Kids blowing off steam,
brush aside sweat for more dares—
precious time of life
#2021picoftheweek – April 25 with the theme “Why Not?”
MMA Storytime’s Haiku a Day Challenge – Sweat
#NaPoWriMo2021 – Day 24
On Childhood
Category For Fun
On (for Song Lyric Sunday)
Jim Adams is giving us another interesting prompt this week for Song Lyric Sunday. The prompt is to come up with a song that has one word as its title. I’m making it more challenging by deciding to find the shortest word possible, the shorter the better, and so here is the song. As I said before in my previous post for Song Lyric Sunday, my songs tend to be from the eastern part of the world. This time my pick is not written in English, but in Korean. No worries, I will give you the English interpretation, but if you haven’t heard of any Korean song, this may be quite a journey for you. I wish you a pleasant one.
The title of the song is On. Two-letter word is probably the shortest title for a song that you can find, unless there’s a song called I or A. On is a song recorded by BTS. It came out in February 2020, right before the global pandemic started. BTS released the music video “Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima” on the same day the song is released in all streaming platforms, which I show below as the first video in this post. The MV “Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima” was recorded live showing BTS, The Lab (the champion from the World of Dance Season 2), and the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, a famous marching band group. They performed the whole choreography near the famous Sepulveda Dam, in Los Angeles, California. When you watch this video, you have to see it all the way to the end to witness the dance break, a special added scene only seen in some videos. Just for fun and comparison, I threw in another MV of another live performance of On at the Grand Central Terminal in New York for the Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
And here’s the lyrics in Korean and English before I continue talking about the artist group BTS. What I’m giving you here is the English translation only. If anyone would like to sing along the Korean lyrics written in Roman letters, you can find the lyrics by clicking here. I know that many of you will probably appreciate the meaning of the lyrics more than the song itself, but I do hope that you can enjoy their dance talent shown in the first two videos too.
BTS - ON [English Translation] I can't understand what people are sayin' Who and what do I need to follow With each step then again grows the shadow Where is this place I open my eyes to Maybe Seoul or New York or Paris I get up, unsteady on my feet Look at my feet, look down The shadow resembles me Is it the shadow that’s shaking Or is it my feet that are trembling Of course I‘m not unafraid Of course it’s not all okay But I know Awkwardly I flow I fly together with that black wind Hey na na na Gotta go insane to stay sane Hey na na na Throw myself whole into both worlds Hey na na na Can’t hold me down cuz you know I’m a fighter Carried myself into this beautiful prison Find me and I'm gonna live with ya (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah (Eh-Oh) Come on up, bring the pain oh yeah Rain be pourin' Sky keep fallin' Everyday oh na na na (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah Bring the pain It’ll become my blood and flesh Bring the pain No fear, now that I know the way Breathe on the small things My air and my light in the dark The power of the things that make me, “me” Even if I fall, I come right up, scream Even if I fall, I come right up, scream That’s how we’ve always been Even if my knees drop to the ground As long as they don’t get buried It won’t matter Win no matter what Whatever you say Whatever they say I don't give a uhh I don't give a uhh I don't give a uhh Hey na na na Gotta go insane to stay sane Hey na na na Throw myself whole into both worlds Hey na na na Can’t hold me down cuz you know I’m a fighter Carried myself into this beautiful prison Find me and I'm gonna live with ya (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah (Eh-Oh) Come on up, bring the pain oh yeah Rain be pourin' Sky keep fallin' Everyday oh na na na (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah Where my pain lies Let me take a breath My everythin’ My blood and tears Got no fears I’m singin’ ohhhhh Oh I’m takin’ over You should know yeah Can’t hold me down cuz you know I’m a fighter Choosing to descend into the dark abyss Find me and I’m gonna bleed with ya (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah (Eh-Oh) Come on up, bring the pain oh yeah Rain be pourin' Sky keep fallin' Everyday oh na na na (Eh-Oh) Find me and I’m gonna bleed with ya (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah (Eh-Oh) Come on up, bring the pain oh yeah All that I know is just goin’ on & on & on & on (Eh-Oh) Bring it, bring the pain oh yeah Songwriters: BTS members J-Hope, RM and Suga, as well as August Rigo, Melaniae Fontana, Michel Schulz, Antonina Armato, Julia Ross, Krysta Youngs, and Pdogg. Producer: Pdogg
Now I’d like to say a little bit about the artists, the seven young men that belong to Bantan Sonyeondan, also known as the Bangtan Boys or BTS. The seven members are well known with their stage names RM (the leader), Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and JK (or Jung Kook). Some of you reading this post have probably heard about them recently with their hit song Dynamite (also a one-word song title) that was nominated for the Best Pop Group/Duo at the 63rd Annual Grammy Award in March 2021. BTS did not win the Grammy, but the fact that they were nominated and then became the first Korean group artist that performed fully at the Grammy was already hard to miss out in the eye of the world, not to mention all of the other major accomplishments that they’ve had. The fans of BTS, called the BTS ARMY, is also not something to be seen lightly.
