Gee (Girls' Generation song)

"Gee"
Single by Girls' Generation
from the album Gee, Oh!, & Girls' Generation
Released January 5, 2009
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2008-2010
Genre K-pop, dance-pop, bubblegum pop
Length 3:20[1]
Label S.M. Entertainment
Nayutawave Records
Writer(s) Ahn Myung-won, Kim Young-deuk
Producer(s) E-Tribe
Girls' Generation Korean singles chronology
"Baby Baby"
(2008)		 "Gee"
(2009)		 "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)"
(2009)
Girls' Generation Japanese singles chronology
"Genie"
(2010)		 "Gee"
(2010)		 "Mr. Taxi"/"Run Devil Run"
(2011)
Music video
"Gee" on YouTube
"Gee" (Japanese Version) on YouTube

"Gee" is a Korean song by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation, released as the lead single from their first EP Gee on January 5, 2009. It quickly went to number one on various charts and eventually set a record for being number one on KBS's music show Music Bank for nine consecutive weeks. The music video for "Gee" has achieved more than 135 millions views on YouTube.[2] A Japanese version of the song was later released on October 20, 2010.

Background and release

"Gee" is a fast-tempo song about a girl who has fallen in love for the first time.[3] The title is supposed to be an exclamation of surprise, an expression similar to “Oh my gosh”, or more similarly, "Gee!" in English.[4] It topped the Cyworld's hourly music chart on the day of its release[5] and 6 other digital music charts within two days.[6] Girls' Generation had their first promotional activity for the song on the MBC's music show Music Core on January 10.[7] "Gee" eventually became a hit, achieving nine consecutive number one wins on the KBS's Music Bank,[8][9] and eight consecutive wins on the Mnet 's chart,[10] setting a record at the time. It was named as the "Song of the decade" by South Korea's online music website, MelOn,[11] and chosen to be the most popular song of 2009 on Music Bank.[12] The song has also won several major awards such as "Digital Daesang" and "Digital Bonsang" at the 2009 Golden Disk Awards,[13] "Daesang" and "Digital Music" awards at the 19th Seoul Music Awards,[14] and "Song of the Year" at the 7th Korean Music Awards.[15]

A Japanese version of the song was later released on October 20, 2010. It was released as the second single from the group's debut Japanese album, Girls' Generation. The song reached number one on the RIAJ's weekly digital track chart on October 26,[16] and eventually was ranked fifty-seventh and twenty-third on Billboard's 2010 & 2011 Japan Hot 100 charts, respectively.[17][18] In January 2014, "Gee" was certified "Million" by the RIAJ, achieving more than one million digital downloads.[19]

In popular culture

A parody of "Gee", called "Hee", has gained popularity among Korean citizens. It is a combination of the instrumental of "Gee" and some extremely venomous dialogue from the drama Temptation of Wife.[20]

A viral video named Showa Era Gee (Grandpa Showa era) (Gee しょうわ時代 （爺爺爺－昭和時代))) was posted on YouTube on Aug 15, 2011 featuring elderly men in a shoe shop dancing to the Japanese version of "Gee". The video was originally on SMAPxSMAP Japanese show. It was also posted on Smosh website and was reviewed by "AtomicMari" on "Smosh Pit Weekly".

The CGI movie series Dead Fantasy used the song in a music video for the series.

Music videos

Korean version

There are three full music videos for the Korean version of Gee. The video with the storyline was released on January 7, 2009. It features the girls as mannequins in a store who come to life after the employee closes and leaves the store. Shinee member Minho plays the employee. At the end of the video, the girls run away as they're mannequins and Minho comes in and looks at a work board. The dance scenes show the girls dancing in a white room wearing different colored shorts. The other two videos are dance versions of the music video. The first one shows the girls dancing in the store, without the "mannequin storyline" while the second one simply shows the girls dancing before a white background which is used in the original music video.

