Jamais Vu
This article takes a dive into the themes and metaphors in the song ‘Jamais Vu’ as well as the possible meanings behind the lyrics.
So first let’s see the definition behind the song name itself to better understand the theme of the song: Jamais vu itself means “never seen” and refers to something that a person recognises yet is unfamiliar. This song stems from a small mistake J-Hope made on stage during a performance of the song ‘Tomorrow’ which stuck with him; the lyrics he wrote and recognises yet seem unfamiliar as he tries to perform them. In Jamais Vu they sing and rap about feeling out of place, frustration and the resilience to these uncomfortable feelings. In this post I explore the lyrics of the song, all interpretations are my own.
I feel like I’ve lost again. You look angry. A sign that glimmers, “game over, over, over”. If this was a game, it would be all good if I load it again. I guess I gotta deal with this, deal with this real world.
In this intro I feel that they are addressing the feeling of failure; the moment you realise you’ve made the mistake and it can’t be undone (if this is referring to the experience of J-Hope). I’m unsure who the ‘you’ in the line refers to; “you look angry”, however I think it could be directed at themselves. When reading these lyrics I imagined a scenario somewhat like in the practice room, frustrated at errors or mistakes and catching the reflection; I feel like I’ve lost again (as it is not going successfully), you look angry. If this perspective is applicable, it almost feels like two voices/sides, the angry and frustrated exterior vs the disappointed and defeated interior, however this is just my interpretation. They then introduce the metaphor of a game. Multiple times in this song they build this metaphor of a game in which they are the player but life does not have the same settings as a game, which is frustrating yet they must face this reality. It connects to ideas of control and success, yet often things are out of our control and do not go well, yet this is a sad reality to accept. Jin sings that a sign glimmers “game over” which directly links to this and the idea of not being allocated another opportunity to succeed. The repetition is interesting to me, it could be an attempt to accept the reality, disbelief, frustration or else. The following line sums up the game metaphor; that if it was a game he could simply try again and re load, however reality is not like that and instead we must deal with that. I think the “I guess” suits the tone well, as it seems defeated or accepting, as though they are unhappy with this route yet there is not another option, so we must deal with this real world.
It’d be better if it was a game because it’s so painful. I need to heal my medic but I’m another star, blaming myself for not having been perfect. Brake in my head, brake in my step, always. I just wanted to do it well, I just wanted to make you smile.. Damn.
J-hope continues verse 1 with the game metaphor, saying that reality is so painful and therefore it would be better if this was not real. The metaphor is quite impactful to me for the reason that there is a lack of consequences in a game, actions do not impact real life and the game can easily be restarted or played again, yet in life there is a limit to how many opportunities and chances we have, we cannot wipe the progress and restart and there are even witnesses to our actions in real life, therefore there is an additional pressure on being successful in these actions, which makes the failure even more disappointing. I believe in the next line he continues the game metaphor; the ‘medic’ in a game is the allocated person who is the healer who he is saying he needs to heal. The healer is the thing or person who helps and heals others, which in this case could be his music and performance and I think he is using this metaphor to say he needs to perfect/improve/”heal” his music but he is unable to do so. I am not familiar with games or terminology, so I am unsure what the “another star” refers to, yet from the ‘but’ we can decipher that ultimately the line is saying he wants to help heal others yet he is unable to do so. He then admits that he blames himself for this and not being perfect; any small error receives harsh self criticism. “Brake in my head, brake in my step, always” to me suggests hesitance; to brake is to suddenly pause or stop especially when approaching an obstacle or danger, therefore brake in hs head may suggest uncertainty and hesitancy in thoughts, whereas brake in my step may correlate to hesitancy on the exterior. It likely connects to dance too; inside his head becoming hesitant and overthinking and this becomes hesitancy or lack of confidence in a dance and the always suggests that this is a repetitive or familiar occurrence. It is also worth noting that this lyric is rapped in english, therefore when the word “brake” is heard, it shares the same pronunciation as “break”. The impact of this may be that it helps reflect that feeling he describes of “not being okay” or flawless. I just wanted to do it well/make you smile suggests that his intentions were simple and pure; to spread something positive and to be successful in it. The past tense of this showing his intentions and the word “damn” perhaps suggests that he doesn’t feel he achieved that wish. The “just” reminds me of the earlier use of “I guess”. Although it could be used to emphasise that he just/only wanted to do that, it could also be used in a manner of disappointment; I just wanted to do it well.
