Hi everyone
Hope you’ve all been keeping well!
I had a burst of inspiration and so I decided I better capitalise on that and type out all the thoughts I have been harbouring in my head all this time.
Mono is such an exciting mixtape to analyse because Namjoon stated in his fancafe post that no official lyrics for Mono will be released.
“…I purposefully did not put in official lyrics. In the eagerness that many people would listen to it with their own language and expression. In the hope that it becomes fuller through individuals filling in the missing blanks!“
When a master lyricist says that… you know that the entire album is going to be filled with smartly designed wordplay that can hold multiple meanings and open everything up for interpretation.
New readers, you’re about to jump into the middle of Namjoon’s life and if you haven’t read my previous blog posts where I’ve tied Namjoon’s story from 2013 up to 2018 through his lyrics (mostly from the Love Yourself albums), you may lack context. In my blog we build on existing knowledge and I’ve designed it to be read in chronological order.
I was able to create the chronology based on two principles:
- BTS has said over and over again that all of their songs are written based on their past experiences. This means that when a song was written in 2018, it can only be about something that happened prior to 2018.
- While a writer can write a song for someone else to sing, ultimately they are still writing their own story. It is not possible to write an accurate story about someone else’s intimate life and love for their partner in the first person without their input (e.g. Serendipity).
You can start here or just jump right into it with us!
To my amazing readers, ready? Let’s do this. Let’s wake up in Tokyo.
1. Wake up in Tokyo
The timeline explained in my blog indicates Namjoon broke up with a person he refers to as “Her” around 2014 – 2015 and he was angry and depressed up till 2016 before he started to get better around the start of 2017. (Refer to I Love You, I Know and Always)
Joon’s first mixtape “RM” was released on March 2015, meaning that the stories in “RM” must be about his life pre-March 2015. Hence, it is likely that Mono captures Joon’s life from around early 2015 to pre-October 2018.
The first line of Tokyo is “Wake up in Tokyo“. This indicates that Namjoon was in Tokyo when this story takes place.
If you Google “BTS Tokyo 2015” you will find an event that matches our timeline and Namjoon’s lyrics perfectly (almost poetically I daresay):
BTS’ first Japan Tour in Tokyo in February 2015 named: “Wake up: Open your eyes”
This indicates that Tokyo is about Namjoon’s life and feelings around February 2015.
The first five lines are as follows:
Wake up in Tokyo
Feel like a torso
I know it’s time to go
I see Pinocchio wearing a poncho
That’s me some time ago
Per doolset lyrics: Tokyo in Korean is 동경 (dong-gyung; 東京), which shares the same pronunciation as 동경 (dong-gyung; 憧憬), meaning “longing, yearning, admiration, aspiration.”
Therefore, it is possible to interpret the line as “Wake up in longing” or “Wake up in yearning“, etc. Personally, I love this interpretation as it ties in with the lyrics later “Homesick… but I just wanna stop right next to you.”
The word “torso” also sounds like “tore soul” or “torn soul”. This interpretation is not only poetic imagery-wise as a torso alone is a person torn apart with incomplete body parts, but, it is also incredibly poetic and consistent when considered with the story told in (Outro): Tear where Namjoon describes his heart and soul being torn apart after the breakup.
The characterisation of himself as Pinocchio (i.e. a liar) is consistent with the story we see in Fake Love where Namjoon lied and tried to pretend everything was okay. The lyrics “that’s me some time ago” is consistent with the timeline we explored in the Love Yourself albums as Fake Love occurs before (Outro): Tear, indicating that Tokyo takes place around (Outro): Tear to I’m Fine where Namjoon was still struggling with his depression but had come to a realisation that faking it does not work.
The consistency of themes and events tell us that all of this is real. Namjoon has poured his entire soul into his lyrics and music and has shared with us intimate details of his life.
The poncho sets the scene and reflects Namjoon’s mood that day: It was a rainy, sad and depressing day.
2. Yearning and loss
Do I miss myself?
Do I miss your face?
I don’t know
I don’t know
Namjoon makes it very clear that there was someone very special in his life that is now gone “Do I miss your face?“. This is consistent with the lyrics of (Outro): Tear where we learn about his break up “Goodbyes are, for me, tears.”
The lyrics “Do I miss myself?” echoes the lyrics we explored in Always where Namjoon sings “I miss me miss me baby” over and over again in sadness.
The lyrics make it clear that Namjoon feels like his soul has torn in two because he has lost two important things in his life:
Himself, and “Her”.
3. Life Death Love Hate
Life is a wave that sometimes you cannot see *
And ash is a thing that someday we all should be
When tomorrow comes, how different it’s gonna be?
Why do love and hate sound just the same to me?
*This also sounds like “Life is a word that sometimes you cannot say.” So choose your favourite interpretation.
Over and over again, we have seen how Namjoon sees the world in dichotomies. Angel, Devil, Light, Dark, Beauty, Monster, and now Life, Death, Love and Hate. In terms of songs: Serendipity vs Singularity, DNA vs Fake Love, Dimple vs the Truth Untold, and (Outro): Her vs (Outro): Tear (see blog post here).
All of these things are simply two sides of the same coin.
Consistently:
“Life is a wave that sometimes you cannot see” describes the unpredictableness of Life while “And ash is a thing that someday we all should be” describes the utter predictableness of Death as we will all turn into ashes one day.
The imagery of a wave is particularly beautifully poetic as well given our understanding of what the sea represents to Namjoon. (See blog post here and here).
4. Moving past “You”
I can’t sleep
Homesick
Babe I just wanna stop* right next to you
If I could choose my dream I just wanna
Stop* right next to you
*The word “Stop” is ambiguous sounding. Some people hear “Stay”, and some people hear “Stop”. I hear both, depending on my mood that day. I decided to go with “Stop” today because the lyrics “stay right next to you” is self-explanatory.
If you listen carefully, Tokyo is set onboard a train. You can hear the horn and sounds of a train moving along the tracks. The train is symbolic as being on a train symbolises someone on their journey of Life.
Namjoon wishes with all his heart that he can “stop” the train and stop “right next to you” to be with “Her”. To Namjoon, Home is where “She” is, and without “Her” around, he is hopelessly homesick. The lyrics “I can’t sleep… Homesick” is a poetic choice as Tokyo itself too is not Namjoon’s home and the lyrics reflect his sadness from being away from his home in Korea.
Namjoon implies that he is a passenger (not the driver) on his train of Life and he has little control over where he can stop, “if I could choose my dream…” This ties back to Namjoon’s ongoing belief in destiny that Destiny brought him and “Her” together, and his fear that Destiny would get jealous and tear them apart “I’m worried destiny is jealous of us“, “because destiny keeps getting jealous of us.” (Refer to Serendipity)
Where will the train of Life take Namjoon? Well, as we all now know, all over the world. But Namjoon in February 2015 does not know that.
Instead, we will visit Namjoon’s home next. So enjoy the train ride and…
…see you soon in Seoul.
~ 지