'Why do we' becomes 'why did we, to each other,' summer turns to winter: Cloud koh's '우리는 왜'

Today's NONOL PICK is '우리는 왜' ("Why Do We"), the title track of singer-songwriter Cloud koh (구름)'s EP 'MENDING PROCESS', released October 6. Its English title is 'The Back of the Moon', and Cloud koh wrote, composed and arranged it alone. In the album notes, Cloud koh writes about dropping a phone and cracking the screen, then using it for months without any trouble, and realizing that we all live a little broken somewhere, holding on and patching ourselves up as we go. The EP is dedicated to everyone who has someone who broke us long ago, yet whom we may never be able to truly hate, maybe for the rest of our lives. Times follow the official audio (3:18).

0:04 · A song that starts with a question

The singing starts at 0:04 with the title itself, '우리는 왜' ("why do we"). What follows is '상처 주고 떠난 사람들조차 보고 싶어지는 마음이 들까요' ("miss even the people who hurt us and left?"). Split the sound by instrument, and for a little over 50 seconds the first verse centers on piano and voice, with almost no bass or drums.

0:56 · The back of the moon

The English title comes from this line: '그대는 아나요 / 아무렇지 않아 하는 달의 뒷모습처럼요' ("do you know / like the back of the moon, acting as if nothing's wrong"). Around here, a bass starts to lie very low underneath.

1:26 · Eight seconds without the voice

For 8 seconds, from 1:26 to 1:34, the voice and bass drop out, leaving only the backing. Then the second verse begins, and its first word changes. The first verse's '우리는 왜' ("why do we") becomes '서로는 왜' ("why did we, to each other") at 1:34. From 1:35, the bass, which was nearly absent in the first verse, comes in clearly.

1:52 · From summer to winter

Where the first verse had '아마도 다 지난여름에 두고 왔나 봐요' ("maybe I left it all behind last summer"), the second verse puts '하얀 눈이 내리는 시간들조차 땀방울로 가득 차버리겠죠' ("even the hours of falling white snow will fill with beads of sweat"). Then comes '감기 한번 걸리지 않고 젖어버린 채' ("soaked through, without catching a single cold"). In between, from 1:58, the bass drops out again for about 6 seconds.

2:56 · Four seconds of rest, then leaving it in a dream

From 2:56, the voice stops for 4 seconds, and in that space the drums sound louder than anywhere else in the song. At 3:00 the voice returns for the last two lines: '오늘도 산더미 같은 미움을 덮고서 잠에 들지만 / 이제는 꿈속에 두고 올게요 고마웠어요' ("today again I fall asleep under a mountain of resentment / but now I'll leave it in my dreams, thank you"). From 3:02 the bass drops out, and the end is backing and voice alone again. Apple Music

Cloud koh's YouTube channel also has a video of Cloud koh singing this song at the piano under green light. The lead photo is a scene from that video. The same EP also includes 'MENDING PROCESS', '땅비행기' ('Grounded Flight'), 'bluebulb' and '조금씩 고장 난 채로 살아가기' ('Living Broken'). Cloud koh channel video