3:40 For the explanation regarding the whale and astronaut in space (though that one is for the Sing For You album but it's all good 💖): A lot of people say the whale and the astronaut/space concept did not make sense in the Sing For You MV, but it actually has a lot of significance. The whale concept was derived from the a whale called Alice aka ‘The Loneliest Whale in the World’, who is an unidentified whale species, being the only whale emitting a call at 52-hertz. The astronaut concept was derived from the story of the astronaut who spent 48 minutes in his spaceship and coming back saying that those 48 minutes were the longest and most loneliest of mankind. The combination of these two concepts placed within the MV discusses being away from home, being somewhere unfamiliar (since the whale and astronaut is in space) and being isolated. Isolation was one of the themes in the mv (when Kai was seen being alone when the other members were playing/when Chanyeol and Suho were fighting). The song and the MV seems to talk about how everyone, in their lifetime, would meet a low point where they feel most isolated and most out of their place, but that this song (and EXO) will be there to warm their hearts. In a way, this song could also be indirectly dedicated to the members who have left considering the lyrics of the song. p.s. i don't take any credit for the explanation, i just copied & pasted it hehe
Thank you for this!! I must also add that there is if I’m not mistaken korean poem about an astronaut who falls into the ocean and talks to a whale who envies him for seeing space and he envies the whale for being in water so he takes the whale to space but it misses the sea. And it’s a little like how the grass is greener on the other side but also talks about the loneliness of being away from your element, your family and friends
@@justsomeone1757 The poem is called "The Astronaut's Whale" by Joey Barro & it's actually not korean lol. The whale is called Vincent & the astronaut is called Augie.
This feels like something I've written lol. But I was indeed among the fans who shared this explanation to reactors & other fans years ago. I might also add the loneliness theme in this mv is further enhanced by the use of black & white filter, as well as the snowy terrain & empty, wide places like the basketball court, the bar & night sky. The members started disappearing is part of that too. I don't like the other part of this explanation that talks about the ex-members tho. Bcus it takes away the meaning of the song & back then, it's just OT12 fans trying to connect it with them. The song is meant for us, as a way to comfort, accompany & warm us during dark times. Not trying to make us feel even worse by past events.
Mr. Austin I must tell you that the lyrics of the music lights outs were written by Chen and he also wrote the lyrics of she is dreaming, both are beautiful music with lyrics that lead us to live a dream. Thank you for reacting to this Album and have you and your family a merry Christmas. we are one
Lights Out still gives me the same goosebumps and it's 2021! Am I normal? 😂 During ElyXiOn, Kyungsoo said he wants to sing the English version of this song too. I still wish it would happen 😍
I'm a big defender of listening to exo's songs live, because they always add a certain flavor to it that it doesn't have in the studio version. But in this album I just LOVE ALL THE VERSIONS, the live is amazing, the studio ir amazing, I feel my heart beat faster every time I hear that album And at the same time I feel comforted by it. I just love exo too much
EXO winter album is really a warming all cold hearts. I remember on one of their concerts Chen said Universal instead of Universe and there goes Chanyeol sang "I'll search the UNIVERSAL" 🤣🤣🤣
I really really really love "Been Through". Listening to it and reading its translation really helps me going through some rough times and depressed moments. Sometimes it really helps me getting back my feet to the ground.
Every song in this album is amazing like no skip to me but *Fall* is the one I always end up relistening to it again and again it's so beautiful in my opinion♡
Wow you said you didn't like it as the others totally different from my opinion which is amazing how we vary as people from one another in taste and opinions ⚘
This is my comfort album, and it has been since its release. But I didn't have an absolute favorite song from it until about a year after it was released. "Lights Out" became my favorite song on this album not for the music, nor the vocals (which are great, of course), but its lyrics. On a dark night in which I was enveloped in fear, this song is what came into my brain. A year later, when a storm could have taken my life, the song's lyrics came to me again. There is never a moment where I hear "Lights Out" and I don't sob. Time and time again I return to this song (and "El Dorado," "Oasis," and most recently, "Runaway") for the reassurance I need and often crave when faced with loneliness and despair.
