Writer: Vedansh Varshney (Delhi, India)

Editor: Prachi Vaid (Delhi, India)

Songwriting in K-pop is truly underappreciated. The language barrier might hinder a non-native listener’s ability to understand a song’s message. The engaging audio and visuals are easier to consume, but somehow might make one overlook the lyrical components of a song. However, when you dive deeper into the process of songwriting, you uncover the artist’s profound self-expression and creativity, all truly deserving of appreciation. In this article, we’ll explore some K-pop songs that showcase creative wordplay in ways that will leave you stunned!

WORD PLAY AS AN ACROSTIC POEM

“Acrostic Poem” is a form of poetry where the first letter (or syllable) of each line spells out a word or a phrase. Seeing an acrostic poem being cleverly incorporated and hidden in the lyrics of certain K-pop songs was definitely a surprising yet impressive discovery. In many cases, you’ll observe the singers putting an extra emphasis on the first syllables while singing to highlight them separately. Here are some of these examples that will surprise you:

ITZY – 마.피.아 (Mafia) In The Morning

An acrostic poem appears at the timestamp 2:17 in the song: 

(마) 마침내 (피) 피할 수 없는 (아) 아침이 와

(Ma) machimnae (Pi) pihal su eomneun (A) achimi wa

The brackets indicate the first syllable for each line, which forms the word 마피아 or “Mafia,” which is the song title.

MONSTA X – Dramarama

An acrostic poem appears at the timestamp 2:27 in the song: 

(뭔)가 내 안에 – (mwon)ga nae ane

(배)인 너의 향기가 – (bae)in neoye hyanggiga

(배)경이 되어 – (bae)gyeongi doeeo

The brackets indicate the first syllable for each line, which forms the word 뭔배배 or “Monbebe,” which is the fandom name of MONSTA X.

ATEEZ – Say My Name

An acrostic poem appears at the timestamp 1:46 during Hongjoong’s rap:

(에) 워싸 두르고 지켜봐 

(이)름 딱 네 글자 여기다 

(티) 나게 남겨놔 

(Z)oom in here cuz I’m the captain

The brackets indicate the first syllable for each line, which forms the word 에이티Z or “에이티즈,” which is how ATEEZ is written in Hangul.

WORD PLAY AS SONG TITLE

In this section, we’ll delve into K-pop song titles that intriguingly hold dual or even multiple meanings, often mirroring both the explicit message of the song and a deeper metaphorical significance. We’ll explore how these titles cleverly capture the core concept of the song while also carrying nuanced interpretations.

Baekhyun – Bambi (밤비)

Bambi is a heartwarming Disney classic character, a young deer that navigates the joys and challenges of the forest, learning about friendship, loss, and protecting his loved ones. Interestingly, the word “Bambi” also directly translates to “night rain” in Korean, as “밤” (bam) means “night” and “비” (bi) means “rain”. In an interview, Baekhyun explained that the song title indeed carries a dual meaning and he wanted the listeners to feel the essence of both while listening to the song. The Disney character Bambi represents qualities like innocence, softness, and being adorable. In the song, Baekhyun refers to his lover as Bambi as he’s completely smitten with her beauty. On the other hand, the song’s mellow R&B vibe, coupled with scenes of rain in the music video, vividly evokes the imagery of a tranquil rainy night.

F(x) – Rum Pum Pum Pum (첫 사랑니)

I never paid much attention to the Korean title of this song until its lyrics’ interpretation blew my mind. The song title, along with the lyrics, is a whimsical wordplay that ingeniously compares “first love” with the “wisdom tooth”. The Korean title reads as “첫 사랑니” (cheot sarangni), which translates to “first wisdom tooth”. However, if you remove the last syllable, “사랑니” (sarangni) becomes “사랑” (sarang), which means “love”, hence the title becomes “first love”, which are the words sung during the chorus (i.e., 첫 사랑). The song lyrics further do an immaculate job at drawing out this metaphor:

“Attention boys! I’m a bit different. I pushed aside all the others and took my place.”

“Ouch! Your head will hurt. You won’t be able to sleep. You won’t forget me easily.”

