Greatest Hits:: Seventeen: Not Alone {Japanese}

 I have changed which song I want to do for Jeonghan's discharge song three times now. I considered Pretty U, because I love the bit of the choreography where he does the cheek tapping move. And I would consider it for Joshua because of his iconic mistake, but since he's an LA native born and raised, he won't be getting discharged. And I have the cheek tapping move attached to Jeonghan. It's very cute. Then I thought about doing one of the Japanese releases because he learned Japanese to talk to the Japanese Carats because English and Chinese were already covered. My second favorite Seventeen song is a Japanese release, but I also feel like I want to hold onto Ima for a different occasion. So then I switched to Power of Love, because I liked the symbolism of that and up until a couple of days ago, I had Power of Love locked. Until I suddenly decided, literally the day I finished my post for Something for Ren's discharge, that Power of Love was in fact wrong, and so I went searching again. Not Alone starts with Woozi doing some vocalizations, but the first words sung are by Jeonghan. And that felt correct to do for his discharge. So, here we are.

Seventeen debuted in 2015 as a thirteen-member group under Pledis Entertainment, and then debuted in Japan in 2018. Shortly before that, Time magazine had said that Seventeen was on their list of the six best K-pop groups to know. Not bad for a group barely circling their third anniversary, is it? Not too shabby.

Not Alone was the title track for their third Japanese single, released in 2021, and was certified platinum by the RIAJ a month after release. Woozi is the lone producer. I don't normally comment on the producers, but I'd like to just proudly point that out. Lyricists are Woozi (I.O.I, xion baek, Punch, Mad Clown, Baekho, fromis_9, Chanyeol, Bumzu, Ailee, Kanto, and Wendy) and Bumzu (Jin, NU'EST, TWS, Block B, fromis_9, NCT Dream, Pristin, EXO, Sik-K, Rain, IZ*ONE, 2PM, SHINee, Super Junior, PERC%NT, After School, and RAINBOW). They also composed for the song, as did Park Ki Tae (Jin, TWS, The Rose, Pristin, Kep1er, Zico, fromis_9, Sik-K, IZ*ONE, TWICE, MAMAMOO, NU'EST, SUMMER CAKE, The Boyz, X1, JUSTB, Bumzu, Donghae, GOT7, ASTRO, Block B, Kim Jaehwan, VIVIZ, MYTEEN, ALICE, Queenz Eye, Raina, and BANGTAN PINK). The translator is Haru.Robinson (FRUITS ZIPPER).

• Group: Seventeen
• Debut Date: 2015 May 26
• Company: Pledis Entertainment
• Status: Active
• Album: Always Yours
• Song: Not Alone
• Release Date: 2021 April 21

Woozi is a ridiculously soft and sentimental human being, because this was written and released during Covid to remind people that no matter what, they're not alone, even during lockdown and social distancing. It's a delicate hug of a song that's so, so gentle and warm, which is why this is also so appropriate for Jeonghan, especially considering his assignment working with kids for his service.

I paused it on :14 while I wrote the previous paragraph, with Jeonghan smiling under the blanket. It wasn't on purpose because I watched it like three times and then on the fourth, I was overwhelmed by sudden affection for Woozi and wanted to comment something for him, and then when I turned my attention back to the other window, I just had to smile. Ah, Jeonghan. 

The music video represents the reality of living during lockdown really well. Bed rotting, endless doomscrolling (the light moving to represent time passing was a nice touch), constant mask wearing, short-form media exploding again, empty streets and only going outside at night when no one was around, indoor camping, birthday parties over Zoom or Skype, panic shopping at the grocery store, doing Zoom meetings in pajama pants and slippers, dance challenge popularity explosions, solo dance parties, all the clothes no one got to dress up in anymore, empty stadiums, bike riding (which I remember suddenly becoming really popular but I don't remember how widespread that particular element was worldwide). 

They used footage from DK's actual birthday Zoom call for the music video, which was a brilliant idea, and is such a good touch. Also, if you notice, his cake is rose quartz and serenity colored with diamonds on top (refer back to my BBS post on Shining Diamond, please). It's so cute, and because DK was two months premature, this music video was released around when he should have been born. 

