Korean girl group Crayon Pop released their cute and silly music video called “Bar Bar Bar.” The video released two months ago but it continues to show a global rise to popularity, gaining the attention of South Korean news outlets and having articles written by ABC News and Billboard. There was a global version of the viral video released last week.
Many Korean music groups, male and female, tend to debut with a sexy or cute concept. However, Crayon Pop breaks away from those concepts and go for a quirky style, wearing helmets, polo shirts and pants combined with a miniskirt. The video shows them dancing on a carnival ride and the setting matches with the song and dance moves. Their cute, playful expressions add to the silliness of the video.
Within two months the official video has more than 5 million views, which is an amazing achievement for a rookie group from a small music company. Most Korean music groups don’t receive those views until after a year unless they’re part of a big Korean industry.
What makes “Bar Bar Bar” viral on YouTube? Aside from the music video, the song is very catchy and viewers find themselves singing along to the few English phrases in the chorus. It’s simple and repetitive, which pulls people in and gets them jumping. The lyrics even say “jumping (yeah), jumping (yeah) everybody” and “I don’t want to stick at home now.” The English doesn’t make a lot of sense but it’s catchy either way. The dance is addictive and has attracted police officers and American soldiers to record themselves dancing along to it. It’s a simple song with an easy-to-follow choregraphy. Jumping in a zigzag form, the fans call the dance move the “five cylinder engine dance.”
I admit I didn’t like the song at first but after listening to it a few times it got stuck in my head. If Psy’s “Gangnam Style” got stuck in your head last year, “Bar Bar Bar” might do the same. It already has people jumping and dancing along with it. I still recommend watching the music video even if you don’t understand it. Don’t be afraid to listen to something foreign, just have fun with it like Crayon Pop.
Also, if you ever wanted to know how Crayon Pop’s fanboys sound when they cheer for them I recommend watching one of their live versions. It’s quite entertaining to hear deep voices compared to Crayon Pop’s high-pitched voices.