From a summer night written on a bike to a magic-spell melody: four songs DOO sang at a Dohwa-dong playground

DOO is a musician who works as a singer-songwriter, composer and music director. In early June 2024, just as summer was starting, DOO took the stage at the playground of Dohwaso Children's Park in Dohwa-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. With a single keyboard in front, DOO sang four songs and, between each one, spent more than a minute telling the stories behind them. We followed those stories and the sound together. Times follow the video.

0:00 Summer Night

City pop that DOO introduced as the "fourth single." Only DOO and one keyboard are on screen, but drums and bass run underneath the sound from the start. The singing begins at 0:20 with '떠나고 싶어' ("I want to get away"). After the song, at 4:16, DOO shared the day it was born. On a summer night when the song wouldn't come and everything felt stifling, DOO rented a Ttareungyi, Seoul's public bike, in the neighborhood and rode all the way to Mapo Hangang Park, writing the song along the way.

5:40 My One and Only

The fifth single. Before singing it, DOO gave a quiz: this song is about DOO's favorite season, so listen and guess which one. The English lyrics say "summer" six times, and the video description also says "summer, my favorite season." Split the sound by instrument and the song runs on keyboard and voice alone for the first minute or so. After 'the love you left me in summer' at 6:42, drums and bass come in together at 6:45, followed by 'You're my one and only summer'.

10:25 Sunny Morning

Before singing, DOO said they're someone whose mood swings like a roller coaster. Some days feel gloomy and some feel great, and on the days the worries pile up, all you can do is think, "tomorrow will be okay again," and keep living. DOO called it a song about "our lives, which are like the weather," and promised to release this new song through NONOL. Around 10:40 DOO's hands move across the keys, and at 11:05 the singing starts with '아직 잠에서 덜 깨어있는 눈' ("eyes not quite awake yet"). The description introduces it as a breezy bossa nova. On February 18, 2025, 223 days after the video went up, the song came out as promised as 'NONOL VOL 55'. The NONOL VOL story is in our October 10 list. Apple Music

15:55 LOVE ALWAYS

The last song is DOO's debut. While introducing it at 14:37, DOO said it has a melody like a magic spell, and sang just that part first, a cappella: "la la la." For those 10 or so seconds, there isn't a single instrument. DOO asked listeners to hum this melody when things get hard or gloomy. The song opens on keyboard at 15:55, and the drums and bass come in properly at 16:25. It's a song in praise of love, about how even when you're tired of love, in the end it's still love. Just before the last song, DOO said, "Bye, NONOL, I was happy."