"Roly-Poly"
Japanese regular edition cover
Single by T-ara
from the album John Travolta Wannabe and Jewelry Box
Released29 June 2011
29 February 2012 (JP)
GenreK-pop, disco[1]
Length3:34
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Shinsadong Tiger
  • Choi Kyu-sung
T-ara Korean singles chronology
"Yayaya"
(2010) 		"Roly-Poly"
(2011) 		"Cry Cry"
(2011)
Audio sample
"Roly-Poly"
Music video
"Roly-Poly" on YouTube
"Roly-Poly" (Japanese ver.) on YouTube

"Roly-Poly" is a song by South Korean girl group T-ara. It was taken from their second mini album John Travolta Wannabe which was released on 29 June 2011. The song was written and produced by Shinsadong Tiger and Choi Kyu-sung, who were also behind the group's 2009 song "Bo Peep Bo Peep". "Roly-Poly" won three weekly music program awards on M Countdown and Inkigayo. Only a month after release, the song accumulated over US$2.3 million in digital sales with over $280,000 per day.[2] Despite peaking at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart, it went on to become the best-selling song of 2011 in South Korea with over 4,000,000 digital downloads, the highest figure for a K-pop girl group single on Gaon in the 2010s.[3]

Background and release

Roly Poly

"Roly-Poly" was released on 29 June 2011, as the lead single of T-ara's John Travolta Wannabe with 3 different music videos, a short dance version, a long drama version and special version made by CCM that compiled several covers of the song from fans around the world and was titled "Roly Poly Version 3". The song was revealed to be viewed in over 70 countries.

Roly Poly in Copacabana

A remix of the song titled "Roly-Poly in Copacabana" was released on 2 August[4] and was used for the group's follow up promotions. In 2012, The song was re-released in Japanese on 29 February 2012, as the group's third single.[5] Stereogum ranked the music video of the song No. 12 on its list of 20 Best K-pop videos.[6] It was named the fourth best K-pop song by Edge Media.[7]

Roly Poly Japanese version

The song was re-released in Japanese on 29 February 2012, as the group's third single in the Japanese market. The single peaked at 3 on Oricon and at 5 on Billboard Japan Hot 100.

Critical reception

Since its release, the song has received positive reviews from critics. The song was listed among the best hit songs of the last decade and of all time by multiple local and international publications. Chinese media Sina Music described "Roly-Poly" as the most dazzling retro dance music recently, "and it has the strength to bring the retro style back again".[8]

In 2021, Gabriela Caeli Sumampow of Vice included Roly Poly in her "bubbly K-pop" guide on "The Guide to Getting Into K-Pop, South Korea's Record-Breaking Pop Music".[9] PopMatters gave "Roly-Poly" a positive review; "Its success propelled (or coincided with) the start of a disco trend in K-pop, as heard later in songs like Dal Shabet's "Bling Bling" (2011) and Nine Muses's "Figaro" (2011). The magazine also referred to the song as "one of the catchiest K-pop songs ever made".[10]

Commercial performance

On the Gaon Digital Chart dated 26 June 2011, "Roly-Poly" debuted at number three, before descending to number eight the week after. On its third week it bounced back to number two, the song's peak on the chart. "Roly-Poly" managed to hold at the runner-up slot for two more weeks (stuck behind three different songs nonetheless), before descending down the chart. Despite never topping the weekly or monthly chart and having a little less than half a year to chart, "Roly-Poly" managed to become the best-performing song of the year on the Gaon Digital Chart.

In popular culture

"Roly-Poly" appeared on multiple South Korean television series and films since its release including in the first episode of the KBS's Dream High 2 in 2012.[11] The song was also played in the 2011 horror movie Gisang Spirit.[12] In 2017, the song was played on the 7th episode of the KBS drama Manhole. The song was covered on the 2019 TV series Welcome To Waikiki 2. It was also played on the 5th episode of the 2020 SBS drama Backstreet Rookie in a form of karaoke. In 2021, it was played in the first episode of the webtoon-based drama Work Later, Drink Now. The same year, its Japanese single album appeared on KBS2's drama Cheat on Me If You Can.[citation needed]

Legacy

Since its release, "Roly-Poly" achieved nationwide popularity due to its retro influences and outfits.[citation needed] The song's popularity spread with T-ara's constant promotion overseas.[citation needed] Since then, the song has been played in several TV series, films and campaigns. K-pop artists such as Oh My Girl,[13] Itzy,[14] Wanna One, Mamamoo,[15] Davichi,[16] STAYC,[17] Iz*One,[18] DKZ[19] covered the song on different occasions.

