It’s been ten years since Twice released their EP The Story Begins and started their journey as a girl group. To celebrate this milestone, on October 9th, the date of their anniversary, they released the album TEN: The Story Goes On.
The Onces (Twice’s fandom) have been waiting for this release with a lot of expectations, since it’s a commemorative album for their decade-long journey as a group, and an album a bit different than the others they released before: they have just one song together — the other tracks are solos of the members.
GET TO KNOW TWICE
Like many K-Pop groups,Twice was formed in a reality show. Sixteen, created by JYP Entertainment and Mnet in 2015, had 16 participants, including the soon-to-be Twice members and other idols like Chaeryoung and Somi.
The group debuted in 2015 The Story Begins, but their global success started in the following year when the songs “Cheer Up” and “TT” hit the top of the charts. Then, they released a lot of hit songs that built the K-Pop we know nowadays.
Something unique in Twice’s formation is a J-line — they have three Japanese members: Mina, Sana and Momo. K-Pop groups used to have only one or two members from other Asian countries, but Twice made diversity start to happen in the industry. The internationality is also present in their music, sung in many languages like Korean, Japanese — they have a sub group called Misamo with the girls from Japan — and English.
In the last few years, Twice had many changes: different concepts in their releases , putting the cute and soft concept aside, clothes, hairstyles, content in social media and even the language of their songs, including more English — everything adapting to the international public that has grown.
An important mark in their recent career was the presentation during Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, that featured members Nayeon, Momo, Jihyo and Tzuyu and expressed how Twice is recognized worldwildly. They sang two songs: This is For and Strategy – a song that’s been recognized for the movie K-Pop Demon Hunters.
ME + YOU
The first track of the album is a song from Twice to Twice, about their journey as a group in these 10 years and how they feel like a family. After all, they went through a lot together in these years, from their worst moments to their best ones, always encouraging each other — and that’s what “Me + You” talks about.
This is a chill song with a calm melody, melting people’s heart with the nostalgia present in the lyrics, mentioning how their beginning looks like it started yesterday, and how great it is to be with each other for so long — and go through good and bad moments togehter.
Hearing the song and watching the music video at the same time is an experience — they complete each other perfectly. The lyrics talk about being together, being best friends and a family, and the MV shows exactly this: the 9 members of Twice living in the same house, always helping each other and having fun, just for each other’s company.
In the music video, there are also references for two iconic songs of the group: “Like Ooh-Ahh” and “What is Love?”, and this moment is very special for Twice and for the Onces, because they are looking to their past after a long time.
MEEEEEE (NAYEON)
The first solo of the album is written and sung by Nayeon.Twice’s oldest member was also the first to have a solo debut:“Pop”, released in 2022 “MEEEEEE” shares similarities with her other solo projects: the name of her first EP Im Nayeon and her latest EP NA (or 나, the Korean world for “me”).
Just like her other solos, this is a very dancing song, with a fun choreography that had some parts released in Twice’s latest tour “This is For”.
With an energetic beat, Nayeon sings about love, about how she wants to be treated, giving advice to the ones who are interested in her, mentioning things she didn’t like, the way she really is — hence the song title.
FIX A DRINK (JEONGYEON)
Following the order from Twice’s fanchant (the way fans cheer for the group during their performances) that goes from oldest to youngest member, Jeongyeon presented us with a country song: “Fix a Drink”.
The lyrics talks a lot about feelings and how to deal with them, and also how she couldn’t fix a heart, but could at least feel a bit better with a “drink”, mentioning that she has shots to deal with jealousy and a bottle for her pain.
But, the alcohol isn’t the point of the song, as it’s something approached very softly in the track but the safe space she’s creating for once: showing how people can overcome a hard moment with good music and the company of their loved ones. This song was made to warm people’s hearts and talk about emotional support with some metaphors and a great country beat mixed with pop music.
MOVE LIKE THAT (MOMO)
We couldn’t expect less than a dancing and vibrant song from Twice’s main dancer, Momo – that’s exactly what she’s serving in “Move Like That” (the name of the song fits perfectly with the vibes and the beat).
This is a vibrant track — perfect for stage performance — that goes perfectly with Momo’s vibe, with flirty lyrics and a lot of synesthesia (“Give me, give me a taste, taste of your eyes”).
