˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ NEW WOMAN - analysis ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
07.06.2025 18:17
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{“Feeding you the bloom growin' out my sleeve Kissed from a rose, rose, what a, what a meal"}}
The camera and the make-up scene make it seem like she’s taken a few steps back. Nonetheless she keeps walking.
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{“Face, eyes, body go wild”}}
Why is the word "democracy" not in the preamble of the US Constitution?
The color red that seems to be Rosalia's representative color is the color of fire and passion. People with red auras are said to be unapologetic and confident.
She's blow drying her hair and it transitions to Rosalia drying her hair.
Again darkness. A door opens letting in light. She is standing in the parts where the light reaches. After rejecting those men a door opens for her ergo an opportunity. She doesn't need those men in order to be seen, to not be shrouded in darkness.
This relationship won’t and can’t continue and notice how the trees only consist of female legs? The only one pulling their weight in the relationship was her. A tree who kept on giving the fruits of their labour, their star power, their entire self (apples with stars on them) to that man. Lisa rests her face on a printer. Rosalia bursts one final bubble. One apple is being impaled by a heel. If you want that fruit, you’ll have to rip it from her.
The camera in the changing room has fixed its cracks and her face gets further messed up. She's still walking in those flaming heels with no end in sight.
Rosalia is still whispering. An eye is painted in blue. We see the printouts again. After one second they fall down to the ground and nothing else is printed. I believe that the printer scene and the changing room scene are closely connected which is why she's wearing the same outfit. I think that Lisa has now escaped from that camera lens. Afterwards we never see the changing room scene or printer scene again. (At least not as a representation of the present) Right after, a few women are sitting next to a tv that shows Lisa in the big white hall. She turns towards the camera and takes her coat off. Then a woman disappears into thin air only leaving her shoes behind.
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The woman is now screaming at the ice. She went from loving to angry but she's arguing with someone who has a heart as cold as ice. Their relationship was like a roller coaster of emotion and no matter what she did, he barely melted. He had no regard for her feelings at all.
She has broken her previous boundaries. Lisa dramatically looks back. Obviously the scenes take place at completely different times since the chains didn't snap yet she's now walking freely. „l'm a new woman". Lisa exits the room.
Two men are fighting with each other. None of them gain the upper hand. It seems pointless. Wheras Rosalisa have leveled up the men are stuck and their lives are a mess. There is no control anymore. Only struggle.
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That man is slowly losing her. Before she was only getting ready to leave and now she's basically already gone.
Before the eye seemed oversized on the camera screen. Now it’s normal.
Usually at night is when insecurities surface but for Rosalia it‘s quite the opposite. Rosalia portrays a woman who is at the absolute top of the game. She is desirable, confident. I also really like the visual contrast between the two. Lalisa is the one who goes through all this change and therefore has a more dynamic and youthful vibe. Rosalia has already reached the destination Lisa is headed to. She’s confident, sultry and successful. She is who Lisa will be once she is done healing. Rosalia represents the night so you can either see her as a dream or a vision of the future that Lisa has in this one fateful night. Alternatively you can see her as Lisa’s successful, hot friend. Maybe that’s where Lisa was headed. She has packed her backs and drove to her best friend’s house to spend the night there. After this night her healing journey speeds up and she starts blossoming and blooming the following day.
Since I was already a blink at the time I already knew her as a group member and an individual but sonically or image wise? I really don't think so. Those two songs sounded, looked and had similar thenes to Blackpink songs. Even her most recent single ROCKSTAR was still too close to her previous 2 songs to really differentiate herself from the YG sound and image.
Lisa sings the line \color{#DBAC34}{\text{“I'm a new woman"}} while we see a clip that's very similar to what we've seen before. However this time around most of the pictures are from other scenes in the mv not just the beginning. Still, only those pictures depicting the girls in their outfits and enviromnent from the beginning of the song are circled in. Oftentimes peoole prefer the version of you that they had the most control over which is exactly what's been circled in.
That might be partially because her ex simply can't go near her anymore, can't be with her. But it might also show another reason for their incompatiblity. He doesn't perceive her as she is. He only sees images or distortions of her.
