"Sorry, Sorry" () is a song performed by South Korean boy band

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 ...

. It was released as a

digital single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

on March 9, 2009, and was later included as the title single in the group's third studio album, ''

Sorry, Sorry Sorry, Sorry may refer to: * ''Sorry, Sorry'' (album) , a 2009 album by Super Junior ** "Sorry, Sorry" (Super Junior song), from the 2009 album ''Sorry, Sorry'' * "Sorry, Sorry" (Femi Kuti song), from the 1998 album ''Shoki Shoki'' *"Sorry Sorry", ...

'', released on March 12, 2009. This song was Super Junior's comeback single as a complete group since their subgroup activities in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in 2008. It was Super Junior's most successful single on the music charts, winning a total of 10 recognitions during the song's promotional period.

Music

"Sorry, Sorry" was 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, ...

, who wrote "

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 ...

", the title track of Super Junior's second album ''

''. Yoo reportedly wanted create a song which is both equally fun and easy to listen. The song is a "polished and trendy"

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song, with influences of American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

, stimulated with a heavy electronic beat that is the genre of "urban minimal funky", which is remarkably different than the band's previous releases.

Music video

The music video was filmed from February 28 to March 1, 2009. A 30-second teaser of the video was released on Super Junior's official iple site on March 6, 2009, and the complete video was released on March 13, the same day as Super Junior's comeback performance on KBS's ''Music Bank''. The video was SM Entertainment's first

anamorphic format Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...

ted music video with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Throughout most of the video, only eleven members are seen dancing to most of the choreography, although the video does include all thirteen members of Super Junior.

Heechul Kim Hee-chul (; born July 10, 1983), better known mononymously as Heechul, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior and has further participated in its subgroup Su ...

appears to be in the dance towards the end of the video, and Kibum only appears in solo shots. The music video was published on

SMTOWN SM Town (stylized as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live '08 Asia tour ...

's YouTube Channel on June 7, 2009. The video starts off with an experimental scene, a woman's eye peeping through a key hole. She then pulls up her skirt, exposing her legs, and Super Junior member Kibum blindfolds himself; a small flame is burning an enclosed envelope, which is sealed with

sealing wax Sealing wax is a wax material of a seal which, after melting, hardens quickly (to paper, parchment, ribbons and wire, and other material) forming a bond that is difficult to separate without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify something su ...

. The woman then touches her lips and pulls off her pearl necklace. This scene is then engulfed to blackness and zooms to Super Junior, who are seen posing side by side in front of a white screen.

Han Geng Han Geng (Chinese: 韩庚; Pinyin: Hán Gēng; ) (born February 9, 1984) is a Chinese Mandopop singer and actor. He started his career in 2001, when he was chosen by S.M. Entertainment to become a member of South Korean boy band Super Junior, ...

leads the group into a gentle sliding pose, and then they start dancing. In the song's dance bridge the members are tutting, with

Eunhyuk Lee Hyuk-jae (born April 4, 1986), better known by his stage name Eunhyuk, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer and television host. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Super Junior and its subgroups Super Junior-T and ...

in the lead. The whole music video is in black and white. The dance is choreographed by Nick Bass as well as Trent Dickens, who is known for working with international stars like Usher and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

. Another music video which focused on the song's choreography was released on April 3, 2009. The original music video surpassed 100 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in December 2018. On October 5, 2022, the original MV was officially remastered into 4K high-quality.

Promotion

Super Junior's members

Leeteuk Park Jeong-su (born July 1, 1983), known professionally as Leeteuk (), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter, radio personality and actor. He debuted as the leader of the boy band Super Junior in November 2005 and since then has part ...

and

first revealed the key point of "Sorry, Sorry" choreography in ''

Kiss The Radio Kiss the Radio is a popular radio program broadcast on KBS Cool FM, airing from 22:10 to 00:00 KST every day. History ''Kiss the Radio'' began broadcasting in 2004 with singer-rapper Danny Ahn of first-generation boy band g.o.d as its first D ...

'' on March 6, 2009, ahead of its release. Member Kibum did not participate in the promotional activities. Super Junior performed "Sorry, Sorry" on the music programs ''

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 ...

'', ''Music Core'', and ''Popular Songs'' three times a week, starting March 13, 2009. On March 13, they performed the song live at ''

''. Promotional performances lasted for two full months, with the last performance carried out on May 16, 2009, on ''Music Core.'' The first overseas performance of "Sorry, Sorry" was in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, on May 1, 2009, at the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

. The single was also featured on

Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid p ...

