EXO's "Miracles in December" Review

  I know, I know, I’m seriously late on this one,  it was released months ago… But! I have my reasons for being late. The most important one is that personally sometimes, when I listen to a new song, one possible first reaction is obviously not loving it. It was what happened with “Growl” for example – at first I didn’t quiet enjoyed, but a few weeks passed, I played it again one or two times, and BANG! It grew on me. Even now I don’t like “Growl” as much as I like “Wolf” (which was instant love), but I can listen to it and enjoy. Why am I saying this? Well, because with “Miracles in December” my nose twitched as a first reaction once again, and because I actually love EXO so much, I wanted to wait and see if my opinion changed before saying anything… So, here I am J

  Let’s start by introducing the song – Miracles in December. A song by EXO as form of gratitude to the fans for their success in 2013… *sees translation of the lyrics* “Just by thinking about it, I can fill the world up with you, Because each snowflake is your each tear drop”. Ahh… I’m sorry, but this is actually something that EXO usually does that I do not understand, and although this lyrics aren’t that compromising, it’s not the first time that They write something like this to the fans. We all know how EXO fans’ reputation is, rigth? To say words as deep  as the ones in the lyrics and dedicate them to people who you don’t even know?? Knowing how obsessive they are?? How does that make sense?

  I’m sorry, let’s move on to what really matters. The Christmas theme! I don’t understand why it seems that doing a Christmas Album or song is some kind of a Boys bands ritual. I mean, even N’SYNC made one back in the day. Although the melody and MV have Christmas spelled on them, the lyrics to aren’t about Christmas itself, it’s more like a love story (Oh, wait! They’re thanking  the fans… Yeah, right), and I like that. EXO has an hability to take something that has already been done and actually make it original and not boring. They did it with “Wolf”, and now with this song again. And the melody and their voices is pretty nice to hear, it flows and is sweet.  

  One thing that’s new to this song, is the formation: Only vocals included. And I must say, I also didn’t quiet liked this new formation. In the beginning not so much, but at the end, I didn’t felt that it was an Exo’s song, I felt that it was a Chen, Baekhyun and D.O/Luhan’s song… I’m sorry, but it was how I felt, I missed seeing them perfume as 12, and I missed that even more, when only the vocals started to perform and doing the promotions by themselves. I honestly feel like SM here should have gone back to the basics – use the vocals of EXO-K and EXO-M to do the Korean and Chinese version respectively instead of mixing things up. And I also say this because I feel that Suho and Lay voice’s would perfectly fit this song. And D.O would be perfectly capable of hitting Chen’s high notes in the Korean version (just listen to the beginning of MAMA – Korean version), and so would Baekhyun (altough They aren't as clean as Chen). But oh well, I guess you can’t argue with S.M… And changes are good. I mean… They sounded great.

  I know I shouldn’t complain even tough I still missed them as a whole, because Luhan is my ultimate bias, and I got to see him killing it actually. Which leads me to one good point of the song – the Chinese version, which in this case, to the ears of many listeners is slightly better than the Korean version. Not that the Korean is bad either but I think we can all agree that in the past, EXO kind of neglected the Chinese version in a sense that the lyrics didn’t sound as good…  (specially in “Growl”). Not the case here.

So, in the end, my impression of the song as whole haven’t changed, a few things still make me twitch my nose. Although I can’t say is bad either…  We can’t deny how beautiful the song is. But I think I would just prefer to wait for something more BANG as Wolf instead of having the members so tired and realizing this Album so soon.

  

So, my final verdict,(taking both versions in consideration) is… 3 Stars in a total of 5. And I’ll leave the MV’s of the two versions for you to enjoy.

The "Anesthesia" effect

  To enter in college, to start working on a job, or even to start a new romantic relationship or travel to a new city, you name it. Many experiences require work, sacrifices. Because it’s all so new, so fun, so fascinating, and even include new people on our lives, we may not even notice time passing by. And all the efforts and sacrifices? Barely noticeable. I would like to call this, the "anesthesia" effect. Because this is the entrance into the adults’ world, everyone is allowed to go by their own pace and take their own time, find balance. Unless you’re disappointed with your own results (which is a whole other subject), it’s all good. You don’t feel pain doing those unpleasant things like studying and waking up early (ewww).

  Well… Reality check: In similarity with the real anesthesia, the effect it’s different from person to person. Everybody has their own limits, but the end is always the same – it fades away. In a medical situation, if the wound is not healed- more anesthesia; If the wound is healed- Good, no pain, next! But that doesn’t apply to your daily life… And guess what! It only get’s harder, more difficult, more demanding, not easier, so at some point, it’s going to freaking hurt.

   This is where you lose your innocence. You have crisis. Different people react different ways – you can just go “I don’t give a f*ck” and party it all out (Because obviously friends help, so does family, but I don’t need to say that this path doesn’t end well, do I?). You can also find a productive escape, a hobby, an alternative – when well chosen, this actually really works. That was what I did, for example. I chose something that I truly adore, that has nothing to do with my major, where I met new people, and even now I can say that I love it. I wouldn’t trade for anything else, but at the end of the day, it is just a hobby, not the major focus of my life. So the anesthesia effect may only temporary. If by this point, you haven’t found a solution to your pain… Take a day off. It is needed sometimes. You might clear you mind and heart and refill your body with energy.

   So, sorry, there’s no magical recipe… Some things work, others don’t, it depends on many things… And a lot of people actually just have to endure it. Well… As I said, this is the adults’ world, right? And I made clear that this isn’t a physical pain, is psychological, right? So do something that adults do: bear with it, control it with the best of your abilities, suck it up. Because the efforts that you’re doing today, will only make you have a bigger skin tomorrow. And I’ll promise that next Monday I’ll read this before going to class as a motivation source.