My Reaction On “TABLO X TAEYANG – ‘눈,코,입(EYES, NOSE, LIPS)’ “

 

First reaction on just reading the lyrics, was “AWESOME”, truly fit what should be expected from Tablo, a poet great with words. After listening to the actual song, I am amazed at the magic that worked between the lyrics and the remix music (by DJ Tukutz, another member of Epik High, of which Tablo is the leader). Tablo’s style of singing & rapping, is soulful and with real emotion, and I can’t help being drawn into the song. It is a great collaboration. One of my favourite part, is “Please fade fade to black”. It worked wonders with the music. Completely synced to a full bloom of perfect  integration, the kind of indescribable sense of “perfection” whenever I hear a song that has the lyrics and music, and the singing fitting like pieces of a completed puzzle.

Initially of course, I was already amazed by Tablo’s use of words, that send chills through my bones even before I hear the song itself . The deep “hatred” seeping through every word, is such a obvious cover for a equally deep if not deeper and probably very uncontrollable love and passion.

I was also reminded of Shinhwa’s lyrics for T.O.P. (Twinkling of Paradise), which shocked me when I first found out the meaning. Truly, when you love someone too much, and when that gives the other person leverage to hurt you with unbelievably deep and painful wounds, the stronger the love is, the stronger the “hatred” would be.

But even as a Shinhwa fan, I have to admit Tablo took that “hatred” to a much deeper level. Shinhwa’s love-hate song is still with a tinge of innocence, love and tenderness, hoping that the person who left would come back, but Tablo’s love-hate song is so full of darkness and hopelessness, with no hint of healing and recovering, so much so that without Taeyang’s angelic voice that joins near the end of the song, and his obvious lamentation that is still full of affection for the “you” in the song, it would be too unbearably heavy.

Second reaction on reading the lyrics, argh, I wished Tablo could have left out the part about “God” and the subtle hint of praying to no avail. And also the part where he mentioned “too much of heaven’s a sin”.

However, when I read through the lyrics, and listened to the song again and again, I think I can understand why Mr Lyricist wrote such lyrics (although I am quite sure he would not agree with me, after all, I am second-guessing, but he is the creator of these words).

I think that Tablo was already quite good at portraying dark, hopeless thoughts and emotions, even when he debuted. This style of lyrics is what he is great at and used to. So after going through the period of life when he faced very serious persecutions , and suffering through depression, it is  natural and easy to come up with black smoky heavy hopeless hateful angry words and curses.

I am also reminded of Airbag, his solo song, which reminded me of how I felt, when I was going through depression myself.

And even though through the words of “Eyes, Nose, Lips” he seemingly cursed a person, while at the same time hinting that he prayed to no avail, I felt that if one sieved away the hatred the anger and the helplessness, one can see that the “I” in the song, has prayed, and “cursed” the “you” in the song because “I” am so weak in the presence of “you”. It is like a struggle, a battle, to loosen the bondages that “you” had tied “I” with, not with sharp weapons, but with words.  So instead of questioning why the lyricist had to be so full of anger, hatred and used such strong words that sound like curses, I take it that the lyricist is voicing out the angst, the pain, the suffering,  the struggle, the helplessness experienced by people who had been tortured by earthly human relationships.

And the “heaven” in the line “too much of heaven’s a sin”, is not Heaven in the Christian sense, but “heaven” in human sense. The “heaven” of indulging in one’s temptations, passions (that has nothing to do with faith, hope and love), the concept of “heaven” that has been long abused and misused by popular culture. So indeed, this line is 100% truth.

So I decided to write this blog entry, as a record of how my thoughts changed through the many times I read the lyrics and listened to this version of “Eyes, Nose, Lips” by Tablo and Taeyang. I think that this record of my reactions to this song, is a good reminder for me, to learn to sieve through words, and see the thoughts and emotions behind words, before I jump into conclusion and become unfairly judgemental.

P.S.#1
I think “I” should keep praying, and learn that God does answer prayers, only not always in the form we want the answers to come. And whoever listen to this song, and other Epik High songs or Tablo’s solo work, must remember that this gentleman who wrote such dark lyrics, is in actual fact, also a very polite, nice, caring, fun-loving, friendly guy, who loves his family very much, and is a great loyal friend to his friends. Everybody has more than one side of his/her personalities, and those traits can all be real though seemingly contradicting & conflicting.

P.S.#2 (this is actually the last postscript, I have edited this entry many times!!! I have more things to say with each new experience of listening to the song) Tablo is really a great rapper. Just the different tone of voice he used for “you wish me well” and “I wish you hell”, shows how good he is at portraying the emotional undercurrents. THUMBS UP.

P.S.#3
I love the “Fade Out” at the very end. Of course the MV became all black (after a blink of white light) at that moment. Thumbs up.

P.S.#4
Is it me or is it true, that Mr Tablo really loves using the word “pieces”? Hmmph…I believe that every writer who writes with heart and soul, with sincerity and honesty, would have certain words that mean a lot to him/her, and therefore would use those words quite often. And every appearance of these words is usually very purposeful, with a message, or a thought, or a feeling. I am not an Epik High fan, and not Tablo’s fan (yet), but I would like to listen to more of their songs, if only just to find this word. 😛