Appreciation Journey with IU (1 Viewer)

[blueberries]

Since it's midnight and I guess sleeping is overrated, I decided to have bit of journey with my favorite IU mv's on the order. This is really very self-indulgent really. And I finally can show to people that I really stan IU, cause nobody guessed her right as my favorite solo artist when those how well do you know me quizzes were popular xd

I'm not actually sure if forum has other.. Ueanas (is that the fandom name? idk I hate it). If it has or someone is just interested of I & You, wants introduction on her work, welcome watch and hear some stuff ^^

Lost Child (2008)



IU's debut song is still my favorite. This was back 2008, I first time heard IU probably in 2011? 2012? but this was still my first song from her I heard. I also own the album, Lost and Found (2008) and it's just so good from start to finish. The mv is really creepy, but 14 years old IU looks really adorable (please protect her). I like the idea of mv, young bride (which is weird when thinking she's 14) going to land of death to look for her husbands that passed away, meeting.. dead people? there and finally seeing her husband.. and realizing she has to let go and continue with her own life now. That's some great story telling (kpop plz let's stop with these boring sets and do sth plot-driven and artistic at least once a while? thanks). For some reason I called the mv Mia forever idk why, but Lost Child sounds lot better.

I feel like this song shows her vocals best and her singing it with orchestra in.. 2012? is my fav live performance of her. Such emotional song. Less-fun fact- she once shared that she got tons of hate during her debut stages with this song like people yelling from audience for her to get off the stage and that she was fat.. damn some plp are harsh. Good she can now laugh at those comments, but I applaud her 14-15 year old selfs strenght.

Marsmallow (2009)



Although I have self-proclaimed myself as hater of all cute and pure in this world.. I actually have guilty-pleasure songs like this one. The marshmallow mascot is pretty cute too and I loved live stages of the song cause of it. Don't judge me.. :potato:

Good Day (2010)



Definitely one of IU's most popular songs. The three-octave note that hasn't even seen octaves was one of most covered thing in kpop back then and live performances of the song were always all about that highlight and would she be able to hit the notes. I feel like her look which is seen in the mv as well was really iconic too. Actually despite the songs popularity I used to not care about the song at all, but it has grown to me. It's not within my favs, but it's not bad one either.

Only I didn't know (2011)



I have also heard this having name "Story only I didn't know". Finally another dark and sad ballad from her. Actually the mv is kinda hard to interpret and I have heard stuff like how it's about incest or something

Anyways, it is a really good song to me, one that is comparable to Lost Child's style she had strayed away for a while to do cute and popular stuff.

You & I (2011)



UI? I feel like this song and style is repetition of Good Day, but everything is better. I love everything about it, the song is great, styling is nice and again, ironic, love the choreo (clock moves!).. From the cute and popular songs from IU, this one is my favorite. It's not as diabetic as Marhmallow with it's cuteness and I love bit of fantasy.

The Red Shoes (2013)



"Fantasy" IU is back! This was around her Modern Times era, she decided to with jazz for the title and had multiple older music styles in her album like bossanova, swing and latin. The album is really something different for kpop, it sounds so old, but not in bad way. It doesn't sound kpop at xd. I love it, also first album I got from IU. I'm not talking about mv and Red Shoes much huh.. Well that's mostly cause I find the song and mv just ok, well the mv is fun has nice plot, but I actually just wanted to talk about the album which is amazing and has my fav bsides from IU that makes me tear up every time I listen to it, Bad Day. It's about loneliness. Relatable.

Also with this comeback, IU really grow into adult and artist. If I remember right this was first album she was really hands on and even wrote lyrics and composed couple songs for. So this album was the reason why IU is nowadays known as artist rather than idol.

Twenty-Three (2015)



Oh my god Twenty-Three. This was the most controversial era and most controversial song and mv she has released. After the release, she was accused for sexualising children in this song (herself, the accusations of this since stopped) and on another one. The lyrics of this song were really hated by knetz who thought she was showing how she's a fox and not that innocent nation's little sister they had been used to . Like this whole era was just scandals topping to each other and witch-hunt from knetz, tons of controversy oh boy. She got hated over her lyrics and songs in the album, she got hated for promoting lolita concept in her earlier titles (like she's only one with cute concept in kpop though :llama_eyes:), she got hated for her past scandal with Eunhyuk, she got hated for hanging out with Sulli..

So.. getting away from that stuff and to this song and mv. Actually I first was like wtf is this from IU, this is not like any song she released before I don't like it. But that was stupid of me. After reading of the lyrics and the symbolism in them and in mv I really warmed up for the song too. The song is so gutsy and calls out the netizens which I love.. and what netizens kinda misunderstood which was weird.. It's really good and I feel like it's really relatable- about conflict of growing up from child to adult. I never get tired of rewatching the mv, reading the lyrics and just listening the song too. Definitely within my top 5 of her titles, maybe even my TOP2 just below her debut.

