Cherry Blossom Ending

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"Cherry Blossom Ending"

Single by Busker Busker

from the album Busker Busker 1st Album

Released March 29, 2012

Genre [1]
Alternative rock

Length 4:20

Label CJ E&M Music

Songwriter(s) Jang Beom-jun [ko]

Busker Busker singles chronology

"Cher "If You

ry Really
Bloss Love
om Me"
Endin (2012)
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(2012)
 Music video

"Cherry Blossom Ending" on YouTube

"Cherry Blossom Ending" (Korean: 벚꽃 엔딩; RR: Beotkkot Ending) is a song by South
Korean indie band Busker Busker, from their debut studio album Busker Busker 1st Album. The
song was written by band member Jang Beom-jun [ko] and was released on March 29, 2012 by
CJ E&M Music. The song is well known for re-entering the music charts every spring in South
Korea, earning the nicknames "Spring Carol" and "Cherry Blossom Zombie".

Contents

● 1
● Background and release
●
● 2
● Commercial performance
●
● 3
● Critical reception
●
● 4
● Accolades
●
● 5
● Charts
○ 5.1
○ Weekly charts
○
○ 5.2
○ Year-end charts
○
● 6
● Sales
●
● 7
● References
●
● 8
● External links
●

Background and release[edit]

 Busker Busker in 2012

Indie band Busker Busker became well known in 2011 through the third season of Mnet's talent
show Superstar K. The band consisted of lead vocal and guitarist Jang Beom-jun [ko], bassist
Kim Hyung-tae, and drummer Brad Moore. They were the runner-up act in the competition and

signed with Mnet's parent company CJ E&M Music.[2] Their debut album, simply named Busker

Busker 1st Album, was released on March 29, 2012. "Cherry Blossom Ending" served as the

album's single and was accompanied by a music video (produced by Digipedi).[3] Before this,

Busker Busker had only released cover songs.[4]

"Cherry Blossom Ending" was described as a "romantic ballad with an addictive rhythm".
Lyrically, it expresses feelings of affection for a "special someone", and wanting to walk together

in a street filled with cherry blossoms.[2] Jang, who wrote the song, said, "It’s a song a guy

would pen while thinking about the woman he wanted to walk under the cherry blossoms in
spring with". It was first performed on March 26 at Busker Busker's debut showcase at Times
Square in Yeongdeungpo. It was also promoted on various music shows, their own television

show (Busker Busker Show) and their first concert titled "Youth Bus", held on May 5–6.[5]

Commercial performance[edit]
"Cherry Blossom Ending" was a commercial success, with over 2 million total downloads by

May 2012. It was one of the top ten most downloaded songs for six consecutive weeks.[6] It

topped the now-defunct Billboard K-pop Hot 100 two weeks in a row, on April 14 and 21, 2012.
It topped the chart again a year later in April 2013, [7] and peaked at number 5 in April 2014, the

year the chart was discontinued.[8][9] The song was number 7 on the year-end K-Pop Hot 100 in

2012, and number 21 at the end of 2013.[10][11]

The song also performed well on the Gaon Digital Chart. It entered the chart at number 3,[12]

and topped the chart for the next two weeks.[13][14] It was number 2 on the 2012 year-end

chart,[15] with about 3.4 million total downloads.[16] The song peaked at number 2 in March

2013,[17] and was number 14 on the 2013 year-end chart,[18] with nearly 1.2 million

downloads.[19] It re-entered the chart in March 2014, peaking at number 8,[20] and was number

111 on the 2014 year-end chart,[21] selling over 700,000 downloads that year.[22] In March 2015,

it peaked at number 13,[23] and was number 99 on the 2015 year-end chart,[24] with over

640,000 downloads.[25] In March 2016, it charted for the fifth consecutive year, peaking at

number 16.[26] That year, the Gaon Music Chart published a series of graphs showing that the

song begins to re-appear in January every year, peaking the first week of March when the

weather starts to get warmer.[27]

In November 2015, music streaming site Mnet.com revealed that "Cherry Blossom Ending" was

the most downloaded and streamed song in the past nine years (2006–2015).[28] It has been

known as "Cherry Blossom Pension" because songwriter and lead singer Jang Beom-jun was
able to purchase a building in the affluent neighborhood of Daechi-dong with the song's

royalties.[29] Jang's earnings from the song totaled 4.6 billion won (US$3.8 million) as of March

2016.[30] Its reappearance on the charts every year earned it the nicknames "Spring Carol" and

"Cherry Blossom Zombie".[31] "I Will Go to You Like the First Snow" which has re-entered music

charts every winter has been described as the 'sadder, winter, immortal cousin' to "Cherry

Blossom Ending".[32] As of September 2018, "Cherry Blossom Ending" has sold over 7.5 million

digital copies in South Korea, making it the best-selling single there since the Gaon Chart was

established in 2010.[33]
Critical reception[edit]
Culture critic Kim Heon-sik said "Cherry Blossom Ending" was successful because it includes
themes reminiscent of the spring season, such as "a cool breeze, cherry blossoms flying in the
air and couples who hold hands at festivals for the flowers." He also said the contrast between

its "cheerful melodies" and sad lyrics contributed to its success.[34] Composer Brave Brothers

said the song "brings out some nostalgia, and makes listeners comfortable", while pop culture
critic Kang Tae-gyu said it became a hit because "people were reminded of the love that passed

them by around this time last year".[35] Park Jin-young praised the song on Twitter, saying the

song was "so beautiful that it was sad" and it inspired him to spend the day making music.[36]

Billboard staff included "Cherry Blossom Ending" in their list of the "20 Best K-pop Songs of
2012". They wrote: "Busker Busker brought something new and sweet this year with their smash
debut hit. The indie band proved it was a sound to be heard above the din with its concoction of

Beom-June Jang's charismatic vocals atop simple melodies."[37]

Also, cherry blossom ending is always at the top of the list of songs that come to mind when you

think of 'spring'. When the spring season comes, the song always reverses the music charts.[38]