Gee (Girls' Generation song)

"Gee"
Cover art of "Gee" (Japanese version) featuring the nine group members in uniforms
Japanese version cover
Single by Girls' Generation
from the album Gee and Girls' Generation
ReleasedJanuary 5, 2009 (South Korea)
October 20, 2010 (Japan)
Studio
  • SM Concert Hall
  • SM Yellow Tail (Seoul)
Genre
Length3:21
Label
Composer(s)E-Tribe
Lyricist(s)
  • E-Tribe
  • Kanata Nakamura (Japanese version)
Producer(s)E-Tribe
Girls' Generation singles chronology
"Baby Baby"
(2008)
"Gee"
(2009)
"Genie"
(2009)
Girls' Generation Japanese singles chronology
"Genie"
(2010)
"Gee"
(2010)
"Hoot"
(2010)
Music video
"Gee" on YouTube

"Gee" is a song by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation, who originally recorded a Korean-language version for an extended play (EP) that was released in South Korea by SM Entertainment on January 5, 2009. Nayutawave Records released a Japanese-language version of "Gee" on October 20, 2010, as the group's second single in Japan. Music duo E-Tribe wrote and produced the track, and Kanata Nakamura wrote additional Japanese lyrics.

"Gee" is primarily a bubblegum track with an electropop and Europop sound brought by prominent techno- and hip hop-influenced synthesizers and beats. The lyrics are about first love from a young female perspective. The song was supported by a music video depicting the group members as mannequins who, after the shop owner leaves, come to life and perform the choreography in colored skinny jeans. It became the first girl-group video to amass 100 million views on YouTube.

In South Korea, "Gee" was the number-one song on the music program Music Bank for nine consecutive weeks in 2009 and the top-performing song of the 2000s decade on the digital music platform Melon. According to a 2009 poll by Gallup Korea, it was the year's most popular song. In Japan, it peaked at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and number one on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, and the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) certified that it sold over one million digital copies.

"Gee" won Song of the Year at the Melon Music Awards and Korean Music Awards, and it won Digital Daesang at the 24th Golden Disc Awards in 2009. Music critics have recognized "Gee" as a K-pop standard that helped shape the contemporary bubblegum sound and attributed its popularity in part to the music video.[1] The song ranked first on Rolling Stone's 2023 list of the 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music.

  1. ^ Hu, Elise; Lee, Janet W.; Placzek, Jessica (September 12, 2022). "How Girls' Generation shaped K-pop as we know it". NPR Music. Retrieved September 25, 2023.