well not just hebe, theres selina and ella too. and selina + hebe + ella =

S.H.E
我爱你
Wo ai ni
Chinese

imeem stream
mv
pinyin lyrics and translation
chinese lyric

quick comments about the links, there is also a 13ish minute video version where it tells a little story and you see the girls talking about it and crying and stuff. itll be really hard to understand if you dont speak any chinese but its cool i guess. the translation is pretty rough since its a comment, the most important difference is the final three lines of the song are not the same as the comment indicates, but rather i would translate them as, "i dont want to be without you, i cant be without you, i definitely cant be without you." PRETTY BIG DIFFERENCE, anyone can hear that the words arent the same even if you dont understand them.

S.H.E has been accused of stealing peoples tunes (which they have, or at least someone does it for them) but they are still revered as gods of music in taiwan. i picked this song because while i have no idea who wrote it, or orchestrated it, its plain awesome.

我爱你 (wo ai ni, means i love you, you should know at least this phrase if anything of chinese), is from their 2004 album Encore. the winter 我爱你 came out, i first heard a snipit of it at the end of a chinese tv show on my friends computer and had to have it. this song is special because its another one of those slow ballads, but it has a lot of what i love, vocal harmony. im glad that they can sing in conjunction with one another as well as solo and exhibit a fair bit of depth in this song, which is more than you can say for a lot of groups.

as usual, the lyrics are good. they give you sort of a reminiscent sense of love which i guess is the point of the mv? the mood they set remind me of a french song ill add later, with that "ill go anywhere and do anything" feeling of a supportive perspective of a relationship. i also like how the melody progresses through the song, and the calm yet forcefulness in their voices.

what really makes 我爱你 stand out in my mind is the final stanza which begins at 2:45 of the actual mp3. it had just come out of the most energetic part of the song yet, settles back down, and then gives you a new set of everything, lyrics, accompaniment and passion, then ends.

definitely one of my most favorite chinese songs of all time.

S.H.E - 觸電/ 候鳥/ 不作你的朋友/ 聽袁惟仁彈吉他

Labels: s.h.e hebe wo ai ni chinese

this is pretty much your typical, classic jpop/rock

The Brilliant Green
Rainy days never stays
Japanese

song on imeem (dunno why i took so long to realize this, yt sound quality sucks)

this track was released in 2002, so its getting pretty old now. you might know their lead vocalist Tomoko Kawase as Tommy February6 or Tommy Heavenly6, but this group is still around. they use a lot of english in their lyrics, its not perfect, but everything put together sounds good to me in spite of that. the melody and instumental usage are pretty nice, so if youre in the mood for something more up beat and light hearted give it a go. personally, i like how she sings "raining all day, going away" so if you catch yourself singing every time that part comes up, i wont blame you.

the brilliant green - sayonara summer is over/ there will be love
tommy heavenly6 - pray/ stay away from me

Labels: brilliant green tommy jpop jrock

it hasnt topped any charts, had many live performances, or anything, but none of that matters.

에픽 하이 ft 윤하 *우산
Epik High ft Younha
Umbrella
Korean

song with lyrics/subs
live
mv

this song is from their 2008 Pieces, Part One album, performed live after One and Breakdown i think. not one of my favorite lives although its interestingly actually the whole song which is unusual, but the best of this song nonetheless.

anyway, there are a couple reasons i picked this song, the first is pretty obvious - younha and epik high. more seriously though, i really like the lyrical imagery used in this song. ofc they dont explain it explicitly, but if you think about the line "my left shoulder always used to be drenched" i think youll know what he means; hint, love song and the song title. given that i like the imagery, i think the lyrics were very well thought out which is a plus.

epik high does a really nice job of making beats/tracks (if you like hiphop tracks you might wanna check out pe2ny too) by incorporating that violin and keyboard/xylophone sounding thing. the song also has enough variety to not end up sounding too repetitive with the progression from singing almost a-cappella, to rapped verses, to singing again and even a little bit of call and response, its easy on the ears.

younha for the female part was a good choice due to her warm, not too cutesy tone, full, and sincere sounding voice; its just soft and soothing, a perfect touch. i feel like she matches the tempo and mood of the song well, especially considering her ability to sing ballads - or anything for that matter -o-. shes also super cute mouthing tablo and mithras verses on stage haha, if you can catch that in the perf.

i absolutely love at 3:28 of the track on. from a full beat and tablo seconds before, younha begins with only a few chords and raindrops, as her verses progress, so does the beat through her final chorus. the ending is nicely done with the violin taking a bigger role in the melody of the song.

the music video is definitely not one of the most amazing ive seen, but i liked the song so much so long before it even came out, that it didnt even matter.

overall, the combined effects of the lyrics, imagery, mood, tempo, individual artist musicianship, and the constant development of the refrain and its following verse; all let me listen to this song almost endlessly. it seems like they did pretty much everything just right, even its name.

since i just thought of this, every time i make a post it will list some other songs of that artist that i like, unless its so good that im inspired to write its own on the spot. im splitting epik high into two parts since they have a more pop and a true hiphop side to them, so this time its pop...

epik high - fly/ love love love/ fan/ one/ ignition/ fallin'/ 1 minute, 1 second

Labels: epik high younha umbrella best

while im on the topic of awesome perfs, and since i mentioned sth about junsu in my first post, heres what its all about.

東方神起 / DBSK / TVXQ
Love in the Ice
Live @ Tokyo Summit
Japanese


watch this from 3:15 on, no explanation necessary. you should really watch the whole thing though, its bomb.

can you say, real emotion? (koda kumi ref)

theres just something about this song...

SBS Live Concert 07-29-07
고윤하 - 연애조건 - Yeonaejogeon
Younha - Love Condition
Korean
youtube

thats one of the better quality uploads ive found. it took forever to find the perf to dl for myself, but i got it eventually :3 .

i love everything about this performance, the crowd yelling "go younha/saranghae", the smiles she cracks after hearing them cheer, the overall feeling that shes just doing what she loves, and the emotion behind it all. sure its part of their jobs to act their roles on stage, but here she just looks completely content; and that sincerity is something you cant fake. i was really happy for her that she was so well received in korea, especially after the sorta luke-warm response from japan. everytime an artist gives a performance that lets you feel their love for the fans, their job, the song or the mood, it always gets me. and her teeth are perfect - sexy.

just using this text to set the format up. but heres something to look at in the meantime


박정현 ft. 크라운제이 * No Break
Lena Park ft Crown J
No Break
Korean
youtube

this is a new song and ive read that some people say it sounds like with you or 8eight. personally, i think a good tracks a good track, and its one of the many rnb/hiphop fusion type songs that jp and kr are obsessed about right now. j doenst speak in engrish, and lena busts some pretty sweet vocals to go along with her whole cute isseoseo~ line. not junsu/loveintheice status but its chill. there is a pop version without the guy part, called Without You (one of the lyrics if you actually listen to them).

doo doo dooo~ oh im your lady baby, cant live without you.