As a Korean speaker, I love the MV to Big Bang's 'Fxxk It' for its wits.
For anyone who hasn't seen the music video, or don't really remember it, I have attached the music video here for your convenience...
If you don't feel like watching it now, don't worry, I have made appropriate gifs to go with my explanations about why I love Big Bang's 'Fxxk It' so much.
Hopefully this will make you view the music video in a slightly different light next time you feel like watching it.
Because, in this blog, I shall share with you what you're missing out on as non Korean speakers.
So here we go..!
The music video was shot in the streets of 성동구, the Seong-Dong District in Seoul, which is why it has such a distinct regular Korean feel to it, while still being crazy.
But first things first! Before we get into the details of the music video, I want to take a short moment to appreciate the genius title and chorus for this song.
In Korean, the song is called:
에라 모르겠다
It's pronounced:
Ae-ra Mo-reu-gae-da
And sounds similar to:
And I wonna get down
에라 모르겠다 means "Ah whatever", or "I don't don't care anymore", or, as the English title suggests: "FxxK it". It isn't a swear word though, and the Korean is not nearly as harsh as the English title suggests.
It's more the idea of having had enough of a situation, so you tell yourself: "Ah whatever, I don't care anymore".
For example, you don't want to work on an essay anymore so you say: "whatever" and send it away as it is.
That's the real meaning of 에라 모르겠다.
Since the Korean title is so similar to an English phrase, and actively uses that similarity in the lyrics, I've always loved the chorus:
"에라 모르겠다 - I Love Yall
에라 모르겠다 - I Love Yall
에라 모르겠다 - I Love Yall
Girl, I wonna get down"
Okay, with that fun fact out of the way, let's take a look at the Korean Easter eggs in the music video. By that I mean the many Korean signs and posters that serve as the background in the music video. And there are quite a few of them.
First up is a sign that G-Dragon appears behind, and later drags around.
사춘기
Pronounced: Sa-Chun-Gi
Meaning: puberty
It seems to suggest that this is a song that people going through puberty can relate to, which I would say is very true.
It is also one of G-Dragon's lines in the song:
"마치 사춘기"
Like going through puberty
And we are just getting started.
Next up we have the shop in front of which G-Dragon raps his verse.
But it's just some store that sells shoes, you may say. What's so great about that?
지용사
Pronounced: Ji-Yong-Sa
Meaning: Ji-Yong's shop
Ji Yong is G-Dragon's real name (G-Dragon is just 'Ji Yong' translated directly into English).
G-Dragon is not just rapping in front of some random shoe shop.
The shop carries his name.
From then on I stared paying more attention to the Korean names in the background of this MV for more fun Easter eggs.
Have you ever wondered why they dance in front of an excavator towards the end of the music video?
It seems really random, doesn't it?
The sort of thing that you dismiss because it's Big Bang and they always do weird stuff.
Well actually it's not entirely random.
There's a reason for this, and that reason is...
Taeyang's solo shot where he is in front of this sign - and no, I'm not moving on - this is the reason for that excavator.
태양자원
Pronounced: Tae-Yang-Ja-Won
Meaning: Sun Resources
Alternatively: Taeyang Resources
I wonder what sort of resources that is.
Do they sell dance lessons or something?
Places where they sell resources, like this, are perfectly normal places to find excavators.
And since it's Taeyang's Resources, I'm not in the least surprised that they're dancing in front of one.
At this point it was pretty obvious that they were going to try this with all the members.I wondered how in the world they were going to do this for TOP though, because that is a very unusual name in Korea.
I also wondered what sort of places they would find for the remaining members.
탑분식
Pronounced: Tap-Boon-Sik
Meaning: Top Snack Bar
Or in other words: Top's Snack Bar
So G-Dragon gets a shoe shop, Taeyang gets building resources and TOP gets the best snack food.
As for Daesung...
He coolly appears with a tooth pick in his mouth in front of an eatery.
대성식당
Translation: Dae-Sung-Sik-Dang
Meaning: Daesung Restaurant
Daesung's place is a Korean restaurant.
As you can imagine, many of these places became popular with VIPs, and it is said that Daesung's restaurant always greets its costumers with warm Daesung smiles.
Oops my bias is showing *cough* let's move on...
Before we proceed to Seungri, there is actually a second Taeyang reference in the music video.
Taeyang doesn't sing in front of it, but all of the members are walking around town signing and dancing when they pass by this place:
태양실업
Pronounced: Tae-Yang-Sil-Up
Meaning: Sun Business
Funny thing here is that 실업 can be translated in several ways, for example as Unemployment. Which would make it "Sun Unemployment", which is a rather strange name.
So I paused the screen to be able to read what else it said on the board.
Sun Business, or Taeyang's Business, is a rope manufacturer.
They sell custom made ropes of all genres; strings, braided ropes, elastic, etc.
You may be looking over my shoulder and saying: Why does Taeyang have two places?
Well, that's because the first Taeyang place doesn't exist.
When planning for this music video, which was all shot in the same district of Seoul, I think the production crew struggled to find a place in that district with Taeyang's name. So they decided to simply put up a a sign for Taeyang Resources, and that would also give them a good excuse to dance in front of a cool excavator.
Then, as they moved to a new set, I imagine that they stumbled upon this little Rope Manufacturer on the way, and couldn't just leave without filming a short shot in front of it.
This would also explain why the shot is so very short, because they were on a tight schedule and they needed to film all of the outdoor scenes while it was still night.
Of course they have saved the best for last...
중화요리 : 승리원
Pronounced: Jung-Hwa-Yo-Ri : Seung-Ri-Won
Meaning: Chinese Cuisine: Victory Castle
Seungri means Victory, so this Chinese restaurant is called Seungri's Castle.
Pretty befitting of Big Bang's Maknae who always seems to strive for riches and the high class lifestyle.
I can imagine that he was satisfied with the choice too, and teased his Hyungs about it.
That is all the members, but there is still some fun Korean left for us.
One last Easter egg.
Towards the end of the music video, they all go to a club.
You may think that this is just some random crazy club, but it's not.
If we look at this poster in more detail, there is a photo of Big Bang on it but more shocking is the name of the club:
엘도라도 캬바레
Pronounced: El-Do-Ra-Do Kya-Ba-Rae
Menaing: El Dorado Cabaret
The club is called El Dorado Cabaret, which is a reference back to TOP's lyrics earlier in the song.
His lyrics go:
"타락해버린 꿈에 El Dorado
In this fallen dream, El Dorado"
Thank you for reading
That's it for my fun Korean things in the Fxxk It music video. I hope I have succeeded in giving you a bit of fun context.
Personally, these sorts of details make me love the music video and song more.
Read More :
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#KPOP #TRANSLATION #BigBang #Daesung #Culture #KPOPHISTORY #YG #Seungri #Taeyang #GDragon #TOP #LYRICS