Crazy Mess or Cultural Critique?
However, I do still want to review it, because I'm not terribly pleased with it. Over all, it's a fairly well-done MV with gorgeous imagery. The choreo is weird, ill-suited for its placement in the MV and not terribly well-suited to much in the visual arena nor the sonic landscape of the song. The video would really be much better without it. The song is beautiful and it ties well to the action of the story, but it hardly shows off Junsu's voice... melodically, it doesn't really evolve or mature, harmonically, there's almost nothing in the overdubs outside of a vague choral effect and some reverb, and lyrically, it's pretty empty save for the rap (and even that is mostly poignant statements with generalizations)... there's really not much in it. It's great BGM for a dramatic story MV though, which makes me wish there was just a titch more explanation in this... it can't stand alone in any sort of completeness without an understanding of Junsu's stance on SM and the Idol music culture (that he's ironically playing right into). It's just not... whole. I keep waffling back and forth, between thinking it's good and thinking it's not. When you look at any singular aspect, the reaction is very polarized. The song is great to listen to, but there's really nothing in it. The MV's symbolism is so beautifully specific, but it's hollow without additional knowledge. The choreography is cool for a stage performance, but it's so out of place and awkward in the MV... The list goes on.
It could be better, cleaner, more of a stand alone piece, but most of Junsu's fans have been with him for nearly a decade, so they'd have the background knowledge to attempt an interpretation of the MV's message. On it's own, with nothing else considered, it's not very good. But knowing a bit about what issues it speaks to... it's not all that bad honestly, and it gives a poignantly delivered commentary.