K-Drama Music: Memorable Instrumental OSTs

I’m sure you’re thinking; "Haven’t we done that before? Why do these writers keep giving us OST lists? Aren’t they smart enough to come up with better topics?" The answer is sure you’re right, but can we really have enough great music?


As for me, the answer is no, and the evidence is I keep humming some of these instrumentals when I’m doing the dishes or say, studying for my finals (which I am supposed to be doing now :P).

If anything, instrumental pieces prove that music is a universal language. I find it absolutely amazing how instrumental OST’s speak volumes about what’s happening and how everyone’s feeling in particular scenes. Plus, when I listen to one of them after I finish watching a drama, it brings back memories of the exact feelings I experienced when watching. It’s like they carry all the emotional feels of a scene.

That’s why I decided to share a list of some of my favorite instrumental OSTs. Needless to say, I’m not a music expert and the choices are based on the pieces that I actually remember and the dramas I’ve seen :)

 

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"Hang Ah’s Dream" - King 2 Hearts


Just like a luscious dream, the music flows creating bubbles of loveliness in my heart. This piece played whenever Lee Jae Ha and Kang Hang Ah shared a lovely moment that seemed just like a fairy-tale dream to both Hang Ah and me.  






"Memories of the Day" - Flower Boy Next Door


Much like its name suggests, this piece played whenever the FBND’s female protagonist sat at her desk to review the events of her day. I think I love this piece because it reminds me of those silent moments in the drama, when we were invited to Dok Mi’s thoughts and emotions. It’s also the time that the theme of each episode was revealed.






"Good Man" - Innocent Man


I love this piece. Perhaps, even more than I love the drama itself. It played whenever we saw Maru suffer from languishing pain,  and when we saw him torture himself with guilt and revenge thoughts. So, it does ultimately remind me of misery but also of Song Joong Ki’s adorable face (yay). Nevertheless this piece is absolutely STUNNING. It envelops revenge, pain, and love in each tune. 





 
"Late Autumn" - Innocent Man


Okay, so I actually love a lot of Innocent Man’s instrumentals. On a side note, I think this drama has one of the most beautiful instrumentals ever. Actually, when you come to think of it, the characters of this drama didn’t speak much - especially Maru. We weren’t even invited into his thoughts that often. So the director relied on music to give us the impression of what the characters feel. This one reminds me of Eun Gi and her love story and all the pain she went through.







"Gaksital’s Theme" - The Bridal Mask


We move to epic instrumentals now. This piece is just AWESOME. Because it played whenever Gaksital swooned in to save the day, it reminds me of him kicking butt super-hero style. 






"Sad Run" - City Hunter


We’re still with heroic instrumentals. This one played whenever City Hunter was sneaking into some building or fighting the bad guys. This piece is so cool that the top comment on YouTube says it’s “cooler than the mission impossible theme”. Plus, it reminds me of fearless Lee Min Ho and his perfect long legs. :)






"My Man Kim Boong Do" - Queen In Hyun’s Man


I wanted to end with this piece because it’s very special. It uses the gayageum, a traditional Korean instrument. The piece is very soft and romantic. I particularly like 0:30, because it reminds me of the OTP’s love that transcended time and place.

 

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I’m sure I missed many good pieces, so please remind me of them in the comments. Also, which of those pieces did you like?  And do instrumentals bring back all of your feelings when listening to them, or is it just me?