(translated in 2020)

“People” is my favorite song from the “Agust D D-2” mixtape. Though the verses, layered with tight rhymes about the volatility of human relationships, carry a pessimistic mood, SUGA’s true intention is to comfort the listener: even if you and those around you change, even if life hurls maddening curveballs to surprise and demoralize you, everything will pass in time. Don’t be consumed by the actions of others or by life’s relentless ups and downs.

I especially love how he opens the first verse, using “산들바람 (sahn-deul-bah-lahm) (light breeze, gentle wind)” as a metaphor for the people who drift in and out of his life. Some are like a breeze that simply brushes past (“스쳐가는 사람” (seu-chyuh-gah-neun sah-lahm) (a person who just brushes by)), while others linger, seeping into your heart and forming deeper relationships (“스며드는 사람 (seu-myuh-deu-neun sah-lahm) (a person who penetrates into your heart)”) that bring comfort.

In the first pre-chorus, I was fascinated by SUGA’s playful reference—“why so serious?”—to one of my favorite films from Christopher Nolan, who, along with Bong Joon-ho, Céline Sciamma, and Barry Jenkins, is one of the finest directors today. While SUGA borrows the phrase, he doesn’t deliver it with the same menace as the late Heath Ledger’s Joker; instead, he follows it with “I’m so serious,” an honest confession that he may not be the best person to dispense life advice. This is one reason I admire SUGA: he introduces weighty ideas but encourages us not to take him, or life, too seriously.

The second verse is, for me, the highlight of the song. Though philosophical, he again cautions us not to ponder his words too deeply: “Just go with the flow, like water in a river, even if you don’t know what lies downstream. It might lead to an extraordinary life, or to an ordinary one. But either is okay. Either one is okay.”

In the second pre-chorus, SUGA further confesses he’s probably not the best person to talk about life. The things that are ordinary for most—eating out, watching movies in a theatre, traveling with his family—are luxuries he can only dream of as a superstar: “너의 평범함은 되려 나의 특별함 (nuh-eui pyung-buhm-hahm-eun dweh-lyuh nah-eui teuk-byul-hahm) (What’s common to you is remarkable to me),” and “what’s remarkable to you (a life of a superstar) is common to me.”

Ultimately, though SUGA admits throughout the song that he’s been wounded by others and that human relationships remain a mystery, he’s learned to accept what life brings, every up and down. This is the message he extends to his listeners, reminding us that he’s just like any one of us, even if what’s common to us is rare for him.

Lyrics:

Verse 1:

Gentle wind,

Someone who just breezes by,

Or seep deep into you

Which person am I?

Am I a good person?

Or the opposite?

People have varying views

But I’m just a human

People live in their own ways;

People love in their own ways;

People grow old in their own ways

And will be forgotten 

We all change one way or another,

Of which I’m no exception

Nothing in our lives is permanent;

It’s all a product of happenstance

Pre-Chorus:

Mm, mm, mm

Why so serious?

Mm, mm, mm

I’m so serious

Chorus:

What does it matter,

That someone just brushes by

What does it matter,

That you become deeply wounded—

It won’t be the last

The hurt will sometimes lead to tears

But what does it matter?

You live the life you’re dealt with

Verse 2:

Just go with the flow,

Like the water

Even if you do not know

What’s at the end of the flow

It may lead to an extraordinary life

Or an ordinary one

But either one is okay

Either one is okay

It never work out the way you want,

A fact of life that all must endure

Life’s constant ups and downs 

Might wear you out

That’s all who we are

Absence makes you yearn;

presence lets you let go.

Who said humans are a species of intellect?

I’m sure we’re animals that live on regrets

We all change one way or another,

Of which you’re no exception

Nothing in our lives is permanent;

It’s all a product of happenstance

Pre-Chorus 2:

What’s common to you

Is remarkable to me

What’s remarkable to you

Is common to me

What’s common to me

Is remarkable to you

What’s remarkable to me

Is common to you

Chorus:

What does it matter,

That someone just brushes by

What does it matter,

That you become deeply wounded—

It won’t be the last

The hurt will sometimes lead to tears

But what does it matter?

You live the life you’re dealt with