the meaning behind IU's song, You and I

You and I –IU

Hi there my dear readers.. :D

I had been desperate to make an article about songs lately, and now the song that I will observe is one of the song from a cute  korean singer, IU. I really like this song, the music, the melody.. oh well, I like all IU’s songs actually.. =))

So, for the start, today I will explain about one of IU’s songs, You and I. For you who never heard this song will think that I must be one of those girl who is falling in love, right? But really, don’t ever judge a book by its cover, or in this case a song by its title.

Anyway, yes.. this song is about romance. Yes, this song is about a girl with a boy. Yes, it’s about love. But not the fluffy one. Honestly, at first I kinda got fooled by the song. I thought since the title is “You and I” then it must be a song about a typical love song that all happy and fluffy, sweets. A story about meetings and dates and married... especially when I heard the song from my friend’s MP3.

But then, my curiousity is getting on me when I watch the video accidently on my TV. It has dance, sure it is. But the scenario just different from what I thought. So I’m searching for the Lyrics in English Version and made a conclusion that my thought about this song is totally wrong THIS WHOLE TIME! Here is my analysis on the lyric that I got by the way:

You and I—IU English Ver.

[The whispered secrets as I look at the clock

The sincere story in my heart

It’s okay if I’m hurt

The more I am pushed, the better

Please call out my name]

In this part of lyric, it tells about 1. secrets that whispered or spread as the girl look at the clock. We don’t know what secrets those are exactly, YET. And we don’t know the meaning ‘wishpered’ here. Is it poeple who whispered or  is it the sounds of the clock that sounds like whispers for her? Because in the MV, there’s no people in the room. Only the girl and the boy who lie unconscious. 2. A sincere story in the girl’s heart, I might said the sincere story is probably the memories that the girl had with the boy that still lingering in her heart. 3. The more she is pushed, the better. Okay, this has ambiguation meanings, it can be meaning that pushed word here like motivate her or like “pushed” throw away, rejection. But in general, it means that it’s okay in fact it would be good if she is pushed. 4. Aha! Here the girl wants to be called. In the MV as what I’ve said before, the boy is unconscious so the reason she want to be called can be either  because she wants the boy to wake up and call her or it because the rejection like what i thought before. In whole, i might say that the meaning in this part of lyric is still blur. Sure, we can just use my first theory that the girl is being rejected but.. who knows? And I’m not the kind of woman who using brute forced conclusion. No. So let’s move to the next lyric~

[I’m afraid my heart will be revealed in between my hands

My heart is overwhelmed, it’s sad

Please wait a bit more and wait for me

You and I, we can’t be right now]

From this part, the meaning become clearer.. a little. I can conclude that the girl is afraid that her feeling will be known, but I’m not really sure the meaning in between her hands. It can be meaning that she afraid that her act will reveal her feeling. Then she said that her heart is tired, it’s overwhelmed, tired by sadness. And then she wish the boy to wait her, because they cannot be together at the time. So, from this part I can say that her feeling is suppose to be a secret, and because of that she become really sad because she cannot be with the boy she love at the time, and so she begging him to wait for her.

[I want to push on the clock even more but,

In the future, which you will be in

Please call out my name

The times that I first peeped at

You and I, we were together]

From this part we will know that: the girl wanted for the time to speed up so she can reach the future immediately. And again, she beg for the boy to call her name in the future. the “the times that I first peeped at.” Part seems hard to get the meaning but I maight say it can be either means that the times here is the moments that she imagine in the future when they will be together, you and I, we were together. Or the times here is the past time when they first met, when they still together, it’s using past tense.

[I like you, who plays with me

If I ask you, you like me too

What is my name?]

This part tells us that the girls like the boy who plays with her, or spend time with her perhaps (?). then she said if she ask him do he like her too, then who is her name? I might said that this girls is really deperate to be called by her name from the boy. Is there a secret intention in saying her name? Hm......

[In a blink of an eye, I’ll be an adult

I hope you recognize me, I hope you remember me

Yes that strange child

I really like your image that shines in between my hands

I turn it with my fingertips-hey clock hand, please run

Turn a little bit faster

I close my eyes tightly and cast a spell

You and I, there’s only a little bit left]

Hah, this part the girl is kinda challenging the boy, I guess. She said that she will be an adult in no time and she hopes that he will recognize her, that he will remember the strange child from his past. She said she really like him, he looks shining. Then she turn the clock and asked it to speed up while closing her eyes. I think the spell here means the wish that she hope to be come true. And she said that there is only a little bit time left. It means soon, the time for her and the boy will come.

[I don’t know when or what time

But in the future, which you will be in

By any chance, if I get lost and wander,

So that i can recognize you,

Please call out my name]

The last part means the girls herself doesn’t know when they will meet in the future for sure. But she hopes that in the future if she get lost and wandering around and they happen to meet, she wants him to call her name.

So,from the lyric I can conclude that the song is about a girl who is falling in love to a grown man, an adult. And she feels depressed because she cannot express her feeling toward the man that she loved. Why? Because apparantly, it is forbidden for relationship between a child and an adult. At least for elders, because they thought it’s an act that resembles immorality. But the young generation always said, “love doesn’t look at the age.” Lol.  Anyway, they used to be plays or spend time together, but the scandal made the man avoid her in this case he doesn’t want to call her name or ignore her. Then what’s the man will call her then? I don’t actually know, really.. maybe something like.. “child” “kid” “young girl” “girl” “brat” and many else.  this situation is also give an impact towards the girl, it made her want to get older faster. She hope that the time will be pass faster so she can get older and meet him. So when they finally meet again in the future, by accident, and so she hopes that at that time the man will finally call her name and stop ignoring her. You and I, Together.

Connecting to the MV, in there it shows a girl who made a time machine. At firts the MV confuse me, because we don’t know if the girl goes to the future or the past. But after I found out the meaning of the lyric, the girls is actually only want to be an adult like the man so they can be together. So, she made a time machine and decided to go through the past. The time when the man have the same age with her. After she dissapear to the past, the man wake up but he cannot find the girl anymore.

But wait, it’s not the end. The girl choose to go to the past so that in the future or in the present time for the man’s case, they will have the same age. In the epilog of the MV, it shows after several days or... moments?  the man meet the adult version of the girl in a shop when he buy something. At first he didn’t know the girl, because he used to only know the child version of her not the adult. But then he found the picture of a clock in his hand, and the needles pointed at the same directions as the needles on hers. That’s when he recognize her, and so the man finally call her name.

Oh god! I love this song really. The scandal part remains me of a japan movie, heavenly forest. Maybe I will write about that movie later. Oh, and I guess I want to make a songfic based from this song. Lol. I just thought that this song have a good plot to be a songfic. The song’s meaning is like a story, it has a beginning, scandal, climax, solution and epilog. Yes, I am definitely making the songfic! Just you wait my dear readers!! XD

By the way, thanks for reading this article, really. But I warn you, don’t believe this article too much. Because, I’m not the song’s writer, I just write this article by doing analysis through the lyric and the MV. That’s all. I can’t guarantee you that this article is telling exactly the truth. I mean 100% true. No, it’s only based from my analysis and my own conclusion.

But even so, I thanks for whoever you who read this article and apreciate it. Thank you. See you on my next writing dear readers! :D