My dog has had anxiety issues this past week. First, there was a drastic shift in weather
(it dropped near zero Fahrenheit with up to 50mph wind gusts and with very low pressure),
then there were a number of other little things—a possible low battery fire alarm
in the apartment below ours that kept beeping; me moving around my furniture to
fit in an inversion table; possible even her digestive supplements.
Her anxiety worsened until, night before last, she
couldn’t sleep. It was like the Fourth
of July all over again, and I had no idea what caused it. I ended up having to leave my bedroom to sit
in the main room after less than four hours of sleep.
I’ve noticed before that I can decrease Flora’s alarm over
thunderstorms by watching a film with her.
So last night, when she had sudden high anxiety again as we were going
to bed, I considered watching a movie.
But I was very tired, and didn’t want to start one.
Now, I’ve been having trouble editing lately—trouble staying focused. I’ve always edited in silence; I’ve always
had to. But three days ago, I was
desperate enough to try listening to music again. I started with Dark Sarah’s trilogy
(beginning with “Behind the Black Veil”), but partway through—
Actually, I’m not sure what happened. I wasn’t particularly familiar with k-pop and
definitely not boy bands. My only real
exposure was the “Growl”
music video by EXO that deservedly went viral a few years back. But while editing, I went down a
rabbit maze of k-pop boy bands, and especially EXO. Over the course of one evening and two full days,
I spent 15+ hours listening to k-pop boy bands and compiling (read: buying with
iTunes credit) a playlist. I then rearranged
it so that it told a story.
Here is the YouTube
version of the playlist. I used
official music videos when available.
The exceptions are the B.A.P. songs, because their MV are three times
longer than the actual songs and mini-movies. Very good mini movies, (“One Shot”
and “Skydive”),
and I do recommend watching them (and also the “BTD” (“Before the Dawn”)
music video; I used the dance version for the playlist). But this playlist is for
the music.
The story goes like this:
Part 1
Our main character
(MC) spends his time doing drugs (“Dope”) until he overdoses and seeks medical
attention (“Overdose”). Now clean, he
finds that he’s a loser (“Loner”) with mommy issues (“Mama”).
Then MC spots a woman
and falls in love (“Beautiful”). Though
he knows he’s not good enough for her (“Mr. Simple”) he asks her out (“CALL ME
BABY”, “Love Shot”) and to his astonishment, she accepts (“Take You Home”). For the first time in his life, he’s happy
and in a relationship (“Ring Ding Dong”, “EL DORADO”, “Ko Ko Bop”).
But things start to
go wrong (“Dramarama”) and she breaks up with him (“HURT”). He can’t handle this (“Black Pearl") and begins going crazy (“Psycho”).
Part 2
MC increasingly views women in a predatory way (“Growl”, “Wolf”) and engage in stalking
behavior (“Obsession”). This escalates
until he becomes a monster (“Let Out the Beast”, “Monster”).
We meet another
character, a former soldier who starts to recognize what is going on (“Skydive”). They go back and forth, with MC stalking
soldier (“Alligator”) and soldier deciding what he must do (“Like Rain Like
Music”). Finally, soldier takes it upon
himself to solve the situation. He ambushes MC (“BOOM”). They fight (“Shoot Out”), and MC retreats (“Run
Away”). Soldier gives chase (“Follow”)
and the two contemplate their situation (“EXODUS”).
Soldier sees he has one shot at victory, but it'll cost him his life (“One Shot”). He decides to sacrifice himself to end MC's evil (“Before the
Dawn”).
It occurred to me that instead of starting a movie,
I could play my new playlist for Flora.
So I set the computer in front of her and hit play. Immediately, she stopped struggling and
freaking out. She relaxed and soon fell
asleep.
I fell asleep too, and woke just before the last song. I figured that, since it had been nearly two
hours, she’d be fine now. Nope. The moment I stopped the music, she began
freaking out again. So I got my computer
cord, set the playlist on repeat, and hit play.
At once, she calmed back down and went to sleep.
We listened to the album on repeat all night. I slept extremely well also—ah, the benefits
of <4 hours of sleep the night before—and got in a full eight hours.
So there you have it: how k-pop boy bands saved the day.
