Battle of the B-Sides:: Teen Top: Tell me why

 I've got a doc that I've been adding songs to and removing from for the last couple of weeks of potential songs to cover for the rest of July. Before I tossed that list into a roulette wheel, I took a look at some of the groups I've got in my To Do playlist and added a couple more b-sides for groups in there that I hadn't covered yet. This song was actually one of them, so Teen Top apparently wanted to be covered, and they wanted to be covered now. Which is fine, you know? 

Teen Top debuted as a six-member group under TOP Media (which was founded by two members of my second favorite first gen group and also has my kids ODD YOUTH) in 2010 when the maknae was fourteen. I expect better of idols-turned-CEOs. I really do. But apparently the reason why Teen Top wanted to be covered right now is because their sixteenth anniversary is right now, so happy birthday, Teen Top! Their former leader left the group because he didn't feel like he fit the idol standards (I'll fight him because I can name six right now that have heavier builds that fans go feral over), and another member left because he initially wanted to be an actor, was forced into the idol business by the company, and finally got to leave to do that. So the group is down to four members and everyone is back from the military as of last year. Also, they have a fandom color, and it's pearl light lavender, and I love that for them. 

Tell me why is the fifth and final track (barring the instrumental for the title track) of their first mini album, ROMAN, released in 2011. Hitman Bang and P.Dogg did the title track for the album, which is a fun little anecdote if you recognize those names, but Tell me why is one of those songs that I have a hard time finding the songwriters for. Comparably, this is first gen level of difficulty because of the four sources I looked at that usually have that available for me to peruse (so I can verify the songwriters), only one (Genius) had any to speak of. So, any errors here belong to Genius. Apparently those song writers are Melody9 (B.Dolls and Happy Pledis 2012) and Lee Minoo (XODIAC and STAYC) (AKA one of the members of Shinhwa! (his name is usually Lee Minwoo, so I have no idea why it's done without the w here)). 

Y'all, this is such a sappy love song (per the lyrics). 

I'm not sure that this has ever been performed, at least that's what the comments on the official audio video lead me to believe, so unless I find one, you just get me (this is also why y'all should submit songs to me because even if there isn't a performance, you can give me something to argue for and so it's not just me yapping). There's also a Melody (BTOB fan) in the comments talking about how much they love the song because an Angel (Teen Top fan) introduced them to this song, and even if I wasn't looking at the translation, that would tell me a lot about what kind of song this is. 

Tell me why is actually kind of funny because the instrumental we've got underneath this song is pure dance track intensity. Like, honestly, if I didn't know this was a b-side, I'd think it was a title track. It's got all of the elements I look for, which is actually really cool to be hearing. 

We've got a couple of rhythm changes to the beat for the different sections of the song (verses, chorus, pre-chorus, bridge, etc), which provide a lot of really good contrast throughout the song, but also allows the momentum of the song to not turn stale. Human brains are designed to focus on changes and to ignore things that are consistently the same, which is why, if you're in a creative field or you have a creative hobby, one of the best things that you can do for yourself if you feel stuck is to change your environment. I never write better than when I'm in public or in a moving vehicle, especially when I'm writing by hand.

So when we have a song that has those changes and those variations, we're actually predisposed to pay attention every time there's a change to what we expect to happen. The more repetitious a sound is, the more we start to tune it out. 

And there's more than just the instrumental providing those shifts, because that's a key change in there at 2:48. Key changes are so much fun to sing and they're actually another good way to catch the brain so that it refocuses. So we've got a lot of the changes in rhythm in the instrumental, and we've got a key change, which means that the variation is high to keep the attention of the listener, which is exactly what a title track is supposed to do.

We've also got a story going on with the lyrics. It's a story of love and steadfastness and wanting to bear the burdens and pains of the other, of light and strength being given by the mere presence of the one who is loved. Love language: quality time unlocked. But there's also that wholesomeness that comes from a first love present in this song. 

I did mention this was a sappy love song.

And the way the vocals are folded together with the ad-libs during the final chorus is really just pretty. The ad-libs aren't even just vocalizations. We've got shouting and exclamations alongside the vocals, which rounds out the song really well and makes for an excellent end of concert song, all bright energy and crowd hyping without it being an aggressive song to rile the audience up.

And I'd also like to point out that we've got some ad-libs going on during the song-stabilizing C.A.P and L.Joe's raps. The vocalists are working over time during this song.

I have found a performance of it from Arirang (the home network of The Show and After School Club). Well, twenty seconds of the song was performed on Arirang.

Those are some crisp consonants in a live performance. We got some crispness with the ending consonants in the recorded, studio version, but nothing like the only live performance that was immortalized on the internet.

They're just adorable in their young ages. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, round-faced. Adorable.

The one that I think is the leader (I immediately attached to him (my bias is always the leader and I can pick them out of just about any group) and given the reason why the leader left the group, I could see this one turning into his most recent idol photo) at :08 is waving his fingers in front of his mouth in the "you need to smile" gesture. I don't know if he's reminding himself to smile (he is a rapper and rappers generally smile a bit less than the vocalists while they perform) or the group to smile or what, but it's so charming.

At :10, the member at the back over by the keyboard puts his hand up to his ear so that he can hear himself and stay in tune. No earbuds. No in-ears. They're not even really mic'd up for a performance. I love the dedication to the song, as expected of a professional performer, but the evidence nonetheless is lovely to see.

But if anything, this twenty-second clip of just the chorus proves something very interesting about the chorus that you can't quite tell from the studio recording. The entire group sings it. All four of the vocalists and the two rappers sing the chorus.

I'm not kidding. This would make the perfect encore song for a concert. And even though it's one of their oldest songs, it's not super cringy. It's soft and sweet and the grown men who are all back from the military shouldn't feel embarrassed to sing it. It's a lot less embarrassing than aegyo.

Teen Top. Give us the song. Please.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the (likely) introduction to a very sweet song that doesn't deserve being forgotten. And after sixteen years with everyone including the maknae now back from the military, it's kind of the right time to bring out the soft sentiment alongside their more mature recent tracks.

If you've got any songs you'd like me to champion for you, feel free to drop a comment or fill out The Form! I love seeing what songs you love and why you love them!

Happy listening, everyone! Still leaning closer to calling y'all "Champions"!

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