The song and MV of universe tells about endless love. Why the concept of coffee? Because in the MV, the coffee color is latte. And "cosmic latte" is EXO's color. And also cosmic latte itself is the official color of the universe.
Lights Out is such a special song~ But I struggle to listen to it without crying. Cause, when I was going through a hard time and having a lot of panic attacks, I'd go turn out the lights in my room and either sit with my back to a wall & force myself to read the lyrics to the song as it played or lay in my bed while listening to it. So, now my body just reacts to the song with tears; if I'm even a little emotionally sensitive, when it starts playing, I can break out into sobs... When Chen picked it for his solo stage, I was "well, shit! here we go~ my turn to cry now~~~" How anyone could be gifted that song from Kim Jongdae and turn around to wish him any kind of sadness, I'll never know-.-
EXO united in one whole group in 2015, with Call me Baby. Universe album was released at the end of 2017. The War from 2017 was the first album that didnt had Yixing in it. The theories about the UNIVERSE MV are that they all seem stuck in something, that's why you can see many visual representations of that, kai tied up with eternal ropes, him being totally defeated, chanyeol not being able to get out of the sweater, sehun not finding the way to untie all that thread. And they're totally disconnected with each other, not being able to talk and look at each other, until the coffee unites them and everything starts to unfold and get better, they found an outlet, a way to communicate through that shared coffee cup.
Lights Out is generally known as our fandom's go-to emotional support song. I cry every time. I watched Jongdae sing it solo live twice during Exploration and was a mess each time. Universe is EXO's BEST winter album. The songs, the vocals, the message. Superior.
‘Fall’ has become one of my most favourites after I listened to it 2-3 times. Give it a chance and listen to it a few times more. I absolutely love it.
Yes Absolutely Suho is part of Main Vocal line, Wish they update EXO profile Xiumin • Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Rapper Suho • Leader, Main Vocalist Lay • Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist, Rapper Baekhyun • Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer Chen • Main Vocalist, Dancer (Tempo era) Chanyeol • Main Rapper, Vocalist D.O • Main Vocalist Kai • Main Dancer, Rapper, Vocalist Sehun • Lead Rapper, Main Dancer (Obsession era), Vocalist
@@resurgingflame i know what i've been talkin about It's pretty obvious from their Discography In OT12 EXO Main Vocal line are Luhan, Baekhyun, Chen & D.O But ever since Luhan left EXO SM push Suho That's why they always have at least 1 song in the album sung by Suho, Baekhyun, Chen & D.O You can check EXO Discography
@@bryarmaputi5856 Luhan wasn't the main vocal either🤷🏾♂️ them singing tgt with those 3 doesn't mean they're the main vocals. They're part of VOCAL LINE, they're there simply as a sweetener. To enrich the harmony even more & adding more tone. But they're still not even close to what those 3 can do as main vocals. U can check their discography & start analyzing as well. Suho DOESN'T get the same amount of lines as them, even in recent years. & all the complex & difficult parts still go to them instead of him. & Luhan went thru this as well. Literally, Chen sung almost all the hardest vocal lines in EXO-M back in the days(includes like 80% of the runs, highnotes, adlibs & etc) whereas in EXO-K, those parts are divided equally to Ksoo & Baekhyun. Why? Bcus THEY'RE the main vocals. Not to mention the difference in technique between those 3 & Suho/Luhan is like this CBK >>>> Suho/Luhan. Stop pushing this kind of argument/statement. He's not the main vocal, end of the story. His technique is still not as strong & u can clearly see that from the lines he sings as compared to CBK.
the sechan rap in stay is one of my favourites, the flow and rhythm and also the emotional and hard hitting lyrics. chanyeol's "killing me softly" always gets me
Stay is actually one of if not my m9st played EXO song its just so peaceful and calming and makes me feel at ease. At first it was Been Through then Fall and now irs Stay but I listen to Goodnight and Light's Out alot.
