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Road (g.o.d song)

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"Road"
Single by g.o.d
from the album Chapter 4
LanguageKorean
ReleasedNovember 15, 2001
Recorded2001
Genre
Length3:46
Label
Songwriter(s)Park Jin-young
Producer(s)Park Jin-young
G.o.d singles chronology
"One Candle"
(2000) 		"Road"
(2001) 		"Letter"
(2002)

"Road" (Korean: 길; RR: Gil) is a song performed by South Korean boy band g.o.d. It was the title track of their fourth album Chapter 4, which was released in November 2001[2] and became their second "million"-selling album.[3] In a 2006 poll conducted by Gallup Korea, 1,500 Koreans aged 13 and above listed their five favorite songs and "Road" was ranked 59th out of the top 100 songs named.[4]

Background and release

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The lyrics and music were composed by Park Jin-young. At that time, the group was not managed by his company JYP Entertainment but he worked closely with them as a producer and songwriter. The accompanying soundtrack was also included in the album and was arranged by composer and music producer Bang Si-hyuk, who went on to establish Big Hit Entertainment.[2] According to g.o.d lead vocalist Kim Tae-woo, the song was conceived during a period of uncertainty about their futures, following the massive success of their million-selling third album and its lead track "Lies".[5]

Remake

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The song was featured in the group's 20th anniversary album Then & Now (2019) as one of six songs from previous albums to be remixed and re-recorded. The instrumental track for the new version was arranged by Jeong Dong-hwan of MeloMance. Compared to the simple groove of the original, the new version features a more layered and grander texture. g.o.d do not feature at all and are replaced by solo artists IU and Yang Da-il, former Super Junior-M member Henry and Jo Hyun-ah of indie R&B trio Urban Zakapa.[6][7] This version was one of several songs from the album which charted. It debuted at #64 in the Gaon Digital Chart[8] before peaking at #14 the following week.[9] It reached #21 on the monthly chart for January.[10]

Composition

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The song speaks of a person being unsure of which "road" to take in life and comprises a series of first-person questions pondering about what one values in life and the uncertainty of the path chosen.[11]

"Will I be able to finally smile when I reach the goal?" Even after the song is over you cannot easily answer. [...] The confession in "Road" is just as simple and plain as it is honest and powerful. It is because of the universality of the question that [the song] is loved by many people across generations in Korea.
— Kim Tak-hwan in The Dong-a Ilbo[12]

Accolades

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Upon the release of Chapter 4, "Road" became one of g.o.d's most popular and critically acclaimed songs. It received 7 music program awards, including a "Triple Crown" on SBS's Inkigayo (old ranking system), topping the ranking for three weeks in a row, and dominated the #1 rankings for the month of December on MBC's Music Camp (the former incarnation of Show! Music Core). The song also garnered critical acclaim as it was awarded the Daesang (Grand Prize) (Grand Prize) by all three major broadcasting stations in South Korea – KBS, MBC and SBS – at their respective year-end music awards ceremonies, making g.o.d one of the few groups to have been so honored.[13] The album itself also won the "Album of the Year" (Daesang (Grand Prize)) at the 16th Golden Disc Awards, one of the industry's most prestigious awards ceremonies.[14]

Awards and nominations
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2001 KBS Music Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) Won [15]
MBC Music Awards Won
SBS Music Awards Won [16]
2002 Mnet Music Video Festival Best Male Group Nominated
Special Jury Prize Nominated
Music program awards
Program Date
Music Camp December 8, 2001
December 15, 2001
December 22, 2001
December 29, 2001
Inkigayo December 9, 2001
December 16, 2001
December 23, 2001

Cover versions

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"Road" has been covered numerous times on various singing competitions and music variety shows. Recent idol groups that have covered the song include B1A4 during a special segment at the 28th Golden Disc Awards honoring past winners.[17] Other artists who have covered the song include Lee Jin-ah (K-pop Star season 4), Henry on Mnet's Sing Again, Hera Gu episode 10 (mash-up with "Lies" by g.o.d),[18][19] Sandeul & Jo Seon-young (winner of Duet Song Festival episode 5), Kim Tae-woo & "Wolmi-do Little Giant" Park Joo-hyun (winner of Fantastic Duo season 1 episodes 11–12),[20] Goo Jeong-hyun ft. Kim Tae-woo and Son Ho-young (winner of I Can See Your Voice season 3 episode 10),[21] and Henry, Jung Seung-hwan, Lee Su-Hyun, and Sohyang (Begin Again season 4 episode 8).