I have not seen an impact done by a global union of fans the way BTS ARMY did. ARMY is not just a fans group. They make sure their voice and social impact are seen, known and received by the world. The Time magazine wrote an article about ARMY last year, Inside the BTS ARMY, the Devoted Fandom with an Unrivaled Level of Organization, as well as an article by Variety entertainment news online titled How the BTS and Its ARMY Could Change the Music Industry. To understand the connection between BTS and their fan group, Jin (one of the BTS members) says it perfectly in Variety’s article, “It’s because ARMY exists that we exist.” Truly, BTS and ARMY are like a big family. And next, I will introduce another part of the big family that plays a big role in BTS.
BTS debuted for the first time in 2013 under the Big Hit Entertainment, a small underdog entertainment company back in 2013. It has now grown to be one of the top 4 entertainment companies in South Korea, if not the number one, rebranded its name to become Hybe Entertainment in 2020, and started to spread its wings globally outside of South Korea. At the beginning of April 2021, Hybe America, a subsidiary group of Hybe Entertainment, purchased all of the holdings of Ithaca Holdings that includes SB Projects that manages Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Big Machine Label Group. Big Hit or Hybe owes its huge development and growing to BTS, and vice versa, BTS would not be as big as they are now if not because of Big Hit. As an entertainment group, Big Hit has been known to allow plenty of rooms for their artists to grow and be free in their creativity, including for BTS. Big Hit allowed BTS members to do something that was slightly different compared to other Korean idol groups at that time, that is to produce their own songs, including writing their own lyrics. With Hybe now slowly emerging globally, are we going to see more Korean music wave globally? I don’t know, but it’s exciting to see what will happen.
So back to the song On, I would like to give you two more videos. I hope I can still have your attention. The third video will be the Official Music Video without the dance performance. The video is full of symbolism and references to various films and television shows, such as The Maze Runner, The Lion King, Game of Thrones, and perhaps more. In order to understand the symbols, I hereby give you another video. The fourth one explains the Official MV from a Korean perspective and connects those meanings to BTS and the messages they would like to send through the song. The explanation is in English, so it’ll be easy to understand. What I appreciate from watching the third and fourth video is the artistic talent and ideas that went behind the concept of the video and its making.
I hope you can enjoy everything in this long writing. I normally don’t write this long, so if I can keep your attention to the end it’s quite an achievement for me.
Please visit Song Lyric Sunday April 11, 2021 to see more songs shared by others. Have a wonderful week, everyone.
In Their Own World (CBWC: Letter B or W)
Just random pictures of things that start with the letter B or W. Taking a short break from writing poems and just enjoying this sharing of old pictures. One day I may write a poem inspired by these pictures.
Please check out Cee’s Black and White Challenge to see more awesome images. For this week, the challenge is to find items or images that start with the letter B or W.
Eyes, Nose, Lips – Song Lyric Sunday
Jim Adams organizes a weekly song challenge called Song Lyric Sunday where a theme prompt is offered every Sunday and bloggers can contribute by sharing their favorite song according to the theme. Today’s prompt is Anguish/Misery/Torment. Please click on the prompt to see entries of songs from other contributors. I’m offering something a bit different, and my wish is that I would like to share more music/songs from my part of the world, Asian continent. There is a good chance that my choices of song in the future will be non-English, but no worries because I will always provide English translation.
