"돈 돈! (Don't Don)", literally translated to "Money, Money! (Don't Don)", is an R&B/

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song (specifically SMP) written by

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer under SM Entertainment. He has produced and written songs for H.O.T., S.E.S, BoA, Shinhwa, TVXQ, CSJH The Grace, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, Shinee, ...

and Groovie K for the South Korean

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their prominent ...

, which was released in their second album, ''

Don't Don ''Don't Don'' (Korean: ) is the second studio album by South Korean boy band Super Junior. It was released by SM Entertainment on September 20, 2007 in South Korea. This is the group's first album as thirteen members, with the addition of Kyuh ...

'' on September 20, 2007. On September 21, 2007, the group made their first performance on KBS' ''Music Bank'', performing "Don't Don". The song debuted in most South Korean music charts and enjoyed success as part of the top 20 for weeks.

Song history

"Don't Don" is the first track on ''

'', a song with the music combination of

, R&B,

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

. The song debuted in the top 20 on most South Korean music charts on the second week of October. Composed, arranged and written by Yoo Young Jin, the song is a type of SMP (SM Music Performance), with the combination of heavy guitar riffs, percussion patterns, and an electronic violin solo. The song features various raps and also a solo violin performance, performed by a Canadian-Chinese

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

trainee,

Henry Lau Henry Lau (; ko, 헨리; born October 11, 1989), often mononymously referred to as Henry, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor based in South Korea and China. He debuted in 2008 as a member of Super Junior-M ...

, who was a member of

Super Junior-M Super Junior-M (stylized as SJ-M), an initialism for Super Junior-Mandarin, is a Chinese sub-unit of the South Korean boy band Super Junior. The sub-unit is the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of both ...

until 2018. "Don't Don", pronounced as ''don don'' in Korean, is a play on the words "don", (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: ), which means money, and "donda", (

: ), which means "to go insane". The lyrics speak about how money, hypocrisy, and the change of society has made the world into a twisted and greedy place to live. The lyrics urge listeners to transform the world into a place where the innocence of children can be preserved.

Music video

The dance choreography for the song were choreographed by the members of Super Junior. A mature change in dance style, which includes

pelvic thrust The pelvic thrust is the thrusting motion of the pelvic region, which is used for a variety of activities, such as dance or sexual activity. Sexual activity The pelvic thrust is used during copulation by many species of mammals, including hum ...

ing that was first introduced in their last single, " U", robotic dancing, smooth transitions, and an exclusive addition of a solo dance segment presents Super Junior's dramatic change in image. In the music video, the Super Junior members dance in a war-like environment with explosive fire and hot air surrounding them. The members are seen running away from trucks and also jumping over large cracks as if escaping from danger. The music video came out with two versions, the second version with extra shots of

, a featured artist, and a large sun hanging in the dark sky near the end of the music video. The theme of the video deals with chaos and confusion, similar to how the lyrics of the song expresses that money has made the world go crazy and become hypocritical. The theme of the video controls a dangerous habitat which sends off a dark message and warning to the audience, which is not any similar to Super Junior's previous music videos where the main theme of the song is not expressed as clearly. Henry Lau plays the violin during the dance break of the music video. Throughout most of the video, only twelve members are seen dancing to most of the choreography. Kyuhyun, due to his car accident injury, appeared only during his solo part.

Reception

"Don't Don" debuted in weak positions at most online charts. It won its first #1 recognition, the SBS ''Popular Songs'' Mutizen Song, on October 21, 2007, a month after its release. "Don't Don" won its second recognition on November 1, 2007 at M.NET's ''M!Countdown'', being the number one song of the week along with V.O.S.'s new single, "Everyday". Newsen.com
SuJu, V.O.S tear together
November 1, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007. Although the successful sales of ''Don't Don'' is reflected from the notability of the first single, "Don't Don" did not win as many achievements as the group's past single, " U".

Personnel

– executive producer *

– vocals, background vocals *

– violin *

– producer, lyrics, composition, arrangement, vocal director, voice modeling guitar, violin conductor, background vocals, recording, mixing, music and sound supervisor,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, programming *Groovie K – lyrics, composition, electric guitar,

, programming *Ba Dook – lyrics *Jeon Hoon – mastering *

Lee Soo-man Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...

– producer, violin conductor *Hwang Sung-je – recording *KAT – recording *Nam Koong-jin – recording, mixing *Yoo Han-jin –

, programming Studios *SM Booming System – recording, mixing *Sonic Korea – mastering

Controversy

The featuring of Henry Lau, a Canadian-Chinese SM Entertainment trainee who plays the electronic violin during the violin solo segment in the song, created controversies with the fan base of Super Junior. Many fans of Super Junior initially supported Henry after seeing his pre-debut live performance while dancing with the violin at Super Junior's comeback performance on September 21, 2007, but after SM Entertainment announced Henry as part of the soon-to-debut

, a new subgroup of Super Junior, fans became furious with the label for adding a fourteenth member in Super Junior. Sina.com
Super Junior-China forms next year, Hankyung and Henry core members
October 3, 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2007. Some fans begin to bash Henry and had plans to boycott SM Entertainment products. The fans even shouted "Thirteen!" during a solo performance of Henry while performing with Super Junior. However, SM Entertainment stepped up and said that Henry will not be affecting the official Super Junior, and will just be having activities with the subgroup.

Accolades

References

External links

SM Entertainment's Official Site

Super Junior's Official Site
{{authority control Super Junior songs 2007 singles SM Entertainment singles Songs written by Yoo Young-jin Korean-language songs 2007 songs