In the autumn of 2003, "Don't Cry" moved between the stages of MBC "Music Camp" and KBS2 "Yoon Do-hyun's Love Letter" and made the name THE CROSS (더크로스) known. With a top note above the third octave, the song has been closely associated with Kim Hyuk Gun (김혁건) for the past twenty years.
Those who first heard it that autumn have now lived through more than twenty years. The song stayed where it was through all that time, and in 2023 Kim Hyuk Gun recorded it again. This article follows the two people who made "Don't Cry," the voice that carries it, and the twenty years in between.
01.Two People, One Song
THE CROSS began as two people: vocalist Kim Hyuk Gun and member Lee Si-ha (이시하). Before the debut, Kim Hyuk Gun won the Grand Prize in the Rock Solo category at the 2001 Mnet Music Festival, and in 2003 the two released their first album, "Melody Quus."
With that debut THE CROSS earned the nickname "supreme vocalist" (보컬의 지존), and "Don't Cry" became the song most closely tied to Kim Hyuk Gun's name.
02.A Voice Above the Third Octave
"Don't Cry" reaches a top note above the third octave. In his early years with the band, Kim Hyuk Gun drew the attention of the music world with his three-octave high shouting. Musicians including Kim Tae-won of the band Boohwal (부활) went as far as calling his high notes "elegant" — not a high register driven by force alone, but a voice that keeps the grain of the melody even at the top.
The roots of that voice are in rock. Kim Hyuk Gun formed Rockband Cross (락밴드 크로스) in 2005; the band later released "Rebirth" and "Legend." With today's THE CROSS BAND (더크로스 밴드) he has covered Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell," Deep Purple's "Burn," Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley," Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and Prince's "Purple Rain." He is a vocalist at home in the classics of hard rock and heavy metal — the high notes of "Don't Cry" stand on that rock foundation.
A search for the title alone brings up songs by other artists with the same name first, so the accurate search is "THE CROSS Don't Cry" (더크로스 Don't Cry).
03.2003: The Season the Song Spread
From July to October 2003, "Don't Cry" appeared on one network music program after another. Five of those performances remain on the broadcasters' channels.
| Date | Broadcaster | Program | Official video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003.07.12 | MBC | "Music Camp," episode 186 | MBCkpop |
| 2003.09.27 | MBC | "Music Camp," episode 196 | MBCkpop |
| 2003.10.04 | KBS2 | "Hi! 5" | KBS KPOP Classic |
| 2003.10.25 | KBS2 | "Yoon Do-hyun's Love Letter" | KBS KPOP Classic |
| 2003 | Ulsan MBC | Ulsan Summer Festival rock concert | 울산MBC_뮤직 |
The story of each stage continues in the 2003 "Don't Cry" broadcast performances.
04.A Pause, and the Song Sung Again
A traffic accident in 2012 brought Kim Hyuk Gun's career to a halt. In October 2014 he stood on stage again, on SBS "Star King." At the end of that year, Kim Hyuk Gun and Lee Si-ha announced that they were preparing an album together for the first time in nine years.
On February 14, 2020, THE CROSS sang "Don't Cry" on JTBC "Two Yoo Project – Sugar Man 3." It was a night when viewers who had heard the song in 2003 and viewers hearing it for the first time sat in front of the same song. The appearance is covered in "Don't Cry" on Sugar Man 3 and On Broadcast: Programs, Dates and Sources.
05.A Recording Twenty Years On: "Don't Cry (2023)"
On October 29, 2023, "Don't Cry (2023)" was released. It was the first song of THE CROSS's 20th anniversary project.
| Item | 2003 original | 2023 version |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Don't Cry | Don't Cry (2023) |
| Release | 1st album "Melody Quus" | Single · 20th anniversary project |
| Released | 2003 | October 29, 2023 |
| Vocals | Kim Hyuk Gun | Kim Hyuk Gun |
On December 26, on JTBC "Re:Alive," Kim Hyuk Gun sang "Don't Cry" alongside a digital twin that restored the vocal range of his prime. In effect, the voice of 2003 and the voice of 2023 shared one song on one stage. The project, which continued that December with the new songs "Poem of the Wind" (바람의 시) and "To Reach You" (너에게 닿기를), is covered in THE CROSS 20th Anniversary Project, and the digital twin stage in Re:Alive (2023): Kim Hyuk Gun and His Digital Twin.
06.Listen Again
The original music video and the 2023 videos are on THE CROSS's official YouTube channel, THE CROSS OFFICIAL. Subscribing to the official channel is the quickest way to hear about new music. Kim Hyuk Gun's other key songs are gathered in A First Guide to Kim Hyuk Gun's Music and on the Music page.
A stage in the autumn of 2003 and a recording in the autumn of 2023 — the song remembers the time between the two seasons.