After earning much popularity as the “nation’s son-in-law An-sobang”, Andy has once again returned to his original job as a singer. Andy is well-loved for his adorable younger guy image, but to him, this mistake can’t be any bigger if this is all there is to his image.
Andy, along with Jumper’s rapper Park Dong Min and Seo Minwoo who gained fame as the leading man in Seo Taiji’s MV, have all transformed into men with sexy masculine charm for this fall.
# I… Have Really Been A ‘Single Man’ For The Past 8 Years
The song is extraordinary starting with its title, ‘Single Man’. The lyrics of the song is just like its title, and the feeling is something only men experiencing loneliness can understand.
He was surprised when I asked him if ‘Single Man’ describes his own feelings but he came back with an answer anyway. He hasn’t had a girlfriend for 8 years now. His sad ‘Single Man’ story is about to begin. Listening to him, somehow I find comfort in his story.
Andy hasn’t had a girlfriend in 8 years, and he said, “I’m not really thinking about finding a girlfriend now. Initially at the beginning of each year I’d think, ‘Ah this is driving me crazy. I should really start looking for one’, but I’d give up as the year passes and before I know it the year has come to a close.But after being single for so long, I often get annoyed with myself without anyone else realising it.”
“In between I didn’t even go on casual dates. To begin with I don’t like the idea of meeting each other on a superficial level, and with practicing and filming with the drama, recording the album, I don’t even have time to meet my friends. These reasons play a big part as to why I don’t have a girlfriend. But I also think that perhaps the time hasn’t come for me to find a girlfriend yet.”
He has also tried to analyze the reasons behind his lack of a girlfriend. Perhaps his sights are set too high, and I laughed when he said that. All bachelors like to use the excuse of “My sights are set too high, that’s why I haven’t met the right one yet”, don’t they?
To Andy, singlehood has its pros too. But when picking out a positive point about singlehood, he always ended up talking about the loneliness of singlehood. “Umm… to talk about the good things about being single, there isn’t anyone whom I need to take care off, so I just need to take care of myself. In a relationship it takes a lot of effort to take care of the other party, so it’s a lot easier right now. But actually it’s clear that there are more cons than pros, and it gets really lonely when there is nothing to look forward to besides loneliness.”
His good friends have mostly gotten married. His friends have all passed 30, gotten married and now have their own kids to play with, but he’s still at square one. In fact when winter comes around, he goes skiing with his friends and their wives. But being alone while the others are all paired up, he doesn’t quite know where to fit in. Troubled Andy’s friends have been setting him up on blind dates too.
If that’s the case, one wonders if it’s because Andy hasn’t met the girl of his dreams yet. Andy replied, “Even when I meet someone I like, I would start to feel small while the other party becomes somewhat aggressive. Somehow I start to get a sense of alienation. Everytime this happens, I’d tell myself that I must come across as more aggressive the next time I meet someone, but it seems that it still isn’t the case.”
Andy – who likes girls with a pure and gentle image – hasn’t been hit by any scandals so far, but on a recent variety show he said that SNSD’s Yoona is his ideal girl and landed himself into an awkward situation and some unknown guilt. Now when he meets Yoona at the TV stations he doesn’t quite know how to react.
The kind of loneliness that Andy experiences in real life strikes even more of a chord in people’s hearts when conveyed in his new song ‘Single Man’.
# Becoming A ‘Sexy Man’
When asked if his transformation into a ’sexy man’ will succeed, Andy said, “I don’t think I give out too much of a ’sexy man’ vibe. Rather to say that it’s a ’sexy man’ concept, it would be more apt to say that I want to show the loneliness and charisma of a single man. Actually the album was slated for a summer release but it had to be delayed. There are many parts where the recording was done when my voice wasn’t at its optimum, but it’s still an album that I made with the goal of attaining 100%.”
It has already been more than 10 years since Andy made his debut as a Shinhwa member, and he should already know the rules of showbiz very well by now. Andy said, “There’s a big difference between Shinhwa activities and solo activities. During Shinhwa activities, under the name of Shinhwa and when the 6 of us are together, we’re able to get a lot of recognition. As a solo act, I have to think of it as another starting point altogether. And it’s during solo activities that he realised, “I started to develop ambitions, thinking thatI want to achieve something in this area too. Everything that I didn’t manage to achieve in Shinhwa, I want to complete it one by one.”
Among these goals that Andy wants to achieve, is producing for a newcomer male duo Jumper. Though he has been thinking about grooming a male group, but as a Shinhwa member he didn’t have a realistic chance of doing it. Although it wasn’t as great a success as he would have liked it to be, but it was a good experience. When Shinhwa first started out they didn’t achieve immediate success either. With the test of time, Jumper will be able to have a distinct color just like how Shinhwa has theirs, and they will be able to shine even more brightly despite the initial failure. Having experienced failure himself, Andy had this advice for Jumper, “After you fail, as much as you are feeling terrible, don’t want to try again and want to give up, you should be cheering yourselves on loudly after going through that misery.”
For this round of activities, he also hopes to gain more experience by sharing the same stage with a Jumper member and a newcomer actor, and it’s this hope that forms a big part of his motivation.
Step by step Andy steadily strides forward, and I hope Andy will move straight towards his goals without losing his footing as an artiste. Not forgetting his original intentions, and it’s his dream to accelerate the run towards his goals. I feel that his dream and the promise of a brighter tomorrow will be realized.
Credits: Osen + Absolut Shinhwa
SINGLE MAN (English translation)
(lyrics taken from Mnet and translated at Absolut Shinhwa)
Ladies and gentleman let me introduce you “Single man”
Show me what you got now
Baby don’t need a lover don’t need a sweetheart wanna be a sing sing boy
Baby don’t need a lover don’t need a sweetheart wanna be a sing sing boy
Don’t you want me want me want me girl
From me, from me, don’t expect any more more more from me
Everyday my heart goes thump thump hot it girl
With with with man no no no no not anymore
What’s up baby sometimes I want to hug too
What’s up lady sometimes I want to possess too
You know baby but I’m a hot single man
You know I know free love
Baby don’t need a lover don’t need a sweetheart wanna be a sing sing boy
Baby don’t need a lover don’t need a sweetheart wanna be a sing sing boy
Out of my love love love love love
Out of my love love love love love
Out of my love love love love love
Out of my love love love love love
Don’t you tell me tell me tell me girl
To me, to me, don’t talk to me any more more more
Every day fancy fancy fancy girl
Chic chic chic man no no no no not anymore
What’s up baby sometimes I want to hug too
What’s up lady sometimes I want to possess too
You know baby but I’m a hot single man
You know I know free love
Baby don’t need a lover don’t need a sweetheart wanna be a sing sing boy
Baby don’t need a lover don’t need a sweetheart wanna be a sing sing boy
Out of my love love love love love
Out of my love love love love love
Out of my love love love love love
Out of my love love love love love
Give up now, don’t waste your time baby girl, lingering on no let let let it go
Give up now, don’t waste your time baby girl, lingering on no let let let it go
Baby lonely I’m single lonely I’m single lonely I’m a single man
Baby lonely I’m single lonely I’m single lonely I’m a single man
I need your love love love love love
I need your love love love love love
I want your love love love love love
I want your love love love love love
I got your love !!!!!
