Happy #SongLyricsSunday! Today’s prompt is to find a song that mentions “Head”, “Hat”, “Hair”, or “Scarf” as suggested by Paula of Light Motifs II. When I saw this prompt, I immediately thought about Baby V.O.X as I have been listening to their first album recently. The song I choose is “Haircut” (머리하는널) which was from their debut album. Did you know it has been deemed as a failure? Why? Let’s find out!
Equalizeher and “Haircut”: The Failure
“Haircut” was released as a single from the group’s debut album Equalizeher (Voice of Xpression) which was released in the summer of 1997. Baby V.O.X had a similar style that was akin to the Spice Girls, but a bit edgier with their music containing an attitude-filled social justice/feminist concept. And that concept backfired as the general public didn’t like it so much. Even another single, entitled “To A Man” (남자에게), was banned from TV shows for its “explicit” lyrical content as broadcaster thought they were too strong.
3/5th of the members left the Baby V.O.X after five months of their album’s debut. Cha Yumi went back to the US due to health concerns as Jang Hyun Jung and Jung Shi Woon left due to internal conflicts. In 1998, the group changed their concept to cute and modest with new members, releasing their second album with success. By the end of the turn of the century, Baby V.O.X was very popular in South Korea until its disbandment in 2006.
Although “Haircut” was released during Baby V.O.X’s edgy period, I quite like it. From the raps to the chorus, the song is super chorus. The lyrics talk about how a haircut relates to the sadness of a breakup. The shorter the hair is, the less sadness the woman experiences when breaking up with their lover. The character of the song lets her boyfriend know that this is a breakup by cutting her hair and showing it to that person on their last date. But, the character wonders why she is crying? It isn’t because of sadness, isn’t it?
There is a lot of deep lyrical content embedded in this song. My favorite is “My happiness was obtained from your sorrow”. That is pretty deep! “Haircut” is one of my favorite Baby V.O.X as I really love the material from their first album (I don’t really listen to the later stuff, not my cup of tea). I really love the edginess and relatable topics presented in the song, especially the rap in “Haircut”. It might not be a typical 90s Kpop song, it is a good one!
Listen to “Haircut” down below. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Here is the lyric video with the translated lyrics:
The Rules for #SongLyricsSunday
(This challenge is currently hosted by the generous Jim Adams.)
Anyone can participate in #SongLyricsSunday, even if you aren’t a music blogger! If you want to participate, here are the rules:
- Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it fits the theme or not.
- Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
- Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
- Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
- Pingback to this post will eventually work, as long as you are being patient, but you can also place your link in the comments if you don’t like to wait.
- Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
- Feel free to suggest future prompts.
- Have fun and enjoy the music.
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I liked your song Amy, but the video was disturbing because it kept jumping in and out.
Oh my gosh! How have I never heard of them before?!
I may not relate to this genre. I am too old for this music type. But, I guess K-pop group are the in thing in the music industry now, especially in the Philippines.
Kpop is super super cool and I love it. I don’t know this band, they’re awesome…
Such a history. But K pop musics hav always intigrued me.
What a weird subject for a song – but I suppose there have been lots weirder subjects