WHO JM
This is going to be a bit of a ramble of thoughts on my part. It took me around 24 hrs. to take it all in.
Before I start talking about everything, I do want to thank my good friends, you know who you are, with which we had these discussions and back and forth trying to figure it out. Said it once and will say it again: Love you guys!!!
And on that note, let's get to it.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything we got with Who, not to mention the whole Muse concept, the configuration of the album, the order of the songs.
Unlike Face this is less of a autobiographical album. This is more about a concept. We have the connecting thread from Face to Muse through Rebirth (Oh, I'm gonna talk about that song for sure). Then we go into Interlude: Showtime, leading into SGMB and then Slow dance, Be mine, Who and Closer than this in that order. Interlude showtime being the switch from personal (ME) to showtime/performance (US) perhaps. A show themed around love. And an interesting thing happens when you look at the placement of the songs. First of all, Who, the only song JM isn't credited for writing, is last. Then, and this to me is the interesting part of it, the songs go from SGMB having that love, being sure of it, wanting even to help others find it as the first song you hear all the way back to searching for that unattainable love (Who). Starting the story from the end, when love is found, rather than from the beginning when love is being searched for. Starting from the happy ending. And if you do want to link it to his own story (not sure it is, but for funsies) then it's basically going back chronologically. SGMB is the now JM, the happy one who found love, while Who is the JM who didn't even know what he was looking for, or more so Who he was looking for. And if we are already going in that direction than basically going full circle with Face in the sense of Face being in chronological order of things and Muse mirroring it in the sense of going present to past rather than past to present (yes, I definitley did not major in arts and it shows, lol).
Let's talk about Who now.
First thing first, once again, and thank you for that amazing post, I'm going to link to @andy-wm's post right here. Because basically it says most of what I wanted to convey, and as usual, written so so well.
You would think this is all about a guy looking for a girl, right?
NOT.
More so a guy looking for love, thinking that it's in a girl's image. "HER". @andy-wm explained it beautifully. I am going to emphasise a couple of points and/or add to them.
No. It's not just you. Although I do admit, it took me several reads and re-reads to have that eureka moment. When you take in the full picture. It's there.
JM is looking for someone. In his head he thinks it's meant to be a girl. That's what society has told him. That's what is expected of him. That's what makes sense to him. Again, in his head.
And yet, his heart, it's still searching.
And he continues to search but he isn't finding 'her'.
First the use of "think" again. The mind thinking versus the heart finding.
And pay attention to the lyrics: "If every day I think about her..."
Not "Every day I think about her..."
The way I see it, this is again about challenging society's expectations of him. If he's doing it right, if he's thinking about finding 'her' every day of his life, then why hasn't he found her? And the emphasis is on the question why, repeated multiple times.
He's asking why not how. And why do I think that means something?
Think about it for a second.
If he's looking for her every day, thinking about her all the time, wouldn't the question be "how is it that I haven't I found her?" But by asking "why haven't I found her", it feels more so like "am I doing something wrong here? Why isn't this working?" Perhaps because the Who he's looking for, the Who his heart is looking for, is not a "her"?
And this kind of disconnect between what his mind thinks he is looking for - "her", and what his heart is looking for "who", continues throughout the song.
Another thing I noticed, and I don't know if it means anything, is the repeat of the number five in the song.
That second one hit me the first time I heard the song. Why? Why count to five? So random. And yes, I know it could mean absolutely nothing, and yet, it is curious why we get these two fives.
So I went looking what the number five could mean, cause we know numbers do mean something to them.
On my search I found this:
And this is about this piece of art:
The name of that piece of that famous piece of art: "Sun, Moon and Five Peaks".
And this:
The sun and moon are incarnations of yin and yang and symbols of brightness. The five peaks represent the center of the Earth and correspond to the sky and the seat of the king, who is the Son of Heaven. The number five is significant, as it is the midpoint of the decimal system.
Another coincidence?
Then there is what the number 5 symbolises spiritually (not specific to Korean culture):
Was this on purpose? This is one of those things I really don't know. And yet...
But again, we have to remember that this is the only song on JM's album that he isn't credited for being part of the lyrics writing.
And yet, we know that he did sit with John Belian telling him what the story was he wanted him to tell.
We don't know just how much of it is JM and what he wanted to convey, at least with the lyrics. We don't know just how much say JM had in the direction the MV went in, but it does feel like at least some of these things we are seeing are not pure coincidence and are intentional, for example the next thing I want to talk about.
