C-Clown Returns from "Far Away"

C-Clown is one of many rookie groups that debuted this year, coming out last July with their mini-album, “Not Alone.” Unfortunately, they became lost among all the other rookies and overlooked by K-pop fans. This may be because their debut song, “Solo,”  failed to stand out and attract attention. Or perhaps it was because their company, Yedang Entertainment, failed to promote them properly. Regardless, C-Clown has returned with a new mini album, “Young Love,” and their new title song, “Far Away.”

“Far Away” is a smooth R&B-style song about a man’s unrequited love. The lyrics describe the singer as too shy and awkward to make a move and instead watching from afar as the girl of his dreams finds happiness in another man. The rather pleasant song is only disrupted by the raps after the first and second chorus, which admittedly throw off the flow of the song.

The music video does a good job of describing the song. The only member present is Kang Jun, the main vocalist, who passionately sings his lines throughout the music video while serving as the third wheel. He’s in love with the girl in the video, and at the beginning we see the pair snuggling and eating waffles, before the same girl comes up to tap on the window next to him, trying to get his attention. Kang Jun is suddenly woken up, and he sullenly goes on a road-trip with the girl and her boyfriend. Why exactly Kang Jun decided to join the affectionate pair is beyond me, as he spend the entirety of the trip staring longingly at the girl and standing awkwardly off to the side as they snuggle and flirt and forget all about him.

Despite his completely angry and sullen attitude, they don’t even seem to notice that he’s upset. The pair even sets him up on a date with another girl, but rather than trying to get to know this new girl, he leaves to brood and stumbles across his dream girl and her boyfriend again, playing around in a car garage. And then, we see that the boyfriend is seeing another woman. The girl figures this out and calls Kang Jun whilst crying, only to have him yell at her. Due to Kang Jun’s lack of will, he fails to tell the girl her boyfriend is cheating on her and instead witnesses the pair reunite.

The music video’s story is overdramatic and cheesy in typical K-pop fashion, with parts that were completely baffling. One scene showed Kang Jun jumping out of his car to run down the road, and as he does fire shoots up around him and the car suddenly explodes in a raging inferno. The whole scene is very dramatic and probably has to do with Kang Jun’s inner turmoil and rage over not being able to express himself to the woman he loves. In the next moment, we see him standing outside the cafe, watching as the girl forgives her boyfriend for cheating on her. Another baffling moment would be the scene when Kang Jun is at the girl’s apartment and she is fixing his clothing. For some reason, we see images of him fighting with her and an empty room and the boyfriend leaving, and then Kang Jun leaves in anger. I’m confused as to what this scene implies — did those things already happen or was he anticipating those events to happen if he told her boyfriend was unfaithful? As a character, Kang Jun was weak and poorly done. Unable to express himself or go after what he wants, he instead chose to display anti-social behavior and brood over his unrequited love. However, this does fit with the lyrics, wherein the speaker laments over his lack of will.

The cinematography was average but I thought the camera angle and shot did a good job of conveying the atmosphere of the music video. When Kang Jun is angry over his situation and thinking about the girl, the camera flashes to show her smiling face, showing how much her loves her. When he is upset over discovering her boyfriend’s infidelity, he imagines himself punching the unfaithful boyfriend in the face. Of course he doesn’t actually do this because he’s too weak to, but it still shows his anger.

As far as acting goes, Kang Jun did alright. Playing a petulant character can’t be very difficult, but he still did a good job of showing his character’s anger and frustration and incredibly awkwardness. The boyfriend and girlfriend were alright, and his love interest was definitely cute in her acting. However, she does appear much older than 1994-line Kang Jun.

I’m giving this MV a 2/5.