"Milky Way" is a song recorded by South Korean singer

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from her third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

Atlantis Princess ''Atlantis Princess'' is the third Korean studio album (fifth overall) by South Korean recording artist BoA, released through SM Entertainment on May 30, 2003. The record spawned three singles, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government promoti ...

'', released through

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

on May 30, 2003. The song was composed, written, and arranged by SM songwriter

Kenzie Kenzie is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Mononym *Kenzie (rapper) (born 1986), British rapper, DJ, actor, and personal trainer; past member of hip hop group Blazin' Squad *Kenzie (songwriter) (born 1976), South K ...

Background and release

"Milky Way" was released as the third single from BoA's third studio album, ''

'', on May 30, 2003. It followed the promotional single "The Lights of Seoul" and the title track "

". BoA recorded the song in Japanese as "Milky Way ~Kimi No Uta~" for her 10th Japanese single "

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

", which was released on October 22, 2003. The Korean release of "Double" includes a club remix version of "Milky Way".

Usage in media

The Japanese version of "Milky Way" was used as the theme song for

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, which was held in October and November.

Release history

Red Velvet version

"Milky Way" is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was originally recorded by

for her album ''

'' (2003). It remade by the group as part of

SM Station SM Station is a digital music project by South Korean record label SM Entertainment. It undertook to release one digital single every Friday starting from February 3, 2016. The project's first season ended on February 3, 2017, with 52 songs. It ...

's tribute project in celebration of BoA's 20th anniversary. It was released as Red Velvet's sixth

digital single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

on August 21, 2020, marking their first release with member

Wendy Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...

who was hospitalized after a stage accident in December 2019.

Background and composition

On August 19, 2020, SM Entertainment announced that Red Velvet would be the fourth runner for

'Our Beloved BoA'. "Milky Way" was originally recorded and released by

in 2003 from her third Korean studio album ''Atlantis Princess''. In addition, Wendy, who had a hiatus from group activities due to injury, participated in the song for the first time in about eight months. Musically, "Milky Way" is described as a combination of "colorful acappella and jazz scat with harmonious vocals". The song is composed in the key of A♭ Major with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 98 beat-per-minute. The song was produced and written by Kenzie, who worked on the original song, and arranged the song herself to recreate it into a "fresh jazz pop" song. Lyrically, the song tells a story of unfolding a "dark night" with someone just like a "milky way".

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

. * Red Velvet (

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

Seulgi Kang Seul-gi (; born February 10, 1994), known mononymously as Seulgi, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet (group), Red Velvet, its sub-unit Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi, and the super ...

Joy Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...

Yeri Yeri may refer to: * Yeri, Cyprus * Yeri, Tajikistan *Yeri (singer) (born Kim Ye-rim, 1999), South Korean singer, member of Red Velvet. *Yery Yeru or Eru (Ы ы; italics: ''Ы'' ''ы''), usually called Y in modern Russian language, ...

) – vocals, background vocals *

– background vocals * Choi Hoon – bass * Hong Joon-ho – guitar * Song Young-joo – piano * No Min-ji (SM Yellow Tail Studio) – recording engineer * Lee Chang-sun (prelude studio) – recording engineer * Jung Yu-ra – digital editing * Kang Eun-ji (SM SSAM Studio) – mixing engineer * Kim Chul-soon (SM Blue Ocean Studio) – mixing engineer * Kwon Nam-woo (821 Sound Mastering) – mastering

Track listing

Digital download / streaming # "Milky Way" – 3:38 # "Milky Way" (Instrumental) – 3:38

Charts

Release history

References

{{Red Velvet songs 2003 singles 2003 songs 2020 singles 2020 songs Songs in Korean Songs in Japanese SM Entertainment singles Songs written by Kenzie (songwriter) Avex Trax singles