Let's talk about the falling billboard screen for a sec.
The timing of it falling, the WHO without the question mark, the why...
JM is singing, dancing, the storm is brewing, wind blowing, he sings about "her" and then asks: "who is my heart waiting for?"
The dancers split up, and he starts walking towards us and this falls from the sky:
"Who is my heart waiting for?"
It has a blue frame that breaks apart (perhaps symbolising how this love is framed differently or that the barrier that was there between them now broke - yes, pure drivel on my part, but let me have this, I'm really enjoying it, lol).
This is who, is what the screen is screaming out!!!
"keep going" it tells him, as he's walking in it's direction.
But the screen, it's facing us. We can see it, but he can't see it yet.
He is walking in it's direction but still oblivious to what it's showing him.
Another thing I noticed there is that the screen falls from the sky but doesn't collapse or break or topple over. It stands there, strong and stable. Just as strong and stable that love is. The Real love he talks about in Rebirth. And then we cut to the next scene. We don't see what happens when JM comes closer in. Does he see it? Does he see Who?
Thank you @theendiswherewestarted for sending me the next couple of links I want to address.
This one I noticed myself - the colours of that fire stood out to me, seeing as they were different from other fires on screen.
The Yellow purple that we also got in the poster question mark.
The way the signs are basically around him (the fire, the screen), but he passed them by unnoticed, perhaps because of how he perceives his love is meant to look like. It's a she, not a he, and even if it is on fire or on a neon sign, something he should be noticing, he just doesn't.
The second is this:
I have seen some that noticed this and I admit, it took me a very long time to see the face (some saw a face in smoke in the teaser as well), but I have to admit, it does look like a face. Could it be JK? Idk. Is this intentional? Well, it doesn't look like the actual smoke, it does look like a projection or add-on, so... I guess this one I'm going to leave as a question mark. A possibility.
But this one, I'm feeling the need to go back to this one because this is just WOW...
I am aware there are those that claim it to be another member. All I will say that they are wrong.
Also want to thank @lastride1981 for your ask.
And then the MV ends with this:
You know, if we didn't get the message just yet (which I can assure you many didn't), then let's end it with rainbows. Yes, that is who your heart is waiting for!!!
Nothing JM does is not thought about, is not intentional.
And that rainbow at the end is again one more of those things!!
As I said, not everything is intentional. But a. saying not everything is intentional inherently means some of it is. and b. this is JM we are talking of. The master of layering his art.
This is art. Intended for us to ponder about. It's up for interpretation. Even a song with rather simple lyrics like Who, especially with a MV attached to it and JM being the artist behind the two.
So this here is how I see it. My interpretations. Sharing them with you.
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Alright, let me throw my hat in the ring for predicting who the upcoming DRDT MV is gonna be about. Spoilers for the series up to the second victim reveal.
So, I know that earlier today I said that I thought the MV might be about Levi-- I even voted for him on googledetective's poll. However, after actually looking at Yoidoreshirazu's lyrics, I have another prediction who (at the time of writing) has 0% on said poll. I actually think this MV could be about Rose?
I woke up as an unaware drunkard
While Rose obviously isn't known for excessive alcohol consumption, I think you could use her sleepy demeanor as a substitution for drunkenness in this song. Alcohol is a depressant, which "can affect concentration and coordination and slow down a person’s ability to respond to unexpected situations" as the Alcohol and Drug Foundation puts it. Similarly, a person as lethargic as Rose might have trouble remembering what's just transpired, or quickly answering questions. Sleeping may be another way that Rose chooses to get away from her problems, an "addiction" similar to someone who drinks to forget.
All of this bickering goes on til the dawn comes
Worn out, we all look horrible
Until all thousand voices become hoarse
Chapter 2 was full of lots of fighting and yelling, of which Rose was neither a participant nor an enjoyer.
I’m giving into you, but you don’t even have anything to say
And my body is dyed
In order to pay off her debts, Rose has to give in to what the Spurlings ask of her. Her art and her soul are now forever dyed by the intentions and ambitions of the Spurlings, as opposed to her own expression.
And then
The sacred mountain is covered in mud, it’s smeared and chipping away, ah yes, it’s not half bad
I’m a milligram away from succumbing
Getting drunk again and again, unexpectedly- Ah, it’s not half bad
I’m a drunkard unaware of my rival in love, so
Rose's "sacred mountain" is art itself. Even if she isn't a sculptor working with clay, it's still the journey to which she wanted to dedicate her life. Her dream is chipping away, but she says it's not that bad because she knows the alternative would have been worse. Still, she's on the verge of giving up because of the depressing state her life has fallen to. The sentiment is then basically repeated with her choice to numb herself to the world around her, being an "unaware drunkard"-- it seems chill on the surface, but she still regrets giving up so easily and not being able to contribute more.