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\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{Face, eyes, body go wild You want this? I'm a new woman, woman Eyes, I'm all about mind You want this? I'm a new woman}}
The outfit she’s wearing looks a bit brownish or golden but her surroundings are purple. She is all alone and in pain. There is a certain parallel to the umbrella/flower scenes since this one also heavily features both purple and gold.
\color{#CC8899}{\text{“Purple }} \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{into}} \color{#DBAC34}{\text{ gold“}}
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It cuts to her and Lisa lying on the ground. One in all black one in all white. Polar opposites like day and night, yin and yang. They're surrounded by a circle of flowers.
So in this flashback she constantly contrasts her life before she left with the one after. The central themes are pain/healing from pain and power. With him she suffered. With him she had little control of her life. He controled the camera and therefore the narrative. She shattered it all. The last two shots of this chapter both have a lot of gold in them. Now in the next shot I want you to take a second to pay attention to perspective and what the camera is focused on.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ 2. Noon - a moment of pondering ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
That part of the mv/song is over.
Perhaps it's the same street and exact same fight we've seen before but now we're getting a more complete picture. Neither Rosalia nor Lisa seem particularly bothered by the state of the car or their relationship. These two might actually be the same thing. A broken car that can’t drive no more signifies the end of their relationship.
Their relationship was a mess but she doesn’t care to fix it anymore. She’s started to love herself more. She’s started to grow. And in the end she left his ass. She has now officially walked out of the narrative. No cameras followed her. He can’t see her and doesn’t have access to her anymore and we - the audience - also don’t. Sort of like in the Truman show. When he walked out that door he became free. And just like the audience in that movie, we are also portrayed as voyeuristic and controlling. That’s why she shuts us out.
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Colourful clones of Lisa appear around her.
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{“Bad luck a sucker, gotta make you tougher Tryna say you suffer, oh, don't blame your mother".}}
in the song Rosalisa refers to auras a lot. A purple aura around the heart means that you’re going through heartbreak. On the other hand a golden aura is quite rare and mostly achieved through hard work rather than being born with it. One strength of having a gold aura is the ability to reach others and capture their attention. There's a reason gold auras are so rare: They're potent, influential, and highly evolved. As Rosalisa heals, her aura heals aswell.
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Alpha often symbolizes strength which Rosalisa undeniably have. They demand the biggest and the best, they're living life to the absolute fullest. Humility is not their style.
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Bitch you better swerve }} \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{Revving up my }} \color{#F38701}{\text{au-}} \color{#FF0000}{\text{au-}} \color{#008000}{\text{au-}} \color{#0000FF}{\text{au-}} \color{#A020F0}{\text{aura}} \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{ Focus on my mind taking my time I'm a new woman"}}
She is also keeping him at arms length, he can only touch her sleeve. She's also feeding him like an infant, in order for the sleeve to reach his mouth he'd also have to be on his knees.
The beat picks up in speed since it is day again. A hand is using a lever. It is in control.
Black and white is often used in film to paint a more depressing atmosphere. Even though colour in general seems to play a big role in the lyrics and most of the proceeding shots here, the lack of it has a lot of significance. However the scene at the beginning wasn’t exactly colourful either. It’s basically just a big grey and white room. So this could be a nod to where she started from and how she hasn’t gotten away yet. Keep in mind that this is an image of her. This could also be just how she as perceived: without colour or personality. The printer doesn’t capture who she is.
They have grown and gone. They have started to bloom. Roses are beautiful but they also have thorns. This The men want the rose. Now she's shoving the new her into his face. He has no choice but to take it all in. At first he thinks he's getting to eat the bloom once again taking from her but then she reveals that this bloom is a rose. Roses have thorns. They're beautiful and this theme of seduction is still present. But they hurt.
Everything is blooming. It is spring. A new beginning for both of them. The camera lens in the changing room is broken again. We see the printouts again. The man closes the blinds. Perhaps he doesn't like what he sees. Now she's in control. The lever. He isn't. Fighting. Their relationship was pointless and held her back. Vacuum. Fighting.
Everything gets shaky and blurry except for her head that she is holding. She seems dizzy - perhaps drunk. Another shot of the man watching her and underneath the table. She's shielding her little cactus plant.
