Cherry Blossom Ending

"Cherry Blossom Ending"
Single by Busker Busker
from the album Busker Busker 1st Album
Released March 29, 2012 (2012-03-29)
Format Digital download
Genre Alternative rock[1]
Length 4:20
Label CJ E&M Music
Writer(s) Jang Beom-jun
Busker Busker singles chronology
"Cherry Blossom Ending"
(2012)		 "If You Really Love Me"
(2012)
Music video
"Cherry Blossom Ending" on YouTube

"Cherry Blossom Ending" (Hangul: 벚꽃 엔딩; RR: Beotkkot Ending) is a song by South Korean indie band Busker Busker, from their debut studio album Busker Busker 1st Album. The song was written by band member Jang Beom-jun and was released on March 29, 2012 by CJ E&M Music. The song is well known for re-entering the music charts every spring in South Korea, earning the nicknames "Spring Carol" and "Cherry Blossom Zombie".

Background, release and promotion

Busker Busker in 2012

Indie band Busker Busker became well known in 2011 through the third season of Mnet's talent show Superstar K. The band consisted of lead vocal and guitarist Jang Beom-jun, bassist Kim Hyung-tae, and drummer Brad Moore. They were the runner-up act in the competition and signed with Mnet's parent company CJ E&M Music.[2] Their debut album, simply named Busker Busker 1st Album, was released on March 29, 2012. "Cherry Blossom Ending" served as the album's single and was accompanied by a music video (produced by Digipedi).[3] Before this, Busker Busker had only released cover songs.[4]

"Cherry Blossom Ending" was described as a "romantic ballad with an addictive rhythm". Lyrically, it expresses feelings of affection for a "special someone", and wanting to walk together in a street filled with cherry blossoms.[2] Jang, who wrote the song, said, "It’s a song a guy would pen while thinking about the woman he wanted to walk under the cherry blossoms in spring with". It was first performed on March 26 at Busker Busker's debut showcase at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo. It was also promoted on various music shows, their own television show (Busker Busker Show) and their first concert titled "Youth Bus", held on May 5–6.[5]

Chart performance

"Cherry Blossom Ending" was a commercial success, with over 2 million total downloads by May 2012. It was one of the top ten most downloaded songs for six consecutive weeks.[6] It topped the now-defunct Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 two weeks in a row, on April 14 and 21, 2012. It topped the chart again a year later in April 2013,[7] and peaked at number 5 in April 2014, the year the chart was discontinued.[8][9] The song was number 7 on the year-end K-Pop Hot 100 in 2012, and number 21 at the end of 2013.[10][11]

The song also performed well on the Gaon Digital Chart. It entered the chart at number 3,[12] and topped the chart for the next two weeks.[13][14] It was number 2 on the 2012 year-end chart,[15] with about 3.4 million total downloads.[16] The song peaked at number 2 in March 2013,[17] and was number 14 on the 2013 year-end chart,[18] with nearly 1.2 million downloads.[19] It re-entered the chart in March 2014, peaking at number 8,[20] and was number 111 on the 2014 year-end chart,[21] selling over 700,000 downloads that year.[22] In March 2015, it peaked at number 13,[23] and was number 99 on the 2015 year-end chart,[24] with over 640,000 downloads.[25] In March 2016, it charted for the fifth consecutive year, peaking at number 16.[26] That year, the Gaon Music Chart published a series of graphs showing that the song begins to re-appear in January every year, peaking the first week of March when the weather starts to get warmer.[27]

In November 2015, music streaming site Mnet.com revealed that "Cherry Blossom Ending" was the most downloaded and streamed song in the past nine years (2006–2015).[28] Its reappearance on the charts every year earned it the nicknames "Spring Carol" and "Cherry Blossom Zombie".[29] It was also called "Cherry Blossom Pension" because songwriter and lead singer Jang Beom-jun was able to purchase a building in the affluent neighborhood of Daechi-dong with the song's royalties.[30] Jang's earnings from the song totaled 4.6 billion won (US$3.8 million) as of March 2016.[31] This success is very unusual because most popular songs in South Korea do not stay on the charts for long and are quickly forgotten.[32]

As of July 2016, "Cherry Blossom Ending" has sold over 6.5 million digital copies in South Korea.[33]

Critical reception and accolades

Culture critic Kim Heon-sik said "Cherry Blossom Ending" was successful because it includes themes reminiscent of the spring season, such as "a cool breeze, cherry blossoms flying in the air and couples who hold hands at festivals for the flowers." He also said the contrast between its "cheerful melodies" and sad lyrics contributed to its success.[32] Composer Brave Brothers said the song "brings out some nostalgia, and makes listeners comfortable", while pop culture critic Kang Tae-gyu said it became a hit because "people were reminded of the love that passed them by around this time last year".[34] Park Jin-young praised the song on Twitter, saying the song was "so beautiful that it was sad" and it inspired him to spend the day making music.[35]

