UP10TION – White
Night
Reviewed
on January 2, 2017
I will first go over why I am not
personally a fan of the song. Afterwards, however, through showcasing to
readers an application of “active listening,” I will then argue the main point
of the review despite personal biases: that “White Night” is an incredibly
solid song due to how well it manages and balances the song’s higher intensity.
Personal Message:
Edit: This review was supposed to be posted on December 31.
Unfortunately, while the review itself was finished by then, it was not
entirely ready to be published and thus I delayed it to the start of 2017.
If not clear, I truly am a master of
lip-servicing—and thus should be hired by a label company to handle “dating
scandals” their idols go through—since I am once again changing plans with
reviews despite saying how I would not. SHINee’s “1 of 1” is facing yet again
another delay, but considering how I plan to review two songs in just one day
today, I will probably finally review it
after the current one. For now, however, we will be focusing on the men of
UP10TION—and of whom, from my understanding, are tackling a tougher “bad boy”
concept for their recent song of “White Night” versus their prior “innocent
boy” concepts. (I could be entirely wrong, though; I am not too familiar with
the group’s previous songs except for Sunyoul’s collaboration with GFriend’s
Yuju for their duo song of “Cherish.”)
To now address why I have opted to
review “White Night” by UP10TION, I find that this review will be very
musically insightful: this is a review that, I hope, will show how one can separate
their music bias and preferences from a more critical, “objectively subjective”
perspective. In other words, despite personally not being a fan of the song,
once I apply active listening to it and am truly critical of the composition, I
will actually argue “White Night” is a very promising song even if I personally do not like its style. Of course, though, it
should still be clearly noted that music will always be subjective—hence why I
say “objectively subjective.” However even so, while reviewing music is all
subjective, we can at least try to be objective through the use of evidence and
thoughtfulness and thus music reviews are still important in the sense of
respecting the works of the artists, composers, and producers.
And so focusing now on the actual review,
while my stance towards the song aligns with that of many fans—that “White
Night” is an impressive song—I will take a slightly different route with this
review than the usual of merely agreeing. I will first go over
why I am not personally a fan of the song. Afterwards, however, through
showcasing to readers an application of “active listening,” I will then argue
the main point of the review despite personal biases: that “White Night” is an
incredibly solid song due to how well it manages and balances the song’s higher
intensity.
_______________________________________________________
Song Score: 7/10
(7.00/10 raw score) – “Above average”
–
Vocals: 7/10
–
Sections: 7/10 (6.86/10 raw score)
Introduction, Verse,
Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Post-Chorus, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Conclusion
1. Introduction:
7/10
2. Verse: 6/10
3. Pre-Chorus: 7/10
4. Chorus: 7/10
5. Post-Chorus: 7/10
6. Bridge: 7/10
7. Conclusion: 7/10
–
Instrumental: 7/10
–
Lyrics: 7/10
Ayo UP10TION
Let me hear this:
Pay attention
Burning out burning out burning out
Burning out burning out burning out
You make a fire in my heart
Time stops and flows at your beauty
All of my nerves are standing on edge
My eyes are filled with you
I’m pouring hot oil into them
so I can burn with you
(Dizzy)
You’re burning me up until the end
I’m confident, I’m giving it my all
(No fear)
like there’s no tomorrow
Don’t look back, walk over to me
It’s already over for me, baby
Without you it’s over, baby
I’m telling you my feelings that I couldn’t before
I’ll erase all your doubts
It’s burning white
I have nothing I threw everything away
Only thing remaining is you
(You’re my last)
It’s burning black
Nothing remaining I threw everything away
Don’t try to stop this heart
Can’t stop, please don’t
Don’t make me sad anymore
Don’t stop me now
Because I’m going to run to you now
When I get close, hold out your hand
When I reach your heart, don’t reject me
Every time, I’m pulling
I try to catch you
Who can steal you away from me?
