The song is talking about her experiences becoming an adult and about an identity crisis. She is officially an adult however since debuting from a young age and being seen as the 'nation's little sister' she is still being infantilised by the general public. She is stuck between wanting to be mature and this image of herself as a cute idol. Becoming an adult and navigating the world is hard enough, it must be so suffocating to be in the public eye but still only seen as this innocent young kid. Even worse to have your career based and almost depend on this image.
Yes, literal translation is "moist," but the actual Korean word and by the context, it means more like "mature and emotionally rich." The sensitivity of the word "moist" is completely different in Korean. The closest translation in terms of meaning that is used here would be "mature". For a Korean, someone has to be really twisted to think of the actual line as how it sounds by "moist woman". When this song was released, many other lines were spotlighted in Korea, because of IU's provocative tone and aggressive change in her image, but this "moist" line was not one of them.
Thanks for the explanation! Some expressions just don't translate well in other languages haha I had never noticed the line before now but I'm glad I didn't have to wonder about it for long thanks to you!
I had never put attention to “I want to be a moist woman” hahahaha But I think she is talking about trying to find herself, because she is not a child anymore but isn't an adult either. It's like a transition period, and everyone tries to tell what she must do, but if she does it, they're going to judge her anyway. You should react to Palette ft G Dragon next, it's the sequel about turning 25 and then comes Eight ( 28). (Sorry for my bad english 😂)
It’s a term she explained in a recent radio interviews haha - someone who is excited/ passionate with new things in life, whether it’s ambitions/ love/ little things in life etc vaguely along these lines
Moist woman is a metaphor for Korea. Think of it as something like a sexy woman or a charming woman. she repeated expressions of opposition to express that she still don't know myself well and I don't know what to do. So she used Moist woman as a metaphor for a young and innocent child and a mature woman.
IU songs make u think really deep. Before, I am just used of listening to songs, enjoying the harmony and that's it but when I discover IU i literally read every lyrics and try to understand what it's supposed to mean.
The song 23 is already a huge milestone since it is the start of her age songs, such as Palette and Eight. The main theme, I believe, is her choosing whether she wants to be herself or living up to other people’s wishes, and being what other people want to be. Or, it could mean that she is uncertain on how she wants her life to go in the future. For the line, “I wanna be a child forever; No, I want to be a moist woman”, I think she is referring to how she probably wants to keeps her childish ways since she debut at the age of 15. Then, she is saying she should be sexy or more feminine, which is pleasing to the media and what they want from her now that she is older.
Not mature, I'm her korean fan and i heard IU wrote that lyrics to express emotional(which opposite to parched) woman. She said she is kind dried person, so sh e wanted to be sensible one. This is from her W magazine interview(i remember) 한국어로 말하자면, 한 인터뷰에서 아이유는 본인이 메마르지 않은, 감성적인 사람이 되고 싶었다고, 그걸 물기 있는-> 이라는 표현을 사용한 것 같음. 그 당시에도 지금까지도 물기있는 여자가 무슨 뜻일까 궁금해하는 사람들이 많았는데 얼마전 구찌 화보 인터뷰에서 말함.
So many people are talking about the meaning of "moist woman" but I'm Korean and the meaning of "moist woman" is exactly what you think (18+), and it also has a metaphorical meaning of a mature woman or an adult, contrasting to "want to be a child forever". She definitely meant to give you the dual meanings.
this song and comeback in general was actually pretty controversial at the time. generally the song is about her being in a stage of life where she is maturing but is also in a big state of confusion. At the time, she was getting a lot of hate from k-netz who started calling her a "fox" aka a girl who pretends to be innocent but is extremely cunning behind the scenes. keep in mind, before this IU had a very pure nation's little sister image. So her entire lyric of her being a riddle and making listeners "guess" and her calling herself a fox, no a bear, no a fox, is almost like mockery to the comments towards her. her song palette shows how she's grown since and has matured so im looking forward to that reaction!
I have to say that *i actually know her from kdrama because her acting skill is incredible* but then i heard this song... i was like damn girlllllllllll you slay🤣🤣
IU is hands down the best female solo artist in Korea. It has gotten to the point where it comes down to IU vs IU for 1st and 2nd places on music shows and music charts.
IU "Twenty three" >> confused about herself IU "Palette" (25) >> she knows abt herself better and love herself So yeah please react to IU "Palette" MV that's amazing!!
I love iu's music sm, she can make personal song to universal n how most of her lyrics r so relatable💜hats off to iu🎩👏 "pretend to be a fox tht pretend to be a bear tht pretend to be a fox" Well she said it right there the reality of korean idol life, they always being misunderstood despite being themselves n forced to do anything tht pleased d public... Seriously Chatshire album r masterpiece n most of d song slapped korean ent hard tht it hurts...glasses lyrics is so simple yet powerful btw💜
This song is about what she is feeling turning 23. Here she don't know what she likes she is like 'I like this, no i like that' that is what she is feeling that time. Next please react to Palette. It's in her IU's age series 23, Palette, and EIGHT. In Palette she knows what she likes and it's about her being 25.
