"Gee" is primarily abubblegum track with anelectropop andEuropop sound brought by prominenttechno- andhip hop-influencedsynthesizers and beats. The lyrics are about first love from a young female perspective. The song was supported by a music video depicting the group members asmannequins who, after the shop owner leaves, come to life and perform the choreography in colored skinny jeans. It became the first girl-group video to amass 100 million views onYouTube.
"Gee" won Song of the Year at both theMelon Music Awards and theKorean Music Awards, and received the Digital Daesang at the24th Golden Disc Awards in 2009. Music critics have recognized "Gee" as a K-pop standard that helped define the contemporarybubblegum pop sound, attributing its enduring popularity in part to its music video.[1]Rolling Stone named it the greatest song in the history of Korean pop music in 2023, and one of the 250 greatest songs of the 21st century in 2025, ranking it at number 170.
South Korean entertainment agencySM Entertainment launchedGirls' Generation, a nine-memberidol girl group, in August 2007. In November, SM released the group'sdebut studio album, which was supported by singles including "Into the New World" and "Girls' Generation"; the latter of which was among the top three most popular songs of 2007 according to aGallup Korea public poll.[2] The album was succeeded with areissue titledBaby Baby in March 2008.[3] Girls' Generation sold over 100,000 copies of their debut album in South Korea and became one of the rising idol groups with strong albums sales.[4][5]
On January 5, 2009, SM releasedGee, the group's firstextended play (EP) (known in South Korea as "mini album").[6] SM had planned to release "Dancing Queen", acover version ofDuffy's single "Mercy (2008), as the title track.[7] The plan was inspired by the "retro" music trend caused by fellow idol groupWonder Girls' hit single "Nobody" (2008).[8] It was scrapped due to copyright issues.[9] Production duoE-Tribe, who wrote "Gee", pitched the song to SM, who thought the lyrics were childish and the melody weak. E-Tribe stood their ground and SM ultimately decided on "Gee" as the title track.[8] It was released as the lead single onto South Korean digital music platforms.[10]
After Girls' Generation's domestic success, SM extended their promotional activities to Japan. In September 2010, the group signed withUniversal Music Japan-ownedNayutawave Records. Their first Japanese single was theJapanese-language version of "Genie", which had been released in South Korea prior. Nayutawave released the Japanese-language version of "Gee" on October 20, 2010, as the group's second Japanese single.[11]
"Gee" was written, arranged, and produced by E-Tribe, a production duo consisting of Ahn Myung-won and Kim Young-deuk. It was recorded at SM's Concert Hall and Yellow Tail Studios inSeoul, South Korea. The track is three minutes and 21 seconds long.[12] The Japanese version's lyrics were written by Kanata Nakamura.[13]
"Gee" is an upbeat track that uses densesynthesizers.[14]Rolling Stone described the synthesizers as "glitteringShibuya-kei",[8] andBillboard found them to be influenced bytechno.[15] The track is accentuated withchimes at the beginning[14] and pulsingelectropop beats throughout.[15] Music critics categorized the sound asbubblegum,[15]Europop,[16] and electropop.[14]The A.V. Club characterized the track as "a three-minute aural mélange of techno, bubblegum pop, andhip-hop".[14] The group members sing in high-registered vocals accentuated with electronic processing including bleeps and clicks. According tomusicologist Michael Fuhr, this vocal technique demonstratesaegyo, a Korean concept for cuteness in an adolescent, feminine way.[17] The lyrics talk about the girls' feelings when they fall in love.[7]
The music video for the Korean version of "Gee" begins with the nine members being displayed asmannequins at a clothing store and coming to life after the store's male staff (played byMinho ofShinee) leaves. The members then discover the surroundings and find out the portrait of Minho being "the employee of the month". Scenes of the members performing the choreography are juxtaposed with the storyline. At the end of the video, the members leave the store and Minho returns realizing the mannequins have disappeared.[18] The video became the first video by a girl group to achieve over 100 million views onYouTube.[19] Another music video for the Japanese version was also released, which also features Minho as the male staff, but does not portray the members as mannequins but Minho's fellow female staff.[20]
Girls' Generation performing "Gee" on February 27, 2009.