Lisa acknowledges the camera. She doesn’t just happen to look this way. Instead, she opens the blinds specifically so she can look us right in the eye.
He said he loves me, but why is it difficult for him to leave his wife?
\color{#8B0000}{\text{"And my energy's immaculate. Low profile (and you're out)"}}
She really is taking her time moving on completely. I think it's her ex that's trying to hold her back. Whenever she tries to take control he comes back, forcing her back into this image, back inside the walls. He watches her in the changing room or in her own room thereby stripping her of her freedom, privacy and space.
Especially the “you're out" part makes it seem more like the lemon juice is supposed to blind him. Or it's basically saying that though isn’t an aggressive or loud person, she can still fight back and take you out. Otherwise the lyrics are still about her being incredibly self confident.
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So in a way, this line is also about Rosalisa as artists. I am not too familar with Rosalia but I love how this statement really affirms that Lisa has always wanted to and currently wants to be a singer. She doesn't only want to model or dance. She likes singing and she's become more and more comfortable with vocal lines over time, as opposed to her earlier days when she was more insecure of her singing abilities. Now back to the narrative: Rosalisa was born pure which also means that the purple auras (pain) are entirely caused by those men. It could also mean that they were born special and have always been authentic.
Vacuum. More scenes are repeated.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ 4. at night - power and confidence ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Do all armies have the same rank structure?
The woman in the hall cross their legs again. They’re reading the alter ego magazine. An alter ego is an alternate self, distinct from your normal or real self. My theory is that Rockstar and new woman are supposed to show new sides of her. There will be 5 songs overall, all with different sounds and “personalities“. Rockstar is a confident, edgy bad bitch. Who is “New woman“?
⠀⠀⠀⠀˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ when an artist critiques their own audience ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Pulling up fresh face, brand new dia, ah, Lalisa Rosalia“}}
Then a completely new shot of three girls dancing behind potted plans. From this perspective it looks like they're standing in those pots and the dancing looks like they're growing. Another quick changing room scene. \color{#CC8899}{\text{“You want this?"}} Rosalia and Lisa point at the camera.
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{Elevate, I liberate a new frontier I'm a new woman"}}
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{"I go hard, it will work out for sure I rev up my au-au-au-au-aura I'm focused, nothing pressures me I'm a new woman, woman It will work out for sure. I rev up my}} \color{#F38701}{\text{ au-}} \color{#FF0000}{\text{au-}} \color{#008000}{\text{au-}} \color{#0000FF}{\text{au-}} \color{#A020F0}{\text{aura}} \color{#DBAC34}{\text{ I'm focused, nothing pressures me I'm a new woman, woman"}}
\color{#CC8899}{\text{“Pain has come and gone again“}}
The frame that was present during the last few scenes made it seem like they were inside a lens or on a roll of film. The film burns which is something that can happen when the projector gets too hot.
This could of course still apply to the real life Rosalia and Lisa. Because Lisa doesn't start out by looking at the camera but only slowly shifts her gaze, it feels like more of a fourth wall break. The way we as the viewer have once spied on Lisa from her ex's pov or the breaking of the camera lens sometimes makes it feel like we are said ex boyfriend. While some lyrics are confined to the narrative others may be addressing the audience itself, perhaps because it shares certain characteristics with those men. That's why when the pictures are being circled in it looks like a first person POV. So whenever the lyrics or M/V allude to a specific aspect of their ex lover, you can always ask yourself whether the same thing might apply to you or the fandom in general.
Both men are fighting each other, one seems to be Lisa's ex who was watching her previously. Whereas Lisa was having fun dancing in her room, he could only watch from outside. A female hand is controlling the lever. She has taken back control of her life and the men are having trouble doing the same. He. was. the. problem. That is why their relationship didn't work out.
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{“Gimme that, gimme that alpha, yuh Gimme that bigger, the better, ugh"}}
All of them are on their flip phones or reading a magazine depicting Rockstar Lisa with the title „Alter ego“. But not all the seats are taken by those statuesque women. A few of them are empty. Perhaps people have gotten up and left, yet these women continue sitting on their pain. The only major movement is by the camera.
