lyric interpretation + explanation / xx

1. 시발점 (TRIGGER)

 

“ 랩이 포지션인 애들 다 뒷짐 / 

…if your role is a rapper, clasp your hands behind your back”

• A position of respect, maybe even almost military-like! Like your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands held behind your back

“ 15년 7월 10일 3절 말씀 찢고 회개 / 

The sermon on verse 3 on July 10, 2015, rip it and repent ”

• He’s referring to the SMTM 4 episode that aired on this day. He said in his press interview that he placed it there to say he’s changed since then

“ 막귀들 썩 물러 꺼라 / 

Begone, those of you with dull ears, I am your only lord ”

• This is a wordplay on something Christians say, which is originally, “begone, devil,” but “마귀” (ma-gwi, or devil) sounds
   very similar to “막귀” (mak-gwi, or someone with dull ears who can’t distinguish whether the quality of a song/sound is good or bad)

“ 잠재력을 알기에 버렸어 잠 따위 / 

To know my potential, I threw away the likes of sleep” 

• 잠재력 (jahm jae ryuk) means potential, and he took the first character of the word, 잠 (jahm), which means sleep

“ 너네 동공, 크기 BIGGER 뽀또/ 

All of your pupils grow bigger like ppoddo”

• 뽀도 (ppoddo) is a Korean snack. Kinda like an Oreo? This photo at the bottom is taken from a Ppoddo ad that aired in 1999.

“ 호불호불호불 / 

Likes and dislikes ”

• Could mean his personal likes and dislikes, or someone else’s. It could also mean good and bad.

 

4. ㅇ2 (O2)

 

“ 땍기 이놈 땍기 이놈 / 

This dang jerk, this dang jerk ”

• The way it’s said is a .. cuter? less harsh? way to say this damn jerk/asshole that was the best i could portray it LOL

“ 유유히 I’m swimming, 우유빛깔 침이 / 

Leisurely I’m swimming, milk-colored drool ” 

• 유유히 (yu yu hee, leisurely) and 우유빛 (oo yu bit, milk-colored) sound similar! Drool could also translated be spit, saliva, whatever floats your boat

“ …숨으로 숨으러 / 

Hides in my breath ”

• 숨 (soom) can mean two things: breath, or hide.

 

5. 로켓 (ROCKET)

 

“타타 내 등에 타타 내 등에 / 

Hop on, hop on my back, hop on, hop on my back”

• I thought this could also possibly have a double meaning with the idiom “ride one’s coattails”

“아폴로를 빨어 / 

Suck on the Apollo”

• Apollo are these Korean candies/snacks, I think they’re pretty old. Now that I think about it I have no idea how to describe the snack’s texture but it’s basically like solidified-ish pixy stix? for all the Americans out there just sugar in a plastic straw thing, and they came in different flavors like banana, chocolate, strawberry, grape. they’re really good but so bad for you and you’d just kinda bite and suck on them to get the candy out this has been an unnecessarily long description

“Walking on the moon, 토끼들이 날 반기네 / 

Walking on the moon, the rabbits greet me“

• in Korean folklore, they believed that rabbits/bunnies lived on the moon, because they believed the patterns on the surface of the moon looked like a rabbit! the folklore is that these “moon rabbits” lived on the moon and would make rice cakes haha

 

6. 흠 (UM…)

 

“오뉴월에도 함박눈 쌓인, 쌓인 느낌 / 

It feels as though a heap, A giant heap of snow has piled up in the middle of summer. “

• MINO actually uses “piled” twice, denoting the piled-up heap of snow, and also a piled-up tension/disagreement? between the two
• This is also not the first time he talks about snow in the summer, something that’s impossible. It also makes me think of the blue rose motif, how it used to mean the impossible but now it means miracle? 

 

7. 위로 해줄래 (LONELY)

 

“넌 알고 있어 너의 한숨이 깊은 만큼 깊게 땅이 꺼질 수도 있네 / 

You know that the depth of your breath could, could make the ground sink in deep”

• “땅꺼지는 한숨/A deep sigh” in Korean directly translates to a sigh that’s so deep and heavy that it could make the ground sink and collapse

 

10. 암 (AGREE)

 

“꼭두새벽부터 각시탈을 쓰고 퐈이링, 줄여서 꼭두각시라고 하지 /

From early morning, I put on a mask and fight on, In short, call it being a puppet ”

• “꼭두각시” or puppet, takes the first two characters of “꼭두새벽” (dawn/daybreak) and “각시탈” (one of the traditional Korean masks, but more specifically the Bridal Mask) to create a completely different word

“팬들 바람은 산들…ANTIFAN의 바람은 투머치 (강풍) / 

The fans’ wind is gentle… The ANTIFAN’s wind is too much (a strong gust)”

