IDEA: The Thoughts Behind the Symphonies

From its vibrant, striking styling to its dramatic, sinister symphonies, “IDEA: 理想” has got to be one of my favorite titles from South Korean singer Taemin.

Joining the music industry with four other members, Lee Taemin is in a group called "Shinee" that had made their debut in 2008 and quickly became one of the most respected names in South Korea, and globally, for their unique sound and their talents. 
Released in November of 2020, "IDEA: 理想" is the title of his solo album "Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2" which takes us on a journey following his rebellion of the social norm and his discovery of a new, "true" identity. 

What is “IDEA: 理想 “?

Unlike the expected, the title is actually pronounced (E-DAY-A). It comes from the Greek word “ἰδέα” which means form or shape. The other word in the title is Japanese for “ideal”, referring to an uttermost perfect form of something. Together, the title showcases Plato’s Theory of Forms. The theory is based on the concept that the physical world is merely an imitation of the perfection and timelessness of ideas that can be found in the spiritual world.

One has to become aware of the fact that this physical reality will never be as absolute as abstract ideas— in this music video, Taemin starts to become self-aware and tries to grasp at this perfect world, attempting to achieve enlightenment through knowledge.

Material World

The white room that Taemin walks into is FULL of people in high fashion— some playing poker, some playing cards, and some having gold bars on their table. The common factor? They’re all distracted with physical, visible things— often things that give them some kind of material reward like gaining money or simply sitting around looking pretty!

The Rocky Road To Enlightenment 

Locked Up

In the opening MV scene, one image of him looks like he is locked up and the other is free; they’re talking through a barrier and a telephone as one does when they’re in jail and want to talk to someone from the other side. In this situation, one side could resemble his true self.

The White Room

Taemin continues to display the imagery of struggling to connect to one’s most enlightened form while trying to disconnect from the real world. The people around him in the white room seem to glitch– appearing and disappearing- as he’s absorbing the fact that the people around him are focused on the material world.

Heaven and Hell…?

Another more dramatic image is him running away in a forest with dull, creepy people surrounding him, who are also glitching. I personally fell in love with this depiction as the glitching people caught me off guard the first time I saw it, giving the MV a much creepier aura.  The contrast of that is him literally climbing “the stairway to heaven”, where he later dances with “angels”.

Finding Himself 

볼 수도 쥘 수도 없는데

어느새 새롭게 나를 정의해

내 안에 모든 게 배가 돼

가장 뜨거운 숨을 쉬게 하지

I can’t even see or grab / Before i know it, I redefine myself / Everything in me is doubled / Making me take the hottest breath

While self-identity is something that we cannot see, Taemin turns this “new ego/identity” into a visual for us, represented by the silver person that materializes in front of him.

As the music video comes to an end, it reaches its last verse with Taemin dancing to the growing symphonies after emphasizing how much this journey is “killing him”, fortunately, the video ends with him seemingly at peace— “Finally I open my eyes”. Metaphorically, this could mean that he has finally reached his uttermost true self and can see through the physical realm.

All about the styling… 

Personally, I LOVE the white outfit that Taemin wears in the white room. It’s simple, yet separates him from all the fancy looking people surrounding him. He had his hair styled into devil horns in front of the “hellish” fire, and he had a softer, sky blue look when he was going towards heaven. Simple imagery like this tends to be really eye-catching for me and makes me think of the reason behind choosing this specific styling.

While I, myself, enjoy this MV and all that it encompases, I am interested to see other people’s opinions regarding the music video and how it portrayed Taemin’s journey with self-identity. 

Have you seen other music videos or media that talks about the same, or similar topics? Personal growth, material gains, etc?

Do you think the music video did a good job with the visuals or do you have any creative opinions that you think would have worked better in portraying the messages?

Sources

https://youtu.be/_aMr3GK_qJ0