With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air. To commemorate the day of love, APA’s Ephney Tsai shares six Korean love songs from the past year to enjoy.
1. BIBI — Eat My Love
Kicking off this list is rising star BIBI’s February 2021 release, “Eat My Love.” Relatable and quirky, the song is about a fresh and new love she doesn’t fully understand yet. With fun lyrics, BIBI’s smooth vocals and a catchy beat, Eat My Love is the perfect track to start your day with.
2. D.O — Rose
This acoustic number is the title track of EXO member D.O’s first solo album, which tells the story of someone shyly confessing their love with a bouquet. Despite not having much knowledge of flowers, D.O is set on telling his love how he feels with roses, which he sings are still not as pretty as his lover.
3. aespa — Forever
aespa’s “Forever” is about an everlasting love that began the moment they set eyes on their lover. Describing a healthy, loving relationship where they both want the best for each other, this song is meaningful and sweet. Forever is a remake of Yoo Young Jin’s year 2000 release, but still feels modern, even 22 years later.
4. Seventeen — Ready to Love
While aespa’s “Forever” is about an everlasting first love, Seventeen’s “Ready to Love” tells a friends-to-lovers story. This song describes a love that grows stronger every single day, until it consumes you entirely. Ending with a phrase that’s sweeter than an “I love you,” the thirteen boys confess that their love gives them purpose. With vocal team leader Woozi behind the lyrics, composition, and production of nearly all Seventeen’s music, including this specific song, it isn’t a surprise that fans swoon particularly hard over this one.
5. Mamamoo — mumumumuch
“mumumumuch” is the title track of Mamamoo’s compilation album, celebrating their seven years together as a group. With references in the song to classic fairytales like Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, this song tells its own fairytale too. Expressing a love that reaches as far as the sky, land and sea, they live happily ever after together.
6. The Rose — Beauty and the Beast
Speaking of Beauty and the Beast, this list wraps up with The Rose’s long awaited comeback titled and based on the classic story. The Rose often plays with their lyrics to express a transformation through the song. For instance, their song “She’s in the Rain” switches from “she’s in the rain” at the start to “we’re in the rain” at the end, and this song is no different. In this song, their relationship is looked down upon by others, with the band being the beast and their love being the beauty. However, their love story works out in the end when lyrics transition from “I think I’m under a spell” to “I think the spell will be broken.”
Ephney Tsai 
