"Dream or Reality" — Music Analysis 1

"Dream or Reality" is my favorite "chill" (i.e. not upbeat) song at the moment. As we get closer to midterms, I feel like everyone could benefit from some "chill," so that's part of the reason I chose this song for my first music analysis. It was released in 2017 as part of the OST of a (rather strange) K-drama called Live Up to Your Name, and I loved the song instantly the first time I heard it — which was not in 2017, but a couple years ago when I found this show on Netflix (no longer there, but it might come back someday).

 

 

Car, the Garden is a South Korean singer/songwriter, and "Dream or Reality" was the first song he wrote for a television series. He's since done quite a few of them, but for a first go at matching music to external storyline, I think he hit it out of the park. He began his professional music career in 2013, and adopted the name "Car, the Garden" (카더가든, romanized: ka [car] deo [the] ga-deun [garden]) later on as an English pun on his name. His family name, 차 (Cha), sounds the same as the Korean word for "car" (also 차), and his personal name, 정원 (Jung-won), means "garden." It sounds very cryptic and indie, but is actually pretty straightforward.

 

In brief explanation of the song's "meaning," the plot of Live Up to Your Name involves a time-traveling doctor from Joseon Korea (set in the late 1500s) who ends up in modern South Korea and falls in love with a woman (also a doctor) who gets roped into his time-traveling shenanigans. The song plays near the end of the show, when the main character is thinking about how he needs to go "back" to Joseon Korea — because they're in the middle of a war and the people need his help — instead of staying in the present with the woman he loves (it's quite tragic).

 

The song highlights the moment where he's accepting the difficult, self-sacrificing path instead of the easier, self-serving one (proving how much he's grown as a character), and he's essentially saying goodbye, even though he's not leaving just yet. The idea of "Dream or Reality" applies in the sense that they were each in each others' lives for such a short time, in such a surreal way, and that after this they have to return to their normal lives ("wake up" from this bizarre scenario), and will only be able to see each other in their "dreams."

 

Without further ado, here is the song "Dream or Reality": 

It is (mostly) not in English — you can follow along with a decent translation of the lyrics here.

Lyrics

The lyrics in this song support the mood in a loose, almost "thought cloud" arrangement of words/phrases, with the listener providing some of the connections. This creates a "dreamlike" quality which perfectly complements the storyline. It seems that we are with the singer while "asleep" and dreaming with him, feeling his feelings, and also knowing that he'll have to "wake up" soon. The lyrics describe his desire to stay asleep, and his fear of waking up and losing her. One of the things that makes this song so interesting is that there is less repetition than the usual chorus-verse-chorus structure — the chorus is only repeated the same way once, and the words change later to function as an outro. The prechoruses are related but different, and the verses vary significantly in structure. This feature allows the song to feel a bit more "random," and less formulaic — more like a dream.

Melody and Arrangement

I described the song as "chill" in my preamble, but there's also melancholy and wistfulness, touches of whimsy, and a deep undercurrent of yearning. All of these emotional elements combine for a very interesting melody. The song makes use of relatively few instruments (aside from vocal/layered vocals, I'm hearing a couple different electronic piano/keyboards, a gentle background "tat" of the cymbals, and maybe some kind of electronic instrument that reminds me of a cross between a flute and a horn — I'm not sure if it's the same as an instrument already in play, but it does something arpeggio-like and fluttery in the background).

 

The song opens on the chorus, then moves to the first verse, then pre-chorus, then chorus, an interlude, then a long second verse (seems to change from a verse into a bridge midway), a new pre-chorus, and the chorus to close out. The verses follow different but related paths, maintaining the same beat as the chorus (which sounds like 1..2,3, 1..2,3). The melody of the verses has limited contrast, and has a bit of a staccato rhythm, but with variations popped in every now and then to keep it from becoming monotonous. The chorus then leaps into a more complex and dreamy melody, starting high and cascading downwards, then repeating this pattern a few times, before mellowing out and then returning to the verses. There's enough repetition to keep the song coherent, but just enough anarchy to keep the listener on their toes. It may be "chill" but it's not at all boring.

Effects and Tech

The "echo" effect in this piece really strengthens the underlying question of the song title — "dream" or "reality"? — by creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The instruments seem to be electronic for the most part, which also helps raise that "reality?" question, and the microphone chosen for his voice seems to pick up all the right elements. It's just a great microphone for emphasizing his special timbre. I wish all gifted vocalists were this good (or would hire someone this good) at choosing the right mic.

 

 

 

There's a lot more I could say about this song (I just mentioned his timbre in passing — warm, mellow, velvety, full, a bit of rasp — it deserves its own section, but I'd rather just listen to the song over and over), but I'll leave it here for now. I (mentally) play this song when I'm in a wistful mood. I love all the little quirks and unexpected bits that make it special. And it reminds me of a really nice moment in a really, really weird show.

 

SOURCES:

Car, the Garden – Dream or Reality (Romanized + English Lyrics). lyrics159.blogspot.com/2017/09/car-garden-dream-or-reality-lyrics.html. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

 

“[Official Audio] 카더가든 (Car, the Garden) - Dream or Reality.” Youtube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4mucGidKVw. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

 

Wikipedia contributors. "Car, the Garden." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Feb. 2024. Web. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car,_the_Garden. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.