Love Wins All: Decoding the Meaning Behind IU’s Music Video Starring V of BTS

K-Pop

Feb 1

If the music video for IU’s new single Love Wins All isn’t a preview for an upcoming K-drama or movie—it could be. Without a single word spoken, IU (Lee Ji-Geum) and BTS’ V (Kim Tae-Hyung) are so captivating they’re able to convey a poignant story in just over five minutes. A story that makes me want to know more.

Let’s start with the visuals. My first watch was on my phone. The second was on my computer. But this MV deserves to be viewed on a large TV screen. There are so many little details you don’t want to miss out on! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve replayed it, but given how many millions of views the MV is getting, I’m not the only one. If you haven’t watched the MV it’s below. I suggest you watch it to form your own opinions before you read my theories. Part of the fun is seeing how everyone interprets this MV.

“The music video quickly surpassed 16 million views, landing at No. 1 on YouTube’s Trending list in Korea. ”

— Korean JoongAng Daily

When we first see IU and V they appear beaten up, scared, and running for their lives. Early on I noticed that IU is signing to V. Is he deaf? Is she deaf? Are they both deaf? V’s right eye is a cloudy, blueish-white color that leads one to conclude he’s blind in that eye.

Before I started seeing the chatter online, I was forming my own theories. We don’t even hear any music until 33 seconds in. It starts with a simple piano note that gradually builds. The melodic tune is pretty—an interesting dichotomy against the visually apocalyptic background and situation the two characters find themselves in.

The mysterious cube they seem to be running from immediately has you wondering what it is. After watching the entire video, it seems metaphorical—not literal (or alien). My immediate thought was this cube represents the internet—maybe more specifically, social media. Many times we only see one flat side of the cube which is a square. A square just happens to be the perfect size image for Instagram.

IU and V first encounter what looks like an abandoned mall. Any BTS fan will immediately connect the pile of clothing to BTS’ Spring Day video. Given the stark hopeless nature portrayed so far, it seems this pile of clothing once again represents people no longer on this earth.

At 56 seconds IU’s simple vocal starts as we see them hiding from the cube while cautiously glancing to see if the coast is clear. The MV then jumps to them in front of an abandoned storefront. Once they enter the store, everything looks retro starting with the mannequin in the window.

The video camera IU picks up could be the same one I used when my kids were young. The TV/VCR combos are similar to the one that sat on the counter in my kitchen and gave me peace of mind when bungee corded into my Suburban on long trips with Taylor and Chlo. While watching the MV with Taylor, we talked about the retro nature of what we were seeing. She noticed how the mannequin had a realistic face—something we don’t see anymore. Not only did everything remind me of when she was little, but I also noted that this is the same time period IU (May 16, 1993) and V (December 30, 1995) grew up. Taylor was born in 1993 and Chlo was born in 1995. Before the internet and social media. Taylor and Chlo have said numerous times that they’re glad they knew a world before computers.

Is there any significance behind the name of the store—Horizon Portal? Once V looks through the lens of the video camera, he sees a pretty IU smiling back at him. The scratches are gone, and her makeup and hair are perfect. A confused V hands the camera to IU, and she also sees him standing shyly without any signs of being beaten up. It’s hard not to gasp when you first see her gently move his bangs to reveal two perfect eyes.

Keeping with my theory that the cube/square is a metaphor for social media, when viewing through the video camera lens it shows that perfect image similar to what so many of us share online, even though our real lives may be anything but. Not only do we strive to get the best photos, but we often go one step further and use filters for better lighting, adding makeup, removing wrinkles—anything to help us live up to the image we want to portray.

The ballroom scene is both fun and sad. The two sit down at a table of abandoned plates of old food. They take turns pretending to eat as the camera shows us their perfect selves eating delicious pastries. It’s not hard to imagine that they have probably had little to no food for quite some time. As the camera pans out suddenly the room is full of people dressed in all black—faceless with even their heads being covered with black bags. IU and V look around then suddenly there’s a full feast they’re enjoying as they run around the room. They don’t really seem to be interacting with the people but it’s clear they’re aware of each other. At one point, V even bops someone on the head with a red balloon as IU is pulling him along.

I could see this as representing people on social media. Many followers on social media are friends, family, and acquaintances. Some are fans, and there are also anti-fans and trolls. Many we never truly interact with, but we’re still aware of their presence. While they may be faceless, their comments can impact how we feel about ourselves—both good and bad.

Cut to them finding a rack of wedding dresses. IU dons one and with V now in a tux they’re in a photo booth. Photo booths are everywhere in Korea and they’re quite popular. IU and V are laughing and smiling as they pose for their shots in their perfect wedding attire but the photo that pops out shows them in their real state. Battered and bruised.

More fun ensues as we see them jumping around in a shower of white feathers from a pillow fight. At one point they each take turns throwing a VHS tape at a wall with what looks like greeting cards taped to it. More evidence of a time when they were young and carefree? Then onstage, the bride and groom (with the faceless audience looking on) each take a turn at the mic. Are they singing? Reciting vows? What matters is we see them both being able to use their voices. We also see several loving gestures of affection between them—and then the cube returns.

As the flat silver square comes towards the bride and groom they take off again. The next time we see them running in a hallway, which is reminiscent of the scene in Titanic when Jack and Rose are trying to outrun the rising water in the ship. It’s foreboding because I know how that ended.

