Review: Pon Jantaphon X Noey Passawan - Love Should Have Two People
I have been trying to get into T-Pop for a while now. However, it never really worked. Thankfully, Mr. Simple's 555 Reviews has shown me some great new T-Pop songs (much easier to read an English review than to search up a language one does not know). Two songs from this year have stood out for me, bamm's 2Cool2Care and this song. However, given that Love Should Have Two People has been a large hit, I thought that I should review it.
The song is from the traditional Thai genre of Luk Thung. It arose in the 20th century, as a merger of traditional Thai elements with western elements. It was extremely prominent in the 60s down to around the 90s, but since then has tapered away slowly from its influence.
Nonetheless, Pon Jantaphon and Noey Passawan's recent duet has become a major hit. Lyrically, Love Should Have Two People is paired as a conflict between a wife, and a woman her husband has an affair with. The woman from the affair argues that the husband lied that he was single, and now she cannot stop loving him. On the other hand, the wife argues that the lover came between her and the husband, and love can only have two people.
The intent of the lyrics seems to rather criticize such occurrences, duplicity, and affairs as a whole. Unfortunately, I cannot tell how well the concept is executed, because I cannot find real translations online, and YouTube's auto-translate... ouch.
One of my favorite parts of any duet is the interplay between the singers. Unfortunately, modern music tends to keep one straight story and ignore the various perspectives of a good duet. Thankfully, Love Should Have Two People knows how a good duet should work. With the lyrics setting the song as a duel of words, the vocal performance adds to it. Both singers are competent, leading to strong segment after strong segment.
As far as the instrumental goes, the guitar-based ballad is incredibly strong, with the piano and orchestral elements adding just enough diversity to show this is not country music. This, of course, is paired with a strong melody, creating an excellent atmosphere.
Overall, Love Should Have Two People is one of the best ballads I've heard in a while. It is gaining the success it deserves, and I thought it good to introduce it to more people. All elements tell a story, leading to the incredible conclusion.
I'm glad you love the song! I guess I should take this as a sign that I should keep churning out more T-POP reviews :D
ReplyDeleteWe simply love to see more recognition for T-POP! Asian music needs to rise and the agenda is really working for the best... I really need to review this song too. I have a lot of hits to review!
DeleteYes Mr. Simple, this is absolutely a sign for you to write more T-Pop reviews! It is a world me and many more want to go through, but we lack the knowledge of the language or a starting point to begin the journey, I'd love to see more T-Pop reviews!
DeleteAnd looking forward to StillBangtan reviewing this song too!