• The first part could obviously allude to like the fan that blows wind or the fan that #supports him, but the word he uses to describe this wind, 산들, means more like a pleasant, gentle breeze. Describing the anti-fan’s wind as 강풍, means too strong, but it’s also the label of a button on a lot of fans that make it blow wind the strongest lol

“틈만 나면 빼먹으려는 Doctor fishes /

Trying to steal from me whenever they get the chance, like Doctor Fishes”

• If you know then you know, but for those who don’t doctor fishes are basically foot pedicures, and they used to be quite popular in Korea for a bit. You basically put your feet in a tub of warm water with small fish swimming inside, and they’d nibble on your dead skin but you wouldn’t really feel anything and he’s comparing these antis/haters to them so make of that what you will

“난 쫄보 반tist/

I’m a coward, half artist”

• He really says “halftist,” and I interpreted that more like half+artist so like him being half coward, half artist?

 

11. 불구경 (BOW-WOW)

*The song itself speaks so strongly. It’s literally about something tragic happening to a village/neighbor/town next door, and although they’re gathering people, it’s to stroll around and look at what’s going on instead of going to help. 

 

“아무개 개처럼 짖어 / 

Like what’s-their-name, bark like a dog”

• 아무개 means “what’s-their-name” or a certain person, but 아무 + 개 can mean any + dog

“워 저기 별 떨어진다 가자, 워 소원 빌 때는 두 손 타자 /

Woah, there’s a star falling over there, let’s go, Woah, when you make a wish type with both hands”

• I think “a star” is a double meaning for a celebrity/star. They’re falling/being defamed for something, and as though it’s a shooting star across the sky, the people want to just observe it and bringing others with them. 
• 타자 can mean type, or batting (like baseball). Someone making a wish (online in this particular context), is typing, but also batting/hitting against whoever they’re making a wish against. I think of comments like “i wish they’d flop” “i wish they’d flop”, wishes like that that these antis type out and are simultaneously kind of harming these stars

“받고 싶은 사과는 언제나 덜 익어 /

The apology you want to receive is never good enough”

• This isn’t the first time Mino’s used 사과 as a double meaning (refer to BODY), as it can mean “apple” or “apology.” Directly translated, this particular line means “the apple you want to get is never ripe enough,” but it could also mean “the apology you want to hear is never good enough/never ‘ripe’ enough”

“옆 동네 일 났네 마실 가자 /

There’s a situation at the neighboring town, let’s have a stroll and look around”

• “마실” can both mean stroll or it could also possibly mean “to drink”? Adding on to these people going to this place to literally just like drink and check out what’s going on

“하늘이 형님의 망치 처럼 유명한 개들은 weishenme /

Like HaNeul hyungnim’s Mangchi, dog that are famous weishenme”

• I INITIALLY MISINTERPRETED THIS LINE! T_T
• The first half of this line is alluding to the DJ DOC song called ‘Creak Creak’ by DJ DOC, and one of the lines in the song says “My dog’s name is Mangchi”. Mangchi can also mean hammer. Weishenme means why in Chinese. HaNeul is a member of DJ DOC

“양회장님 시바견 홍순이, 정부회장의 마리와 몰리, 우리 공주 로디 왕자 미기르미기르맥! /

CEO Yang’s shiba, Hongsoon-yi, VP Jung’s Mary and Molly, Our princess and prince, Rhody and Micketymickety Mac!”

• i guess YG has a shiba i luv dogs but like idc about YG so ok next
• VP Jung is the vice president of a major luxury department store in Korea called “Shinsaegae,” apparently him and his dogs, Mary and Molly, were quite the issue! I think he posted a lot of stuff on his Instagram about them and a lot of people found it endearing?  But also a lot cus he spoiled the heck out of his dogs
• Rhody and Mickey are the names of YDG’s dogs!

“정치기 장가 장가장 치기치기 양치기 조니기 당다당 /

Jungchigi jangga janggajang jiggy jiggy yangchigi jonigi dang da dang”

• Uhm… okay… so yeah
• Like I bet there’s a really deep meaning or interpretation behind this
• But to my limited knowledge like .. I’m just gonna leave it at that
• In the song itself though, it sort of sounds like the sounds you’d hear at a traditional Korean festival or party, banging on drums
  and dancing around?
• 양치기 though, means “shepherding,” which I think could mean these ‘dogs’ are shepherding the helpless sheep, or these stars?
  are shepherding the people, or the sheep, an animal that’s actually kinda known for being not the brightest animal out there

12. 알람 (ALARM)

 

“불태워 일하는 이유 행복인데, 이러다간 남는 건 일, 불행복일 텐데/ 

The reason why I’m on fire when I work is happiness, But at this rate, what’s going to be left is work and unhappiness”

• AN EDIT ON THIS LINE AS WELL sorry T_T
• Mino combines the first couple characters from different words to allude to a new word, in this case “불태워” and “행복” although 불 can mean fire, it can also mean “non-“ “un-“, “dis-“, etc. Put those together you can UNhappiness