MV Review: BIGBANG- Sober

Hello LouBriTri readers! :) 

If you are a fan of BIGBANG (aka a VIP), then you'll probably like today's post :)Today I'll be reviewing Sober BigBang. It is July and in the beginning of the month, BigBang has realeased two new singles for their MADE album D like how they have been releasing two new singles every month since May and will continue until August. The full MADE album will be released out on September 2015. The two songs for the MADE album D are Sober and If You. I'll be reviewing Sober :) Check out the awesome music video below:

COLOUR-CODED ENGLISH LYRCIS 

G-DRAGON  SEUNGRI  TAEYANG  DAESUNG  TOP

Stop acting like you’re all that
You’re actually the most pathetic
Yeah, try to provoke me even more
So I can have some fun for a moment

If you only chase after money, power and fame
Your crotch is gonna rip and you’re gonna fall
They say love is good, friendship is good
But be warned, the back of your head might be in pain

Hey doctor doctor, please save me
Because I’m about to go insane
Stop trying to awkwardly change the subject
Hear me say

It’s hard for me to be sober
I can’t do anything
I hate being sober
I can’t fall asleep without you

Time is so damn slow, I’m just growing old, I live like I’m dead
I have so many damn things to do but I have nothing that I want to do

The world is cold to me
People’s eyes are prickling on me
I seem like an adult but I’m really a child that’s really tall
My young dreams are just faded fantasies
My mood is like a vast wilderness
People don’t understand me
So I just wanna lose it without even knowing

Get drunk, get drunk, go to heaven
After I wake, I’m in hell, I don’t last long
I’m like Popeye without spinach
The laughter bomb tempts me

Hey TAXI TAXI, take me away
Because this place is too hard to be in
So I can at least breathe for a few days

It’s hard for me to be sober
I can’t do anything
I hate being sober
I can’t fall asleep without you

Time is so damn slow, I’m just growing old, I live like I’m dead
I have so many damn things to do but I have nothing that I want to do

Without you, everything is hard
Without you, this dark night, this cold world
It’s too hard for me

Without you, I’m still left alone here
I’m waiting for you, only believing in you
But I’m a fool, no no no

It’s hard for me to be sober
I can’t do anything
I hate being sober
I can’t fall asleep without you

SONG

The song straight up starts off a very playful and electronic tune that will almost instantly hook you and make you want to bob your head to the catchy beat. It is a very refreshing song and different from the two songs they released for their Made album A which was Bang Bang Bang and We Like 2 Party. Unlike the two songs, Sober has a great old-school feeling to it due to the use of vintage electronic tunes in the beginning and the chorus of the song. 

The song starts off with G-Dragon's part which he sang with an almost lazy attitude as if he is drunk and slurring his words. Seungri's part is after G-Dragon's and from there, the song starts building up and then the beat lets go slightly for Taeyang's part but then starts building up again for the chorus.

Then BAM! The chorus starts with the bang of the drums accompanied by the blaring of G-Dragon's voice. This is the part where you just can't help but dance around and bang your head to the unbelievably perfect combination of drum beats and electronic notes :D it's genius. 

After this, it's Daesung's part which he sang very well with his usual powerful voice and it then leads to Top's rap. He raps it in his already iconic tone from Bae Bae that has grabbed a lot of attention. It gives Top a fun and young image unlike the bad boy image he has in other albums :)

The song ends with a repetition of lalalas to the tune of the chorus sang by all the boys. It sounds like the adult boys are still just children playing Ring Around The Roses while singing lalala which is what little kids do.

Overall, the song is very fresh and a new approach to the MADE album. It is a bit more relaxed and free like We Like 2 Party from MADE album A.

Song Rating: 8.5/10 

MV & LYRICS MEANING

You'll expect the MV to be the boys experiencing a tough reality. After all, the song's name is Sober. But in fact, it is the opposite. In the MV, the boys are clearly anything but Sober and are running around in fantasy-like forests lavished in purple trees. Yup, definitely not Sober. Anyway, he music video has a really vintage feel to it. Probably it was because of the filter they used throughout the whole video which had a blurry effect like on'e vision when they are drunk. The MV starts off with the boys individually in an empty, rugged-looking room scattered with a combination of pieces of paper, plants and glitter. They are put into a rotating room and they walk from wall to wall while the camera films them in different angles. You can see that by watching the Making Of Sober here:

G-DRAGON

In this MV, G-Dragon shows his inner child-like character as he runs around in the fields, jumps on the beds and rolls on the floor. It gives him a very carefree and child-like image unlike the bad boyish one he had in Bang Bang Bang from Made Album A.

GD FROM SOBER

GD FROM BANG BANG BANG

First, he appears to be in a white empty room with a bed and a small closet in which he steps out    from. The white empty bed represents a lonely reality and he seems to be very bored in the room which signals that he is tired of his life. 

He then is magically transported into a wide green field with numerous beds, some identical to the one in the empty room, scattered around the field. This signals he is now in his drunken stage where he is more free to run about as you can see that is he very hyper, running around the field and jumping on the beds. This heavily contrasts the white empty room he was previously in.

