Okay so the video and the lore are so famous that I’m going to discuss that second.
This song is about you, only you.
So I’m noticing a running theme in NewJeans music. Its honestly the antithesis of BlackPink (title) songs. BlackPink is known for a strong beginning that immediately impresses you and gets you excited, and then works its way to a bass drop. BlackPink, however, is no longer the only group that does this and i would argue even they know this, so they switched it up which in my opinion was smart. NewJeans however starts their music with almost what one could call a breathy vocalization and a simple, single instrument beat. This beat will be present throughout as a an indicator for the listener to be able to keep up as they switch through different instrumental changes and its genius because this song has almost no structure in the traditional sense.
Its you, you worry about me,
Its you, you make me laugh.
The first verse introduces one more layer of electronic beat and a percussion to get you excited for whats to come. The lyrics tell you exactly how the listener experiences their end, at first, of love. But, don’t be deceived, because this isn’t normal love. This is obsessive love, and it is not a two way street. The reciprocation isn’t there and that becomes more apparent in the ending line of the verse “No need to say, Boy what do you say?” No need to say because there isn’t going to be a response.
They keep on asking me who is he?
The prechorus makes my theory feel a little stronger. ‘They keep on asking me who is he’ on the surface is a fun chant about how my friends can’t wait to meet my significant other that i keep on saying is one call away and will show up for me whenever. But, the next line of the pre-chorus is “Can this be real?” Which makes the english chanting feel more like anxiety that maybe your friends don’t believe you have a significant other, or at least you’re paranoid they know it isn’t real.
The instrumental also drastically becomes more layered, faster, and going into the final line “he’s the one living in my system baby” and we hear an almost digital noise as the obsessive lover dives into their phone to stalk the apple of their eye.
I knew this would happen, I was really hoping that he will come through.
He isn’t real and it is a delusion, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just enjoy the delusion. I feel like this is something very relatable that many millennial and gen z people will understand. I remember being on myspace (lol aging myself) and Tumblr at one point in my life and falling in love with profiles of people. Romanticized versions of guys based on pictures they hand selected and bios they thought would be the most enticing versions of themselves, but I was not falling in love, I was falling into an obsession because those people had no idea who I was. Even people I did know in real life, who I would regularly see in sweat pants or like gym shorts at school, I would even almost fall in love with their online lives because they seemed so cool, but still that wasn’t real, only a perception of my snippets of their life.
This part of the chorus is slowed down, almost the most somber part of the song instrumentally, or at least the calmest outside of the intro.
I can never let him go, I only think of you 24…
My feeling is boundless, I’m going crazy… right?
We love a self aware queen. We’re swept off of our feet again, but just because I’m constantly thinking of you and pining for you, that still does not mean it’s reciprocated. Am i going crazy? Why am I so attached to this online persona of a person or celebrity?
The instrumental here is hands-down the fastest paced as you internally think about your obsession, and fall back into the rabbit hole of the post chorus
Even when I’m alone, its okay because I love someone!
The postchorus/second verse is where the positive spin reinforces the obsession. Wherever, whenever there’s no one else I’d hold onto. I hear his voice through all the noise. With phone in hand and headphones in ear, I hold your hand and listen to your music like you’re signing directly to me. I’m alone, but I still love you, so I have no worries.
The instrumental here is similar with the post chorus being very fast paced, and vocally matched. But the delusion sets in with Danielle’s line “even when I’m alone” she sings off of the beat, slower, our of touch of reality.
After this we work into the same prechorus and chorus instrumentally and lyrically, but the post chorus switches the end (in the delusional melt down portion of the instrumental) to have almost a glitch effect on the lyric “baby” indicating that this is getting out of hand.
My heart is glowing ———>
<———It’d be glowing cause he—
This bridge section is again part of the delusion. My heart is glowing? No it would be glowing. We’re going to cross this bridge in more depth later, but my phone is the only thing glowing, making me feel like my heart is glowing.
No i can never let him go, he’s right there for me 24!
The final chorus switched the lyrics slightly and keeps a similar instrumental, but becomes a little more stripped and ends with a new post chorus “my heart is glowing, so i can’t sleep at night” we end with. Scrolling through his feed, through their discography, through their videos, through the night.
now for the (in)famous video. NewJeans makes people uncomfortable because they are challenging the status quo. They aren’t making a punk rock anthem that they’re going to take back their body, they aren’t going to make a statement that they aren’t like other girls. They’re simply stating that they are enslaved to the public and that they are only products for your amusement in many ways. They ARE musicians obviously, but what they’re saying is that all of the extra fluff, the vlives, the public appearances, the vlogs, the whole entire show is a show. You don’t have any idea of who they are. You know who Hanni is, but you don’t know her best friend or her first crush or the memories she’s made. You have no relationship to her, or really any of them. I honestly don’t even need to review the video after the intro line of “this song is about You You You You You” because they video then flashes on each “you” to a montage of them being the version of themselves you perceive in your para-social relationships with each of the members. The video also explores fairytales in a way that makes me feel that they’re actually referring to themselves as the fiction. Hyein is an innocent damsel in distress, Haerin is a shy and cute (but perceptive) kitten, Danielle is all smiles and excitement, Hanni is a content creator and finally Minji is keeping it all together and the mature figure, but still aloof. These are all roles that have been assigned by the public to the girls, but these are all fictional personas that aren’t people because everybody grows and has nuance within themselves. Nobody is one dimensional.
The doctor represents the public at large, assigning and diagnosing the group with their roles and various problems, and then finally we end on my absolute favorite part. Minji, assumed to be naked, in control of the situation telling everything to stop. Telling you, the consumer, to stop. This is followed up by the cherry on the cake, a twitter user writing “this makes me uncomfortable, CAN’T YOU JUST SHOW THEIR FACES AND DANCE” and Minji pulls the netizen out saying “that’s enough, time’s up”
Each of the performance videos also uphold this theory and I love that they even had them just “show their faces and dance” without then lipsyncing any lyrics. Version 2 in particular only features then in full coverage outfits, or a school uniform with high socks and a long skirt taking the comments literally, dressing them only to the appropriate standard and taking away their individuality through fashion and also disconnecting the musician from the music by taking the singing away. Ugh i love it.
Song: you know its a 10/10
Video: not even comparable. Honestly i hope other groups take note because this sort of thought piece on the para social relationship we have with idols in particular out of the celebrity-sphere is toxic and borderline unhealthy mentally speaking.
