Maria (마리아) [Originally Performed by Hwa Sa by Harold Jessmayer

Few songs from 2020 have held their ground as well as Maria (마리아) [Originally Performed by Hwa Sa, a track that keeps finding new audiences. Ahn Hye-Jin's arrangement gives the track a layered quality that rewards repeated listening.

Harold Jessmayer understood what this song required and delivered it without excess — the restraint itself becomes the emotion. The connection between a talented ensemble cast and this song is part of what makes it resonate beyond the film itself.

By the end of 2020, Maria (마리아) [Originally Performed by Hwa Sa had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. The mood of the track shifts subtly as it progresses, giving even a single listen a sense of journey.

The concision of Maria (마리아) [Originally Performed by Hwa Sa — just 3:17 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.