When someone asks", "What's in the playground," you'll have a "carousel" in your answer. A beautifully crafted Trojan horse that spins gracefully in melodious music and twinkling lights will naturally be unquestionably synonymous with opulence and joy.
However, in Dada's new single,"The Carousel," they present a different side of the game — what would you think if you walked into a closed playground on a silent winter day and stood in front of this huge, quiet facility?
Unlike the first two works, "The Carousel" is like a short and beautiful prose poem, and Dada uses abstract words and whispering light notes to portray their sensitive and delicate inner world.
"Birds that are sometimes together and sometimes separated", "Expired calendars that are wet by rain and turned into mud", Dada is not in a hurry to get straight to the theme, but builds scenes in the listener's mind with imagery at the beginning of the song. These seemingly unrelated things point to the same themes—the helplessness of time-bounds and the impermanence of gathering and separating.
An inexplicable whistle crossed his ears, and The sound of Pentan whispering "round, round..." sounded like a distant echo from the depths of his heart. The soft voice and clear breath are as usual, but they spread out a sadness and loneliness that is difficult to sustain.
The view continues forward, finally reaching the playground in the song. It loses its vitality in the winter gloom, "burning the grass in the countryside and filled with enchanting smoke". There are no noisy crowds, no lighting and music, standing in front of the empty carousel at this moment, I think you will feel the loss after the joy like them.
Perhaps the charm of the carousel is that within a few minutes of sitting on it, you can temporarily forget the worries outside the game and enjoy an overflowing, pure pleasure. However, when the music stops and walks off the wheel, the players will suddenly find that everything in reality has not changed; "before, today, tomorrow", life is still slowly passing in the same way.
"The game is over, the crowd is gone", and the rules in the playground seem to be everywhere in the course of life - accidental encounter, acquaintance, and finally goodbye to each other, "Guangsha ten million people left alone". The carousel at this time is a symbol of magnificence and withering, and a contradiction between joy and sorrow.
Large sections of guitar riffs, pulled by a whistle, emit a long lingering sound, like the cold wind in winter, blowing through it to make a slight whistle, rolling up a small whirlpool on the ground. Peng Tan and Wei Fei's voices rose and fell, repeatedly chanting "merry go round", a firm voice like pouring out, as if to break the spell of "the song is finally scattered"; a gentle like a whisper, with the relief after seeing the world.
Almost unexpectedly, Dada didn't set the MV in the playground, but in a room. Eliminating a large number of images and elements, choosing a one-shot shot, they continue to extend the emotions in the song in the simplest way. The carousel is also no longer a sprawling ride, but a humble decoration, witnessing all the stories that happen in this room in the corner.
But Dada doesn't deliberately tell a specific story, they just record fragments of life through a direct perspective. Someone came first, someone left later, and in the end there was only one person left in the room. The simple narrative tells an often overlooked fact that no matter what kind of relationship you are in, separation will eventually come. And the countless repetitions of getting together and leaving in life are like the carousel in the corner, looping in circles and not sleeping.
Looking at the same thing at different times in life may have a different state of mind. But whether it is a joyful mood or a sad thought, it is reasonable and precious because of the memories it carries.
"The Carousel" is like a prose poem written by Dada, it is not limited to a story or a truth, as long as you feel your emotions in it and let it roam for a while, it is enough.
After releasing four consecutive singles, the Dada band is about to embark on their first official tour, "See You Again".
Dada Band "See You Again" Tour · Station Information
November 3, Kunming MODERN SKYLAB
November 5, Guangzhou Tai Space November 12 Nanjing Daoxiang Music Space
On November 7, Xiamen Star Nest Walker Show
November 10 The Land of Excitement in Jinan
November 12, Nanjing Daoxiang Music Space
Shanghai MODERN SKY LAB on November 13
On November 19th, Hall 1, Zhenghuo Art Center, Fanmu Creative Art District, Chengdu
November 20th Wuhan no later IN TIME LIVE