I don’t remember when I first heard Lee Sojung’s voice. Unique, Husky, Sincere, Honest, Gentle. It would have been most likely this video of her singing “I Don’t Love you” by Urban Zakapa from YouTube and I was mesmerised. There is a strange painful and melancholic quality to her voice. She looked like she meant every word she uttered and her facial expressions just reinforced that.
Slowly I went to check out other songs she did.
She did a collab for “I don’t want” by Jung Key and it’s the same heart wrenching quality that makes you want to be honest to yourself and cry your heart out. Maybe I’m weird, but I don’t know how better to explain the feeling when I hear her sing.
One of her latest song “Better than Me” again slows you down and just like in the music video, makes you look into nothing and focus on nothing and just soak in the melancholy.
After getting all the lyrics translated, the powerful phrases made the songs immediate classics in my mind.
How does her voice have this quality? Who is she? What are her life experiences?
I set out to investigate.
Lee So-jung, one of the finalists on The Voice Korea 2012, main vocals of Ladies Code. Then I read up more about Ladies’ Code and I cried…
The band Ladies’ Code was formed by Polaris Entertainment and the band originally had 5 members. Ashley, EunB, RiSe, Sojung, Zuny. On 3 Sep 2014 the group returning to Seoul after a performance at Daegu ran into a fatal accident. The back tire of the van they were in fell out and the van ran into the wall. EunB was dead at the scene of the accident and she was 21. RiSe had 4 surgeries but doctors had to stop when her blood pressure fell and she went into a coma. 4 days later RiSe passed away, she was 23.
Sojung had major injuries as well and underwent surgery for her arm and fractured skull. Sojung reportedly apologised for her inability to continue with their current performances with Ladies’ Code when she regained consciousness not knowing that her bandmates have passed. She then suspected something when all her visitors came in black.
The other two members Ashley and Zuny did not have any major injuries, but were said to be treated for their severe shock.
How did this accident turn out so terribly horrific? The ambulance worker stated, “While saving the lives of those who were collapsed after going out to the site, I do not recall undoing any seat belts.”
*sob*
How would you feel if you were 3 of your 5 band mates that had an accident and needed surgery, but you were the only one that survived?
The accident was on 3 September 2014. Sojung’s turned 21 that fateful day.
*tissues*
A week after the tragedy, a music video for Ladies’ Code’s song “I’m Fine Thank You” was released showing Ladies’ Code having fun, working hard, and talking directly to the camera. The song had become a rallying cry by fans after the tragedy. It also became the memorial song for Ladies’ Code after the accident killed two members.
Then one year later, Ladies’ Code released “I’ll Smile Even If It Hurts”. It’s painful just to see the lyrics knowing what happened.
*breath*
Anyway, Sojung have amazing talent and I’ll continue to watch out for her music.
UPDATE
Sojung released two new songs around the 5th Anniversary of Ladies’ Code. ‘Crystal Clear’ and ‘Stay Here’.
I’m liking how her music direction is going.