sulkjin reblogged

Don’t Mess Up My Tempo Lyric Analysis: Gravity, With You, & Smile On My Face

Hey everyone! Here’s my long overdue lyric analysis on DMUMT! As you can see from the title, there’s only three songs I found relevant (Gravity and With You, as Chanyeol wrote them, and Smile On My Face for it’s familiar lyrics), which isn’t a lot, but I think With You made up an entire album of lyrics in itself! Let’s get right into it.

1. Gravity

I’m starting with Gravity since it’s the first song in the tracklist to talk about. Chanyeol only wrote this partially, but I’m more interested in a few particular lyrics that Chanyeol and Baekhyun sing than the whole song. This song, like many on the album, are quite sad lyrically, despite their upbeat tempo.

I mentioned in my last lyric analysis that I thought it seemed more like communication between Baekhyun and Chanyeol than both singing to one person, like in Universe, perhaps taken from a past time since they’re obviously in a great place right now.

[BAEKHYUN] I’m still waiting for you, aren’t I? My heart will always draw you in like gravity

[CHANYEOL] The bet I placed on you failed in the end A race I was running on my own Honey look at me now All that comes back is an echo without an answer Swirling around my heart You left me behind you, falling apart And I’m scared I’ll be left to drift in a universe without you

[BAEKHYUN] If it’s for you, I have the strength to move anything You know that

Perhaps it’s because Chanyeol’s lines and Baekhyun’s last lines are unique in the song, rather than repeated lyrics by many members, but this struck me as more of a conversation than all the members singing about someone. There’s no other two members lines that come off like this to me, hence I added it.

In Chanyeol’s verse, he not only talks about his regrets, but, as we can see in the last line, his insecurities.

“I’m scared I’ll be left to drift in a universe without you”

And then Baekhyun says:

“If it’s for you, I have the strength to move anything You know that”

The saddest part of these lyrics is they sound as though it’s more separate thoughts when they’re apart rather than a real conversation, but I thought they seemed to match, Chanyeol’s insecurities, and Baekhyun’s reassurance.

This also reminds me a lot of Universe, and not just because of Chanyeol’s use of the word.

[BAEKHYUN] Unlike my determination, nothing’s getting better I always disappoint you And I regret it too

[CHANYEOL] We warmly held each other With happy laughter

Laughter and tears, scars and healing

[BAEKHYUN] Memories engraved in the seasons They come and go several times But I will still call out to you

[BAEKHYUN/CHANYEOL] I feel it so much it hurts Wherever you are, I’ll go to you

[BAEKHYUN] Because that’s love*

(a/n: lyrics are in order but not consecutive)

I’ve already talked about these lyrics, in another analysis, but the Gravity lyrics just reminded me of them in the way they sound, separate but about each other, separate from the rest of the lyrics sung by the other members. There also seemed a realness in the lyrics I extracted from Gravity that I didn’t feel in the other lyrics. That might just be my bias though.

Also like Universe, Baekhyun ends the song with two open lines:

“I’m still waiting for you, aren’t I? My heart will always draw you in like gravity”

2. Smile On My Face

In order to save the best for last, I’m giving a quick mention to this song after I looked through them and found another part rather familiar. I don’t know if Chanyeol had any part in this song, but the sort of dreamy sound it has reminded me strongly of With You, and the lyrical depth is on another level to me like so many of Chanyeol’s songs compared to other songs on the album. The lyrics I’m talking about are Baekhyun’s lyrics in the song, which strongly remind me of that song I did an analysis on a while ago, Please, Don’t Look So Sad, that they performed back in 2014 with some exceptional emotion.

[BAEKHYUN] You pass by just like the wind you disappear naturally

[BAEKHYUN] I stood there blankly for a long time I weakly look at you who is far I also don’t understand why I’m like this just like the day I let you go

[BAEKHYUN] I did it all with a smile on my face the traces has disappeared in my mind What if they return back to me I’ll just smile and send them back

[CHEN/BAEKHYUN] I did it all with a smile on my face It doesn’t have to hurt anyone I don’t grab on to you who is getting far I want to send you off with a smile With a smile on my face

Although there isn’t much actual similarity, it almost sounded like a heart-wrenching continuation of Please, Don’t Look So Sad, even though they obviously moved on from that time in their life.

[CHANYEOL] When I saw your face That’d become a little leaner And as I was walking the streets in the rain My heart ached How much more should I have to ache Until our little wish comes true?

[BAEKHYUN] Please don’t pull a sad face like that ‘Cause I’ll never give (you) up.

To be completely honest, this doesn’t really have much backing it up in the end, but I just thought that it was interesting.

