Face Yourself and Love Yourself:Tear Connection(s)
ItSo, it’s been confirmed that the Japanese comeback album does in fact connect back to the newest album. So, based on things we’ve covered before, we know that Let Go is used in Outro: Crack. Since this latest album is about breaking up apart and heart ache, Don’t Leave Me and Let Go could feasibly work in. We’re going to get to that though, in due time.
So if we look at Crack, lyric pieces from Let Go are used in the song. What if that’s like saying, ‘Now that I’m ready to let things go, I can come to terms with the past, I can break free. Crack the facade of happiness that I complacently lived behind.’
It could also make sense in the universe. In BST, we know that Jin’s face begins to crack at the end. Maybe that’s an instance where Jin is beginning to come to terms with what happened to Jungkook.
Then, at the end of the outro, hear a skipping in the track. Almost like a vinyl is being played, but there’s something off with it. Something’s either scratched or perhaps cracked, causing the track to skip at the end. Again emphasizing that feeling of something being wrong or even fake.
Now, let’s look at the lyrics from Singularity. We know the song is about losing one’s self and getting caught up in something that’s not really sincere or real.
“ That sound is ringing again
Another crack forms on this frozen lake
I left myself behind on that lake
My voice was buried for you “
“ 또 울리고 있어 그 소리가
이 얼어붙은 호수에 또 금이 가
그 호수에 내가 날 버렸잖아
내 목소릴 널 위해 묻었잖아 “
‘Another crack forms on the frozen lake.’ Does this mean that there’s a sort of subconscious realization bubbling underneath the surface, making you slowly aware of the truth? Cracking the facade of happiness?
Moving onto the storyline of LY:Tear and how Face Yourself ties in.
So first there’s Singularity. The song, as we just talked is about losing who you are and being lost and alone in your own thoughts. We have the questions starting to form.
Then there’s Fake Love. That song’s about being someone you’re not, to the point you don’t recognize yourself. It’s also about just being sick of the lies and bullshit and not wanting to deal with it / partake in it anymore.
Next there’s The Truth Untold. That song’s all about feeling like you aren’t worth anything. Like you’re a monster, like your feelings and your wants are invalid. There’s also the feelings of wanting to open up and be true to yourself, but being scared of pushing away/hurting the person(s) you hold dearest.
134340 is all about being/feeling left behind or cast aside. Feeling like you really aren’t worth anyone’s time, since your so easily forgettable and replaceable. Not to mention, you still feel monstrous inside. Really it’s the disappointment of seeing someone/something you thought you could trust, rely on, is leaving you in the dust. On one hand you want to fix things, reach out and make things go back to ‘normal.’ On the other hand, you don’t want to bother, since you feel as though it won’t make a difference anyway.
Paradise is basically saying, ‘ Life’s like a race, you’re running aimlessly until you reach an uncontrolled, set goal. But it’s okay, you don’t have to race the same race as everyone else. You can set your own goals and go at your own pace. Find what makes you happy, what makes you want to continue living, fighting.’ So, now you’re trying to fill that hole in your heart and in your mind. Trying to replace the bad memories, the heart ache, with positive things. Things that make life worth living to you, no matter how big or small. Another way of looking at it is, when you look at a tombstone, it only shows your birth date and death date. What’s the most colorful and most complex is the dash in between. Your entire past, your life is rested on the single dash. Now I ask you, what’s a dash? It’s not just a separator of dates, it’s another word for a race.
Love Maze is about trying to understand and keep up with the endless, universeal, enigma that is love. Getting all twisted and turned around, with no resolve. Hitting a wall of frustration, feeling alone in your fight to figure out all the right answers; only to have the test constantly changed on you.
Magic Shop is like the full acknowledgment of ‘Hey, I’ve spent so much time and energy worrying about this one thing, that I haven’t taken the time for self care. I’ve given my time to this person or persons, now I should focus on myself; fixing and healing myself.’ (It’s also a song based around and for AMI. Telling Ami to make sure we take care of ourselves, and not worry so much about the boys. That they’ll be there for us when we need them, just like we are for them. They’re also saying to make sure we’re there for ourselves too.)
Airplane Pt.2 is all about following your dream/passion and travelling all around the world, becoming popular, having all these nice things, yet still remembering who you are. Remembering where you started and where you still want to go. There’s also the underlying tone of, all the adulation you receive, yet it’s not what you’re looking for. It’s not fulfilling.
Anpanman is about being your own hero. Even if you aren’t super strong or super smart, you can still be a superhero, in your own way. Anpanman could connect back to Paradise, finding what makes you special and running with it. Though the thing with Anpanman, in the comics, he’s not really a superhero. He doesn’t have the stereo typical superpowers, he can’t fly. His ‘superpower’ is being kind and helping others. So, it a way there’s a latent sense of fakeness there. Once again, playing into the whole theme of Fake Love and facades.
