Jimmy Strain - Human to Human

Human To Human Jimmy Strain's third commercial album, "Human to Human,' is his tribute to his father who celebrates his 'Hwangap' or sixty years of age in December 2010. In Korea, the occasion is remembered as an important landmark in a person's life. It is not surprising, therefore, that Jimmy created the album in a very Korean way. He not only uses the Korean language for all the songs listed, but also deals with subjects that portray the Korean society such as the high suicide rate, too much emphasis on people's appearance and the young 'part-timer' generation. For apparent reasons, Jimmy's songs here are easier to listen as if he is talking to his own parents, brothers and friends. They present a striking contrast to the dark, heavy metal sound of the first two albums, proving Jimmy's versatility as a singer-songwriter. 'Jimmy Strain is not giving a sermon, a lesson or an admonition. He just talks to us as one of us, as a member of the same society. He talks about many things clearly and sincerely in our language but his way of seeing and perceiving is new.' --Sung Woo-jin, popular music critic and script writer. Songs of "Human to Human" 1. Lucky - Anyone who is alive is lucky. The lucky have many things to do for the world. Even though we have not yet achieved much, let's not be frustrated but be grateful to life. The first thing we need to live well should be feeling grateful. Let's be grateful for being alive, for this luck. 2. Love Wanted - The 'part-timer generation' is called 'surplus people' or 'the highly-educated surplus.' Decent job opportunities are not the only thing the young men and women are struggling to get. They also long for someone who will love them and be loved by them. To survive and succeed in the Korean society, one is required to have the so-called good 'spec' meaning 'specialties' or a long list of educational background and experience. We all need people who will love or marry us for who we are and not for the 'spec' we have. 3. Snow White - Loving somebody is a way of loving and maturing oneself. Whether our love lasts for short or forever, we need to be sincere to the person we love. When such love is over, we ache and spend the night sleepless. Yet, in time, we will be able to cherish the memories. 4. Satellite - Children are stars their parents shoot into the sky. Children are lucky when their parents want them to live better lives than theirs. Wouldn't it be nice if those lucky children not only seek to realize their parents' unfulfilled dreams but rather to be the shiny stars for other, less fortunate children and their parents? 5. Zero - In a society where good looks, coupled with neoliberalism and yellow journalism, serve as the guiding light, ugliness is treated as a crime. Discrimination based on looks is deemed natural as discrimination against the less educated. A fad as small as a candle fire is fanned by the mass media and burns down the different taste and individuality of people. Where the 'knife-like chins' and 'stick-like nose ridge' rule, the plain faces get 'zero' respect and the word 'beauty' rings hollow. 6. Good Bye - As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and even parting can be more than pain. After bidding goodbye to someone you loved, you can feel greater freedom and enjoy life in a way different from when you were with him or her. 7. The Questions We Don't Ask - There are questions we don't ask although we are curious to know and suspicious. That is because we love that someone or because we are already happy enough without knowing the answer. 8. No. 10 - The heavy loaded routine full of tests and lessons at schools and cramming institutes blur the vision of today's youths, but some boys and girls dare to keep their eyes shining like the stars in the night sky. Those who have survived the suffocating years and joined the club of grown-ups feel sorry for the youths as they helplessly watch their load getting heavier. However, the students and the new adults are young and they still have lots of time. The world will get better and the routine will become easier to bear, and someday, all the young eyes in Korea will shine like stars. 9. The Killer Society - The Korean society used to make it's people drink alcohol and it doesn't stop there nowadays. By throwing unsolvable problems to people who don't have pretty faces or power or money, the society pushes them to the edge. More than two hundred youths at elementary and secondary schools killed themselves in 2009. In 2010, forty something people are committing suicide everyday. A society where suicide claims more lives than any other epidemic does, people pursue killings in the fashion and the stock markets, and their songs are full of scream that they would die for love. 10. You Will Find a Way - When we see people who do better at school, who have better 'spec,' who get jobs before we do, or who marry before we do, we feel we are lagging behind. Let's think the troubles we have now will become amusing memories later, because we will find ways out, the better ways, in time. 11. Mom - Mother is special not simply because she is our biological origin. The word 'Mom' means love, longing, trust and devotion. Bonus Tracks: 12. Rain - An acoustic version of the same title from Jimmy Strain's first album, 'Emotion Frequency.' 13. Fight of Fathers - An acoustic version of the same title from Jimmy's second album, 'FUTURE.'