3. With You

What don’t I have to say about this song? Ultimately, I think it’s the most beautiful song Chanyeol has ever written, both in sound and lyrically. From the very first notes of the song, it has a very dream-like sound that immediately sets you into the mood of the lyrics.

[SUHO] If you look at those stars that are bright It’s just like looking at you You resemble everything that shines

Already there’s that light/starlight reference - it’s threaded through the whole song.

[BAEKHYUN] When the night sky thickens The whole world is tinted with light You naturally take my hand Suddenly it’s getting tainted to me

These were some of the most interesting lyrics to me, as I mentioned before in my shorter analysis on this. I’ll talk about it again, to make the analysis more complete.

Up until this point, whoever Chanyeol has been writing about has been referenced to as the sky or stars. In this song, he says “when the night sky thickens and the whole world is tinted with light”, referencing to a sunset, for the first time. And while the sunny skies are beautiful, as are stars, the incredible variety of different kinds of beauty a sunset presents is a whole other level of beauty that he has never mentioned before. It also shows the depth of whoever he is singing about, and how beautiful he thinks they are no matter what shade they are at the moment.

[KYUNGSOO] Sometimes I think that When you smile and look at you With both eyes and mouth It looks like it resembles me

This other thread is interesting to me because it takes quite a while for couples to start resembling each other. In this verse, he’s saying they physically look alike, not just in terms of speech or humor as Baekhyun described it as. Therefore he’s writing about someone he’s been with for a very long time.

[BAEKHYUN] Both eyes are light shining As bright as me I think it’s shining

[KYUNGSOO/CHEN] Sometimes I see you when you see me

[CHANYEOL] Yeah I am looking at you everyday You are watching [me] From a mirror-like expression to a tone I feel my appearance*

(a/n: some lyrics are skipped when they’re either repeated or I don’t consider them important to the analysis)

“Sometimes I see you when you see me” is another reference to reflection, as well as “from a mirror-like expression to a tone I feel my appearance”, which is a line I especially like from this song.

[BAEKHYUN] Look at the deeper night and I stop for a moment

[KYUNGSOO] I want to keep it in my eyes for me

Here it changes to “deeper night” from “the night sky thickens”, showing the falling of night. Rather than sunset, the time and beauty of his S/O is shifting into the dark night.

[SUHO/CHANYEOL] Then I think sometimes resemblance look and come out with me Everything is trivial The little things all resemble each other

[ALL/BAEKHYUN] Promise me now when all the light disappears It’s always like tonight Let me shine forever

[CHANYEOL] Love you

I think Chanyeol’s last line is a very sweet and personal touch. Ending the song like this, while Baekhyun’s still singing, is very important. It means this entire song is definitely about someone he loves, even though there has been no pronoun or definitive line that says it isn’t just someone he’s close to. So in case there was any doubt, it’s very definitely for someone that he loves that way. In case you’re wondering “How do we know this is about Baekhyun?” I’ll explain.

First of all, we know Chanyeol wrote this song. As far as I know, from beginning to end. It contains many of the references I’ve mentioned in past analysis, so he’s obviously talking about the same person. On top of this, Chanyeol was asked years ago what colour he associated with Baekhyun and he said “SKY”. From then, every sky reference, be it pictures (Chanyeol said all his photos were of ‘the sky’) or lyrics, it’s been generally assumed it’s about Baekhyun. To have an entire song about the sky and stars, especially with how Chanyeol has been into stargazing lately, and no doubt gave him inspiration. I also have no doubts he hasn’t at least greatly shared his latest interest with Baekhyun, which would add meaning to Baekhyun.

Besides this, it’s Baekhyun’s favourite song on the album and also ‘his’ song, in terms of teasers. When describing it, Baekhyun said it was a song about two lovers becoming similar to each other and seeing the light. He also said when he first heard the song, it was like the light of the sun in the morning. On top of this, during the 181102 showcase, he made several references towards the sky and stars, suggesting he’s just as much in on the metaphors as Chanyeol is.

And that’s it! Like I said, considering how long the album is, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but With You really makes up for that, in my opinion. For everyone, there’s something that really solidifies their relationship to them, and for me it was this song. It’s so obvious who it’s about, both lyrically and how they act and talk about the song, and it’s very obvious what the song means towards that person. It’s a love song at it’s finest, and yet much deeper than most. It has a whole level of intimacy between them that we’re seeing for the first time, a more intense look into how Chanyeol really feels, rather than a fluttering heart or a happy mood. If I missed anything from my shorter With You analysis, please read this post.

That’s it for today guys! I have some more requests I’m getting around to, I promise!