Hello Hello- FT Island

This just came out today. Three lines into the song I paused it, called my friend (a huge FT Island fan) into my dorm room, and told her this was the best MV and song they’ve ever released.

Lyrics: 7/5
I really love FT Island’s style. They don’t do many slow songs about loss and love, they tend to be quicker paced (probably because this is a band, and not just a solo singer, so everyone has to do their parts). But this song is no different.  The song is about a girl who stole their heart and suddenly left them. They can’t forget her and are just telling her that they still love her. It has a strong “Bad Woman” feel to it, but the music itself is like “Bad Woman” meets “I Hope” (two of my favorite songs). I’ll explain the chorus a bit in the “Other Things” section, if you don’t know Korean it may be a bit confusing.
“The word annyeong is hello hello/ now it’s goodbye goodbye/ Even if I constantly try to forget you/ It can’t be done/ I hello hello/ Oh you, goodbye goodbye/ it’s a word that means I still love you”

Dance: NA
FT Island is one of only 2 idol bands in Korea (the other being C.N. Blue). That means one singer and the other members are on guitar or drums. FT Island is the original, so their singer only sings, and he doesn’t dance (CN Blue’s members all play an instrument).

Story: (starts to complain)/5
I say “Starts to complain” because I really don’t know how to rate it. The story itself would get a “3/5” for being a little unclear, but it has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the lyrics and story in the song, so I feel like it should get a “0/5” for that, but it was still really cool so I want to give it a “5/5″… So IDK, you chose which rating you want.

Hongki is seen walking down the street when he spots a crowd in front of a house with smoke coming out the windows. Presumably he knows someone in the house, because he runs in to save them. He runs through the house until he finds all the FT Island members in a room together (playing their instruments, but I think it’s just supposed to represent him finding them) and gets everyone out when the firefighters were too afraid to enter.

So that’s where it has nothing to do with the song. It’s a love song, but he isn’t saving the girl he loves, he’s saving the other members. And at the end of the video you see him just walking down the street listening to the song on his MP3 player. He looks at the building and it’s fine, then it fades back to the fire and getting his friends out. That part makes no real sense, so I think it’s a lead in to an upcoming MV?

Other Things

OK, here’s the thing with the chorus: In Korean the word 안녕 (annyeong) can be used to say both “Hello” and “Goodbye”. The song is about the duality of that, saying the boy is saying “Hello”, while when the girl say it it turns into “Goodbye”. Think of it like “Aloha” in Hawaiian. He’s also talking about the changing of the girl, saying she’s first using “Annyeong” as “Hello”, then suddenly starts saying it to mean “Goodbye”.

I LOVE the style of this song. Like I said, it’s kind of “Bad Woman” meets “I Hope” in the feel, but it also kind of has a “Nightmare before Christmas” feel for some reason on the guitar solos (that’s just my opinion). It is a very fast song, and very sad at the same time.

Overall this is doubtless my favorite FT Island MV. I can’t say how excited I was to see this out ^^ And like I said, 3 lines in I’d already decided it was my favorite song of theirs ^^ And I LOVE Hongki’s hair. First he had 80s hair in “Bad Woman”, then that orange mess in “I Hope”, then in “Love Love Love” that scarlet… stuff (it looked like a bad wig), and this is just simple black hair. It actually looks a lot like Jung Yonghwa’s debut hairstyle (Jung Yonghwa is the head of CN Blue, who acted with Hongki in a drama before debut).

The same problem as always with FT Island MVs though- other than full group shots you barely see the other members. They severely lack in face time, especially leader Jonghun and drummer Minhwan. At one point I actually thought they’d lost a member.

Not sure if this relates to the maybe-sequel, but when the members get out of the building Hongki isn’t with them, only 4 leave the building, then suddenly Hongki is standing apart from the group who rushed to them to make sure they were OK and is standing apart looking sad… So… Either he wasn’t there that day of filming, they just kind of put him off to the side, or he was supposed to be dead.

The dead thing might make sense, he collapses in the hall of the building and is unconcious until a white light shines on his face, which he follows to his members. I took that as just, something showed him the way, but now I’m wondering if he didn’t die. The smoke seems to have stopped when he gets up, like it’s frozen in the background. He walks through a door into a room that probably shouldn’t be there and finds the members… Is it supposed to be that he’s a ghost still trying to get them out?

Announcement- FT Island Reviews

Ah~ finally it all makes sense!

While I was doing the FT Island MV part of the Artist Profile I noticed some repeated shots that never stood out to me before. Remember how I was a little confused as to how the shots in some of the videos fit together? Well, I think I know the answer now. FT Island is known for doing story MVs. I thought they did two major ones (as in 4 MVs that tell two different stories). I realized that I was wrong. My new theory is that EVERY FT Island MV up until “I Hope” is actually part of one long story, since their other MVs all have shots of these same people and events.

