Hello! So, I assume most of you have heard "Ready For Love" by now. If not, allow me to attempt to explain why you should listen to it and why it is so great. Then, I'll take it a step further and explain why it's so great for BLACKPINK specifically.
First, the elephant in the room. Yes, it is a leaked song. Yes, I listened to all of the snippets and what Blinks imagine the full song would sound like. BLACKPINK has so few songs for how long they've been around that I feel like that alone justifies my behavior. Besides, it's a great song in my defense. I'd even go so far as to say it's one of my favorite songs from them of all time, right up there with classics such as "As If It's Your Last" and "Ice Cream".
Now, that's pretty high praise. Let me proceed to justify it. I'll start at the beginning of the song, then explain each detail that I love in it.
First of all, the second Rose's beautiful singing voice in the very beginning fades away, what is the first sound you hear? A soda can popping open. At first, it might seem random and out of place. But the more you reflect on it, the more you realize how perfect it is. Why is that? Well, when you hear a soda can open, what do you think of? For me, I think of the word "refreshing". This could be to subconsciously foreshadow how refreshing and awesome the rest of the song will be (as if Rose's singing didn't already prove that to you already).
Not only that, but look at it this way. The soda also is secretly foreshadowing something else. Rose's part sounds like it is sung not especially softly or powerfully, just normally (I don't mean this in a bad way at all, please don't misunderstand me). It comparison, the soda can opening sounds like a burst of energy being released. To many people, especially upon first listen, this is just a small taste as to how powerful and energetic the chorus of the song will be.
Lastly, using a soda can to create the effects I have just described makes perfect sense. Does anyone else remember when BLACKPINK got sponsored by Sprite?
Or their sponsorship with Pepsi?
The soda sound could be alluding to those sponsorships in a sneaky way, without being too obviously.
So, the soda sound being included was obviously a stroke of genius, but wait, there's more! Not only did the soda can make perfect sense, so do the other features of the song. The next creative choice I'd like to highlight in the chorus. Pay attention to the instrumental of the song very closely. What instrument do you hear? It shouldn't be hard to tell. I know nothing about music at all and I can tell. That is the unmistakable sound of a trumpet.
Now, I already hear you grabbing your pitchforks and complaining about how it's just an instrument, why on Earth am I getting so worked up over this? Let me answer that question with a question: off the top of your head, how many other K-Pop songs can you think of that so prominently feature trumpets? If that's too difficult, here's another question: how many songs in general, regardless of genre, can you think of that use trumpets? Maybe you can think of a few songs for each question, but not a lot. That's the thing.
Trumpets, in my opinion, are not utilized nearly enough in songs, K-Pop or otherwise. I, for one, love how they sound. Because of the soda can popping earlier, we were already foreshadowed that something big would happen and we were not disappointed. The trumpets alone add so much volume to the chorus. Despite it being yet another one of BLACKPINK's infamous "empty choruses", I don't mind it. The trumpets get their moment to shine this way.
Not only do trumpets add so much volume to the chorus, they add so much more than that. True to their name, they add a sense of triumph to the song. I'll go much more in depth on this in a future post, but consider their latest group release before we began to receive the first snippets of this song: "Lovesick Girls". In that song, they discuss how they search for love, but can never find it, even fearing that they will be loveless forever. Now, they have reached a triumph. The lyrics in "Ready For Love" suggest that not all hope is lost. They'll find someone one day. This realization is worth celebrating, so the trumpets make sense for that reason to. Also, within the context of the song, these trumpets loudly give out a signal of hope. That it is not too late and when you are ready to look for someone to love, that occasion in and of itself deserves to be celebrated. The trumpets give the celebration to acknowledgement it deserves.
Lastly, to me, trumpets signify freedom. They are loud and bright, ringing through the air. The girls are now free from believing that they can no longer fall in love.
While those are two highlights of the song (and for good reason), let me touch on some other details about this song that I love. As I just mentioned, the lyrics are almost like a continuation of "Lovesick Girls". They thought love would never come to them, but they now realize that it will and that they are ready for it. Also, it should go without saying that all the girls of BLACKPINK sound amazing and I think their voices compliment the song so well. It also still feels like a BLACKPINK song, while putting a fresh spin on their sound.
Now, why is this song so great for BLACKPINK in particular? I have a question for you: when does BLACKPINK typically release new songs? If you guessed in the summer, you would be correct. "Boombayah" and "Whistle" were released in early August. "As If It's Your Last" was in the middle of June. "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" was also released in the middle of June as well. "Sour Candy" was in late May. "How You Like That" was in late June. "Ice Cream" was in late August. Noticing a trend yet? Nearly all of their songs come out sometime during the summer. Sure, they have plenty of songs they released on other times of the year, but considering the amount of their discography that came out sometime during the summer, I believe my point still stands.
If you listen to this song, the sounds I highlighted (the soda can and the trumpets) should remind you of summertime (they do for me at least, but everyone is different I suppose). Simply put, I consider "Ready For Love" to be a summer song. To me, it makes perfect sense to release a summer song sometime in the summer. Why wouldn't you do that?
Also, I pointed this out earlier, but the chorus is empty. Like it or not, many of BLACKPINK's songs (though far from all of them), have one form or another of an "empty" or "repetitive" chorus. This is right on brand for them. Sure, other groups may do this for other songs as well, I do admit that, but for BLACKPINK, it has practically become a staple, love it or hate it. Besides, so many people used to complain about their empty choruses. Instead of changing a huge part of their musical identity, why not lean into it even more and just embrace it more than it already is?
Lastly, as you can tell by the title, this is quite obviously a love song. Most of BLACKPINK's discography is about love, with very few exceptions. While they are far from the only group to release love songs (in fact, love songs seem to be quite common in the music world in general), it is yet another thing they are known for. Based on these three reasons, I believe it would make a lot of since for BLACKPINK to release "Ready For Love". I hope now you all have a better understanding of why I appreciate this song so much and why it holds such a special place in my heart. I didn't even manage to cover all the reasons I love this song yet, but this post is long enough as is, so I'll wrap it up right about now.
If you have not heard it before and this post has somehow inspired you to listen to this masterpiece, here is the song. Please enjoy it! If you already loved the song, I hope you gained an even deeper appreciation for it now. Go listen to it again to remind yourself of how good it is. This song never grown old for me.
kittykitka , you might want to check this post, then, if you're smart, you'll start loving this song more. Have a great day/night!
