Greatest Hits:: Girls' Generation: FOREVER1

 I ran into this music video quite by accident, did some mental calculations, and decided this would be a good next choice for this segment. This is also one that I've already recommended to introduce people to K-Pop, so independent of the random selection, I obviously do consider this to be one of Girls' Generation's Greatest Hits. The group itself is also one of The Groups, one of the titans of the second generation, so one can hardly doubt the influence they've had on the industry. And most recently, their debut song has become an anthem, so, again, it's hard to argue against this influence that's stretched for almost twenty years now.

In terms of the length of influence, this song barely qualifies for a Greatest Hits post as it's barely two years old, but it qualifies by that requirement and the title track requirement. Also, excitingly, the album this comes from marked the end of a five year hiatus for the group and was released to celebrate their fifteenth anniversary and was certified platinum. Not bad for a fifteen-year-old group, is it? And how's this for a meaningful connection? Kenzie wrote Into the New World, their debut song, and she also wrote this one. That's what we call full circle, right there.

• Group: Girls' Generation
• Debut Date: 2007 August 05
• Company: SM Entertainment
• Status: Hiatus
• Album: FOREVER1
• Song: FOREVER1
• Release Date: 2022 August 05

The song is so gloriously bright and fierce. The energy is so high throughout it, infectiously so, that it almost demands you dance along with it. It's a total party song and it was made to dance to. Obviously, as this is still a K-Pop song, but even without that, there's just something about this song that tells you to get up and go dance and jump. It's a teen rom-com song during the happy party where the main characters have a moment to shed their concerns and just go with the flow and the music, but just before everything gets bad again. This is a moment of respite song, to rest and reenergize.

I could be crazy and likely am because I'm not nearly familiar enough with either the lore (because I recently learned that most if not all of the SME groups have interconnected lore and I'm exhausted thinking about it but boy would it be interesting to go full red-string on them) or any of their other music videos, but I do know a tiny bit. I also know that their famous Genie costumes weren't sailor necessarily, but there is a nautical connection, which I found interesting, and I'm left wondering how many throwbacks and hints to past music videos or stages there are. It would make total sense for that, since this is an anniversary song and anniversary songs tend to be sappier than usual.

There isn't as much in terms of content and performances as I thought there would be considering this was their fifteenth anniversary. But what we have is enough. I'm going to start off with a short of one of the members crying while she's performing Forever1. It's good to see even idols of fifteen years get emotional over performing, just like it was good to see Key get emotional when he got a win on one of the music shows for Pleasure Shop. It says a lot that they still have a love for performing and the fans.

Also, Music Bank decided to record a most static choreography video of 20220819 performance. And there are two things that I just want to point out. First: the fan chant is so loud and I love that. I love hearing the actual fan chant done by the fans. It's so cool. The guide is a good teaser, but it's a pale imitation of the fans raising their voices in support. Second: I'm impressed by the amount of synchronized dancing in the choreography. It really drives home the point of "we are one". Whether or not they actually are synchronized isn't the point, because even if they aren't all together, that also carries meaning of "even though we're different, we still come together to be one." Which fits also with the costuming. Even though each one is different, the silhouette is very similar. And the amount of fabric takes up roughly the same amount of space on each member. It's all very impressive and I love that it drives home the meaning of the song so strongly.

And it's the same thing with this Inkigayo performance. This has the dynamic camera movements, cuts, and angles of a normal music show performance, but I did this one second so you all could see just the choreo. The confetti really helps with the whole celebration vibe to it. But again, even though the costumes are different, they are all striped, which matches the vibe of the music video. It comes together so well and so beautifully and I love it so much. There were a couple that I wasn't sure has stripes, but they did. And the color schemes for the members are the same too, which brings me joy. 

And I'm just going to finish off this post with their SMTOWN LIVE 2022 performance of the song. The video also features Party, so enjoy that as well, if you'd like. They're powerhouses and they deserve to be recognized as such even if they're less active than they once were.