The lens we’ve been seeing IU and V through is gone—their wedding attire is ratty and full of stains. They are bruised and battered, with no filters to make them appear pretty. At one point, they dead end into a huge hole blown into the wall which exposes the outside world. Once they turn to run the other way, we see several cubes (the internet and social media is everywhere?) floating in the sky amongst buildings that have smoke billowing from them.

As they come face-to-face with the silver square in front of the pile of clothing IU picks up a metal pipe. V grabs the pipe from her and starts to lash out towards the square, and by the shape of his mouth, we can tell he’s screaming. (Does this mean only IU is deaf?) An overwhelmed V falls to the ground as the square continues towards them.

V is lying in IU’s lap as he grasps her hand. The visibly shaken pair hold each other. As the square gets bigger, brighter, and seems to be exploding a bit, IU takes her hand and covers V’s one good eye while a tear slides down his cheek. The symbolism in this gesture will bring you to tears if you’re not already there. The lyrics we hear IU singing are, “Our love wins all, love wins all, love, love, love,” as a single tear falls from her tear-filled eyes.

Have they given up? Even to the end they’re holding onto each other. Is this love winning?

The video camera is lying on its side on the floor but we can see their feet as they rise in the air through the viewfinder before the battery dies. The final shot is the wedding dress and tux floating down from the ceiling until it lands on the pile of clothing we first saw when they entered the mall.

We have a love/hate relationship with the internet and social media. At least I do. Without it, I doubt I would even know who IU and V are. I’ve met many wonderful people via social media. People who it’s been a joy to connect with in real life too. Even this blog could not exist without the internet and social media. But sometimes, I wonder if the good truly outweighs the bad.

When we look at people like IU and V in their real lives they have nearly 93 million followers between the two of them. I’m sure they have their fair share of internet trolls. News spreads like lightning. Real and fake. I think the fake probably spreads faster than the real. And it can have devastating consequences. Anyone paying attention can see how America and Korea have been impacted by the internet and social media over the past 5-10 years—there have been many devastating consequences. Like IU and V in the MV, it can feel like a losing battle to bring humanity back to the place where love can win.

But also like the MV, if you have the ones you love by your side, in the end, one could view that as love wins all.

The MV is up to each viewer’s interpretation. The fact that it has everyone thinking and pondering speaks well of what IU and her team have accomplished.

Lyric Translation

I’ve been trying to learn Korean for the past few years—it is the language I would’ve heard for the first year of my life before I was sent to the U.S.. Listening to Korean songs is one way I hear the language regularly. I can multitask and listen passively because unlike K-dramas I don’t have to pay attention to enjoy it. I’ve been able to measure my language progress when I realize I understand Korean lyrics that I didn’t before. Not gonna lie. I get excited when this happens!

Sometimes Spotify and Apple Music will provide the lyrics but not always. If they’re Korean they’ll be in Hangeul (Korean alphabet). You can find the translations through websites like Genius and there are usually several lyric videos on YouTube that also translate. Even the official MV of a song will generally have subtitles available.

But not everything in Korean has a direct translation or the same meaning in English. Sometimes the nuance is different depending on the context. Many will remember the controversy over some of the translations in Squid Game. At one point a female character says, “oppa” to a male character. It was translated as “baby.” While oppa can be an endearing term used by girlfriends to their boyfriends, it technically means older “brother” from a female. In this scene, the male character calls the female character ajumma to insult her and imply that she’s old. Her response of oppa was anything but endearing (definitely not baby)—she was defiantly pointing out that he’s older than she is.

Sometimes when you combine Korean words you get a different meaning than what each word means separately. In the case of Love Wins All, I found the translated lyrics were the same on Genius as the official MV. Maybe that’s what YouTube uses to autogenerate translations. But Papago is my go-to translator for Korean. I feel it’s usually the most accurate. Because I found some of the translations a bit awkward on the MV I decided to translate them through Papago and Google Translate to see if there are any differences. There are.

We’d have to talk to IU to know which translation fits best. Depending on her understanding of English she may or may not understand how various nuances change depending on which translation is used. It’s the same for me. I’ve told my Korean friends to correct me if I say something that may be technically correct (textbook) but maybe not how they would really say it in Korean conversation. Songwriting is a whole different beast. A lyric is often poetic and not how we would talk in conversation. Keeping these things in mind should help you when you’re trying to understand what the songwriter intended.

The two lyric slides below show the original Hangeul, the translation in the MV subtitles, Genius, Papago, and Google Translate. Looking at the lyrics with all the translations side by side gave me a picture that made more sense to my English-speaking brain. The best example is probably in the chorus where the MV translated, “Crush me in your arms, give me a lovelier kiss.” My daughter Taylor (who is a songwriter) pointed out that crush and lovelier are opposite and don’t bring up the same picture in your mind. But if you look at Papago it translates IU’s lyrics to say, “hold me tight until it breaks, I love you more, kiss me.” Google Translate says, “Hold me tight until I break down. Kiss me more lovingly.” The nuance of the two other translations makes more sense to me. What do you think? Does seeing all the translations help you understand the song better?

Let me know your thoughts and theories on the MV and what you think of mine in the comments!