I'm not entirely sure who the "rival in love" is. My best guess is that it would sort of be herself? Or, like, the love itself is the rival. Her desire to make art for herself and love her life is the rival of being responsible and loving/supporting her family by making art for the Spurlings.
The singing voices are uncountable
And once one gets lost in them, they end up at your xx
If this is Rose's MV, this section is clearly about her nightmares. The "singing voices" would be the other participants of the killing game, specifically those who screamed out in pain from massive injuries or death. Rose gets lost in her memories via her dreams, and those visions stick with her as part of her photographic memory. You could interpret the "xx" as "door," which just means that they always wind up right in the forefront of her mind. But, you could also substitute in "canvas" or "tip of your paintbrush" to incorporate how Rose often paints the things that worry her.
Hey, look at how pretty it is, the daydream rondo一
I hide a thousand and can only spit out ten
The paintings of Rose's dreams are beautiful, but Rose always has to hide them behind black paint, lest the Spurling Foundation fully steal her soul. Still, she's frustrated that she can't paint what she wants more often.
Please don’t let this fleeting happiness go away,
Until I can lend an ear by your side
I’m giving into you, but you don’t even have anything to say
And my heart is dyed
Rose has at least tried to make friends in the killing game. The two most notable, in my opinion, are Teruko and Nico. I'd like to believe that her brief interactions with the two of them, at some points in time, have made her happy, at least in comparison to the rest of the killing game. In Rose and Nico's FTE, Nico mentions how they like that Rose is a chill person who will just hang out and listen, and when Teruko asks Rose about her secret, Rose explains to Teruko that talking to others helps her work through her complicated thoughts and emotions. These two pieces together make me believe that Rose likes showing that she cares by listening to others, so "lending them an ear" is her way of reciprocating that happiness. Both of them are pretty quiet, but they've still changed who she is right now, for better or worse.
I’m a drunkard unaware of the story
Rose's sleepiness and general withdrawl from social interactions prevent her from getting involved in major portions of the story, such as helping Levi reconnect with Ace. Her fears also directly prohibited her from being aware of certain pieces of evidence when she refused to enter the Playground to investigate Arei's body.
Finally, I also think that the style of the music just kinda fits Rose. Veronika would probably say that I'm just primed to believe that after Venus and I assigned Rose the song Always Tired, which has a similar low-key, depressing red flavor. But, while much siller, Cartoons by Louie Zong (which pretty much everyone agrees was Rose's from the official playlist), also has that slow synthetic/tech beat. (Does that make sense??? I don't know what instruments are.)
Obviously, I didn't go through every lyric, but I felt that most other lyrics were either pretty self-explanatory, ignorable, or more of the same. The lyrics of the song definitely lead me to think that we could be looking at a Rose MV, but there are a couple of other factors arguing against that interpretation.
The first is the choice to give Rose an MV now of all times. Our first MV was Sleepy, a song for Min which came out shortly after she died. Our second was Literature Girl Insane for David, which came out shortly after his show-stopping reveal which made waves in the killing game and the fandom. Rose... well, she did have some important scenes this chapter, between the reveal of her secret and her breakdown outside the Playground, but neither of them were particularly recent or relevant to where the story is currently paused.
Well, DRDTdev did say that not every character is planned to have an MV, and that the creation order of them isn't totally within his control. So, if the idea for Rose struck now, then we could get a Rose MV now!
For what it's worth, I realized that it probably doesn't make sense to give this MV to anyone who's involved in the Chapter 2 murder. Even if we're still a few months out from that reveal, I feel like it would make more sense if we just waited until the chapter was over to give the killer a nice MV sendoff, much like Min. I, along with... pretty much everyone else I asked back in August didn't think that Rose was going to die this chapter, so she's most likely free from that mark.
The second is the quote in the description under the video, "I lack self control." I... really don't know what this would mean for Rose. Generally, I think she's pretty good at controlling her emotions, and I agree that that part might point in the MV more in the direction of Ace, Levi, Veronika, or someone else.
Still, I think that the lyrics of Yoidoreshirazu fit Rose pretty well, and wanted to explain my thoughts somewhere. Most importantly, new content! Thank you DRDTdev; stay healthy out there!!!
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