@aaskelter 12 September 2021 edited

Moonchild, you shine…

It’s September 12th and it’s raining. And it’s reminded me of someone who’s celebrating his birthday today — **Kim Namjoon**, commonly known as **RM**, the leader of the global superstars, **BTS**. Aside from his pretty chill being, passion for nature & arts , fondness of small objects and insects (which is so cute because he’s this tall, kind of intimidating guy), his wide English vocabulary and impressive leadership, I have always admire his lyricism and wordplay and it is what’s gotten my full respect. There are also 177 songs credited onto his name per KOMCA (Korean Music Copyright Association). And so today I decided to share some of his wisdom as shown through the songs that he’s written over the years. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from the lyrics that he wrote.

“I was just a *person*, but you eroded my edges and turned me into *love*.” — Trivia 承: Love When I learned about this, I was totally impressed because it is just so cool how he was able to do wordplays that would make sense in his own language (Korean) as well as if you are going to translate it in English. When you write “Person” in hangul, it is (사람) saram. As you may have noticed, the last consonant is "ㅁ" like a square. When you “erode its edges/corners” it will become "ㅇ" like a circle. Writing the term in hangul again using the circle, it becomes love (사랑) sarang. But wait there’s more! It's a long way from I to U Fuck, JKLMNO PQRST I crossed all the letters and I reached you In an electrodiagram of a person's heartbeat, the waves are labelled PQRST. Somehow, Namjoon included a cardiology reference in a song about love where I and U maybe far from each other alphabetically but the distance is only a “heartbeat” away. “You're my Miss Right, Miss Right. If I lose you, it’s a miss, right? Miss Right? ” — Miss Right I just love how he used the same words but in a different context. The first “miss right” being a noun/referring to a person, and in “it’s a miss, right?” as an expression of losing someone. “Treat me like a comma, I'll take you to a new phrase” — Waste It On Me (Steve Aoki ft. BTS) We all know that comma usually puts a stop/pause to a sentence and then you can start a new statement. In this line’s context, in order to start a new life, he appeals for the other person to treat him like a comma so they can start a new phrase (can both apply to relationships or life as a whole). Namjoon’s verses from the two songs **Save Me** and **I’m Fine** are like an ambigram with lyrics with inverse meaning and this is one of my ultimate favourites.

I just…. I am at a loss for words of how he’s able to come up with those impressive lines? Him having 148 IQ might be a factor because he’s so cool! In **Save Me** it feels like it is from the perspective of someone who’s needing to depend on someone else to survive, while in **I’m Fine** there is a realisation that you cannot expect people to always be on your side so you got to be your own person. You have to find your own strength and push yourself to improve even without that other person as your aide. The lyrics go like this: **Thank you for letting me be myself** *Even if I end up becoming someone other than myself, it’s okay because I am my own salvation* **For enabling me to fly** **For giving me wings** *and my wings get torn* **For straightening me out, who was wrinkled** **For breaking me out when I was feeling suffocated/boxed in** *and get wrinkled an endless amount of tim*e **For waking me up when I was solely living in a dream** *Even if I’m in an endless dream* **Because when I think of you, the sky clears** *and dark cloud comes again* **I’ve given away a thing such us sadness** *Even if sadness erases me* **Thank you for becoming “us”** *It’s okay even if we aren’t us* (**Save Me** in Bold, *I’m Fine* in Italics)

Mindblown. MOONCHILD, from the EP, “mono” On the song, “moonchild” from his solo EP, “mono”, he used the Korean word 가시 (ga-shi) in two meanings: thorn and visibility. ‘thorn' symbolizes a negative trait while 'visibility' is referring to perspectives or views. It means that people may say bad things towards you and people will have different views of you, but there will also be a person out there who will find comfort in your fatal thorns. What others see as a problem maybe a solution to some depending on their perspective. Another favourite line from this song goes like, ***“it’s okay to shed tears but don’t you tear yourself.”*** where he used the two meanings of the word “tear”. I find it very relatable. It is like reminding us how it is okay to embrace the sadness when it is knocking on our doors, but don’t let it eat you up long enough that you would get to lose yourself in the process of hurting/grieving. “I run and stumble and fall again, honestly. Even it repeats forever, I'll keep running. " — Jamais Vu There is no wordplay here but I just find the line inspiring. We should keep on *running* even if life gets hard and we always encounter hindrances along the way. Uh good My ideal and reality– They are too far apart But, I still want to cross the bridge and reach me the real me  Even in that desert, it might rain But, I’m sorry, ***I can’t give up on myself*** Just like in **Jamais Vu**, these couple of lines from the song **uh good** feels like an encouragement to not give up on ourselves even when every situation is pointing to failure and disappointment. It is okay if you are not *yet* the *real* you or if you feel like you are still too far from achieving your goals, but don’t you ever give up. — Personally, his EP called **mono** is one of my go-to feel-good, healing albums especially when I am feeling down or when it’s raining because not only are the vibes just perfect, but the lyrics are a good reminder of what’s to come, even if it doesn’t feel like life is working in your favor at that certain moment. Anyway, happiest of birthdays, Namjoonie. Thank you for spreading your talent and for sharing your light. Cheers to the future! *Living so I love**, A *(*reference from Trivia: Love)* Thank you to the wonderful sponsors! I am not really very active in here but I appreciate it everytime you drop by my occasional articles/blogs. Do you have that one go-to album to make you feel better when you’re feeling off as well? Please do share them so we can also check it out. Meanwhile, you may also read these other stuff that I previously wrote: **Soul Searching in South Korea** https://read.cash/@aaskelter/soul-searching-in-seoul-south-korea-6a6e9ed1 **Seven BTS Lyrics That Will Hit You Right With The Feels** https://read.cash/@aaskelter/seven-bts-lyrics-that-will-definitely-hit-you-with-the-feels-4946d831 **Permission To Dance** https://read.cash/@aaskelter/spreading-love-through-permission-to-dance-and-why-it-is-impactful-b1362bbb — *Lead photo is taken by me. Photos are mine unless credited otherwise.*