IU released her much anticipated new single “eight” on Wednesday. The track features Suga from BTS and credits him as producer. Both IU and Suga contributed to the composition and lyrics. With the sheer star power of both of those names, it’s no wonder that the song broke records (previously set by themselves anyway) soon after its release.
The numerically-titled track matches IU’s trend of age-related songs following “Twenty-Three” and “Palette”. It refers to the singers’ age, who are both 28 (in Korean age). In an interview, IU explained a different perspective for “eight”:
“If the previous songs used to take a form of an ‘essay’ through which I directly talked to listeners, ‘Eight’ is like a short novel that confesses my life as a 28-years-old by using a virtual figure and various metaphors”
After the success of last year’s EP “Love Poem” (IU) and BTS’s “Map of the Soul:7” earlier this year, there was huge expectations for this song, and they met all of them. Let’s get started!
Review & Explanation
Song: So full disclosure, I am definitely a lyrics person. Even though I can only understand a laughable amount of Korean (which will probably only be useful if I’m making a scene with my chaebol boyfriend), I immediately look up a translation of whatever single just dropped. That being said, I realize that a lot of people don’t share my obsession. And no matter how good the words are, the song has to sound good.
The minimalistic synthesizer and guitar approach and pop-rock styling is anchored by IU’s vocals. The chorus is catchy and easily hummable. Suga’s verse, though relatively short, flows seamlessly between IU’s melody. And as a bonus, we get to hear some of his vocals and the trademark whispered “Suga”. Even without knowing the context or lyrics, this song unmistakably sounds like summer in a bottle. It’s the kind of song that you put on your road trip playlist and when it comes on you turn up the volume and roll down your windows. In short, it’s a bop.
Lyrics/Music Video: (See user translated lyrics here) Get out your tissues; here’s where it gets deeper. No matter who’s reading this, I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve all had to cope with something difficult in the past few years. For IU, she’s lost two close friends, SHINee’s Jonghyun and former f(x) member Sulli. Many fans speculate the recurring motifs of the girl in white and the lizard in the video represent her friends departure. The opening lines may be addressed to them asking “So are you happy now? Finally happy now, are you?” She expresses her grief and emotional scars as she admits “I think I’ve lost everything/Everything comes as it pleases and leaves without a goodbye/ Like this, I don’t want to love anything.”
“While I’m not sure whether it’s from my personal emotion or from the overall social atmosphere coming from the disaster, my 28 would be remembered by the recurring feeling of lethargy and longing for the ‘orange island’ where we felt freedom rather than sadness.”
IU in an interview about ‘eight’
“>Yes<“
But the theme of the song is that no loss is permanent. Those who we have to part with are always with us in our memories. In the beginning of the video, IU enters a futuristic, MRI-style computer room where she opts to save, and presumably enter, her memories.
This is followed by scenes where IU looks happy and worry-free. She’s accompanied by the lizard, and there is an orange sun. Meanwhile, she lies in the memory room with a satisfied smile. The dream/memory world turns into a gorgeous animation, basking everything in the glow of an orange sun as IU leisurely looks on at the lizard climbing by her airplane window. Suddenly, a storm hits.
As dream IU rides out this emotional turbulence, back in the real world she wakes up in panic and realizes her constant companion, the lizard, is gone. We see a girl in white running freely through a forest and upon coming to a cliff, she confidently jumps off. She is caught by the lizard, who has now transformed into a dragon. The girl and dream IU make eye contact before flying off in different directions, destined to only be together again in passing. Accepting this farewell, dream IU gives the girl a sorrowful smile and in the memory room, she silently sheds a tear.
While this may partly be a send-off to her friends, I think the girl in white also represents a part of IU. Although she wishes to return to the ‘orange island’ of her younger self, she can’t go back into the past; they are traveling in different directions. She can’t become the carefree girl who thought that time with her loved ones would last forever. Suga reminds us that the concept of ‘forever’ we have when we are young is as fragile as a sandcastle. Yet, he assures us that we can meet again in this dream, in this memory. IU agrees in her post-chorus: “If it is this kind of nightmare, I won’t ever wake up.” By cherishing those memories, we hold the key to forever.
“There is no such thing as gloomy endings
I will forever meet you in this memory
Forever young”
Perfect for the global situation right now, this is a healing track which, as Suga said on his radio show “belongs to the listeners.” At the same time it offers a deeply intimate glimpse into IU’s emotions. We follow along with her as she goes through her happiest moments, grief and loss, and finally her acceptance and determination to keep moving forward-though never forgetting all who once travelled with her.
Summary: Hidden in a refreshing upbeat melody, ‘eight’ is a tribute to who we were and what we have lost; an ode of hope to who we will become in the future.
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