\color{#8B0000}{\text{“The starry night, so be it. Until dawn, let it be so"}}
When the door is closed we see a piece of paper with „new woman" written on it.
The video shows clips of four different flip phones, displaying the information Lisa feat. Rosalia „New woman“ directed by Dave Meyers.
Black heels on fire walking on a treadmill. A walk on the treadmill doesn’t have a defined end. On top of that she has to endure the pain of the fire on this long journey but she persevers and “rediscovers“ her path. She has found her path again which is why she’s now only surrounded by golden umbrellas. The purple is still in the background though. At the end of the scene she is hidden behind the golden umbrellas.
A close up of an eye, the skin is painted blue. As they are the windows to the soul, this shot represents her sadness. The hands are messing her up further, her picture is being circled in again. He wants her but only a very specific version. And even though she celebrates leaving him, she still feels sadness. Mourning all the good moments and all the could-have-beens. Even the worst relationship had those. They are the reasons people hold onto people for too long.
From the exes to Rosalisa? Perhaps. Maybe they want them to hold onto the relationship and endure the pain. Promising that things will get better eventually and that they're just going through a rough patch like every couple.
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Revving up my }} \color{#F38701}{\text{au-}} \color{#FF0000}{\text{au-}} \color{#008000}{\text{au-}} \color{#0000FF}{\text{au-}} \color{#A020F0}{\text{aura”}}
Lisa starts singing in a changing room. She’s picked out her outfit for the day, gold on gold from head to toe. A bunch of clothes are lying on the ground, discarded. Old layers of skin, old personas, old styles that have been shed. There are multiple mirrors in the changing room that show her reflection in this golden outfit from different perspectives. All her new sides are being shown. Images of her fill up the entire frame.
\color{#DBAC34}{\text{"walk through the fire, I rediscover"}}
Since Lisa is also depicted during these lines, they apply to both of them even though it's Rosalia's verse. Not only in terms of the story that is presented here. Lisa frequently employs the theme of identity. Every song she puts out is a statement of who she is, which is, among other things, why she always includes her name in the lyrics.
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Walk through the fire, I rediscover“}}
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ 5. “The next day” ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
She is someone who has reinvented herself but what has pushed her to do this?
At first I thought the mirrors broke but if you look closely they’re still intact. The viewer is now unable to see her clearly, the camera through which she was perceived is now damaged. Since the camera is “the eye of the viewer“ she’s definitely cracked one wall, the 4th one to be specific. She wants to break from the image that her lover has curated of her. Now a close up of the magazine. Is that who she wants to be instead? Or perhaps it’s a reminder of what makes Lisa, Lisa: confidence. If Rockstar is her alter ego she can’t be someone eating rotten apples from a love that has died.
She's standing in the storage unit again and chained to multiple iron balls. First it focuses on the chains then on her. So she's not completely out yet. Though she's gotten up from the chair and retaken control, something is keeping her from completely moving on. She has already physically left but an emotional attachment remains.
⠀⠀⠀⠀- WARNING: extremely long and detailed
So far we only hear an instrumental that is slowly building up anticipation. It sort of sounds like the sunrise. A new beginning possibly. A new day, a new woman. So Lisa opening her eyes might have been her waking up.
The way she phrased it and her unimpressed tone shows that that is his go to tactic. And if he blames his mother he probably doesn't have the best track record dealing with other women either. Everything is always their fault. He is just a victim in the situation. But he can't expect sympathy from her anymore. The lyrics seem to be mocking him.
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Focus on my mind"}}
The girls are crossing their legs again. Are they waiting for something? More apples are falling. A shot of Lisa in the broken mirror, she looks directly and confidently into your eyes. The girls appear again.
Suddenly the calm atmosphere is interrupted by the beat picking up in speed. \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Here I go“}} is the first line of the song. Just woken up and she’s already ready to go in a sparkly two piece and a fluffy coat. All in black. It kind of looks like a club outfit. Maybe she’s still wearing her outfit from last night.
The beat slows down the image fades to black. It's night now. Likewise the beat changes as well, slowing down to be more suitable for the night vibes. For a split second the image seems red.
