Photo credits: KpopStarz
[REQUESTED]
Back when Secret was the only money-maker under T.S. Entertainment, their main vocalist Song Jieun had debuted solo with "Yesterday" and came back successfully later in 2011 with "Going Crazy," featuring B.A.P's leader, Bang Yongguk. As we all know, the agency has focused so much on their fellow label-mate B.A.P causing us to wonder if she was ever going to return as a solo artist despite building activities as a part of Secret simultaneously. Because of these overwhelming feelings coming from both groups, we failed to notice that they had silently planned out her comeback which had caught many off guard. They had not the time to recollect themselves by the time she returns with her latest lead track "False Hope (희망고문)" taken from her 1st single album of the same name. The views were pretty low and she did not manage to capture as many hearts as how she did before.
Similar to "Going Crazy," her latest single "False Hope" is also a dark R&B ballad. The acoustic string which kept playing in the background gives us sense of detachment and hopelessness - similar to hanging on a thread and the song conveys exactly the same message. An English phrase in the song "I know you're tipsy whenever you call me" is enough to give us a hint of what exactly the song is about, the emptiness of it all does not escape the lyrics. This song tells a story of a one-sided love of which does not necessarily mean that it was never replied with the same intensity. After the nasty break-up, one party (Jieun) retains the feelings for her partner which gives a haunting and a fleeting feeling throughout the song. So how does one convert such a deep song into a music video without it being overwhelming? Symbolism is used to an extent that the scenes unfold so smoothly that it is a wonder why the views were even low to begin with.
The scenes were brought to us one after another in a pattern we can all ponder on - Jieun with her lover, Jieun in the bathtub and then getting trapped in a cage of thorns, Jieun wandering around lost and getting her and her lover's hands nailed through - all before the climax as she celebrates her birthday alone: lighting up the candles, blowing all of them off and then ceremoniously ruining her cake as tears run down her beautiful face.
Symbolism
The video ends with Jieun celebrating her birthday, the climax of it all. It shows us that Jieun is indeed alone. All the scenes where her lover had made an appearance were probably flashbacks occurring only in her mind. In this scene we witness as she lights up the candles and ceremoniously, she destroys her own cake as it acts as a reminder to her loneliness. A powerful music video with a matching haunting song, kudos to you Song Jieun. Congratulations eonni!
[REQUESTED]
Back when Secret was the only money-maker under T.S. Entertainment, their main vocalist Song Jieun had debuted solo with "Yesterday" and came back successfully later in 2011 with "Going Crazy," featuring B.A.P's leader, Bang Yongguk. As we all know, the agency has focused so much on their fellow label-mate B.A.P causing us to wonder if she was ever going to return as a solo artist despite building activities as a part of Secret simultaneously. Because of these overwhelming feelings coming from both groups, we failed to notice that they had silently planned out her comeback which had caught many off guard. They had not the time to recollect themselves by the time she returns with her latest lead track "False Hope (희망고문)" taken from her 1st single album of the same name. The views were pretty low and she did not manage to capture as many hearts as how she did before.
Similar to "Going Crazy," her latest single "False Hope" is also a dark R&B ballad. The acoustic string which kept playing in the background gives us sense of detachment and hopelessness - similar to hanging on a thread and the song conveys exactly the same message. An English phrase in the song "I know you're tipsy whenever you call me" is enough to give us a hint of what exactly the song is about, the emptiness of it all does not escape the lyrics. This song tells a story of a one-sided love of which does not necessarily mean that it was never replied with the same intensity. After the nasty break-up, one party (Jieun) retains the feelings for her partner which gives a haunting and a fleeting feeling throughout the song. So how does one convert such a deep song into a music video without it being overwhelming? Symbolism is used to an extent that the scenes unfold so smoothly that it is a wonder why the views were even low to begin with.
The scenes were brought to us one after another in a pattern we can all ponder on - Jieun with her lover, Jieun in the bathtub and then getting trapped in a cage of thorns, Jieun wandering around lost and getting her and her lover's hands nailed through - all before the climax as she celebrates her birthday alone: lighting up the candles, blowing all of them off and then ceremoniously ruining her cake as tears run down her beautiful face.
Symbolism
- Pomegranate - In Buddhism, the fruit is considered to be a representation of eternal peace. In the video, the pomegranate is being squeezed dry. This could possibly mean that her lover has stripped her of her very own eternal peace causing her to run dry and live with no purpose as she faces everyday with the same empty and disturbed feeling. The colour red also resembles to that of a blood's colour, indicating her bleeding love.
- Thorns - These are pretty self-explanatory as thorns reflect physical pain. In the video, Jieun is surrounded by thorns even from the beginning and there is a scene where she is trapped in a cage of thorns. This indicates pretty clearly that Jieun is surrounded by such great pain and there is literally no way of escaping. The more she moves in the cage, the more likely she is going to hurt herself.
- Bathtub half-filled with water - Bathtub scenes are pretty popular amongst many artists be it K-Pop or other international ones. Water is a symbol of change, life and cleansing but in the context of this MV, dark water could mean the exact opposite - the symbol of death.
- Blue - While she is in the bathtub cleansing herself of her pain, she received a phone call from the man who had led her on. In the lyrics she mentioned "I know you're tipsy whenever you call me," we can speculate that this is the reason why she had dropped the phone and a gush of blue contaminated the water. While the colour blue could mean peace, stability and loyalty - it could also mean warmth and depression. The latter fits the MV's concept best.
- Sunflower - Sunflower is the symbol of happiness. In the video, the sunflower was burnt indicating that with it, Jieun's happiness is also gone. A clear symbol sending all of us a clear message.
- Nails - While the usage of nails as a form of torture could be considered as controversial (please refer to Cruxificion in Christianity) we can safely speculate this based on the surface alone. In the situation where two objects are nailed together, it means that the bottom object is the source of stability for the top object. With Jieun's hands as the entry point of the nail and her lover's as the other end, we can say that once upon a time, this man is Jieun's source of stability. It also shows that there is still a part of her lover's in Jieun's soul.
- Self-Potrait - Towards the end there is glimpse of a self-portrait of Jieun where it has been ripped into pieces by the hands of her lover. This suggests that hatred exist between the two entities although we can never know for sure if this is made-up or otherwise or that it probably occurs in her head alone.
The video ends with Jieun celebrating her birthday, the climax of it all. It shows us that Jieun is indeed alone. All the scenes where her lover had made an appearance were probably flashbacks occurring only in her mind. In this scene we witness as she lights up the candles and ceremoniously, she destroys her own cake as it acts as a reminder to her loneliness. A powerful music video with a matching haunting song, kudos to you Song Jieun. Congratulations eonni!
Video credits: TSENT2008
By Nani Azlan
By Nani Azlan