Sometimes three minutes is all it takes to slow down. ARMYs and fans of Lee Ji-eun, a.k.a. IU, got a reminder of that on May 6, when the singer-songwriter partnered with BTS’ Suga on her new single. IU and BTS’ Suga’s “Eight” lyrics in English are all about life moving too fast—from childhood slipping away, to the daily duties of adulthood holding us down. But the song itself is a lesson in how to relax and reflect.
Both Suga and IU were inspired by the fact that they’re both 28 years old and took the song as an opportunity to channel their experiences as fully-fledged adults—whether that’s regret or relief. In a press release, IU shared, “‘Eight’ is like a short novel of confession of my twenty-eight-year-old self to the fictional character ‘you’ using various metaphors.”
“I’m not sure whether it comes from my personal feelings or from the general atmosphere of society that is enduring tough times together due to disasters, but my 28-year-old life is likely to be remembered as a recurring helplessness and fatigue, and a longing for the ‘Orange Island’ where ‘we’ were not sad and could be free,” she added, referencing one of the song’s metaphors.
Meanwhile, Suga opened up about working on his verse and the production with band-mate RM. “The production process was very smooth so there wasn’t a lot of back-and-forth. I wrote the beat and the melody came quickly after that. After I finished working on it, I listened to it a lot,” he revealed. “After I finish working on a song, after it’s released, I don’t usually listen to it. Because I can only hear the things that I wish I could do better. The moment it leaves my hands, I think the song belongs to the listeners.” But “Eight” is so good, it warrants all the replays.
Read on for the English translation of Suga and IU’s new single, “Eight,” and watch the music video below.
Verse 1:
So are you happy now?
Finally happy now, are you?
Well, I’m exactly the same
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
Where the sun has set, as far as the sun sets
I travel in those memories
Chorus:
Under an orange sun
We dance with no shadows
There is no such thing as decided farewells
Meet me in that memory that was once beautiful
Forever young
Post-Chorus:
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Forever we young
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
If it is this kind of nightmare, I won’t ever wake up
Verse 2:
(SUGA)
Island, yeah, here is an island
A small one that we made with each other
Yeah, um, forever young, the word “forever” is a sandcastle
A farewell is like a disaster cast
A morning greeted along with yearning
Let us both pass this eternity
Surely meet once more on this island
Verse 3:
Like what someone said as they were consoling me, passing
It isn’t that easy to forget a memory merely big as a handspan
Even as time goes by, still
At that place which takes hold of me
Chorus (Above)
Bridge:
We lie down atop of each other
Share stories that aren’t of sorrow
There is no such thing as gloomy endings
I will forever meet you in this memory
Forever young
Post-Chorus
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Forever we young
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
If it is this kind of nightmare, I won’t ever wake up