"Lies" is a song recorded by the South Korean boy group Big Bang. The song was written and composed by rapper G-Dragon. It was released on August 16, 2007 by YG Entertainment as the first single from Big Bang's first extended playAlways. It became the group's breakout hit, topping charts in their home country for several weeks and consequently winning Song of the Year at the 2007 Mnet Asian Music Awards. The song remains one of their most critically acclaimed song to date and is often view as one of their signature songs.
Composition
Big Bang's first extended play, Always, marked several changes for the group. Though the members had previously involved themselves with writing and composing, the group took more creative control over their music, moving away from their hip-hop and R&B roots and towards electronic dance music. G-Dragon composed and wrote most of the tracks included in their first EP, including "Lies." The rapper originally wrote this track for his solo album, but the company decided it would suit the group better. An electronic dance track combined with hip-hop elements, "Lies" begins with a dial tone, and that builds up around a "subtle piano, brassy percussion, and a clapping beat." The chorus blends "boy-band harmonies and hip-hop chants", which was described as "something fresh" for K-pop in 2007, while the vocals were described as "delicate". Arirang TV called the track a "Euro-house style piece, lanced with trance." Lyrically, the song describes a break-up, with the line "I'm so sorry but I love you" being used as the hook.
Critical reception
"Lies" received near universal acclaim from music critics, who described the song as "through the roof." Korean website Star News published an article commenting that Big Bang's music "stands out" from other K-pop boy groups, because of their "impressive melody lines" in tracks like "Lies". Tamar Herman of Billboard wrote that the "melodic, surging chorus and some rapid-fire rap" of "Lies" placed Big Bang "down the path into the realm of avant-garde experimentalism that they've become known for over the past few years" and called one of South Korea's "most memorable songs." Kaitlin Miller of Sun-Times stated that even though their sound has evolved, "their core blend of emotion and swagger shines through on this song." While including "Lies" in a list of best songs written by G-Dragon, the Korean magazine Ize commented that Big Bang's rebel image, and the track's easy melody and easy lyrics were the formula that brought the single's popularity. The impact of the song was described by Kang Myung Suk - a music critic and former editor-in-chief of 10Asia magazine. Suk wrote "in that time, the one song 'Lies' satisfied all the music consumers in Korea. The 'sound' of this song was better than the normal K-Pop, and the melody development was easy for anyone to enjoy. Before 'Lies' came out, the music charts were dominated by medium tempo ballad songs." The composition was also praised, noting that "G-Dragon made this song with memorable rap and melody pieces" and admired the song for having "no useless parts". The critic concluded "'Lies' has the generation's code who wants to be a step forward in the trend but comfortable at the same time, and that wants to stand out but also somewhat mix in at the same time. This was a market that not exist before Big Bang's 'Lies', and this was the moment where the idols met this generation's emotions."
Commercial performance
The song was released prior to the creation of the Gaon Music Chart, which began tracking sales in 2010. In the South Korean's online music services, it became their first number one hit, and went to top the Melon Chart's for six weeks. "Lies" also went to become the first song to win the Song of the Month award from the Cyworld Digital Music Awards for two consecutive months, as well as gathering the highest monthly sales in Cyworld's history, with over 200,000 copies sold in September. It was the best-performing song of 2007 in Cyworld, and as of 2010, the single was the ninth best-selling song of all time in Cyworld's digital chart. In 2016, "Lies" was revealed to be the second most downloaded song in South Korea since 2006, only after Busker Busker's "Cherry Blossom Ending." In China, the single sold over one million downloads.
Legacy
"Lies" is recognized as the song "that made Big Bang who they are today", the ground for the following releases of the group, and the "decisive moment" that influenced K-pop idols to produce their own music by themselves. The track's electronic sound became the new music trend in Korea. It was chosen as the "Song of the Decade" by Mnet's music show M! Countdown in 2014. In 2016, "Lies" was voted the top K-pop male idol song in the past 20 years in a poll involving 2,000 people and 30 music industry experts by South Korean magazine Dong-a Ilbo.Billboard ranked the single third on their list of Top 10 Songs from the group in honor of their tenth anniversary, as well as the third greatest K-Pop chorus of the century. Sun-Times also included "Lies" in their unranked list of ten best Big Bang songs. In 2014, Star News named "Lies" one of the ten best digital hit songs in South Korea's history.
Covers versions
The song has been covered by numerous artists, including:
