Severely (song)

"Severely" is a slow-tempo rock ballad.[1] The song was written by Han Seong-ho, composed by Kim Do-hun and Lee Sang-ho, and arranged by the latter; it was composed in the key of E major using common time with a tempo of 71 beats per minute.[2][3]

Kim Seol-hyun (picture in 2013) played the protagonist's love interest in the music video

On January 27, 2012, F.T. Island released a music video teaser for "Severely". The full music video was released on January 31, 2012, which starred lead vocalist Lee Hong-gi and AOA member Kim Seol-hyun, a trainee of FNC Music at the time, as his love interest.[4][5] The music video begins with Lee in a church where he mourns the death of his love interest. After exiting the building, he returns to the past and is given a second chance at saving the woman's life at the cost of his own.

Beginning on February 2, 2012, F.T. Island initiated promotions for Grown-Up by performing "Severely" and "We Hope to Become Lovers" on Mnet's music television program M! Countdown.[6] The band also performed the songs the following days on Korean Broadcasting System's (KBS) Music Bank,[7] Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation's (MBC) Show! Music Core[8] and SBS's Inkigayo.[9] On February 9, "Severely" earned its first K-Chart win on M! Countdown.[10] F.T. Island won a second time on February 23.[11] They won JTBC's Music on Top on February 15,[12] February 22,[13] and February 29, the latter of which earned them a Triple Crown for their third consecutive win on the show.[14] On February 26, the band won Inkigayo's Mutizen.[15] F.T. Island's final promotional performance was held on Inkigayo on March 18, 2012.[16]

With one eligible charting day, "Severely" entered at number 76 on South Korea's national monthly Gaon Digital Chart for January.[17] On the chart dated January 29 – February 4, 2012, it debuted at number four on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart, shifting 334,140 downloads and 827,392 streams within its first week of release.[18][19][20] The song rose to its peak at number three the following week, where it remained for two consecutive frames before descending to number eight.[21][22][23] For the month of February, the song ranked at number three.[24] By the end of the year, "Severely" was the 24th most-downloaded song with 2,291,448 units and the 81st most-streamed song with 15,206,652 streams domestically.[25][26] It ranked number 65 on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart.[27]

On the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100, "Severely" debuted at number 35.[28] On its second week, the song rose to number four.[29] It peaked at number three the following week, where it remained for two consecutive weeks before falling to number ten.[30][31] On the year-end chart, "Severely" ranked at number 39.[32]