The thing with this video is so complex inside of it and you need to know the backstory to understand. She debuted very young and even if she was famous with her high tones and lovely songs she was still sexualised like other idols. She wasnt an idol either actually, writing her own songs and singing powerfull in live stage ect.. But she was just a kid and even when she grew up she had that child like spark that made ahjussi fans to love her. When she grew up, her witty/clever qualities has grown too. She was better at live shows and interviews. You know she said in here she did not write a single lie at first. Then the eunhyuk scandal bombed. She posted a picture of both of them sitting on a bed or smth in her social media. She had her pijamas on, eunhyuk looked naked(?) and after the comments she said it was by a mistake. He was just visiting her when she was ill and it was accidental. And eunhyuk got so much hate because people said they were dating but when everything turned around and she got hate later, netizens said that she always play the victim, the innocent and made eunhyuk look bad. Because everyone tought she did it knowingly when they were dating. Said she is a "fox" because koreans have some words about being like a fox and bear. After all of that she came back with this confident and taking the control vibe. She owned her sexuality and innocent image as well but her agency worked with people who have bad reputation with pedophila. That photographer worked with sulli as well when she had a seductive/innocent image back then. And iu and sulli were very close friends in fact. Koreans hated Sulli with their life and sexualised her so bad at those times. Anyways this album had the same complex image too and got a lot hate because of it. Its so massive that even some people turned of her music in cafés when they heard her music. But if you think about how she were koreas one of the most adored and loved artist Its kind of shocking. But it was not just the concept she got hate. She had a song zeze in this album. The character is from a children book and she sings the song as the orange tree. She sings it kind of a witty attidute that people say that she is sexulising the child character. She even says "climb on me" and if you dont understand the backstory of it, its kinda confusing. After all these hate she was silent for a while and she broken up with her kinda olderly boyfriend. People said "being with childish featured girls is good at the start but It gets worse after a while." The fact is, she has a old soul, really mature and everyone can see it but her phsysical features are child like. The struggles about her identy comes with that. Then she came back with palette and showing her true colors without hesitation. Because they tried to make her a relatively seductive concept and it back fired. But with palette she said "I understand now, you love me? You hate me? I understand everything and I acknowledge and see myself as the way it is." And with the song with kim soo hyun, she expressed how she and her boyfriend cut the ties, how did she get through it... Btw she got a eating disorder for a long time, she got a lot comment about her looks and plastic surgeries. But now it all passed and she is still really loved by korea. I live in Turkey but I used to be a really strickt kpop fan lol she is always speacial to me not only with her talent but with persona changes. Korean people getting through a big cultural change over all. They were always reserved, shy but hardworking type of people. For the girls expacially. Like japan, being cute/sexy were a thing. But taking control and showing strong, brave attitude is starling to be the standart/normal now.
yesss... thx for this post. I hope he (aaron) will read this. The things with IU's song is, her stuffs somehow so Korean and so deep. Because of this kpop casual fans will find difficulty to 100% feel her artistic quality. You somehow need a basic understanding of kpop culture, kpop entertainment history, and IU's backstory to be able to understand them all. But when you understand it, it will BLOW your mind, like truly BOOM.
"It's not supposed to be translated as "moist" 물기 means something like a bit of water, so 물기 있는 여자 can be interpreted as a woman who cries" this is one of the comments under the lyric video!
Umm..I think it means both. She just talk about 23 years old woman herself. She didn't afraid to talking about controversial thing you know. We can accept literally.
Yes - like a cloth that is moist and ironed as opposed to dry and wrinkled - a person who is passionate/ enthusiastic about life/ little goals ambitions/ love 😂 She explained in one of her radio interview while everyone is thinking crazy on these lines
Exactly. Literal translation is really bad in this case. This line wasn't even spotlighted or controversial at all when it first came out. Other lines were spotlighted much more for IU's aggressive change and provocative tone. This line only becomes weird when it's translated literally in English.
she normally just make the MV for her pop song. but for me, her emotional slow songs are the legend. if you wanna try some, 'through the night' could be the first choice.
Milk spilling here in the mv refers to her antis, IU once had said that having too much biscuit(IU's male fans) and Starcandy(IU's female fan) sometimes become difficult to digest and milk(her haters) helps to digest or keep balance
Hello I'm a passing Korean... This song shows IU's concern about her identity as a singer and idol. She said,"Making an opposite facial expression to the heart is really simple.Actually I don't know me well too." And this song inspired by Alice in Wonderland. So there is a white ribbit. Haha.I wish it help you guys!
This is my favorite song by her next the b-side glasses, I remember when she released this song and it was a different style from the usual some people called her a bitch for that! that's crazy.