Universe is my favourite winter album and probably one of my fave exo albums overall. Listening to the album feels like being wrapped on a warm blanket while chilling in front of the fireplace with a hot choco or coffee on a winter day. In short it just gives me comfort. It's a special album for me personally.
EXO universe is a masterpiece album . I like been through and lights out is amazing . Specially Jongdae's pure heart is depicted with his amazing lyrics in lightsout
No doubt, it's my favourite winter album everrrrrrrrr And I'm so happy that SM will release their winter album SMCU Express after such a long time. Let's just admit that no one can ever beats SM when it comes to winter album. And we're gonna have so many collaborations of different combinations of artists from all SM groups. Such amazing news for SMstans like us. The only sad thing is that my ult EXO will not fully participate, only Kai will be in. Anyway, it is still a wonderful event. Let's just enjoy it our Pink Blood buddies 🥰 I'll be even more happy if you would react to these. And because you are familiar with nearly all SM artists now, I suggest you react to the legendary Dear my family at SMTown concert 🥰
this album is such a masterpiece, every single song has like at least 3 and more parts that I LOVEEE eventho they arent my fav songs from the album. so unfaaaair- I loooove fall and lights out the most!!
Their voices are so beautiful, especially when they harmonize. I rarely listen to this album because it really makes me sad 🥹 Their voices and the lyrics, oh my how can i not cry 🥲🥲🥲
Universe is indeed a work of art and my top winter album. The line distribution here is one of the best in their entire discography-I remember how appreciative the fandom was of it following For Life and The War album 💓💞 EXO just keeps exceeding expectations and never disappoints with quality. I personally consider this a no skip, but I appreciate how honest you are about your opinions. It’s why we support you! Keep doing you, Sir Austin 🥰
YES one of my favorites exo album's!! all the songs are so good so heartwarming, good night at first was also not that deep to me but now is one of my favorites of ALL hehehe hope that happens to you too (also Stay is my favorite pls)
Omg is my favorite winter album! AHHH! I really love this album very much! Been through is all I need in my life! Thank you for your reaction Sir Austin~
Let me explain one of the theories behind the story in EXO's "Universe" MV. First off, as you probably know, "Universe", as with everything to do with EXO, is connected to EXO's concept and storyline. So some of the scenes are designed to make connections to EXO's story. The most obvious point is that in the lyrics they are talking about "Searching the Universe" for that lost or missing love. So you can see how that parallels how EXO are searching the universe for the Tree of Life and for a way to fix everything that is going wrong, etc. The theme of the MV is “cafe universe" and one theory is that the story is being told through coffee metaphors. Fun fact: As you may know, EXO's official fan color is Cosmic Latte -- the color that is said to be created when you combine all the colors of the stars in the universe -- which is thought to be why this whole MV uses the creamy tan and brown tones and why it is centred around coffee. First off, in order to understand what is happening in the MV, you should be aware that the story is not unfolding in chronological order. The plot is more like an explanation of feelings than a straight storyline. One theory is that the coffee is a metaphor for the feelings of bitterness. Two guys share a coffee, but they both hate its bitter taste. They think that if they add something to it, it will be less bitter. One person (Chanyeol) wanted to fix things by making it sweet, so he decided to add sugar. The other guy (Suho) tries to fix things with a more mellow, smooth approach, so he adds milk or cream to the coffee. However, there are limits to everything and even when you have the best of intentions, you can take things too far. As the leader of the group, Suho wants to smooth things over, so he keeps adding milk as he tries to cover the bitterness, but in doing so it also masks the sweetness of the sugar and the pure taste of the coffee. So this is where you see the cup overflow as it is overpowered by everything being added to it. By covering the bitterness with an overwhelming amount of cream and sugar it has now made the coffee something neither one wants to drink. So in other words, making hasty decisions without considering others feelings, viewpoints and opinions will ruin relationships in the process. The story seems to primarily focus on Suho, Chanyeol, and Sehun. Some theories say that it looks as though Suho and Chanyeol are not on good terms. Which is thought to be a continuation of how we saw Chanyeol and Suho fighting in "Sing For You," but instead of solving the conflict by talking it out, they turn their backs and build a wall around the problem. At one point you see Chanyeol with his back turned and his cup sitting upside down, and he is staring blankly at an empty spot, which is thought to be Suho's place. The conflict is affecting their friendship as a group and Sehun wants to