I will have you
(It’s not easy)
If this is love
I won’t dream about anything else but you
(It won’t cool down)
In this world filled with lies
Save me with your light, baby
Don’t say anything, baby
Just come to me, baby
Even if everything is over, I’m still burning
My heart has fallen for you
It’s burning white
I have nothing I threw everything away
Only thing remaining is you
(You’re my last)
It’s burning black
Nothing remaining I threw everything away
Don’t try to stop this heart
My desperate heart is not complete
It’s about to collapse like Jenga
Damn it, is loving her a sin?
I admit it, you won
You captivated all of me
My burning heart is yours
It’s burning white
(Oh)
I have nothing I threw everything away
Only thing remaining is you
(You’re my last)
Don’t go (oh) until the end (oh)
I’m burning out
Because it’s you in the end
Don’t try to stop this heart
[Conclusion instrumental]
_______________________________________________________
Analysis: Before
beginning the review, I will leave my own surprised remarks: I am very pleased
with the ratings. It has been a very long time since I have rated a song as
above average, but indeed “White Night” is held at that standard.
Onto
the review itself, to discuss why I personally am not necessarily a fan of the
song, I find it to be excessive in a myriad of places. From the pacing, vocals,
and instrumental, “White Night” comes off as far too exciting and intense for
my own preferences. That said, while excessiveness can indeed be a flaw in
songs, we have to consider more than that: we have to understand the entire context of the song. This brings
us to the reminder I wish for readers to bear in mind: that even if a critical listener
finds that she dislikes a song due to very reasonable points—perhaps that the
vocals are too repetitive, the instrumental fails to reciprocate the same
intensity as the vocals and so on—she would need to still look further.
Specifically, a critical listener would then ask why such occurs; he would ask, “Why
is it that the composers chose to have the instrumental be disconnected from
the vocals during the pre-choruses?”
Returning
now to why I bring up my own unfiltered musical bias towards “White Night” at
all, it is true that my dislikes in the song can be argued critically: that
perhaps, indeed, the song is a bit
excessive and thus that causes the song to lose appeal in certain aspects.
However, in doing so, I forget to question why that is the case and hence why I
never review a song off pure biased, uncritical judgment. Once we critically
think of the song’s composition are actively listening to the song, I argue we
will then find a more thorough, complex conclusion: that the composers knew
exactly what they intended with “White Night” ‘s higher intensity: that they
would attempt to manage and balance it as much as possible, and upon doing so,
the song in whole would benefit in various ways. This, ultimately, is what I
argue is the case, so let us take a look at the song itself to see how the
song’s supposed “excessiveness” is in fact its strongest element.
First,
for something I truly want readers to understand that is incredibly impressive and
creative with the composition is to hear how the sections are laid out (or
“look” as I do visually write the sections down in a chronological order).
Specifically, I wish for readers to realize that there is only one verse in the
song and only one post-chorus, and moreover, that after the post-chorus the
pre-chorus immediately kicks back in. Now while this may appear to be—at
most—unusual, it is more than just a change in traditional structuring of a pop
song; I assert that this layout is key to why “White Night” is able to easily
maintain its higher intensity.
Before
getting more into that, however, it makes sense to first explain how the song
itself runs. I will do this in a hastier manner so as to get us to the prior,
main argument point. Starting at the introduction, it does a solid job of
establishing the song’s more energetic style all while bringing in an appealing
instrumental backing. Then, as expected, once the verses arrive the song takes
a more passive approach as “White Night” gradually then builds up—and that very
buildup occurs in the pre-choruses as the usual. Furthermore, the choruses play
out as the song’s climactic point: a very exciting, upbeat, intense section in
the song in which both instrumental and vocals are most strenuous and lively.
At this point, the post-choruses arrive and now we can resume our earlier
conversation on why this matters.
With
the single post-chorus, it is a peculiar section as traditionally it should be
a verse; in other words, “White Night” should have had a “cycle reset” (as I
term it) where the song’s intensity restarts back to where it was at the first
verse—a calm, passive state. However, the composers perhaps understood that
doing so would lead to my initial, biased claim: that the song is excessive.
