Do I know you? I don't even know your name.

[koganbot]

What's the name of the new T-ara single?

In aggregate it seems to be "Do You Know Me?" at least in translation. But the first track (ballad) and second (dance) have different Korean names, with the title "What Should I Do?" sometimes showing up on YouTube. Since the vid uses both versions, I'm not really separating out which is which. Maybe Wikipedia will eventually figure it out. In the meantime I'm going with "1977 Do You Know Me?" for the ballad and "What Should I Do?" for the dance. Google Translate is its usual pickled self, giving us "I Do Not Remember 1977" for "1977 기억 안나" and "I Cram" for "나 어떡해." [UPDATE: Melodically, the two parts are mostly, but not entirely, the same basic song. Combined version is off YouTube, so I've embedded the two parts separately. Google Translate now gives "What Should I Do? Chinese dance version" or "What To Do With Me MV Chinese dance version" as the second part's title, though notice the English caption on the vid is "Do You Know Me? M/V china dance ver"]

Also — the k-pop news 'n' entertainment sites are not clear on this — is there some 1977 input or origin for the song?

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

It seems to be a flop right out of the gate (fewer than 450,000 views for both streams after four full days), but I love it from the first instant. I still fear for the future of Jiyeon's unique aura and bearing if she continues to emote (her former uninflectedness and detachment being a form of evocative resistance, at least in my hopes), but nonetheless, in the present, I love how she and they — non-"impressive" singers — so easily brush every poignancy button, and then reprise it all as a romp.

Glad they're ending the year strong.

Comments

[azacab.livejournal.com]

I think I'm alone in really loving "Countryside Diary" a lot this year. I really haven't been able to enjoy the more standard rave-ups the entire group has brought in 2013, but that song was so great to me - it's the only time T-ara has acted like aliens all year.

[koganbot]

You're not alone in you love for "Countryside Diary"; see Christophe below.

[koganbot]

T-ara remain my favorite group in the world, though I've never made much sense of their sensibility, if they even have a consistent sensibility. In that sense they seem like aliens to me, though more accurately I'm the alien who doesn't comprehend their world. This year was mixed for them and for consistent goodness I'd take Crayon Pop, but T-ara still has way more going on, musically and emotionally, for better or worse.

Not alone

[christophe andersen (from livejournal.com)]

I think Countryside Diary was my favorite T-ara related song this year too. The new songs on the"Again" e.p. and the reissue I just downloaded "T-ara Winter" (I think that means I have all the recent songs but I'm really not sure. Do I need "Again 1977"? Very confusing) have grown on me but I'm not wowed. I think my favorite is "Don't Get Married" but that sounds more like a Girls Day song than T-ara. "Do You Know Me" is a step up, I think, and, like Frank, I liked it immediately. I think one of the most distinctive things about T-ara (my overall favorite k-pop group but not this year) remains their ballads, which, while rarely my favorite tracks, are good and don't get skipped.

Re: Not alone

[koganbot]

That new (?) T-ara Winter song seems to be "Hide 'N' Seek," which I'm meh on, and I can't tell if it's part of the Again 1977 repackage or not. I read that there were to be three new songs on the repackage but that the third isn't due till January (if what I read is correct). The other two are the two versions of "Do You Know Me."

T-ara is the only group whose ballads I consistently like (and my favorite Davichi ballads are the ones with at least one T-ara member as a guest).

Meanwhile, my favorite T-ara product from 2013 is Qri's cartoonish, jingly "Do We Do We," the Bunny Style b-side from the T-ara member I'd regarded as the least distinctive. Go figure.