I’m honestly MUCH more fond of the Boys Over Flowers OST than I ever was of the drama itself. It’s infectious, sappy, old-fashioned goodness in just the right ways. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still listen to the entire soundtrack quite often. Certainly more than I’ve ever watched the show (which I’ve done maybe… twice? already twice too many lmao). Its SO GOOD. I don’t even want to classify it as a guilty pleasure because it’s just too good. One of the few redeeming qualities of a truly trashy (affectionate? ehhh not for me) drama.

Love the idea for the new series! OSTs are such an integral part of the drama-watching experience and I think this is a great opportunity to talk about some of the iconic and underrated tunes that made our favourite shows what they are. I have really strong opinions on OSTs so, my fellow beanies, be warned. I suspect a whole lot of you will soon be tired of my spicy takes on how so many mediocre dramas end up having great OSTs.

i think not many kdrama that can top BOF ost hahaha. Almost Paradise remain iconic till this time.

the other kdrama that i could think have the same effect was While You Were Sleeping and Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People.

I agree with your formula for a great OST. The songs really need to fit the show. They're a lot of big dramas, even before BOF but not all of them left iconic songs that people still remember and listen to till these days.
Paradise is BOF and BOF is Paradise, or Stand By Me, or Because I'm Stupid, or Lucky, or One More Time or Fight The Bad Feelings.
All those songs don't feel like random tracks inserted on the show, THEY ARE the show. And that's why they're so iconic and they make us feel so nostalgic.

If there's an album that has never left my computer, is BOF's OST. Just a few days ago I was singing Paradise and One More Time like there was no tomorrow. 😆 And Idk why but in my family listening to Fight The Bad Feeling's club ver is like an inside joke so I enjoy that song so much. LOL

Something similar happens with Love Story In Harvard OST, You're Beautiful OST and Tree of Heaven OST. We were obsessed with those OSTs after watching the shows and we still love them.

For more recent shows is the same. We all connect My Eternal Love with Healer or Round and Round with Goblin (if I hear "see yaaaa~~~" I automatically picture Dokkaebi and Grim reaper walking in the tunnel tbh).

A few examples of great OSTs that come to my mind are:
1. Misaeng
2. Yu Mi's Cells
3. Because This Is My First Life
4. My Ahjussi, My Liberation Notes
5. When The Devil Calls Your Name
6. Oh Hae Young Again
7. Black
8. Just Between Lovers
9. Reply 88
10. Itaewon Class (I dropped the show but I have to recognize that the songs really fit the story and the characters. I feel like a fighter every time I listen to "Start" or "Diamond". Like I can achieve my inexistent dreams -like the lead of the show- LOL).

HOLD UP "almost paradise" was a Boys Before Flowers OST??????????

DAMN I must be on drugs or smth cuz this whole time I thought I heard it from The Heirs! Truth be told I attempted to watch BBF i think back in 2020 or so and lets just say its NOT a good idea to start classic dramas in this day and age as I struggled with the first 5mins and dropped it immediately depsite it being a classic IM SORRY :'))))))))))

Paradise is definitely one of those era-defining OSTs. To this day you can't have a beach or yacht scene (or for that matter anything that counts as 'flexing') in a k-variety show without hearing this song.

Thanks @missvictrix I love these kinds of posts where a newbie like me can sit back and enjoy watching the veteran beanies at play.

You had to mention the theme song- and now its running through my
head again.

This is not the original of this story- as everyone probably knows. Hanna Yori Dango has been remade several times- it is a genuine classic.

I don't keep usually keep track of entire OSTs, but there is always that one stand-out song that catches your ear. For me, some of those are:

Auditory Hallucination: Jang Jae In (Kill Me Heal Me)
Rainbow: Vincent Blue (My Ahjusshi)
Done For Me: Punch (Hotel del Luna)

I do love the full OSTs of Lookout and Mad Dog, however, and the first three songs of Alchemy of Souls.

Boys Over Flowers was simply a cultural reset. In every language. Everything about the drama is just iconic including its OST. No K-drama fan does not know "Paradise" -- it will always be legendary and make us feel nostalgic. I can still sing "Stand By Me" to this day, but my favorite OST is "Do You Know?" by Someday. The song is so sweet, and I will always associate it with Jun-pyo and Jan-di being trapped in Namsan Tower.

One thing kdramas taught me is that you don't have to like the show itself to appreciate its OST. BOF is a great example of this - I found the drama hilariously terrible even in 2011 and my opinion didn't change much since then (aside of some added sentimental fondness of the era that is no more), but the music from it is timeless. And hardly THAT retro for me, considering how 60% of my awfully large playlist is from pre-2000... *sigh* I wish kpop will be this good again someday - and that I will be there to witness it. We need more stupidly catchy happy songs! Maybe then life also becomes less complicated and sad...

Two OSTs that stuck in my head as a beginner kdrama watcher were from Faith and Kimchi Family. The free Sirius Radio trial in my new car had Korea Today and they were playing Carry On by Ali when I turned it on! Kimchi Family had many too and Song to Offer Wine was so sweet.

The embrace of sentimentality in what is a very over the top show matched with a very over the top OST is what makes this OST, and to be honest, the show special. The show and the OST captured the angst of youth in all it contradictions---both silly and serious. Everything about it was over-the-top from the acting to the music. To me, it represents a more innocent time. I'm truly grateful that this OST can make me smile. Most OST's are completely forgetable.

Whenever I listen to my drama soundtracks, I listen to them all together in a big playlist, and I can't usually tell what drama they came from, because they all tend to fit into a similar vibe. Weightlifting Fairy, Age of Youth, Because This is My First Life, When the Camellia Blooms, etc. And none of these dramas have a song that is The song of the drama, so while the music is all beautiful and totally right for the story, it doesn't stand out the way the songs from BOF do.

Sometimes I'll actually test myself and try to guess the drama a particular song came from. I'm usually wrong, lol.

Buying soundtracks is my way of owning a piece of a drama I really loved, since DVD's are so expensive and hard to track down. Someday I'll own the dramas themselves, but until then, I content myself with their OSTs.

Thank you for putting the trigger warning in the title of the post

ICONIC! The OST and BoF are forever linked.

This Kdrama took the world by storm and the theme song is iconic. Even in 2015, Boys Over Flowers sight-seeing tours were still being offered in Seoul.

For me, the drama that first came to mind (after BOF, of course HAHA), was It's Okay, It's Love.

Especially the song Hero. That one broke my heart and was so fitting for the drama <3