It's also super cute that at 2:24, when the selfies are flipping through in rapid succession, the time of each of the photos is that particular member's birthday. And that we get a close up on Seungkwan's Seventeen ring.

The music video transitions from the loneliness of being physically alone to the joy of being physically together. It wasn't a quick change, with a period of time where they were in smaller groups before they were almost entirely fully together and having fun and being goofy.

There's also an enlistment metaphor here where the members are forced to be separated and living their lives completely differently from how they have been living, not that I think it was meant to be that, but the shoe fits here with a different context. And, again, there's no way they could have known, but the majority of the last ten seconds of the song are SCoups and Joshua, the two who had to wait for their trio to be three again. That wasn't what any of them were expecting, because Joshua should have been the one to wait alone for the trio to return. But, it turned out that he wasn't alone.

Layers of meaning. It's a little funny how context can change meaning (which is also according to the cultural criticism and reader response schools of literary criticism).

We've got the entire group singing, which means we get the rougher, lower vocals of the hip hop unit to help balance out the sweeter, higher vocals of the other nine members, and a tiny bit of soft rapping to help round out everything. But that's also the point of the song.

Instead of focusing on the negatives, which is valid with how bad everything was, Woozi instead chose to focus on a message of hope and peace and comfort, which is something that Jeonghan himself is associated with, mischief and chaos aside. 

They did so many different "stages" of this song and posted them. So many. I don't know how many I'm going to include, because they're lacking that live audience element, although judging by a couple of their voices, it's possible that they were still singing live and that's what we're hearing (Exhibit A: The8 at 1:56 where it sounds like he goes a tiny bit sharp, and Exhibit B: Hoshi at 2:41 where he hits that opening note a little hard and it sounds like he may also be a tiny bit sharp there).

Jeonghan looks so good with his ruddy hair and the light green jacket. But he specifically looks so soft. The styling is very spring-like across the board, and I like what's going on with the lighting on the floor to make it look like flower designs.

And then there's SCoups's jacket, which has whorls and marks to mimic wood, and The8's shirt with its flowers at the bottom right above where it's tucked into his pants. This is a bit of an eclectic clothing combination (including Wonwoo wearing two different pants, which you can see clearly at :32), a bit like the 70s threw up on them, but it's very vibrant and I'm here for that. Every single member is wearing something that has saturation or vivid contrast. 

Wonwoo has a little eyebrow twitch at :27 that I really like. It's very quiet and subtle, and I didn't see it the first couple of watches. Woozi winks at 1:45, and it's really cute too. 

Starting at about :33, four of the eldest seven are on screen together, which made me smile when I noticed that. 

The most replayed part of the video is the bridge at 2:33 (which features Vernon singing and that's something I'll always get behind), and that last chorus. It's a very pretty spot that I'm going to go into more detail for when we get to the choreography.

I love the color scheme for this stage. I really do. It's all soft white and blues with some accents of light teal and daffodil yellow.

At 1:08, I love how Woozi spins out to take center as Seungkwan yields it. It's a little bit sassy right there. He's also got a cute little wink at 1:51. Woozi winks cutely in this song apparently. That's what he does.

And look at Hoshi at 1:18! Actually, I don't think that's Hoshi. I think that's actually Kwon Soonyoung that they brought for this performance because he's happy and smiling and adorable, which is funny considering the contrast between the smiling Hoshi and the much more serious looking DK (who then is immediately smiling when his part starts up). His shirt is half tucked and doesn't make sense, but it's cute.

Dino's cute little smile at 2:08 after his spin was precious. I'm a teeny bit annoyed that the camera cut to a wide shot because we missed the rest of that smile, but we did get to see the choreography a bit before we get Jeonghan's entire set of expressions at 2:14. He's got several of them in quick succession, including a little eyebrow twitch, but the soft yearning there is compounded by the fact that his shirt says "I am still alive."

I love Vernon there at the start of the bridge though. There is angst in his voice, which fits the lyrics "In my memories when I'm looking for you" so well. 

Whoever decided to have Mingyu in all white needs a raise because it looks just gorgeous against his skin tone.