“Move Like That” made a lot of success since the first presentation during the group’s last tour. Even if it wasn’t the full song, the catchy vibe and choreography made Onces go crazy through the internet and during the live performances.
DECAFFEINATED (SANA)
Sana’s angelical voice with the fast, catching and dancing rhythm of “Decaffeinated” is definitely something that we all needed in this album. The Story Goes On is filled with songs that are perfect to perform, and this hit definitely fits this standard.
This is another song about love, but an intense love with a lot of passion, comparing the feeling with the consequences of caffeine, but mentioning that she’s so in love that she doesn’t even need to drink coffee to feel like this.
In a very positive way, this track shows how love can be hypnotizing and addicting and how deep someone can love, but also making it clear in the lyrics that she wants a pure and true love for her life.
ATM (JIHYO)
The powerful and breath-taking leader of Twice, Jihyo shows all of her confidence and self-esteem in the lyrics of “ATM”, that fit perfectly with her vibe and remind us a little bit of her previously released solos, in 2023.
This track also has a metaphor, just like the other songs of this album, comparing Jihyo with an ATM machine, because she’s so requested in many aspects, just like the act of taking money from an ATM.
This song shows us a lot about the state of Jihyo’s career, her high confidence in everything she does, her international appeal and everything that makes Twice’s leader be who she is today. After 20 years in the K-Pop industry, her self-assurance is very present in her life as an idol, in her songs, in the way she acts and in her performances.
STONE COLD (MINA)
Like other tracks, Stone Cold talks about feelings. But this time, the sentiment is a sad one, about the end of a relationship, calling the person she used to love “Stone Cold”.
This song has a different beat, just like all of the tracks in the album are very different from each other, but the vibe we get from this one is especially distinct. The lyrics compare how her partner used to make her happy, and then how he suddenly changed his attitude, but also how she already moved on from this situation.
Something interesting is how classy and delicate she sings about this subject, showing her feelings and her fragility — Mina’s essence.
CHESS (DAHYUN)
One of the most authentic tracks from the album, “Chess”, sung by Dahyun, includes a sample from “Fur Elise”, a Beethoven classic. In this song, the narrator compares her situation with a chess game – a lot of metaphors are used in this track.
Through the music, she tells a story about being inexperienced, but starting to be stronger and more calculating because of everything she was going through. It’s a song about resilience and maturing, something that happened after the loss of someone that used to be special, but also toxic to her.
The beat of this track is very interesting, mixing classical music with the beat of pop, suiting Dahyun’s essence perfectly and being an authentic song, so different from what we are used to receiving from K-Pop these days.
IN MY ROOM (CHAEYOUNG)
With a cute concept and a soft beat, Chaeyoung reminds us with “In my room” of NewJeans’ concept, which uses a similar beat.
She sings about everything that can happen in her room — being whoever she wants too, staying there with the one she loves — and also about love and feelings.It looks like the beginning of a relationship, when both are accepting their feelings and starting to go out together.
This song really fits Chaeyoung’s vibe and voice and that’s something amazing about it, the way we can see her in this track, not just hear her.
DIVE IN (TZUYU)
Tzuyu, Twice’s maknae — or youngest, closes the album singing about love too.In “Dive In”, she shows control and self-confidence, the truth that is needed in a relationship, while portraying a double meaning in the lyrics.
With a pop beat, the song shows what’s needed in a relationship, talking about issues to resolve. It also asks if her partner only has momentary feelings from her or if he really loves her, saying that to get involved, the feelings need to be true.
In “Dive In”, feelings are talked in a mature and direct way, in a different way from love songs, here, the feelings are talked in a more realistic approach.
OVERVIEW
Every year, Twice releases something special on their birthday, which became something that the fans expect and wait for annuallyBut, completing 10 years as a girl group is a special mark for both Twice and the Onces.
This album is even more special, because all of the girls had their moment to shine separately, with solo songs that show their essence, that fit their vibes and that are perfect to be presented in their concerts.
Choosing a favorite song from this album is very hard, but, for me, the song that got all of my attention was “Chess”, because it is so different from what we are used to listening to in K-Pop, and it’s a fun song to hear and watch live.
Twice is one of the most iconic groups of all time, and year after year they are expanding their career and showing this incredible essence to the whole world, getting fans in every place they can — with the songs appearing in movies, and them attending special events and participating in big music festivals during the years.
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The article above was edited by Isadora Mangueira.
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