“What to do? You probably expected one who grew up straight but I’ll be crooked and torture you. I’m not easy.”

“Even if you struggle to pull me out, that spot will be empty forever.”

BTS – Ddaeng! (땡 )

In the infamous diss track “Ddaeng!” by BTS’s rap trio (consisting of RM, Suga, and j-hope), the word “ddaeng” serves as a representation of six different meanings. Let’s look at the translation of the song to understand it better:

“I’m ding-dong, you’re ddaeng.” 

Both “ding-dong” and “ddaeng” represent the sounds when an answer (e.g., during a quiz) is right and wrong, respectively. Hence, ddaeng here denotes a wrong answer/ choice.  

“The cash register sound, ddaeng.” 

Here, ddaeng represents the sound of a cash register.

“Ring the school bell, brr brr, ddaeng.”

Here, ddaeng refers to the sound of a school bell.

“Sleeping after eating ramen, the face gets puffy ddaeng.”

“땡땡” (ddaeng ddaeng) is an expression used to refer to swollen eyes, face, or body.

“Stop for a second, ice ddaeng.”

“I liked it when I was young- ice ddaeng.”

Here, ddaeng refers to the children’s game of tag, also known as “ice ddaeng”.

“One-Eight One-Three Three-Eight ddaeng.”

“You’re 7-kkeut, I’m ddaeng.”

In these lines, they refer to the Korean card game “섰다” (seotda), where “7-kkeut” denotes a poor combination of cards. The following ddaeng here signifies that they have a better hand of cards.

WORD PLAY WITH IDOL’S NAME

One of the most innovative wordplays that I’ve encountered so far involves idols creatively integrating their own names into their song lyrics. At first glance, it seems puzzling how this could be executed, but let’s look at these examples where this was implemented quite perfectly. 

GFRIEND – Sunny Summer

In “Sunny Summer,” the names of all GFRIEND members (Yerin, SinB, Umji, Eunha, Yuju, and Sowon) appear within the lyrics of the song, specifically in their own individual parts:

“예린은 외로워” (yerineun weroweo)

means “Yerin is lonely.” The only line that isn’t wordplay.

“신비한 곳으로” (shinbihan goseuro)

means “to a mysterious place.” 신비 (shinbi or SinB) means “mystery.”

“엄지 척” (eomji cheok)

means “thumbs up!” 엄지 (eomji or Umji) means “thumb.”

“은하수 건너서” (eunhasu geonneoseo)

means “let’s cross the Milky Way.” 은하 (eunha) means “galaxy”, while 은하수 (eunhasu) means “Milky Way.”

“어떡해? 유주 be my” (eotteokhae? yuju be my)

translates to “what do I do? Would you be my.” Yuju here sounds like “would you.”

“내 소원을 들어줄래” (nae sowoneul deureojullae)

means “will you hear out my wish.” 소원 (sowon) means “wish.”

PIXY – Karma

PIXY’s “Karma” also incorporates the names of all the members (Dia, Dajeong, Rinji, Lola, and Sua) in the song lyrics:

“Like a flawless (dia)mond”

contains the name “Dia.”

“(다 정)해진 story 너의 dead end” (da jeonghaejin story neoui dead end)

contains the name “Dajeong.”

“어린지 몰라도 충분해” (eorinji mollado chungbunhae)

contains the name “Rinji.”

“너 깜짝 놀라, 놀라, 놀라게” (neo kkamjjak nolla-nolla-nollage)

contains the name “Rora” (the pronunciation of “nolla” in the song sounds close to Rora).

“거짓 순수 아름답게 맺을 결말” (geojit sunsu areumdapge maejeul gyeolmal)

contains the name “Sua.”

The lyricism and wordplay in K-pop are truly artistic. From hiding fandom names in their lyrics to creating intriguing song titles, K-pop provides an innovative flair to its audience.

What is your favorite lyric? Have you ever noticed a clever wordplay in a K-pop song? Comment below with your favorite band or singer you think has the most genius lyrics and the best wordplay tricks up their sleeves!