Palette (2017)



I actually don't like Palette as song. Sorry, another one of these where I cheat. But, I appreciate Palette so much as concept. It's IU, what she feels, what she likes, her humor and self-irony (I love that pop up on 1:59). And it has GD spitting some honest lines too. Like I just appreciate the honesty of it all even if the song is too boring for me to listen on it's own. I watch the mv once a while though.

BBIBBI (2018)



This is between Twenty-Three and Palette for me. The lyrics are just another call-out to netizens like Twenty-Three was, now IU is kindly asking for privacy and to leave her ef alone. Imagine boy group member saying "It's not your business" to overeager public including fans. True daring queen. The song is more laid-back similar to Palette, but with lot of bad english and more interesting changes in the song so it's not just one laid-back tone going from start to finish. So I still appreciate the lyrics and mv, the references it has and the call-out, than the actual song, but the is lot better than Palette for me so it's something I can actually listen without the mv too. Thanks IU, appreciated.


Honorable mentions (cause there technically aren't her titles);


Not Spring, Love or Cherry Blossoms (2014)



I think this was attempt to promote HIGH4 and try to boost their popularity. Not bad choice to try to make it through IU, but apparently didn't happen I mean who knows what happened to poor HIGH4? Never heard of them since. The song is laidback + cute which is already established as not my thing, but.. somehow it's just so pleasant to listen. Not more to say about it though.

Sogyeokdong (2014)



So this song is made by Seo Taiji and he for some reason unknown to me made two versions of the song. One for himself, one for IU to perform. This music is again really different from your regular kpop, but I love sound of it and I think it's pretty Seo Taiji in sound. The combinations is really nice with IU's vocals to me. Although the song and the singing sounds longing, but quite cheerful apparently the song and mv are quite dark. Sogyeokdong is about Korea's history in 1980s during when South Korea was still dictatorship (funny fact- South Korea was dictatorship until 90s- hasn't been democratic lot shorter time one would expect) and there was students at the time who wanted for democrazy, but disappeared and were silenced. IU's mv together with Seo Taiji's portray what was going on during that period and one of these disappearances.

So thanks for IU and Seo Taiji for history lesson ^^




Maybe I should just turn this into artist thread or sth..

 

[Blacklily96]

Oh my god Twenty-Three. This was the most controversial era and most controversial song and mv she has released. After the release, she was accused for sexualising children in this song (herself, the accusations of this since stopped) and on another one. The lyrics of this song were really hated by knetz who thought she was showing how she's a fox and not that innocent nation's little sister they had been used to . Like this whole era was just scandals topping to each other and witch-hunt from knetz, tons of controversy oh boy. She got hated over her lyrics and songs in the album, she got hated for promoting lolita concept in her earlier titles

Wroooooooong, the controversy was with the song Zeze in the same album, where Zeze is a character in a children's novel, who is portrayed as a sexual object.

 

[blueberries]

Wroooooooong, the controversy was with the song Zeze in the same album, where Zeze is a character in a children's novel, who is portrayed as a sexual object.

Well its not wrong per say she got accused about Twenty Three's lyrics as well and eventually even for her cute concepts in the past songs. Zeze was the biggest target of criticism that seemed to start whole controversy, but eventually tons of stuff got wrapped into the controversy.

 

[Blacklily96]

Well its not wrong per say she got accused about Twenty Three's lyrics as well and eventually even for her cute concepts in the past songs. Zeze was the biggest target of criticism that seemed to start whole controversy, but eventually tons of stuff got wrapped into the controversy.

I don't think the song twenty three didn't have any controversial lyrics, at least I've never seen an article or anything about that, only thing I've seen was that people didn't understand it, though it's become pretty clear once IU talked about how it was about being confused about being young and mature, and stuff like that. Though on another note, the Producer drama's version(bonustrack in the album) of 23 supposedly had some controversy of using an uncleared Britney Spears sample, but nothing connected to the lolita controversy, nor was the MV concept for it accused of anything either.

 

[blueberries]

I don't think the song twenty three didn't have any controversial lyrics, at least I've never seen an article or anything about that, only thing I've seen was that people didn't understand it, though it's become pretty clear once IU talked about how it was about being confused about being young and mature, and stuff like that. Though on another note, the Producer drama's version(bonustrack in the album) of 23 supposedly had some controversy of using an uncleared Britney Spears sample, but nothing connected to the lolita controversy, nor was the MV concept for it accused of anything either.

It wasnt as big issue as Zeze I guess, there were some netizen comments about it and the mv was flooded with comments about it too from both ifans and kfans like that happened months. "I want to be child no I want to be moist woman" part was accused of this. In general the lyrics were accused to expose how foxy she is as well .