To live your emotional life through music and TV-series.

Many of us use TV movies, series, and music as a substitute for our own dull or gloomy lives. We may not on a daily base express ordinary, strong emotions, but can live through the spectrum of emotions via music and films. Psychologically, it is important that we have these channels of expression, but it is not enough. We also need this whole repertoire of emotions and reaction possibilities in our own lives!

Five years ago, my family and I were so tired of American quality series on Netflix, HBO and C-More that “we took a Spanish one”. (that is an expression in Norwegian language meaning to do something not entirely accepted or legal. Here it has a double meaning referring to Spanish TV- series. ) So we started watching several Spanish series, one Belgian and two Dutch. We listened to all the series and films in the original language, respectively, Spanish, Dutch, and Flemish. We had Norwegian subtitles below.

Eastwards towards the Bosphorus and Istanbul

Then one day we became a little more exotic, and went to Turkey, to the series Kördügüm «Interception». We learned to say “günaydın”, good morning, “teşekkür ederim “, thank you very much, and” tamam “, okay, “evet,” yes, and “hayir”, no. And not least, we learned to like the music. ‘¨

We go further and further east.

Then after Turkey we became even more exotic and went to Palestine and Israel. But the journey did not stop there either, it became even more exotic! We traveled all the way to Korea in the late 1800’s, with the series “Mr.Sunshine”. It is about the tense relationship between Korea and Japan at the time, and the complicated love affair between the rich man’s daughter Go Ae-Shin, and the slave boy Eugene Choi!

Through this series, we really got our ears and eyes open for beautiful melodic Korean music. In a northern European tradition, most people will probably call this music overly romantic in the cultural meaning of the word. That is dramatic, passionate and yes, ordinary romantic. But if you dare to be a little on edge with heart, pain, loss, sorrow, envy, longing, even hatred. Then you also hear how amazingly beautiful the music and songs are in this context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwQwe47jXQs

From Chopin to Chen

In the afternoon I was still in Norway and Europe and played Chopin, Geir Tveitt and a little Shostakovitch on the piano. But throughout the night I looked up Korean, more specifically South-Korean k-pop, newer R&B, retro pop-rock, and melodic lighter music. One late night I came across the songwriter and the amazing singer Chen, and experienced something of the same as when we saw the series “Mr. Sunshine “:Very beautiful melodies, coral harmonic sounds, beautiful moods, and a singer with a very good voice. The songs I liked best were from Chen’s album “April and a flower”, with a seemingly Norwegian wooded mountain landscape on the cover.

Whether this young South-Korean sang “Portrait of You”, to his young wife or newborn son, is not known and does not matter. The music is very well and made and beautiful, and has varying melodic themes from an opening A-theme, to a main B-theme and often C and D themes, even sometimes an E, ending back on the main B-theme. Here is “Portrait of You”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-OooTyBLxw

The same high quality goes for this live recording of “Sorry not Sorry”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPn65m0OGOc

EXO shows up.

Eventually I found out that Chen was also a driving force in the song group EXO, which started little by little in 2012. Now they are eight or nine guys, and look almost like they have just become teenagers. But they sing, dance and make songs and concert shows so spectacular, that one would think they had never done anything else in their young lives. They work very hard, everyone is solo artists as well, and have a discipline that is not unknown to Koreans in general, nor South-Koreans.

Those who want to check out the various stories of members Chen, Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun, Xiumin, and Lay, can do so online. (Here is a start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exo_(band) I’m not that concerned about their privacy. Another advantrage or strength of the band is that they performs their art in many different branches of music. They have received very positive reviews for this diversity from music critics. For example they both sing, compose and dance to pop, hip hop and R&B, aswell as Electronic dance music EDM. In addition to all this they produce house, rap, trap, synth-pop and other genres. They perform and release music in Korean, Japanese and Mandarin languages.

Let’s get EXO on stage!

We start the show with a really up tempo happy song! “Lucky One”: Here from a concert in Japan a while ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3gLmNQmnzs

– Love grief, despair and rage.

Then we continue with a calm song. It’s about the one we love, when she or him has decided to leave us. She or he has written about it on SMS, while we have been busy visiting friends or working on a project in another city. It’s raining, as it always does in movies when something sad is underway. We immediately throw ourselves on the motorcycle, on the train or the bus. Preferably we take the car, driving fast and furiously. While the windshield wipers wipe away the tears of heaven on the windshield, we drive through the night back to our beloved. We beg her or him to stay in the relationship: “Stay,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc3mg5oT1Fc

But it looks like the game is lost. Your heart stings, almost like the beginning of a heart attack. You get desperate, furious, jealous, insane! And this is how the guys in the EXO band, rage over their lost sweethearts: (This is one of their hundreds of songs that I like the most) «Heart Attack» https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxo90RHlGz0.

Then the rage is over, the realities sink in, a budding hope of reunion is in the air, the two say goodbye. But when he /she leaves, and gets out in the rain again, the crying comes like a scream. Cause deep down they both know that they will never meet again. Do they both Cry over their lost love? Here Chen, Baekhuyn and Xiumin sing at the big concert in Tokyo. «CRY»: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtpiKUI9Tko

A version with Korean Hangul (한글) and English subtitles comes here, where we also see which guy sings what in the song. (These videos are not live, but have a slightly better sound than the live videos, and show the lyrics and who is singing. These videos are available for most of EXO’s songs. https: //www.youtube.com/watch? V = D9-oJasMraY

“Diamond Crystal”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9sJRM_vk9c.

