorus, Yoseob clearly states how he will remember the memories. This conflict matches with the MV where the GUY (acting as a cop) is seen in pain & confusion in remembering partial memories (sad & happy). The ending was the main cause of confusion as we can see 2 clones of the GUY, one who saved the GIRL while the other dead. In my interpretation, the GUY wanted to prove himself capable of coolly saving her (shooting stunts) but in reality, he died (compare this to the lines by Yong Guk). The MV was a little violent with all the blood & slight gore (jelly-substance for flesh) and a touch of 'passionate kiss' but I was ok with it :)

Lyrics: http://infotaip.blogspot.com/2011/08/bang-yong-guk-i-remember-english.html

MV:

Overall, this song made me fell in love with Yong Guk's voice & rapping style as well as filled up my craving of strong rock+ballad-ish songs. There's no live performance of Yong Guk & Yoseob in the music shows (Yoseob's busy schedule + inappropriate violence) but there are performances of Yong Guk & Daehyun during BAP's showcases which I like too. Daehyun's vocals, although similar to Yoseob's, gave a different aura to the song. More forceful(?) I would say.

That's all for now. Hopefully these stream of thoughts help in appreciating the song & MV but again, these are my thoughts. Enjoy~

PS: Look out for Yong Guk's short moment where he too gets shot. That was awesome.

You can seriously see the blood splatter in the first pic *thumbs up*