[OST Corner] It’s Almost Paradise: Exploring the Best Music Soundtracks

We had so much fun talking about OSTs that we’re starting a new series, so please join in if you enjoy chatting about the good, the bad, and the ugly, of K-drama OSTs.

It seems impossible to launch any article, series, or conversation on OSTs without starting with the Before Before Flowers soundtrack. Is there anything quite like the opening bars of “Almost Paradise”? It might not have been iconic back in 2012, but it certainly is now. In fact, I’d argue the entire OST is. From the weird 80s melodies in “Something Happened To My Heart” and “Stand By Me” to the twinkley “Because I’m Stupid” and the ballad to “Fight The Bad Feeling”… if you get me swaying to the beat, you know you’ve done something right.

My standard for a great OST is that it becomes equivalent to the drama itself, and that’s exactly how I feel about this one. I can’t imagine the drama without these songs — from the opening credits to the big drama moments that scream OST. A great OST also captures the tone of the drama, and I think this is actually the harder feat to pull off. Any drama can add in that soapy ballad during a scene where you need just a little more drama, but it’s not every day that an OST matches its drama pitch-perfectly. (Some dramas that did this for me are Happiness, Cheese in the Trap, and Yumi’s Cells — each dramas with their own vibe that was captured perfectly by their soundtracks.)

But getting back to Boys Before Flowers, I think the thing I love most about this OST is that it aged concurrent with the drama — i.e., quickly and not well — and that is why it’s so terribly precious, and makes me feel things. Dramas don’t look like this anymore, OSTs don’t sound like this anymore, and while that’s probably (mostly) a good thing, it also floods me with a huge wave of nostalgia. Which, no lie, is what I want when I’m listening to an OST anyway.