04. 11. 2020
Busan // Damons Year // 2019 // R&B, Urban
Busan was released as a single album in late 2019. With its orchestral backtrack and dashes of twinkling synthesizer sounds, the music evokes a somewhat light-hearted feeling yet melancholy feeling. It starts off with bell-like, soft tones and gradually builds tension with the strings. We can see how the song creates a story of one encountering an sudden emotional experience on a rather normal, perhaps clear, day. This appropriately matches the lyrics as the South Korean singer-songwriter, Damons Year, sings of a yearning for a past relationship as he watches the twinkling blue ocean.
I chose this song to initiate this project because of several reasons.
One. Damons Year is one of my favorite artists to listen to. His soothing and slightly fragile(?) voice helps convey his styled lyrics and delicate narratives. A fun fact: his name is a mash of “day, month and year”.
Two. The title of the song, Busan, is the location of my home in Korea. The view of the ocean is always visible from my home. It is fun to see how the colors and shape of the large water change everyday. The view was something I definitely missed while I studied in the states.
Three. It was one of the few songs I downloaded to my new phone before getting on the airplane from New York. I had just bought a new phone (since the old one died) a few days before I left the states. I listened to the track to fall asleep and calm myself down as I sat through my entire trip with a protective mask and hat.
Four. The narrative in the song resonates with the situation I had during the change back home. I knew of the news about COVID-19 before the outbreak in America since both my roommates and I had friends and family in the affected countries earlier this year. We all had a hunch that it was a matter of time before RISD would be closed or at least affected when our schools started closing for our friends from the neighboring states. We all had a feeling but we went about our normal days going to class and meeting friends since RISD nor Brown showed signs of closing yet. But RISD closing was something much much more stressful than I had expected. I did not have a home or any relatives in the states that I could temporarily stay with. This meant I had to move out completely, pack and store my stuff somewhere, get my legal travel papers signed and find flights and tickets for transportation in the midst of such an unstable situation. And going to class. I asked my sister, who is in the same situation, about her thoughts.
Long story short, I think the hardest part about this entire situation was the overload of news and difficulty in getting in contact with people I needed. Oh, and that everything (literally everything) happened within a span of two to three days. What was true and what was fake news? It was appalling how rumors could easily turn into a fact in just a few hours. It cost me two flight tickets and a whole day of nervously waiting for the timezone to catch up to my parents. It was also interesting (and a bit tragic) that when everyone was in a bind you could see differing attitudes and coping methods of my friends. Either way, it was definitely an experience that disrupted my normal life and plans for the future. I am just grateful that I was still able to glean a few good memories and benefits of the hard work during the stressful period.
