Redemption Reacts to TAEMIN - Sayonara Hitori Live
Added 2023-03-28 18:03:51 +0000 UTC
Comments
I watch this video and the YT video all at once so I mixed my comments together and posted them both places. π
Feather_Noir
2023-03-29 03:24:56 +0000 UTCI have a lot to say about this project and Taemin so strap in. lmao Because his solo work is so deeply personal for Taemin, he has a lot of recurring imagery and themes in his solo work that you'll notice show up across eras: being bound/restrained, having his face partially or completely obscured usually with a mask or his hands, wolves, death/resurrection, hell/damnation vs heaven/divinity, flowers (usually roses and often blue), etc. He strives for beauty and elegance within darkness, unless ugliness and inelegance is the point he's specifically making. His art oftentimes has unsettling or creepy themes and impeccable visuals. He also often showcases duality in his MVs, lyrics, dance, or visuals. I'd say a good 90% of his MVs and performance videos have themes of duality or multiplicity and the splitting of the self/psyche. His lyrics also usually are about exploring his identity both as Taemin the Idol and Taemin the Man. Thus the dualism with the dragons, grieving women, and stone wolves that y'all noticed was absolutely intentional, I believe. Duality (sometimes multiplicity) in Taemin's MVs and stages usually represent his relationship with his stage persona, the industry, or the commodification of and objectification of his body and face. He has a very complex history when it comes to his image given his extremely young age at the start of his career and the ways in which the public and other industry professionals consumed, controlled, and sometimes hypersexualized that image. Taemin uses his solo work as a way to regain control over that image, his sexuality, and to exert his autonomy within a music industry that frankly is manufactured in such a way that it often stifles individuality and personhood. This is why his body of work has dealt heavily with his struggles with identity and culminated in "Advice," the song in which he specifically calls out the way people gossip about him or try to control/restrict him. Taemin's early Japanese EPs "Sayonara Hitori" (2016) and "Flame of Love" (2017) have a dark fantasy theme. Both of these title tracks were included on his "Taemin" full length album in 2018, lead by the "Under My Skin" title track. "Under My Skin" does not have a fantasy theme but is actually an extremely personal song dealing with Taemin's complex feelings about his internal self and was frankly a vehicle for him to process some of the darker emotions he was feeling in early 2018. In "Sayonara Hitori," however, Taemin tells a fictional story of a warrior who has died after a great battle and is making his way through different realms of the afterlife. "Sayonara Hitori" can translate to "Solitary Goodbye," "Lonesome Goodbye," or "A Single Goodbye." The warrior/fantasy storytelling reframes the "goodbye" in the title/lyrics into both an aching parting and a violent separation of death. If we take the MV's story into account when interpreting the lyrics, perhaps the version of Taemin in the white with the straps flowing from him is a spiritual version and the person walking way and not turning back is someone who is still living and has moved on from Taemin's death. Loneliness and grief are mentioned several times in the lyrics. However, Taemin also tells the person he's speaking to, "Don't be sad. In this world, flowers are in full bloom." as if to comfort them and tell them that he has made it to a better place. But how are we to interpret this comfort when the opening imagery is of Taemin's dance both making those flowers bloom in a barren land while also scattering the petals of the flowers into the wind, ostensibly killing them? What about the final lyrics in which he admits at the very end "I don't want to say 'Goodbye.'" and then says "goodbye" three times more anyway? Perhaps Taemin is trying to capture the almost hypocrisy of parting from someone, whether that be a breakup or some other type of separation. You long for them, you know you must say goodbye, you make the choice to leave, but there's always a part of you that regrets and misses them. Now to switch gears a little. I have an exercise I do when I think about Taemin's artistry where I always consider interpreting his lyrics as being about his relationship to himself and the many parts of himself he likes to portray. So if we look at the lyrics through THAT lens, perhaps the violent parting and death is representing a death of his former self. The person he is grieving and saying goodbye to is the Him from before and a new man is walking away without looking back. This particular interpretation would then tie back into the duality we all mentioned earlier. Perhaps there's a version of Taemin that is a warrior (fire realm), a version that's a lover (flower/wind realm), and a version that's a ghost (water/beach realm). Each realm holds a part of himself and when the MV has these realms match cut and flash in and out of each other, they are the parts of him coming together to form the whole. Sorry for this extremely long comment. I just love this song/project so much. "Sayonara Hitori" is a seminal piece for Taemin. The choreographer for this song was the famous Japanese dancer/choreographer Koharu Sugawara. It was the first song she ever choregraphed for Taemin and began a years long friendship/partnership between them that has been maintained to this day. Her strong friendship and influence can be seen as one of the things that fueled Taemin's interest exploring contemporary and modern dance more prominently. She is also one of the major influences (along with Jonghyun, Key, and another choreographer Rino Nakasone) who gave Taemin the space to begin exploring his femininity and androgyny in a positive way after many years of struggling with and against it. Koharu also choreographed Taemin's "Move" (the androgyny national anthem), "Flame of Love" (his other big Japanese title) and co-choreographed "Criminal." She also served as choreographer for SHINee's 2018 title track, "Good Evening," the expression of which was so important for their group after everything that happened in late 2017. Taemin has several performance versions of "Sayonara Hitori" in both Japanese and Korean, btw. He has a duo dance version in which he and Koharu performed this song as part of the Hit the Stage dance competition show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKIbscbXvy4 He also has a trio dance performance version that he performed with TWICE's Momo and Jihyo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFHLhmL5mLk The choreo is a little different than his solo versions so I highly recommend checking them both out when y'all can. Also Taemin's other Japanese releases "Flame of Love," "Under My Skin," and "Famous." I also recommend the "Sayonara Hitori" and "Famous" dance practices. They are superb.
Feather_Noir
2023-03-29 03:17:54 +0000 UTCππ
Redemption 46 Studios
2023-03-28 19:34:22 +0000 UTCGot you
Redemption 46 Studios
2023-03-28 19:34:15 +0000 UTCYes love
Redemption 46 Studios
2023-03-28 19:34:10 +0000 UTCLol you stayed for the last part π₯π₯
Redemption 46 Studios
2023-03-28 19:34:01 +0000 UTCYou should check out Circle by Onew!! Itβs so good! Also Heartbreaker and Chase from Minho!
Meliii
2023-03-28 19:06:25 +0000 UTCHahah!! I love to see you guys still jamming to the SMCU palace winter album. Those songs are god tier indeed!
Meliii
2023-03-28 19:05:35 +0000 UTCTaemin has three Japanese albums. Taemin, Flame of Love, and Famous π
Mocha Williams
2023-03-28 18:39:46 +0000 UTCCan you react to "Rise" live by Taemin too. It's a very good performance with great vocals and emotions.For real, you would make my day better. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ52k5NMyqs
IhateMondays
2023-03-28 18:33:29 +0000 UTCCan u react to SHINee "exuse me miss live" and "Replay live"ππ€
Elise Kapstad
2023-03-28 18:25:58 +0000 UTC
