Episode Sixteen Transcript - The Butterflies On The Concrete Podcast: What Got Me Through The Week?

(Audio for this podcast can be found under the Podcast Tab on the navigation menu)

[Intro Music – “There is poetry all around me…”]

Hello and Welcome to this week’s episode of the Butterflies On The Concrete Podcast: What Got Me Through The Week? This week I want to talk about some of the shows and new music that I’ve been consuming over the last few months. But first, please listen to a brief disclaimer before we get started.

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for any professional medical, psychological, financial, legal, or other advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you feel you are in a life-threatening situation, please promptly contact the appropriate authorities, medical providers, or crisis intervention service providers in your local area for immediate assistance.  All rights are reserved and this podcast, in whole or in part, may not be distributed, reproduced, or otherwise used without the written permission of Hyssop & Ebony LLC.

Alright! Now let’s get started!

I’ll give brief remarks about each show or album, but I really just want to talk about what I most enjoyed about them without going into too much detail. It’s my hope that you’ll check them out for yourself and let me know what you thought of them!

The Korean drama Reborn Rich is first. I still haven’t actually finished this drama yet but I got through a good chunk of it. The protagonist starts off as an employee for a corporation who’s looked down on by his coworkers because of his background and the fact that he’ll do anything that’s asked of him as long as he gets a paycheck. He’s ultimately betrayed by the company that he’s been loyal to for years, and then he somehow wakes up in the past as a member of the family that owns the corporation. What I’ve enjoyed most about this show is that the protagonist has the upper hand because he retains his memory of all the historical events that are now happening all around him. Because of that knowledge, he’s able to make choices and investments that grow his wealth and status in his competitive family, in incredible ways, and it’s been fun to watch it all unfold. I stopped watching at the moment because the infighting between the family was sort of souring the experience for me, but eventually I’ll go back to finish it. I just have to be in the right mindset for it. I’ve been watching it on Rakuten Viki.

SZA’s album, SOS, is next. I became a fan of SZA after I listened to this album and fell in love with the second half of it. Songs like “Nobody Gets Me,” “Far,” “Conceited,” “Too Late,” and “Special,” really resonated with me, and even “Good Days,” which is a song that’s been out for a while, has been on repeat for months. I want to talk about the opening lines of the song “Far,” which really stand out to me. As shown on genius.com, it’s a conversation where SZA asks, and I quote, “How do I deal with rejection? I’m dealing with a lot of rejection right now. It makes me feel very small.” And then Sadhguru – whose credited with additional vocals on the track according to what’s listed on genius.com - responds by saying, and I quote, “Oh, that’s great. If nobody wants you, you’re free.” I just think that that statement alone is very powerful, and empowering, and I never viewed rejection in that way before. So, that’s just one example of why I’ve enjoyed listening to this album.

RM’s album, Indigo, is another album that I’ve really enjoyed listening to over the last few months. This album shows just how versatile RM’s artistry is, and it made me appreciate him even more as a songwriter. Some of my favorite songs off this project are – “All Day,” with Tablo from Epik High, “Still Life,” with Anderson .Paak, “Forgetful,” with Kim Sawol, “Change Pt. 2,” and “No. 2,” with Park Ji Yoon. The lines that always stand out to me from the song, “No. 2,” as confirmed on genius.com, are from the outro that goes, and I quote, “So no / No lookin’ back, no /No lookin’ back [...] Don’t look back no more.” I really love this album and there’s a lot of content on YouTube if you want to see him performing, and he has a very insightful interview with Zach Sang that I recommend checking out as well.

Three Bold Siblings is a Korean drama that I’ve been watching every weekend over the last few months. It was sort of a mess in the middle and towards the end because they devoted a lot of time to a birth secret and related family grudge story line that seemed unnecessary, and kept the ex-boyfriend of the second daughter of one of the two main families in the story for way longer than was needed, but the saving grace for this drama, in my opinion, was the love story between that second daughter, So Rim, a Pilates instructor, and Mu-Young, the CEO of a cosmetics company. The second daughter is played by actress Kim So-Eun, and I’ve been a fan of hers since the drama, Happiness in the Wind. The CEO is played by an actor that I’ve never seen in a drama before, Kim Seung-Su. The development of their slow burn romance is what really kept me tuning in each week. They were absolutely the best part of this show and I’m recommending it solely because of their story arc because it’s worth watching in spite of the other somewhat frustrating plot lines. I watched this on the KOCOWA app, but I think it’s also available on Rakuten Viki.