help his friends. But it is unclear what Suho and Chanyeol are really fighting about because they are hiding their true feelings and are passivagressivly pretending like everything is OK. This is where Kai, Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin enter the plot. Some theories have interpreted the teaser images from "Universe" as showing the members split into two groups. It is thought that Chen, Baekhyun, Xiumin and Kai represent the internal struggles of the group because we see them in the MV and in the teaser images for "Universe" sitting at the table almost as if they are restless and struggling to come up with an answer for how to fix things or to smooth things over, etc. And the other members -- Suho, Chanyeol, D.O. and Sehun -- represent the physical manifestation of that conflict. Sehun figures that if he understands his friends' (Suho and Chanyeol) internal struggles he can figure out how to fix things. Sehun's internal struggle is depicted by Xiumin who contemplates how he can fix his friends’ mistakes (Kai and Baekhyun). You see Xiumin sitting at the table with a glass of water and tissue paper. Mirroring the problems caused by Chanyeol and Suho, we see Baekhyun add too much sugar to the coffee and Kai adds too much milk to the cup and spills the coffee. However, Xiumin seems to have come up with a solution: water can dilute the sugar and make it less sweet and the tissue can clean up the spilled coffee. D.O. and Chen are the two that are thought to represent the bitterness of the coffee in their parallel groups. Chen scribbles on the paper almost as if this represents the internal struggle that the group is going through, as if the pain, emotion and conflict is just a big mess that they are struggling to work out. Kai (who is representing Suho's internal struggles) blames himself as the reason for Chen's scribbles (Chen represents the coffee's bitterness, which is the problems within the group). Kai's (Suho's internal struggle) guilt becomes so encompassing that it turned those scribbles into physical ropes that tied him up and traped him. At one point you see Kai sitting at the table covered with cups of coffee. Each cup is different and that is thought to represent a different memory of moments in their friendship. Each memory is unique and special, but Kai seems to be overwhelmed by it all. He sits with his head on the table trying to sort out all his feelings and emotions, etc. But if you notice, what he is focused on the entire time is the plate of sugar cubes. But before Kai's guilt (Suho's internal struggle) can really consume him, Sehun steps in and gives him a new cup of coffee. Allowing Kai to have the chance to start over. Sehun also handed Kai a saucer with sugar cubes. He knows that Kai's (Suho's) regret is rooted in the fact that he was not able to give his friend Baekhyun (Chanyeol) the simple taste of sweet coffee. Which is a metaphor for not being able to provide a simple fix to their problems. If Kai (Suho) can make the coffee the perfect amount of sweet for Baekhyun (Chanyeol) this time he may be able to move on and stop holding on to the guilt, regret and anger, etc. which will help to resolve the conflict within the group. Also, it seems as though parts of the story are being told from Kai's point of view. Some theories think that this connects to the story in their "Sing For You" MV as well. If you remember in "Sing For You," Kai was the one that seemed to be interpreting the emotions in that MV through his dance, so some say he is also the interpreter of what is happening in "Universe." Next you see that the table becomes empty and the only things remaining are the sugar cubes, the cup of coffee and the glass of water. Some say the sugar represents their ability to carefully create a sweeter future, while the water is a reminder not to repeat past mistakes. In the end, Kai decides not to add anything to the coffee, and instead, he gives Baekhyun the coffee in its pure black bitter form. Because he has now learned that there is no reason for them to keep trying to change each other. As bitter as life can be, they come to the conclusion that they should accept its imperfections -- that in friendships, there will be struggles and misunderstandings, but sugarcoating it or pretending that everything is watered down or milky good, isn't being honest with themselves. Which is what is really happening within Suho and Chanyeol -- they may be sitting next to each other but deep inside, they're opposing one another as shown through Kai and Baekhyun's actions. On the surface it seems as though the members are all talking about their friendships and the struggles they had over the past few years. But, as we have discovered with many of EXO's songs, SM has actually been planning their song releases and MV storylines since their pre-debut days, way back in 2012, as we hear in EXO's pre-debut teasers. So, if that is the case, then that was before EXO had even gone through any of their major struggles as a group, so I think the meaning of "Universe" may have evolved only because we as listeners have reinterpreted it to fit a new narrative. That's the beauty of songs like this, you can interpret it however you want and make it fit whatever story you want or need it to.
