"I Love You" () is a ballad song performed by South Korean idol singer Taeyeon as the main

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for the 2010 action-drama television series '' Athena: Goddess of War'' and the main title track for its soundtrack album. It was released as a digital single on December 13, 2010, under the record label of

S.M. 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 ...

Production and background

"I Love You" was composed and written by Korean music producer Ahn Youngmin, who is known for producing many ballad songs for various

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

artists including T-ara,

Davichi Davichi () is a South Korean pop duo formed in 2008. The duo consists of vocalists Lee Hae-ri and Kang Min-kyung. Their name, "Davichi", is derived from the Korean phrase "shining over everything" ( 다 비치). The duo has released three studi ...

and SeeYa among others. Taeyeon had collaborated with the producer before on her previous single "Like a Star" for which Ahn had provided the lyrics and singing advice. For "I Love You", Ahn composed, wrote the lyrics for, and arranged the song. The song was used as the main theme song for the love-hate relationship between the lead characters Lee Jung-woo (portrayed by Jung Woo-sung) and Yoon Hye-in (

Soo Ae Park Soo-ae (; born 16 September 1979), known mononymously as Soo Ae, is a South Korean actress best known for portraying Kim In-hae in the 2013 film ''The Flu'' and Oh Soo-yeon in the 2018 film ''High Society''. Soo Ae began her career on telev ...

) of the action-drama television series '' Athena: Goddess of War''. According to South Korean music portal site ''

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'', the song is "a blend of

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and a 50-piece orchestra" and the lyrics describe the feelings of a woman trying to grab hold of her lover who is breaking up with her, confessing her deep love for him in the process.

Release

"I Love You" debuted as the ending theme song for '' Athena: Goddess of War'' when the show started airing its run on SBS on December 13, 2010. On the same day, the song was released as an A-side and B-side single and made available for music download on various music portal sites such as

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, Daum, Melon,

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, Bugs, Genie and Monkey3. The instrumental version was also included in the single. "I Love You" was the first song of the series' soundtrack to be unveiled and released for download. Later, the song was also included as the title track in the original soundtrack and score album of the series, released in physical CD format on February 11, 2011. All releases were marked under the record label of

Music videos

Two accompanying music videos for "I Love You" were released, though neither was filmed specifically for that purpose and contained only a compilation of various scenes from the television drama series ''Athena: Goddess of War''. The first music video was released on December 10, 2010, three days prior to the release of the actual single and first broadcast of the series itself. It was uploaded on the official channel of

on YouTube and featured a summary outlook of the entire series that revolved around the tragic love and betrayal relationship between the two lead characters, Lee Jung-woo (portrayed by Jung Woo-sung) and Yoon Hye-in (portrayed by

), and their eventual reconciliation. Due to the unexpected popularity that the series and the song itself enjoyed after debut, a second special music video, subtitled "Highlight of SBS 'ATHENA: Goddess of War'", was aired and uploaded on the same channel on December 16, 2010. The video featured various scenes from the series that revolved around the interactions between Lee Jung-woo and his co-worker Han Jae-hui (portrayed by Lee Ji-ah) as well as their confused feelings for each other.

Chart performance

Live performances

Taeyeon performed "I Love You" live in front of a combined audience of around 50,000 during concerts at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo and Osaka-Jo Hall in Osaka on January 5 and 9, 2011 respectively. The Japanese leg of the tour was aimed for the promotion of the television series in

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which started airing in the country on November 30, 2010. Although her fellow

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...

members were unable to attend due to busy schedules, her label-mates

BoA Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

, TVXQ,

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 ...

and Shinee as well as the cast and crew of the series were present.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

"I Love You"
at

{{authority control 2010 singles SM Entertainment singles Korean-language songs Taeyeon songs 2010 songs