This is a strong solo song and video.

Even though this is one of many solo albums that SM have made recently, I’m glad that each has had time to shine and utilise as their own. This is very clear with TaeYeon’s “I” ♥

Story:

From what I got from the video was that there were two TaeYeons, which was made obvious at the end of the video. I felt that it was as if one TaeYeon was free (the one who roamed the “countryside”) and looked happy in her surrounding and herself, while the other was stuck in her job, not reaching her full potential and not being valued.

Therefore the latter TaeYeon finally realised what she had to do (the butterfly could have been a message from her inner self aka the other TaeYeon) and then she went to the seaside to meet/”find” herself.

From the lyrics (which you can see here) I feel that this song is about trusting yourself and embracing your own beauty, helping you to withstand the things that this world throws at you. Overall, I think this song is very beautiful and touching, especially coming from TaeYeon because of everything she has been through so far.

Visuals:

This video had a lot going on. However, I didn’t think it went too fast or there was too much packed in. Of course, I enjoyed watching the countryside scenes, mainly because the colours and the setting was so pretty. Plus, there were sheep!! And quite frankly that in itself means this video will get a good ‘video production’ score haha :p

For the cafe scene, I wasn’t surprised at their being white people… It happens so often in kpop and in kdramas, there is always a token white person somewhere haha!

I liked the little room TaeYeon was in for a brief moment. I liked that the styling was quite cool and her outfit was cute and stylish.

Talking of the styling, on a whole, the styling for this video was great. TaeYeon can easily pull of the cute and willowy fashion (although I’m not sure on the beige poncho…) and the cool, sexier look.

The part that included Verbal Jint was good. Although it didn’t fit in quite as well as I wanted it to. On its own though, the projections of flowers etc. were nice.

TaeYeon was stunning, although I would say that sometimes seeing how pale she was kind of made me a little uncomfortable, especially as her skin did look a bit darker (and healthier in my opinion) in other scenes. I’m not hating on TaeYeon, I think she is beautiful, a lovely person and very talented.

Vocals:

TaeYeon is one of my favourite female vocalists and my favourite vocalist in SNSD (Girl’s Generation). Frankly, this album was a long time coming, but well worth the wait as it is a fantastic album! I highly recommend it!

I was surprised that Verbal Jint was part of this song, and even though he isn’t in it for that long, I enjoyed his vocals (as always) and thought it was a good inclusion. Plus the little part where they sang together was nice~

TaeYeon’s voice was beautiful and I could listen to this song all day. It makes me feel happier, because her voice is so passionate, but light as well. The chorus was my favourite part as her voice was so strong and melodious.

The music was a blend of ballad and pop, though more on the ballad side, but the two styles actually fitted really nicely together. It was also a great style for TaeYeon’s voice.

Star Ratings:

• Understandable Storyline: 4/5☆
• Video Production: 4.5/5☆
• Vocals: 5/5☆
• Overall Package: 8.5/10☆

Thank you for reading~