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Red Velvet - I Just: lyrical analysis

4/29/2018

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Red Velvet is such a strange and mysterious group.  With each song there are many different messages that are shrouded within.  From all the songs I’ve tried to interpret, this song is one of the more confusing ones and it’s not because the message isn’t clear, but more that it seems to be giving off different themes throughout the song.  One minute it’s about running from toxic lifestyles and the next it’s about meeting the love of your life at the end of the road, which could represent death in a way. Is Red Velvet trying to tell us something about what life is supposed to represent?  I’m unsure. What are your thoughts?
Picture
It’s time to stop crying

Obviously, Red Velvet are telling someone to stop their crying.  Maybe it’s themselves but nonetheless, “it’s time to stop crying”.

I hear the sun rising after the darkness
It’s still nighttime in a corner of my room
Piece by piece, it’s breaking down
My old and dusty, small bag

To “hear the sun rising” is an interesting use of words.  It brings other senses into play. Even though the sun is rising, there is still “nighttime in a corner” of her room.  This could be telling that she has a secret that she’s hiding and “piece by piece, it’s breaking down” meaning that her secret is being exposed or ruined.

I blowed on it, touching the old scars
I found the key, finally I’m opening the heart

In the previous stanza, it is mentioned about a small bag.  This stanza opens up with her blowing on it, removing the dust and finding it with its “old scars”.  She found the key and she’s “opening [her] heart”. I believe this is about holding things in and not letting them out, but finally she decides to expose all of her flaws to the world.

I wanna leave

I’m not sure how to fit this into my theory but let’s just say she exposed herself to the world and now she wants to get out of the world she’s living in.  Maybe there is something that is toxic to her way of living.

What I need more right now
Is a pair of shoes to take me away somewhere
So I won’t hurt, so I won’t stop
So I won’t get more tired, so long so long

In this stanza, it’s quite obvious that she is leaving.  She states that she needs “a pair of shoes to take me away somewhere” so that she can continue on forever.  I don’t think she literally needs a pair of shoes but I think it’s metaphorical for a reason to leave or something to get her away from whatever it is she’s leaving from.
Picture
Will we meet at the end of this road?
Did we miss each other in this maze?

At this part of the song, we are introduced to another mysterious person.  Or maybe it’s trying to tell us that sometimes we need to escape but hopefully we find the person we are looking for at the end of the road.  It’s that hope that drives every human being forward. The need for companionship and we all hope we don’t “miss each other in this maze”.

This story isn’t over yet
It remains here, empty like this

The “story isn’t over yet” refers to the fact that even if we expose ourselves, even if we leave everything behind to chase after something or run from something, our story doesn’t end at that point.  It is empty until we fill it up.

Ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y
I just leave I I just leave I
Ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y
I just leave I I just

I can’t really interpret what the “ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y” means but I can say that she is really determined to leave regardless of what might happen.

When I close my eyes, it gets slow
Your voice, your breath, your smile comes to me again
On my lips, the flow, your name
I’m swallowing it up, feels like I could burst
I’m running again

In this stanza, it sounds like she is running from a relationship.  Is it because she’s scared of the emotional attachment that comes with love?  I’m not sure exactly.

Ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y
I just leave I I just leave I
Ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y
I just leave I I just

Ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y
I just leave I I just leave I
Ah-y-ah y-ah y-ah y-ah-y
I just leave I I just

This story isn’t over yet
It remains here, empty like this

[Lyrics from: www.colorcodedlyrics.com]

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Eric Nam - Lose You: lyrical analysis

4/21/2018

Comments

 
Eric Nam is one of those solo artists that you can rely on making quality music every time he makes a comeback.  It’s like Taeyeon or IU. They just can’t make bad music. It’s something in their blood that prevents them from doing any such thing.  With that being said, Eric Nam just released his comeback album Honestly with two songs on the album being completely in English. I find it interesting when artists do something like this but he is from the United States so I understand why he did it.  My favorite song on this brilliant album is “Lose You”, a song about rebuilding a relationship from the ground up in order to save it. It’s beautiful and confusing but like I said, brilliant.
Picture
Eyes wide shut dreaming about you
Hot blood rush turning a cold blue
See you touch
but I’m feeling nothing

but I’m feeling nothing

Eric Nam starts off the song by saying he can’t help but think about his lover every waking moment.  His “hot blood” turns “cold blue” which I take to mean, he’s losing his feelings about her. In the next couple of lines, that assumption is confirmed as he sings that he doesn’t feel anything from her touch.

I’m in California you
you out in Georgia
But we both in the same room
Staring at perfection
I’m about to wreck it

It’s just something I gotta do

Eric Nam uses a metaphor to explain the emotional distance between him and his lover.  California and Georgia are on the opposite ends of the United States and to say that they are in those locations but “in the same room” is to say that they are together but not emotionally connected.

​The next couple of lines of the stanza are interesting to me because when you think about perfection, it’s something everyone wants.  And here he is, with this perfection but he needs to ruin it.

I think I wanna lose you
just to find my way back to you
I think I wanna break up
just to make it all up to you
I don’t wanna let go let go
But I gotta let go let go
I think I wanna lose you
just to find my way back to you


In the chorus stanza, Eric Nam is suggesting that the relationship needs to come to an end to reinvent it as something new.  People get into habits and end up hating each other. They stay stuck in a rut. He is proposing a rebuild of the relationship.
Picture
I can’t blame you if you hate me
You might think
I’m some kind of crazy
Asking me
Did you even love me
Did you even love me

The clever thing about Eric Nam, is he looks at the situation from her point of view.  A lot of songs like this are all about what the singer wants and never even glances in the direction of the affected.  He’s wondering how the girl will respond to this decision he is about to make.

Cause I’m in California
you you out in Georgia
But we both in the same room
But I
if I stay with you we won’t make it
It’s just something we gotta do

The first part of this section is the same as the previous pre-chorus, but this time, he is saying that it is essential to save the relationship.  The whole concept of this song is about rebuilding something that is already ruined. If a building burns down and all that is left is the skeleton, you need to wreck it to make it new again.

I think I wanna lose you
just to find my way back to you
I think I wanna break up
just to make it all up to you
I don’t wanna let go let go
But I gotta let go let go
I think I wanna lose you
just to find my way back to you

I don’t wanna let go
let go let go let go let go
But I gotta let go
let go let go let go let go

This bridge portion is him fighting the need to change but at the same time telling the girl to “let go”.

I think I wanna lose you
just to find my way back to you
I think I wanna break up
just to make it all up to you
I don’t wanna let go let go
But I gotta let go let go
I think I wanna lose you
just to find my way back to you

[Lyrics from: www.klyrics.net]

Comments
    In this section of my website, I will be taking the lyrics of various songs, not necessarily k-pop only, and I will dissect it stanza by stanza. I will analyze each section to determine what the overall theme of the song is as well as some of the deeper, hidden meanings that may be present. I'm not a lyrical professional. I'm not by any means a poetic genius, I just enjoy looking over poetry and digging into the stories and concepts that exist therein.

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