After all, even if the progression to the song’s most intense, climactic points—such
as the choruses—was natural and seamless, the large gap between the song’s
starting passive point—such as the verse—to that climactic point would still be
too large and awkward. This is why, in many cases, songs that become very
intense only do so in a linear manner: think of many ballad songs for example.
Many ballad songs’ concluding portions can be quite dramatic and intense with
note holds, two-part singing, full-on instrumentations and the like, but as is
the case in many ballads, a majority of them are constantly rising in their
intensity; there is seldom an actual “restart” where the ballads go back to
their very beginning of a slower start. In many pop songs, though, there is
oftentimes a recycling: after a climactic point, the song then starts again at
their passive, calmer start—though unlike ballads, that initial starting point
tends to still be relatively energetic.
Hopefully
readers understand this concept and I do apologize for poorly articulating it. Point
is, “White Night”—if it had adopted a more standard pop song composition—would
have been appropriately and reasonably called “excessive” because its starting
verses would have been too drastic of a shift to its more intense, climactic
choruses—this translating, then, onto how the vocals and instrumental are
executed. However, as we can hear (and “see”), “White Night” does not use a
second verse but instead a post-chorus. This post-chorus, as a result, serves
as a creative solution: this section maintains the choruses’ intense state and
only partially decreases it but predominantly focuses on just shifting that intensity
over. And considering how the pre-choruses occur right after the post-chorus—pre-choruses
being sections that are building up that very intensity for the choruses—it
becomes both a natural transition point but also a perfect bridge to manage the
song’s higher intensity and energy without having to awkwardly “recycle” the
song as it would have done if it were following a traditional pop music format.
Overall, while what I argued may be quite confusing, in short I simply had
explained why the single post-chorus in the song is of such momentous value. It
is not there for the sake of just
being there; the post-chorus section is placed and composed particularly to
keep the song in its appropriate, fitting flow and because of this, every other
category benefits.
For
example with the vocals, while the usual desirable traits exist—diversity in style
and pacing, complex tune control via beltings and note holds, and so on—I would
argue the song’s structuring is to be credited for such (though, obviously,
praise towards the men as well for their adept singing skills). The more intense,
upbeat moments showcase equally strenuous vocals—this we can hear during the choruses
and especially towards the ending. However of course, it is not just the fact
that the vocals are strenuous that I give a high rating—nor is it because the
vocals are simply diverse in terms of also depicting moments of more
controlled, passive singing such as the verse and post-chorus; what I find most
impressive of the vocals is how it all binds together. To explain what I mean, if
we focus on the vocals as the sections change, throughout it all the vocals
never have any drastic shifts but instead are always within an appropriate
transition. The post-chorus, once again, is a perfect example: the vocals here
are not shifted back to an abrupt, calmer state but instead carry on the prior
chorus’ exciting, powerful vocals but manipulated in a manner so that it is
slightly more contained. Even the instrumental follow suit with the song’s
overarching structuring.
In
summary, “White Night” is rendered at above average based on my ratings but
that appears to be rightfully deserved. The song’s main strength is how
cohesive and maintained it is despite how intense and energetic it becomes
throughout. Through that very organized composition, everything else—the vocals
and instrumental—are able to follow through and not collapse due to messiness
and lack of control. Again, even if I personally do not necessarily enjoy the
song as I find it too intense, from a critical perspective I argue we will still
find that “White Night” is in fact actually a very solid song and was composed
quite thoroughly so as to counteract the usual problems with having a song be
this upbeat and powerful.
_______________________________________________________
I
am now posting this review on January 2—much later than intended. Because of
this, I will be aiming for eight reviews for this month but that should be
doable considering I have two weeks of break left. More male artists will be
coming out, and in fact, though I have yet to officially reply a reader left
many requests that I will promptly be working on. Also, I very much plan to
review AOA’s recent comeback so for AOA fans, do look forward to their review.
With
this being a new year, I hope readers have a healthy and joyful year. As for
this blog’s goal, I will attempt to be more dedicated and to put out more
reviews and to continually improve my analyses along with my writing. Thank you
to all for reading this review in full or skim. With 2017, “I’m giving it my
all” so look forward to many reviews to come.
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