Please give me a remedy; a remedy that will make my stopped heart beat again. What should I do now? Please save me, please give me another chance. Please give me a…
In the chorus they politely ask for a remedy for this feeling and experience so they can feel and do better, saying that the remedy will revive their heart and make them feel alive again, as their heart has now stopped. This line reminds me of Black Swan’s “an artist dies two deaths; the first when they stop their art and that is perhaps the most painful”. A person with a stopped heart is dead, and they feel this jamais vu and disappointment due to how they are performing in their art, therefore fixing that would revive them. To me it connects to the idea of the pain in failure in one’s passion or artistry, which feels like a “death”. They asked to be saved, for another chance and more which seems desperate for resolution.
…a remedy, a melody, the memory that will remain only in me. If I stop at this point, if I turn it off, will everything be at ease? Though I’m okay, I’m not okay. Though I’ve been telling myself that I’m used to this, it hurts every time as if it’s the first time.
He asks, if I stop or turn it off, will everything be at ease? This indicates to me an idea of peace in giving up; if I cannot get a remedy and fix this issue, would I be more at ease to simply stop and therefore not enduring this painful feeling altogether? It could refer to general things, or very specific things, but I interpreted it as if I stopped this craft or art, as it connected once more to that Black Swan concept. He states that although he is okay, he’s not and this line feels to me like the “in between feeling”. You continue on and try again because you are okay, but ultimately you are not and it is a tricky balance. This line mirrors Blue & Grey where a year after Jamais Vu they sing “don’t just say you’re okay, because you aren’t. Please don’t leave yourself alone, it hurts so much.” This connects to me, and it suggests “although you aren’t okay, yet you say you are to power through, it hurts nonetheless to pretend, so you should accept your feelings and live them.”; it’s okay not to be okay essentially. “Though I’ve been telling myself I’m used to this” indicates that he is trying to convince himself and downplaying the severity of what he is feeling in order to carry on and persist, yet he admits that though he does this “it hurts every time as if it’s the first.” This suggests to me that their determination and passion is consistent, and when something in the art is not going successful or flawless, although it is something they may have experienced before it still hurts due to how much they care. “As if it is the first” implies that every time hurts just as bad and that the pain or frustration never seems to lessen.
A gamer who lacks the skills, yeah, right, I can’t control myself. It keeps hurting, ’cause of trials and errors and of all the other things.
J-Hope returns to the gamer metaphor here, describing himself as playing the game yet without the skills to play efficiently. Rather than saying here that it is not a game and he must accept the reality, in this section he says that it is a game and he is the one conducting and directing the player (likely himself) yet he feels he is not equipped for the game. The wordplay in the next line says that he “cannot control himself”, and I assume this connects to the idea of the player using a controller to direct their avatar etc in a game. Therefore, even though he has the controller, he cannot control himself. This reminds me of the earlier lyric; brake in my head, brake in my step, as I mentioned it suggested hesitancy in movement and lack of confidence in the activity, therefore here he does not feel confident that he is controlling the player well. He also says that it keeps hurting (as they mentioned in the previous time, that the pain never fades no matter how many times) and this is due to all the errors/mistakes and the trials/tests he endures, as well as all the other things. Grouping other factors under the phrase “all the other things” reminds me of the feeling of all the small things adding up and being overwhelmed in general.
My lyrics, every gesture, and every word become scary to me because of my jamais vu, and I try to escape all the time but, you still hold me. Even if my shadow grows larger, my life and you are equal sign so my remedy is your remedy.
