'Will it become a waterfall,' sung in a falls park with the falls switched off: summer's four songs with a band

summer (섬머) is a singer-songwriter who says each song is made for oneself. As the 26th musician on NONOL LIVE, summer stood at the playground of Yongma Falls Park in Myeonmok-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul. In front of a colorful playground with mountains rising behind it, summer set up a full band with guitar, keys, bass and drums, and split by instrument, the drums and bass ring out together through all four songs. According to the description, the falls only start running in May, so they couldn't be seen that day. The last stage at this playground was Kim Sun ha, featured on October 17. Times follow the video.

0:00 빛 (Light)

summer made this song thinking of the light that rises in the instant where night meets morning and yesterday meets today. The band opens it, and the singing starts at 0:36. After the song, summer said it was an unreleased original, set to come out later through NONOL. On October 19, 2023, 190 days after the video went up, it came out as 'NONOL VOL 23'. Its English title is 'Light', and the 'NONOL Live Version' sung at the playground that day is on the release too. Apple Music

4:33 자유 (Freedom)

A song released that February. It began with a thought: if painful memories and precious ones alike could be seen as stars forming the small universe that is oneself, then whatever the shackles, maybe a change of mind could set you free. At 5:54 comes '우린 자유로워' ("we are free").

Next, summer talked about the name. Part of it is liking that season far more than winter, but summer also wanted to be a musician who expresses all of it, like a summer that's lively and fresh by day, then damp and a little gloomy at night or in the rainy season. summer introduced the first two songs as the brighter side, and the last two as songs that look more closely at inner feelings.

9:26 Homeless

According to the description, a line from a book read long ago had stuck: 'being free and having nowhere to return to are not the same thing.' The song is built on the sadness of having nowhere to go back to, and on the self-reproach that arrives precisely from trying hard not to let that show.

13:50 마음의 구멍 (Holes in the Heart)

The phrase 'crumbling down' hit hard, and summer wrote this song wondering whether, if that happened inside a heart, it would leave several holes. The song begins with '세상이 모두 다 불탔으면 좋겠던 날' ("the day I wished the whole world would burn"). The chorus runs '무너지는 일이 반복되다 보면 / 깎아내린 절벽이 되는 걸까' ("if the crumbling keeps happening / will it become a carved-down cliff") and arrives at '쏟아지면 폭포가 되는 걸까' ("if it pours down, will it become a waterfall"). The falls were still that day, but this was a waterfall song sung in a falls park.

In the description, summer wrote that cheering someone on and telling them it's okay both matter, but so does saying 'I'm just like you.' How long it took for songs first sung at the playground to become NONOL VOL releases is collected in our October 10 list.