Golden Child - Without you MV Analysis

    After Golden Child came back with their

     Reboot repackage album on January 29th

    of this year, I had many thoughts about

     the meaning of their tittle track Without You

    but struggled on how to express them.

    Now that they are coming back with Take

     a Leap on June 23rd, I wanted to finally put

    all my thoughts on a blog so here they are ♡

     I want to start with the description

     they gave of the song:

    “It’s about emptiness, loss, futility”

      – Studio A interview

      (I really like this interview, they talked

      about all the songs in their albums

      and it can be found here)

   “A chaotic ego that desires to find an

    answer but is unable to do it,

     wandering in the endless darkness”

    – taken from their ASC episode

    and the description from the song

    on Naver, with google translator.

    [Also as this song and concept is

     related to Wannabe , if you like

    you can read my theory on it as I'll

     be using some common elements

    for this analysis too.]

    First the phrase chaotic ego made me

    think a lot. In both songs, Wannabe and

    Without You, even when it could be

     interpreted in different ways, the “You”

     they are referring to for me is actually

    different aspects of themselves.

     In Wannabe they wanted to reach the

    perfect or ideal “You” represented by the

     gold, and in Without “You” they have lost

     this image and are searching for it, they

     are looking for themselves. So their egos

    are these "you" they are talking about.

Time and memories

    The music video starts with Bomin at the

    center with the other getting up

    one after the other in a counter clock wise

    manner, emphasized by a ticking noise with

    minimal instrumentals, as if they are going

    back in time. In the lyrics they also talk

    about their past memories and how they

    are trying to find themselves in them.

     Also Without You could be happening

     actually before Wannabe, as the ending

    scene is Jaehyun kneeling down just as

    the beginning of Wannabe choreography.

    I will dive deeper into this later.

Mirror image

    In the music video and in the choreography

    they used mirror images a lot. A mirror

    image could be a representation of ourselves

     but is not the same, we can’t overlap the real

     image to the mirror one, so even if they see  

     themselves they are actually still lost.

     This could be why Jaehyun is represented

     with the opposite mirrors that reflect him

    infinite times, still neither of the images is the

    answer he is looking for.

     Another representation of this two different

    images is the lighting. In the same set we

    see white clear lighting turn into a dark red

    one in the same frame, enhancing the conflict

    within them.

Loss and emptiness

     I think this is represented by various

      elements such as the spacious empty

     sets and also their individual shoots.

    

     We see Bomin going up stairs that

     end in nothingness, also sitting down

     alone crying looking at a sort of skylight,

     the only source of light, but unreachable.

     Joochan is in a room in ruins and also

     falling into emptiness.

     Jaehyun is blindfolded unable to see

      thus unable to search, with an empty frame

     in front of him that later we see is also a

      mirror, also the opposite mirrors that reflect

     images but not the one he is looking for.

    We see Seungmin with the withering flowers

     that he let go as they are not alive anymore.

    His scene can also be seen connected with

     Daeyeol as we see him putting a flower in a

    vase with water, trying to keep it alive,

     although it looks already dead, already lost,

    and the dead black petals fall over Seungmin

   (in the most breathtaking scene I must say ;_; )

     Y is also seen in an empy place with only a

     chair on it, alone, and in the same falling into

     emptiness scene as Joochan.

     We also see Donghyun behind a patterned

     glass, unable to form a clear image of

      what’s behind it.

    Tag is seen at the verge of a cliff, finally

    letting himself go into nothingness. Also with

    a set stairs that seem to lead to nowhere.

    Jangjun is in a room with a yellow splash

    pattern, that made me think of the similar

    amorphous golden pattern on the wannabe

    MV, but here the color is opaque, lifeless,

    as if they are not having a clear image of

    who they are or want to be.

    Jibeom is seen with a frame that holds a

     black canvas, later consumed by flames.

    Also an impactful image is he holding the

    umbrella that is set on fire. I thought a lot

    about its meaning, and umbrellas are used

    for protection, but this one in flames, so

    is protecting him from consuming himself

     with this troubling thoughts(the fire)? Or is

    actually his last protection barrier is being

    destroyed, letting only the sense of loss

     remaining?

Who am I?

    That’s the question and there is no

    answer yet. The instrumentals of the

    song also contribute to this meaning,

     as we have only minimalistic percussion

    and some synths coming here and there,

     enhancing the feeling of emptiness of

    the lyrics and the music video.

    The scene at the end where Jaehyun is

    kneeling down and the glass is shattering,

    is connected with the beginning of Wannabe,

    where Jaehyun is also kneeling down with

    his eyes covered, just as the blindfold on

    Without you, but in Wannabe instead of

    searching for themselves they created

     an ideal image of themselves, but the

     answer was neither found as this image

    was not perfect in the end, the golden

    was tainted with darkness.

     What will the answer be?

      Will they find who they are

      or who they really want to be?

    Maybe the answer will be on

    this next comeback, so let’s

     Take a Leap with them!

    Thank you for reading, and if you have

    any thoughts or different interpretation

    about this I would love to know about it!

    Also here I'll add another edit I did

    along with the cover, as I wanted to

    use both concepts of the teasers.

    edits by me. pictures from Without you MV

    and teasers, pngs by me, psds ☆ ☆

     #goldennessproject