'殘火' is up on a sign before it's ever sung: N.Flying's 'Still'

This is the music video for 'Still', the title track of 'Still', the ninth mini album N.Flying released on October 8. The song's Korean title is '잔불', meaning embers. The Bugs album notes describe it as a rock song that stands out for its weighty rhythm section and lyrical guitar riff, and say it started from a real conversation between members Lee Seung Hyub and Seo Dong Sung. The music video, they add, tells the story of members who had each been guarding a seemingly dying ember alone, coming back together to become one big flame. We split the sound in the video by instrument, measured it in 0.1-second steps and lined it up with the picture: again and again, the moment the drums and bass drop out or come back lands on the moment the scene changes. The song in the video is the same recording as the official audio on YouTube (3:07), but the video carries a little over 30 seconds at the end that the audio doesn't have. Times follow the official music video (3:42).

0:47 · The drums stop for 1.1 seconds before the chorus

Right before the first chorus, the drums stop from 0:47.9 to 0:49.0. In that gap, black-and-white film frames slide past, holding a face lying down and the lights of a tunnel. The drums come back with the chorus's first word, '아직도' (still), and at 0:49.7, in a room washed in warm light, the drummer in a white cap raises the sticks high. Now it's the singing's turn to rest. After '아직도', the vocals go quiet for 1.4 seconds from 0:49.8, and '내 맘속' (in my heart) only follows once all five members share one frame at 0:51.0. Before the second chorus, at 1:43.1, the drums stop for the same 1.1 seconds. This time the picture is the face of a member in a suit in a blue tunnel, tilted up toward the ceiling.

1:24 · '殘火' on the signs of a night street

Just after the first line of the second verse, '가여운 내가 서 있죠' (here I stand, pitiful), begins, a shopfront on a green-tinged night street appears at 1:24.4. The vertical sign and the horizontal one, which also carries a drawing of a teacup, both read '殘火'. 殘 means 'to remain' and 火 means 'fire', so taken literally it says 'the fire that remains', which is the song's Korean title, '잔불'. In the lyrics, though, the word '잔불' isn't heard until around 2:50, when the song is nearly over. It looks as if the picture hangs the title up on a sign more than a minute ahead.

2:19 · 7.4 seconds without drums or bass

Going into the bridge, the bass cuts out at 2:18.9 and the drums fade away by 2:19.5. From there until 2:26.8, the only sounds left are the voice and the guitar. The lyrics at this point are '우린 분명 알고 있어 / 서로의 욕심인 걸 / 찬바람에도 꺼지지 않고' (we both know it for sure / that it's what we each long for / not going out even in the cold wind). On screen, a figure running down an orange-lit tunnel is covered over by black-and-white blotches and disappears, and at 2:19.4 a member standing still in a blue tunnel looks up. At 2:21.5, four members stand in the middle of the tunnel, with the drummer seated behind the drum kit between them. Even so, no drums can be heard. At 2:26.7 the picture moves onto a bridge, and the drums come back at 2:26.9 with '이리저리 흔들리면서' (swaying this way and that), followed by the bass at 2:27.1. Right then, a shot from high above shows the members and the drum kit in the middle of the bridge.

2:35 · Where 'my eyes' become 'that sky'

This song changes its words little by little in the same places. The first line before the chorus is '전부 쏟아 내요' (I pour it all out) at 0:39 in the first verse, and becomes '솔직히 말할게요' (I'll be honest with you) at 1:34 in the second. '눈시울이 붉은 건 / 그리움이야' (the reason my eyes are red / is longing), which closed the chorus at 1:06 and 2:01, comes back after the bridge at 2:35 as '저 하늘이 붉은 건 / 오늘이야' (the reason that sky is red / is today). Yet when this line arrives, the sky above the bridge is still blue. A red sky only shows up around 3:07, after the song has completely ended, in a shot of the sun resting on a mountain ridge. When the second '그리움이야' (it's longing) comes at 2:05, the members are laughing together inside a frame faded almost to white.

2:47 · '잔불' only in the last four lines

Of the lyrics' 54 lines, '잔불' appears only at the very end, where '평생을 지킨 나는 / 잔불이야' (I, who held on all my life, / am the embers) is sung twice. After the first '평생을 지킨 나는', the vocals go quiet for 1.6 seconds from 2:47.1, and then the first '잔불이야' follows. From 2:48.8, a member in a striped suit sings on the bridge, gripping the mic stand. The second '잔불이야' comes around 3:01. At 3:03.0 the drums, bass and guitar cut out all at once, leaving the voice alone for about 0.7 seconds. At 3:04.2 the picture switches to a view from high above a long bridge with a ring-shaped tower.

3:07 · After 6.7 seconds of silence, once more without the voice

Once the song fades, there's no sound at all for 6.7 seconds, from 3:07.1 to 3:13.8. Meanwhile, a sky with the sun hanging over mist on the water and the bridge with the ring-shaped tower come into view, and then the screen goes black. The guitar that comes back at 3:13.9 is the same part that played in the 2:19 bridge when the drums and bass dropped out. This time it plays without the voice, and the drums come in at 3:21.9 and the bass at 3:22.1. That's exactly 55.0 seconds after 2:26.9 and 2:27.1, where they came back inside the song: the same spot. On screen, the forest-road scenes that flickered past in a blur at 1:36 and 2:00 now unfold clearly, in the same clothes. The end credits pass over the backs of the members as they go down the road half running, arms around one another's shoulders. It's an ending that exists only in the music video, not in the official audio. Apple Music

The Bugs credits list Lee Seung Hyub (J.DON) and Han Seong Ho for the lyrics; Lee Seung Hyub (J.DON), Han Seong Ho, Rapid, Kim Ji-hyeong (김지형) and Adam Seuba for the music; and Rapid and Kim Ji-hyeong for the arrangement. The album notes say Lee Seung Hyub took part in writing the lyrics and music for all seven songs. The music video's end credits list director HOBIN (A HOBIN FILM), along with separate credits for the drone filming and the lighting drones. Earlier N.Flying songs, from 'Rooftop' to 'Our Ending', are in our N.Flying starter guide, and the story of the pre-release song 'Our Ending' is in the NONOL PICK on September 30.