's blog. They also performed the song at the 20th Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, after becoming the only foreign act invited to the ceremony.

Reception

"Sorry, Sorry" peaked at #1 on M.NET's ''M!Countdown'' chart in just a week. "Sorry, Sorry" achieved its first recognition as the #1 song of KBS's ''Music Bank'' monthly pop chart on March 27, 2009, after only two weeks in the charts. The single won again for the April pop chart, and had two consecutive wins on the weekly pop chart in the first two weeks of May. "Sorry, Sorry" also won Mutizen song at SBS's ''Popular Songs'' for three consecutive weeks, earning a "Triple Crown" for the first time in the group's career. The single also became a song of the week on Mnet's ''M! Countdown'' on April 9 and 23, although Super Junior was not present at the program to receive their awards. "Sorry, Sorry" remained within the top 10 in Mnet's music chart for another 12 weeks. The song was also successful in the Philippines; peaking at #6 in an international countdown by

MYX Myx (, stylized as MYX or myx) is a Philippine pay TV channel based in Quezon City, owned by Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. The channel is targeted to youth audiences and primarily airs music videos. It was intr ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It was influential in increasing sales of 50 Cent's "Many Men" single. Super Junior also dominated Taiwan's radio channel 'Hit Fm' released the 100 singles chart for 2009, ranking #1.

Cultural impact

The song's dance routine has been performed many times. In April 2009, a professional volleyball player,

Kim Yeon-koung Kim Yeon-Koung (, ; born 26 February 1988) is a South Korean professional volleyball player and a former member of the FIVB Athletes' Commission. She is an outside hitter and the former captain of the South Korean National Team. She announc ...

from Heungkuk Life announced that if her team won the 2008–2009 NH Nonghyup professional volleyball championship, they will perform the dance routine of "Sorry, Sorry". Heungkuk Life ultimately wins the championship and its players danced to the song at the award ceremony on April 12, 2009. A football player, Kim Seung-yong who played for FC Seoul danced to "Sorry, Sorry" after he scored a goal in a match against

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

in 2009 K League. Basketball players also danced to the song at the 2008–09 Dongbu Promy Professional Basketball season awards ceremony, which marked the end of the season in professional basketball league. On May 4, 2009, the

honor guard A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

made up of

South Korean Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ko, 대한민국 공군; RR: ''Daehanminguk Gong-gun''), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the aerial warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of N ...

danced to "Sorry, Sorry" and " Gee" ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony of Airforce Museum at Sanjicheon, Jeju City. In the same month, employees of

Korean Air Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights. The present-day Korean Air ...

formed a parody group called ''Jikjjangin Super Junior'' (

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 ** ...

:직장인 슈퍼주니어, ). They performed "Sorry, Sorry" choreography at the Kalman Small Concert, an in-house concert held at Korean Air's headquarters on May 15, and subsequently released its music video online. The music video gained the attention of SBS's producers, and the group was invited to perform at the reality television show '' Star King''. In

, a video clip of inmates, known as the

CPDRC Dancing Inmates CPDRC Dancing Inmates or the CPDRC dancers is a collective of prison inmates in Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a maximum security prison in Cebu, in Cebu Province, Philippines where the prisoners perform dance routin ...

, from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center dancing to "Sorry, Sorry" went viral after it was uploaded on YouTube.

Personnel

– main and background vocals *

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, executive producer *

– song lyrics, composition, arrangement, background vocals, vocal producer and trainer

Accolades

Sorry Sorry-Answer

Following the success of Super Junior's second Asia Tour, Super Show 2, a live album titled '' Super Show 2 Tour Concert Album'' was recorded at the concerts held in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

from July 17–19, 2009, and released on December 10, 2009. Included in the album is a studio version of "Sorry Sorry-Answer", an R&B remix of "Sorry, Sorry", which was digitally released ahead of the album's release on December 9, 2009. A music video for "Sorry Sorry-Answer" was released on the next day. The music video was directed by Chun Hyuk-jin and was filmed in

Namyangju Namyangju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. To the east is Gapyeong County, to the west is Guri City, and to the north is Pocheon City. Namyangju-si was originally a southern part of Yangju-gun, but was separated into Namyangju-gun ...

in August 2009. The song was performed live by Super Junior-K.R.Y. on September 2–4, 2011 in front of 150,000 audiences at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

, Japan, and on October 23, 2011, at the sold-out concert at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, New York during the

SM Town Live '10 World Tour SM Town Live '10 World Tour was the 2010–11 worldwide live concert tour by SM Town. The tour commenced with one show in Seoul in August 2010 and continued on to the United States, Japan, China and France. Background SM Town is the name fo ...