Billboard staff included "Cherry Blossom Ending" in their list of the "20 Best K-pop Songs of 2012". They wrote: "Busker Busker brought something new and sweet this year with their smash debut hit. The indie band proved it was a sound to be heard above the din with its concoction of Beom-June Jang's charismatic vocals atop simple melodies."[36]

The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards, and won the award for Best Band Performance.[37][7] It also won Song of the Month (April) at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards and Song of the Year (April) at the Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards.[38]

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[7] 1
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[13] 1
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[7] 1
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[17] 2
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[8] 5
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[20] 8
Chart (2015) Peak
position
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[23] 13
Chart (2016) Peak
position
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[26] 16

Year-end charts

Chart (2012) Position
Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[10] 7
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[15] 2
Chart (2013) Position
Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[11] 21
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[18] 14
Chart (2014) Position
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[21] 111
Chart (2015) Position
South Korea (Gaon Digital Chart)[24] 99

Sales

Country Sales
South Korea (Gaon) 6,561,000[33]

Awards and nominations

Annual music awards

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2012 7th Cyworld Digital Music Awards Song of the Month – April "Cherry Blossom Ending" Won
14th Mnet Asian Music Awards Song of the Year Nominated
Best Band Performance Won
2nd Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards Song of the Year – April Won

Music program awards

Song Program Date
"Cherry Blossom Ending" M! Countdown (Mnet) April 12, 2012[39]

References

  1. ↑ Jackson, Julie (September 23, 2013). "Busker Busker to usher in fall with new album". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Lim Jeong-yeo (March 9, 2015). "Busker Busker's hit song comes back with spring". K-Pop Herald. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ "버스커 버스커 (Busker Busker) – 벚꽃 엔딩". YouTube. April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ Cho Chung-un (April 10, 2012). "Busker Busker sweeping music scene but 'still learning'". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ Ho, Stewart (March 26, 2012). "Jang Bum June Wants to Walk Through the Cherry Blossoms With Kim Ye Rim". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  6. ↑ Sunwoo, Carla (June 1, 2012). "Busker Busker's debut album's a hit". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Benjamin, Jeff (April 2, 2013). "Busker Busker Top K-Pop Chart With Year-Old Single". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Korea K-Pop Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. April 5, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica (April 4, 2014). "K-Pop Legend Lee Sun Hee Breaks 5-Year Hiatus & Tops K-Pop Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100: 2012 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Digital Chart – The 14th Week of 2012". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association (KMCIA). Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Digital Chart – The 15th Week of 2012". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Digital Chart – The 16th Week of 2012". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  15. 1 2 "Digital Chart – 2012". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "Download Chart (Domestic) – 2012 (see #3)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  17. 1 2 "Digital Chart – The 14th Week of 2013". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Digital Chart – 2013". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Download Chart (Domestic) – 2013 (see #22)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  20. 1 2 "Digital Chart – The 13th Week of 2014". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Digital Chart – 2014". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Download Chart (Domestic) – 2014 (see #74)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  23. 1 2 "Digital Chart – The 14th Week of 2015". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  24. 1 2 "Digital Chart – 2015". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Download Chart (Domestic) – 2015 (see #90)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  26. 1 2 "Digital Chart – The 13th Week of 2016". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). KMCIA. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  27. ↑ Kim Jin-woo (March 10, 2016). "2016 '벚꽃 엔딩' 순위 예보" [2016 'Cherry Blossom Ending' ranking forecast] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  28. ↑ "South Korea's favorite song? Busker Busker's 'Cherry Blossom Ending'". The Korea Times. November 4, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  29. ↑ Jeong Byung-ki (March 8, 2016). "'Cherry Blossom Ending' returns with spring". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  30. ↑ Sung So-young (April 27, 2016). "Singer Jang Beom-jun to return with album". Korea Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  31. ↑ Kwon Gil-yeo (March 10, 2016). ""버스커버스커, '벚꽃엔딩' 하나로 46억 벌었다"". Insight (in Korean). Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  32. 1 2 Jin Min-ji (April 13, 2015). "'Cherry Blossom' song signals arrival of spring". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  33. 1 2 Cumulative sales for "Cherry Blossom Ending":
  34. ↑ Lee Sun-min (March 30, 2013). "Busker Busker song a late bloomer". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  35. ↑ Ho, Stewart (April 3, 2012). "Park Jin Young Joins the Busker Busker Bandwagon". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  36. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica; Billboard Korea staff (December 12, 2012). "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2012: BIGBANG, PSY, 2NE1 & More". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  37. ↑ "[MAMA] Nominees for Song and Artist of the Year". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. October 23, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  38. ↑ Choi Eun-hwa (February 14, 2013). "Big Bang Rakes in the Awards at the ′Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards′". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  39. ↑ "버스커 버스커, '벚꽃엔딩'으로 '엠카' 첫 1위 ("Busker Busker Took Their First No. 1 on "M! Countdown" with "Cherry Blossom Ending"")" (in Korean). Segye Ilbo. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
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