K-Song Review: People (사람) by AgustD

Ishani Sen, Kolkata, West Bengal

People is a solo track by Agust D, the South Korean rapper-songwriter and record producer who also goes by the name Min Yoongi or SUGA of BTS worldwide. It is the 7^th track of the ten-track mixtape D-2 released on 22^nd May 2020, his 2^nd mixtape following AgustD in 2016. The song is written and produced by AgustD and Pdogg. It has been one of my favourite songs ever since it was released especially because of its relatability.

The song talks about the life experiences we share featuring a wordplay between the words 사람(Saram), 사랑(Sarang) and 살아 (Sarah). In Korean, the word ‘Saram’ means ‘people’, ‘Sarang’ means ‘love’ and ‘Sarah’ is a form of the verb ‘salda’ meaning ‘to live.’

In the D-2 Mixtape interview, he said, “You’ll get to know my feelings and thoughts when you listen to them” referring to the tracks and I feel a little closer to the artist with this song since this is something everyone goes on through. The lyrics are simple yet quirky for a song with such depth which adds to its charm.

In Verse 1, he talks about how we meet many people throughout our life, some just brush past us while some soak into our hearts & stay with us for a long time.

‘What kind of person am I?’ the song asks a question that we often ask ourselves. It will be different for everyone just like the lyrics ‘Many ways to judge, I’m just a person.’  It embraces the way a person changes through their life.

‘Everyone would live on, everyone would love

Everyone would fade away and be forgotten

People change, just like I changed’

We often tend to judge ourselves more than anyone else. In the chorus, he asks himself and us in a consoling but carefree manner, what if we are upset and shed tears? What if we live like that? In a world where nothing lasts forever why be so serious all the time? It’s okay to live however we want. It’s okay to be hurt and move on.

He compares the course of life with the flow of water which goes on as we go through many phases and emotions and simply addresses the reality that there might or might not be something special at the end. But regardless of being ordinary or special, each of them in their way is a good life.

The next lines from Verse 2 are my favorite as Yoongi sings,

‘Who said that humans are the animals of wisdom

To my eyes, it’s obvious that they are the animals of regret’

Humans are referred to as the species of wisdom and intelligence but we’re also the only ones capable of feelings, hence the only ones who can feel regret. People are like this, he points out, we always want what we don’t have and when we finally have it, we don’t want it anymore. We always regret not having something others have.

In the pre-chorus after 2^nd verse,

‘Your being ordinary is rather my being special

Your being special is rather my being ordinary

My being ordinary is rather your being special

My being special is rather your being ordinary’

He compares his life with the opposite where our special, and ordinary contradict each other. As an idol, he had to give up on the normal life of a young teenager to achieve his dream and gained something in the process that is extraordinary to us, while, what we have like simply being able to go to the movies, hang out with friends, having more time to ourselves not being constantly surrounded by cameras, our ordinary is something he considers special.

In the ‘Break the Silence’ Documentary Suga once said,

“You lose as much as you gain. You gain as much as you lose. For me, I lost the ordinary. That’s the biggest change. What that means is — what’s ordinary to others is very special to me, whereas what’s special to others is very ordinary to me. Then, before you know it, your set of values changes, the values with which you see the worlds.”

He ends the song with a question I’ll let you think over,

“What about it?

If you live like that, what about it?”

Suga said for D-2 he was talking about his present and had loosened up. The mood was more serene in contrast to his last mixtape which can be felt through this song. He doesn’t sing often and this is one of the rare songs where we can’t get enough of his amazing vocals. With the laid-back tone, music, and vocals the song addresses life in a blunt yet comforting way.

Lyrics translation source: doolsetbangtan

https://doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com/2020/05/22/people/

Have you heard this song? What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments!