Soo-Man (SM) Entertainment boy band Super Junior released their new single album “The Road: Winter for Spring,” along with the single “Callin” on Feb. 28. The group has nine members: Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun. This is their first release since “The Renaissance,” which was released in March 2021.
The song is from a lonely person’s perspective as he finds a friend who helps and loves him. Relevant lyrics that highlight this plotline include: “I’ve been alone for so long so I don’t know how to love” and “I want to be your footprints and stay forever by your side.” The song’s melody helps to enhance this story, as it is slow and has a romantic tone at times, the perfect type of tune for a song about someone finding love for the first time.
As usual for most modern singles from major labels, a music video accompanied the song’s release. The song’s first music video, the “Winter For Spring” version, combined shots of the members wearing winter clothes such as sweaters and jackets, walking around and inside a house in winter, mostly featuring them bathed in orange light, with footage of the boys together wearing suits in subdued colors surrounded by giant images of the songs’ lyrics. The video also has a few short animated sequences. One of these features a member in a field surrounded by flowers and butterflies, while another features a member walking through a city during a snowy night. He jumps and runs, causing fireworks in the sky. Then, he jumps into the fireworks, bringing him into the sunflower area from earlier. There, the member meets a girl who hugs him.
In comparison to most modern K-pop singles, this one did not have many additional videos released in conjunction with the song (ex: challenge videos, dance practice videos, audio and/or lyric videos, etc). However, they did release an additional version of the music video, known as the “Winter” version. In contrast to the “Winter for Spring” version, this edit lacks the animated segments and places more emphasis on the group shots. As this edit is called the “Winter Version”, it makes sense that most of the shots feature the group surrounded by lyric pages that have been tinged in cool colors such as blue, while the “Winter for Spring” version featured similar shots using warm colors such as orange.
These two videos provide an interesting contrast, as they emphasize the song’s duality. While the “Winter for Spring” version focuses on the section of the track that involves the singer finding a friend and how he promises to protect her, the “Winter” version looks at the part of the song that examines his loneliness and how he desires a friend.
The two video’s labels also look at the song’s different themes. Spring is known as a period when many plants grow and the sun appears more frequently, viewed as a period of redemption and new beginnings. Meanwhile, winter is associated with snow and cold temperatures that encourage people to stay inside, viewed as a season of darkness and cynicism. It is a rare song that manages to balance two opposing elements so well, but Super Junior manages to execute this idea with a deft precision that few others in the industry can replicate.
Being a single from a popular group, Super Junior promoted “Callin” on various music shows. As usual for this type of performance, the members wore different outfits for each show. For instance, during their appearance on M Countdown, the members all wore suits that were either light blue, white or peach. By comparison, their Inkigayo appearance had them in suits that were white, gray, black and brown. These performances also indicate exactly why there were no dance practice videos of the song produced, as the members just stand in place and occasionally turn their heads to harmonize with one another. Considering that this is the same group that managed to produce memorable dances for songs such as “Sorry Sorry” and “U,” it is mildly surprising that they did not dance while performing this song. However, one must consider that this single, unlike those aforementioned tracks, is significantly slower and therefore, one of their trademark, high-energy dances would not be suitable in these circumstances, especially considering the song’s themes of loneliness.
In conclusion, Super Junior’s “Callin” is a great song, balancing the polar opposite themes of love and loneliness into one seemingly effortless package, communicated through both lyrics and video. It may not be a stereotypical danceable track like those that they are associated with, but that is okay. Sometimes, an artist wants to break away and explore styles and themes that they are not known for. But not many “experimental” phrases are as successful as this one. This song reaffirms Super Juniors’ place in the industry and demonstrates why they managed to last for nearly 16 years, an eternity in this field.
Bailey Kanthatham is an Entertainment Contributing Writer. He can be reached at bkanthat@uci.edu.