Okay. This performance was from Seventeen's 2022 Japan fanmeeting HANABI. I'm not sure if it's day 1 or day 2 because the uploader didn't include which day it was. But that's fine. We don't technically need it.

No choreography here because they're just sitting and singing, or at least they're supposed to be sitting. 

Okay, let's take a look at in-ears and see what who has how many. Some of them keep their heads slightly turned to one side while they sing, and that's a little irritating because I have to stare at them in the background when we get a slightly wider shot.

SCoups: both (second replaced as the song starts)

Jeonghan: one

Joshua: both

Jun: possibly both

Hoshi: one

Wonwoo: possibly both

Woozi: both (one popped out)

DK: both (one popped out)

Mingyu: one

The8: both (one popped out)

Seungkwan: one

Vernon: both

Dino: one

It's also really entertaining seeing how they each hold their mics. Some of them hold their mics like rappers, some of them hold their mics in old school vocalist style, and some of them hold their mics like modern singers. I'm not going to specify who is holding how for all of them, but I will say it's a little amusing how SCoups (rapper and leader of the hip-hop unit) is holding his mic like an old-school singer with it away from his palm and DK (main vocalist) holds his with his finger up by his nose like a rapper.

Okay, let's get a look at some of these antics. Again, they were supposed to just be sitting there.

We're starting off with Mingyu over on the right side at :04 hitting a cue for Jeonghan to start singing. Seungkwan holds up his hands to give the illusion that he's got his hands underneath Jeonghan's chin at :08 while Jeonghan is singing, which makes both Jeonghan and Mingyu laugh. Seungkwan raps SCoups's part with him at :33. At :41, we've got Jun nodding on beat to DK while Jeonghan and Mingyu talk to each other and start laughing, and while SCoups is singing along. I'm not sure what Hoshi and Wonwoo are doing behind Joshua at :46, but Vernon is cracking his wrists and Woozi is happy wiggle dancing while he sings along. Happy, smiling DK leans over to pester Seungkwan at :56. At 1:10, we see multiple members using their microphones to wave around like their mics are light sticks. At 1:21, Jeonghan shoves Mingyu to get up, so I'm going to guess that was what they were laughing about earlier and it's entirely possible that it was Jeonghan's idea for Mingyu to go up the stairs for his part, which tracks. I love how Vernon, SCoups, and Woozi are just watching him and smiling while they perform (Woozi specifically at 1:46 is darling). Mingyu pops back into frame behind The8 on his way back to his seat and sings along behind him. 2:19, Seungkwan gets up to go stand over by the LED, which makes Woozi focus on him instead of the camera and just smile. At 2:27, Vernon stands up too and antics occur, which makes Vernon laugh while he's trying to sing. At 2:47, Jun is singing while he holds up a wired phone receiver to his ear. 3:01, Woozi laughs at Seungkwan before sitting down and holding his hand over Joshua's outstretched hand. There's a weird little glitch at 3:08, that or Seungkwan has learned to teleport, which wouldn't surprise me.

Okay, next up, we have a performance from the Power of Love Japan Concert in 2021, which according to the setlist, was the first song after a VCR. Jun and The8 were unavailable for this because they had schedules in China (Jeonghan and DK were covering their parts).

We're in fall colors for our stage costumes this time around, which makes sense since this was in November, which is in fact a fall month.

Just a slight video glitch at 2:18.  Nothing to worry about, folks. 

There's a rearrangement for this one that I really like, because Hoshi softens so much at 2:45 and it's so sweet. The way the instrumental slows a little and instruments drop out as Hoshi's whole vibe just relaxes makes me smile. 

Okay, so this is a proper fancam from Seventeen's Right Here tour in Goyang in 2024, the first of the military era tours. Which means that this was the first tour sans Jeonghan, although he did attend at least one of the days if I remember correctly, and sans Jun because he was filming in China.

The slightly frustrating thing about it is that the members were all spread out on the thrust stage and the connecting walkways at the start, so trying to keep track of that if you weren't actually there would have been a nightmare. Great for concerts, great for individual fancams, not so great for getting the whole group with any sort of clarity, especially considering the number of members and the distance or angle of the seats. So I'm just going to drop a link to a Woozi and Mingyu focused fancam so you also have the option of watching some details from the height range of Seventeen. 