Universe is my one of favorite Exo albums, i listen to this all year round even though this is a winter album. Universe and Been Throught are my favs, especially as Suhos's solo Been Throught ( Suho is my bias). He also comes out well in this album. 😍
YESSSSS I've been saying that Suho would totally be main vocalist in ANY other group but since EXO's vocals are so freaking strong he keeps being thought as the inferior vocal since the beginning!
It's just not in thought too. He's objectively inferior technique-wise than the other 3. Even now years after debut & having more lines, he's still in no way close to them.
@@resurgingflame Doesn't modify what I said. In a group that isn't EXO, without vocalists like Baekhyun, Chen and DO, Suho would be instantly considered as a main vocalist. This is not me saying "He's on the same level as the other 3", this is me saying "EXO vocals are in a completely different level, so much so that a member that isn't even considered a main vocalist in the group could become a main vocalist if he were to be added to a group that isn't EXO".
@@Narnarcorner yes u got that, I wasn't talking about that either. Look at my comment again. My focus was on "keeps being thought as the inferior vocal", nothing else. That's literally the only point I was replying to.
I love the theories you made out of the tangled yellow thing and Chen's T-shirt, and that is your EXO-L heart or maybe they have been spoiling us since then and we didn't know. I am very not good at dates and time, however, I am sure this was the last winter album they gave us and it was from 2017th The War Era winter album, so you can tell this was way after all the ot 12 drama, and so Lay was missing due to political issues you know. Basically this was OT9 album if the political issues were not to be there.
Sir, thank you for this present - listening to their sweetest album with you. It's -29°C (-20° F) today where I live and I already had to go out, listening to your reaction, and it made me warm 🙏. I've come across the information that the whale in the MV is referring to the loneliest whale in the world. It's one of my most favourite videos, so soothing.
I used to feel the same about Good night but then the lyrics get me, but later I relate to that and feel warm and cozy like in bed when I heared it and also healed.
I honestly never cared much for ballads before I became an EXO-L, and this song just proves why in my mind. No one does ballads quite like EXO does - all of theirs are able to really make me feel, and I don’t think it’s just me being biased either.
btw, Sir, have you 'been' to Kai's online concert KLoor? His Jekyll solo was the best and most desired part for me, a dream came true 😍 I'm binge watching The New World with him now. It's so hilarious and captivating, the chemistry on the set... can't believe I missed the premiere. The Good Night song is Pia and Mercedes' intro, you remember correctly 😉
Had so many chores today and I feel so tired. Watching your EXO reaction is like a reward for me. Plus, this one of my fav album. Merry Christmas Sir Austin.
YESSS, UNIVERSE!!! I too am a big fan of sad bops so this is my 2nd favorite album of theirs hehe 😌💕 i’m pretty picky even w the groups I like (& exo are my ults) so I rarely listen to albums the whole way thru w/o skipping songs either out of impatience or simple dislike, but w this album the only song I rly feel the need to skip is the chinese version of universe bc their pronunciation just… distracts me 😹 aside from that, good night is also my least favorite track on the album. I’m usually doing smth else while listening to music tho so I never bother to skip it bc I find that it still works w the overall mood the previous tracks have established & it doesn’t bother me enough to take time away from wtv it is I’m doing to skip it 😹
30:58 maybe you heard that song from exol that uploads also their reaction idk if they are siblings "pia & mercedes" is their yt channel, yup, and you're correct.