Analysis: T*A*E*H*Y*U*N*G (part 3 of 3)
[Disclaimer: the following is pure speculation and a collection of observation. Do not take this as fact.]
Youth Youth
BTs album Youth would obviously be the first thing to come to mind. We have two songs neatly capping the album, namely Introduction: Youth and Epilogue:Young Forever. I'm going to try and keep it short so I won't do a full analysis on these videos even though I had a lot more to say, so I apologise in advance if it sounds rushed. Firstly, the Introduction:Youth video reads like a prologue, an actual introduction to the boys' story and I personally think it tells more than just the birth of their creative concept. Ironically, it begins with an image of a butterfly, which we all by now know to link with Monarch Mind Control.
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We then see cutscenes of the boys looking happy and several more clips of butterflies and birds in flight. The feel of the MV is one of freedom, suitably so within the context of their song about "following their stars" and chasing their dreams. However, in Young Forever we start off with a similar image of birds in flight, only to immediately be greeted with the image of a fence -their maze.
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The boys are walking inside of this maze. There are many symbolic shots in this video, one of the most prominent being Ta3's upside down shot while the boys face him. Again, Ta3 is made to stand out from the rest of his group members. There are familiar images from the first introduction video, including photographs of the boys from earlier. Here is my opinion on what this means: I believe that the introduction represents the boys starting out in the industry, their ambitions and dreams and the innocence before being tainted by industry. If you believe somewhat in the occult theory, then you know that those who start out are usually lied to or manipulated into believing they are taking part in something good and healthy. From my understanding, it's usually only once they begin ascending in rank that the true nature of the practice is revealed. Between the first and last song, we have Fire, and that song seemed to be a significant one in terms of the "deal with the devil" theory (i.e. Boy Meets Evil). Even the phrase "boy meets evil" fits in well with the concept of the loss of innocence. The youth spoken about in the first song is the youth of naivety, the youth of innocence. However, if we go along with the theory of MK Ultra, rituals and all the other dark stuff that was said to occur behind the scenes (or, for the cynics, the abuse, slave contracts, etc.), that would no doubt have had some kind of psychological effect on the boys. Remember when J*K said that he had stopped aging mentally after 15 because that was the age he was when he debuted?
Arrested Psychological Development
"Traumatic life events can cause the child to become ‘stuck’ at a particular level of psychological development for an extended period of time – s/he may, therefore, often seem immature as development was frozen at an earlier stage."
Source: https://childhoodtraumarecovery.com/2018/03/09/arrested-psychological-development-and-age-regression/
In other words, the victim remains in a state of perpetual adolescence, or eternal youth. By the time the epilogue is shown, it's clear that the mood is more melancholic and serious. It's as though the boys had been through whatever it was that caused their trauma, and the results kept them in a state of youth, like a cycle or a maze. That is why I personally think the word has been repeated twice, not only because of the two songs on the album, but also to indicate that the boys are now trapped in their youth -it's cyclic because while they lost the innocence of their youth, the trauma they've experienced keeps them at that stage of their lives. Youth is both lost and forever. It reminded me of this image:
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Interestingly enough, the word "never' is written the same way as it is on the board in the image at the very top of my post, the one used in Ta3's Stigma performance (the back vertical line for both E's are missing). And both phrases happen to be in the same pane.
Lust for Life
The only connection for this that I could find comes from the lyrics of a song by the same name, performed by Icona Pop. Here are some of the lyrics:
Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs (this topic has already been brought up in relation to celebrities)
And a flesh machine (makes me think about the earlier discussion about how the boys are being sexualised more and more)
He's gonna do another strip tease (same as above point)
Hey man, where'd y'get that lotion?
I've been hurting since I'm up again
About something called love
Yeah, something called love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens (sheeple, anyone?)
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before (this means basically, to be screwed over, but I also took it has a reference to something else)
I have a lust for life
'Cause I've a lust for life
I'm worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a GTO
Wear a uniform
All on a government loan
Right, so just to cover a bit about the song:
"This song is about Iggy Pop's lifestyle as a hard-living heroin addict. The title is taken from the 1956 film of the same name, which itself is an adaptation of Irving Stone's 1934 biographical novel about the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh."
