As you might have noticed, none of the songs I reviewed were ballads. Ballads being my favourite genre, I decided to do a ballad that’s probably my favourite one ever or one of my favourites. This song has a lot of meanings, but not only that, the arrangement and composing is so perfect. Of course not everything is a 10, but it’s nearly there. And considering that Lay composed it, makes me more impress. Lyrics aside, I will focus on the song itself.
Intro: Not sure about the short pause before the instruments and ad lib, but the orchestra makes it sound that much soulful and beautiful. Short and sweet. [Overall: 9.5/10]
1st Verse: Not sure what more there is to say, it was just lovely to hear the vocals and let the lyrics sink it. The snapping and the absence of the piano makes it a more R&B feeling rather than ballad. So this is quite different compared to most ballads. It’s like a mix of R&B and ballad, I think i would’ve preferred with piano and less R&B feel but it makes Lay stand out more as a composer because most of his songs has this similar beat. Props to him! [Overall: 9.8/10]
Hook: I love this part. The instruments all flowed and mixed well with the lyrics. I love how the vocals was smooth and soft, and then got really intense and brings power to the end that it’s leading to the chorus. And what a great way to do it because it flows perfectly into the chorus and the instruments gradually gets louder as well as the vocals. I’m glad they used the main vocalists for this part as well. [Overall: 10/10]
Chorus: Love love love this! Everything about is just so perfect. Harmonies, the singing, the production with the voices and instruments all mixed superb together! It really brings that intensity and emotion into the chorus and makes the whole song that much stronger when everyone sings. Because if you do watch the lyrics, its like they all sung this from their hearts. A lot of emotion is heard here and the instruments also brings that much emotion out. The production is so well done too. Like I said before, it’s not like a normal ballad with just piano. There’s much more instrumentation used in this that makes it so amazing! What I love is the instruments doesn’t slow down with the singing, it continues at a faster pace. And this really brings out Lay’s style of composing and makes it unique from a regular ballad. [Overall: 10/10]
2nd Verse: The vocal transition was interesting but I think it was nicer to add that in rather than going straight into the rap. It’s also great to mix rapping with ballad. It makes it that much more intense and powerful! Take “Haru Haru” that I reviewed before for example. These types of ballads just mix so well with rap! [Overall: 9.5/10]
Bridge: This part sounded really cool. I love it’s just the orchestra used here. And the harmonies and rounds overlapping each other makes it sound so much more amazing than just a solo line. It’s like each member is giving a message out and sound very choir like. And then we have Chen with that powerful note when it gradually gets to the climax before hitting the chorus again. [Overall: 10/10]
Ending: As expected, the chorus would be repeated. But it’s nice that the instruments aren’t all used, or they’re used differently! The ending for this chorus is different than the ending of the other choruses. The ad libs weren’t overused and not overpowering the chorus. It was there but not overpowering the intensity of the chorus but adds to that! And the “I promise you” is a great addition. I just love how they added it in the end because where the instruments are headed, it seems like something would be missing if they didn’t say those words. [Overall: 10/10]
Rating of lines [If lines suited their voices]: 9.5/10
Flow of song: 10/10
My rating for overall song: 10/10
kpop-song-review 