One is given the value of an ancient gong with ten bosses and nine relief-rings, the other is redeemable only by a golden guitar and a golden flute. The savakan (bridewealth consisting of articles and wrapped food to be paid for by the groom’s kinsmen) are offered one by one, until only the two most costly remain. Preliminaries of the wedding ceremony start. To this insult, Tuwaang answers there are “red leaves,” i.e., heroes, in the house. He haughtily asks the house owner to clear the house “of dirt,” implying the people in the house who do not count. Finally, the groom, the Young Man of Sakadna, arrives with a hundred followers. Other gallants-the Young Man of Liwanon and the Young Man of the Rising Sun-arrive. Meantime, enchanting sounds from afar and flowering trees signal the arrival of the Young Man of Panayangan. He sits on a golden stool while the gungutan perches on a crossbeam. Upon arriving at Mo:nawon, Tuwaang is admitted into the hall. The two shake their shoulders and are carried into space. Tuwaang agrees to bring the gungutan along. The gungutan tells Tuwaang he came to know of his coming in a dream and that he wants to go with him to the wedding celebration. He decides to catch the fowl, but soon sees the gungutan with a daggerlike spur. While resting there a while, he hears a gungutan bird crowing. He rides on a flash of lightning and arrives at the Kawkawangan grassland. He picks the heart-shaped basket that can activate the lightning, puts on his headdress and the costume made by goddesses, arms himself with a long blade and dagger, and takes his shield and spear. The aunt tries to dissuade him from going, for she foresees trouble. Tuwaang, after finishing some work, calls his aunt aside and informs her that the wind has brought him a message: he is to attend the wedding of the Maiden of Mo:nawon. Sure, it’s not going to set the world on fire, nor is it likely to last on my playlist for all that long, but there’s something endearing about the fact that all it’s trying to be is a decent pop song with a solid hook.Manuvu epic Translated by E. This can read as a bit saccharine, particularly paired with some of the more cringe-worthy English rap lyrics (seriously, why do they always give Peniel such lame parts in every single song?).Įven so, Dear Bride isn’t an embarrassment - and that’s more than I can say for a lot of Japanese tracks by Korean groups. The bells used in the instrumentation are likely meant to conjure images of wedded bliss, though they give the song an oddly festive, almost Christmassy, feel as well. The verses are largely forgettable, but the chorus has a nice melodic build that sticks almost instantly. But, it also demonstrates some of the restraint present in their more mature Korean releases. On one hand, its emphatic, sweeping balladry sounds like something jpop group News would record. In other words, their two singles were super j-poppy.ĭear Bride strikes a nice balance between both musical cultures.
They also began to push into Japan with original material that catered almost exclusively to the genre preferences of that market.
BTOB enjoyed one heck of a 2015, finding a new level of success and finally becoming the group they were meant to be.