Enveloped by this Rainie Love... (Rewind Review)

All thoughts and opinions regarding the song, singer and music video are all my own and no one else's. If you don't like what I have to say, then simple: DON'T READ IT!

After reviewing Michael Wong's Tong Hua, I was in the mood to listen to another Chinese song that I like a lot and, once upon a time, listened to on a constant loop. There are times where I will listen to it again, but with songs like Tong Hua and the one that I will be looking at today, you really need to be in the right mood.

... Well, I'm in the right mood, so let's take a look at Yu Ai by Rainie Yang, shall we?

Yu Ai, or Rainie Love, is from Rainie Yang's fifth Mandarin studio album, and was released on January 1st 2010. Within the album there are a few insert songs that are featured in the drama Hi My Sweetheart which Rainie starred in alongside Show Luo, a man who I am sure you all know I pine after. Yu Ai just so happens to be one of those songs from Hi My Sweetheart, being the ending theme of the drama and all.

And that is basically how I found out about this song. I genuinely enjoyed Hi My Sweetheart despite never finishing it (Why? WHY DID I STOP?), and I liked all of the songs that were a part of the drama, so of course I went ahead and found out more about the song that was playing that I liked, and that eventually lead me to the PV for Yu Ai, and really, it is quite sad... or at least it is to me. I enjoy it, and looking at Tong Hua really made me want to revisit this video because of how beautifully saddening I find it... however beautiful something sad can be, that is.

So, chit-chat out of the way, let's take a look at the beauty of Rainie Yang's Yu Ai, also known as Rainie Love...

Who woulda thunk it, rain, in a PV about... well, er, rain.

You know, I usually hang my washing out to dry on a washing line, but hey... I'm all for conserving water this way, too!

Wait... what? No, Rainie, no!!! Don't do a Britney Everytime on me!

I already watched you die in Ai Mei, don't go dying on me here either!

I feel like there should be a fish swimming in that little bag of rainwater...

Okay, no wonder you went under the water, you fell asleep! Didn't anyone ever tell you that going to sleep in a bath is pretty darned dangerous, girl?

... I wouldn't be caught dead walking outside in those kind of heels for fear of impaling someone#s foot, let alone outside in the RAIN!!!

Also; D'AWWWW!!!! Young love <3

Rainie: "Gehehehehe... I got his wallet...~"

And again... D'AWWWWW!!!! <3

Oh look, decent footwear, and just perfect for the rainy weather! YAY!

Awww, why thank you! No idea what kind of flower they are, but thanks anyway!

Rainie: "zzzzz..."

Oh, do they smell sweet, Rainie? Maybe I'll like these flowers, then...

I swear, Rainie seems to fall asleep everywhere in this video. The bath, smelling the flowers, in bed...

I have a feeling that if I were to go and collect rain water here in England, not only would I get a lot, but I would also be given plenty of funny looks from passers by because it would look like I was a bit of a nutter...

Rainie: "zzz...."

This is basically me when I have to listen to One Two Three. Rocking back and forth, slowly... wanting to kill it with fire... lots and lots of fire...

Is it not a bit perverse to draw one in one's sleep? Looky here, I'm using fancy words and wording

Also, I want that house. There is something about glass that is appealing... though also pretty damn inconvenient for things like baths and, er, bedroom activities...

Now, if you could see this screen cap clearly, which we can't because this PV is available in the gloriously high format of 480p, then you would notice that she is actually crying.

... Yeah, I know. All of those sad emotions are starting to kick in... damnit!

I actually do this in the rain sometimes because it's just so damn refreshing, ya know?

Rainie... what did he do to you?

... That is a heck of a lot of water o-O This girl gets thirsty...

Or she just really likes water.

Okay, I love her hair like that, and I love her dress.

NOM! Cake <3

Holy heck, what did that guy do to you Rainie!? If he broke up with you, then I will go and break his legs for him! -shakes fist angrily-

Happy memories mixed with sadness does not generally work out, especially if the object of that happiness is also the object of your sadness... ;______;

The feels, guys... this scene really makes me sad because Rainie looks so damn heartbroken and like she just wants to give up...

Wait, Rainie...? No, not the water... NOT THE RAIN WATER!!!

Ensue one passionate scene where she's just like 'FUCK THE WATER!!!'

Rainie... ;_______;

Oh wait, she's putting more rain water in glasses? Okay...

This girl has some weird ways to get over a breakup...

I just noticed that there is a lot of white... I'm guessing that this signifies happier times, and the dark toned clothes she wears are meant to express the pain she is suffering?

Rainie, sweety... there are plenty more fish in the sea, you know?

... Okay, so you're just going to hug your little jar of water? Alright...

I do love Rainie's hair like this, it's so gorgeous. Then again, Rainie is a gorgeous human being anyway.

I actually want to do this to my own Umbrella one day, but first I need to buy one...

"I believe that I will see the beauty of the Rainbow..." (English translation from the song itself)

Wait... aren't those the headphones that Rainie wears in this music video? Also, that field...

The Anniversary of him leaving you, Rainie?

Wait... what?

What? What's happening? Rainie?

... Oh shit. I know what's going on...

... NO!!!! No no no no no ;______; Rainie... he... he didn't break up with you, did he? He...