This time the song is not from my country, Indonesia, but from South Korea. Annyeong haseyo 안녕하세요.
You can probably guess by now that I’m a fan of Korean music. Before I continue, I feel the need to clarify that not all Korean music is pop music actually. It is a misconception that all songs from South Korea are categorized as pop music, hence the word K-pop. In reality, there are many genres in South Korean music industry too just like in any other countries. The one that I would like to introduce today falls under the hip-hop/rap genre. Let me start by introducing the artists first and the song.
The title of the song is Eyes, Nose, Lips. It is a song originally recorded by a Korean musician, Taeyang, in 2014. Taeyang is a member of the boy band group Big Bang. The R&B original song became a hit right away and won many awards in 2014 and 2015. It had even hit the 1st position in South Korea’s Gaon chart, the 1st position in US Billboard K-pop Hot 200, and even the 3rd position in US Billboard World Digital Chart. You can google Big Bang to find out more of their accomplishment.
Following the success of the song, another South Korean musician group who is also from the same entertainment company as Big Bang (YG entertainment), produced a cover for the song. This group is called Epik High with its 3 members, famously known with their stage names Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz. Epik High debuted in 2003 and had produced so many albums that until now I’m still discovering their older songs. Epik High is considered an alternative hip-hop group. Tablo, the frontman of the group, was born in South Korea, but had spent many years living and studying in the US and Canada. He speaks English fluently and was the one who wrote the English lyrics for the remaking of Eyes, Nose, Lips. He used his own interpretation of the original lyrics by Taeyang and produced a complete new lyrics that used rhyming. Very poetic in my opinion.
Here is the video of Tablo’s version of Eyes, Nose, Lips. You will also see the original singer, Taeyang, appears at the end of the video, belting out his vocal strength.
[Verse 1]
You left me paralyzed
No cure, no rehab for me
Funny that you got the nerve to keep askin' me
How I've been
You're the victor in this pageantry
But the only trophy you deserve, catastrophe
I'd rather we be dead to each other
No eulogies said for each other
No rest in peace's
The memories, got my chest in pieces
I'm prayin' that your eyes are the first to go
They way they looked when you smiled
The way they opened and closed
Then your nose, every single breath against my neck
And then your lips, every empty promise made and said
[Pre-Chorus]
Please fade, fade to black
Please fade, fade to black
But the nightmares come back
[Chorus]
Because your eyes, nose, lips
Every look and every breath, every kiss
Still got me dyin'
Still got me cryin'
Because your eyes, nose, lips
Every look and every breath, every kiss
Still got me dyin'
Still got me cryin'
[Verse 2]
Forget a promenade
Let's juggernaut down memory lane
Leave no thought alive to the slaughterhouse
I'm takin' my pain
It's time to sever my brain from my heart and soul
My knees are burnin' hot but God is cold
I've been told "One day, you'll know too much of heaven's a sin
After the show, it's only hell that it brings
So take it slow and let time heal everything"
They say that time flies but you keep breakin' its wing
[Pre-Chorus]
You'll never fade, fade to black
Please fade, fade to black
But the nightmares come back
[Chorus]
Because your eyes, nose, lips
Every look and every breath, every kiss
Still got me dyin'
Still got me cryin'
Because your eyes, nose, lips
Every look and every breath, every kiss
Still got me dyin'
Still got me cryin'
[Bridge: Table and Taeyang]
You wish me well (You wish me well)
You wish me well (You wish me well)
I wish you hell
I never wanna look into your eyes again
No, I never wanna hear you breathe again
Let me go, let me go
Baby, tell me this is the end
[Chorus]
Because your eyes, nose, lips
Every look and every breath, every kiss
Still got me dyin'
Still got me cryin'
The tears drive me out of my mind
Because your eyes, nose, lips
Every look and every breath, every kiss
Still got me dyin'
Still got me cryin'
[Outro]
Fade out
As a sign of respect to the original artist of Eyes, Nose, Lips, I’d like to also give you the original song by Taeyang with its written version of Korean lyrics and its English translation, all in one video.
