I was supposed to review Akdong Musician’s 200% last week, but after I had watched the debut stage of AKMU’s Melted, I decided to wait for the Melted MV instead because the debut stage of Melted looked promising. The MV is released yesterday, and I’m glad that the wait is worth it.
Before I start ranting about how unique this MV is for me, let me take a moment to feel old. AKMU’s average age is only 15.5 years old, because the brother is 17 and the sister is only 14! So young yet so talented. Although there are other Kpop idols who might be even younger, 12 or 13 maybe, but there is none that is as talented as the siblings. In case you don’t know, the brother wrote all the songs and produced the whole PLAY album! Most Kpop idols do not write their own songs or produce their own album, so you can say that I’m very impressed of AKMU. And let me repeat: he’s only 17! I spent half of my time daydreaming and wondering why I was not famous yet when I was 17. *Sighs* Way to go, AKMU!
I LOVE this MV. I love it more than I love pizza. This MV is something close to my heart, it touched me deep down and kept me awake at night. I like how all the ugly truths that we all have been avoiding real hard come bombarding at you in the MV. The MV shows us what we don’t want to see. I understand the boy’s feelings in the MV, I feel a deep connection with the boy. I share the same emotion with the boy. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but to be honest I feel like although the boy and I are in two different places, but we are experiencing the same thing. First, the boy has the curiosity and the innocence that no one understands. In this mind-your-own-business world, the driver was mad at the boy because he snapped some photos of some confidential bankers’ documents. The boy didn’t even know that what he was doing is wrong, he didn’t have any bad intentions anyway. But the driver, of course, did not understand. Why? Because he’s an adult. Second, the shopkeeper knew that the boy didn’t have enough money to buy the things he wanted, but does he do anything? No, but he could have. Third, the boy saw beggars looking for cans in trash bins, and they almost fought just for the trash. This is a good scenario showing the poor fight against each other for survival even though it always ends up ugly. Fourth, the boy saw two mothers arguing because their children were fighting with each other or something. This is the problem with the adults. They do what they think is right even though it’s wrong. They stubbornly believe what they want to believe when they don’t even know the truth. And that was an Asian mother and a black mother, I know they are trying to slip some kind of message in the MV but I would choose not to discuss about it. Fifth, the boy saw a street performer coated in silver was sitting alone with desperation in his eyes. Images like this may mean nothing but I always shiver when I thought about the story behind. He was facing hardships to earn a living and whenever I think about people struggling hard to earn money barely enough to survive, I wonder why the world has to be so cruel, when we see millionaires and celebrities everywhere with their LV bags and nasty attitude. Sixth, the boy learnt that you might be receiving approval for your work from someone, but that someone could betray you any minute. He trusted that lady, but she left him in a pub with unpaid bill. Seventh, the few seconds of the lonely bartender looking at everything with his cold eyes hit me so hard. I’m almost an adult now and I could feel what he was feeling. He was fed up with everything he saw and with his life, there’s nothing good going to happen in a pub anyway. In the end, he poured out his anger that was buried on the boy. Eighth, when the boy was at the police station he saw different kind of people throwing a fit at the cops. He watched in disbelief, and at the same time felt that he did not belong in this place. Ninth, cold and bruised, he saw a dog and was trying to be friendly with the dog. Because he thought that dog would be different from all the scary adults, but he was wrong. The dog barked at him like he was some kind of alien, and he lost it. He screamed his heart out, there were tears in her eyes. In such a cold world, he felt powerless. However, the guy in the caravan invited him and made him a cup of coffee. They both smiled, and faith in humanity has been restored! But of course, it was not that simple. We later see that the boy, who was now a grown up, was starring out at the office window with his cold eyes. This is a very cold world, after all.
Throughout the journey the boy tried to capture the different natures of human. I found this relatable because I myself, am also a serious student of human gestures. I am very observant of every tiny actions of the people around me. When I see the unpleasant side of human nature, it sends chills all over my body. When I see warmth in people’s eyes, it melts the ice freezing my heart away. I don’t understand why the world has degraded to its ebb, I don’t understand why people are so selfish. I also don’t understand why we make the world so complicated. There are tons of people suffering right now, and at the same time there are also many rich people sipping red wine in their posh balconies. And I almost go crazy thinking that I can’t do anything about it. Even if I can, I am not strong enough, not powerful enough to change to world and influence people. Religion serves no purpose, law serves no purpose. Life is getting meaningless. But still, once in a while, we see people reaching out for one another, helping each other to pull through during hard times. It’s beautiful, it really is. The MV brings out the message in 5.18 minutes, a bit long for a Kpop MV but it’s still good.
I couldn’t bring myself to watch the MV for the fourth time because you know why. Tissues, please. Anyway, I’m disappointed that AKMU isn’t casted in the MV. But I’m more disappointed that they were filming it outside Korea with non-Koreans cast. Korea isn’t a bed of roses, it is not as fun as Kpop. It has its own ugly side too and I would like to see them reveal it in the MV. Remember Brown Eye Girls’ Cleansing Cream? Yup I would like to see something like that. The YG president picked 200% as AKMU’s first title track, and AKMU themselves picked Melted for their title track instead. The reason the president was doing this is because Melted is rich with realistic elements and reality could not be peach and cream, something that Kpop does not appreciate. What a bold move from the AKMU siblings! Still, the Melted MV has a melancholy plot fitted perfectly into the eerily beautiful song.The whole MV is just beautiful.
Thank God, the lyrics of the song make sense. (I have my fair share of going WHATTT when it comes to kpop lyrics). In fact, considering the fact that a 17-year-old boy wrote it, the lyrics are well-versed and neat, like ‘I leave behind the darkness that found its way to my heart’ and ‘I wish the frozen love will melt away now’ are indeed very poetic. Even the ‘why are they so cold’ line is eerily addictive.
If you have not watch the MV, please do so. Even though there are a lot of Youtube comments saying about how much they cried when watching the MV, please save your tears in your pocket or something. Because the world is a lot crueler that what you have seen.
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