Random Shuffle Review: Girl’s Day – Nothing Lasts Forever

With over 4,000 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature.

The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets the full Bias List treatment!

Year Released: 2010

This week, I went back and watched the 2012 MBC Gayo Daejun for the first time in many, many years. It was such a rush seeing so many classic songs performed back to back, and made me realize once again just how much the sound of K-pop has changed in the past decade. One aspect that stuck out most was how powerfully almost every artist sang. Songs were built around a steady stream of robust melodies and extended, show-stopping notes. I miss this style of singing — not only in K-pop, but in pop music more globally.

This brings me to today’s random shuffle review. Nothing Lasts Forever precedes 2012 by two years but would have felt right at home during that Gayo Daejun (the group performed their even better Don’t Forget Me, btw). Before Girl’s Day found a signature sound, they dipped their feet in a few disparate genres. Nothing Lasts Forever stands as a unique point in their discography and the song is downright perfect.

Forever‘s frantic, electro-edged verses share much in common with the then-dominant 2NE1 and also feel oddly similar to today’s sing-talk style. But as soon as we hit the chorus, the song reveals itself as the kind of belt-it-out stunner that goes down in history. I love the sheer power of this simple refrain, allowing the girls to lay everything on the line.

As good as this is, it’s Nothing Last Forever‘s final minute that ensures the song’s legendary status. Imagine a 2024 version of this track, defiantly cutting off at the two-and-a-half minute mark and robbing us of the swirling fantasia of epic vocal harmony and ascending synth that follows. Forever transforms completely during this segment, offering its catchiest vocal hook and most dramatic production. Talk about ending on a high! You can almost feel the producers’ excitement upon reaching this turning point. Everything about the song was built to climax in this cathartic finale, making for a satisfyingly full storyline that sounds as stunning today as it did fourteen years ago.

Grade: A+