If you ask me which one I like better, I’d say both of them. I think Tablo’s version is darker which fits with the rapping, whereas Taeyang’s version is more of a ballad and thus sounds softer and more melancholic. Without knowing what the song is about and its lyrics, one would think that Taeyang’s version is a song about falling in love, when in reality a breaking up.
Hope you enjoy the two songs. Looking forward to introducing more Asian music here in the future. Have a great week, everyone. Stay safe, stay healthy. Gahmsahabnida 감사합니다
Random Thought
When you combine a passion in poetry and photography, do you let your writing pick the image or an image determine your writing? Which element usually speaks first?
writing or image
such inconsequential point
inexplicable!
Yes, I know. Just a random thought, attempting to dig a smile.
Weekend Writing Prompt #199 – Element in 47 words.
VJ’s Weekly Challenge – Dig. To VJ, the host of VJ’s Weekly Challenge, I hope I can offer you a smile and lessen the exhaustion a bit.
A Ride with Attitude
Image belongs to the author of this blog, Erlyn Olivia.
On the Loose
A man came back from the gym
Find a big surprise waiting for him
Where is my house, he rants
At last, off the market thence?
Nay, missus said – wind took it for a spin
Evening news, the anchor announces,
“We’d like to bring you the news
A house just left and gone
Call if it lands on your lawn
Warning, house is dangerous — y’know, loose screws”
This is my very first time making Limerick poems. Here’s a few information about Limericks from Literary Devices:
A limerick is a poem that consists of five lines in a single stanza with a rhyme scheme of AABBA. Most limericks are intended to be humorous, and many are considered bawdy, suggestive, or downright indecent. The subject of limericks is generally trivial or silly in nature. Most limericks are considered “amateur” poetry due to their short length and relatively simplistic structure. However, this does not take away from reader enjoyment of this literary device. With traditional limericks, the first, second, and fifth lines feature the same verbal rhythm, rhyme, and have seven to ten syllables. The third and fourth lines must rhyme (differently from the rhyme of lines one, two, and five), feature the same rhythm, and have five to seven syllables.
There are some very funny limericks out there which can be easily found by using google.
Thank you to Sadje for picking the best image so far for WDYS Challenge #70. When I saw the image above, right away I knew a limerick(s) is calling me. So there, I tried it.
Stacks of Life
“Rambutan” (fruits that are only available in south east Asia). 
“Elegant”. Location: Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam 
“Perseverance”. Location: Museum of National Singapore
Random pictures from around the world showing “stacks”.
Please visit Tuesday Photo Challenge – with the theme Stack for more pictures.
All images belong to the author of this blog, Erlyn Olivia.
Musing Around for Bridges
Let’s talk about bridges today.
I’ll start with the old, traditional one, where no cars are allowed, but perhaps cattle and horses are okay….
….and then there’s the straight-forward one with a specific purpose.
Or how about a modern one, the bottom view to be exact….
….and this is the top view, although I still fail to spot the cattle and horses on this one. Anyone?
Finally, the tiny one for pedestrian….
“All bridges serve one purpose, that is to get across. Have you made a bridge today? Have you BECOME a bridge for someone?”
~Erlyn Olivia
And since you are such a nice visitor, here is an extra one.
I hope you spot the bridge and not just focus on the couple. Perhaps these two met at the Jomblo Bridge, let’s hope they had a wonderful time together.
Thanks for the opportunity to share some old photos that have been hiding inside my handphone for a long time. I didn’t realize I still have so many treasures in there. Please visit Cee’s Challenge Your Camera #7 – Bridge for more pictures.
All images in this post belong to the author of this blog, Erlyn Olivia.
Yellow in Art
Visit Jude’s blog and challenge at Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, Yellow in February.
Also, this post is in response to Rag Tag Daily Prompt with Tuesday theme Art.
All images in this post belong to the author of this blog, Erlyn Olivia.
Nature Whispering 
You must be logged in to post a comment.