"Irony" is the debut single by South Korean girl group

Wonder Girls Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into th ...

, written and produced by

Park Jin-young Park Jin-young (Hangul: 박진영; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show ju ...

. It was released as the lead single from their debut album ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age situation comedy, comedy/Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol L. Black, Carol Black. It ran on American Broadcasting Company ...

'' on February 13, 2007, through

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...

. The song was released as a

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, " In the Summertime" was t ...

titled ''The Wonder Begins'' with two B-side tracks: "Bad Boy", "It's Not Love", as well as a remix version of "Irony". "Irony" became one of their biggest hits in South Korea. An accompanying music video was also released and shows

Sohee So-hee, also spelled So-hui, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 45 hanja with the reading " so" and 24 hanja with the reading " hee" on the South Korean government's ...

Yeeun Ye-eun, also spelled Ye-un, is a Korean feminine given name. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 55 hanja with the reading "''ye''" and 30 hanja with the reading "'' eun''" on the South Korean ...

Sunmi Lee Sun-mi (born Sun Mi on May 2, 1992), known mononymously as Sunmi (stylized as SUNMI), is a South Korean singer, dancer, songwriter and record producer. She debuted in 2007 as a member of South Korean girl group Wonder Girls and left the gr ...

and

Hyuna Kim Hyun-ah (born June 6, 1992), better known by the mononym Hyuna (stylized HyunA), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and model. She debuted as a member of the girl group Wonder Girls in February 2007. After leaving the ensemble sho ...

's revenge on Sunye's unfaithful boyfriend by using a

voodoo doll The term Voodoo doll commonly describes an effigy into which pins are inserted. Such practices are found in various forms in the magical traditions of many cultures around the world. Despite its name, the dolls are not prominent in Haitian Vodo ...

to embarrass him. It marks their only release to feature member Hyuna, who left the group in July 2007.

Versions

"Irony" was pre-released on

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

on February 6, 2007. The original studio version featuring the original line-up (Min Sunye, Park Yeeun, Lee Sunmi, Kim Hyuna and Ahn Sohee) is available on the Wonder Girls' debut extended play ''

The Wonder Begins "Irony" is the debut single by South Korean girl group Wonder Girls, written and produced by Park Jin-young. It was released as the lead single from their debut album ''The Wonder Years'' on February 13, 2007, through JYP Entertainment. The song w ...

'' and their debut studio album ''

''. The song was later re-recorded for the Japanese release of their greatest hits album ''WonderBest'' and features the line-up consisting of Min Sunye, Park Yeeun, Ahn Sohee, Kim Yubin and

Woo Hyerim Woo Hye-rim (born September 1, 1992), known professionally as Hyerim or Lim, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and songwriter known for her work as a former member of South Korean girl group Wonder Girls. Early life Woo Hye-rim was born on Se ...

, with former members' vocals removed.

Critical reception

Popular music critics Jeong Seong-ha, Han Dong-yoon, Yoon Jee-hoon of Korean

web magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer mag ...

'' IZM'' gave "Irony" rather unfavorable reviews, pointing out the lack of innovation within the song's production as similar musical tendencies of Park Jin-young have already been heard through works of various older artists including

g.o.d Groove Over Dose, known by the acronym g.o.d (), is a South Korean boy band formed by SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to solo careers in t ...

and

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced for "Irony" to promote the song. Wonder Girls showed the first live performance of "Irony" at the MBC TV series ''

Music Core Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

'' on February 10, 2007. The video begins by showing

lying on the floor in a phone conversation,

petting a dog,

applying

nail paint Nail polish (also known as nail varnish or nail enamel) is a lacquer that can be applied to the human fingernail or toenails to decorate and protect the nail plates. The formula has been revised repeatedly to enhance its decorative properties ...

and

in the upper

bunk bed A bunk bed is a type of bed in which one bed frame is stacked on top of another, allowing two or more beds to occupy the floor space usually required by just one. They are commonly seen on ships, in the military, and in hostels, Dormitory, dor ...

listening to music. Then Sunye, who shows a depressed expression, enters the house. Her groupmates sit around her and Sunye starts singing about the problems with her cheating boyfriend. Sunmi then locates him through their computer, Sohee activates a satellite dish for further remote surveillance and Hyuna uses a

to embarrass him in front of his new girlfriend. The girls later enter the club in which he is with his friends and face them. Sunye them blows him away and he falls down the wall. Video ends by girls laughing at him and walking away.

Track listing

Charts and sales

The chart positions are based on data from Music Industry Association Korea. Unlike

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', the charts are released monthly, not weekly.

Monthly charts

Yearly charts

Sales

References

External links

"The Wonder Begins"
at

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

Music {{DEFAULTSORT:Irony 2007 debut singles JYP Entertainment singles Korean-language songs Wonder Girls songs 2007 songs Songs written by Park Jin-young