... Oh shit, I just realised something; Rainie is wearing pearls (I hate this dress by the way, that shoulder...) and my mother had always told me to 'never wear pearls on my wedding day, because they symbolise sorrow and tears'.

... Rainie is crying, and she is in sorrow. How did I not see this!?

Rainie: "I walked forward on this path beside now, and now I walk back without you by my side..."

I actually also picked up on how they were walking together one way, and only Rainie walking back when re-watching this as well. It's weird what you pick up on when after you decide to watch something after so long, you know?

... Ho--- I mean my good Lor--...

He died... I, er... well, when I originally watched this I actually did not see that one coming...

And guess what? That's the spot where he was standing with the headphones, and those are the flowers he liked... This PV sure does like foreshadowing and making things relevant...

Rainie: "If I'm not at home, then I am in the rain..."

Much like Michael Wong's Tong Hua, it has been a while since I last looked at this song, but after going back to Tong Hua I really felt the strong desire to review Yu Ai and to just listen to it to just experience the song all over again, and I realised that I really missed listening to this beautiful piece of music by Rainie Yang. There was a time where I could not stop listening to it, and now here I am wishing that I had listened to it more.

For me Yu Ai, or Rainie Love, is an absolutely beautiful song that represents the loss of a loved one well in both the video and the song. The song itself translates to a story about a person who has lost their loved one, and finds that the only way they can cope is by being in the rain. The rain for them is a source of comfort and a source of courage because it blurs everything, and the rain cries with them through their pain. The person who has lost their loved one does not want to see anything clearly, which is why they prefer the rain, because rain is not clear, and so they hope that the rain will continue because it is the rain that gives them the courage to go on whilst other days when it is not raining, they give up and retreat away, not wanting to face their reality that their loved one has gone.

I only just started to read the English lyrics now, however I have looked at them in the past too, but now that I know the meaning of the lyrics, the video is so much more understandable; there are times where you see her inside, when it's a clear day, and she is basically retreating to the indoors so that she doesn't have to face the reality that her lover has gone. Every time she is inside, there is something that she remembers - a happier time - and she becomes sad. Every time she is in the rain though, we mostly see her collecting rain. We do see some memories, but not once do we see her break down and cry or lose control of her emotions when she is outside in the rain; it is only ever in the house where she feels the most pain. I never realised until now that the lyrics were so closely connected to the video, but I am happy that I actually decided to take a look into the lyrics and what they meant, because it helps me to understand everything a lot better.

So the video itself; as I said in the pic spam, when I first watched this video I actually thought that the boyfriend had left her before it came to light that he had actually died, and that their day in the rain indicated the day that he had told her about what was wrong with him. When I finished the video, I think that I cried. I was not ready for the grave to appear, I had prepared myself for a scene where it showed she had left him, but instead we see that he is no longer around... and that made me really sad, and I felt terrible for thinking that her pain had been caused by a breakup. But, looking back now, I think that this was what made me like the PV more; the fact that it lead me to believe something else, and it turned into something totally different. I had expected one thing, but it turned out to be something else, and so I felt double the emotion because it was unexpected and worse than what I had imagined.

There are also other things that I never noticed when I first watched this that I picked up on after watching the video for the purpose of this review, such as the pearls on her dress. Of course I had always known that the pearls were there, but it wasn't until a certain scene popped up that I remembered that my mother had told me that pearls represented sorrow, and after researching, I have also found out that pearls are seen as tears as well. Seeing her wear the pearls on that dress makes a lot more sense to me now as a viewer, because at one point I probably thought that the dress was not needed, especially that horrible giant shoulder, but now I see that they are there to represent her sorrow. Also, the scene with the rainbow; there is a part of the lyrics that talk about how the person suffering believes they will see the beauty of the rainbow after the rain has fallen, and there is a scene that shows Rainie's lover in a field wearing headphones. Later on, we see the field again, but instead of the lover standing there, there is a wooden grave. I believe that that part represents her coming to terms with what has happened, and she finally goes to see him even though it isn't raining, essentially meaning that she has seen the beauty of the rainbow now that her sorrow has passed and she has moved on and accepted that this is how her life is now.

I think that the video fits the video perfectly now that I have a better understanding of it all; Yu Ai shows the sadness and the struggle of someone who has lost a loved one, and how they find comfort in the rain because they feel that it represents their emotions better than any other weather pattern. Rainie's performance here is also beautiful, her expressions and the way she portrays her character is received well when I watch the video. If she cries, I feel like crying, and when she looks happy I can't help but feel happy as well, and I think that that helps the video and makes it great. It makes it more personal, and you really feel like Rainie is suffering in the scenes where she looks like she is at a loss with what to do.

It is a sad video, one which was beautifully structured and shot. I think that whoever directed this did an amazing job, because the emotions were portrayed beautifully, and the end of the video shocked me with what really happened between Rainie and her lover. I love that it's misleading in a way, and I love that it shows the struggle of a woman in love who has lost her lover and can only find comfort in the rain. It express sadness and anger perfectly, and how happy memories can be the cause of our sadness when the one who brought us happiness has gone. It's a great video, one that was done well and one that I will continue to love no matter how old it is, or how little I listen to it.



I hope that the rain will continue to pour
this secret of my rainy love
will last forever
I believe that I will
see the beauty of the rainbow...

Chiima~

PING!!! Idolminded Recommended Reading: April 24th, 2013