October 02, 2013
With Secret's Hyosung stealing all the attention with her democratization scandal and the massive amount of CFs she receives for her "bagel girl" body, the other members haven't had much of a light shined on them at all. Sure, there was YooHoo earlier in the year but the majority vote on that one was that it was a huge disappointment (I mean how can you go from the sexy concept right back to aegyo?!). TS Entertainment is here to fix that problem by giving main vocalist, Song Jieun another solo single by the name of False Hope/Torturous Hope (looks like the translators had a hard time making up their mind). If you haven't seen the music video yet, check it out below!
The Video
Story/Theme: God damn if this video isn't the most beautiful thing I don't know what is. There is so much symbolism to be found in this video that I don't even know where to begin. The whole video focuses on a theme of an endless cycle of torturous pain that never ceases to end. Everything in the video from the grey and reddish color scheme to the simple sly smile of the main male character in the video all have some kind of significance. This is not one of your usual superfluous Kpop videos filled with nothing but fluff and meaningless props.
Let's move on to the elephant in the room: the crucifixion scenes in the video. Some of you might be thinking this is for the shock value (though part of it might be) but there is really no religious significance to it. The main reason it is there is to illustrate that she is painfully attached to this abusive relationship and trapped to the point where she can't ever leave no matter how hard she tries because she is literally nailed to him. This is perhaps the most powerful image portraying what it is like to be in an abusive relationship in the video and there's more too it than that. There's the pomegranate being drained of its juices like one would be drained of their energy, Jieun's finger touching the thorn and bleeding because the relationship hurts to the touch, the Newton's cradle to show the perpetual and endless cycle of abuse, and so on.
I could go on about this for days but let's just move on to the visuals.
Visuals: Jieun looks damn fine in this video if I do say so myself. TS Entertainment sure spent a good bit of money on this video from the hair, to the props accentuating her beauty, to the make up, to the designer clothes (and there are plenty of outfits to choose from throughout the video). Even though I'm not a fan of super close up shots, there was an acceptable amount dispersed throughout the video that made it easy for me not to get tired of seeing her gorgeous face.
The Song
This is one of those rare and unique ballads that has managed to capture my attention. You're doing something right if I'm interested enough to listen to it let alone right a review about it. The song is soft and emotional but not your usual boring ballad. What's also interesting is that Jieun doesn't have the type of voice you would typically hear in a ballad. It's not polished and perfected but they did such a good job with blending it with the instrumentals that I found the imperfections all the more endearing, making me like the song and Jieun more.
Part of it could be that I'm a sucker for instrumentals that involve well... real instruments (don't get me wrong, I do like other types of sounds too). The guitar instrumentals at the beginning piqued my interest slightly but I already knew that many ballads go for that type of sound at the beginning so that isn't what pulled me in. I think part of it was that I got to watch the music video along with the song which, as you can probably already tell, I am in love with. Another reason I like the song is that it properly portrays what it is like to be in an abusive relationship. Overall, it's a great song and the video compliments it greatly and makes it more interesting than your typical ballad.
So what do you think? Was there anything in the video that held great significance to you? Comment below!
Part of it could be that I'm a sucker for instrumentals that involve well... real instruments (don't get me wrong, I do like other types of sounds too). The guitar instrumentals at the beginning piqued my interest slightly but I already knew that many ballads go for that type of sound at the beginning so that isn't what pulled me in. I think part of it was that I got to watch the music video along with the song which, as you can probably already tell, I am in love with. Another reason I like the song is that it properly portrays what it is like to be in an abusive relationship. Overall, it's a great song and the video compliments it greatly and makes it more interesting than your typical ballad.
So what do you think? Was there anything in the video that held great significance to you? Comment below!
Ji eun is good with the solo material she gets. Heck, even It's Cold, the one she sang as an ost song is perfect. I have high hopes for her. So far she doesn't disappoint at all.
ReplyDeleteShe does have a way of carrying herself without the help of her other members. I think Hyosung would also be a good candidate with her sultry voice (maybe I just want to hear more of dat voice idegaf)
ReplyDeleteIs there any particular song that highlights Hyosung especially? I'd like to hear this sultry voice... as you said.
ReplyDeleteListen to the song That Person by Dazzling Red. She was in that for a special called The Color of Kpop. She's not a solo act or anything but the sexy feel of the song fits her singing voice.
ReplyDelete