Hello all and welcome back toâŚ
The series where I, your friendly neighborhood anarchist dive into media, messaging, propaganda, and more from a leftist perspective to help you out of the trenches of right-wing media.
If youâve stayed tuned this long, I applaud you and thank you for your time. If youâre just joining us, hi there, thanks for being here. Each and every one of you are super appreciated around these parts! Especially if youâre not a huge k-pop nerd like I am and stuck around anyway. Yâall are awesome. There will be more to come in all different areas, donât you worry!
Now, with that being said, last time we covered the song, Wake Up, by k-pop group ATEEZ in their album:
Now we move onto the final song in the album, Outlaw. I truly hope youâve enjoyed up until this point as much as I have being able to dive into my favorite ATEEZ album. And without further ado, letâs get into the lyrics:
âI got that burning warning sound
Running away from the drooling wolves
Shaking up this place, entangling up your heart
There is a jumbled mess (Huh, burn it)
I can only breathe, my sensesâcan'tâbeâfooled, let's putâour hands onâour heads
Take the phobia with my name, hurry up
There's no hope, I can't write regrets
I'm sorry, I was born with nasty nature,â
Verse one brings us in with this dark and aggressive sound. The drums are heavy, the lyrics are strong and cutting. Itâs setting the tone for their overthrow of the power theyâve been up against this entire album. By this point, the revolution has been long underway and we are in the final stages of bringing down this regime. Or perhaps at the very start of entirely new world order.
âYou wanna know? I'm on fire
Don't cross the line, don't intrude
You're gonna see your terrifier
Feeling right now, now you feel it's going on
The refrain shows us more hints toward the ânew world orderâ possibility. The boys are back to their taunting and showing off their willingness to spill blood when needed. Which weâve come to learn usually means theyâre about to enact some kind of change. Theyâre even returning to threats like in Django, âIâll find you, danger.â Theyâve effectively taken over the power at this rate and theyâre just waiting for you to see it. To dare to get in their way.
The heart is overdriving (Woah, woah, oh-oh-oh)
Another me is about to come out
This is my sector one,â
The pre-chorus and we are back to playing on the humanness of the message recipient. Theyâre giving them physical sensations to describe feelings and then cutting back in with a threat. This is a clear show of power. They know theyâre dangerous, they know that you know theyâre dangerous, and theyâre using that to their advantage.
âI won't say it twice, warning
Don't wake me up, the monster inside me
A big accident that I can't prevent
Trying to stealthily run away
You can't handle it, game over (Ooh)
Better run 'cause I'm the outlaw,â
Our boys back at us again being the KINGS of the revolutionary energy in the chorus. Not only are they making references back to each of the previous songs, but theyâre relying heavily on Djangoâs ruthless messaging. This is deliberate. Theyâve even brought elements of Django into this song as well. Listen to the similarities in the instrumentals to fully understand what I mean. Itâs not a perfect match, but it is eerily similar. This is by design. Theyâre further proving their willingness to defend themselves by any means necessary⌠from anyone they deem a threat.
Give me, give me that, give me, hit it, bang, run it, run it back
I do it as I please, play my way, disobey (Huh)
Du-du, gunshot, it's about time
Cheeky with a reason between fake gimmicks
I raise my eyes in the fierce atmosphere
Entangle my body at the border between temptation and reason
On my way, don't move, I can only get you there
Don't be nervous in the dark, uh,â
Verse two with Hongjoong and Mingi, yet again a true lyrical masterpiece. But thatâs neither here nor there. Letâs break it down by section:
Give me, give me that, give me, hit it, bang, run it, run it back
I do it as I please, play my way, disobey (Huh)
Du-du, gunshot, it's about time
Cheeky with a reason between fake gimmicks.â
Notice how aggressive he seems to have gotten with this verse? Heâs not just angry, heâs enraged. As a leader does, he is embodying the revolution with every fiber of his being. And heâs even challenging someone to stop him, âplay my way, disobey⌠gunshot, itâs about time.â Heâs both telling his followers to continue fighting in a covert manner and threatening those who oppose him in an outright manner.
âI raise my eyes in the fierce atmosphere
Entangle my body at the border between temptation and reason
On my way, don't move, I can only get you there
Don't be nervous in the dark, uh.â
Mingi brings back in that cult-like quality that Wake Up had. Heâs keeping the followers hooked amidst all of this. Heâs keeping all eyes on him to deliberately distract them from the threats being spewed in the other lines. Heâs reminding you of your place. Reminding you that he is your savior so you donât question their methods. He sounds almost drunk while doing this, no? Almost like he already knows whatever he has to say wonât truly matter. He still has the control, why waste too much energy on keeping it?
âWave the white flag (Oh-oh-oh)
There are no rules in the jungle, yeah
The bridge snaps us back into reality where theyâre once again, threatening their opposition. Telling them to, âwave the white flag,â or surrender now. Theyâre employing the same âhopelessnessâ tactics that were once used on them. Theyâre turning the tables.
âRun far away (Woah-oh, woah)
Your prayers are useless (Woah-oh-oh)
Welcome to the Outlaw (this is mine),â
The interlude and⌠okay, wow. They laid in heavy and fast on turning the tables here. Theyâre practically outright saying that opposition is hopeless, âyour prayers are useless,â and, âthere are no rules here.â There is no use in trying to oppose this new world order. âYour prayers are useless,â your hope is gone just like theirâs was. âWelcome to the outlaw,â in other words, welcome to retribution. Revenge. Justice. The same themes we saw in Django. The outlaw.
âI won't say it twice, warning (Woah)
Don't wake me up, the monster inside me (this is mine)
A big accident that I can't prevent
Trying to sneakily run away (This is mine)
You can't handle it, game over (this is mine)
Better run 'cause I'm the outlaw.â
The final chorus and the last lines of the song. Though most of these are repeated from earlier, I want to look at that very last line, ââcause Iâm the outlaw.â Now knowing the context of the previous lines in the interlude, we can see now that they are painting themselves to be the threat now. Theyâre no longer heroes. Theyâre a product of the society that raised them.
Thank you guys so much, again, for sticking around this long! Stay tuned for my final thoughts on this whole album and what is to come after that! You guys are amazing! And remember: all art is political. Yes, it is that deep. And, as always, have a good one, folks!