Finns Are Stuck with the Earworm: Reaction to SHINee Ring Ding Dong 샤이니 링딩동

[@Yheela]

I have never clicked this fast on a video. 😹 It’s such a classic, and hair-wise this was a crime against Minho. And Jonghuyn’s BAYBEEEEEEE is honestly the best intro ever made.

[@finnishfriendsreact]

I was so astounded by the weird sound, it totally threw me for a loop! It was like an alternate universe, hair and sound included :D -Kay

[@michellesCanape]

Oh Kay it's so cute that you think you have a choice in liking Ring Ding Dong. It's going to stick in your head no matter what. At first I thought this wasn't for me either, but the next time I heard it I felt differently. When you start singing along, and that's when you are lost. It's one of my favorite songs to watch in concerts clips on KZbin. The crowd sings it so loudly, it's fun.

[@milindawilson9175]

How I interpret the story in SHINee's "Ring Ding Dong" MV is, the song is about a sort of love at first sight and thoughts of that person keep ringing through your head, so much so that you start to become obsessed with them. It's more than just protecting the girl or your love, but it's about wanting to have her all to yourself and not allowing anyone else to come between you, etc. (As the English part of the lyrics says, "Fantastic, elastic ..." because thoughts of that person are constantly bouncing around in your head.) In the MV at one point, you see all the members dressed in white and they are standing in an all-white room looking into the mirror. However, the image they see in the mirror is not their reflection, but what seems to be their alter ego or inner self because you see their mirror images with brooding expressions and they have wings. But their wings are not white like an angel who is pure and good, they are grey like angels of darkness. So, maybe this is showing how their thoughts are not a pure and innocent love, but one of passion and possession, etc. You see them in the white room with the white clothes because I see that as showing how they are hiding their true selves -- on the outside people think they look innocent and pure, but once you get to know them, they have far less pure intentions. When in their black and red outfits this is more of their true selves. The only explanation I can see as to why they are shown lighting the candles without even touching them is it's a way to make it clear that they are different than what they seem and they may have "magical powers" that can be used to attract the girl and make her theirs, etc. I interpret the butterfly they talk about in the lyrics, and the ones you see them with in the MV, to represent the girl and how she is beautiful, and fragile and she flits around in their life attracting them and distracting them, etc. They want to capture her and make her theirs. It is also thought that maybe SM Entertainment is now using the butterfly to connect the storylines between SM's groups. Some theories think that maybe the black butterfly we see Taemin holding is connected to the butterfly we see in EXO's debut "Mama" MVs from 2012, which could also be connected to NingNing's butterfly in aespa's storyline from 2020. And the white butterfly we see SHINee has trapped in the jar could even be connected to the butterfly in NCT-127's "Favorite (Vampire)" MV from 2021. The butterfly is thought to possibly represent the heart of the Tree of Life from EXO's storyline. The white butterfly could be the butterfly that helps aespa navigate through Kwangya in aespa's "ep. 2 'Next Level' -- SM Culture Universe" video, which would explain how all of SM's groups' and artists' storylines are connected because the butterfly is what helps everyone in SM navigate through Kwangya. (Kwangya is the digital metaverse in which all of SM's storylines revolve around and even SM's new building where everything is created and produced is called Kwangya.) Although SHINee's storyline may not have originally been designed to connect to anything outside of their group, I think SM has been using things from their older groups' MVs as "happy coincidences" in order to draw everyone into their SM Culture Universe storyline. Beyond that, I don't really have an explanation of anything else that is happening in the "Ring Ding Dong" MV. Most of it I interpret as just part of the aesthetic of what was the new cool think and what they were doing with MVs in 2009. The boys' hair and clothing styles and the aesthetic of the MV was supposed to give them more of a bad boy image, to sort of contrast the fact that when they debuted with "Replay" they had a boy next door image and they were given the title as the nation's younger boyfriends -- people had a pure and wholesome image of them -- so they wanted to show that as SM's experimental boy group, people should never expect them to stay the same. SHINee will forever be changing up their image to show many different sides of themselves and all different styles of music and dance. "Ring Ding Dong" was showing a new side of SHINee. This was only SHINee's second comeback after debut, so it established their role as the ever changing and evolving group that was expected to keep setting trends and coming up with new concepts, styles and sounds. Fun Fact: Minho's long hair and Jonghyun's "Lion" hairstyle in "Ring Ding Dong" is such an iconic look. But Minho always hated this hairstyle, LOL. He has never liked having long hair. He begged SM to allow him to cut his hair and it took a few weeks before they would let him do it. They made him wait until they were done promoting for this album because their hairstyles were part of the album's concept. Therefore, Minho has refused to ever grow his hair out again. ;P Also, almost all of SM's boy groups had similar hairstyles during this time period. :D Go back and look at Super Junior or TVXQ in 2009. Their hair looked like this too. hehehe. This was just sort of the look for Korean entertainers back in the day. SHINee were setting tends even with their hair. As you discovered, "Ring Ding Dong," is actually one of SHINee's most popular songs. This song is part of the era when auto tune was brand new and it was the new cool thing that everyone was using in their new songs. SHINee was ahead of their time when this song came out and it blew people away for its sound and style, which many had never heard before. :D Yes, this is totally the look and sound that was just becoming the new it thing back in 2009. As mentioned, "Ring Ding Dong" is such an iconic song that it's considered one of Kpop's original earworms. (Trust me. You may not get it now, but it WILL grow on you the more you hear it, and by the time you see SHINee perform it live, I have a feeling you will have a whole new appreciation for the song.) This song is so catchy that it has been said that in Korea it's banned from being played anywhere or listened to during college entrance exam time. When it first came out, students complained that the song would get stuck in their heads and they couldn't concentrate on their studies or on the test. :D This is also one of SHINee's iconic choreographies and it is one of the dances that every rookie group in the industry, both boy groups and girl groups, are required to learn and know, and most have covered the song and dance at least once in their career, even still today. If you want to hear the song without the auto tune then you need to hear them perform it live in concert. Try their live MBC music festival performance of "Ring Ding Dong" in 2016, kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ28pqWlmLGjn5o. SHINee's songs are always way different performed live. You will see how SHINee has grown. Or, once you have seen their "Lucifer" MV, check out their "Ring Ding Dong" and "Lucifer" set at their SHINee World Concert V (SWC5) in Seoul in 2016, kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6WpfGp8rbCXgtU.

[@finnishfriendsreact]

Oh, the earworminess and catchiness totally started happening with working on this video! Caught myself bopping and humming along 😁😁 The long hair on Minho, though, that's still a tough pill to swallow ;) Like you say, it must be soo different live and so different also, because people are sharing this crazy experience of a catchy tune! -Kay

[@SunnyBlue77]

It's so addictive. You hear RDD one or two times and suddenly while you're doing the dishes, it pops up in your head. I love dance music and this is my favorite SHINee song in that genre. Auto tune or not does not matter to me. It's one of these songs that I would have on my mind while waking up. Like I sang it my dream or so. Great moments.

[@finnishfriendsreact]

Yes! I also end up in a loop with RDD where I never start a verse, just run the chorus over and over and over again.

[@user-vz4bq5dm3l]

Look forward to your SHINee journey

[@finnishfriendsreact]

Oh there's definitely more! Thanks for watching and commenting :) -Kay