Auréliane Éthier - "PLAY" by LUCY

Welcome to my blog! 

Through this article and the ones to come, you'll discover a few songs produced by Korean bands along with my opinion on their lyrics. The first song is from LUCY, a four members group that made its debut in South Korea on May 2020. One of the members plays the violin, which is a pretty rare instrument for bands, especially in South Korea. Their songs are often engraved in a light and nostalgic mood, which is why I enjoy listening to them so much. 

Members of LUCY.

My first article is about their song "PLAY" from their most recent album, "Childhood". You can find the official music video by clicking on the following link (and don't forget to enable the English subtitles): LUCY - 놀이 (PLAY)

Summary

The song is about an adult that is still mentally living in childhood. The person realizes being an adult is much different than what he imagined it as a child. The lyrics often compare his past activities to his present ones. The song seems to superimpose child games to reality as if the narrator's mind stopped aging. For example, he pictures the first person leaving work becoming "it" in a tag game. Near the end, the narrator speaks to the person he used to play with, asking for a smile like one he would get in his childhood. 

At the beginning and at the end of the music video, the protagonist is in a children's park.

My opinion

I really relate to this song since I struggle with the transition from childhood to adulthood. I believe the lyrics are very efficient because they have a part of universality. 

The main character of the music video gets yelled at by his boss.

In the first verse, there is a comparison between adult life imagined by a child and actual adulthood. In my opinion, no child can perfectly conceive how they will be living as an adult. Since the lyrics compares it to a mirage, it feels like, in this case, reality is more disappointing than imagination. I'm pretty sure many people can relate to this. I have heard many kids expressing their desire to pursue their dream job: singer, firefighter, actor... How many of them got caught up by the hard reality? I personally wanted to be an author before realizing it was almost impossible to make a living of it.

The protagonist is often represented as his "child" self.

I also think the lyrics are written in a childish and naive perspective, which fits the theme of the song. The character often expresses innocent thoughts as the following: "I hope people talk with a bright smile / Even if they turn around and leave". The narrator seems to hope everyone is happy and smile not only for others but mostly for themselves. 

In general, I feel like the character created through the lyrics is an adult which is stuck in the past. His perception of his environment is defined by games and naive thoughts about happiness. It also seems he wishes he could reverse time and live forever as a child. 

Question

In the lyrics, the narrator states he's "still living in childhood", just as a broken object. Which is the object in question?