I've always thought there are only 4 91 songs which are the most true, sincere without all that pretentious bullshit: Mooz, Yeski Taspa Bïi, Boyman, and Why'm.
And you know what, they've got another one, and it is Bäri Biled i.e. Everybody Knows.
Even while first listening to the song, I knew they're touching all those important subjects which are usually omitted or ignored in KZ media. My initial reaction then was a rather pleasant surprise.
But upon watching the MV, I was absolutely blown away by how much they're actually touching upon. The visual imagery is nothing short of heartbreaking. War, death, pollution, suicide, domestic feuds and its effect on children, absence of freedom of speech - it's all there.
It's not crude, not entirely all in your face, it's subtle yet obvious, delicate with a touch of sadness.
They show all this in those white set boxes, and cinematically, it's all in one long cut with excellent camera work which gives a nice feeling of continuity, connectivity of different issues represented. And I don't care that camera movements in the scenes with Bala reminded you DNA by BTS. It doesn't matter, look at the message, it's even written all over the place for you to read, all in English - the most spoken language in the world because it is important for everybody to see and understand.
"They can think they can light up the ashes again" in the scene addressing pollution. "Delivery is more valuable than information itself" and "Nothing worse than rotten knowledge" with the footage of the armed conflicts on the TVs in the background, and the latter is a direct quote from Boyman, if I'm not mistaken.
"I am the main character of my life and I choose the genre" in the scene with Alem among those nooses of ropes with flowers that Alem is later unknotting and it is so simple, yet powerful and heart-wrenching. Did you know that Kazakhstan is number 7 in the list of countries by suicide rates? And the 2nd and the 1st worldwide for suicide rates among teenage boys and girls respectively? I didn't until recently. And most people don't, because nobody talks about it.
Pollution and its consequences are another thing that average KZ citizen is utterly unaware about. People don't know or don't understand eco-activism, everyone is too preoccupied with their daily problems, and I am very glad that 91 is shedding light on the issue at least for their rather young audience.
And listen to the words, listen to what they're singing:
"Everybody knows, everybody knows what is needed, but nobody does anything. Love is upset saying 'no one is searching for me'."
ZAQ's part is probably the most encompassing:
"Sometimes I think why do we need those guns and weapons? We've managed to reach the time when people fear people. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Those are deafs in the world of mutes. They ask "What is the point of freedom?" as they've never tasted it on their lips."
And this last sentence though, it's just hitting in the bull's eye because there is no true freedom of speech in Kazakhstan, and I'm sending huge kudos for such a subtle but deliberate nod that I did not expect to get from 91 tbh.
It all concludes with the most important message of them all: "Everyone is blaming everyone else, everyone is divided, but 7 billion is one whole nation."
And it is so simple, yet so true and profound. It's not even about this big but so small country of only 18 million people, it's about everyone else too, it's about humanity and the whole world. After all, everyone is interconnected by their sheer existence in the same unique and beautiful place that is the planet Earth.
The message is sealed by the footage of atomic mushrooms, burning forests, bombings, dumping fields, people beaten by police forces, dying fish and birds, eco rallies and finally by one simple sentence: "We are the world."
Go watch it, if you haven't. Listen to it, read the lyrics. I don't care that it's a very mainstream song with that trendy tropical beat, that there isn't much weight to it musically.
The message is far more important.
Go find it, open your eyes and just listen.