The Chinese drama, Flight to You is another slow burn romance that I adored. It’s also available on Rakuten Viki. It’s about two pilots who fall in love. This show made me appreciate how hard it is to work in the aviation industry, especially if you’re a woman. There was a bit of a detour in the plot towards the end that seemed a bit overdone, taking me somewhere I didn’t care to go as a viewer, but overall, it was worth watching the leads fall in love. The female lead is played by actress Tan Song Yun, also known as Seven Tan. I’d actually like to recommend pretty much all the other shows that I’ve seen her in, which are Master of my Own, The Fox’s Summer series, My Mr. Mermaid, and Go Ahead. She has fantastic chemistry with every male lead. I discovered her on a whim through The Fox’s Summer while I was deep in the midst of grief many years ago on New Year’s Day, and the show was so entertaining that I looked for other shows that she starred in immediately afterwards.

The Korean drama, May I Help You? was very good. I’ve been a fan of Hyeri, the actress who plays the female lead in this drama, since she played an iconic role in the show Reply 1988, and prior to watching her in May I Help You?, I saw her in the show My Roommate is a Gumiho, which is absolutely hilarious.  May I Help You? is a more somber drama, about a woman who works at a funeral home and has the ability to see those who’ve passed away. She helps them to accomplish any last wishes that they might have. There’s also romance in this show, and it’s just a drama that made me very emotional watching it. I cried almost regularly as I saw the various stories unfold. It’s written really well, and I’d recommend checking it out. I watched it on Prime Video.

Paramore came out with a new album, entitled, This is Why. My favorite songs are the title song, “This is Why,” “Running Out of Time” and “Crave.”

Lastly, I want to discuss the documentary, j-hope IN THE BOX. Last year I discussed J-Hope’s performance at Lollapalooza and recently a documentary about his preparations for his solo album and that iconic performance came out on Disney Plus and it was so great. I’d highly recommend taking a look at it because we see just how involved he was in each aspect of the production and the promotions for his solo album. We even get to see some of his interactions with his parents and the behind the scenes with the dancers and his pre-release party, and I just was impressed with his work ethic and that he allowed us to have that much access to certain parts of his life that he could’ve just kept private. I felt so honored as a viewer to be able to see those aspects of who he is.

There’s a song that he recently released called “on the street” that I’d like to recommend as well. In j-hope IN THE BOX, we see J-Hope meet J-Cole for the first time, backstage at Lollapalooza. That’s important because he’s looked up to J-Cole for a long time, and you could tell that there was so much respect between them as artists. It was heartwarming to witness that moment. J-Hope is likely going to the military soon and he released the song “on the street” with J-Cole on it. It’s my understanding that the song is a way for J-Hope to honor his past – when he used to dance and listen to J-Cole’s music when he was younger- while also indicating how far he’s grown as an artist and where he hopes to go in the future. In the music video, we see him in New York City walking and dancing on the street and in the subway and then he ends up on the rooftop of a building with J-Cole, which is a beautiful depiction of his journey thus far. He’s truly made it, and yet, I’m sure he’s only getting started and that he has so much more to show us as an artist and musician that we haven’t seen yet. When I listened to the song for the first time, it blew me away. Truly one of the best BTS collaborations with an American artist. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, but it surpassed all of the expectations I could’ve had. It’s such a great song, and I’ve been listening to it regularly since it was released.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this episode and my recap of some of the content that’s been getting me through the last few months. If you’ve watched any of these shows or listened to any of these songs or albums please let me know your thoughts! You can leave a comment on our website hyssopandebony.com, or on this episode’s post on our Instagram page at WhatGotMeThroughTheWeek. You can also send an email to  whatgotmethroughpodcast@gmail.com. The transcript and audio for this episode will be posted on our website, HyssopandEbony.com. The podcast is back on its weekly schedule, at least for now, and I look forward to talking more about lots of other content that’s brought me joy lately in upcoming episodes.

Until next time!

[Outro Song – “Ocean waves on busy streets, butterflies on the concrete. The beauty I could not see becomes a deeper part of me. You remind me, You are present in every single thing.”]

Intro & Outro from Magnified (a cappella) © Amber Eboni