So What is essentially saying ‘ You know what, people are going to love me or hate me, no matter where I go. I’m going to be right in some eyes, and wrong in others. They’re not important though, I just have to focus on me and what I think of myself. So fuck it, fuck everyone. I’m going to be me, do what I love and nothing’s going to stop me.’
Outro:Tear is like the breaking point, or the floating period. What I mean by this is, for the most part, you’ve gotten through the worst of shit. You’ve realized what you were doing / what you were apart of was toxic. Though you’ve gone through many ups and downs, you’ve managed to, in the end, find your way out of it. You still have low moments, you still struggle, but at this point you’re just too over it to care. You’re so tired of being in pain and being angry. You just want to let shit go, you want to destroy any semblance of what’s caused this spiral. You want to break the chain that’s been holding you underwater for so damn long. Once you’ve done that, you can finally swim up to the surface and peacefully float.
So, when you look at each song and its meaning, you can really see the progression and the story. It’s like the stages of a break up or the stage of grief.
Now, you may be thinking how Face Yourself plays into all this. Well, Don’t Leave Me is about trying to hold onto something or someone who isn’t really there for whatever reason. You’re so caught up in trying to fix things, to save what’s already been lost. That sort of fits in around the early stages. Feeling lost and broken, wanting to change things, but can’t.
Let Go is basically expressing how, though it’s a hard and lengthy process, you just have to let go. You have to cut ties with what’s making you unhappy. You have to occupy yourself with mundane things, just to keep your head above water. The thing is, you’ve come to terms with this, it’s sad, but you’re okay with it. That sort of fits in around the stages of So What and Outro:Tear.
Let’s look at the intro and outro as well. We mentioned that maybe Crack is the first step, the first nail in the coffin of everything falling apart. Rundwanderung or Ringwanderung as we’ve discussed based on the meaning of the term itself, is mostly likely about going around in circles without resolve. That sounds familiar doesn’t it? Love Maze right?
It could also be argued, that the song choices that were made for their Japanese counterparts, could play into the story of the album as well.
If you think about it, Best of Me is like the polar opposite of Magic Shop. More specifically, these lyric clips.
"You got the best of me
You got the best of me
So please just don’t leave me
You got the best of me" {Best of Me} (Which this is repeated several different times through out the song. This could tie back to Don't Leave Me as well.)
"You gave me the best of me
So you’ll give you the best of you
You found me, you recognized me" {Magic Shop}
So, it's kind of like a nod, but it's got a complete different light behind it now. Now, let's look at Spring Day and Crystal Snow. Both songs talk about the sadness and heartache of losing/leaving someone. They also keep within the same theme, referring to the cold and snow.
"It’s only winter here
Even in August, winter is here
My heart makes time run
Like a Snowpiercer left alone
I wanna hold your hand
And go to the other side of the earth
To end this winter
How much longing has to fall like snow
For the spring days to come?
Friend" {Spring Day}
(Something to note, Snowpiercer was also the name of a movie. The whole premise was was about a group of people living on a train that never stopped. The group was separated into classes, then it’s found out the the poorer classes were being used to feed the upper classes.
First off, A train that goes around in circles, never finding a resolve or stopping point... Sounds like Ringwanderung. Secondly, if you remember, the mv for Spring Day takes place predominantly on a train.)
"Like snow piles up, I remember what you gave me
You gave me the courage to live"
"Crystal snow only holds an ambiguous shape
I can't bear my story of unrequited love
Eh I’ll manage to change it on my own" {Crystal Snow}
Moving on to BST, when you read the lyrics, it sounds an awful lot like a toxic, borderline abusive relationship. Whether that's with a person or not, is up to your interpretation. The song itself reminds me of Fake Love, in the respect that, you know that this thing or person is bad for you. You know damn well you shouldn't be, yet you're drawn back in.
At the same time, you're sick of it and want it to stop, but something keeps stopping you.Then we have Mic Drop, Not Today, and Go Go. Those three songs all sort of fit into to phases of 'Screw everything and everyone who's brought me down. I'm going to be me, live my life, and be happy.'
That acceptance and release states.
Actually, when you look at the lyrics for Go Go, it’s about unhealthy lifestyles. The song kind of pokes fun at the argument some have, believing that their unhealthy lifestyles that include things like excessive partying, gambling, alcoholism etc. are valid and justifiable.
Then we have DNA, which ties this whole sub storyline together. DNA has set the base foundation for everything. Striving for a perfect, unrealistic type of relationship. Of course, from there we have the downward spiral of event discussed above.
When you really look at each moving part of both albums, it’s hard to say that they don’t match up in some ways. It’s really interesting to sit down and analyze everything from different angles.
