PHANTOM - 청소년이 들으면 안되는 사랑노래(19 Song)

I happened upon this song by chance.  And I am so glad I did.

It's so interesting!  The more I see of PHANTOM, the more I love them.

This song is apparently a rewritten compilation of banned songs by other bands in Korea, which they rewrote and put together to poke fun at (and perhaps even thumb their noses at) restrictions and censorship in Korea.

On one hand, it's hard for me to understand the strict censorship of music in Korea because I don't live there, I live in the United States.  On the other, I know how huge a deal censorship is in the US, and the stink people raise when they think their right to freedom of speech is being violated.  I would hate to have that kind of censorship imposed on my creative spirit, and the artists I admire.  Oh wait, I DO hate that!

I applaud these guys for doing this.  I think it's amazing.  And the song they put together?  Fantastic.  Sanchez's voice is so pure, and the harmonies they produce, and that guitar?  Oh, slay me now.  Beautiful.  I love the interaction of the guitar with the voices, and the sounds they produce, and I love how they made it all echo-ey, and unreal when they are in this small room.  This one is definitely a win.

But.  Holy creeper vibe!  When I first saw this music video, I was not sure exactly what I was watching!  If you don't know what is going on, you are sitting there watching these three guys seemingly trying to serenade these young schoolgirls, who are sitting there in their short skirts with bare knees, covering their ears, and they have a block covering their eyes!  It's CREEPY!  Even though the song is chill and makes me happy, the creeper vibe was very strong.

That's how you're supposed to feel, though.  With the guys alone, singing this song, it's not creepy, in fact, it is a beautiful song.  When you add the young girls, though, and with the way it's shot, you can turn it into something not nice.  And I think that's what they were aiming for.  They're telling you: sure, you can make anything creepy, you can make anything into something worth censoring.  Even if it wasn't that way in the first place.

And really, songs like these ones that PHANTOM borrowed and compiled, what was really so ban-worthy about them?  These get banned, when something like Gain's Bloom wasn't?  I don't want to single any one music video out, or artist--and there are so many music videos just like Bloom that aren't banned.  It really says something, not just about Korean culture, but our world-wide culture doesn't it?

Sorry for ranting about censorship and not enough about how awesome the song is.  Instead of me talking further, go watch it for yourself here: 

And here's a list of the songs that were banned and put in this song:

TVXP: Mirotic

DJ DOC:  I'm This Kind of Person

Vibe: I'm Always Drinking

GD and TOP: Knockout and Don't Go Home

10 CM: Americano

2 PM: Hands Up

Have a great week with your chill music!