12 songs that make you reach for karaoke's 'skip interlude' button: from 24 seconds of rest in 'Flashback' to TWS's 6.8-second dance break

At karaoke, when an interlude drags on, your hand drifts toward the remote's 'skip interlude' button. Of the 100 songs on the Bugs weekly chart for the last week of September (September 28–October 4), we isolated the vocals of 85 and looked for stretches in the middle of a song where the voice rests for more than four seconds. We left out the first and last 10 seconds, and counted breaths of about half a second as part of the line. Twenty-six songs have such a stretch. Six of them run past 20 seconds, and all six are by bands or singer-songwriters. Among idol songs, the longest interlude is the 15 seconds in SOYEON's 'I'm gonna TOESA'. We lined up twelve songs from longest to shortest and noted what plays during each interlude. Times follow the video attached to each song.

At a glance

Song	Interlude starts	Length	During the interlude
'Flashback'	2:51	24.4 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'Let Me Love My Youth'	2:08	24.0 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'To Reach You'	1:04	23.6 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'Please Summer!'	1:29	22.8 sec	Only soft drums
'Joy, Sorrow, A Beautiful Heart'	1:36	22.5 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'Landing in Love'	1:04	21.3 sec	Drums and bass come in for the first time
'I'm gonna TOESA'	2:51	15.1 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'If I have you only (My love)'	2:25	10.8 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'Heavenly fate'	2:06	10.0 sec	No drums or bass
'Popcorn'	1:56	9.2 sec	Drums and bass all the way
'FALLEN ANGEL'	2:52	9.1 sec	Bass drops out midway
'plot twist'	1:34	6.8 sec	Drums and bass all the way

Interludes over 20 seconds

2:51 · N.Flying 'Flashback'

The longest of the twelve. From 2:51.6 there's no voice for 24.4 seconds, while the drums, bass and the rest of the backing race along at full strength. On screen, the members play guitar and bass in an underground space lit by fluorescent tubes. It's the last track on the first full album, 'Man on the Moon', from June 2021, and five years on it's still on the chart. N.Flying also plays Grand Mint Festival at 6 p.m. on the 18th (our weekend concert guide). The video is the official special clip. Apple Music

2:08 · HANRORO 'Let Me Love My Youth' (입춘)

For 24 seconds from 2:08.1, the drums, bass and the rest of the backing never once let up. When the voice returns at 2:32, the drums soon die down. On screen, sheets of handwriting and a figure seen from behind, running down a country road, slip past. It's a single released in March 2022. Apple Music

1:04 · 10CM 'To Reach You' (너에게 닿기를)

In a song that runs 2:38, the 23.6 seconds from 1:04.6 are interlude, about a seventh of the whole. The drums and bass keep going, and in the vertical video, a person carrying an electric guitar moves between a stage, a beach and the inside of a bus. It's a single released in March 2025. Apple Music

1:29 · BOL4 'Please Summer!' (여름아 부탁해)

From 1:29.6, it runs 22.8 seconds. For about the first three seconds even the drums drop out, and after that they come back in softly. The bass isn't heard at any point in the interlude. In the official special clip, Jukjae plays acoustic guitar over this passage. It's a single released on July 22. Apple Music

1:36 · AKMU 'Joy, Sorrow, A Beautiful Heart' (기쁨, 슬픔, 아름다운 마음)

For 22.5 seconds from 1:36.5, the drums and bass keep running. This song has five stretches where the voice rests for more than four seconds, the most among the 85 songs. The runner-up is AKMU's too: 'Paradise of Rumors', with four. On screen come a laughing face under a stream of water, people gathered on a grassy lakeside, and then a party inside a wooden cabin. It's on the album 'FLOWERING', released on April 7. Apple Music

1:04 · HANRORO 'Landing in Love' (사랑하게 될 거야)

This interlude is where the drums and bass come in for the first time. Neither is there for the first minute; then, the moment the voice drops out at 1:04.4, both burst in together and carry on to the end. The interlude runs 21.3 seconds. On screen, a person on a bridge with a Ferris wheel in view stretches out both arms and turns around. It's on the August 2023 EP 'Take-off'. Apple Music

Interludes over 10 seconds

2:51 · SOYEON 'I'm gonna TOESA' (퇴사할게여)

From 2:51.4, for 15.1 seconds, only the backing plays, packed with drums and bass. On screen, people in the street dance together among flags and pink smoke. This scene also came up in our October 9 Hidden Details. Apple Music

2:25 · Nerd Connection 'If I have you only (My love)' (그대만 있다면)

From 2:25.5, it runs 10.8 seconds. It's a band interlude, with the drums, bass and the rest of the backing moving together. It's a single released in August 2023. The video is the official audio. Apple Music

2:06 · LEECHANGSUB 'Heavenly fate' (천상연)

For 10 seconds from 2:06.6, only the rest of the backing plays, with no drums or bass. It's the quietest of the twelve interludes. It came out in February 2024 as an OST for the webtoon 'A Not So Fairy Tale'. The video is the official audio. Apple Music

Interludes under 10 seconds

1:56 · D.O. 'Popcorn'

For 9.2 seconds from 1:56.8, the drums and bass don't miss a single beat. It's from the third mini album, 'BLOSSOM', from April 2024. The video is the official audio. Apple Music

2:52 · JENNIE 'FALLEN ANGEL'

From 2:52, it runs 9.1 seconds. The drums carry on to the end, but the bass drops out midway, and when the voice returns at 3:01, it's the drums' turn to drop out. It's from the EP 'Fallen Angel', released on August 28. The video is the official lyric video. Apple Music

1:34 · TWS 'plot twist' (첫 만남은 계획대로 되지 않아)

For 6.8 seconds from 1:34.8, with the drums and bass at full strength, the members dance on screen in sky-blue shirts. A stretch like this, where the stage shows only dancing, is called a 'dance break'. At 1:41.6, where the interlude ends, the bass drops out and the voice returns. Apple Music

The 2:35 spot where this song stops its sound completely is in our October 17 list, and how songs end is in our October 13 list.