YES YES!! I've been sifting thru the pages just to find this. I knew there was something to do with the human mind. You realize that the opening was done in profile? And the when the scenes of the dancer editted into the back of Ayu's mind...it just felt like it was going on in her head. Somehow the word "hypothalamus" just jumps out at me.

The opening first scene of Ayu screamed HEAVEN COVER at me haha. But her profile is gorgeous. THat's something new because I don't think we have seen her entire face in full profile singing.

Yes I believe that's the idea behind the PV. Perhaps we think so much in our own lives but its really all just happening in our heads. First it starts of like a little doll and soon as we dwelve on, it becomes ingrained into our minds (like how robots are fixed). Then that spark scene was probably the highest form of...imagination?

Contrast the entire marionette thing with Ayu's scenes. Don't they look so normal and pure as compared to the myriad of colours? I think it's saying how normal we humans can look even that the most ordinary setting (the cardboard trees..sry they looked really..cheap BUT i think they made Ayu stand out really well) but deep in ur minds, we have soooooooo much going on it's just crazy. I can sympathise with this.

I appreciate this PV so much. Im that fond of Ayu's hair but SHE WAS GLOWING. Stunning facial features and I really like the robots. Their costumes are so avart garde (and gaga-ish hahaa). Well done. Simple, Classic PV in a long long time.

(i hope BALLAD is epic)

and let's wait for waterballoon to go into the specifics..the above is just the vibe I get. And...i think it does fit hahaha

i love the effect and how futuristic the PV is...
but same like you all, i wondering what ayu trying to say from this PV?
we need the lyrics translation and then we can know what the meaning behind this PV..

The biggest nod to the brain/mind thing is probably when one of the dancers was just holding a glowing brain, hahah. Oh, and the face that was molded into the exploding-hand dancer's hair...

Uhhhh....ummmmm......WHAT? That PV was not what I expected. The dancers looked out of place because most of them were scary looking. They did not compliment the mood of the song nor the did they mesh well with the snowy scenes and Ayu's Christmas light dress. Maybe that was the point, but BLAH. Too jarring and weird for me. It was like, being weird for weird's sake.

And I'm not digging the song yet, either, but as I always say, I'll give it a few more listens before I make a judgment. Sadly, I never ended up liking Sunrise / Sunset, and I'm worried this single is shaping up to be the same.

Luckily, I wasn't planning to buy the CD+DVD versions for this single.

Didn't like the PV at all, except for the cute teddy bear in the beginning. Ayu doesn't look too good here, she is usually so beautiful in pvs. She looks old. :/ I don't feel like the music video matches with the song at all... but the song is pure win! <3

These are my thoughts on the PV:

From this PV I get four main characters:
1. The present-day Ayumi.
2. The former Ayumi
3. The subject of the song
4. The subject's lover

Whenever Ayu is singing about her present situation, we always see her in this dim light, and barely able to make out her full face but then when she starts to talk about the past, we see flashbacks and we are able to make out her more clearly.
In the flashbacks, we see the clowns representing the other main characters.
I think that the reason she's chosen clowns is because in theory clowns and circuses are meant to be joyful and happy things and playful places, right? But in practise a lot of people have phobias of clowns and circuses. So it's playing on this theme that whilst love is all great...there's a darker side to it.
Then in the second verse we're introduced to this new character the subject of the song and his lover, in the lyrics she introduces this new person by wondering about who is seeing his smile now and in the PV we see these two embracing and the new character almost rubbing our faces in the fact they're together.
After this we see the fire scene (is it Ayu holding the fire? I think it is...?) which to me symbolises how Ayu's jealousy towards this woman is building up and the only way she can stop her sorrow is for this woman to simply not exist any more, but obviously this jealousy is all consuming and eventually surrounds not only Ayu.
Then the brain scene. The brain is technically where our memories are stored and here she sings about it being better to forget, but she doesn't want to.
Then with the end we're seen this metaphorical path again. Ayu's life has ended without her lover, but obviously she must go on. The repetition of the last line of the chorus shows us that she's made up her mind. She's decided to go on living with the memories in her heart and not let them overcome her.

Does that make sense?

