Zevanya
Carrie Hall
English 1101
May 2, 2019
April and A Flower
April 28th, 1979 a flower named Patricia Lauretta Viola was born. Started off buried in the ground and slowly grew out of the soil forming a stem, a leaf, and finally a fully bloomed flower. This beautiful flower went through hurricanes, rainfalls, and landslides but it did not dismantle her. On April 10th, 2001, her very own offspring bloomed and that offspring was me, Zevanya Margareth Francien Sibarani.
“젊고 아름다운 당신의 계절
여길 봐 예쁘게 피었으니까
바닥에 떨어지더라도
꽃 길만 걷게 해 줄게요”
(you gave up your youthful and beautiful season. Look at me, I have bloomed prettily. Even if I fall to the ground, I will make you walk only on flower paths)
The song “Flower Road” was released on November 22, 2016. The song is sung by a South Korean singer and actress named Kim Sejeong. She is a former member of the girl group I.O.I and a current member of the girl group Gugudan. She is under the label of YMC Entertainment but on November 2016, she participated in Jellyfish Entertainment’s music channel and released the famous Korean ballad “Flower Road” as a soloist (Kim Se-Jeong). The song charted really well throughout seven huge Korean music sites and she also received a trophy on Show Champion ( a music show where they rank the top 5 songs released each month and award the first place a trophy). Her single “Flower Road” was released on November 2016 and was actually produced by the famous South Korean rapper, record producer, singer-songwriter Zico from the boy group BlockB (Zico (rapper)). In 2015, he appeared as a producer in Korea’s famous rap competition tv show “Show Me the Money”. Throughout the years, he’s won multiple awards such as “Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Male Artist, etc..” (Zico (rapper)). Zico was highly inspired by the letters Sejeong and Chaeyon (her former member from I.O.I) wrote to their mothers. It was known that Zico writes and gives his music to people he truly feels could make an impact and portray the emotions of the song well.
In the music video, you could only see the image of a mother as it represents Sejeong’s family background. Her parents were divorced when she was little and her mother raised both her and her older brother alone. I felt as if she was speaking for me through this song. My parents got divorced when I was younger and I’ve been raised by my mother alone too which made me feel like she could relate to how sorry I actually felt towards my mom. My mom worked day and night supporting not only me but my grandparents and her sister’s family as well. People always thought because she was the youngest child she would become the most spoiled but in reality, she’s carrying the weight of three families on her own. Which is why I am always proud to say that Patricia Lauretta Viola is my mother and there’s absolutely nothing this woman can’t do if she puts her mind to it.
The music video was composed of split screens and parallels which compares the daily routine of the singer, Kim Sejeong, during the past and the present. In one scene, the screen on the left showed Sejeong tucking herself into bed while the opposite screen showed a woman or a mother tucking a little girl (younger Sejeong). The soft and warm colors deeply reflected the presence of the mother even though the mother’s face was not seen throughout the music video. As you can see, the left screen has a brighter color palette compared to the right side. I personally think the warmer colors represented the feeling of being safe and calm as she was still under her mother’s wing. The brighter colors seem to portray a sense of growth and independence but still filled with the feeling of calmness as blue is known to be a calming color.
Nearing towards the end of the music video, the mother was holding onto the little girl’s bike and eventually lets go as she rides the bike on her own. I believe this was to show the mother letting go of her daughter so she can grow, shine and make her own path. I was personally really touched by this scene because it reminded me of when I gave my mom the last hug before I left for my flight to New York. The words she said to me was, “I have raised you well. You are brave, smart and wise. Always remember no matter how far or long we’re apart I will always love and support you. You keep me going and I’m beyond blessed. God gave me the best gift I could ever ask for so remember if you miss me, I’m always a call away.”
At the end of the music video, Sejeong was holding an umbrella and reaching her hand out to check if it was still raining. The sun was shining and it was probably the brightest filter in the entire music video. I think this was to symbolize that even though the rainy days the sun will come out and things will get better no matter how hard it gets.
As I mentioned earlier, Sejeong received a trophy from Show Champion which showed how well the song was doing. After she received the trophy, she gave a short speech while crying and thanked Zico, the staff, her fans and last but not least her mother and grandfather. Her eyes watered even more when she mentioned her mother and I couldn’t help but cry along with her because I was able to feel her sincerity. Seeing a very beautiful and strong woman openly talk about her family and her love for her mother makes me so happy. Her voice suited the song very well and when watching her live performance you can tell that she meant every word. It wasn’t just a typical ballad song about a breakup, it was a song about a mother’s love and her child promising a brighter future for her mother.
Patricia Lauretta Viola is my motivation and my flower. She gives me hope and she helps me persevere. I believe that’s how Kim Sejeong feels whenever she thinks about her mother. She feels gratitude yet her heart aches knowing she will never be able to fully give back the love and support she received. She cries on television shows when hosts ask, “what does your mother mean to you?” She never fails to thank her mother for every achievement, may it be huge or small. To the woman who went through nine risky months to give birth to me, the woman who sacrificed her youth just so I can have an amazing childhood and never experience poverty and lastly the only woman who made me feel beautiful and loved, I promise to only let you walk on a flower path when I get older.
Works Cited:
Jacob, Ryan. “Sejeong’s ‘Flower Path’ Is a Much-Needed Healing Song This Season.” Seoulbeats, 30 July 2017, seoulbeats.com/2016/11/sejeongs-flower-path-is-a-much-needed-healing-song-this-season/.
“Zico (Rapper).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zico_(rapper).
“Kim Se-Jeong.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Se-jeong.
Footnotes: All lyric quotes are from “Jacob, Ryan. “Sejeong’s ‘Flower Path’ ”