Japanese version

On October 6, 2010, the Japanese music video of "Gee" was released. Shinee's Minho once again plays a role, this time as a customer, of the store run by Girls' Generation. Throughout the video they dance in the shop, and instead of showing them wearing different colored shorts as they did in the Korean version, this time they wore jeans. It also has new scenes of the girls dressing up, which are in the second chorus. When Minho comes in the store the girls hear the door and they drop everything in their hands, but pick them back up and run to Minho. There are still mannequins in the video this time but they are real ones and cannot come alive. The video shows the girls hiding behind the mannequins at the very beginning.

Track listing

Japanese single:
No. TitleLyricsMusicArrangement Length
1. "Gee [ジー; Ji-]" (Japanese version)Kanata Nakamura[21]E-TribeE-Tribe[22] 3:23
2. "Gee [지; Ji]" (Korean version)E-TribeE-TribeE-Tribe 3:23
3. "Gee" (Without main vocal) E-TribeE-Tribe 3:21
Total length:
 10:05

Awards

Charts

Oricon Chart

Released Oricon Chart Peak Debut Sales Sales Total Chart Run
October 20, 2010 Daily Singles Chart 1 66,203 (weekly) 206,346 50 weeks
Weekly Singles Chart 2
Monthly Singles Chart 7
Yearly Singles Chart 49

Billboard Japan Charts

Charts Peak
position
Billboard Japan Adult Contemporary Airplay 1
Billboard Japan Hot Top Airplay 2
Billboard Japan Hot Singles Sales 2
Billboard Japan Hot 100 2
Billboard Japan Hot 100 Yearly ends 2010 [29] 57
Billboard Japan Hot 100 Yearly ends 2011 [30] 23

Other charts

Chart Peak
position
Gaon Singles Chart (Korean version) 1
Gaon 2009 Year-End Singles Charts (Korean version) 1
RIAJ Digital Track Chart 1
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Yearly Top 100 2010[31] 42
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Yearly Top 100 2011 7

Gaon Chart

Charts Peak
position
South Korea Gaon Weekly Albums Chart[32] 3
South Korea Gaon Monthly Albums Chart[32] 3
South Korea Gaon Weekly International Albums Chart[32] 3
South Korea Gaon Monthly International Albums Chart[32] 3
South Korea Gaon Yearly International Albums Chart[32] 8

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Japan (RIAJ)[33] Gold 217,136[34]
Japan (RIAJ)[35]
(ringtone)		 2× Platinum 500,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[36]
(digital)		 Million 1,000,000*
South Korea (Gaon Chart) 4,900,000+[37]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Preceded by
–		 Gaon Chart monthly number-one monthly singles
January–February 2009 		Succeeded by
"8282" by Davichi
Preceded by
"One Day" by The Rootless		 RIAJ Digital Track Chart number-one song
October 26, 2010 		Succeeded by
"Kimi tte" by Kana Nishino

