J. FLA - "Story (Stupid Story)".

A pop song cannot heal the world. It cannot repair what's torn, disappear what's scarred. But this video from Seoul's J. Fla, this soaring polished pop song, makes the idea seem possible. South and North Koreas, reunited by drumroll, plaintive piano, a bursting chorus. Reconciliation through a bilingual refrain: "Please can you tell me / I love you my darling / 사랑한다고 듣고 싶어도 / 바보 같은 story." Finally - finally! - Kim John-un and Park Geun-hye, dancing side by side on a firework-studded square.

But like I said, a pop song can't hear the world. Nor can any other song, from to John Coltrane to Sam Cooke to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The machines of war and hatred are too sophisticated for an undoing by quarter-note, by rest. I think the trick of political music, however dilute or intense, is the courage it instills in its listeners. The courage and, hopefully, the action. A chorus can't remedy the real forces of inequality and strife, but maybe it can send a few people into the streets, dancing and resolute.

[J. FLA's debut mini-album, Foolish Story, is out now]