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The Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines concluded on March 28. Much to fans' surprise, it is reportedly the first K-drama to have featured an original Beatles song. The show portrayed over six decades of societal change through the intertwined lives of Ae-soon (played by IU and Moon So-ri) and Gwan-sik (played by Park Bo-gum and Park Hae-joon), spanning from 1950s Jeju to Seoul in 2025.
When Life Gives You Tangerines opened by featuring the Beatles' Yesterday in the first episode, presenting the song to create an emotional atmosphere and a nostalgic mood for those who are already aware of the track.
In one of the more memorable scenes, we see the older Ae-soon drawing with crayons while Yesterday plays in the background. Ae-soon's narration about turning 70 provided emotional heft and illuminated the passage of time.
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As per Max Movie on April 7, Park Sung-il—the music director of When Life Gives You Tangerines—indicated that the easiest part of using the Beatles’ song was the selection of the track itself; the almost impossible part was navigating the associated international copyright restrictions. He further mentioned that the Beatles are considered to have the most intricate licensing process of any artist.
As per Park, approval for the song's usage required providing details about the kind of scene intended, its contextual place, and the exact amount of time the track would be played. Although the usage fee wasn't disclosed, Park acknowledged the production of When Life Gives You Tangerines needed both an ample amount of time and finances to secure permission. As per Max Movie, he further added,
"For that reason, I believe our work is the first to use an original Beatles song in a Korean drama."
Fans of the drama subsequently took to X to react to the news, with one user writing:
"This is honestly crazy."
"It was worth it. Cause wdym the first seconds I watch wlgyt, I will hear 'Yesterday' playing? Immediately sold," said a fan.
"Every department of this drama didn't compromise on anything. What a team!" remarked another.
Fans regarded it as an excellent decision to add the song in the first episode of When Life Gives You Tangerines itself.
"Playing yesterday in the first scene of the drama was insane, they want tears from me right away. kudos!" one X user responded.
"And it was worth it. Hearing 'Yesterday' at the opening scene set the nostalgic mood of the drama right away," another fan wrote.
"I love that song sm. the way i was hyped and feeling emotional at the same time lmao," a netizen mentioned.
Park Sung-il talks about how he selected music for When Life Gives You Tangerines
When asked about his initial impression of the script for When Life Gives You Tangerines, music director Park Sung-il said it felt like reading a "very well-written novel," as reported by Joy News 24 on April 8.
"The emotions of the characters, their expressions, clothing, and even their gestures were described in great detail for each scene. In particular, the expressions in the text were so specific that I could imagine them freely," he added.
One example he gave for the descriptive writing was the use of the phrase “cursive script” to describe the text written on a signboard, which helped him form a more specific mental image and approach the musical composition more creatively.
In terms of the music, which spans 65 years, Park emphasized that he focused on expressing emotion rather than sticking to specific genres. Since When Life Gives You Tangerines covers three time periods—the 1960s, 1980s-90s, and present day—he felt that unfamiliar music styles could disrupt the viewers' emotional immersion.
Furthermore, by understanding each character’s emotional arc through the script, he found it easier to create fitting music without being overwhelmed by the volume of work.
"Since I already knew from the script what the characters' emotions were and what role they should play in our story, I was able to create [the music] more easily," he said.
Park also discussed his collaboration with director Kim Won-seok. They agreed early on to center the music around emotion, using Korean traditional instruments within Western compositions.
"We actively used Korean traditional instruments so that the music created in the first half could be used effectively in the second half, but we did not borrow full-fledged Korean traditional music compositions or rhythms," he explained.
For instance, they replaced a flute with a traditional piri in Ae-soon’s theme and blended the geomungo with Western disco rhythms to evoke uniquely Korean emotions throughout the series.
Park Sung-il explained that after reading the script of When Life Gives You Tangerines, he tried to understand the purpose behind each song written in, and when unclear, he consulted the director and the writer. He noted that copyright issues were the biggest challenge, requiring careful coordination to balance artistic intent with licensing feasibility.
