A.N. I notice said video failed to load here, so I checked on it and it really has disappeared from the Youtube channel. It’s probably taken down due to copyright infringement. Therefore, I removed that and embedded this video from official V LIVE website (video above). If it did not work for you either, I also found this cut of him singing “That Man” off the removed one by BitterGamerSubs on Twitter (video below).
kyuhyun singing that man im hurting pic.twitter.com/3PdFSrDs6g
— awie (@kyuhyungh) June 24, 2016
I chanced upon the video when flipping through Youtube for fancams from Kyuhyun’s solo concert, The Agit: Fall, Once Again. A live video streaming service, V LIVE, was live-broadcasting it mid-concert, from the segment where he did impromptu performances based on fans’ requests—onwards. And these big accounts on Suju stan Twitter who routinely give updates and translated news from Korean media outlets for fellow Int’l fans teamed up and added English subtitles to it. We owe you a lot, kind souls.
The songs he performed in the video are “Storm,” “That Man,” “Wind” and “The Day We Felt the Distance,” of which three are my favorites. “That Man” is the only song that is not his own. It is a reversed/male version of Baek Jiyoung’s “That Woman,” an original song of Korean drama Secret Garden’, popularized by actor Hyunbin. It calls to mind the ‘fever’ that struck the whole nation back in 2010, when everyone and their grandmother reenacted an infamous sit-up scene from the drama or donned Kim Joowon’s (portrayed by Hyunbin) ~Italian hand-stitched~ sparkly track suit.
The song is also one kind of poignant ballad I love hearing Kyuhyun sing, since it suits his soothing, ‘honey-dripping’ voice, and sure as hell he could do justice to it. I got pumped up to plunge into Youtube and hunt for fancams, after reading fan accounts about him serenading his audience this at his first solo concert. It was a bit of a letdown because he only did it briefly. Just two rounds of the refrain due to time constraints, still great, nonetheless. So beautiful and ethereal. But I guess it is safe now, to say that the only properly-executed rendition of “That Man” by Kyuhyun was during KRY concert back in 2011 (video below).
His velvety smooth vocals, the gentle piano accompaniment and dim lighting. Perfekt. It can’t be helped that his vocal tone itself is already pretty. There’s one time he got asked to sing the same song at Super Junior’s Kiss The Radio without instruments, nothing but his mellifluous voice. I never heard sounds so ethereal and beautiful it could bring world peace and cure any illness.
I used to prefer Hyunbin’s version (“That Man”) to Baek’s one (“That Woman”). I think it was contributed by, how in Secret Garden, it was Joowon (i.e. the role he played) who suffered from unrequited love and struggled to get noticed by the person whose well-being he cared so much about—which is all the song’s about. It feels as if Joowon wassighing singing about his pathetic love life. I might be a little too absorbed in the plot. LOL Now, after repeated listens,
my vote will go to the female singer’s version anyday.
I used to prefer Hyunbin’s version (“That Man”) to Baek’s one (“That Woman”). I think it was contributed by, how in Secret Garden, it was Joowon (i.e. the role he played) who suffered from unrequited love and struggled to get noticed by the person whose well-being he cared so much about—which is all the song’s about. It feels as if Joowon was
If you take singing technique into account, Baek Jiyoung wins landslide. Then again, it boils down to personal preferences. Each man to his taste. For me, if we were to make a fake competition, Baek’s version and Kyuhyun’s rendition would be more of a toss-up with Hyunbin’s coming in last place (sorry, Hyunbin, you’re still pretty). Although I can’t bring myself to objectively and deservedly compare the king and queen of vocals, Cho Kyuhyun and Baek Jiyoung, with my limited music theory knowledge and repertoire. And yep, you’re right. I would be just too biased, and that could offend either fandom of both artistes.
Ultimately, the ultimate question, how does it feel to sink in a ‘pond of honey’ that is this very post? [I learned this idiom from Korean netizens, please don’t cringe lmfaooo]
