BtoB Tells Us "You Can Cry"

The boys of BtoB are back again with a Christmas single for 2014! Keeping pace with BtoB’s lighthearted image as of late, the MV for this song is fun and silly. Funny enough, the song itself, “You Can Cry,” is mildly depressing and kind of pathetic. Nevertheless, it’s the pitiful lyrics and how they contrast with their hilarious image in the video that make the whole thing just so great.

The whole song is about how they all “hate the winter” and the Christmas season because, every year, they spend the holiday alone. Christmas in South Korea doesn’t emphasize as much the celebration of family and close friends that people associate Christmas with in the West. While family is important in Korean Christmas, it has much more become a romantic holiday on par with Valentines Day; couples suddenly sprout up everywhere, from cafes to shopping stalls, meaning that being alone at this time of the year is a horrible and lonely experience. Why exactly any of the members are spending the holiday without a loved one is beyond me, and I’ll gladly volunteer for Min-hyuk if it makes him feel better.

So that’s why this song is filled with lines like Sung-jae‘s “I’m eating this waffle alone, why does it taste so bad?” Il-hoon is annoyed at all the many couples out in the streets even though the weather is so cold. And Eun-kwang wonders “Where did everyone suddenly meet someone? I’m the only one who’s lonely this Christmas!”

As if all the lines about the members feeling sorry for themselves weren’t enough, Peniel comes in at the bridge with a couple of words of reassurance: “You can cry, you can cry, Santa Claus is all alone too.” (Clearly, Peniel doesn’t seem to remember Mrs. Claus.) It’s a play on the Korean version of popular Christmas carol “Santa Claus is Coming To Town,” which goes “Don’t cry, don’t cry, Santa Claus doesn’t give gifts to kids who cry.” It’s a great way to make the children’s carol more relevant for young adults. If BtoB says it’s okay to cry on Christmas because you’re all alone without a date, then it’s okay to cry.

Standing in stark contrast to the self-pitying lyrics is the bright and fun MV, which basically consists of BtoB laughing in a room with a twinkling Christmas tree in the background, cuddling with stuffed animals (I spy Olaf from Frozen!), and throwing balloons at each other whilst wearing wool Christmas sweaters; in short, everything a cute winter MV should be. Winter clothes and Christmas headbands complete the whole image. The atmosphere is wonderfully incongruous with the lyrics, which makes everything hilarious.

There’s not even a pretense of having any sort of plot, which is totally fine. Instead, the video seems to double as a behind the scenes making-of video for one of their photoshoots; perhaps it is for their upcoming album due for release later this month? Whatever the occasion, it seemed to be an aegyo/cute concept, which means we’re treated to a lot of scenes of the boys acting adorable for the camera.

Finally, we get plenty of scenes of each member crooning in front of a (likely fake) microphone stand. Vocals are on point for every member as usual, although the song itself isn’t terribly complicated or technically difficult. That being said, I always manage to forget that Min-hyuk is a vocalist as well as a rapper, half-singing, half-rapping his verse in beautifully deep tones.

The whole video is a fun and playful winter MV, something that I’m sure a lot of fans have been waiting for this year. Even the lyrics are written in jest to make fun of the anxiety or loneliness singles might feel at this time of year, an issue that they poke fun at the whole length of the song. What was your favorite part of the whole MV? Are you spending Christmas with a special someone, or can you relate to BtoB’s loneliness this season?

MV Rating: 4/5

(Naver, Images via Cube Entertainment, YouTube)