English translation and Korean lesson with the lyrics of IDOL by BTS, from the 2018 album Love Yourself 結 ‘Answer’.
Produced by: Pdogg
Written by: Pdogg, Supreme Boi, “Hitman” Bang, Ali Tamposi, Roman Campolo, RM
Find it here: Youtube • Spotify • Apple Music • Amazon Music
IDOL (feat. Nicki Minaj): Youtube • Spotify • Apple Music
Verse 1:
You can call me artist
You can call me idol
아님 어떤 다른 뭐라 해도
Or even if you call me whatever else,
아님 = or (short form of 아니면)
어떤 = some, a kind of
다르다 = to be different
뭐 = what
하다 = to do (often used in place of “to say” as well)
-아도 / -어도 = even if X, even though X (해도)
I don’t care
I’m proud of it
난 자유롭네
I’m free.
나 = I, me
자유롭다 = to be free
-네 = adds a nuance of surprise or amazement (자유롭네)
No more irony
나는 항상 나였기에
because I’ve always been me.
항상 = always
-기에 = “because of X”. Used to give a reason why one is doing something. (나였기에)
손가락질 해, 나는 전혀 신경 쓰지 않네
Point your fingers at me, I don’t care at all.
손가락질하다 = to point a finger at
전혀 = not at all
신경 = nerves, care, concern
쓰다 = to use
-지 않다 = to not do X (신경 쓰지 않네)
신경 쓰다 = to care about something, to be bothered by something
No matter what reason you have to badmouth me.
욕하다 = to curse, to speak ill of someone
너 = you
-의 = indicates possession, like ‘s in English (너의)
이유 = a reason
I know what I am
I know what I want
I never gon’ change
I never gon’ trade
(Trade off)
Pre-Chorus:
뭘 어쩌고 저쩌고 떠들어대셔?
Blah blah blah. What are you making such a fuss about?
(The extremely high respect particle 시 is inserted into this line and the next, making them very cheeky. Basically, with the norms around speaking with respect in South Korea, any person for whom you would use 시 in your sentence, you would NOT speak to in the way these two lines speak.)
어쩌고저쩌고 = blah blah, yadda-yadda
떠들어대다 = to make noise about, cause a din
시 = inserted into the conjugation of verbs/adjectives when the person spoken of deserves an extra level of respect
I do what I do, 그니까 넌 너나 잘하셔
I do what I do, so mind your own business.
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
그니까 = so
-나 = X or something (너나)
잘하다 = to do well
너자 잘해 = mind your own business
Chorus:
얼쑤 좋다
Hooray, this is great!
(얼쑤 is a sound of exclamation or excitement used in traditional Korean music.)
좋다 = to be good
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
지화자 좋다
Yippee, this is great!
(지화자 is much the same as 얼쑤. They’re not modern words, to say the least, so I tried to bring that across in the chosen English words.)
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself!
OHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOH
덩기덕 쿵더러러
Deong-gi-deok koon-deu-deo-reo-reo.
(This is a traditional Korean music beat called 굿거리.)
얼쑤
Hooray!
OHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOH
덩기덕 쿵더러러
Deong-gi-deok koon-deu-deo-reo-reo.
얼쑤
Hooray!
Verse 2:
Face off 마치 오우삼, ay
Face off like John Woo, ay.
(John Woo – English name – was the director of the movie Face Off in which the main character gets a face transplant to assume a different identity.)
마치 = often used to preface sentences that have imagery in them.
Top star with that spotlight, ay
때론 슈퍼히어로가 돼
Sometimes I become a superhero.
때로 = sometimes
되다 = to become
돌려대 너의 Anpanman
Keep spinning your Anpanman.
(Reference to Anpanman)
돌리다 = to spin something, to turn something
-어대다 / -아대다 = to do X in a somewhat continual fashion (돌려대)
24시간이 적지
24 hours isn’t much, you know.
시간 = time, hours
적다 = to be few
-지 = adds of a nuance of “you know” or “don’t you think?” (적지)
헷갈림, 내겐 사치
Confusion is a luxury I can’t afford.
헷갈림 = confusion
-에게 = to X, for X (내겐)
사치 = an extravagance, a luxury
I do my thang
I love myself
I love myself, I love my fans
Love my dance and my what
내 속안엔 몇 십 몇 백명의 내가 있어
Inside me there are dozens of, hundreds of me.
속 = the insides of something
안 = the interior of something
-에 = at X, on X (속안엔)
몇 = a few, several
십 = ten
백 = a hundred
명 = a counting word used when counting people
있다 = to be found, to exist
오늘 또 다른 날 맞이해
Today I welcome another me
오늘 = today
또 = another, additionally
맞이하다 = to welcome, to greet
어차피 전부 다 나이기에
because in the end they’re all me.
어차피 = anyway, in the end
전부 = all
다 = all, everything, everyone
고민보다는 걍 달리네
Rather than worrying, I just run.
(Running is used as an expression for givin’ it, going for it, in life. It’s also used to talk about overdoing it when drinking or partying. It basically means going hard, in whatever it is you’re doing. Also, this is a reference to 고민보다 고 (Go Go))
고민 = a worry, the act of overthinking things
-보다 = rather than X (고민보다는)
걍 = just (shortened form of 그냥)
달리다 = to run
Runnin’ man
Runnin’ man
Runnin’ man
Pre-Chorus:
뭘 어쩌고 저쩌고 떠들어대셔
Blah blah blah. What are you making such a fuss about?
I do what I do, 그니까 넌 너나 잘하셔
I do what I do, so mind your own business.
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
Chorus:
얼쑤 좋다
Hooray, this is great!
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
지화자 좋다
Yippee, this is great!
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
OHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOH
덩기덕 쿵더러러
Deong-gi-deok koon-deu-deo-reo-reo.
얼쑤
Hooray!
OHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOH
덩기덕 쿵더러러
Deong-gi-deok koon-deu-deo-reo-reo.
얼쑤
Hooray!
Bridge:
I’m so fine wherever I go
가끔 멀리 돌아가도
Even if sometimes I take the long way around,
가끔 = sometimes
멀리 = far, distant
돌아가다 = to go the long way, take a detour
It’s okay, I’m in love with my my myself
It’s okay 난 이 순간 행복해
It’s okay, in this moment I’m happy.
이 = this, these
순간 = a moment
행복하다 = to be happy
Chorus:
얼쑤 좋다
Hooray, this is great!
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
지화자 좋다
Yippee, this is great!
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself
OHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOH
덩기덕 쿵더러러
Deong-gi-deok koon-deu-deo-reo-reo.
얼쑤
Hooray!
OHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOHOHOH
OHOHOHOH
덩기덕 쿵더러러
Deong-gi-deok koon-deu-deo-reo-reo.
얼쑤
Hooray!
