"Helicopter" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group

CLC CLC may refer to: Religion * Christian Life Centre, a number of individual and networked Pentecostal churches in Australia * Christian Life Community, an international association of lay Christians * Church of the Lutheran Confession, an American ...

. It was released by

Cube Entertainment Cube Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean entertainment company. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. Cube are known for h ...

and distributed by

Kakao M Kakao M (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It is currently one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company op ...

on September 2, 2020. An English version of the song was released on the same day. This is the group's final song as a seven-member group overall, following member departures from Cube between 2020 and 2021, and subsequent hiatus starting June 2022. The song is produced by

Hyuk Shin Hyuk Shin (Hangul: 신혁; born June 5, 1985) is a South Korean record producer and singer-songwriter. His team, A-Rex, created the song "One Less Lonely Girl" for Justin Bieber in 2009. He has worked with many major artists in K-pop, including ...

of 153/Joombas Music Group, who has worked on albums with

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

and

Exo Exo ( ko, 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...

; Melanie Joy Fontana, who has co-written songs for artists such as f(x),

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-pr ...

Twice Twice (; Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn: ''To~uwaisu''; commonly stylized as TWICE) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaey ...

and

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

; Michel “Lindgren” Schulz; and Jisoo Park, also of 153/Joombas. The song is written by Cho Yoo-kyung, CLC's

Jang Ye-eun Jang Ye-eun (; born August 10, 1998), better known as Yeeun, is a South Korean singer and rapper signed to Superbell Company. She was best known as the main rapper of the South Korean girl group, CLC (group), CLC. She was the longest-running ho ...

, and BreadBeat with Melanie Joy Fontana credited on the English version of the song. The song is told to be a telling of “the story of CLC” and their “autobiographical era”. “Helicopter” is described as a song whose central theme is “curiosity about the future”. It serves as a metaphor for the group taking off anew with confidence, ready to take on any obstacles that they may encounter. In this song, CLC express the trials and tribulations they've faced in the music industry and their determination to succeed. The song is a

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

pop and

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

Powerhouse song with an addictive chorus completely in English. An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Jang Jaehyeok and Lee Kyeongsoon of BIBBIDI BOBBIDI BOO and uploaded onto CLC's official YouTube channel simultaneously at the time of release. Commercially, the song debuted at number 4 on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart. It also peaked at number 6 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' US

World Digital Songs The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific ...

chart and number 87 on the ''Billboard''

K-pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by ''Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multime ...

chart. On November 6, 2020, the lyric video for the Chinese version of the song was released on CLC's

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized bilibili), nicknamed B Site, is a video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view and add overlaid commentary on videos. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its origi ...

account.

Background and release

On August 13, 2020, it was reported that the group will return in early September, almost a year after since "

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" was released in September 2019. It was also revealed that the music video for the song was already filmed. On August 26, in a TV appearance on ''

Weekly Idol ''Weekly Idol'' is a South Korean variety show that began in 2011 and currently airs Wednesdays at 7:30 PM KST on MBC M, and 12:00 AM KST on MBC Every1. It is one of the longest-running variety shows to air on satellite TV in Japan. The sho ...

'', the group performed a snippet from the song.

Commercial performance

On September 4, it was reported that the song topped the iTunes Top Songs chart in 10 regions, including New Zealand, Mongolia, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Estonia, Chile, and Cambodia, and placed fourth on the Worldwide Chart. Six days later, the song topped the chart in the eleventh region, Hong Kong. On September 10, it was reported that the group sold 12,834 physical copies in its first week—a figure over 3.5 times higher than CLC's previous first-week sales record of 3,574 (set by their EP ''No.1'', which they released in January 2019). The song failed to enter the Gaon Digital Chart, but debuted at number 116 on the Gaon Download Chart, for the week ending September 5, 2020. The song debuted at number 4 on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart alongside commercial hits such as “

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” by

, “

Blinding Lights "Blinding Lights" is a song by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on November 29, 2019, through XO and Republic Records, as the second single from his fourth studio album, '' After Hours'' (2020). The song was written and produced by ...

” by

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

, “

WAP WAP or Wap may refer to: Music * "WAP" (song), a 2020 song by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion Organizations * Weatherization Assistance Program, for US energy costs * Western Australia Party, a political party founded in 2016 * Western A ...

" by

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

, and “

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” by

Blackpink Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album ''Square ...

. The song peaked at number 6 on the US World Digital Song Sales, for the week ending September 12, becoming their sixth Top 10 single on the chart and third Top 10 in 2020, after " Me" and "Devil". It also peaked at number 87 on the K-pop Hot 100 for the week ending September 26, their first entry on the chart.

Music and lyrics

The song is composed in the key of

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, with 155

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, and a running time of 3:45 minutes. “Helicopter” is a

pop

Powerhouse song with an addictive hook that is completely in English. The song plays on the themes of curiosity and adventure by telling listeners to “fly even higher than before” on a metaphorical helicopter.

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Helicopter" was uploaded on CLC's official YouTube channel on September 2, 2020, at 6:00 pm KST. It was later uploaded to the 1theK YouTube channel on September 4. The music video achieved 10 million views in YouTube in just 36 hours, making it their fastest music video to do it. It reached 20 million views in just four days. A dance practice video for the song was released on September 4. A lyric video for the English version was released on September 7. On September 19, a music video for the English version was uploaded to CLC's official YouTube channel. A lyric video for the Chinese version of "Helicopter" was released on CLC's

account on November 6.

Synopsis

The music video plays on the theme of invention with multiple references to art and historical breakthroughs in science. The music video revolves around

Leonardo's aerial screw The Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci drew his design for an "aerial screw" in the late 1480s, while he was employed as a military engineer by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan from 1494 to 1499. The original drawing is part of a manuscript dat ...

. Instead of opting for the traditional helicopter, CLC decided to go down a more artistic route and express their message through the symbolism embedded in da Vinci's groundbreaking idea. Like the aerial screw which was met with intense criticism and disappointment at first but paved the way for the modern-day helicopter, CLC lay out hope for their future success as a team. Consequently, they can be seen dancing as a group in front of a large aerial screw in their music video for “Helicopter”. Additionally, member Yujin stands in front of a pair of wings that resemble da Vinci's

Ornithopter An ornithopter (from Greek ''ornis, ornith-'' "bird" and ''pteron'' "wing") is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers sought to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, th ...

, or an Early flying machine, once again playing on themes of invention and curiosity. Images of da Vinci's ''

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'' and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

’s ''

The Creation of Adam '' Creation of Adam'' () is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives li ...

'' can also be seen in the background, representing the symbiotic nature of humanity and curiosity. Additionally, many of the group and individual member shots are filmed in a set of bright led lights to accompany the lyrics which are loaded with references to the sky and stars. The CLC members are clad in striking forest-green military outfits and bold black suit dresses, visually showing their strength and determination to succeed and spread their empowering message. CLC’s Jang Ye-Eun shared back in July 2020 that she submitted a PowerPoint with ideas for the visual aspects of "Helicopter" to their label Cube Entertainment.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{CLC (group) 2020 songs 2020 singles CLC (group) songs Cube Entertainment singles Songs in Korean Songs written by Melanie Fontana