Why Nekkoya Is One Of My All Time Favorite Kpop Songs
When I think of songs that might become my all time favorites.
I usually would never think of a theme song to a reality show to be in the running.
It doesn't seem like such a commercial "gimmick" song should hold such power.
And yet....
Nekkoya haunts my dreams.
It both makes me immensely happy. Yet makes me sad.
There's a bittersweet essence to it.
In one sense it seems to be a straightforward "fluff piece". Poppy. Light. Energetic. Optimistic.
"Pick me!" This is the language of possibility.
There's a sense of one's dreams might come true.
A earnest belief that they will.
But....
In all things there must be balance.
The song also has an underlying melancholy. Just outside the edges.
Maybe not explicitly drawn.
But there nonetheless.
Despite this song being about wanting ones dreams to be "picked".
We all know reality does not always grant us our every dream.
Sometimes life does not deliver our most earnest hopes.
This underlying threat of reality on one's idealism of the possible, is even made manifest in the context of "Nekkoya".
Not all the girls on the show will (had) their dreams granted.
Yet they hope all the same.
Likewise, in our own lives. There is always the juxtaposition of ones hopes and dreams. Against the more realistic bounds of reality.
The triumph of those dreams you have been able to realize.
The melancholy of those you may have not reached and left behind.
And the hope we keep alive for new dreams.
"Pick me!" We say.
