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| K-pop act Girls' Generation / Courtesy of SM Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
American magazine Rolling Stone has chosen "Gee," the 2009 release by Girls' Generation, as the greatest song in K-pop history. The tune ranked first on its "The 100 Best Korean Pop Songs of All Time" list unveiled last week.
"This enduring hit overflows with rapidly repeated syllables, every utterance becoming an onomatopoeic expression of joy," said Rolling Stone. "Like no other K-pop song before it ― or since ― it's a pure distillation of the giddiness of infatuation … 14 years after it came out, 'Gee' still feels like a revelation, and that's because love always does too."
Trailing behind were "Candy" (1996) by boy group H.O.T., "Good Day" (2010) by songstress IU and "Spring Day" (2017) by boy band BTS. Rolling Stone said that "Candy" set the bar for all other sweet summertime earworms of K-pop boybands to come while describing "Good Day" as a bouncy, sweet tune, bolstered with orchestral instrumentation and synths.
"'Spring Day' is a brilliant example of BTS' unique ability to sum up complex emotions into universal pop songs," the magazine added. "The soaring 2017 power ballad is full of lush vocals and soulful rapping, as the group moving evokes powerful feelings of loss, memory and hope for the future."
Rolling Stone also included veteran singer Cho Yong-pil's "Short Hair" (1980), girl group BLACKPINK's "DDU-DU DDU-DU" (2018) and boy group BIGBANG's "Haru Haru" (2008) on its roster. The tracks from four major K-pop powerhouses ― SM, YG, JYP and HYBE ― dominated the list, with SM, home to Girls' Generation, taking the lead with 14 songs.
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