Almost towards the end of the video, G-Dragon is on a bed which it still in the open field but now with a woman beside him. It is clear that he feels very lonely in real life but when he is drunk, he feels it is easier to find love as he can get any woman he wants because he isn’t aware of his actions when he is drunk, like any other person when they are not sober. He too shows this in his lyrics:

It’s hard for me to be sober

I can’t do anything
I hate being sober
I can’t fall asleep without you

When he is drunk he can feel and experience love easier than in real life and enjoy it but when he is sober, he doesn’t feel it as it is just a fling when morning comes.

SEUNGRI                                                                            

In the MV, Seungri swaps between three scenes. One in a white room and another in a fantasy-like forest. In the white room, Seungri is desperately grabbing at pieces of paper with the phrase “This Is Your God” written on each one. The pieces of paper represent money which signifies power and fame in a way like how God is powerful and he is trying to grab hold of power and fame.

He then is in a green rain forest. In the scene, there’s a board behind him which consists of words such 'excitement', 'pride', 'lust', 'joy' and many others that he thinks that he can buy with his money.

However his lyrics too expresses "If you only chase after money, power and fame Your crotch is gonna rip and you’re gonna fall".

If you only chase after money, power and fame
Your crotch is gonna rip and you’re gonna fall
They say love is good, friendship is good
But be warned, the back of your head might be in pain

In his third scene, he is dressed in gold and running aimlessly around the forest. I'm not quite sure what this means but it could mean that now that he has all the riches that he has ever wanted but doesn't know what to do with them. It doesn't bring him anything. No happiness, no fame and no power. He doesn't know what to do and is lost with only money in his hands.

TAEYANG

In his scene, he is fully clothed in the shower which is located in the forest. The showerhead releases out white gas instead of water and on the glass wall of the shower, the words “Help Me” is written in white. 

The white smoke slowly fills up the shower as he tries to get out of the cubicle by banging on the walls but fails. This could mean that he has an addiction which he is desperate to stop but is very difficult to. The walls of the shower are the borders between his dream, which is inside the shower, and reality.

Even when he tries to find help and a place of security in a police car which is in his second scene, the inside of the car is still filed with gas. 

This is similar to the lyrics where he tries calling for the Doctor to help him overcome his addiction.

Hey doctor doctor, please save me
Because I’m about to go insane

However, Taeyang is thrusted back in reality at the end of the video together with his friends, showing that there is an escape and hope for everyone.

DAESUNG

Daesung is seen in a room that is filled with paperwork. He is slouched on the table and looks frustrated as he tries to write but can’t. He then throws the pencil and starts playing with the papers and throwing them on the floor. It is clear that in the MV, he is doing something he doesn’t have a passion for and it looks like this isn’t the job he is meant to do. 

His lyrics also shows this.

Time is so damn slow, I’m just growing old, I live like I’m dead
I have so many damn things to do but I have nothing that I want to do

SO, what does actually want to do? 

Well, that question is answered almost towards the end of the video where Deasung is in the forest, passionately playing a set of drums. He finally looks happy and is wearing something much more casual that what he was wearing in the ‘office’ signaling that he is finally free.

TOP

This is probably the weirdest part of the video that’ll make you go Woah, Hold Up Top. It wasn’t like Bae Bae from MADE Album A where literally all of them where super weird and after the video you were like: …wat?

All the other members are kinda normal in this video but Top just had to crawl around on the grass while he jumps on cars like a kid, which is exactly the message he is trying to point out.

In the MV, Top is seen jumping on giant bubbles, crawling on the ground and flipping a car using his dragon ball techniques like a kid. 

This is a representation of him wanting to become a child again where everything seemed possible.This could mean that he feels like a child when he is drunk.
Even in the lyrics he states that it is not fun in the life of an adult as everyone is constantly him for his childish character.

The world is cold to me
People’s eyes are prickling on me
I seem like an adult but I’m really a child that’s really tall
My young dreams are just faded fantasies
My mood is like a vast wilderness
People don’t understand me
So I just wanna lose it without even knowing

Behind him in his scenes, there is a tank that has the words “I Want To Believe” on it which is what children often do. They choose to believe in fantasies and block out reality the best they can and make fantasies their reality.

END OF MV

At the end of the MV, BigBang shows that there is hope for everyone and that everyone can achieve their dreams. In the MV, the boys are running around together in a large field and there is a small sign spot that says 'One Way' and it's pointing to a big sign that has the word 'DREAMS' on it. And at the end of the video, the boys are all running towards the Dream sign. This means that no matter how tough life gets, don't give up and you will manage to achieve your dreams.



MV RATING: 9/10
LYRIC RATING : 9/10

OVERFALL FEELING

I think that this song really relates to the lives of the artists and many people in the world.This video teaches us that there is hope and escape for everyone and if you are determined enough, you’ll be able to succeed. Don’t let your loneliness turn into an addiction.This really shows fans what a though life BigBang and other artists in the entertainment industry have to suffer so Netizens, let’s not fight and not send hate and make our favourite artists happy! Overall, I really enjoyed the song and I thought the MV is just awesome. Really nice :)Looking forward to more songs that BigBang will be releasing in the future.

Overall Score: 9/10

I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS POST AND LOOK FORWARD TO MORE LOUBRITRI POSTS!

BYE-BYE VIPS AND LOUBRITRI READERS :)