See also

References

  1. ↑ Girls' Generation* - Gee (CD) at Discogs
  2. ↑ "Gee" Music Video (Korean version) SM's official YouTube channel (June 8, 2009). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ SNSD teaser released, fresh and bright charms shown (in Korean) Hankyung.com (January 3, 2009). Retrieved on December 17, 2014.
  4. ↑ Girls' Generation Has Returned! "Comeback After 9 Months, We're Excited" Interview Part 1 (in Korean) Newsen.com (January 6, 2009). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ Girls' Generation's New Song "Gee" Tops Cyworld's Hourly Chart After Release (in Korean) MoneyToday.co.kr (January 5, 2009). Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ Girls' Generation's "Gee" Does Chart "All-Kill" 2 Days After Release (in Korean) Originally from MyDaily.co.kr (January 7, 2009). Archived on April 15, 2009. Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  7. ↑ Girls' Generation comes back after 9 months "cute dance" (in Korean) Newsen.com (January 11, 2009). Retrieved on December 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ Girls Generation to Return With New Album Koreatimes.co.kr (June 15, 2009). Retrieved on January 27, 2015.
  9. ↑ Girls' Generation topped Music Bank for 9 consecutive weeks (in Korean) Newsen.com (March 13, 2009). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  10. ↑ Girls' Generation broke Mnet's record, staying at number 1 for 8 consecutive weeks (in Korean) Newsen.com (March 3, 2009). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  11. ↑ Legendary ‘Gee’ is officially ‘Song Of The Decade’ Korea.com (April 29, 2011). Retrieved on December 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ Girls' Generation's "Gee" is most popular song of 2009 on Music Bank (in Korean) Newsen.com (December 25, 2009). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  13. ↑ Half worthy awards ceremony, music fans feel bitter (in Korean) News.mk.co.kr (December 11, 2009). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  14. ↑ Girls' Generation won digital music award at Seoul Music Awards (in Korean) Newsen.com (February 3, 2010). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  15. ↑ Girls' Generation, 韩 Pop Music 'netizens selected geurupsang (in Korean) Star.mt.co.kr (March 30, 2010). Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  16. ↑ RIAJ Digital Track Chart for October 20-26, 2010 (in Japanese) Recording Industry Association of Japan (October 2010) Retrieved on October 29, 2010.
  17. ↑ Billboard's 2010 Japan Hot 100 Billboard (2010). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  18. ↑ Billboard's 2011 Japan Hot 100 Billboard (2011). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  19. ↑ Recording Industry Association of Japan's certification for January 2014 (in Japanese) RIAJ (January 2014). Retrieved on December 19, 2014.
  20. ↑ Kim, Swung-yen. ‘아내의 유혹’ 신애리, 노래 ‘hee’로 가수 데뷔? (Wife's Temptation Shin Ae-ri, Debuting as Singer with "Hee"?). Maeil Yungaburra. February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  21. ↑ "少女時代 - Gee (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  22. ↑ "Ｇｅｅ 少女時代のプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  23. ↑ (Korean) 디지털 뮤직 어워드. Cyworld. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 "유이 탁재훈 ‘제19회 하이원 서울가요대상 더블MC 맡았어요’" (in Korean). Joins!. February 3, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  25. ↑ "유이 탁재훈 ‘제19회 하이원 서울가요대상 더블MC 맡았어요’" (in Korean). Joins!. February 3, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  26. ↑ (Korean) 소녀시대, 韓대중음악상 '네티즌 선정 그룹상 (Girls' Generation, 韩 Pop Music 'netizens selected geurupsang) Money Today. March 30, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "2009 Melon Music Awards". Melon (in Korean). Loen Entertainment. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 (Korean)Golden Disk Awards: 수상자 (Golden Disk Awards Winners List). Golden Disk Awards. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  29. ↑ Japan Hot 100 2010 yearly ends
  30. ↑ Japan Hot 100 : Mar 31, 2013 - (Chart position) | Billboard Chart Archive
  31. ↑ "レコード協会調べ 2009年12月16日～2010年12月14日「着うたフル(R)」 2010年有料音楽配信「年間チャート」（通称：レコ協チャート）" [Record Association Analysis: December 16, 2009 – December 14, 2010 Full-length Cellphone Download 2010 paid digital sales "Yearly Chart" (Abbreviated: RIAJ Chart)] (PDF). RIAJ. December 20, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 (Japanese)"Album Ranking Aggregate (16/10/201 -22/10/2011)" (in Korean). Gaon. January 16, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2011.
  33. ↑ "Japanese certifications – 少女時代 – Gee" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  34. ↑ "2010年　シングル年間TOP100" [Oricon Single Top 100 2010]. Oricon. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  35. ↑ レコード協会調べ　4月度有料音楽配信認定＜略称：4月度認定＞ [Record Association report: April digital music download certifications (Abbreviation: April Certifications)]. RIAJ (in Japanese). May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  36. ↑ レコード協会調べ　1月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：1月度認定＞ [Record Association report: February 2014 digital music download certifications (Abbreviation: 2013 Certifications)]. RIAJ (in Japanese). February 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  37. ↑ "KOREAN DIGITAL SALES". Gaon Chart. Tumblr. January 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.

External links