Since most of us have not had the pleasure of speaking in person, you probably don’t know of this one small, very small, annoying personality tick that I have. No, it’s not the one where I have a snarky conversation between me and the other person where I fill in their side of the conversation for them. No, it’s not my irrational fear of ladybugs. It’s not even my need to bring up Kdrama or Kpop into every conversation I have (ahem—raise your hand if you’re guilty of this one) Nope, for some reason if I, at random and unnecessary moments, will break out into song. (Turns out in just one Kcon panel I did this twice.) Yes. Yes, I know how annoying this is and yet I just can’t stop myself. It’s a sickness I tell you, a sickness.
Feel free to judge.
And, if Kdrama is any example, I am not alone. There are those moments where regular words just won’t cut it and the hero and/or heroine need to express themselves through song. So here is my list of top 5 serenades. Now, I’ve made an executive decision that this list will not include any songs sung in a noraebong environment as that is an entirely different beast deserving of its own list.
Me Too Flower
One of my favorites, which might be a little bit of a cheat as it’s done when the heroine is hallucinating due to near death peril and so Jae Hee isn’t in reality singing to her at all. But that moment when she thinks she’s dying and conjures up his image to comfort her, having a simple conversation about what they will do for the Christmas they won’t have together and him singing her the Christmas carol, him sadly looking down on her, gets me every time. Every. Single. Time.
Coffee Prince
This could probably be called the Coffee Prince memorial list. Who doesn’t remember the scene where Lee Seung Gyun’s character sings to his flighty artist girlfriend after he finally relents and gets back together with her? Yep, if I had a list of the 5 most iconic kdrama scenes, this would be on the short list. She fell in love with him and so did we.
Can You Hear My Heart
This song was for those moments when she knew he was deaf and he secretly knew that she knew he was deaf. She spent a lot of time throughout the drama trying to let him know that it was okay that he was deaf and in this moment where she sings to him in sign, she almost gets through to him–until another passerby talks about how it was too bad the pretty girl was deaf. Soo close! But still a step in the right direction for this cute couple.
You’re Beautiful
While there was singing all over this drama, I’m speaking of course of the very last song when Hwang Tae Kyung found out Go Mi Nam was at the concert to see him perform just one more time before going away to Africa. He had mere moments to find her and stop her, forever breaking his already fractured heart. In front of a crowd of fans he goes out and sings her their song, her fathers song, while trying hard to see into the dark crowd. This is one of my first few kdramas, so this giant moment really hit me in my girly heart-feelz.
Love Sick
Not sure if you guys have seen the Love Sick series but this show has definitely become one of my favorites. During the battle of the bands competition, Earn took his chance to try to sweep Noh away from Phun, asking him, via song, to give him one more chance which, of course, gave Phun a case of the sad jellys. Though not the singer of his band, when it’s their turn, Phun takes his chance to talk through song to Noh and it is beautiful. But the song wasn’t about love, it wasn’t a ‘choose me’ ditty, it simply said, “I’m just happy to have you in my life.” It made Noh tear up:
it made me tear up, and it finally showed Earn who Noh chose. Not bad for one serenade.
Honorable Mentions: Greatest Love, Life is Beautiful, Doctor Champ, New Heart, Heartstrings, Gloria
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