Then a woman in high heels is vacuuming the lawn. Not only is it pointless - she's trying to clean up the messy parts with a vacuum - but she's also not fit for it. I mentioned earlier how when Rockstar is your alter ego you don't stay chained up in a relationship that's holding you back. Similarly we see someone wearing black boots while cleaning up like a housewife. She is not dressed the part. It's clearly not suitable for her to waste her time pointlessly cleaning up. Those shoes should be on a magazine cover, out there shopping or partying.
Both of those themes have been present in the mv so far. The men are blind to the real Rosalisa and they try to keep them confined to the image in their heads.
⠀⠀or
Then there are two hands holding a flower. We zoom in. The inner parts of the flower turn out to be purple umbrellas with a hypnotizing pattern on them. Lisa is wearing a black feather outfit. She has now fledged. She is ready to fly away. You can now see a few golden umbrellas as well. The flower therefore represents her mind and her aura. The printer from before is scanning her face, printing out a bunch of black and white pictures of her.
\color{#CC8899}{\text{“Purple }} \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{into}} \color{#DBAC34}{\text{ gold“}}
She sits down next to Rosalia popping a bubble of gum. Rosalia is wearing a black jacket with some bits of leopard print but the focus is on Lisa who is confidently sitting on the chair.
Meanwhile the purple umbrellas moved away a bit to show the golden ones. A woman is moving her face towards a glass with ice.
Lisa is scanning her face on the printer.
So overall this song is about a woman breaking up with a toxic lover and leveling up while he is left in the dust. She started out in her clothes from the night before, tried to change into a gold outfit but was still stuck in his lens. She experiences pain to varying degrees while she's slowly taking back control of her life not at all thanks to her ex who actively tries to keep her down. Throughout the mv we learn more and more about their dynamic and how he never truly loved her or cared for her. In the end she sees him for the manchild he is and leaves him to pursue bigger things. He is incredibly attracted to the improved version of herself that she worked incredibly hard for but he can never get her back.
Then there's a shot of a leg being shaven. What glitters isn't always gold. There's nothing magical beneath and stripping yourself of what makes you shine won't save your relationship tree either. The legs cross their legs. A few shots repeat. Back to the legs. Their stockings now seem rotten at the top.
The end
Suddenly the camera lens breaks.
But for Lisa it is definitely true that she is still confined to Blackpink's Lisa in the minds of many. She has already mentioned during the „L" era that she wanted to be known as LALISA instead of Lisa from Blackpink.
Later we can see Rosalia taking a peek at the men fighting. Both women seem to be in good spirits. They're new women, they've leveled up, they're physically above those men. When Lisa opens the hood of the car she only fans away the smoke that's blowing into her face but she doesn't care to fix it. The phones are being set on fire in a microwave. They're tired of being told to hang in there. Life is now and they choose to live it freely and fully.
New woman, however, strays a lot more from this. While Rockstar showed us the confident side of her, new woman seeks to show a new side of her. If every song is supposed to showcase one single trait of her as an artist then new woman shows that is willing to try new sounds and styles.
There is once again this power imbalance. So feeding him this rose is her giving her this incredibly gorgeous and complex experience that also causes him pain. Perhaps this experience is simply the attraction that he has developed for the new her while also having to endure that he'll never be closer than arms length to her. He's on his knees watching her bloom.
Lisa struts through the hall again.
There are a lot of people whose image is confined on a distortion of the truth or the past. Whereas “Rockstar” was way clearer about being about the actual Lalisa, “New Woman” is more cryptic and hides its message behind the narrative of a break up song. Two things can be true at once. A lot of scenes will therefore have a double-meaning.
She then opens the blinds herself. Just like before, when she controlled the camera and zoomed in on her ex, she has turned the tables. It feels like a 4th wall break again because she challenges us for watching her. It’s a confrontation.
Rosalia pops a bubble of gum. The bubble bursts as the main character becomes disillusioned. Now multiple pairs of colourful legs are letting apples fall. It’s rotting. Lisa is dancing in the changing room.
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Taking my time, I'm a new woman"}}
This song works great as a dance song, heartbreak anthem and an assertion of her new identity. And that’s why Kiki is the superior alter ego.