EDIT: Oh, posting about the trees made me think, someone else said that it seemed like Ayu was in a different dimension and I completely agree. It's saying to me that those trees are symbolising people of her past and she's in the future walking a road that just at times seems bleak. :P

^gotta replay the mv :P. I didn't read the lyric translation but I believe what you've said :D

Okay this is what I've gathered so far... I think this video represents the path of life, or life itself. I must say again this is my personal interpretation of the video, so...

Okay, firstly we see a teddy bear. Does the teddy bear represent childhood, since it's a toy - something that we associate with children? But why a teddy bear? I think it's because of Ayu's personal... encounters with a teddy bear; the last gift that her father left for her, so it's something special to her, and so we have a teddy bear to represent a child.

The teddy bear seems to have 2 pairs of legs, a pair which belongs to itself which it almost never used, and another 2 pair of legs that doesn't look like its legs... as if it's someone else's legs... it's kind of like when you're a child, you either get influenced by your friends, or your parents decide where you should go, right? This kinda reinforces itself when the teddy bear looks forward, as if wanting to move forward, yet in the end it moves to the side, using the pair of legs that isn't its own legs. It's like... we never get the freedom to make our own decisions when we were young.

Then we "grow up", and thus enter the next scene with Ayu. These images... the ballerina and the clown, it's like they represent being a pre-teen, going to circuses, or (if you're a girl) having the dream to be a beautiful ballerina. And these go on in Ayu's mind; it's like she's telling us these are the things she see when she was a young girl.

Then we get even older, and discover love, as represented by the couple in the Lady Gaga clothes. We discovered love, but is it really all that good? I think Ayu wants to show us that, when the female is left alone... as if seeking for her lover, who is already gone. This pain... it's a part of life, isn't it?

When love is gone, and the reluctance to let go is present... it shows as the female's hand goes in flames; like everything is burning away - the feelings, the memories, her lover himself, all burnt away...

But at the end, she holds a brain. It's like the brain represents thoughts... thoughts and feelings that never changed even after everything has changed. Feelings like, she still loves him, and she still thinks of him... or at least that's what I see there.

Also note that around the time "love" appears in the video, the path Ayu is on lights up, as if to show that by that time, we have our own dreams, and we know what path we wish to take in the future.

But why is it straight? The path is like a straight line that cuts through with no curves... no nothing. It's like... should life be like this? Straight and without bumps, or any detours and roundabouts?

Then we reach the final destination of life - death. I feel these are represented by the falling red man/person in Ayu's head, and the fire burning around the earlier female dancer. It's also not death per se, but death of other things - love, dreams... like the female.

And then we see the male actually looking at the female with all the fire... I never got to really think what that is actually about...

Anyway, after that it starts to snow, signifying a change in season. Like it's time to move on from everything that happened... and the whole path is lit up at the end, and there is still a long way to go in the path of life...

But of course, I think it's confusing because it seems like all these symbolism don't link to the song or anything. But I think... You were... isn't exactly a love song, right? I mean I guess it's a love song, but it isn't really talking only about romantic love.

All these symbolism - the teddy bear, the childhood visions, the lovers... I think they link to the final two lines of the song really well:

"You might have forgotten everything
But I won't forget a single one of them" (paraphrasing)

Assuming the teddy bear represents her father, the childhood visions her life when she was young (mother, grandmother, school life), the lovers her ex-lovers (Nagase and whoever elese)... they might have all forgotten her or whatever, but she wouldn't forget a single one of them.

And that's what I think that's what the video is about... sorry for the lengthy post - I just can't help it cos it's been ages since Ayu had a PV with symbolism like this~ Of course you can correct me or disagree with me if you want... it'll be great if we could get different interpretations. ^^

You Were...PV was a little on the strange side, but nice!

good job jun xiang...i agree almost all part of your interpretation

If Kazu do BALLAD, we may see the close up faces like GREEN again perhaps...

You were... PV is amazing, looks like it's something that Ayu didn't show this kind of PV for a long time.
The director also do Ladies Night which are cool PV,so in the end, this PV absolutely WIN! :D

EDITED:
Agree with your interpretation waterballoon~

When Disney said that the image of Tinker Bell is a perfect match with Ayu, this PV seems telling it all, it looks like all about Ayu, i think.

