Zombie named top K-Pop song of 2020

The Snooze Button Generation blog has named Zombie by DAY6 the top K-Pop song of 2020.

"Look," SBG founder/CEO Joe Stevens said. "It's my favorite song of the lot. It's well-written and smart, and it doesn't hurt that Jae went to my high school."

Stevens was referring to Jae Park, who is a key member of DAY6 and graduated from Cerritos High School where Mr. Stevens teaches.

Zombie edged out many excellent K-Pop tunes from 2020, and Stevens remarked: "This is the best K-Pop list I've seen. Right on the money. Take that echo4ever!"

Echo4ever is the YouTube channel and group name of Stevens' daughters, Sophie and Chloe, and cousin Ellie. Sophie and Chloe each created videos for their top 20 K-Pop songs of 2020. Feel free to check those out by clicking on their names, and subscribe to their channel by clicking here. They post content every other Saturday; the music videos especially are excellent.

Stevens explained that K-Pop has taken over his household with music, videos, random dance challenges and more. "I definitely have my favorites," he said. "I thought I liked the girl groups much more, but based on this top 20 list, it's not as much as I thought. Happy New Year! How you like that?"

The Top 20 K-Pop songs of 2020 with commentary by Stevens:

1. Zombie by DAY6

I love the tone and thought behind the tune, how the protagonist is closed off emotionally. It's deeper than a typical pop song.

2. DUN DUN by EVERGLOW

EVERGLOW doesn't have a whole lot of killer songs, but the group killed it with DUN DUN. But I must admit that the song in my house eventually felt overplayed on the random dance challenges.

3. Why Not? by Loona

From my perspective, Loona is the best girl group in K-Pop. This song reminds me of John Sondej's bar Dick's Den in Columbus, Ohio, that had the slogan: "Dick's Den. Why Not?"

4. God's Menu by Stray Kids

One of my complaints about boy groups is that they are too whiny and not fierce. Oh, that is not the case with Stray Kids and this song.

5. GUNSHOT by KARD

I wonder why there aren't more groups that combine boys and girls. For my money, KARD is the best one that does that.

6. Not Shy by ITZY

I love groups that shout out their band name in the middle of the song. It would have been impressive if the Beatles or Rolling Stones or Guns 'N' Roses had done that.

7. Lovesick Girls by BLACKPINK

I recognize that BLACKPINK is way more popular in the U.S. than a lot of other strong girl groups, but as Loona might say: So what?

8. FANTASIA by Monsta X

If I have a song stuck in my head for days, that must be a good thing. You win, Monsta X.

9. Dynamite by BTS

Yes, this is overplayed and in commercials, and BTS has taken over the world. But it's a great song!

10. Maria by Hwa Sa

Even before I knew she had a solo career, Hwa Sa from Mamamoo became my bias. She remains my ultimate bias.

11. Oh My God by G(I)-DLE

I'd love to hear this song in Church.

12. Any Song by Zico

He reminds me of the Korean Justin Timberlake.

13. MORE & MORE by TWICE

Maybe the lyrics could use some moderation, but apparently, they're never enough.

14. Stay Tonight by CHUNG HA

CHUNG HA is a queen, though Hwa Sa remains my ult.

15. Left & Right by SEVENTEEN

I like to think this song is about politics.

16. BBUSYEO by ONEUS

Not sure what the song is about, but it sounds cool.

17. ASSA by cignature

My favorite lyric: "Eeeeeeeewwwwwwww."

18. End of Spring by ONEWE

It appears to me that all ONEWE songs start boring, then gradually get epic.

19. DAWNDIDIDAWN (feat. Jessi) by DAWN

I like to pretend they're saying "Don," and this song is about the Cerritos High School Dons.

20. eight (Prod. & Feat. SUGA of BTS) by IU, SUGA

I'm not sure how this song isn't titled Forever Young, but OK.

Cigarette smoke remains in our air

"It's still Big Tobacco's world, and we're just living in it."

That was a passing thought I had the other day, and I see a lot of truth in it. In my personal world, smoking is not in the realm of possibilities. I don't like smoking. It's ridiculously harmful, and it seems like an act of yesteryear.

Yet in the United States, 15.5 percent of adults still smoke cigarettes "every day" or "some days," based on CDC data. I was shocked to hear that; in my world, it's zero people. Back in 1965, by the way, 45 percent of American adults smoked cigarettes.

These statistics don't take into account vaping that snags nearly 20 percent of adults under 30, and 10 percent of all adults, based on a Gallup poll.

The good news about this blog post is that I have zero agenda, other than to point out facts, connect some dots and promote education. The bad news is that as I reflect on the calendar moving to 2021, I realize that a lot of American culture and structures are toxic, and I am making a concerted effort to at least recognize that.

First, personally, let me wish you a happy 2021. I believe 2020 revealed a lot about us as individuals and a nation. I believe it was the biggest revealer of health, finances and agency. People with healthy lifestyles and financially stability certainly were not affected as much as those not. Also, people who have agency, who are able to take control of their lives and actions, likely thrived more than others as well.

Poor health, finances and agency all come together with Big Tobacco as the long-time beneficiary. Now, I understand that Big Tobacco isn't as powerful as it once was, but since it got away with so much seemingly criminal activity for so long, it paved the way for other industries to do that as well. Big Tobacco may have been Darth Vader, and Big Pharma is Kylo Ren. 

I find the naming of the Coronavirus vaccines horrific. Right now, the most known one is "The Pfizer Vaccine." Then, in second place, it's "The Moderna Vaccine." Instead of championing Big Pharma in the vaccine names, shouldn't we give credit to a key ingredient in the vaccine or the team of scientists who came up with it or pick an esteemed scientist and go with that?

No, we are having the masses link the vaccine with evil Big Pharma, which typically jacks up prescription prices for the elderly and has such a huge advertisement budget it forces me to run across ads on a zillion drugs that are completely irrelevant to me. And, please, stop telling me about mesothelioma!

Remember: Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to three criminal charges of conspiring to addict the American public to opioids and — whoop-de-do — paid $8.3 billion in fines. Of course, Purdue did its plea in October, two weeks before the attention-grabbing presidential election and while Coronavirus cases surged. This should have been a resounding indictment against Big Pharma, but was it?

So the connection to Big Pharma and Big Tobacco is obvious. These are ginormous industries that place profit above public health, and in the case of Big Pharma, the U.S. government has partnered with it because of special interest concerns, immorality, incompetence and, well, that is our established culture.

It took until 1998 for the U.S. government to negotiate its Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement with Big Tobacco. And while that showed bipartisan coordination and the ability to overcome special interest concerns, immorality and incompetence, I'm not holding my breath that similar settlements will be reached against Big Pharma or even Facebook or Google.

But even if the U.S. one day tried to reorganize Big Pharma, it is so embedded in our culture, would it really make a difference? It's not like there was a light switch that made cigarettes go away, and there is no light switch to make prescription drug addiction go away either. Is it really a step forward to have our corporations create our addictive substances now? Might it have been vaguely more ethical to enable international drug cartels to do that?

With improved agency, individuals have the ability to reject cigarettes, vaping, drugs, alcohol, processed food, toxic screen time and inactivity. As we improve our own personal agency, our lives will continually improve as will our culture. My grandfather was a victim of Big Tobacco. I know victims of Big Pharma, and the only way to read this blog post is through Big Tech.

I believe that the human spirit is actually more powerful than Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and Big Tech. But I'm worried about the human mind and body.