"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. The group is composed of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. Han Geng, Kibum, and ...

. It was released as a

digital single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

on March 9, 2009, and was later included as the title single in the group's third studio album, '' 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", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

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.

Composition

"Sorry, Sorry" was written by

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer formerly 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' Generatio ...

, who wrote " Don't Don", the title track of Super Junior's second album '' Don't Don''. 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 an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. 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 ...

and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

, stimulated with a heavy electronic beat that is the genre of "urban minimal funky", which is remarkably different than the band's previous releases. The lyrics revolve around a guy apologizing for his undying love for the girl. The song is composed in the key of

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 130 beats per minute.

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 Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

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, and to the north is Pocheon. Namyangju was originally a southern part of Yangju-gun, but was separated into Namyangju-gun in April ...

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 Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

, 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 Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Reception

"Sorry, Sorry" peaked at number 1 on Mnet's ''M! Countdown'' chart in just a week. "Sorry, Sorry" achieved its first recognition as the number 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 ''Inkigayo'' 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 number 6 in an international countdown by

Myx Myx (, stylized as MYX or myx and pronounced as ''mix'') is a Philippine pay television channel based in Quezon City and owned by Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. The channel is targeted to youth audiences and pri ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. 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 number 1.

Music video and promotion

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 website 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 a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen pres ...

ted music video with an

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

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 in all caps 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 ' ...

'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 (emblem), seal which, after melting, hardens quickly (to paper, parchment, ribbons and wire, and other material), forming a bond that is difficult to break without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify ...

. 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 (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, which debuted in 2005. He later became ...

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 singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and television host. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Super Junior and its subgroups Super Junior-T an ...

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, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

. 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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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 ha ...

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'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...

'', ''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, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, on May 1, 2009, at the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary ...

. 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 jou ...

'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.

Covers

"Sorry, Sorry" has been covered multiple times by other K-pop groups, including on Korean television during special stages and at concerts.

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-piec ...

covered the song on the 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. I ...

'', while Jessica and Tiffany 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. Girls' Generation and

f(x) F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

additionally covered the song 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 ...

''.

Exo Exo (; 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 Zhang, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen (singer), Chen, Chanyeol, ...

covered the song on the March 8, 2014 broadcast of ''

'', which marked the 400th episode in the show's history. Seventeen performed "Sorry, Sorry" on the September 12, 2015, edition of ''Show! Music Core'' while NCT performed it on the August 16, 2016, edition of ''

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

''. At KCON 2017 in Los Angeles, SF9 and

Cosmic Girls WJSN (; ), also known as Cosmic Girls, is a South Korean girl group formed by Starship Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment. The group is composed of ten members: Seola (singer), Seola, Bona (singer), Bona, Exy, Soobin, Luda (singer), Luda, ...

covered the song.

Loona Loona (stylized in all caps or as LOOΠΔ; ; , ) is a South Korean girl group created by Blockberry Creative. The group is composed of eleven members: Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul, Vivi, Yeojin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves (singer), Yves, Go Won ...

covered it on the March 5, 2020 broadcast of ''

''. N.SSign performed a rock version of the song during Idol Radio Live in Japan concert on April 1, 2023.

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 Korean people, 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 Korea women's nation ...

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 FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

danced to "Sorry, Sorry" after he scored a goal in a match against

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam Football Club () is a South Korean professional football club based in Seongnam that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. It is one of the most successful clubs in South Korea and the Asian Football Conf ...

2009 K League The 2009 K League was the 27th season of the K League. It was held from 7 March to 6 December 2009, and a total of 15 teams contested, including newly formed Gangwon FC. Teams General information Managerial changes Foreign players Regula ...

. 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 (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

made up of

South Korean Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...

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 Lines Co., Ltd. (KAL; ) is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. It is owned by the Hanjin, Hanjin Group. The present-day Korean Air tra ...

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

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

: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 ''Star King'' (also published as ''The Star King'') is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the first in his Demon Princes series. It tells the story of a young man, Kirth Gersen, who sets out to track down and avenge himsel ...

''. In the

, a video clip of inmates, known as the CPDRC Dancing Inmates, from the

Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) is a jail facility in Cebu, in Cebu Province, Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southea ...

dancing to "Sorry, Sorry" went viral after it was uploaded on YouTube. The drama '' The City Hall'' which aired on

SBS TV SBS TV (Seoul Broadcasting System Television) is a South Korean free-to-air television channel operated by Seoul Broadcasting System. The channel was launched on 9 December 1991. Unlike competing network MBC, SBS operates using a federalized ...

has the song incorporated in its final episode, with the main characters performing the song's choreography while participating in a city festival.

Accolades

Credits

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. Studio * SM Booming System –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, mixing * Sonic Korea – mastering Personnel *

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

–

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

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 entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred to as the "p ...

– producer *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

– producer, Korean lyrics,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, vocal directing, background vocals, recording, mixing * C.Close – Japanese lyrics * Jeon Hoon – mastering

Release history

References

External links

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