The Soulful Countdown to G.O’s Discharge ~ Day 331

As we near on the one year mark of G.O’s service, I have been wondering if I should do anything different for the final days here on the Countdown. I thought about scaling back a little and really making it simpler – as was my original plan until the series took on a life of its own. I keep telling myself that any little bit will still be amazing since, well…it’s G.O! So I think my best option is to just go with the flow and let the series decide ~ let the inspiration that G.O gives to me continue to be the barometer that dictates what I do and how I honor him during 2017, and that last month and two weeks in 2018. Sounds like a good plan, right? For today, Day 331, it’s a Fan-Camming Friday and I wanted a cam that was a little more recent. My choice is some G.O-focused Mirror from MBLAQ’s June 2015 Showcase.

I still have so many emotions when I look back at the release of Mirror, of seeing G.O at the showcase and hearing the newly configured trio perform songs from the album. I love the title track and believe it showcases the vocal acuity of both G.O and Seung Ho perfectly. Each has a tone and quality in his voice that is so very different from the other yet so complimentary. And yes, everyone knows how much I love it when Mir raps gently yet with purpose. But there is so much to be said about his powerful, defiant raps such as the one in Mirror.

Even when it seems as if Seung Ho is the one telling the tale of a fractured relationship, the broken trust, stoically trying to pretend that nothing is wrong while still wearing the sadness that is inexplicably evident and impossible to hide, it is G.O who lets the pain of the tale rip through him like knife,. Accusatory and seeking understanding, he is unable to hide or disguise the pain, 아파 나는 어떻게 [It hurts so much, what do I do?]. For me, G.O has always been an artist who has never shied away from letting pain and sadness find its way into his art. Sometimes from sadness and the most painful heartbreak, beautiful art is born. This is how I feel about Mirror.

I think back upon that evening and am so proud of my tender and courageous bias. The year that brought him to that moment was filled with much sadness, doubt and maybe apprehension. But I can only hope that it was the music (and maybe the love of the fans) that kept G.O strong and equally cognizant of the knowledge and truth that the amazing gift of his incredible talent perhaps healed himself as much as it healed all of us.