Life consists of waiting.

Many of us are waiting for something good. Many are waiting for something to happen. Someone is sitting in the waiting room waiting for the doctor. Others are awaiting surgery, or are currently being quarantined or recovering from corona viruses. Many are waiting to get a boyfriend again. (Does this apply to these guys after the heartache above?). Here is their version of this in “Wait”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlDhySKQojs

The art of opening and ending a concert:

Who can introduce themselves better an EXO? On the Japan tour they opened the show this way, with “Intro” and “Eve”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdqHigVv-Kk

And who can end the concert in a more natural, respectful and dignified way with the song, “Don’t go!” Here they have huge rigs with platters that bring them out to all the thousands of spectators who have crowded together to see them. (This is before the corona): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCAOJpZJGwQexo.

“The answer is you”

I end the meeting with these eight or nine guys, with three songs. The first is called “My answer”, and addresses directly to “you”. Here, only three of the nine sing. and! The second song is called “Oasis”, from the album “The Planet”, where the whole group is involved. Finally, we turn off the spotlights on these artistic talents, with “Lights Out”.

EXO draws huge crowds of fans from all over Asia. They have not yet been successful in the US, probably because they mostly sing in Korean with titles in English and a couple of English verse lines inside the songs.

If anyone claims a little condescendingly that this is just another sterile boy band, I have not been able to do them justice through this short presentation. Check for yourself if you like any of this. I think if you loosen up a bit on the tie knot, hair hoop, polo shirt or the raised classical music nose, you will find something, no matter which genre you like best. From EDM with wild dance steps and rap, through 80’s retro and quite advanced songs, to thoughts and reflections about the planet we live on:

“My answer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5jfwPNscYc “

“Oasis” (Planet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pegBS1A1V-g

“Lights Out”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Riq3L-_aSx0

We end where we started in South Korea, with Chen singing “Lights Out” under the floodlights that will soon be turned off for this time. (Screen Photo above)

Psychological Universe’s thoughts about such a large and talented band, with many individual singing stars.

When you, as the father of only boys, – two of them very artistic and hard-working, like their friends, who often have filled the living room and the house at parties, you get a kind of fatherly relationship with these boys in EXO as well. You both love them and are proud of their achievements, at the same time a little worried because they always have to be so disciplined, hardworking, well organized, and not least they have to live up to too high expectations!

That eight or nine guys, some of them married and with girlfriends and children, manage to work together as a good team, is also a miracle. But they have the music they love, and we hope they can handle the pressure for a while longer. For such large groups usually disintegrate after a few years. Now, as far as I have read, they have been together since 2012!

It all started with choosing different TV series, from other countries to feel and experience other cultures in images and music.

Watching TV series a little outside of the traditional American and English versions, can take you far away. In our case to the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Turkey via Palestine and Israel Even all the way to “EXO-tical” South-Korea!

When it comes to music, the psychological perspective is first and foremost to see what emotions, images and thoughts arise when you hear a symphony, sonatas, or pop/rock / rap songs. There are often videos on Youtube, so the pictures will not be your own. But where the text, as with Korean, is usually not understood by non-Koreans, it is easier to have your own feelings for what is being presented.

Feelings of vitality and degrees of intensity.

And the question is whether we recognize ourselves in the way it is sung – the melody, the rhythm, the intensity, or the quiet and calm parts. To use the world-famous infant researcher Daniel Stern’s terminology, music and song generate vitality feelings, ie emotions that range from the calmest to the most intense in our world of experience.

BTS: (Check “Extra”, end of article)

Next time I write about music that is not classical, I hope to adjust the balance with a similarly great girl band!

Additional videos that show this group’s force and strength:

MAMA: This song is about being totally frustrated in the world, deceived, at war, imprisoned, not listened to, alienated, left alone, feeling isolated. Where has love, care, and personal contact gone? Here they seem to be shouting at their mothers, their leaders, somewhat asking WHY on earth have we made such a world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80ZyJIrADMk&list=RD80ZyJIrADMk&start_radio=1

WALKING ON MEMORIES: (Japan Concert) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvQZyXw4Xio

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/track/6lRGSp6vkzCvrHSwqO9Tx6?si=qRSo5nAVRLemQg_PuiZImA

HISTORY. (Chinese version) This is one of their first hits all back to when they started in 2012. This song is very attacking and edgy and seems to refer to warfare, but I’m not sure that’s the theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-aqpL_TwiM

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4kD6ouOl6cKXBj6wh1mo82?si=8dlXkYbCSqakbCukFQK7VA

MIRACLES OF DECEMBER: This is a very beautiful melodious song, intended to be a Christmas song. The song shows the eminent voice quality of the soloists in EXO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knAYMEOxe0A

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7HrCnwDvbtCKSZtpNDmII9?si=mklz5VuKSESOn7cDlHG-eg

EXTRA

July 2021: I am reminded by my Asian friend that at the present BTS is the most popular K- pop band in the world! They have started signing their lyrics in English and gained many more followers after that.

Their catchy songs, and stunning dance moves, thrills the ARMY as their folowers are called. Even talkshows worldwide and on the radio, you can hear;

“Dynamite” https://youtu.be/gdZLi9oWNZg,

“Butter” https://youtu.be/WMweEpGlu_U , and “Permission to dance.” https://youtu.be/CuklIb9d3fI

NB: The suggested articles below have nothing to do with this post. They are put up by an algorithm on WordPress that I can’t or don’t know how to change! There are simply no articles or posts on the Psychological Universe like this one!