Thinking about...FACE by Jimin
FACE by Jimin recounts his struggle with escapism and how he eventually learns to accept his painful emotions and move forward with them by his side. The tracks, when listened to in order, create this narrative perfectly through their lyrics and sound.
‘Face-Off’ is the beginning of a madness in the mind that you try to satiate with alcohol (or any unhealthy coping/escapist mechanism). The jaunty and mischievous melody at the beginning suggests a kind of disturbance, a dissonance, as if the mind is playing its own tricks and pranks on you. The song sounds distinctly like a drunken, confused argument. He describes a masquerade party and being drunk in the first verse, then screams “I don’t care about you” in the second, as though he’s trying to explain his feelings and justify himself to his own mind, to his own confusions, but his mind is addled by the disturbance taking over him, and he can’t clearly say what it is he’s trying to escape from. “Tonight I don’t wanna be sober,” this line shows the face-off between negative and painful thoughts and wanting to avoid them and turning to alcohol or escapism instead. The repeating words in the chorus “Break it down/Get it out/Pour it out/Pour it down,” also suggest that Jimin is trying to escape the confusion and disturbance that is taking over him. He tries to escape it at first – breaking it down, getting it out, but soon he settles on ‘pour it out’ – he pours out the alcohol, and as he does so, (he thinks) he is pouring out his sorrows and confusion from his mind and setting them free.
Then we have ‘Interlude: Drive’… it almost feels like we’re travelling with the alcohol through Jimin’s veins into his mind and watching it take over him and slip into his dream that takes him away from the harsh reality. The music sounds hypnotic, silvery and fairy-like, as though a spell has been cast and you are slowly disconnecting from reality as it takes effect. The song also shows his confusion through the noises of various doors opening, as if he is trying different methods of drowning out his pain, or alternatively, different methods of escaping the spell the alcohol casts on him. However, he doesn’t succeed – he can’t find a way out. So, he finally settles into the spell of the alcohol at the end of the song – he pours it out into a glass and gulps it all down – almost in one go as he tries to escape the confusion and pain in his mind.
The next track, ‘Like Crazy’, is the effect of the escapism working for a short time – he is lost in a dream in his head, he’s escaped reality and is immersed in the bright lights of a party. Indeed, the very first line states “Baby, don’t think about it/There’s not a bad thing here tonight,” an illusion brought on by the alcohol that everything is perfect and he can simply push out his problems if he doesn’t think about them. He loses himself in the loud music and imagines himself in a “drama-like story.” The song progresses as he loses himself in a night of drinking, and for a short while, he feels insanely happy – however, the end of the song shows how the drunkenness slowly wears off him, and he struggles to hold on to the last remnants of the intoxicating feeling – “No don’t you wake me/I wanna stay in this dream,” “Don’t you try to save me/I need a way we can dream on”. Interestingly, the song ends with “Alone again, what’s the point?” – seemingly a conclusion to this night of escapism, where he’s forced back into combating his loneliness and facing the fact that truly, he’s alone again.
And sure enough, the next track is called ‘Alone.’ It describes what happens when the headiness of the escapism wears off and the reality comes crashing back around you. The focus here on Jimin’s plain, unedited voice with low accompaniment music shows the rawness of his emotion and problems. It can be contrasted with the use of auto-tune in the other tracks like Face-off – it is used over angrier parts, as though he wants his true emotions to escape but suppresses them under alcohol and escaping them, so you can’t hear them clearly. But in ‘Alone’, he is laid bare and raw after everything wears off and he is forced to face it. The lyrics also reflect this struggle – Jimin finally confronts his problems, and realises, “I’m pretending to be okay every time/I’m so pathetic.” The chorus, with “The same day (the same day)/Flows again (flows again)”, captures the viciousness and stickiness of living through the same pain again and again, unable to escape. The post-chorus and refrain also perfectly describe such a breakdown – “Make it right/it’s gonna be alright/Lie, lie, lie, lie.” Although he tries to comfort himself and convince himself that he can make things right, that he will feel better and emerge from his pain, he can’t help but feel that all this is a lie and that he’ll be stuck here forever.
The last track, ‘Set Me Free Pt. 2,’ is a resolution of all the above emotions. Jimin is set free of his desire to escape what he’s going through. He accepts it and reconciles his emotions and then realises this is what will truly set him free from pain, not escapism. He realises how he’s been escaping his problems – “I wandered into a maze/Hennessy and night” – but now decides to move forward once he’s free of the pain – “I won’t look back/Fly away, butterfly/Finally free.” The pre-chorus captures clearly his reconciliation with his emotions – “I won’t hide anymore, even if it hurts/Going insane to stay sane/Raise your hands for the past me.” He accepts his past pain and problems and moves forward. He continues to throw himself into his passions and the things he loves, he would rather go insane with passion than insane with pain and escapism. This allusion to the lyrics from BTS’ ‘ON’, which suggested how they wanted to carry on by focusing on their love for music despite the hardships of success, fits perfectly as he explores these feelings through his personal lens rather than as a part of the group. The virtuosic music, contrasting with the gentle tones of ‘Alone,’ shows all his emotions coming together and a rejection of avoiding his problems, and the relief he feels at finally being free.
I thus see FACE as a struggle against escapism, and a journey towards reconciling with one’s pain. Jimin’s ability to create a coherent narrative that was apparent to me before I even read the translations of the lyrics is incredible. The way he used the music, the lyrics and the emotion in his voice to convey these messages made me truly enjoy and love this album, and I particularly enjoy listening to the album in order, just so I can go through this journey with him each time.
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