[#3] Younha - "Run"

From: "Supersonic"
Format: Full-Length Album
Released: July
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Appearances: First Appearance

The hardest part of putting this year's list together was figuring out how to rank my top three. I had the three songs and they're really something else, but I liked them in different ways and all of them could have easily been #1.

When I first heard "Run", it came off to me as a mix between J-Pop and my impression of a Filipino band called Imago. But it quickly turned into it's own song, and to say I was in love with it would be an understatement.

"Run" is one of those songs that you have to take as one whole entity -- neither the melody nor the arrangement or instrumental stick out more than the other. You have a strong instrumental and a strong melody bound together with an arrangement that knows exactly what to bring out.

A lot of things happen on the instrumental, you have this gritty but epic synth line at the verses, that's magnified by this gorgeous bass line that because of the bareness of the verses, you feel and hear. See this is what I love about "Run", on other songs it's one or the other, but on "Run" it's always both. And of course the verses beautiful set up that stunning chorus that literally does soar. It's epic, but it's also very organized -- there are so many things going on, but it almost explicitly tells you exactly what to pay attention to and think about, and what to genuinely feel.

The melody is gorgeous, and it brings out the grace and the power in Younha's voice. The verses are very flowy, very whimsical, but then the chorus hits and you get this powerful melody that basks in the epicness of everything going on.

I know that this is a short review compared to the other songs in the top ten, but this is just one of those songs that you really have to hear and feel for yourself. My descriptions and praises will give you an idea of why I like it, but it's the experience itself that will really drive my point home.