Playground

A song written in tears after a text from Dad: Kim Sun ha's playground live among the forsythia

A spring playground live with one guitar and a voice. From '이팝나무' (Fringe Tree), sung while waiting for May flowers, to '넌 참 꽃보다' (Brighter Than Any Flower), which began with a father's text.

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NONOL Editorial

Also available in:한국어

A song written in tears after a text from Dad: Kim Sun ha's playground live among the forsythia
Photo: still from NONOL LIVE 'Kim Sun ha'

Kim Sun ha is a singer-songwriter who loves playing instruments and writing lyrics. As the 29th musician on NONOL LIVE, Kim Sun ha performed at the playground in Yongma Falls Park in Jungnang-gu, Seoul. In front of a purple slide, the set was four songs with guitarist Ahn Young-jin, and yellow forsythia blooms all around the frame. Kim Sun ha said waiting for a call from NONOL had started back in winter. Split the sound by instrument, and that day's audio is one guitar and a voice, nothing more. Times follow the video.

0:00 이팝나무 (Fringe Tree)

Fringe tree flowers bloom in May, around the time the cherry blossoms are gone and missed. According to the video description, Kim Sun ha walked under one of these trees one evening, caught the scent of the flowers and wondered what the tree was called; the longing and the warm breeze of that moment stayed long enough to become this song. After singing it, Kim Sun ha said the song came along because those flowers would be blooming soon. The description says Kim Sun ha played the piano and bass parts on this song personally, but at the playground that day a single guitar took their place.

4:43 Drown In You

This is an acoustic rearrangement of a song made with SHHH, a producer Kim Sun ha really likes. It was written at 19, in the middle of a crush, around the idea of "drown": falling so hard for someone it felt like drowning. The recorded version was made with Kim Sun ha on electric piano and bass and a friend programming beats, but a guitar version was prepared for NONOL. 'I'll drown in you' first comes at 5:45. After the song, Kim Sun ha laughed that writing lyrics like these at 19 seems funny now.

8:51 넌 참 꽃보다 (Brighter Than Any Flower)

One spring with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, Kim Sun ha was working a restaurant job so busy that lunch only came at four or five in the afternoon. Then a text arrived from Kim Sun ha's father: the flowers were so pretty these days, but in a father's eyes, the daughter looked even prettier. Kim Sun ha read it, cried, went home and wrote this song. The description says it was written while imagining what it must feel like to see a child for the first time, hold that child and raise them, and that it's the father's favorite song. Before singing, Kim Sun ha mentioned bringing flowers, but set them down rather than holding them, for fear of getting nervous. The guitar opens alone for 14 seconds, and the singing starts at 9:04. Kim Sun ha introduced it as a song to be worked on together with NONOL, and the following year, on May 29, it came out on the EP 'Repot'. Its English title is 'Brighter Than Any Flower'. Apple Music

13:25 나를 사랑하지 않는 그대에게 (To You Who Doesn't Love Me)

This is a Lee So-ra song. In the description, Kim Sun ha wrote that Lee So-ra's songs seem to suit Kim Sun ha's voice well. The words, where you dislike me and I promise to show endless love with everything I have, feel desperate, yet the mood of the song is calm and beautiful, and that's why Kim Sun ha loves it. Before this song, Kim Sun ha introduced guitarist Ahn Young-jin as a guitarist Kim Sun ha has been playing shows and working with a lot lately, and is completely happy with.

According to the description, Kim Sun ha was the last musician NONOL met at Yongma Falls Park, and the first musician at the next playground was Balladuet, now known as BALDU.

김선하노놀 라이브놀이터이팝나무넌 참 꽃보다이소라어쿠스틱

Watch on YouTube ↗Listen on Apple Music ↗
  1. 1.[노래하는 놀이터 : 노놀 NONOL] [SUB] 김선하 Full ver(설명란·화면 자막) ↗
  2. 2.[Apple Music] Kim Sun ha 'Repot - EP'(2024.05.29) ↗
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