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MBC's partner news portal mbig created a satirical lyric music video using news footage of Kim Jong-un on the journey to Vietnam for the summit and during the meeting with United States President Donald Trump.[22] The original 2001 version was used.[23]

The song was featured in a short film The Gil, which documented four British indie artists' dive into K-pop through remaking "One Candle" and "The Road". Directed by Korean-British Jeon Saet-byeol, the film was produced to commemorate 140 years of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Korea.[24][25][26]

References

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  1. ^ "Korean R&B: A Hidden Route to Explore". seoulbeats.com. February 23, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "4집 Chapter 4". Naver Music. Naver. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "EXO becomes the first million seller in twelve years!". allkpop.com. December 27, 2013.
  4. ^ "2006 한국인이 좋아하는 가요 100곡" (in Korean). Gallup Korea. December 1, 2006.
  5. ^ "Episode 229: g.o.d". Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. December 12, 2015. KBS2.
  6. ^ "god 감성 통했다" 20주년 스페셜 앨범 발매와 동시에 차트 정상 차지. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). January 11, 2019.
  7. ^ "아이유→헨리까지" god 20주년 앨범 참여 "뿌듯하고 감격". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). January 9, 2019.
  8. ^ "2019년 02주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean).
  9. ^ "2019년 03주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean).
  10. ^ "2019년 01월 Download Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean).
  11. ^ "[FIRST GEN FRIDAY] g.o.d". unitedkpop.com. October 25, 2013.
  12. ^ Kim, Tak-hwan (January 18, 2002). [김탁환의 컬처플러스]'god'의 '길'에 대한 단상. The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean).
  13. ^ 오빠들이 돌아왔다, god가 다시 거짓말처럼!. Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). May 8, 2014.
  14. ^ [30th 골든★열전⑧] 미워할 수 없는 국민아이돌..god 편. JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). January 11, 2016.
  15. ^ "조용필에서 이효리까지" KBS 가요대상 ['From Cho Yong-pil to Lee Hyo-ri' KBS Music Awards]. KBS (in Korean). February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  16. ^ [2020 SBS 가요대전] “1992년부터 시작된 SBS 가요대전의 역사와 역대 대상 수상자는?” [[2020 SBS Gayo Daejeon] 'What is the history of the SBS Gayo Daejeon since 1992 and who were the previous grand prize winners?']. Korea Lecturer News (in Korean). December 25, 2020. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  17. ^ '골든디스크' B1A4, god '길'로 헌정 무대 (in Korean). jTBC. January 16, 2014.
  18. ^ "Top 6 Moments of Sing Again, Hera Gu: Episode 10: To You Who Wish Me Despair". Mnet. March 15, 2016.
  19. ^ "헨리 (Henry of Super Junior) - 길#거짓말 (Road#Lie) MV". YouTube (CJ E&M official channel). March 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "눈물샘 폭발 시킨 김태우·작은거인의 god '길' 무대 영상". Insight (in Korean). July 3, 2016.
  21. ^ "I Can See Your Voice 3 (감동)godX실음과 임재범교수, 완벽 듀엣 ′길′ 160901 EP.10". YouTube (Mnet Official channel). September 1, 2016.
  22. ^ "북한 김정은 위원장의 평양에서 하노이까지..'길' 뮤직비디오 MV (feat.god)" (in Korean). YouTube (엠빅뉴스 Official Channel). March 1, 2019.
  23. ^ "[엠빅뉴스] 북한 김정은 위원장의 평양에서 하노이까지..'길' 뮤직비디오 MV (feat.god)" (in Korean). MBC. March 1, 2019.
  24. ^ "'Road' by K-pop group g.o.d remade into documentary short film". The Korea Times. November 10, 2023.
  25. ^ "Documentary of singers covering g.o.d songs invited to film awards". Korea JoongAng Daily. November 10, 2023.
  26. ^ [공식] god '길' '촛불하나' 리메이크 단편 영화 '더 길', 영국브라이트X스칸디나비안영화제 초청. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). November 10, 2023.
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