Girls' Generation had their first promotional activity for the song on theMBC's music showMusic Core on January 10.[21] "Gee" eventually became a hit, achieving nine consecutive top one on theKBS'sMusic Bank,[22][23] and eight consecutive wins on theMnet's chart,[24] setting a record at the time. It was named as the Song of the Decade by South Korea's online music website Melon,[25] and chosen to be the most popular song of 2009 onMusic Bank.[26] The song has also won several major awards such as Digital Daesang and Digital Bonsang at the24th Golden Disc Awards,[27] the Daesang and Digital Music awards at the 19thSeoul Music Awards,[28] and Song of the Year at the 7th Korean Music Awards.[29][30]
The Japanese version sold 130,145 physical copies in 2010, becoming the 49th best-selling single of the year in Japan.[31] The song reached number one on the RIAJ's weekly digital track chart on October 26,[32] and eventually was ranked fifty-seventh and twenty-third on Billboard's 2010 & 2011Japan Hot 100 charts, respectively.[33][34] In January 2014, "Gee" was certified "Million" by theRIAJ, achieving more than one million digital downloads.[35] The song is also the group's best-selling single in the US with 80,000 downloads sold as of May 2020.[36]
A parody of "Gee", called "Hee", has gained popularity among Korean citizens. It is a combination of the instrumental of "Gee" and some extremely venomous dialogue from the dramaTemptation of Wife.[54] Aviral video namedShowa Era Gee (Grandpa Showa era) (Gee しょうわ時代 （爺爺爺－昭和時代))) was posted onYouTube on August 15, 2011, featuring elderly men in a shoe shop dancing to theJapanese version of "Gee". The video was originally onSMAPxSMAP Japanese show. It was also posted onSmosh website and was reviewed by "AtomicMari" on "Smosh Pit Weekly".
In 2009 and 2010, SM labelmatesSuper Junior regularly included a cover of "Gee" in their setlist forSuper Show 2. The performance was preceded by a video interlude entitledThe Secret of "Gee" including Jessica and Tiffany respectively dancingHeechul's andKangin's parts in"Sorry, Sorry" during a Girls' Generation dance practice before the practice is infiltrated as a prank by Heechul, Kangin,Leeteuk andSungmin respectively disguised as Jessica, Tiffany, Taeyeon and Sunny.[55] "Gee" was the opening theme song of the film "To All the Boys: Always and Forever".[56]
In 2009, the success of songs such as "Gee" and Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" helped raise interest in K-Pop as theKorean wave began spreading across Asia through digital media and online sharing sites.[57]
"Gee" has been widely recognized as a K-pop classic and the group'ssignature song. On writing the group's biography forAllMusic, Chris True selected "Gee" as one of their outstanding songs.[58] Chuck Eddy fromSpin ranked the single fifth on his list of the 21 greatest K-pop songs of all time in 2012, opining that the song has set up the group's "huge deals" ever since.[59]Pitchfork Media editor Jakob Dorof included the song on his list of 20 essential K-pop songs in 2014, noting it for being the "magnum opus" of modern Koreanbubblegum pop genre, which he regarded as K-pop's "comfort zone." He further recognized the "formally irrefutable" song as overcoming half a millennium of historical animosity to broker pop cultural peace between South Korea and Japan for only one year.[60] Abigail Covington writing forThe A.V. Club regarded Girls' Generation as the K-pop "premier, ubiquitous provider," particularly with "Gee", which helped to promote Korean music's full potential despite the fact that K-pop had existed long before the group's debut in 2007.[14]Billboard magazine labelled "Gee" "arguably the most iconic K-pop song in the past ten years."[61][62]
In 2016, "Gee" was voted the top K-pop girl group song in the past 20 years in a poll involving 2,000 people and 30 music industry experts by South Korean magazineDong-a Ilbo, web magazine Idology and research company M Brain.[63][64] In a panel of 35 music critics and industry professionals organized byMelon and newspaperSeoul Shinmun, "Gee" was ranked the fifth best idol song of all-time, crediting the song as one of the catalysts of the popularization of idol/K-pop. Music critic Jiseon Choi believed that "through the rise of 'Gee', the year 2009 was heated up and became the protagonist of a nationwide syndrome."[65] In 2023,Rolling Stone named "Gee" the greatest song in the history of Korean pop music, referring to it as "a pure distillation of the giddiness of infatuation".[8]
^ The Korean version of "Gee" was released in 2009, therefore it did not enter theGaon Digital Chart, which launched in 2010. The Japanese version peaked at number three on theGaon Album Chart in 2011.[85]
^Gil, Hye-song (April 15, 2008).'걸 댄스그룹', SES 이후 6년만에 '10만장 시대' ['Girl Idol Group' Reaches 100,000 Copies Sold in 6 Years Since SES].Star News (in Korean). RetrievedSeptember 26, 2023.
