"Lightsaber" by EXO, Friday, October 1, 2021

As a promotion for the first Star Wars film in ten years, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Disney collaborated with South Korean boy band EXO to record a track called "Lightsaber" in three languages, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. The multi-national boy band, signed to South Korea's biggest record label, had become a worldwide phenomenon in the 2010s, thanks to strategic marketing in South Korea and China. In 2015 at the time of the song’s release, EXO was the biggest K-pop group. “Lightsaber” was released as a bonus track on the group’s fourth EP, Sing for Me, recorded in both Korean and Mandarin. The EP was their fastest selling record at the time.

I WANDERED HERE TO YOUR OUTREACHED HAND. I have an unpopular opinion. I don’t care for Star Wars. Perhaps it’s due to my religious upbringing. There was a book in my house when I was growing up about all the ways that the New Age and occult were imposing their way into the American family. Some examples were movies my family had watched—E.T., Back to the Future—but the examples from Star Wars were particularly damning: Jedis using the force and all the customs of the people living “long, long ago in a galaxy far away.” By the time I was old enough to watch the series at a sleep over just after Episode 1 came to DVD, the magic was kind of lost on me. And there is another fact I haven’t revealed up until this point. What I had been allowed to watch, just because my childhood best friend was obsessed with it, was Star Trek: The Next Generation. I ran around in the woods pretending to be on an away mission, pressing a pin on my chest, waiting for Jordy to beam us back. The boxy family Chevy van became a shuttle firing photon torpedos at Cardassians. Somehow young Anakin and Jar Jar Binks in my preteens didn’t make me want to watch the originals. And when I did, it was kind of like when Stella watched it on How I Met Your Mother. I’m definitely not being fair to what some call the crowning gem in all of cinema, but just like some listeners will never understand the merits of South Korean boy bands, I will probably never become a Star Wars fan.

FOLLOW THE BRIGHT LIGHT STRETCHING FAR AHEAD. After Disney bought Lucas Films, the company threw money into the George Lucas’s created universe. The company also vamped up production on films and television faster than the speed of a meticulous director. No longer did theatergoers have to wait three years between Star Wars installments, Disney promised something Star Wars by Christmas, yearly. And with Star Wars films, merchandise was bound to make the franchise even more lucrative. The Korean pop group EXO was an excellent choice not only for their mass appeal, but thematically, the group has explored space in their music. The group is even called EXO, which is short for Exoplanet. The hyped up production, vocal work of the group's 10 vocalists and that fast rap part, are infectious. Like many K-pop songs, it may start as a guilty pleasure and with repeated listening it may attach to the listener’s experience with Star Wars. But for me, as a non-fan of Star Wars and a K-pop listener just because it’s what you hear in Korea, I must say that K-pop can grow on you. Maybe Star Wars can too?

Lyrics: Korean Chinese English

Korean M/V: