"I'm a Loner" (; ''Oetoriya'') is a song by South Korean

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

band

CNBLUE CNBLUE ( ko, 씨엔블루) is a South Korean pop rock band formed in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong-hwa (leader, main vocals, guitar, keyboard, rap), Kang Min-hyuk ( drums), and Lee Jung-shin ( bass). First bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left t ...

. It is the debut and

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

to the band's first mini-album ''

Bluetory ''Bluetory'' is the Korean debut mini-album by South Korean pop-rock idol band CNBLUE. It was released on January 14, 2010, under FNC Music and distributed by Mnet Media. After being signed to the record label, the quartet was sent to Japan, wher ...

''. Written by Han Seong-ho and Amen, the

funk-rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and Rock music, rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters (American band), The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the r ...

track was released under

FNC Music FNC Entertainment (; stands for "fish and cake") is a South Korean entertainment company established in 2006 by South Korean singer and record producer Han Seong-ho. The label operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, ev ...

on January 14, 2010. Upon its release, CNBLUE achieved immediate commercial success; the song earned the band its first two music show wins on Korean Broadcasting System's (KBS) ''

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...

'' and Seoul Broadcasting System's (SBS) '' Inkigayo''. Unprecedented at the time, CNBLUE held the record for shortest period between debuting and earning a music show win for four and a half years. The song also peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. The composers Kim Do-hoon and Lee Sang-ho faced a lawsuit filed by

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band Ynot? two months after the release of "I'm a Loner". The band accused the two of plagiarizing one of its songs; a judge would later dismiss the charges.

Composition

"I'm a Loner" is classified as a

track. The song was written by Han Seong-ho and Amen, and composed and arranged by Kim Do-hoon and Lee Sang-ho; it is composed in the key of D minor using

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

with a tempo of 105

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. Writing for Newsen, reporter Cha Yeon described the track as a "modern funk-rock song" with an "addictive" and "strong" melody. She noted that the

guitar riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

and

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

produced a "refined charm", which offered an alternative to the hook songs of other idol groups at the time.

Release and promotion

"I'm a Loner" was made available on

online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...

s on January 14, 2010. The following day, CNBLUE began promoting the song by performing it on weekly music chart shows, beginning with KBS' ''

'' and following with SBS' '' Inkigayo''. On the January 29 broadcast of ''Music Bank'', "I'm a Loner" ranked number one on the program's music chart and earned the band its first music show win. CNBLUE won the Mutizen Song award on ''Inkigayo'' two days later, the band's second and final win. At the time, CNBLUE's win two weeks into its debut was unprecedented. It held the record for shortest amount of time to win a music show award from debut until

Winner Winner(s) or The Winner(s) may refer to: * Champion, the victor in a game or contest *The successful social class in winner and loser culture Film * ''The Winner'' (1926 film), an American silent film starring Billy Sullivan * ''The Winner'' ...

won its first music show with "Empty" on August 17, 2014, five days into its debut.

Commercial performance

On the chart dated January 10–16, 2010, "I'm a Loner" debuted at number five on the Gaon Digital Chart. The following week, it rose to its peak at number two. "I'm a Loner" ranked at number 31 on the 2010 Comprehensive Digital Top 100 chart. By the end of the year, it was the eighth best-selling song in South Korea with 2,959,800 digital downloads and ranked at number ten on the Streaming Chart for accumulating 27,564,498 streams.

Plagiarism lawsuit

In March 2010,

band Ynot? filed a civil lawsuit against Kim Do-hoon and Lee Sang-ho. In "I'm a Loner", the band accused the songwriters of plagiarizing "Bluebird" from its mini-album ''GreenApple'' (2008); Ynot? reportedly asked for in compensation. Kim and Lee denied the accusations and stated, "only one bar... is similar, but the chord progression is different, the intro part is not at all similar and main chorus melody 'Alone, alone' is completely different." Rock musician

Shin Hae-chul Shin Hae-chul (Hangul: 신해철; May 6, 1968 – October 27, 2014) was a South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer known for being a pioneer of Korean experimental rock music. He was referred to by fans as the "Demon Lord" or "The Dev ...

wrote a scathing post in response to the plagiarism accusations, saying, "If the song is not plagiarism, plagiarism will disappear in the world." He continued by criticizing the idol band, stating, "If CNBLUE is an indie band, a fly is a bird. If it's a real band, I will retire." In April 2011, a court found in favor of the songwriters and dismissed the charges of plagiarism.

Charts

Weekly

Year-end

Cover versions

"I'm a Loner" was covered by R&B singer

Kim Bum-soo Kim Bum-soo (; born January 26, 1979), is a South Korean singer who is widely considered one of the country's best vocalists. Kim debuted in 1999 with the album, ''A Promise'', and in 2001, he charted on the '' Billboard'' Hot Singles Sales cha ...

on the July 10, 2011 broadcast of MBC's singing competition program ''

I Am a Singer ''I Am a Singer'' () is a popular South Korean singing competition program; a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' lineup. Seven talented, veteran Korean singers perform for a selected audience, which votes to eliminate one singer after each week's ...

''. His version debuted and peaked at number 22 on the Gaon Digital Chart dated July 10–16, 2011. It went on to sell 632,941 digital downloads by the end of the year. Musical theatre actor

Kang Dong-ho Kim Dong-ho (born August 17, 1985) is a South Korean actor. He is mostly active in musicals. In 2005, Kim began his acting career with the musical ''A Secret Garden''. He then made his screen debut in the television series '' Twinkle Twinkle'' ...

covered the song, which was re-titled to "I'm a Loner (A Train to the World)", on the March 6, 2016 episode of ''

King of Mask Singer ''The King of Mask Singer'' () is a South Korean singing competition program presented by Kim Sung-joo, with introductions by voice actor . It airs on MBC on Sunday, starting from April 5, 2015 as a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' programming ...

''.

Charts

Weekly

Year-end

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I'm A Loner 2010 debut singles 2010 songs CNBLUE songs FNC Entertainment singles Funk rock songs Korean-language songs