In March 2012, "Roly-Poly" was used as a representative political campaign song by the Saenuri Party ahead of the 19th general election of South Korea. It was reported that more than ₩10 million were spent to use the song in addition to the ₩2 million copyright fees and production costs.[20] In September 2012, popular comedian Kim Shin-Young performed a parody of the song on MBC's "World-Changing Quiz" on Chuseok special episode which gathered attention for the unique stage presented by the comedian.[21] On 24 December 2012, Gag concert members Park Ji-sun, Jang Do-yeon, Oh Na-mi, Kim Min-kyung, Park Na-rae, Heo Min, Park So-young, Heo Anna and Ahn So-mi covered the song on 2011 KBS Entertainment Awards.[22]

In June 2017, South Korean girl group G-reyish released a new song named "ohnny GoGo" using the same disco style of the 1980s and modern pop music elements. In an interview with "FN News", the group said "T-ara presented the concept of retro after going through many activities [...] we hope that we can present a retro style as soon as we debut, so that fans can be impressed by us in the future". Member Yena Jung also said, "It's something I'm grateful for just being mentioned with T-ara."[23] On 17 May 2019, the song was covered by a group of female university professors called "SSAM" at the '28th Gamatbee University Festival'. The event was held at Gumi University.[24] In May 2021, during their release showcase, girl group Rocket Punch revealed that they took "Roly-Poly" and its performances as an influence for their 80s inspired song "Ring Ring", where they said "If you look at the stages, there are many things we can imitate from the props and gestures."[25]

Our Youth, Roly Poly

Our Youth, Roly Poly
Original title우리들의 청춘 롤리폴리
Based onRoly Poly
Directed byHan Jin-Seop
ChoreographyKang Ok-soon
Date premiered13 January 2012
Place premieredSeongnam Art Center Opera House
Original languageKorean
GenreMusical
www.rolypoly2012.com

The song also received two musical adaptations in 2012.[26] "Roly-Poly" was made into a stage musical starring T-ara's Hyomin, Jiyeon and Soyeon, Kang Min-kyung (Davichi), Jang Hye-jin (I Am a Singer), veteran musical actress Park Hae-mi, Han Ji-sub, Kim Jae-hee and Yoon Young-joon.[26][27] The first press conference for the musical was held on 4 January at the Seoul Press Center.[28][29] Due to the success of the musical, another one was produced and premiered on 2 May 2012. However, the T-ara members did not participate in it due to their busy schedules.[30]

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Award ceremony Year Category Result Ref.
Annual Home Shopping Awards 2011 Top 10 Songs 4th place [31]
KBS Music Festival Song of the Year Nominated [32]
Melon Music Awards Best Music Video Won [33]
Song of the Year Nominated
Mnet 20's Choice Awards 20's Online Music Nominated [34]
Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Dance Performance – Female Group Nominated [35]
Song of the Year Nominated
MTV Best of the Best Awards Best Music Video Nominated [36]
Gaon Chart Music Awards 2012 Song of the Month – July Won [37]
Korean Music Awards Best Dance & Electronic Song Nominated [38]
Seoul Music Awards Best Song Won [39]
Tower Records Awards Single of the Year Nominated [40]

Music program awards

Program Date Ref.
M Countdown (Mnet) 14 July 2011 [41]
21 July 2011
Inkigayo (SBS) 24 July 2011 [42]

Listicles

Year Publisher List Rank Ref.
2011 Edge Media 2011's Top 10 K-Pop Songs 4 [7]
2012 Stereogum Top 20 Best K-Pop Videos 12 [6]
Spin The 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time 16 [43]
2014 Y Magazine 120 Greatest Dance Tracks of All Time 92 [44]
2016 The Dong-a Ilbo Best female idol songs according to the public 14 [45]
2017 SBS PopAsia 9 of the best T-ara singles 5 [46]
2019 Billboard The 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s 25 [47]
Popkultur The 82 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time 49 [48]
2021 Melon Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time 64 [49]

Track listing

Japanese single
Version A
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Roly-Poly" (Japanese ver.)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu Sung, Kim Boa, Shoko Fujibayashi (Japanese lyrics)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung3:36
2."Kojinmaru～Uso～" (コジンマル～嘘～; Lies)Cho Young Soo, Kei (Japanese lyrics)Cho Young Soo3:49
3."Roly-Poly" (Instrumental)  3:36
4."Kojinmaru～Uso～" (Instrumental)  3:46
Total length:14:44
Version B
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Roly-Poly" (Japanese ver.)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung, Kim Boa, Seiko Fujibayashi (Japanese lyrics)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung3:36
2."Apple is A" (Japanese ver.)Cho Young Soo, Seiko Fujibayashi (Japanese lyrics)Cho Young Soo3:10
3."Roly-Poly" (Instrumental)  3:36
4."Apple is A" (Instrumental)  3:08
Total length:13:28
Regular edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Roly-Poly" (Japanese ver.)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung, Kim Boa, Seiko Fujibayashi (Japanese lyrics)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung3:36
2."Roly-Poly in Copacabana" (Roly-Poly in コパカバーナ; Roly-Poly in Kopakabāna) (Japanese ver.)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung, Kim Boa, Seiko Fujibayashi (Japanese lyrics)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung3:31
3."Roly-Poly" (Instrumental)  3:36
4."Roly-Poly in Copacabana" (Instrumental)  3:33
5."Bo Peep Bo Peep" (Korean version; Live ver. from T-ARA First Show Case in SHIBUYA-AX 2011.7.5) (Bonus track)Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-SungShinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-Sung4:12
Total length:18:24
Version A DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Roly-Poly (Japanese ver.) Music Video" 
2."コジンマル～嘘～ (Japanese ver.) Music Video" 
Version B DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Roly-Poly (Japanese ver.) Music Video Dance Feature ver." 
2."Roly-Poly (Japanese ver.) Music Video Making" 

Charts

Sales

Country Sales
South Korea (digital)[55] 4,077,885
Japan (physical)[56] 62,774

References

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  2. ^ The approximate conversion of ₩2.5 billion and ₩300 million in 2011 (₩1 = US$0.00094)
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