This is a remarkably versatile song. It has full choreography, but it's not always performed with choreography at all. And, as shown, most of the performances are only partially with the choreography. I also find it interesting that it's evolved into a middle of the concert comfort track, in this case situated after the vocal unit's comfort of Candy and Cheers to Youth, wearing the army green and uniform-inspired stage costumes that I have spent the last two years assuming were an homage to Jeonghan who had enlisted by the start of the tour, especially considering the vocal unit comes out in them first and that's his unit.

And those are live vocals because you can hear Vernon's voice crack a little bit at 1:42. I love the voice cracks.

And choreography time!

I have had the hardest time not commenting on the fact that the choreography literally stacks the members. First you have Jeonghan, then Jeonghan and Jun, then Jeonghan and Jun and Wonwoo, then Jeonghan and Jun and Wonwoo and SCoups, before the rest of the members join in.

It's a visual representation of "We are not alone." Jeonghan has the appearance of being alone at the start, and then he moves to reveal that Jun was already at his back, and they're twining around each other and helping each other up. 

The footwork for this song is so delicate. Normally with a lot of Seventeen choreography, you can hear the synchronized footsteps so clearly, but the first time you hear that here, it's a single step at 1:27, and then another one at 1:30. They have to be so light on their feet, and as someone who had to work really hard to be light on her feet for tennis and still has to work really hard for it, I'm absolutely fascinated by how softly they move. Hoshi is the loudest one (which is true in many circumstances, not just this one) where you can hear a series of his footsteps specifically starting at 2:47.

I also had a hard time not talking about that ending choreography with the lifting. Jun as the main character (and I'm reminded of the Going Seventeen episode where the entire point of the episode was to make Jun win and how much they loved seeing him happy and enjoying himself) is at the center here. You've got SCoups and Jeonghan lifting Hoshi, Seungkwan and Vernon lifting Woozi, Wonwoo and Joshua lifting Dino, and then DK and Mingyu lifting The8. Those little clumps are also symbolic. You've got Hoshi with his favorite hyung and two-thirds of the Leader Line. Woozi is lifted by both his favorite of the maknae trio and the maknae of the vocal unit. Dino gets both the biggest Dinonara and the hyung that always has his back when he decides to get spicy with the others. And then DK and Mingyu are lifting the youngest member of their yearling trio. 

At 1:58, the formation unfolds to reveal The8, and his relative stillness against the backdrop of his members' movements is actually quite striking. It's a very good look and very fitting for the one who gets the killing parts of songs regularly.

And, because this is also a Jeonghan appreciation post while doubling as a "look at how amazing this Seventeen song is" post, the entire section starting at 2:20 when Jeonghan takes Dino's place as the center is almost twenty seconds of Jeonghan being the linchpin, keystone, swivel point, whatever you want to call it, for the entire group. He is at the center of the whole group, the back section, the front section, and the middle section of that dance break. He starts off the song on his own and two minutes later, he's got the entire group around him.

Hitori janai, indeed.

Welcome back, Jeonghan! I trust that he won't rush coming back and that he'll move at the speed he wants to move. But with the first of Seventeen's discharge posts, I think it's singularly appropriate that it's a song called "Not Alone". The thirteen members of Seventeen have each other and their fans, and this song to provide a reminder of comfort.

If you've got any songs that you'd like for me to cover, important event or not, do let me know. I'd love to see what songs you love and what songs you think other people should know about and why. Drop a comment or, if you're that shy, you can use The Form. That's what it's there for. Give me your songs and the things you hold close to your heart.

Next month I'm going to be focusing heavily on b-sides, so if you've got any that you really love, even if they don't have a music video or were never performed, I'd love to know about them. And they don't have to be two years old for me to cover them. The other thing I'm currently looking for right now is October spookiness. I want spooky and creepy and eerie. Give me songs to cover for the month of spookening! 주세요!

Previous: "Something" by Girl's Day                                                        Next: "Candy#" by Candy Shop