. Besides Super Show 2, the band also performed the song during their concert tour Super Show 8: Infinite Time which was held starting October 2019 until its cancellation due to the outbreak of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Personnel

: ** Main and backing vocals:

Yesung Kim Kang-hoon (born Kim Jong-woon; August 24, 1984), better known by his stage name Yesung is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, radio personality and television presenter. He debuted in 2005 as a member of Super Junior and its subgroup ...

Ryeowook Kim Ryeo-wook (born June 21, 1987), better known by the mononym Ryeowook, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and musical actor. He is best known as a member of boy group Super Junior and its subgroups, Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Junior-M ...

, Kyuhyun ** Rap and backing vocals:

, Donghae ** Backing vocals:

Kangin Kim Young-woon (born January 17, 1985), better known by his stage name Kangin (lit. meaning: "strong benevolence"), is a South Korean former singer, actor, television host and radio personality. He is best known as a former member of Super Jun ...

Shindong Shin Dong-hee (born September 28, 1985), better known by his stage name Shindong (lit. meaning: "prodigy"), is a South Korean rapper, singer, dancer, host, radio personality and video director. He is best known as a member of Super Junior and i ...

, Sungmin,

Siwon Choi Si-won (; born 7 April 1986), known mononymously as Siwon, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, model, and actor known for his work as a member of South Korean boy group Super Junior. Choi committed as special representative of UNICEF K ...

- executive producer *

, Donghae - rap lyrics *

- song lyrics, composition, arrangement, vocal director, digital editor, background vocals * Yoo Han-jin - arrangement, mixing, digital editor *

SM Studios SM Studios (; also stylized in all caps) is a South Korean holding company wholly owned by SM Entertainment. It was established after SM restructured its affiliates to focus on its music business. The company manages drama, entertainment, and fi ...

- studio recording, mastering and mixing

Covers

"Sorry, Sorry" has been covered multiple times by other K-Pop groups, including on Korean television during special stages and at concerts: * By

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 ...

twice: ** By the entire group on August 8, 2009, edition of ''

Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. ...

''. ** By Jessica and Tiffany, who covered Heechul's and Kangin's dance parts respectively in a video sketch called ''The Secret of "Gee"'', shown before Super Junior's "Gee" cover at Super Show 2. ** With F(x) at the 2009

SBS Gayo Daejeon ''SBS Gayo Daejeon'' (, broadly ''SBS'' '' Battle of the Bands'') is an annual televised music festival that is broadcast by the Seoul Broadcasting System at the end of each year. The program first aired in 1997, and awards were given to musica ...

. * By

EXO Exo ( ko, 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...

on March 8, 2014, edition of ''

'', which marked the 400th episode in the show's history. * By

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

on September 12, 2015, edition of ''Show! Music Core''. * By NCT on August 16, 2016, edition of ''

M! Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

''. *By

SF9 SF9 ( ko, 에스에프나인 ; shortened from Sensational Feeling 9) is a South Korean boy band formed by FNC Entertainment and the company's first dance boy group. Consisting of nine members, the group debuted on October 5, 2016 with the relea ...

and

Cosmic Girls WJSN (; ), also known as Cosmic Girls, is a South Korean girl group formed by Starship Entertainment. The group debuted on February 25, 2016, with the extended play '' Would You Like?'' and with twelve members: Seola, Xuanyi, Bona, Exy, Soo ...

at KCON 2017 LA. *By

Loona Loona (commonly stylized in all caps or as LOOΠΔ; ; ja, 今月の少女, Kongetsu no Shōjo, Girl of the Month) is a South Korean girl group formed by Blockberry Creative. The group was introduced to the public through a pre-debut project t ...

on March 5, 2020, on

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

References

External links

Super Junior official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorry, Sorry (Song) Super Junior songs 2009 singles SM Entertainment singles Korean-language songs Black-and-white music videos Songs written by Yoo Young-jin 2009 songs