What is Love is a pretty sad song tbh. It all shows movies with unorthodox representations of love. All the while, they ask “what is love?”. They’re learning about it through movies and are drawn to the image of love but in the end, they all have tragic endings and don’t end in Happily Ever After. That main movie that ties up the whole thing is Princess Diaries, which appears constantly throughout the MV, which represents the importance of loving yourself instead of love between significant others.
I feel this comeback really is classicly Twice while still being new and fresh. It takes the best elements of their past music and music videos and really comes together. This is one of my fave comebacks yet and probably my fave MV
Eh, it sounds like Cheer up and Heart shaker to me. Signal and their debut song along with like likey are their better songs for me. JYP needs to stop rehashing every song and make ones like Signal.
Yess, i love this song, the chorus is so catchy and the lyrics are pretty cute and relatable.. so currently my faves are likey, heart shaker and what is love however, i hate signal .. just that song. No 🌚 the jirit jirit and the song dance just throws me off
Kevin: "discussing movie references" Umu: Are going to talk about music or movie references a little bit later Kevin: "talking about chords" Umu: Ooh! Lala Land 😂😂😂😂 love ya guys 😂😂😂😂
actually, some fans have interpreted this song and especially mv as sad. All the movies referenced are not "happily ever after" love stories. I never watched Pulp fiction or the professional but people who have watched it said it's dark and not some lovey-dovey mv. In Ghost the "male" character is a figure only she can see. In love letter the male love interest is dead. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. In La La Land they don't end up together. And in Princess Diaries even the girl has to change her appearence to be accepted.
Yeah but in Princess Diaries the dude had feelings for her the whole time, in face her appearance change led to her personality changing too and he stopped liking her after that.
yeah Pulp Fiction and Leon the Professional are NOT romance movies at all. in fact using Leon as an example is a bit weird since the girl character (Mathilda) is 12 and Leon is a middle aged hitman. Seeing any love/romance connections there is actual pedo territory. It's a great film, but just a bad choice in terms of "romance".
What is Love is optimistic, but wistful at the same time. I think Cheer Up was more straightforward, harmonically. This is more of an ink blot, I suppose, dancing around the lines, rather than walking one. You can read it on either side of Cheer Up, if you’re primed for it. That or I’m reading too much into the lyrics and letting it color my interpretation of the harmonic content. Never can tell, really. ;)
Omg Umu! I thought I was the only one who thought that What Is Love had a sad feel to it. When I watched it for the first time I teared up when Jihyo came on with the break down and I couldn't understand why because I haven't even looked at the lyrics yet. Lmao I'm embarrassed to say this because I'm not usually the emotional type but something about this song composition tugs at my heartstrings 👀
Ohmygosh I feel the same way... I know the song is upbeat and the song sounded similar to Cheer Up to me right off the bat but it makes me so sad. After looking up the lyrics, not only was the song devastatingly relatable 😂 but it also made me think about how idols can't really 'love'. I'm not too emotional either and the last thing I expected was for a cute, cheery group like Twice to squeeze my heart.
I think it has a sad feeling too, also most of the movies they referenced except for princess diary have a sad ending or, {spoiler alert} they all die in the end.
fyi, the beat for what is love is produced by collapsedone (same producer for knock knock) who you might've known him, as he works a LOT with DAY6... perhaps this is why you can feel the sadness from it (lyrics and melody are by J.Y. Park)
It’s weird how the composition of this song is so happy and poppy but then you look at the lyrics and realize they’re talking about wanting love and not having it and questioning what it is and why they don’t have it. It’s so depressing but it also fits with the music video now because all those movies had love as a focus but never “succeeds” in the end which SUCKS AF. Oh, how Twice makes happy songs but with such meaningful lyrics (well except for the BUTTERFLIES ME LIKE ME LIKEY LIKEY LIKEY)...
Butterflies me likey? Wut? Likey is the dark song of them because the meaning of it is you need to change yourself to be accepted by others and posting only beautiful pics on Instagram .
