The Bittersweet Beauty of Youth Through 5 K-POP Music Videos

Youth has long been one of K-POP's most recurring themes. From the excitement of first love and afternoons spent with friends to the uncertainty of growing up, artists have approached what it means to be young in vastly different ways. As the generations have evolved, many idols, being teenagers themselves, have also expressed their stories of youth and growing up in a lot of their music.

Music videos in particular have played an important role in bringing those feelings to life. Some portray youth as something carefree and seemingly endless, while others look back on it as a period that only becomes more precious once it has passed.

With summer nearing its end and a new season approaching, K-POPIT looks back at five K-POP music videos that capture the different sides of youth.

1. GFRIEND — "Rough" (2016)

Released in January 2016, GFRIEND's "Rough" captures the uncertainty and yearning that often come with adolescence. Set largely against a school backdrop, the music video follows the members through classrooms, hallways and quiet winter landscapes, creating a feeling of being suspended somewhere between childhood and what comes next.

Rather than portraying school days as purely carefree, "Rough" focuses on longing. Recurring motifs of clocks, photographs and imagery that references time, reinforces the feeling that these moments cannot last forever. Nearly a decade after its release, that sense of nostalgia has only become stronger, making "Rough" a fitting portrayal of the bittersweet side of growing up.

2. IU — "eight" (2020)

Where "Rough" depicts youth while still seemingly caught within it, IU's "eight," featuring and produced by BTS' SUGA, approaches it from the other side.

The music video moves between reality and a dreamlike animated world as IU revisits memories and experiences that can no longer exist in the same way. There is warmth in those memories, but also an understanding that time continues to move forward regardless of whether we are ready for it.

The lyrics of the track also reflect these feelings as they look back on happier moments while acknowledging the distance that now exists within the past and present.The song's idea of being "forever young" becomes less about refusing to grow older and more about preserving the people and moments that shaped us which is a feeling that can resonate even beyond IU's own experiences.

Growing older often means friendships change, people leave and places that once felt familiar begin to look different. Even the person we were a few years ago can eventually feel distant. In that sense, "eight" captures the complicated experience of looking back at youth and realizing that certain people, moments and former versions of ourselves may only continue to exist through memory.

3. TXT — "0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)" (2021)

TXT's "0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)" featuring Seori presents a much messier and more turbulent version of youth in which everything feels heightened.

Its music video follows the members as they escape the restrictions of home and spend time together, driving, swimming and causing trouble along the way. However, beneath those moments of freedom is frustration, loneliness and a desperate desire to find something meaningful amid the confusion.

The lyrics amplify that emotional intensity as they depict one surrounded by a world in which nothing seems to matter, before finding the one person who suddenly gives everything meaning. That is when love becomes something to cling to when the rest of life feels uncertain, with the song capturing the almost all-or-nothing way emotions can be experienced when young.

That desperation is part of what makes the song and music video relatable as growing up can mean feeling misunderstood or uncertain about where the future might lead. In those moments, friendships, first loves and even brief escapes with the people around you can feel like the most important things in the world. Rather than romanticizing youth as entirely carefree, the music video captures how confusing and overwhelming it can be to figure out who you are and where you belong.

4. Weeekly — "After School" (2021)

Not every memory of youth needs to involve heartbreak or uncertainty. Weeekly's "After School" is perhaps the most carefree depiction of youth on this list as it captures that simplicity through skateboards, smartphones, colorful surroundings and friends spending an afternoon together.

Rather than relying on a dramatic storyline, the music video finds its charm in the everyday freedom that comes after finishing school for the day. Moreover, the lyrics carry that same sense of excitement, centering on the anticipation of meeting up once school is over.

There are no major declarations or life-changing events at the center of the song, instead, "After School" celebrates the small routines that can feel like the most important part of the day when you're young: making plans with friends, rushing to meet them and wanting the afternoon to last just a little longer.

5. NewJeans — "Ditto" (2022)

Few recent K-POP music videos have captured the relationship between youth and memory quite like NewJeans' "Ditto."

Told largely through the perspective of a schoolgirl filming the members with a camcorder, the two-part music video presents school days, friendship and young attraction through grainy footage that already feels like a memory while it is happening.

There is an intimacy to the ordinary moments captured on camera: walking through school corridors, spending time with friends and simply existing together. Yet as the story unfolds, the line between memory and reality becomes increasingly uncertain and the lyrics carry a similar sense of longing as at its core.

"Ditto" revolves around wanting feelings to be reciprocated and waiting for someone else to take a step closer. Paired with the music video's nostalgic imagery, those emotions make it easy to relate to even for those far removed from their own school days. Thus that ambiguity is what makes "Ditto" such a fitting conclusion.

Youth rarely announces when it is ending. Often, it is only much later, when looking through an old photograph or video, that an ordinary moment becomes something worth longing for.

From the uncertainty and longing of GFRIEND's "Rough" to the carefree afternoons of Weeekly's "After School" and the hazy memories captured in NewJeans' "Ditto," each of these music videos presents a different version of what it means to be young. Youth can be exciting and freeing, but it can also be confusing, frustrating and bittersweet. Often, it is the most ordinary moments that end up carrying the most meaning once enough time has passed.

Perhaps that is why K-POP continues to return to youth as a source of inspiration. Growing up is an experience everyone encounters differently, yet the desire to hold onto certain people, places and moments is almost universal. Youth itself may be temporary, but through music videos, pieces of it can remain exactly as they were, ready to be revisited long after we have moved on.