Song Review:: IU: A flower bookmark, Pt. 3- Never Ending Story

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  • Release date: 2025 May 27
  • Album tracklist: Red Sneakers, Never Ending Story, October 4th, Last Scene (Feat. Wonstein), A Beautiful Person (Feat. Balming Tiger), Square's dream
  • Album runtime: 22 minutes

 I'm trying out something different with writing these because I actually have a tried and true method for my writing that I haven't been using for the last ten months or so. I write faster and more easily when I can handwrite things. Also, airplanes (as long as someone isn't wearing a cologne or a perfume that makes me nauseated) are an excellent time to write these. Apparently, I've never looked at IU's homepage on Spotify because I didn't realize how often she's worked with BTS or BTS members. Huh. That's pretty cool. I mean, I thought she was pretty cool before this, but I also really just like it when there are collaborations of people I recognize. The runtime makes me very happy. 

Wow, this is incredibly Disney-esque. I think I heard both "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and "When You Wish Upon A Star" in that opening bit of instrumentals, which are arguably the two Disney anthems. Maybe not the Pinocchio song, but definitely Cinderella. This is a grand ballroom, dramatic ball gown type song. I'm not complaining about this because some of my first memories related to music were the Disney Sing-A-Longs on VHS. Did I just date myself? Yes, yes, I absolutely did, but it's fine because this song is so beautiful with the instrumental track that it's instantly soothing. Gorgeous. Moving away from the Disney-esque elements, because there are other bits to the song, the prevalence of the piano throughout the whole thing lends the song an incredibly classic air, strengthened when the strings and other orchestral elements join the piano. It's a timeless sort of sound. It really is.

What needs to be said about her voice? It's IU. She's got an incredible voice that has been shared with the world since she was fifteen, remarkably like BoA in that regard, and there are a lot worse vocalists that I could put her into the same winner's circle with. Her vibrato isn't out to play a much as I'd personally like, but then it is a fairly well established fact that if you give me a strong vibrato, ten times out of thirteen, maybe better, I won't care if it's not perfectly suited to a song style. Now, that being said, if there's any time to really let a vibrato loose, it's in a ballad like this. I want the voice to just thrum the entire time, hints of it normally and then ripples-in-water producing on the belts, which she has quite a few of in the song.

I don't know who they is, but they really let IU show off her acting chops in this, which I am fully on board with. And if this isn't a heartbreaking story, I don't know what is. Gorgeous though. It feels like it was filmed like a drama, so much so that I'd suspect it was an OST if I wasn't equally certain that it wasn't. 



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