^Gil, Hye-song (March 17, 2009).소녀시대, 올 첫 10만장 돌파..2연속 10만장 판매 [Girls' Generation, Two Albums Exceeding 100,000 Sales].Star News (in Korean). Archived fromthe original on December 27, 2014. RetrievedApril 28, 2015.
^abKim, Hyeong-woo (January 6, 2009).소녀시대가 돌아왔다! "9개월만에 컴백, 몸 근질근질했다"(인터뷰①) [Girls' Generation Has Returned! 'Comeback After 9 Months, We're Excited' Interview Part 1].Newsen (in Korean).Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. RetrievedDecember 19, 2014.
^Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica (April 30, 2014)."Top 10 K-Pop Girl Groups".Billboard.Archived from the original on July 14, 2016. RetrievedFebruary 10, 2018.
^Gee(Japanese version) (music video/DVD). Girls' Generation. S.M. Entertainment. 2010.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ab소녀시대, '뮤뱅' 9주 연속 1위 '새역사' [Girls' Generation, 1st place on 'Music Bank' for 9 weeks in a row, 'new record'].Star News (in Korean). March 13, 2009.Archived from the original on May 12, 2021 – viaNaver.
^[SS포토] 2NE1 "큰상 주셔서 감사합니다" [[SS Photo] 2NE1 'Thank you for the big prize'].News Inside (in Korean). March 1, 2010.Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. RetrievedMay 6, 2022.
^"2PM, KBS가요대축제 '최고 가요상' 영예(종합)" [2PM wins KBS Song Festival 'Best Song Award' honor (comprehensive)].Newsen (in Korean). December 31, 2009.Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. RetrievedMay 6, 2022.
^소녀시대, 상반기 결산 '뮤뱅' 1위...10주 정상 대기록 [Girls' Generation, 1st half of the first half of 'Music Bank'... 10 week record].My Daily (in Korean). June 26, 2009.Archived from the original on May 12, 2021 – viaNaver.
^소녀시대 'Gee', '뮤직뱅크' 2009 결산 'MVP' [Girls' Generation's 'Gee', 'Music Bank' 2009 settlement 'MVP'].Star News (in Korean). December 25, 2009.Archived from the original on May 12, 2021 – viaNaver.
^소녀시대, SBS 인기가요 뮤티즌 송으로 'Gee' 열풍 이어가 [Girls' Generation, SBS Inkigayo Mutizen Song Continues 'Gee' Craze].Osen (in Korean). January 18, 2009.Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. RetrievedOctober 27, 2021 – viaNaver.
^소녀시대, '인기가요' 2주 연속 1위 [Girls' Generation 'Gee' tops 'Inkigayo' for 2 weeks in a row].Star News (in Korean). February 1, 2009.Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. RetrievedOctober 27, 2021 – viaNaver.
^소녀시대, '지'로 '인기가요' 3주 연속 1위 [Girls' Generation tops 'Inkigayo' for 3 weeks in a row with 'Gee'].Edaily (in Korean). February 8, 2009.Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. RetrievedOctober 27, 2021 – viaNaver.
^"올 최고 인기가수 '소녀시대'" [The most popular singer of the year, 'Girls' Generation'].Busan Ilbo (in Korean).Naver. December 24, 2009. RetrievedMarch 21, 2023.
^"'레전드' 싸이 '강남스타일' 21세기 최고 히트곡 등극[창간 20주년 설문]" ['Legend' Psy's 'Gangnam Style' Becomes 21st Century's Greatest Hit Song [20th Anniversary Survey]].Star News (in Korean). Naver. September 6, 2024. RetrievedSeptember 16, 2024.
^Kim, Soo-jung (February 3, 2014)."'동백아가씨'부터 '강남스타일'까지, 대중 사로잡은 명곡은?" [From 'Camellia Lady' to 'Gangnam Style', which famous songs have captured the public?].MediaUS.Archived from the original on October 2, 2021. RetrievedOctober 2, 2021.
^"원더걸스 '텔미', 역대 최고의 아이돌 히트곡 선정" [Wonder Girls' 'Tell Me' selected as the best idol hit song of all time].My Daily (in Korean).Naver. June 6, 2013. RetrievedMarch 20, 2023.
Fuhr, Michael (2013). "Voicing Body, Voicing Seoul: Vocalization, Body, and Ethnicity in Korean Popular Music". In Utz, Christian; Lau, Frederick (eds.).Vocal Music and Contemporary Identities: Unlimited Voices in East Asia and the West.Routledge.ISBN978-0-41-550224-5.
_single_cover.png)