The camera slowly zooms in since she is the focus, the main event, the star. She puts two lemons halfs over her eyes and squeezes them. Lemon juice is potentially damaging to the eyes but she doesn't squeeze it into her own. Perhaps that could allude to how her ex is blind or she wants to escape his gaze or vision.
Apparently she's gotten up from the chair again after she's sat with Rosalia for a while. Lisa is holding the camera to her eye. This time, it seems like it is zoomed out instead of enlarged which shows that there now is more distance between them.
That’s what the next part uncovers. The entire mv is very conceptual with many visual metaphors. Her getting up in that sparkly two piece is her waking up next to him. The sparkly two piece is not due to any glamorous aspect in their relationship but rather alludes to how you feel the morning after a wild party. You wake up in your clothes from yesterday, you feel hungover and just overall awful. But whereas most people still repeat that same pattern, she breaks it. In the morning she made a decision. Getting up and rid of those clothes is what starts this journey. A makeover is also further associated with a personality and/or lifestyle change. The golden colour is also very important in this narrative. She got up, dressed herself and left. I imagine her just driving off without sparing him a second glance. Now it’s noon. I can see her sitting in a gas station café by the road. Her first stop since she started her journey. The sun is now fully up and its heat deplenishes what was left of her burst of energy in the morning. In this moment of quiet she looks back on this morning and beyond. (I might’ve made up this narrative out of thin air but to me it just fits)
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Hit it when I serve, bitch, you better swerve“.}}
That's how she looks.
The mv cuts to a pair of legs in yellow tights holding a red apple with a star on it between its knees and then dropping it. The next line is \color{#87C75A}{\text{“soak up, all new,“}} soaking up also means to expose yourself to or experience something beneficial so she could heal herself, be „all new“ again. Lisa is on a healing journey. \color{#87C75A}{\text{“so i cut, i go, go to the root off to}} \color{#FFDBE9}{\text{ bloom }} \color{#87C75A}{\text{yeah“}} refer to how a gardener cuts off the parts of a plant that are dead or toxic to give it more room to grow and rid it of any unnecessary baggage that only wastes valuable nutrients. While these lyrics are playing this apple is falling down. It has a similar meaning of letting go off parts that are dead or have stayed with you for too long. If an apple is overripe, it falls from the tree. The long legs signify the trunk of the tree in this scenario. She turns to look at you. The girls cross their legs again.
SUMMARY:
The collaboration between both artists is also very well done. Rosalia and Lisa are two very similar characters. Their main difference is the way they are presented. By making one night and the other day, it allows both artists to keep their essence. Rosalia is more suitable for slow beats whereas Lisa is all about power, being loud and being dynamic. That's why Lisa also goes through more development than Rosalia. In the end they both are new women who have become better post breakup.
Lisa is bending over a small plant with thorns. Instead of an apple tree that gives and gives, she is growing a more unapproachable plant. Still small but it's all hers since it serves no one else through beauty or self sacrifice. She is shielding and protecting her new plant from the harsh sun.
While these last few shots emphasize the body parts mentioned in the lyrics, none of them are shown directly. You see her face distorted through a glass, her eyes on a screen through a lens and her body through a reflection. You don't have direct access to her. Likewise, when she sings “you want this" someone is circling an image of her, not her herself.
Then a woman is kissing a glass of ice. It could be a metaphor for the relationship dynamic. He was cold and she was loving. No amount of tenderness could melt his heart.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ 3. “Dusk” celebration and pain ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Too bad he now has to live with his misfortune. He had his chance and blew it. Now he should toughen up like she did but instead he just wants to complain. He even blames his mother for his behaviour and/or situation. Accountability is a completely foreign concept for him.
She opens her eyes with an expressionless face, the camera zooms out. We see an empty storage unit or hall whose white walls are covered in yellow or golden stars. Only a few women dressed in fashionable, mostly black and white clothes on dark purple chairs are filling the otherwise empty space. In the context of auras purple could mean pain and since it’s rather dark, the pain must be rather strong as well.
To encourage Lisa to break this toxic cycle, Rosalia tells her to “walk through the fire" to take that leap of faith and endure the pain. Because then she'll “rediscover" her path.
