Black Eyes is the third extended play by South Korean girl group T-ara. Its release was originally set for release on November 18, 2011, but was pushed forward one week to November 11 due to the demand for the album's lead track, "Cry Cry". 티아라 오늘(11일) ‘크라이크라이’ 음원 앞당겨 공개 왜? . MelOn. November 11, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2011. A repackaged version of the EP (though called the fifth album), titled Funky Town, was released on January 3, 2012, with the song "Lovey-Dovey" serving as the lead track.

"Lovey-Dovey" is a song known for its catchy melody and energetic beats. The song features a mix of electronic and dance-pop elements. The lyrics convey a playful and flirtatious theme, complemented by the group's vibrant choreography in the music video. "Lovey-Dovey" gained popularity for its infectious rhythm and became a hit in the K-pop scene.

Background and promotion The group's agency, Core Contents Media, released a series of jacket photos for the single "Cry Cry", on November 4, 2011. Black Eyes was released on November 17, 2011, with the single "Cry Cry" being released on the same day. "Cry Cry" was promoted on multiple music shows, starting on Mnet's M! Countdown on the 17th, following with KBS's Music Bank on the 18th.

Music videos On November 9, two days before the album's release, the group officially released the video clip of the song "Cry Cry" as a music movie. In the video, T-ara sheds the usual feminine image, replacing it with strong images and intense gunfight scenes. At the end of the story was the audio teaser of "Lovey Dovey".

The drama version of "Lovey Dovey" was a continuation of "Cry Cry" Drama Version that ended the story. The "Cry Cry" / "Lovey Dovey" short movie is considered one of the longest music videos in K-pop's history. It cost around US$1 million (₩1.2 billion) to produce, making it one of the most expensive music videos in K-pop.

Several other versions of "Cry Cry" and "Lovey Dovey" were released, including Dance, Zombie, and Ballad among others. The audio track from the "Cry Cry" ballad version's music video was included on Black Eyes along with the original ballad version of the song.

Reception An editor for KKBox Taiwan praised the "Cry Cry" (Drama Ver.) music video, describing it as "as exciting as a mini-movie" and featured it in their list of the bloodiest K-pop music videos.

Reception "Cry Cry" peaked at number 1 on both the Gaon Digital Chart and K-pop Hot 100. The song has sold 3,755,993 digital units in South Korea as of 2012.Sales references for "Cry Cry":

"We Were In Love", a single from Funky Town reached number 1 on Gaon and sold nearly 2,670,000 digital units by 2012. The music video for the song has reached over 97 million YouTube views as of June 2024. "Lovey-Dovey" scored the number one position on the Gaon singles chart In 2012 becoming the album's third consecutive number-one hit. The song has achieved digital sales of over 3.7 million in South Korea alone. "Cry Cry" was named the 6th best T-ara single by SBS PopAsia as well as the 49th best K-pop song of all time in a list by Popkultur. In 2024, NME ranked the song at No. 8 on its list of T-ARA's best songs describing it as a "Heartbreak anthem". "Lovey Dovey" ranked first on the same list

Track listings

Funky Town

Charts

Black Eyes Chart PeakpositionSouth Korea (Gaon) Weekly albums 2South Korea (Gaon) Monthly albums 5South Korea (Gaon) Yearly albums 28

Funky Town Chart PeakpositionSouth Korea (Gaon) Weekly albums 1South Korea (Gaon) Monthly albums 2South Korea (Gaon) Yearly albums 20Japan (Oricon) Weekly albums 31

Sales Country Sales amount South Korea 48,205 South Korea (repackage) 76,749

Accolades

Listicles "Cry Cry" was named the 6th best T-ara single by SBS PopAsia and the eighth on NME list of T-ARA's best songs. "Lovey Dovey" ranked first on the same list +YearPublisherListWorkRank2014Y Magazine120 Greatest Dance Tracks of All Time"Cry Cry"49th2021KKBOX TaiwanTop K-POP songs of 2011Placed

Awards and nominations Award ceremonyYearCategoryNominee / workResult Mnet Asian Music Awards2012Best Collaboration"We Were In Love"Golden Disc Awards2013Disk BonsangFunky TownPopularity AwardSeoul Music AwardsPopularity AwardMain Prize (Bonsang)

References