Mr.Mr. (song)

"Mr.Mr." was composed by American production team The Underdogs (Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, Andrew Hey, Mike Daley, Britt Burton, and Rodnae "Chikk" Bell), with Korean lyrics by Cho Yoon-kyung and Kim Hee-jeong (Jam Factory), who have written lyrics for Girls' Generation for eight years.[3][4] The Underdogs had previously worked with Western artists including Britney Spears, Beyoncé, and Justin Timberlake.[5] The song was released to South Korean KBS Radio Station on February 25, 2014, as a single from the EP of the same name (2014).[6] A Japanese version of "Mr.Mr." was included on the group's 2014 Japanese greatest hits album The Best.[7]

Musically, "Mr.Mr." was described by Billboard magazine's Jeff Benjamin as an electropop and pop-R&B song.[1][8] An editor from Yonhap characterized it as an "electropop dance" song featuring elements of R&B,[5] and Heather Phares, writing for AllMusic, noted that it "mixed a hip hop beat and EDM-inspired buildups" in its composition.[2] Lyrically, "Mr.Mr." has a more proactive theme with lyrics prompting a reluctant man to be more courageous towards girls, a departure from the group's familiar themes.[4]

Girls' Generation performing "Mr.Mr." on M Countdown on March 6, 2014, where they achieved the top spot of the show[9]

The music video for "Mr.Mr." was initially planned to be released on February 19, 2014, in conjunction with the release of the EP. However, the release date was postponed to February 28 due to the accidental deletion of some of the original shots, which necessitated re-filming the affected scenes.[10][11][12][13] As a result, the group's comeback performances on South Korean music programs were also delayed for two weeks.[10]

The music video was choreographed by Jillian Meyer (who had previously collaborated with artists including Janet Jackson and Kylie Minogue) and two members of BeatBurger – Shim Jae-won and Greg Hwang.[3][14] It tells the story of a man who is diagnosed with heart disease but can not confess it to the girl he likes. He then decides to undergo a surgery, which is handled by the group's members who act as doctors.[15] Group member Sooyoung argued that "Our new music video has the concept of encouraging and boosting the confidence of those men who have lost courage".[16] The visual received positive reviews from media outlets; Fuse labelled it "cinematic" and praised its "sophisticated" class,[17] and Popdust's Jacques Peterson hailed the video as "the hottest episode of Grey's Anatomy ever".[18] It was the second most watched K-pop music video of the first half of 2014, trailing only Psy's music video for "Hangover".[19]

To promote "Mr.Mr." and the EP, Girls' Generation made several appearances on South Korean music programs around February and March 2014. They performed the song for the first time on Mnet's M Countdown on March 6, 2014, as part of their comeback stage.[20] The following three days, the group appeared on Music Bank, where they also performed "Back Hug", Show! Music Core, where they also performed "Wait a Minute", and Inkigayo.[21]

"Mr.Mr." received generally positive reviews from music critics. Jeff Benjamin from Billboard magazine hailed the single as "super-strong, super-sweet" and labelled it a welcome change compared to the group's previous "stupid-catchy" releases.[1] He named it the 18th best K-pop song on his list of 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2014.[8]

AllMusic's reviewer Heather Phares said the track helped "[expand] their [Girls' Generation's] musical reach".[2] John Walker from MTV News commented that the single's musical styles were more similar to "The Boys" (2011) rather than their usual styles as on "Gee" (2009), and labelled it a hybrid of "70's-throwback" and "Get Me Bodied".[22] Time magazine's Lily Rothman included "Mr.Mr." on the publication's list of 25 Best Songs of 2014 (So Far) in June. She wrote that "Fans [...] won’t be disappointed by their latest dance-friendly single" and added that "the addition of a scratchy electronic bass line and a hint of darkness" should attract listeners who were not used to their signature bubblegum pop sound.[23]

It ranked #84 on Billboard's 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s.[24]

"Mr.Mr." peaked atop the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart in the tenth week of 2014.[26] It was the 46th best-selling song of 2014 in South Korea, selling over 906,962 digital units.[27] Overall, it became the 54th best-performing song on the Gaon Digital Chart, based on additional streaming and instrumental track downloads.[28] "Mr.Mr." also charted at number three on the Korea K-Pop Hot 100,[29] and number four on the Billboard World Digital Songs.[30]

Credits adapted from Mr.Mr. liner notes[3]

• 'Mr.Mr.' Dance Practice on YouTube