The sentence "No, I want to be a moist woman" doesn't mean that way. I asked my korean friend and she told me that wet is opposite meaning of 'dry' and it can mean "Kind and cool woman". IU used a lot of metaphors in this song tho!😂
@@user-ly8rm8ev8g Only IU knows the exact meaning of the word.. It can be sexual, but it can also mean that it is rich in emotion. The expression'(dried) my heart gets moist' is commonly used in Korea.
@@user-ly8rm8ev8g 저의 해석이 옳고 님의 해석이 틀렸다고 주장하려는 의도는 전혀 없습니다. 시는 해석하는 사람마다 다양한 의견이 있을 수 있고 더 넓은 가능성을 열어두는 것이 좋겠다는 생각입니다. 님의 의견처럼 '물기 있는 여자'가 성적인 표현일 가능성도 충분히 있다고 봅니다. 실제로 아이유가 그런 의미로 사용했다고 해도 전혀 문제 될 일은 아니고 애써 부정할 필요도 없습니다. '물기 있는 여자'라는 표현은 일상적으로 많이 사용하지 않는 표현이기 때문에 정확한 의미를 알기 어렵습니다. '성숙한 여자'를 가리켜 '물 오른 여자'라고 표현할 수도 있고 뭔가 감동적인 상황에서 '마음이 촉촉해진다'라고 감성을 표현하는 경우도 있습니다. (1) 인사하는 저 여자 모퉁이를 돌고도 아직 웃고 있을까 늘 불안해요. (2) 난, 영원히 아이로 남고 싶어요. (3) 아니, 아니 물기 있는 여자가 될래요. (4) 아 정했어요. 난 죽은 듯이 살래요. '물기 있는 여자'의 전후 가사를 보고 저의 주관적인 생각은...... (1) 연예인으로 살면서 누군가 자신을 비웃을지 모른다는 불안감, (2) 영원히 여동생으로 남기를 바라는 팬들의 기대에 대한 부담감의 표현 또는 남이 뭐라고 평가하든 아무 것도 모르는 아이처럼 살고 싶은 마음 (3) 이미 성장한 여성임을 선언하고 인정 받고 싶은 욕구 또는 감정을 꾸밈 없이 드러낼 수 있는 감성에 충실한 사람이 되고 싶은 마음 (4) 사람들의 관심에서 벗어나 일반인처럼 조용히 살고 싶은 마음 저는 이렇게 받아들였는데 사람마다 다른 의견도 얼마든지 있을 수 있다고 생각합니다.
Thank you for your reaction ... Well, I guess that moist is lost in translation ;p 23 (FYI this is Korean age, so she was 22 when write/sing this ) is a break-out song from her "national little sister" image and start of her independence in music direction, as she write all the songs and decide the mini album concept (yes, alice in wonderland theme). If you looking back 1 album, her music and image was so different from this. The lyrics practically tell us about her trying to break her image and make satire of it. This song and this mini album are so important to IU career development, and thus to kpop in general. I love how you slowly analyzed the song. I think (well, I know this is hard, lol) ideally every IU's reactors do this like you, or even more meticuluously (lol), as her lyrics always thightly woven to her story/ her life context too. One thing, how can you say this is same as bbibbi and blueming? XD 23 is a pop song about breaking your image/ uncertainty of early 20's, blueming is pop rock love song, and bbibibi is soft rap diss/r n b, all with very different tone and concept too :D But well yeah, ppl can have their opinion, so okay ....
oh, if you read this.... I recommend you to see her live performance ... or her behind the screens in IUTV, coz IU is a multidimensional charm artists, you cant see "big picture" of her just from MV ....
Until now you've only reacted to IU's upbeat songs.. I recommend you to listen Love Poem, through the night, dear name, lost child. You will like it for sure
It is very interesting, specially because of those years, 2014 2015, which were very rough for her. She got some backlash for some scandals. People accuse her of using her innocent looking face to get rid of some situations, calling her fake, a fox etc. That’s why the first time I read the line I’m a fox that pretends to be a bear that pretends to be a fox was epic.
New subscriber here. I'm literally looking for iu's reactions video and watched several of them but I got hooked up by your honest reaction to her. I really love her so much please react for more videos of IU. She's one of a kind, she has a relatable personality you will know her even more if you watched on her youtube channel IUTV. Thank you again ❤️🥰
Many people judge IU by many misunderstandings and say that they just look at her or her own perspective. I think it is a contrast between a 23-year-old clumsy teenager and a mature woman. The agony and conflict of being a pure child and a mature woman... child or sexy woman??? mabye~~
I like the fact that the rabbit goes under the which way sign at the ending , I guess he is gonna spend quite a bit of time in that hole , or maybe the rest of his life , who know when we will find our selves or if we ever will , nicely done
react to her MMA 2017 performance please! many people got emotional about it even idols watching it on their seats even yeri from rv cry about that magical performance! so hope u react to that!
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