When she's walking on the treadmill or „taking her time" it shows that she is resilient and knows that she'll reach her goal eventually. There is no deadline pressuring her either. She also doesn't have to stress out.
That's why when she sings \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“I'm a new woman, woman" }} she moves the camera from her eye to her mouth. Repeating, emphasizing her statement, singing it into the lens so he can see her words on the screen because he won't see it otherwise.
A message on the flip phone reading „hang in there baby". The person holding it is the sender as it says clear or send at the bottom of the screen.
He's still watching.
\color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“Focus on my mind taking my time”}}
This can also be applied to her current audience who resist all assertions of independence from the group. That’s the old Lisa everyone wants back. But this old Lisa never had much control over her image, her work or even herself in that professional context.
⠀⠀⠀⠀
The camera turns upside down revealing Rosalia. It switches between them a few times. They're two very different women who have both found peace and happiness symbolized by their gorgeous surroundings.
Her lip piercing is intertwined with Lisa's earring who shifts her focus to the camera. \color{#8B0000}{\text{„I don't sing to live, I live to sing. I was born pure, yes"}}, is what Rosalia is whispering in Lisa's ear. These sound like affirmations maybe she's Lisa's inner voice or simply acting as her best friend. Since Lisa is also depicted during these lines, they apply to both of them even though it's Rosalia's verse.
Next Lisa is standing next to an open fridge while resting her head in it. This could mean that she's keeping a cool head and seeing things more rationally. The only other time the cold was depicted in the mv was the ice in the glass to show how he was rather heartless and didn't change during their relationship. But there's no love and affection left for him now. All that warmth is gone.
Rosalia is incredibly confident in who she is. She doesn't have to give anything, her presence and what she represents is enough to make people love and admire her. Hands turn on multiple lighters illuminating Rosalia who's with her back against a white wall. She blows them out.
Rosalia rejects the light they offer. It reminds me off a similar scene from a movie Monica Belluci has starred in but men offering fire to a woman has happened in multiple other films and other forms of media. It has sexual undertones and power play. Additionally, fire is a symbol for passion or love.
Now I'm not too sure whether she really suceeded in that.
Rosalia and Lisa are sitting on the trunk of a car that has broken down while the men are fighting on the street.
A shot of a woman and a man sitting at a table. Only their lower bodies are visible. The woman is seductively caressing the man's legs with her heel. She's in control. But what about him? He wants her back after all. Their power dynamic has been flipped.
Rosalisa sitting on a pile of chairs. Others are there too but they're physically below her. \color{#8B0000}{\text{„Not a single era will be a flop in my future. Bitch, l'm Rosalia, I only know how to serve".}} She is the Rosalia towering above everybody else. Though that pile looks unstable at first, she is comfortably sitting on her chair. It’s difficult to reach and stay at the top - for most people at least - but not for her.
In the next shot she's whispering in Lisa's ear.
But while I can now seperate Lisa’s group image and her as a solo artist, most people can not differentiate between those two. Or perhaps they simply don’t want to. The outrage over Lisa’s solo lightstick really proved that. It’s only natural that Lisa wants to craft a different image for herself and might even have fans that are not interested in BLACKPINK now. You have to keep in mind that the image YG gave her was imposed on her. She didn’t choose it but she chose this one. That’s why I’ll never get why people aren’t ecstatic over this. Both identities can coexist. It’s not like she doesn’t like being a BP member anymore. It’s only natural that she doesn’t like being confined to one image that she did not choose for the rest of her life.
Meanwhile Lisa sings:
You can, once again, also apply this to the real Lisa and perhaps the real Rosalia? I'm not too sure about the latter.
Now who is the sender and who is it adressed to?
\color{#CC8899}{\text{„Pain has come and gone again"}} Rosalia is sitting on the pile of chairs again. Twisting her hair. She seems unbothered and confident as opposed to Lisa who looks lost and lonely sitting in a corner.
She gets up and struts through the hall \color{#BCC6CC}{\text{“banging and and banging I wanna crack these walls, banging and banging wanna echo through the halls“}} (scroll to see complete lyrics). Here those “walls“ could refer to something keeping her locked in or an obstacle in her path that she is now breaking out of. She wants to to echo through the halls, be the “loudest in the room“, (like in LALISA). She wants the sound of her voice to proceed her, to be everywhere. She is knocking down walls with her bare hands to achieve this dream of grandeur.