He goes on to build on the previous lines; the lyrics that he is rapping, every small movement and even down to every word become ‘scary’ to him. He says this is due to his jamais vu; that the lyrics and dancing are something he knows well yet they seem unfamiliar to him. It is understandable that as a performer this feeling would be frustrating as when you know you know the words, or the dance, yet you still make an error, it would feel as such, however he is describing the dancing and lyrics as daunting, as though he is worried. He says that he tries to escape all the time, I interpret this as he is trying to escape this feeling, he continues with “but”, meaning he is unable to escape. He adds that “but, you still hold me.” I feel that although there is probably one specific intended meaning when he wrote this line, there could be multiple possibilities on the meaning. Firstly, it could be positive; despite my errors and “not being okay”, you still embrace me regardless. Earlier I felt that the “you” in ‘I just wanted to make you smile’ could be himself (he just wants to make himself happy), it could even have been ARMY as the lyric correlates to the 2!3! lyric, which is a fan song for army, and there is a possibility for a third or other party. Here, I assume the “you” refers to the same one as earlier, yet I do not know which is the ‘true’ you. It could be that despite errors in performance, army still embrace him, that part of himself still comforts him, or that the other party does. He continues to say that ‘even if his shadow grows larger…’, which directly references the shadow metaphor that BTS have referenced multiple times this era (persona, shadow, LTB etc). The shadow often represents something negative and dark that follows them. They’ve used this metaphor in relation to their career, with the shadow being things such as doubt, darkness, hesitancy, and so on. I think the shadow that may grow more and more is the hesitancy he feels (brake in my step) in regard to this jamais vu. He says that even if that shadow grows larger, and this feeling intensifies, his life and ‘you’ are equal, meaning there is no power imbalance and they share the same importance, therefore his remedy is your remedy. I find a lot of beauty in this line as they have sung about the struggles they experience, the negative feelings they are enduring, yet they are still thinking of others and wanting to help them also.
They sing the chorus once more, and then this line follows: I run again and fall again. (Honestly) even if this repeats countlessly, I’ll run again.
It indicates a build in confidence and determination to me, as they have discussed both hesitancy and giving up so far, yet this promises that “I will run again and fall again.”, they will try again, and fall again, and yet they will get back up even if it continues to happen; they will run again. The use of run suggests high power and effort to me, as running takes a high pace and power compared to walking, so it suggests to me that he will try hard with high effort. The definitive nature of this sentence is said like a fact and I think this is interesting, as to me it shows the development in the acceptance; knowing that things will not and can not always go 100% perfect; I will fall again. It’s knowing that things may go wrong and this is nature, yet despite that they will continue on. I find this inspiring; it is okay to not succeed as long as you can get up and try again. This line reminds me of Young Forever; “Even if I fall, get wounded, and it aches, I run endlessly to my dream.” and also Permission to Dance; “we don’t need to worry, ’cause when we fall we know how to land.”
Was it a success? I came back. I’ll concentrate and make sure to reach you no matter what, falling and tripping. A familiar pain swoops on me in the same way. It’s not easy again this time. Am I going to give up? No, no never. I won’t give up.
The outro of the song occurs during a final chorus. He begins by asking “was it a success?” and responding “I came back”, which I think refers to him trying again; did it go well this time? Regardless, I came back to try again. The next line reinforces the dedication and drive to try again; I will focus and reach you regardless of obstacles, even if I am falling, tripping and not having a smooth, successful journey. The tone of this section compared to earlier in the song feels powerful; hopeful; uplifting compared to earlier where it may seem more pained or desperate. He says that ‘a familiar pain swoops on him in the same way”, which I assume refers to the jamais vu, as they described it earlier as being painful. In previous lines they said that “it hurts every time as if it’s the first” and I mentioned that the pain and frustration seems to be constant and does not reduce over time, which I think connects to this lyric “it isn’t easy this time either.”; it isn’t easy, yet I will not stop trying. He asks whether he will give up, and confirms no, no never, showing eternal determination (again Young Forever; I run endlessly to my dream). The song ends with the lyric “I won’t give up”. After all the doubt, struggle and pain they endured in this feeling of jamais vu, they build the confidence and confirm that despite the difficulties, they won’t give up.
Thank you for reading!
Translations from: doolsetbangtan
