The Sad Story Behind The Song “EIGHT” Pt 2 : Collab With Sneha

Hey there! This post is very special to me as it’s the first time we’re gonna talk about a real and sad story behind a song, and there’s something more that is making it more special…… it’s a collab with my blogging friend Sneha from Read, write and believe.

As it’s a collab, Sneha is explaining the first half of the song in her post, so you have to read her post here before reading this one because it’s part 2. I’ll start from Verse 2 of this song so it might get confusing for you so you must read the 1st part. [LINK]

“If this is a nightmare, I promise I won’t ever wake up again.”

In the last line of the Post-chorus, IU says that it’s a nightmare and since her friend Sulli is now gone in reality, she doesn’t want to wake up from her happy memories.

Island, yeah, this is an island, a small island we made together
Yeah, mm, forever young, the word “eternity” is a sandcastle
Saying goodbye is like a disaster alert
I miss you when the morning comes
Let’s both pass this eternity
We’ll surely meet on this island once more

In SUGA’s rap, he explains their dream world as an island, which is made by them and where they all are forever young since all of IU’s friends have passed away relatively during their young ages but time doesn’t flow in her memory. SUGA explains “Goodbyes” as a disaster since disasters are sudden, scary, and unpredictable.

In the music video, IU and SUGA are riding on a plane which I think describes their life as artists. IU sees a lizard on the window but it disappears as the plane meets turbulence. This scene explains how IU couldn’t do anything when she heard the tragic news about her friends and was helpless.

Actually, on her 1st Seoul concert day, IU talked about her friend Sulli, about how sad she was, and thought that Sulli was present at her concert. And on the 2nd day, Hara’s tragic news hit her during the concert. It made her feel very sad and also had a hard time finishing the concert.

Like a passerby who comforted and told me
It isn’t that easy to forget a memory worth a handspan
Even as time passes
I’m still held back in the place where

We dance under the orange sun
Together with no shadow below us
No separation was meant to be
Let’s meet at the memory that was once beautiful

Continuing in the music video, IU wakes up from the nightmare and runs to check if the lizard is okay but making her more worried, the lizard wasn’t there. Then she finds that the door is left open and she sees a girl in a white dress outside.

The girl starts to run in an imaginary world where the sun is orange and she seems to set free, happy, and brave enough to jump off a cliff.

We’re lying down, arms out for each other
Having a conversation that is not sad
There is no such thing as a depressing end
I’ll meet you in these memories forever

A drop of tear comes out from IU’s eye where she is dreaming her memories and the girl in a white dress rides on a dragon and IU sees them through the airplane window and sheds tears of happiness and sorrow. It probably means that her friends who have left the world now are free and happy in heaven. She will meet them forever in her memories.

Now IU wakes up because the memory saving process is complete. She acts confused and sad, probably because she didn’t want to wake up from her dream, then she shows a slight smile as now she’s relieved that her friends are happy in heaven.

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She makes an ice-cold look to the viewers of the video, and the first lines of the song “So are you happy now? Finally happy now, are you?” are slowly playing in the background. She’s asking the haters if they are finally happy now with all the tragic incidents that happened.

Lastly, at the end of the video, the “E” and “I” of “EIGHT” gets split, which probably describes that “I” as in IU has now come back to reality after being together and reliving the memories with her three friends- Sulli, Hara, and Jonghyun.

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