
Most people get dreams which may range from nightmares to fairytales, some even daydream about things they find intriguing or engrossing. others fantasize things they wish were real. kids would fantasize their favorite cartoon characters being real while others may fantasize being rich and gaining all luxuries of life. fantasies vary of person to person. then there comes a point where you’re suddenly hit with reality. all the emotions and feelings you underwent in your dreams or fantasies just vanish and you feel devoid of all emotions till the time you’re able to process reality and what’s happening around you. smoke sprite is a song that involves the three above elements; dreams, fantasies and reality.
Sometimes when certain things happen in life we feel as though it has already happened before but we cant seem to figure when and where it happened. it could be one of your dreams or your thoughts. this is a feeling of Deja vu. dreams can be called as a movie that your subconscious mind plays for you which may involve things or people that you’ve witnessed in real life before but you cant seem to recall. people in dreams are often shown as mere characters that are playing a role; good or bad and the good thing is sometimes its possible to remember these dreams after you wake up. this is not a mere coincidence. your brain depicts these dreams in a way you would read them off a comic book. various costumes, colors and dialogues. lets focus on these colors. often we see villains having sharp makeup, defined jawline and with a serious and intimidating look on their face while the good ones show a soft smile and polite features.
Smoke Sprite shows So!YoON! and RM wearing a black outfit while we see that So!YoON! also plays various different characters/roles throughout the MV. lets go over each one of them. the video opens with a circle in the center as we move on a road having a turn with a truck appearing out of nowhere . now we see something like a black hole. lets consider that as the pupil of an eye. we see it dilating as if expressing shock. this is a situation in our dream. we see the pupil appear multiple times in a shaky manner. when we dream we often react to those dreams in our sleep by twitching the eye or kicking our feet. the repeated eye movements in the video could symbolize an in real life reaction to the dream while the person is still asleep.
Next we see So!YoON! standing tall and showing her various roles or characters. the first one being the lady standing tall with her black dress acting as an armor, the next one an archer with a strong aim and the other being a lady running on snow; the snow having a cold character or nature completely opposite to the scars on her body covered in red showcasing the pain or unhealed wounds on her, running aimlessly without a specific route just like the first vision of the moving vehicle on the empty road. “Take on my knees Stuck with you in your dreams Tell me more, I could die, Take on like a beast” tis line says that she’s living in her dreams in which anything could happen. there’s no vision or possibility of prediction of what’s ahead of her. she could go to the lowest or rise like a beast. she could fall to her knees or burn like fire. the possibilities are endless.
the next scene shows her being the target of the archer, while she’s running in the snow in the next with her scars exposed. these scars are shown as if she were tied by her hands and her necklace is also missing. “To the low, lower, low, ah, yeah
Don’t run away, run away, yeah Come to the low, lower, low Drown in you”. in the lowest of your life, don’t run away. instead get up and face it . the point of being in your lowest points is to drag you to down into an ocean filled with pain and fear. get up and face it to avoid drowning. we see a rectangular pool like structure filled with water having shades of yellowish green. this could represent chlorine water. . The density of chlorine gas is approximately 2.5 times greater than air, which will cause it to initially remain near the ground in areas with little air movement. the point is as soon as you fall into this pool, you’ll be drowning and gasping for air as you slowly get suffocated and reach your lowest. the scene where she’s running on snow could be shown as her facing her pain or getting rid of her pain and escaping it instead of running away. this statement can be supported with the next scene in which she’s seen floating on the water instead of drowning. she says she knows that the person will wake up to reality soon and she trusts them. the thing about dreams is that you can do whatever you want. you could gain a superpower or you could vanish, or you can pull off a stunt.
when the archer shoots the arrow, So!YoON! disappears and you see her run in the next scene. she says she isn’t pretending and she’s doin what she wants . she’s the boss of her fate and she accepts that she always pulls off a stunt. she could be hurt, or tortured and she could have scars but she escapes the arrow . the archer could be considered as someone who wanted to push her at her lowest by causing her pain but instead she escaped that pain. in the next scene she demands the truth and asks for the revelation of fantasies and encourages the dreamer to step close to their fantasies cuz its finally time to go “offsite”. here offsite means to step away from reality. “smoke sprite” lets consider smoke as smoke and sprite as a soft drink. usually some people smoke a drink. its usually to improve taste or flavor. “its time to go offsite, smoke sprite” could mean adding flavor to your dreams by stepping into your fantasies.
the next scene shows a upside down car that signifies the impact of the first scene in which the car crashes into the truck and the car turns upside down. Namjoon asks “Honey, what you doin’ in my bed? Yeah Uh, baby, welcome to my favorite place, yes”. now Namjoon could mean this sentence in the literal manner but if you see it in another way it could also mean that he’s referring to the bed being his favorite place cuz its the place where he gets to live through all his thoughts and fantasies in the form of dreams when he goes to bed. so its the place where he gets to add flavor to the emotions and hidden feelings in his subconscious mind. “The laws of time and space, human ethics Closing your eyes doesn’t matter now” . often when we’re awake we’re bound to follow things the way they have to be done. we are bound by restrictions, ethics and code of conduct. there are various laws. rules and theories surrounding each element and things are as it is. but in the case of dreams, as soon as you close your eyes, the world is yours. you could fly, launch a rocket, or ride a unicorn. there’s nobody to tell you what you should do , no restrictions and you’re just a free bird. ” just hit you right Take you next level, next level just give me your best level That space level “. he’s asking her to him the best version of herself. the version that’s above all other levels. a space level. a level in which she is unapologetically herself and is not afraid of anything and its like nobody can reach that level or touch her. we see all the arrows pass by him without touching and he just closes his eyes. it could mean that without restrictions he feels untouchable and powerful and he feels this way only when he dreams. as soon as he opens his eyes we see them singing the chorus together which brings more meaning to the line “Stuck with you in your dreams”. they are basically living each others dreams but showcasing their own story. its like how So!YoON! said “I create a story and act as a being in the story, and that story could be me”.
as we reach the end we see that the sun starts shining brightly and rays of the sun start falling on to their black outfits . this could signify the reality slowly hitting them. we see the pupil again but this time its in a state of relaxation which means theyre slowly waking up and we see a huge tunnel that just goes on an on with circular turns and loops. it could be them getting out of their fantasy world and soon we see So!YoON! sitting at the top of the tower and we see a lot of people on our way outside the tunnel. it could be people who are still in the world of fantasy.
smoke sprite is basically an amazing song having beautiful vocals of So!YoON! combined with an amazing rap verse by RM. it truly depicts how our fantasy world is totally different from reality. fantasies can seem cool but at the end of the day reality hits the hardest.
Woahhh your explanation and interpretation of this art is so impeccable. I am so grateful to find this thoroughly worded theory because even though I felt so connected on a spiritual level to the song, I somehow could not find the right words for this indescribable feeling. The way you explain it line per line satisfied me so much. I am left with nothing but awe with your amazing skills to digest this song so well. Thank you so much.
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amazing!
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Your explanation and interpretation of the song and the mv are so impeccable. I am so grateful I was able to find your theory cause the way you worded them line per line is satisfying to my curiosity and you managed to find the right words for the indescribable feelings of attachment and connection I have for the song. Thank you once again.
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