기도 (Pray)-써니 힐 (Pray- Sunny Hill) MUSIC REVIEW

Before you start reading this review, go watch the music video and listen to the song here: Pray- Sunny Hill

Sunny Hill (Left to Right: JangHyun, Kota, Jubi, SeungAh, MiSeong)

Sunny Hill debuted a while ago under LOEN Entertainment but they didn't get nearly as much popularity as they should have. Especially since they have such cute songs like Love Is All I Know and Pit-A-Pat. Back then, Sunny Hill was only made up of JangHyun, Jubi and SeungAh. As time progressed, Kota joined the group (August 2010) and MiSeong debuted with the group when they released their killer song Midnight Circus (2011).

Since the release of Midnight Circus, Sunny Hill came out with this AMAZING ballad called 'Pray' (기도). At first with the teaser I thought: The mutant scares me and the song is pretty nice. But because I'd only had a 30 second preview of the song I wasn't all too hooked. The only thing that kept my curiosity strong for this song was that I wanted to know what was to become of the mutant in the music video.

The music video was released August 3 and let me tell you... This music video may have perturbed me a bit but the way the mutant was done, the way the story line held that eery feel, the singing, the music, the acting... I loved it all. I absolutely adored this music video more than I have ever loved a music video before. Not once have I seen a Kpop music video have such a depthful meaning and emotion provoking video like this (with the exception of Heartbreak- Ye Ara which for some reason moved me to tears; I'm not sure why).

I'm not able to watch the video without cringing because I've never been one who's good at handling deformed creatures and seeing other people get poked and prodded with needles, but this video was so well done... I could watch it over and over again. It meshed so well with the song and the girls were all beautiful and their voices really stirred up some emotions which makes my jaw drop.

The lyrics, too, if you take a look at the english translation of the song, are very deep. Take a look:

Save me from broken time
lalala lalala lalala lalala.

Someone told told me to pray, to dream,
That it will come true no matter what it is
Tell me everything- look at me and tell me
Tell me to please stop.

The sighs sound cruel and harsh
But I can’t hear anything- no sounds of salvation
I pray and I cry out
for someone to save me.

Stand by me and necessary
It gets worse and worse,
the more I grieve over you
lalala lalala lalala lalala
Cry for me and i’m so sorry
It spreads and spreads,
the more I grieve over you
Please hold me again

Wake me up from being still
Bring back the time from standing still
Smile for me like you did yesterday

The hidden sadness is drawing in
The hidden pain is rising up
Your words of breaking up
I just can’t can’t can’t can’t

Someone said that life is like this
That things become so dull- no matter what it is
Tell me everything- look at me and tell me
Tell me to please come to my senses

Tears become rain drops and soaks my entire body
My entire body freezes and dangles on the ground
And I shudder and I cry out
lalala lalalala

Stand by me and necessary
It gets worse and worse,
the more I grieve over you
lalala lalala lalala lalala
Cry for me and i’m so sorry
It spreads and spreads,
the more I grieve over you
Please hold me again

Wake me up from being still
Bring back the time from standing still
Smile for me like you did yesterday

The hidden sadness is drawing in
The hidden pain is rising up
Your words of breaking up
I just can’t can’t can’t can’t

I sincerely pray
listen to the song
And the answer makes me cry again

Grab me from flying away
Turn back our fleeting relationship
It floats around but cannot be grasped
I cannot grasp you

Just to live one more day
I bite down on my lips
But now it’s vanshining
And it’s not not not not there

Save me from broken time
lalala lalala lalala lalala

(As seen on: JKT Asian (Color Coded Lyrics)

Deeply stirring for me...

The only negative comment I have about this song and music video is that JangHyun is slowly getting pushed out of Sunny Hill. He had a grand total of three lines in Midnight Circus and he had no lines in Pray. He did however make quite a stunning appearance throughout the music video as the doctor who took blood samples from the mutant.

If you follow my other blog, you'll know that the music video for Pray was barely out for 24 hours when it was announced on allKpop that KBS and MBC (popular television stations in Korea) had banned the music video from airing because of its "abusive content". You can read the article here: Sunny Hill's "Prayer" MV banned from KBS and MBC.

Over all, my rating of this song and music video is 9/10 for the amazing power and softness the ballad holds, the way the girls sang it, the creativity and story of the music video and just for the sheer difference of the music video...

I'm very proud of Sunny Hill and hope they can at least get a bit of promotions before they can get banned. And I also hope that they keep coming back with amazing videos and songs like this one.

FINAL RATING: 9/10

Featured YouTubers:

Vocal Covers:
GROUPS
There are no group covers yet for the song is relatively new, but I will post my favourites as soon as I find them.

SOLOS
Pray - shakyshakeeeee Vocal Cover
Pray - xYakyuBaka Vocal Cover
Pray - JYSMusic

Other Covers (Piano etc.):
Pray- Sunny Hill (asianpianist Piano Cover)


Other Videos I Found Very Nice:
Pray and You and I - Sunny Hill&Park Bom Remix