One second of voice alone, then 'because it's you' turns into 'because it's me': Yoon Jong Shin's 'One of Them'

Today's NONOL PICK is 'One of Them', the September issue of Yoon Jong Shin's '2026 Monthly Yoon Jong Shin', released September 30. It's a song about accepting that, to the other person, I'm only 'one of them', and the backing empties out and fills back in to follow that distance. The first verse has no bass, and the last chorus opens with one second of voice alone, then turns '너니까' ('because it's you') into '나니까' ('because it's me'). The release notes tie the song to the same thread of stories as the February and October 2025 issues, 'Hogam' (호감, 'a liking') and 'Ohae' (오해, 'a misunderstanding'). Yoon Jong Shin wrote the lyrics and composed the music with Song Sung-kyung. Times follow the official music video (4 minutes 26 seconds).

0:13 · A first verse that opens without bass

The bass that runs under the end of the intro for about 4 seconds drops out the moment the drums come in at 0:13. Then comes the first line, '너를 참 좋아하더라 많이들' ('so many people really like you, I've noticed'). When we split the sound into four parts (voice, drums, bass and everything else) and measured each one, the bass during these 26 seconds of the first verse is more than 50 decibels quieter than in the chorus. Decibels (dB) are the scale for measuring how loud a sound is, and the gap between ordinary conversation and breathing is about 50 decibels. In effect, the bass is switched off.

0:39 · The bass comes back with '하지만' ('but')

The first verse ends on '포기하듯 고개 돌리는 나' ('me, turning my head away as if giving up'). After a rest of nearly 2 seconds, the bass comes back at 0:39, right as '하지만 그 외면 오래 못가고' ('but that looking away doesn't last long') begins. The next line is '결국 너에게로 향하는 내 무모한 마음' ('my reckless heart, heading toward you in the end'). Right where the turned-away head turns back, the floor of the song fills in.

1:36 · A 0.6-second stop, then '어차피 우린 다 서로' ('anyway, we're all, to each other')

The first chorus at 1:04 goes 'One of Them 이라도 할수 없지 뭐 너니까 / 눈부시도록 아름다운 너니까' ('even if I'm One of Them, well, it can't be helped, because it's you / because it's you, so beautiful it dazzles'). At 1:36, at the end of the interlude, almost all the sound cuts out for 0.6 seconds, and the second verse opens with '어차피 우린 다 서로 One of Them' ('anyway, we're all One of Them to each other'). Here too the bass drops out, then returns at 1:48 to hold up '이 순간에 니가 지금 내 눈 앞에 있어' ('in this moment, you're right here before my eyes').

2:56 · One second of voice alone, then '나니까' ('because it's me')

Past the '세월 흐르면' ('as the years go by') passage at 2:31, the last chorus begins at 2:56. The first two choruses came in with the band, but this time, for the first second of the opening words 'One of Them', the drums, bass, keys and guitar all drop out and only the voice is left. The lyrics that follow change too. '할수 없지 뭐 너니까' ('well, it can't be helped, because it's you') becomes '소중하지 뭐 나니까' ('well, it's precious, because it's me'), and '눈부시도록 아름다운 너니까' ('because it's you, so beautiful it dazzles') becomes '그 감정 그 순간 다 내거니까' ('because that feeling, that moment, are all mine'). In the words of the release notes, this is where the center of the relationship moves from 'you' to 'me'.

3:53 · 'You' in the very last line

After this chorus is sung twice, the last line of the lyrics comes at 3:53: '어쩔수 없는 너 어쩔수 없어' ('you, who can't be helped; it can't be helped'). In the chorus line '어쩔수 없는 건' ('the thing that can't be helped'), '건' ('the thing') has turned into '너' ('you'). Even at an ending that seems to accept everything, 'you' stays on one more time. The lead photo is from 3:36, where Yoon Jong Shin smiles while singing '눈길 결국 날 향하지 않아도 그럴수 있어' ('even if your eyes never turn to me in the end, that's all right'). Apple Music

Instead of a drummer, the credits list 'rhythm programming' (building the beat on a computer). The arranger, Song Sung-kyung, handled that along with the bass and keys, and Kim Dong-min played guitar. According to Yoon Jong Shin's words in the release notes, the schedule for the work first planned as the September issue got tangled, so the song took 'three or four days' to make, and words saved in a phone's memo app a few years ago, over drinks with a junior colleague, became the thread of the story. In the music video, Yoon Jong Shin sings in front of a large screen, and the video description says the background footage on that screen was made with generative AI.