Squid Game (soundtrack)

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Squid Game
Soundtrack album by
Jung Jae-il
ReleasedSeptember 17, 2021 (2021-09-17)
GenreSoundtrack
Length71:35
Language
  • Korean
  • English
Label
Jung Jae-il chronology
Parasite
(2019) 		Squid Game
(2021) 		Broker
(2022)

Squid Game (Original Soundtrack to the Netflix Series) is the soundtrack to the Korean survival drama television series of the same name. The score for the series is composed by Jung Jae-il in his maiden television debut. While Jae-il composed most of the cues, he later collaborated with Park Min-ju and Kim Sung-soo (under the stage name "23") for additional music.[1] The album featured 21 tracks was released on September 17, 2021 by Genie Music and Stone Music Entertainment.[2][3]

Development[edit]

Jung Jae-il was first approached by the director following his critical acclaim to the score he composed for Parasite (2019). It marked his maiden television debut. Compared to feature film composition, the score for Squid Game demanded on being "bigger, longer and slightly different". Jae-il took a long time to compose the series, and to prevent the score from becoming boring, he asked the help of two other composers: Park Min-ju and Kim Sung-soo (under the stage name "23") for additional music.[4] The original score for the 9-episode series consisted a variety of musical styles and the instrumentation ranges from guitar and percussions to have a contemporary western music, with synth-rock, jazz and orchestral music, being juxtaposed with each mood of the scene.[5] Speaking to Gold Derby, Jae-il had said "the music should not be in the foreground of the scene, but at the same time, music can show something completely different to the scene".[5]

Apart from the original score, two classical music pieces were used throughout the score, depicting as the routine part of the players: the third movement of Joseph Haydn's "Trumpet Concerto" is used to wake the players, while Johann Strauss II's "The Blue Danube" is used to indicate the start of a new game.[3] Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" is also used as the background score in the VIP lounge, and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings" also play in the series.[3] A cover version of "Fly Me to the Moon",[a] arranged by Jae-il and sung by Korean artist Joo Won Shin, was used over the "Red Light, Green Light" game of the first episode. According to Joo, the showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk wanted a contrast between the brutal killing of the players in the game and the "romantic and beautiful lyrics and melody" of the song, such that the scene "embodies the increasingly polarized capitalist society that we live in today in a very compressed and cynical way".[7] Jae-il intended that the director already chose the classical pieces during the scripting process as he felt that "the music should be something that feels familiar to everyone".[8][9]

For the song "Way Back Then" that accompanies children playing Squid Game, Jung wanted to use instruments that he practiced in elementary school, such as recorders and castanets.[4] The rhythm of the song is based on a 3-3-7 clapping rhythm that is commonly used in South Korea to cheer someone on.[4] The recorder, played by Jung himself, had a slight "beep", which was unintentional.[10] "Pink Soldiers", an a cappella composed by 23, was featured throughout the series.[10] The recording of the jazz band and orchestral music was mostly done by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra featuring over 50-60 musicians, while the minimal piano and guitar portions were recorded by Jae-il himself.[11] Additional instrumentation, include the rhythming of ethnic drums in the brief moments of the game. Jae-il initially requested on using heavy metal sounds in the score, but later disapproved as it would not feel appropriate to the scenes. The percussion instruments were imported from Brazil and Senegal to create a tense score.[10][12]

Bálint Sapszon and Norbert Elek worked on the orchestration for the score, soundtrack and the classical pieces, at the Budapest Scoring Orchestra which was conducted by Péter Illényi. Sapszon and Elek stated that recording for the classical works were easier, as the compositions were written earlier and they only had to re-record the pieces.[13]

Track listing[edit]

