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it's about the *intimacy*
Mar. 12th, 2021 04:01 pmhappy beomgyu day!! to kick off this very important event, i'm posting an analysis of maze in the mirror which has been rotting in my drafts for the better part of three months now.
first i’d like to make a little comparison to fairsham. mitm maintains the floaty feel of fairy of shampoo - breathy vocals, reverb, ambient backup vocals from best girl adora - but obviously takes it down a few notches. we’re kind of brought down to earth again, and i think the transition to some very classic, simple, acoustic instruments signifies this.
hopefully this won't be too info-dumpy
first i’d like to make a little comparison to fairsham. mitm maintains the floaty feel of fairy of shampoo - breathy vocals, reverb, ambient backup vocals from best girl adora - but obviously takes it down a few notches. we’re kind of brought down to earth again, and i think the transition to some very classic, simple, acoustic instruments signifies this.
in mitm the acoustic guitar really stands out as it is the main instrument for a good chunk of the song. there aren’t any drums to carry the rhythm, most of the time it’s just txt and the guitar. in that way mitm is pretty simple in comparison to all the other songs, but there is intimacy in its simplicity: we’re not only brought back on earth, but we are also brought up-close in a way the other songs don't do. i think the purpose of this is to make room for the introspective lyrics, and for listeners to really feel and reflect on the message txt are trying to convey.
when i analyzed this song i focused on two main aspects of the song; namely the phrase “please don’t give up on me” and the last part of the song ranging from the bride to the last chorus.
so, “please don’t give up on me” is only uttered three times if i’m not mistaken, but when i refer to this phrase i mean every time the melodic pattern is repeated, with or without vocals!
almost every time this occurs everything is in staccato, meaning that the notes are separated in a very clear manner. this breaks up the flowy feeling of the song, and very pointedly emphasizes the words whenever they do sing. (since the song is about their lives as trainees, i believe the phrase either refers to the other members, or it could be their future selves telling their young, trainee selves to not give up on themselves. either way, it’s some powerful stuff, and the staccato chords work to underline every single word.)
almost every time this occurs everything is in staccato, meaning that the notes are separated in a very clear manner. this breaks up the flowy feeling of the song, and very pointedly emphasizes the words whenever they do sing. (since the song is about their lives as trainees, i believe the phrase either refers to the other members, or it could be their future selves telling their young, trainee selves to not give up on themselves. either way, it’s some powerful stuff, and the staccato chords work to underline every single word.)
as this melodic phrase happens practically before every new section of the song - verse, chorus, post-chorus - we expect it to occur before the bridge too, but it doesn’t! human brains are designed to pick up on patterns, so when something shatters a comfortable flow we are caught off guard. in this case the music flows smoothly into the bridge instead of following the pattern we have grown used to. the two types of transitions - choppy staccato and smooth sailing - are stark contrasts of each other, which makes the transition into the bridge that much more impactful.
let’s take a look at what happens lyrically in the song:
let’s take a look at what happens lyrically in the song:
i want to fly now
like peter pan that flies for eternity (fly fly fly)
i want to become a star
like that clear sweat that broke out for the first time
taehyun’s talking about wanting to fly right as we enter the bridge, and because of the smooth transition it feels like we’re soaring into this section. there are no jerky stops this time, just a continuous, very satisfying glide - this is called text painting; when what happens in the lyrics is reflected in the music.
furthermore, the notes that taehyun and kai are hitting in the bridge are the highest in the entire song, peaking at shipeo. they’re hitting a D, and coincidentally enough the lowest note in the song also happens to be a D:
in the mirror soge miro
however, these two notes span across two octaves, which is pretty far. in other words, it is super mega text painting: taehyun and kai are talking about flying, and becoming a star in the sky, while the song is tonally at its highest point!
at this point of the song the instrumentation is a lot less sparse. the instruments have filtered in one at a time with the electric guitar coming in during the first chorus, a bass during the second verse etc. etc., but everything becomes a lot more prominent in the bridge, making it even more powerful - we’re building up to something!
when listening to the bridge, you might also notice how the melody moves:
ijen nalgo shipeo
when listening to the bridge, you might also notice how the melody moves:
ijen nalgo shipeo
yeongweoneul naneun piteopaencheoreom (fly fly fly)
byeori dwego shipeo
cheoeum heullyeotteon geu malgeun ttamcheoreom
at ijen nalgo shipeo we move upwards. then we gradually fall back down at yeongweoneul naneun piteopaencheoreom. at the next line we attempt to climb up again, and finally at cheoeum heullyeotteon geu malgeun ttamcheoreom we start descending but we end at a note a bit higher than the note we'd ended at previously. it's like we are trying to climb a cliff, slide down and get up to try again. it's an aural image of struggling to reach something, and being a little closer to out destination that we'd been at the beginning.
then, right before the final chorus there’s a break where everything just stops briefly. we’re going up and up, lyrically, melodically, instrumentation is growing in intensity, and then we just stop - our expectations have been flipped. the break isn’t long enough for the anticipation to die however, and then the final chorus finally hits, and the pay-off is super rewarding: the drums, which have been absent for the entire song make their entrance, there’s adlibs and stuff, (and i actually lied earlier as it turns out, because the adlibs go a little above the high D in the bridge, but i mean. it’s fine, they’re adlibs, they’re supposed to be high. besides they aren’t nearly as loud as the main vocals). there’s also a steelguitar or something like that, which kind of makes it sound like a country song, but that’s kind of besides the point.
so what does this mean?
by the end of the song it feels like we’ve navigated through the maze and reached the place we’re supposed to be, which really reflects txt’s journey from being trainees to making it as idols. of course, their journey is still very much ongoing - they’ve been idols for two years, but they’ve cleared the first obstacles, and through this song they’ve taken us with them on this first part of their journey. they have not only told us about their struggles, but carried us listeners on their wings and shown us the entire maze.
... at least, that's my take on it - of course, interpretations are individual. regardless, mitm is a great song, and You Should Totally Go Listen To It Right Now And Notice The Things I Pointed Out, ooooh you wanna do that so badly