She knows her path and how to get there. There's no uncertainty or anxiety.
Seductiveness has been a theme in the mv so far with the woman caressing the man's leg or in they lyrics themselves taunting their ex with a simple “you want this?" But this seduction is more of a mockery or as a way to boast as the women clearly have no intention to get back with their ex. That's why Rosalia blows out the fire. This confidence and hint of seductiveness is also reflected in the lyrics.
Back to the flower shot. Purple is again the primary color. At first Lisa is hidden by those umbrellas. The pain is overwhelming.
This chapter is a whirlwind of emotions, all those moments of weakness make the other scenes seem all the more powerful. Inner turmoil characterizes this segment. It ends with her behind a screen and a visual metaphor for sadness. It’s that moment when it’s getting late and you’re getting too drunk. She not only grieves the good parts but also the bad parts. The pain of the latter is still lingering.
Another shot of her broken reflection.
The above paragraphs were written months ago when new women just came out. Now that the album’s been released I’ve changed my opinion. “Alter ego” showcases many different sides of her. Not only did she surprise me with the sheer amount of rap skills in “FUTW” but also with songs like “Dream”. I admit that even I was not able to really see her growth as an artist before. I put her in this box and then was totally blindsided by the amount of writing credits and just how good the songs were. Prior to the 28. I thought that Ruby would easily become my favourite album without a doubt. But “Alter ego” is genuinely so good. The raspy voice in that auction scene was crazy. I think it’ll be the most replayed part of the mv solely because of me.
She calls the shots. Generally this song also sounds like something that would play during a car chase or a roadtrip. Wherever she wants to go, she will go. Other people will have to get out of her way and swerve, primarily her ex. The beat of the song is incredibly dynamic to stress this message of moving on quickly, reaching new destinations in no time.
A hand is controlling the lever again. The men are still fighting.. Not only is it representative of their lives post break-up it also shows their new dynamic. She's in control, he's struggling. Again the vacuum.
Lonely.
⠀⠀
Hands touch Lisa and mess up her face and makeup. What has left her looking so disheveled were the influences of other people. It also shows how she’s helpless against them since she cannot control other peoples‘ actions. She used to take a backseat in her own life and tolerate what other people would throw at her. That’s the version of her that stayed but the “new woman” is leaving. A man opens the blinds and watches Lisa dance in her room. He can’t even get in. He’s only able to watch her from the distance through a window.
Again, revving up means becoming more active but it also reminds me of the phrase revving up the engine, quite fitting for the incredibly dynamic beat.
She pulls up to Rosalia with a new style of makeup, a new face, bolder than during her BP days. A brand new día, a brand new day has begun for her. Perhaps she herself is a new person too.
Lisa opens the blinds herself as a way to exert control. The blinds are now on her side of the window. This time he doesn't come right back to take back control. A quick shot of the changing room and her in chains. That's all in the past now.
A few shots were repeated and then she's shown sitting on the ground in the corner in a dimly lit room.
We see her from a completely different perspective as she dances in her room. She‘s still being watched but the camera is now inside the room. Likewise Lisa has turned around as well, her back turned to the man. It zooms in on him. Whereas before we saw Lisa from the man’s perspective, the script has been flipped. She’s the one directing the camera now. She decides what to show and focus on. The tv's screen is white. When the printer tries to scan her again, she has her face turned away. Only white blank pages are lying there. So far she has woken up, decided to take action, shed her old layers, cracked the walls. A new day has begun and she knows that her love has died. So she takes back agency and control.
This time when she sings "eyes" we see her left eye, once again not directly, but this time it's clear that she is looking ather reflection. She's put a lipstick print on it. Is this perhaps about self love?
Those lyrics envoke a sense of living in the moment. I also love how she mentions the night in this scene, where the difference between light and dark is as bright as day. Rosalia represents the night which is slower and more sultry whereas Lisa is the morning and the day which is dynamic and energetic . Also there were a few adlibs singing “día" (day) at the beginning of the song.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ 1. “The morning after” ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