Korean Dramas are the OSTs that have a close connection with each other. And both are incomplete without each other. No matter how good a drama is, anyone can lose interest in completing the drama if there is no background music at all. Without good music, a good storyline can also lose its charm. You can notice one thing that all the hit dramas have some good collection of songs to provide to the audience. So without any argument, we can say it is essential for a drama to have some memorable and engaging OSTs to make the drama super hit and also to keep it alive for a long time. So here I am with a suggestion of 10 of the must-know OSTs for the beginners or top 10 KDrama OSTs of all time because the beginners can often find it difficult to choose a good OST to have a try.
Why OSTs are Essential for New KDrama Fans
So if you somehow still are not convinced about the necessity of good original soundtracks then let me try again.
A good OST is very very essential for a drama to stand out because;
- Tone Setter: Music sets the tone for real. Suppose a character is talking about a particular person or about a particular incident. Unless you hear a song you can not actually guess that the character is happy to see the other or he is just annoyed. Again when someone cries in a sense until you can get the mood of your mind you can not feel anything happy or sad in that scene.
- Character Connection: Through the background music you can not connect with a character and can not even get the emotion of a particular character. Joyful music is for a joyful person and suspenseful music depicts an evil person. So to know a character or to feel a connection with a particular character, music is very important.
- Emotional Recall: Suppose once you liked a drama very much and you know the songs of that drama too. Now after some years, if somewhere you hear one of those music or songs you surely will think about that one drama that you watched many years ago, and you will recall that drama and remember how good the drama was and how happy or sad you were watching that drama.
Top 10 OSTs Every Beginner Should Know
Here I am going to try to make an easy and simple list for the beginners who want to know about the music that once was cherished by the old fans of Kdramas.
A Short List:
The drama OSTs we are going to talk about (with movie name):
- Stay With Me – Goblin
- You Are My Everything – Descendants of The Sun
- Christmas tree – Our Beloved Summer
- Beautiful – Goblin
- Spring Snow – Lovely Runner
- You Are My Starlight – Twenty-Five Twenty-One
- Aloha – Hospital Playlist
- For You – Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
- Orbit – The King: Eternal Monarch
- Loveable – A Love So Beautiful
These are my top 10 suggestions of soundtracks for the beginners. Now let me give a brief idea about this drama.
Stay With Me
Drama: Goblin (2016)
Artist: Chanyeol (EXO) & Punch
This song is one of the most iconic drama songs ever and has a huge fan base. The drama Goblin is a fantasy drama, dealing with humans and non-humans. And this song gives that fantasy vibe through its music. Again the lyric points at the theme of past and connection and the connection of fate and destiny. There is rarely anyone who does not love this song.
You Are My Everything
Drama: Descendant of The Sun (2016)
Artist: Gummy
This song bears the declaration of the endless love of the leads. The voice of Gummy fitted perfectly with the lyrics and made it one of the most celebrated songs of the masterpiece Descendant of The Sun. You can also call it an evergreen OST of all time and also helped this drama to convey the love of the lovers to the audience.
Christmas tree
Drama: Our Beloved Summer (2021)
Artist: V (BTS)
The calm and deep voice of V of BTS presents the deep love of the couples of Our Beloved Summer. Both the lovers are different from each other in personality but when it comes to love they are the same. Both love each other from the depths of their hearts. This soft ballad showcases the love between the lovers who are for a time being not with each other but their love is still the same.
Beautiful
Drama: Goblin (2016)
Artist: Crush
This soft ballad has the whole heart of the Goblin fans. Goblin, the immortal God who waited more than 900 years for his love, meets his love but can not tell her at first sight that she is the one for whom he is waiting. The satisfaction is here that he lives under the same sky as that person whom he loves. Just living at the same time on this earth makes him happy. He thinks life is beautiful because both of them breathe the same air and look at the same sky. The words of this satisfaction are painted by Crush in this song.
Spring Snow
Drama: Lovely Runner (2024)
Artist: 10cm
This year one of the most unexpected superhits was the drama Lovely Runner. This amazing time travel drama was cherished by the fans of every level. And all of the songs of this drama are top-notch. Spring Snow is one of those masterpiece OSTs of Lovely Runner. Cause I’m falling slowly in love with you – in 10 cm’s voice will surely give you the feeling of first love, and slowly and sweetly happens.
You Are My Starlight
Drama: Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
Artist: Taeil (former NCT)
This song literally feels like a warm hug from your most cherished person. When this loving ballad came out it was trending on all the streaming platforms, and Taeil’s voice did justice to this song. This song was surely like a treat to the fans of NCT as well as the audience of the drama Twenty-Five Twenty-One. And suited perfectly with the teenage lovers.
Aloha
Drama: Hospital Playlist (2020)
Artist: Jo Jung Suk
Aloha by Jo Jung Suk is a cover of the original Aloha By the 90’ band Cool. Here in the drama, Aloha played a significant role as the themes of both the song and the drama are love, support, friendship and help. Jo Jung Suk’s warm voice blended perfectly in this song. The uplifting yet comforting song became one of the favorites of the new and old drama fans.
For You
Drama: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
Artist: CBX (EXO)
The members of the subunit of EXO Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin sang this beautiful OST. Together the balance of Chen’s powerful vocal delivery, Baekhyun’s smooth vocal and Xiumin’s soft tone made this song an evergreen one. This song sets a tranquil atmosphere which is very much enjoyed by the viewers. This song For You is mainly used to showcase the deep love and relationship of the main leads Hae Soo and the princes. As this song is perfectly blended with historical and modern sound, it was praised by the critics. This song is mostly loved and cherished by the Moon Lovers fans as well as the EXO fans.
Orbit
Drama: The King: Eternal Monarch
Artist: Hwasa (Mamamoo)
The themes of the song Orbit are destiny and connection between two people who belong to a parallel world. This melody is beyond the typical love songs. Again the royal and powerful voice of Hwasa made this melody more soulful. This song shows the beauty of the fated love story with a scene of fear of the unknown ending. To both the fans of Hwasa and the drama this song is both special and loved.
Loveable
Drama: A Love So Beautiful (2020)
Artist: SinB (Gfriend)
The whole drama is so cute and the love melody Loveable is even more cute. The female version of Loveable is sung by the member of the K-pop group Gfriend, SinB. This song also has a male version. The school love, full of crush and admiration is shown by this song. We are going to agree with the fact that high school love is always the purest and the most innocent love we ever had. The youthful theme of the drama is sweetly painted by the sweet voice of SinB. And listening to this song will melt you like butter and I am so sure about that. To be honest, hearing this song will make you think like this song is a tribute to the purest love of all time.
There is no doubt that music holds the power to describe the theme and mood of the drama. So it is always helpful to listen to a song and to understand the theme of a drama. Even if you don’t watch a drama but want to listen only to the song then you are welcome to do so, but I doubt that you can stop yourself from watching the whole drama after liking a particular song.
And this article of mine is dedicated to the OST lover and the beginners who are currently enjoying listening to and exploring new songs every day. Thank you for reading the whole article.