Still With You
This is my own interpretation and ideas about the song and its lyrics. This song was written and recorded by Jungkook for Festa 2020. I’ll be discussing the lyrics from the perspective that the song is towards the fans, Army, and refers to the situation of the pandemic; the inability to see fans, the frustrations of being not able to perform and the emotions he feels about that situation.
Your faint voice that brushes past me, please call my name just one more time.
He opens the song with the above lyric, where ‘please call my name just one more time’ I feel refers to hearing the voice of Army and being able to meet. It’s the ‘just’ that emphasises this for me, as it suggests a longing and desire for even something small — ‘just one more time’. The fact that the voice is faint may link to the fact that we are far apart in the scenario, or that the memories of hearing that voice are now distant.
Though I’m standing under the frozen sunset, I will walk towards you, one step at a time, still with you.
Next, he sings that he is standing under ‘the frozen sunset’. I personally think this references the pandemic due to the word ‘frozen’; in Life Goes On Jungkook himself opens the song with ‘one day the world stopped without any forewarning’. Therefore, I think this connects to the idea of time being at a pause. The sunset imagery is beautiful as well as sad to me. It suggests the idea of something on the verge of ending; the pandemic will end one day and the sun will set, but for right now we are stuck in the moment. He sings that despite this, he will ‘walk towards you, one step at a time’. I believe this means although we are distanced physically, he will attempt to close that distance in a metaphorical sense and ensure we are not separated, one step at a time and therefore, bit by bit with small actions, such as much like this.
In the dark room without a single lighting, though I shouldn’t be used to it, it feels familiar again. This subtle noise from the air conditioner, if I don’t even have this, I think I’ll break down.
The first verse begins with these lyrics where he is setting a scene and describing his emotions. I think the setting of the background/room can also be a metaphor for this. For example, light is often used as a connection to positive things; hope, happiness etc. However, if this lyric of a room without any light is metaphorical then it could reflect his emotions of lacking these positive things due to the situation. In the literal sense, he would be describing himself sitting in the dark reminiscing on memories as indicated in the lyric that follows it. Furthering this, I also connect the lyric to the current situation due to the room as we were all stuck inside our rooms during the beginning of the pandemic, as discussed in Fly To My Room. In the same album as that song, BE, it reminds me of Jungkook’s room in the concept photos which has many dark colours and does not have a light, just like in the lyrics. It could be a literal lyric; him describing his surroundings as he writes the song or it could come from other aspects.
Laughing together, crying together. These simple emotions, perhaps they were everything to me.
In the pre-chorus he reflects upon memories, both good and bad. To me it feels like a reflection upon how we treasure memories and experiences; things as simple as laughing together or crying together can mean so much (just as he says: “perhaps they were everything to me”).
When would it be? When I meet you again, I’ll look into your eyes and tell you, “I’ve missed you”.
Next he wonders when he can meet you again and wonders when that time will come, as we did not know when this situation will improve or end. Regardless of when, at that time he will “look into your eyes and tell you I’ve missed you”. This line implies to me, at the revival of concerts or other events where they can meet fans in person, he will then be able to directly look into their eyes and say this, not just through a screen.
In the memories of entrancing moments, even if I dance alone, it still rains.
In the chorus he sings of the memories and how entrancing it is to reminisce of the previous times. “Even if I dance alone, it rains”: I believe this refers to how even if they perform without an audience, the sadness remains. Rain is often used in connection to emotions such as gloominess or fatigue (like in their song Rain, 2014) and therefore I interpret this lyric as using the imagery in the same way here. I think of it as saying that even when he dances alone, simply performing does not fulfil the desire to perform, the absence of the audience feels heavy and the rain continues.
When this fog gets lifted up, I will run to you on my wet feet. Hold me in your arms then.
I believe the ‘fog’ also could relate to the general situation; ‘when the fog clears or gets cleared we can reunite’. I think fog is well chosen imagery as it can be difficult to see when in fog and he is unable to see his fans at that time. However, fog is not completely opaque and just like the fog we are not completely obstructed from seeing each other as we can still connect through things such as Weverse and online concerts, yet it is still not like a place without fog. When this fog does lift, he says he will “run to you on wet feet” which I believe implies running after dancing in the rain, hence the rain made his feet wet. I interpret this as at the first opportunity we are able to meet again, we will, as his feet will not even have time to dry from dancing alone in the rain. “Hold me in your arms then” is a lovely lyric to me, it creates a soft imagery of comfort and represents a time where people can be more physically connected in terms of distance.
Because that moon looked lonely, because it looked like it’s crying bright in the night sky, knowing that the morning would come sometime, I still wanted to stay in your sky like a star.
This lyric is my favourite in the song. I think it is quite poetic to observe that the moon seems lonely although there are stars in the sky with it. It is the biggest aspect of the night sky and therefore can seem isolated when looking at it; sometimes you have to focus to notice the stars. “Crying brightly” is a beautiful description to me, almost like the moon being bright is a way to draw attention, but the use of “crying” with this creates a sad connotation. The second line implies wanting to stay but knowing that it cannot be eternal. It’s a bittersweet line in my opinion because you want to stay with them in their sky/life, like a star, yet you know that this isn’t something that can be forever; when the morning comes the sky will become bright again and the stars are no longer visible. Despite this inevitable occurrence, you still want to stay there and be with them regardless. In the first verse he mentions he’s in a room without a light. If he is looking at the moon (as it looked lonely), that may mean the it is the only light source in this situation. In the metaphor in this lyric, the moon is ARMY. Therefore, in a dark and lonely room, through the window, the moon, ARMY, would be the ‘light’; perhaps distanced, but still shining and providing light.
That day, that moment, if I had known that if it would be like this, I would’ve kept more of them in my memories.
In the second pre-chorus he reminiscences once more. He thinks of those specific times or days, multiple memories, and says that if he had known that this situation would occur that he would have treasured them more; kept them in his memories and appreciated them as much as he could knowing that one day he would not be able to have more of these moments. When I hear this line I think of small moments. These small moments can be treasured, happy memories, and they are more precious that we are in a drought of them now.
Behind your faint smile looking at me, I’d like to paint a beautiful purple colour.
He sings to end the song that he would like to paint a beautiful purple colour behind the faint smile. In my opinion, the use of the colour purple here directly connects this to Army, the fans, due to its significance to the group and its meaning (love and trust for a long time). The ‘beautiful’ furthers this as a positive connection. The concept of painting this is poetic also as it is quite artistic and creative, as well as a skill he does beautifully. The purple colour isn’t just behind the smile, he’d like to create and put it there.
Even if our steps might be in different frequencies, I’d like to walk on this path with you, still with you.
I have a few interpretations of ‘our steps being in different frequencies’. Firstly, it’s not often that humans or walking is measured with such language, which therefore links it in my mind to technology; the way we had to communicate during the pandemic as we were physically distanced. Whether it is physical distance, our language differences or other ‘differences’ affecting us walking in sync, he would still like to walk this path to you and with you. This means to me that despite limitations we were facing due to the situation, or any barriers we have, he would like to go on this journey alongside us. I specifically like the use of ‘with’ throughout the lyrics and title of this song; to me it creates an equal power dynamic of being alongside someone.
Translations from: doolsetbangtan