Source:
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5218
Vincent Van Gogh was considered the second best Dutch painter after Rembrandt and had a rather tragic life story. He eventually took took his own life at 37 by way of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and his paintings (particularly his self-portraits) were known for their interesting use of colour and brush stroke technique. We learned a bit about Van Gogh back in my high school art class (I was a horrible art student so I'm not going to pretend I'm any good at this lol), but there are two things I remember about Van Gogh very clearly. The first is his infamous incident where he cut off his own ear (he was rather mentally disturbed). Hence my pointing out the coincidence that the song has that particular expression in it. The second is that my art teacher specifically brought up a self portrait of Van Gogh in which there was sharp contrast between red and blue/green. He mentioned that the brush strokes and colours in that particular portrait were harsh and the technique was meant to convey Van Gogh's inner turmoil and mental struggle. Here is where things get trippy. Ta3 happens to have mentioned Van Gogh as his favourite artist. He not only took a picture with this particular painting (amongst others), but he even redrew it himself.
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To tie this in with my BST and Stigma analyses, note the harsh colours used and compare the portrait to that of Ta3's BST scene.
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And to think I thought that art class would never come in handy. Anyway, I think this is indicative of Ta3's inner struggles. He seems to be in conflict with his core persona and his alters. Again, we have this concept of illusion vs. reality. This brings me to my next bit.
Remember the Nirvana reference that was also on the board? In another one of their MVs, the Nirvana song Come As You Are was referenced, I included a few of the lyrics in my previous post. As I was doing my research into Ta3, I came across a blog that mentioned that Ta3 said Eric Benet was one of his favourite singers. I looked into Eric Benet and guess what . . . the man also has a song called Come As You Are. Notable lyrics:
Here in this room, so many traces of you
So many nights lying by your side
Sleeping with secrets deep inside (a reference to secrets which was a vital part of the lyrics of
Stigma)
Secrets your eyes could not deny
Come as you are, lay with me
Beautiful lies once more tell me ("beautiful lies" . . . those lyrics sound familiar. Who said they crafted beautiful lies again?)
With all the love in my heart
I'll set you free
Now that our eyes have said goodbye
My whole life has changed
Looks like I'll surely go insane
Cause my world revolved around the love that never was (a love that never was . . . oh, you mean like a F.A.K.E.* L.O.V.E.?)
Before I say goodbye to love
Just hold me until the morning comes
Well I know it's not easy
Finding words to let me know
But the pain of make-believing (again with the theme of illusions and pain)
Is more than just letting go
Benet has another song called Georgy Porgy, I don't know if all of you know that old nursary rhyme but these are some interesting lyrics for that particular song that I thought fit rather well with Ta3:
Georgy Porgy puddin' pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry
Kissed the girls and made them cry
Kissed the girls and made them cry
Just think how long I've known ya'
It's wrong for me to own ya' (they certainly own many hearts . . .or more like the industry they're slaves to does. Hearts and wallets.)
Lock and key
It's really not confusion
I'm just the young illusion (indeed their personas are illusions)
Can't you see
Eric Benet's music also has a very similar sound to Ta3's Stigma -the same kind of neo-soul, jazzy type vibe. I have to say that Ta3's voice is great in that song -he is a talented vocalist. And hey hey hey Mr. Benet seems to think so too:
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To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure -Vee, J*in
For this, not much needs to be said. The two of them are always seemingly linked throughout most of their videos, particularly in BST. The two of them seem to always be linked with death, not only in their MVs but in real life too, with both of them unfortunately having lost their grandmothers (God rest their souls). The duet they sang for the OST of Ta3's drama Hwarang is also rather depressing and has a strong theme of sacrifice and death.
This damn love, because of you
I can’t move even if I’m hurt
Even if I die, it’s only you
Without you, tears fill up my heart
It’s just black hell
To me, that’s who you are
Your Oldest Fear is the Worst One -Exposure? Loss of Control?
This was the trickiest, to be honest. I don't know what fear this could reference. Fear that people will know what they have done (again, hypothetical), like his character who commited murder in the INU MV? Fear for loss of control? Fear induced by MK Ultra? Or if he was born into it (very strong possibility) . . . is there some other kind of fear involved? I'm not sure. All I know is that his worst fear is the oldest fear, which makes it sound as though Ta3's journey through all of this began earlier than the others, as though he might have been aware from the start. Thus, T*a*e*h*y*u*n*g truly is the singularity.
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