Squid Game track listing
No.TitleMusicArtistLength
1."Way Back Then"Jung Jae-ilJung Jae-il2:31
2."Round I"Jung Jae-ilJung Jae-il1:19
3."The Rope Is Tied"Jung Jae-ilJung Jae-il3:18
4."Pink Soldiers"23230:38
5."Hostage Crisis"23232:22
6."I Remember My Name"Jung Jae-il 3:13
7."Unfolded..."Jung Jae-il 2:38
8."Needles and Dalgona"Park Min-ju 3:44
9."The Fat and the Rats"Park Min-ju 1:52
10."It Hurts So Bad"Jung Jae-il 1:13
11."Delivery"23 4:55
12."Dead End"23 5:25
13."Round VI"Jung Jae-il 5:54
14."Wife, Husband and 4.56 Billion"Jung Jae-il 4:26
15."Murder Without Violence"Park Min-ju 1:53
16."Slaughterhouse III"Jung Jae-il 8:16
17."Owe"Jung Jae-il 2:26
18."Uh..."Jung Jae-il 3:38
19."Dawn"Jung Jae-il 6:41
20."Let's Go Out Tonight"Jung Jae-il 3:27
21."Poor Boy"Jung Jae-il 1:46
Total length:71:35

Accolades[edit]

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2021
 Hollywood Music in Media Awards Score - TV Show/Limited Series Jung Jae-il Won [14]
Golden Reel Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Series 1 Hour – Comedy or Drama – Music Jae-il Jung (for "Red Light, Green Light") Nominated [15]
[16]
2022
 Baeksang Arts Awards Baeksang Arts Technical Award (Music) Jung Jae-il Won [17]
[18]
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Jung Jae-il Nominated [19]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Hwang revealed that the music figures used for the project were the ones in the gas station where he wrote the script, and that they were playing "Fly Me to the Moon", and this is why he used the music for the show.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Demeter, Robert (October 18, 2021). "What is the Music from "Squid Game" Trying to Tell Us?". Cutting Room Music. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  2. ^ "오징어게임 OST" [Squid Game OST]. Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021 – via Melon.
  3. ^ a b c Beek, Michael (October 18, 2021). "Squid Game soundtrack: what pieces of classical music are used in Squid Game and who composed the score?". BBC Music Magazine. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "'기생충' 이어 '오징어게임'까지…정재일 음악감독 "어안이 벙벙"". Dong-A. October 10, 2021. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Licuria, Rob (May 27, 2022). "Jung Jae-il ('Squid Game' composer) on the critical 'role that music should play in a scene' [Exclusive Video Interview]". GoldDerby. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  6. ^ "Squid Game Director & Cast Break Down The Red Light/Green Light Scene -Vanity Fair". youtube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Messina, Victoria (October 15, 2021). "Meet Joo Won Shin, the Korean Singer Behind Squid Game's Haunting "Fly Me to the Moon" Cover". Popsugar. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  8. ^ Planck, Lukas D. (June 16, 2022). "Composer Jung Jae-il on Squid Game Secrets". Awards Focus. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  9. ^ "Inside the Squid Game soundtrack and its unexpected taste for classical music". Classic FM. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c "소고·리코더로 '오징어 게임' 결투음악 만든 정재일"337박수가 기초"". JoongAng. September 30, 2021. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "오징어게임 OST". melon. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  12. ^ Mah, Vinnie (October 11, 2021). "This is how Squid Game Soundtrack is recorded". Vinnie Classroom. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  13. ^ "Hungarian composer scored the Squid Game show". Budapest Reporter. November 9, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  14. ^ Willman, Chris (November 18, 2021). "Hollywood Music in Media Awards Honor Billie Eilish, Hans Zimmer, Nicholas Britell, Rufus Wainwright and More". Variety. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Pedersen, Erik (January 24, 2022). "Golden Reel Awards: Sound Editors Crank Up Nominations For 69th Annual Ceremony". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  16. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (March 14, 2022). "'Dune,' 'Nightmare Alley,' 'West Side Story' Receive Sound Editors' Golden Reel Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  17. ^ Ahn Byung-gil (April 11, 2022). "58회 백상예술대상 후보 공개…영광의 주인공은?" [58th Baeksang Arts Awards nominations revealed... Who is the hero of glory?]. Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  18. ^ Kim Na-young (May 6, 2022). "OTT의 강세, '오징어 게임' TV부문 대상·'D.P.' 3관왕 (종합)[백상예술대상]" [OTT's strength, 'Squid Game' TV category, 'DP' 3 awards (Comprehensive) [Baeksang Arts Awards]] (in Korean). MK Sports. Retrieved May 6, 2022 – via Naver.
  19. ^ "'Squid Game' bags 4 awards at Creative Arts Emmys with Lee You-mi making history". Korea Times. September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
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