“Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms (봄, 사랑, 벚꽃 말고) by High4 ft. IU, Saturday, April 2, 2022 (partial repost)

April 02, 2022

Released on April 7, 2014, High4's debut single cowritten and featuring Korea's darling singer IU, "Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms" has been a staple of K-pop for the early spring. Since I've been in the Southeastern part of Korea, the cherry blossoms (in Korean 벚꽃, Americans typically know them by their Japanese name sakura) have bloomed at the beginning of April and peaked in the first half of the month. In Korea, cherry blossoms are nature's first photo-op of the year. School is usually a little more laidback the week the pink and white blossoms peak, as everyone must quickly get photo before the delicate flowers fall.

I HAVE NO ONE TO HOLD HANDS WITH AND WALK. When I was growing up and dreaming about experiencing far away places, I thought about eating my way across Europe, seeing golden temples in Thailand or Cambodia, and experiencing the beauty of a Japanese spring. I haven't been to Japan in the spring; however, a Korean spring is quite breathtaking. The rain and gloom of mid-March gives way to the blooming of peach and plum trees, then the cherry blossoms. And while it's sad when the cherry blossoms fall, they are only the beginning of all the flowers that bloom until the cosmos in mid autumn. Before Corona, the country held cherry blossom festivals, where large groups of people gathered to walk and take pictures with the country's favorite flower. As this song mentions, the cherry blossom time is when couples are more visible, often dressed as twins in the same outfit--a Korean practice that takes place year round. It's a time when those alone may feel extra lonely, but it's also a time of realization that the youth doesn't last forever. Just as these fragile flowers last for a week, life too is pushing us forward.

IT'S JUST TOO MUCH, THIS SWEET SPRING WIND. Thanks to climate change, every year the cherry blossoms bloom a little earlier. This year Japan's peak was the "earliest since 812." Erratic weather patterns in the US threaten the blooming in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. This year, Southeast Korea bloomed earlier, but colder weather in Seoul and Gyeongi and Gangwon provinces delayed the blooming. As I was walking around in the chilly morning to the breezy afternoon, I saw green leaves were starting to dominate some of the cherry trees as not every tree peaks at the same time. It only takes a day of rain or a spring gust to obliterate the pink flowers. The transitional period of soft whitish pink to pale green is not pretty, but the once the flowers do fall the beautiful green on all the trees makes me consider changing my favorite season to spring. Winter always seems long; the snowless time brown earth is depressing. But at long last spring brings energy. It's no longer time to spend inside depressed and getting fat. No, it's time to go out and be in love and get things done.

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