The music video of the title track “Forever 1” of Girls’ Generation’s 7th full-length album “Forever 1,” which was revealed in advance at a hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the morning of August 5th, is an upgraded decalcomania version of the team’s debut song “Into The New World.”
This is said to represent how the members, who have been doing their jobs silently in their respective spaces, gather in one space and move forward together.
In the music video for “Into the New World” released just 15 years ago on August 5th, 2007, Yoona worked silently in a clothing store, Seohyun practiced ballet moves alone, Taeyeon maintained a light aircraft and Sooyoung controlled it.
In “Forever 1,” which will be officially released at 6 p.m. on the 15th birthday of Girls’ Generation, Yoona will be acting, Seohyun on the musical stage, and Taeyeon will be performing as a vocalist.
In this way, each member has written their own growth narrative, and the mature patterns have created a confident and proud expression on the face of the national girl group Girls’ Generation. The history of Girls’ Generation, who celebrated their 15th anniversary this year, has become a symbol of K-pop girl groups.
Taeyeon said in the press conference that day, “The members did their own personal activities and lived their social lives. As time passed, everyone seemed to have matured.”
SM Entertainment, which manages Girls’ Generation, has a fictional worldview called Kwangya. Apart from the title “Goddess of Sound” in this worldview, Girls’ Generation can create their own worldview with their seventh full-length album “Forever 1.”
This is because the 15-year history of Girls’ Generation is piled up here like a stratum. “Forever 1” borrows some of the melodies of “Into The New World” and sings about “Let’s be forever.” The introduction chord of “Into The New World” has been inserted into the “Forever 1” bridge. Hitmaker Kenzie (KENZIE, Kim Yeon-jung), who composed “Into the New World,” also participated in making this song. She also participated in producing the album, giving Girls’ Generation strength once again.
“Forever 1,” which features dynamic chord development and dramatic melodies, is impressive with the refreshing vocal of Girls’ Generation members and an exciting atmosphere as if they are at a festival site.
Before f(x), Red Velvet and aespa, there was Girls’ Generation. Girls’ Generation is an exemplary answer to how well a large entertainment company can create a great girl group. In particular, “Into The New World” is considered as an era that maximizes the image of a girl group that the public wants in terms of music, performance, and visual.
Girls’ Generation’s true value is when music meets the emotions that are embedded in the songs and members, and when this idea got make into a performance. In particular, the emotional melody, hopeful lyrics, and the natural determination of the girls are added on with bold kicks and the pleasure being warmly embraced.
In particular, the track was a shining light not only in the pop music industry but also in society as Girls’ Generation’s “Into The New World” was turned on at Ewha Womans University’s on-campus protest site in 2016 instead of a fighting song. It was the moment when everyone realized that idols could have social influence beyond just anicon of popular culture. Some referred to the “Into The New World” as the “morning dew of the young generation.”
Sooyoung delivered to composer Kenzie that she hoped “Forever 1” would be a song that could remind her of “Into The New World.” “When I sang ‘Into the New World,’ I didn’t understand the meaning of the song well and just sang it energetically thinking it would be a great song to ‘sing together’,” she looked back. “But as time went by, the lyrics has been interpreted in many ways. I hope “Forever 1″ is a song that everyone can sing along like ‘Into The New World’.”
Taeyeon added, “To mark our 15th anniversary, we fully planned everything in advance and asked Kenzie to allow us a request that is not like a request, which is pretty much us asking for a ‘tailored track’. We sang ‘Eternal Love’ for our precious people. There’s the lyrics that goes “Let’s be together forever,” and I think it’s something that Girls’ Generation can do now. I think it’s a perfect song for us.”
The song “Let’s be forever” of “Forever 1” has the words and group choreography of “Into The New World,” “I’m strong just thinking about you, help me not to cry / We’re sharing the feeling of this moment, we met again.”
As the song goes “Help me not to cry”, there are many fans who cry first when they think of Girls’ Generation. This is because the group comforted them during the painful periods and reminded them of the nostalgic old memories.
Yoona said, “I heard a lot of people get emotional after hearing our voices. When I listen to Girls’ Generation’s songs in the past, I get emotional thinking of those memories that come back like perfume. I’m grateful that Girls’ Generation is like that to someone else,” she said.
Girls’ Generation seventh full-length album, which is Girls’ Generation’s first full-length album in five years, has 10 new songs with other past elements that any fan of Girls’ Generation would be happy to see.
The taxi, which appeared in the teaser, is reminiscent of “Mr. Taxi,” a song from their third full-length album. “You Better Run” is the sequel to “Run Devil Run,” the title track of their second full-length repackage album. The track “Paper Plane” reminds fans of the wave of paper airplanes that fans flew toward Girls’ Generation during their concert. The lyrics aabout “Wishes,” which appear in the track “Lucky Like That,” which was the first song to be recorded on the album, overlap with Girls’ Generation’s fandom name “Sone” (‘wishes’ in Korean.)
Sunny said, “I felt like I was reviewing my activities while doing the teaser, jacket and music video to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Once again, we felt proud to see what Girls’ Generation has done and been through,” she said. “It’s going to be fun for the fans to look back to what we have been doing, and look forward to seeing what Girls’ Generation will be like in the future.”
In fact, “Forever 1” has been discussed since last year, the 14th anniversary of the group’s debut. They wanted to release a proper full album on their 15th anniversary, so they had prepared it properly with more ease. As such, the participation of the members in the album-making process has increased. Tiffany and Sooyoung, in particular, put a lot of effort into writing the lyrics of “Seventeen.” Tiffany was also on the list of “Villain” composers. Tiffany and Sooyoung also wrote the lyrics for “Villain.”
Sooyoung tried to look differently at the ‘villain’, which is usually interpreted as a ‘bad guy’, as “a nerd who chooses different options from ordinary people.”
“I’ve been observing the present, and it’s different from when we were active. There are many movies with villains. Seeing how this is an era when characters with clear and distinct personalities are widely loved, I can’t help but think the members of Girls’ Generation had the most distinct characteristics.”
The second generation girl groups are groups that has opened up the Hallyu Wave along with boy groups from the same generation. But only Girls’ Generation survived. In fact, they are the longest-running girl group in existence. Currently, only Girls’ Generation is still active and unites as a team. Girls’ Generation is an unusual case in the history of idol groups that do not have a long life, especially girl groups whose unwritten rules are that they have a shorter life span comparing to boy groups. And with the title of “Girls” in their team name. Moreover, Sooyoung, Seohyun, and Tiffany don’t belong to SM anymore.
Sooyoung said, “When we were still in the same agency, we could get together whenever we wanted to. But now that we’re focusing on our individual activities, every chance to gather is important. It was the moment when I realized the importance of time,” she said.
“It’s been five years since we started focusing on our own path in each field. Maybe that’s why it seems more like a gathering of professionals rather than a family meeting. We still joke and laugh with each other a lot like before, but our ability to concentrate and stay still in one place for a long time are greater than before. So I thought, ‘It’s special to be in the same group with the same members for 15 years and to keep that position.”
Tae]yeon cited the fact that “Girls’ Generation is a fan of Girls’ Generation” as the secret to their long-run team.
“Actually, it’s not easy to bring the opinions of eight different girls together. But there’s one thing in common in our mind. Everyone loves Girls’ Generation. Since we have the same goal, I think that’s what help us to be able to come to this moment.”
Girls’ Generation will reunite with Sone through Girls’ Generation “Forever 1” Countdown Live on Girls’ Generation’s YouTube and TikTok channel from 4:30 p.m. the same day. The album will be released offline on August 8th.