I do not get the "happy" feeling with WIL, for me it's similar to Knock Knock and the lyrics are really melancholic. It's far from being a Cheer Up type song imo, a lot of people actually cried while listening to it and reading the lyrics
Wow, I thought I am the only one who`s feeling it. But I also feel that TT is not that happy, they just change the way they sing it but originally its a sad song for me.
For me, the WIL lyrics is extremely positive. It's about youthful innocence and curiosity about love. The lyrics are really naive and wholesome so I think it gives an urge to cry but out of happiness. Maybe they video makers were right that it gives a nostalgic feeling which can be happy or sad depending on the person.
I definitely get that nostalgic, sad vibe from this song (although I can't help dancing to it too). If you read the lyrics you'll see that it is quite a sad song and seems very honest and heartfelt. Also jihyo's part always gives me goosebumps no matter how many times I watch it. It's just so sad!
Even though I have to agree with many others in the comment section (WIL = Cheer Up + Heart Shaker + Candy Pop) I think it's their best work so far. The only thing is it's not really interesting if you want to hear (key) changes, a cool rap part or interesting intruments (I don't count a good bass line). It's very easy to fall in love with this song because it's very easy to listen. I'm a little bit sad that the rap part of Dahyun and Chaeyoung are live not outstanding... like in Likey. On the other hand I prefer Momo's voice here. btw if you are a once you should watch the fan made video of Say Yes. If you not fall in love with Nayeon I don't know if you know what love is ;-)
The one with Jihyo and Jeongyeon (and the part where Jihyo in the red sweater yells out to the mountains) is a Japanese movie called Love Letter and it's probably one of the most popular Japanese movie shown in SK to date. It's a heartfelt movie and for sure it isn't something like oldboy XD
Only thing I have left to say about collapsedone, JYP and TWICE(my angels) is: Minor 4, Cute Motif Riff which repeats throughout entire song Slay vocals (laser notes) Double time half time kink Trap being sprinkled with EDM elements. ❤️❤️❤️
ShazzleDazzle It would be so damn weird if it is. Having seen the movie quite a few times over the years, my read was Mathilda had a crush on Leon initially as he was this cool, older guy in her eyes but he never reciprocated and I think he eventually became more of a parental figure to her at the latter half of the film.
brokennoah yeah in the OG script they actually slept together, and the original cut of the film was edited to tone down the pedophilic overtones so... Also the director married and had a child with a 15 Yr old, it's what inspired the film and their relationship in fact :x
Vero Sim Likey is dark, it shows hows people have live up beauty standards, and how twice can't show their true feeling which is sadness. Here for better explanation:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iNUDlAZo5aI.html
Princess Diaries, Ghost, La Boum (French film), Pulp Fiction, Romeo and Juliet, Love Letter (Japanese film), Leon The Professional, La La Land, The Twice Acuvue commercials.
I really like the song, might be one of my favs but it was a very safe comeback for TWICE. I wasn’t surprised or anything which I was kinda disappointed about. I’m excited for the day they come back with a very new and different concept.
i actually love What Is Love better than any of their songs, because it’s not that repetitive, and the raps finally hit the spotlight! and it represents the storyline so good! 💓💓
He’s most likely an INTP; absorbing music, films, and pop culture into his analytical brain and spew out in spontaneous association. His emotion side is less refined, enthuses plainly and simply when he’s really excited. Mostly when he talks he has a logical and quiet authority without being bossy or subjective. Kevin is really the best example why I dig INTPs. They never fail to amaze me with their ability to express in an extroverted intuition way.
YAY been waiting for you to upload this and here we are😂 also yeah i agree this has some heartshaker + cheer up vibe, based on the instrumental. but actually stuck is waaay more similar to heartshaker in the chorus (too bad its cd only version, but you can listen it on RU-vid). and i suggest you to listen all of their songs in the album (they're already available om Spotify), i think dejavu will intrigue you the most. xD
The movie references are Secret Diary of a Princess, Ghost, Pulp Fiction, La Boum (French Movie), Perfect Assessin, Romeo & Juliet and Love Letter (japanese Movie) ^^
I think the sadness in the song sticks out more when they do it is the acoustic version, because it feels quite happy when in it's original form, but it sounds really longing when in it's acoustic form as the minors stick out even more.
