Reflecting Back on SHINEE’s “Stand By Me” 10 Years Later

I totally missed #SongLyricsSunday hosted by Jim at A Unique Title For Me. This past Sunday was super busy as I had to work at a Halloween party. I also had a long play practice right after work. On top of that, I caught another cold (or just the cold came back?) and had to work/practice while being sick. Super exhausting! #SongLyricsSunday has been over for two days now, but I still want to write about a song using this week’s prompt. especially with one of my favorite Kpop boy bands SHINee.

The theme of this week’s #SongLyricsSunday was “Lean/Sit/Stand”. I first thought about using Namie Amuro‘s “Sit Stay Wait Down” for this prompt. But, I decided not to as I featured a Namie Amuro song just last month. So, I went on Spotify and searched for songs with this week’s keywords. I stumbled on a song that happens to be 10 years old this year and from one of my favorite Korean dramas. This song is SHINee’s “Stand By Me”.

SHINee and Boys Over Flowers

SHINee’s “Stand By Me” was used as an insert song to the popular South Korea drama Boys Over Flowers (꽃보다 남자). If you have never heard of Boys Over Flowers (or 花より男子 in Japanese), you should go and watch it as well as the many adaptions! Started off a Japanese comic book series in 1992, Boys Over Flowers has been adapted all over Asia. It has been adapted into musicals, movies, anime series, and several dramas. There have been many adaptions in countries like South Korea, China (Meteor Garden/流星花園 and Let’s See a Meteor Shower/一起来看流星雨 ), Taiwan (Meteor Garden/流星花園), Indonesia (Siapa Takut Jatuh Cinta), and India (Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan). If you want to read more about each adaption, I recommend going to Emily’s Hana Yori Dango Page. It has a lot of information about the series as well as the many adapations.

Boys Over Flowers is classified as a romantic comedy. High school student Tsukushi Makino goes to the elite school Eitoku Academy. This school’s student population mostly come from rich, elite families who view Tsukishi as a “weed” as she comes from a poor family. The school is ruled by four male students who come from the most powerful and rich families. They are called the F4 in the Japanese version. Their leader is Tsukasa Domyouji, who Tsukushi initially loathes him (and is the only girl at school to do so). After a series of bullying and harassment from F4, F4’s leader becomes interested in Tsukishi. He eventually falls in love with her. Yet, Makino is interested in Rui Hanazawa, a member of F4 who is in love with a model named Shizuka Todo. The other two members of F4 are Akira Mimasaka and Sojiro Nishikado.

The storyline of the series is complex as there is a lot of love triangles, drama, and on-again/off-again relationships. The drama deals with various aspects around the two. One aspect is family members who don’t approve of Tsukishi and Tsukasa’s relationship. Another is jealous schoolmate seeking for revenge. And then accidents that create setbacks. Though there is a lot of things happening in Boys Over Flowers, it is worth watching. Each story arc will keep you wanting more. You will be binge-watching it before you know because it is sooooo good!

“Stand By Me”

Now that we talked about the plot of Boys Over Flowers, we can finally focus on SHINee’s “Stand By Me”. I am a big SHINee fan actually and it is all thanks to Boys Over Flowers. You see, I didn’t know about SHINee until I hear “Stand By Me” used in the show. Yes, the Korean boy band was new when they got an offer to have a song featured in a Korean drama. But, Boys Over Flowers got me hooked on SHINee. Since then, I have become a big fan of their music and bought many of their singles and albums. I also got my brother hooked on them too. I am not a super fan, but I do love them, especially Onew.

If you take a look at the translation of the lyrics below, “Stand By Me” is about the beginning of a romance. The point of view could be told by a male or female, but I always thought it was told by a male because a boy band was singing it. The main character just began a relationship with another person and wants to make their significant other happy even though the main character thinks they are a beginner at love. The lyrics make it seem that the main character’s intention is pure and sweet but their personality is naive.

As for the musicality of “Stand By Me”, it is a standard Kpop song from the late 2000s. You can hear from the synthesized instrumentation to the sweet vocal tones. It isn’t as dramatic or high energy like the popular Kpop songs ever (like BIG BANG’s “Fantastic Baby” or PSY’s “Gangnam Style”). But, “Stand By Me” is a pleasant listen with its mellow melody, it’s mid-tempo beat and a relaxing atmosphere. It’s great to listen to the song when are relaxing at the end of the day or just need a relaxing song.

Check out the song below and tell me what you think about the song in the comments. What kind of story or message do you get from the lyrics?

The Lyrics of SHINee’s “Stand By Me”

Here are the English translations for the song’s lyrics. Credits go to Park Minnie at NOTHING ELSE.

About the Artist: SHINee

SHINee (샤이니) started off as a five-member boy band in 2008 with members Onew, Key, Minho, Taemin, and Junghyun. The band released their first EP, Replay, in May 2018. It was a huge success in Korea, reaching #10 on the charts. After releasing their debut EP, the band became more and more popular with each release. During their 10 years, the group released smash hits like “Juliette”, “Lucifer”, “Dream Girl”, “Hello”, and “Sherlock (Clue + Note)”. Although their music was super popular, the group was also popular for their fashion as many tried to copy their latest trends (SHINee trend).

Although the group enjoyed success for many years, SHINee suffered a tragedy in 2017 when Junghyun committed suicide. The four remaining members had a hard time coping with the loss and took a couple of months off to mourn. Although the group resumed activities in the last half of 2018, the band is currently on hiatus as Onew, Key, and Minho are currently enlisted in the military.