Well that was certainly...probably the most artistic PV she has ever done.

I'm not going to say that I'm a fan or gonna be watching it over and over, because I don't like the song...but I think the themes are interesting, and the sort of chaos she has going on is interesting as well.

Nothing really meshes...but then again, I don't really think it's supposed to. I think Ayu's supposed to have that contrast to...I guess whatever the hell the crazy dancer people are doing.

I don't really care to know the meaning behind the song or the PV, but I've skimmed through some of your guys' interpretations and the PV does seem interesting and different, without being retarded or having an overly cheesy plot (like GREEN for instance) which is honestly a major plus for me.

So...all in all...I give it a 7.5/10 or maybe like a 7.8/10.

Pretty much my reaction. It's very different from what anyone expected.

i thought it is something like waterballoon explained. i have to watch this for a several times more just to got that vision of its whole cuz first time you are watching this dancers and teddy bear seem so random. i think plot was not random either, it seemed like she's in theater.

i loved her hair, i like when ayu looks so divalicious. song itself is amazing, i like it even more and pv overall is epic.

I'll just disagree with that notion about the bear having two sets of legs, cause I think the "nude" fingers are supposed to represent hands. That's what I gathered from the body language given.

I think both waterballoon and zyoeru's interpretations are both plausible, the former being more broad talking about life itself while zyoeru's is a little more narrow dealing with Ayu's personal love woes. This seems like a Mirrorcle World like PV, where the interpretation can go many ways. And to me, that's an excellent thing because people can connect to the PV or the song at different levels. :)

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My personal opinion? One of her best PVs, period. From what I can understand lyrically, the PV is pretty spot-on, but leaves room for different interpretations. :)
Another point that I find REALLY important in this PV is the seemingly randomness of the scenes (which have left some of you without a clear opinion yet). I think it's a subtle way to get people to watch it more than once, thus getting them to listen to the song multiple times.

I really liked the PV. In addition to what others mentioned, for those of us who know the very dark winter months of the north, this PV brings back such memories with its dark gloomy forest and the dim lights. To me it was very christmasy simply because of that. =P

The visuals are amazing in themselves.

The full song sounds so much better than the preview!!! i am glad that i like the song!! but i feel that the tune of the bridge sounds a lil bit out of place.. :(

the PV is GREAT!!! It's a beautiful PV. Although some may say it's boring, but its nothing compared to Sunset... Not really sure about the metaphors some of u are talkin about.. But i LOVE it! giving the PV a 8/10 and the song 7/10!

its not a boring PV..its a artistic PV and have strong meaning on it^^ the visual effect awesome and i love ayumi looks in that PV...thats my opinion...

I agree with this. It's like the teddy "grows" arms, like it is growing up and learning new things. That's what I think it symbolises.

I think a combination of the two interpretations ends up being the best. waterballoon didn't really explain the brain sequence much, which I think it is a very important scene. But I agree with waterballoon's interpretation of the clowns etc. being of joyful things in childhood. Then the person grows up and learns that not everything is so joyful. For example, the pain of love which is what the fire symbolises. I definitely don't think the fire symbolises Ayu's jealousy, because Ayu and the fire are never in the same scene. There is no link there in the video that I can see.

I really like this PV. But, it is about as ambigious as Mirrorcle World. It can literally mean anything. But, the way in which it is done is probably the most artsy way any of her video's have told a story. With the dark, the characters lighting up the scene, giving the video life. I dig that. The style really reminds me of her Memorial Address PV days, which is a very good thing.

love the PV and all^^
but just one question... it's about everyone's interpretation of the bear.
why does everyone think he has 2 pair of legs???? O_o''
those are supossed to be arms! he's walking and then he puts his arms behing his back and kicks with his feet. they don't just "grow" out of nowhere. the bear is just walking and his arms are always there...
it's like a shy/girlish or even bored moment... everyone's done that a few times in his/her life.

no offense to anyone but it just seems like everyone's a bit over-reacting and trying to make an elefant from a fly xP
the PV has great meaning and i agree with lots of things you all said, but i have the feeling it's going a bit too far, trying to put more meaning in something than it actually has....

hope no one gets offended, i'm just beeing a bit realistic :P