first tripleS AYA and now ARTMS Icarus, Modhaus has been killing it on their music videos and also album songs

Tmi, the leaves blew during the dance break were actually not from the staffs. The wind suddenly blew strongly during the shooting😂

Idk how its viewed in Kr but where I am its said that you wish on dandelions and then blow on them to try to spread the wishes/make it happen
So the dandelion could be a metaphor for their dreams - first they try to push everything out to the world, going so far as to burn them, working and working towards getting the seeds to sprout
In the end when they realize happiness exists around them too and not just in a faraway goal, Seoyeon takes ownership of her own life by eating the dandelion

I do agree with the feeling of denial in the second verse and I think it even bleeds into the chorus when Kaede changes the lyrics to. “I am happy and more beautiful than anyone else”

I totally respect that most people prefer Girls Never Die as a song, and I think most people highlight the same reasoning that the Lalala hook in this song is 'overplayed' which funnily enough is one of the things that sells the song for me personally. I really like how hauntingly present it is throughout, especially with the main themes we experience in the song, I feel that it really ties into the darker tone they're going for.

On another note, the song's message also connects very deeply with my own life so far, and it's definitely not something I expected to see from a group in Kpop.
Though, I think we are kind of reaching into a new era of more ambiguous, perhaps darker elements, and even some profanity in kpop songs recently, which is kind of interesting.

I love this grimier twist in girl groups at the moment, IVE did it quite sweetly on Rebel Hearts, ARTMS Virtual Angel did with a trippy celestial angle, but Triple S are the undisputed Queens, this song is without doubt a sequel to Girls Never Die, maybe minus the magical realism. As far as the dandelion is concerned, I see it as a symbol for something fragile and temporary, how young girls are seen and often feel. It also feels symbolic for childhood whimsy, believing in wishes and playing with flowers. The girls sort of brutalize the dandelion throughout the video- they burn it, consume it, blow it away. Much like girls brutalize themselves, and eath other (the girls are often seen looking a bit scraped up) because they are not, in actual fact, these fragile, fleeting little flowers, rather complex human beings- but still the flower keeps showing up, and the girls keep on surviving. That's my take :)

AYA is definitely a grower. I had the same opinion when I listened to it for the first time. "It's good, but not as good as GND." But after listening to it a few more times it really grew on me and now I consider it equal with GND in my rankings.

Sometimes life feels like a nightmare you want to wake up from. Sometimes we cope with reality by disappearing into fantasies and dreams. TripleS asks us if we want to spend the one life we have in fear or denial or do we want to wake up, put in the work, and be truly alive.
Sonically, the song is a B+ for me. But the meaning? The MV? S tier. It’s one of those songs where you can hear it and go “okay, that was nice” but if you choose to go deeper, you discover how many layers it has.

i think they could’ve done it better but the b-roll of them hanging out early on and throughout is to reference the idea that everything they need has been there all along, that happiness and fulfillment is in the little things despite whatever difficulties they might face. i agree that this isn’t anti-dream but more like not to lose yourself when working towards your dreams (bc you’re already strong/beautiful and have everything you need).

it wasn’t until now that i really found anything in the lined up dance shots but i kinda feel like it’s a reference to beauty in mundanity

ITS FINALKY HERE I CANT WAIT FOR YOU TO LOVE THIS SONGGG AHHHHHHHH

Are they actually burning bed frames for the fire dance scene? It looks a bit like it at 3:23, and that would go so well with 'waking up from the nightmare'. Anyway, I really like the found family energy of tripleS MVs. To me, it looks like the girls have all escaped from abusive environments (judging from the bruises/cuts and the nightmares), and now they live together as a commune of stray girls who support each other. The fire scene even looks like they're about to start their own cult, but in a good way. :D Also, thanks to PD and the comment section for all the great points on 'Are You Alive'! :-)

Seriously girls never die and this sing is so good❤❤❤

I remember someone saying that the dandelion is "the dream". They are either burning it, eating it/becoming one with it or they are blowing it away and giving up. Especially when this version of the dandelion is the "dead" version of a real dandelion flower, so it just relates to the title - is the dandelion even alive anymore?

To me, dandelions are a sign of resilience. They're difficult to eradicate. No matter how many times you mow them down, more keep popping up because they spread so easily. That's my takeaway from GND and AYA. Nmatter how many times life tries to beat you down, you can always get up again

In the beginning,there’s the hand opening to reveal a crushed dandelion, then the members spreading out from a central member, like a dandelion, so, maybe a connection between the dandelion and TripleS? Many forming one?

In my opinion they put two types of scenarios (happy and sorrow/depression) to show to different worlds like a different reality kinda of. Happy scene are about the first reality or “dreams” that they mentioned which are perfect but might give them bigger despair . The depress scene is the “reality” which can be harsh and full of hurting. Like introduced in Joobin verse at the start that they lost between hope and despair. It kinda want to create a conflict between this two worlds (dreams and reality)

22:09 exactly like the bridge basically them realising the “dreams” are actually a nightmare and the “reality” are everything and the real happiness.

I feel the dandelion signifies the fragility of life maybe? Love this group

Triple S just blew me away with Are You Alive and the whole album is just so good.

Dandelions are used to blow and make a wish, kinda like how you make a wish before blowing the candles in a birthday cake. So my take is that they try blowing it first but it didn't work so they end up burning, sealing without air, even eating the dandelion chaising their dreams

i discovered the group via this video and i still don't know much but my very first impression was that it was girl group music getting the thematic depth and raw emotion in the music videos & tone that usually only boy groups are afforded, if that makes sense. the music video reminds me in a way of the run music video—the songs are completely different and yet the depth and themes feel very reminiscent of each other. i think it's the portrayal of girlhood and boyhood in each music video respectively that makes them feel similar, and they're both given the same "respect" by the music video itself, so to speak. i don't know if i'm wording this right honestly, but i've always been a huge girl group fan and i feel starved for the kinds of theming and depth that it feels like we get more often in boy group music videos. loona kind of filled that gap for a bit, but their themes still weren't quite as gritty and realistic as this music video.