I totally agree with both of you. "What Is Love" seems a mash up between "Cheer Up" and "Knock Knock"! And yes, they are finally back to form! (actually Candy Pop was really good too!)
Nayeon = Princess Diaries (2001) Jeongyeon = Ghost (1990) Mina La Boum (1980, French Movie) Sana = Pulp Fiction (1994) Tzuyu = Romeo + Juliet (1996) Dahyun&Chaeyoung = Leon (1995, French Movie) Jihyo = Love Letter (1995, Japanese Movie) Momo = La La Land (2016) This is all JYP influenced, he must be a fan of all these movies. I think Twice members only watch La La Land, and the rest are quite old for them, most movies comes out before they were born. Cr. snoiprocs16 😄😄😄😄😄😊🥰👏👏👏👏👏
what is love have a bit of chorale feeling.. they have a lot of vocal blending in what is love compared to cheer-up.. so even if they have same tempo and chords progression they were still able to produce a different feeling to the songs.. What is love is like a combination of every song that twice produce before its release.. Its also similar to Candy Pop..
i can see why some may think it's sad some happy. I think the song is very accurate to present the concept "What is love?" from the instruments, melody goes up then ends low, to how the vocals presented, I feel the strong curiosity and eager to what love is, yet the uncertain and insecure to if it's going to be good or bad. Or some constraints due to the age that they can't experience love yet. The complex emotions that we allve been through in the young age is well expressed in this song. On top of that, it's melodically great to listen to.
The one you guys didn't catch was princess diary. That's with the girl with the glasses and curly hair in the beginning and at the end when they straightened her hair and had a before and after photo. Also his excitement over pulp fiction warmed my heart 😂
Now that you mention it, this has a live acoustic version and it really sounds very sad somehow. (And even Jihyo cried [of happiness] there). So I guess this song maybe really has a double meaning/sound to it.
We get to see your two personalities revealed! I'm like Kevin and enjoy occasional nostalgia. Umu perceives the song as more sad because of that "nostalgic" melodic material in minor. And I do enjoy a "sad" song, minor keys take me different places. 😊
Yeah, I think it's more "spread out" when it comes to the usual structure of what a usual Twice hit would be, but albeit the catchy tune, it has a more melancholic deeper meaning to it, similar to Likey and Heart Shaker, hence i want to label the previous three songs of their catalogue including this one: "The Melancholy trilogy" of their career, cause there's more to it that the cuteness and pretiness perceived on their music videos.
The angel and fish tank scene was from Baz Lerrman’s Romeo and Juliet!!! literally when I watched it I got so happy seeing that reference!! Somehow i picked that up but completely missed princess diaries lol
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS OF CHEER UP THEN WHEN KEVIN SAYS I'M SO GLAD It was like i wanna know4× what is love... geuraeya niga nal deo joahage dwelkkeol taeyeonhage yeongihallae amureochi anke
I mean I like Twice's songs, but they always lack depth to me. But this comeback is making me optimistic! Even thought it's as upbeat as their other songs, there's an underlying sadness. This time, there isn't just a catchy beat and pretty visuals. So... if Twice keep improving like this, heck yeah I won't be afraid to like Twice (tbh I didn't like them that much before, not to the point of being a hater, but yeah).
super late comment from a random fan: please listen to their b-sides (especially the ones written by the members themselves). you'll see that they particularly choose upbeat songs because that's their thing as a group but they've always had songs that have "depth" and entirely different from their title tracks. their first EP The Story Begins has a totally different vibe before they took this concept. :)
I think so that it uses sad/minor key, only the arrangement is upbeat, thus make it kinda feels happy whilst in fact it's sad, there is an acoustic version which is only played live, you can feel the true emotion there,
vaughnerich I wouldn’t look too deep into it, Leon and Matilda as characters are hugely popular in Korea for their aesthetic/costume value, but most people haven’t actually seen the movie. The same way harley quinn took off
I agree with Umu this sounds a lot like Knock Knock and Heart Shaker to me (not in a bad way of course). I think it has similar vibes to Knock Knock. I think of Knock Knock and What Is Love as their most calm songs. Whereas with Heart Shaker, even though Heart Shaker feels more exciting, it seems likes you can easily mix the two together. I have trouble hearing Cheer Up in this song, even if there are similarities like Kevin says, they just feel so different to me.