So throw out any review I have done of FT Island, I’m starting from scratch. I’m tracking down all of their MVs with english subs, and arranging them in order of release. I will watch everything again and review it as one mega-sized story MV (I’ll split it into parts based on the MV, I’m not going to review like 8 MVs as one, don’t worry!). I’m probably not going to get around to doing it for a few days or even a couple of weeks, but just so you know my reviews of FT Island can’t be trusted. I *will* however be reviewing “I Hope” and “The One”, also a few MVs that I know aren’t part of the story because they are theme songs for dramas.

After Love- FT Island

This MV has a strong edgy feel mixed with a slower backing. And unlike some other FT Island MVs, there are lots of group shots and shots of the other members ^^

Lyrics: 5/5
This song is about abandoning hope in a relationship after being betrayed by the girl. The lyrics are powerful and show fierce regret and pain at being taken for a fool and left with nothing. Despite this they beg the woman to come back, acknowledging their pain and saying they wait for the woman, calling even the breakup a lie.
“Everything’s a lie, it’s all a lie/ your love is all a lie/ because I’m hurting like this/ Because you hurt me like this/ it’s a love that causes tears/ you’ll only love me/ you’ll protect only me/ your love is all a lie/ you took my whole heart/ took all my love even/ it’s a love that leaves”

Dancing: NA
FT Island is not a dancing group. It has three guitarists, a drummer, and a lead singer.

Story: 5/5
There is some semblance of a story in this music video. While most of it is carried by the song, you get shots of each member experiencing pain with a breakup in different ways (one member is in the hospital with a broken arm). They become violent, hitting the ground, the bed, or a punching bag, and eventually all gather together at the edge of a tunnel facing the sunlight, a metaphor I guess for moving on, but all turn back into the dark.

Overall: 3/5
The only thing keeping this score down is a lack of variety in the shots. The same shot seems to be repeated over and over again with very little change. I would like a little more from the director for this MV.

Other Interesting Things
Some FT Island MVs feel more like showcases of the lead singer, with few shots of the other members. This MV had a very strong balance, showing each member fairly and proportionately, and there were even group shots. It was refreshing to see more of the other members.

Bad Woman- FTIsland

This MV has one of my absolutely favorite shots ever, so I’m happy to review it ^_^

Lyrics: 5/5
The song has a very old feel (by that I mean 1980s) with the rhythm and pace (and hair). The lyrics are a reaction to being left by a woman they loved greatly, though not so much as a sad reflection, but rather an angry one, repeatedly calling the girl a “Bad woman” for what they did. Eventually the song takes a new direction, with the singer admitting he is a “Bad man” for not seeing it, and finally moving on to erase the memory from their minds. It is a powerful song with the lead singer hits perfectly.
“As if I was a person who didn’t know/ as if nothing had ever happened/ If we erase it all, what can I do?/ I loved only you/ you’re a bad woman/ you’re a bad woman/ in a guy’s heart, in a guy’s eyes/ are you the reason of the tears?/ you’re a bad woman/ you’re a bad woman/ I loved you/ I didn’t have anyone but you/ leaving me at the end/ you’re a bad woman”

Dancing: NA
FT Island is not a dance group- they play their own instruments with a lead singer who takes care of the vocals.

The cool expression... which didn't fit...

Story: NA
There are some story-type shots, but mostly shots of members each holding a girl who appears to have lost interest, though they seek to keep them together. The one story scene features the lead singer (Hongki) fighting with his girlfriend after he tries to kiss her. She throws makeup at him and shouts at him, ending with him just staring at her and crying. Hongki, who debuted as an actor long before he became a singer, has a good pose and looks very emotional, but it doesn’t fit with the earlier fight scene, it just looks like they told him to strike a pose.

Overall: 4/5
The song is excellent and the expressions are good and focused, but between takes they do not always remain consistent (like the sudden somber expression after the fighting scene). This follows back to my original complaint- I wish the other members appeared more in group shots and not individually looking miserable.

Other Interesting Things
Like I said earlier, my FAVORITE  shots are in this MV. Namely the “group” shots, where each member is in a white box which are swinging as a pendulum on a black stage with a little backlighting. It looks awesome and gives a great feel to the MV. My only complaint is that the order of the boxes never changes, and the camera does not go past Hongki in the first box, so you cannot see the other members. I wish there had been some variety there.

The style of this MV seems to have been present time as far as clothing and such, except for the lead singer. His style makes the MV look almost like one from the 1980s (feathery hair alert!). This is not a good or bad thing in my opinion, it’s just a fact.

As close as the MV gets to a group shot

This MV was also guitarist Seunghyun’s first in the group (a previous member quit due to musical differences). They only show him closely at the end of the MV, the other shots are all far to the side, holding most of the focus on Hongki, with the leader, alternate guitarist, and drummer (who I think was there the least) getting next to no face time. Again, a greater mix of shots focusing more equally on all the members would have been nice.