One of the members mentioned that when they recorded the song JYP did not ask them to sing, but to speak in the song, which confused and intrigued them, and then explains that he refers to the lyrics or parts of the song "singing" with That feeling. Maybe that's why it feels "sadly nostalgic" in the song :) btw sorry for my bad english
I agree its a little sad. The minor chorus and asking "what is love?" but the upbeat percussion makes it not so draining. It makes it sound hopeful? If that makes sense?
I feel like the movie references are the answers to their question. What is love? Like for princess diaries I will interpret it as self love. Then for lalaland my interpretation is first love And for Ghost is like love has no boundaries. Romeo and juliet is like love conquers all. Haven't watch the rest of the film references.
oof movie references here we go (in order of scene appearance) nayeon: Princess Diaries jeongyeon: Ghost mina: La Boum sana: Pulp Fiction tzuyu: Romeo and Juliet jihyo: Love Letter momo: La La Land dahyun (rap): commercials tbh but also Leon the Professional a little later chaeyoung: Leon the Professional
Just as an FYI the song is actually sad so Umu is correct, it is sad because the girl singing doesn't know what love is, all she has are vicarious experiences from movies and tv thats why if you read the chorus the girl's interpretation of love is naive and unrealistic (what is it like to feel like flying in the sky etc). Also all of the movies shown are actually doomed or tragic relationships, like Romeo and Juliet, The Professional, Ghost, Pulp Fiction etc I believe none of those ended well romantically which shows how the girl singing is gonna be in for a harsh awakening when she finally finds the love she is looking for. It is a great twist and IMHO since Likey all of Twice music videos do a great job of unearthing the meaning of Twice songs which is usually hidden in the cute concept they do so kudos to whoever is making these he is pretty awesome
I always thought the opposite of cheer up and what is love, that cheer up sounded sad and that what is love sounds very upbeat. I also think that what is love sounds most like heart shaker because after the prechorus of what is love, the chorus of heart shaker plays in my mind. There's already a few mashups.
I do agree that this song sounds... sad in a way? Because, the whole song itself like, singing about not experiencing love yet, at the same time the video "quoting" these movies that imo some of them are tragic? It's sounds so... bittersweet.
Even the ballroom dress part seems to be a movie/animation reference to Disney. Disney Princess vibes there. Edit: I agree with Umu. 😂 What is Love? might be less upbeat and lively than Cheer Up. It's because the whole idea and mood of the WIL is curiousity and innocence about the idea of love. Whereas, Cheer Up is just to spread happiness so it technically has to be more bright and lively. WIL is supposed to be bright, lively and mysterious at the same time in order to carry the curiosity and innocence.
I think the reason why Cheer Up is more upbeat and happier is because of the drums. They are more louder than the other instruments and drive the song a bit more than What is love.
I love the film references in the video and I'm with Kevin on the song being cheerful. I'm a fan of that long bass note that they use but not a song I'd buy. I'm sorry TWICE.
It's a bit more skewed to the KRock side of things, but I would love to see you react to something from The Rose. One of the (2) vocalists has a very interesting voice, and their most recent song, Baby, is gooood.
Ooh Ahh is still the only Twice song that i actually like. i can tolerate Cheer Up and TT, but everything since has totally missed for me. Thanks to this reaction i know that what this song is missing is a melodic counterpoint.
Can you introduce me about Yoo Jae-ha? He is the god of Korean popular music. He was a fusion musician between classical and popular music. His record is so influential that he ranks second in the history of Korean pop music. There is a "Because I Love You" and "You in my arms" in his representative song. And he is known for being the first person in the history of Korean music to compose, write and arrange by himself. He died in a car accident three months after he made it at the age of 25. I wonder how his music will be judged by you since it has many elements of classical music.
