고민보다 고 (Go Go) – Analysed and Explained

Welcome back everyone to another post!

This was such an interesting song to write about, I felt like I uncovered a lot more than I originally thought I would!

And the rhyming of the lyrics – yeoowwch! Amazing. However, I am not going to discuss any rhyming unless there is some sort of significance otherwise there would be too much unnecessary detail.

Thus, I encourage everyone to listen to the song carefully and read doolset lyrics that highlights many of the rhyming bits.

Alright, without further ado, let’s get started!

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Assumed Knowledge & Assumptions

I have written this post assuming you know:

• my theory, that all of the songs in LY albums are connected and reveal storylines when read in a specific order; and
• Joon, Yoongi and Hobi’s stories discussed in my blog so far.

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New Readers

Hello there and welcome to my blog! I’m sorry to say that if you haven’t read any of the above posts… I may lose you in the detail as my lyrical analyses are built on existing knowledge!

This is simply because all of the songs are interconnected and need to be read in a specific order for it to make sense, just like a book.

This idea is completely consistent with what Namjoon said about the Love Yourself albums.

If you’re wondering where to start, please start here.

Please also note the assumptions I apply when I analyse songs.

Enjoy! 😊

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1. The authors of 고민보다 고 (Go Go)

You may remember from my tracklist that 고민보다 고 (Go Go) is the only song in the Love Yourself albums that is not written by any BTS member.

There are three people who are accredited to this song: PD Bang, Supreme Boi and Pdogg.

Namjoon said at 32.43 of his VLive:

Go Go… has an interesting choreography. As Donghyuk (Supreme Boi) wrote most part of Go Go, there’s not much for me to talk about. Anyway, I can say it is like a sequel to Baepsae…

You may also remember the following two important points:

1. Namjoon said in his Vlive that each and every track of the Love Yourself albums matters to tell the story; and
2. Pdogg said that BTS write about 90% of the lyrics themselves because they believe that they should be the ones to tell their stories. They do not tell stories that they don’t know or didn’t experience themselves.

There are four key takeaways from the above information:

1. As Baepsae* is a track that explores social issues faced by young South Koreans, we can expect 고민보다 고 (Go Go) to be of a similar nature.

*If you don’t know much about Baepsae, I would recommend you reviewing the lyrics beforehand and reading other people’s interpretation of it. Here are a few examples: Example 1, Example 2 and Example 3.

2. Since BTS only write songs based on their experience, it is possible they have not written this song because they have not experienced it. In other words, they don’t engage with the behaviours 고민보다 고 (Go Go) explores.
   
3. As I don’t know if Supreme Boi only writes lyrics based on his experience and if he is telling his personal story, I have referred to the speaker in the song as “The speaker” with the pronoun “they/them”.
   
4. This track must have been included in the Love Yourself albums because it serves a purpose. Assuming my theory of 結 –> 轉 –> 承 is right, this makes logical sense as this song is intentionally satirical in nature so that their audience may reflect on their own behaviours and make changes for the better.

In other words, this track forms part of BTS’ 結 –> 轉 –> 承 objective to support ‘Her’ because the lessons and social behaviours explored in this song are for ‘Her’ benefit.

Given the context of the most recent songs and the above logic that BTS do not engage with the behaviours explored in 고민보다 고 (Go Go), ‘Her’ appears to be ARMY.

2. The title 고민보다 고 (Go Go)

I always found the title 고민보다 고 (Go Go) interesting as the meaning of the Korean title (고민보다 고) is not directly consistent with the English title (Go Go). The wordplays are just fabulous.

The direct translation of 고민보다 고 (Romanised as GoMinBoDa Go) means “it is more than a worry.” This interpretation has negative (pessimistic) connotations

고민보다 고 is also phonetically the same as 고민보다 Go, which means “instead of worrying, Go!” (To be read with the meaning like, “instead of worrying, go ahead and buy that!”). This interpretation has YOLO and positive (optimistic) connotations.

Further, the English title “Go Go” is ambigious enough to have the following interpretations:

• To work hard – This is similar to 가자! (Let’s go!). Go Go let’s go! This has positive (behaviour) connotations; or
• To YOLO and play – Go Go, buy that! Go Go, let’s get wasted! This has negative (behaviour) connotations.

In other words, 고민보다 고 (Go Go) has various interpretations and elegantly, is an antithesis in itself.

This is also why it is the only song with a Korean and English title that doesn’t have a song pair*.

*Remember, 보조개 (Dimple) and 전하지 못한 진심 (The Truth Untold) are an antithesis song pair. 바다 (Sea) and 낙원 (Paradise) are a song pair but do not have an antithesis relationship, we touched on the reasons why here.

This antithesis literary device, as we have discussed previously, has been embedded into the structure of the Love Yourself albums for storytelling purposes.

Used in the context of an argument, the antithesis title highlights the stark difference between opposing ideas by placing them side-by-side. This structure makes it obvious which behaviour is better.

So which behaviour is better?
1. The future is worrying so let’s go! Let’s run hard, let’s work hard;
Or…
2. Instead of worrying, let’s go get wasted?

3. 달려 달려 (Dollar Dollar)

The lyrics Dollar Dollar and 달려 달려 are repeated throughout the song, but they do not mean the same thing.

달려 달려:

• is pronounced dallyeo dallyeo. BTS and Supreme Boi have played with the pronunciation of 달려 달려 and Dollar Dollar in the song so that it is indistinguishable to the listener. In other words, if the written lyrics didn’t exist, we will never know if BTS was singing 달려 달려 or Dollar Dollar;
• means “to run”; and
• can mean per Doolset lyrics “to drink and get wasted.” e.g. “Shall we run tonight?” “I ran too hard last night.”

The key takeaway is that “Dollar Dollar” or “달려 달려” is ambiguous and can be interpreted in three different broad ways because of its intentional indistinguishable pronunciation:

1) Dollar dollar
(I like money/ I need money/ I’m spending money/ I’m dreaming of money, etc);

2) Run Run
(Running to the shop to buy things / Running away from problems / Running carefreely/ Money is running away from me / Running the rat race (this meaning of “running” is explored in 낙원 (Paradise)); and

3) Get wasted
(Let’s run hard and get wasted, 달려!).

Hence where the official lyrics are 달려 달려, I have not translated it to English in this analysis so you may interpret it as you wish.

Let’s explore this intentional ambiguity with the following lyrics:

Dollar Dollar
Spending it all in a snap
달려 달려, I earn and I squander

달려 달려 달려 달려
달려 달려

One interpretation can be:

A second interpretation can be:

Or a third interpretation can be:

So go ahead and explore your own interpretation! 달려!

4. The Broke Rich Life

I want to be cruisin’ on the bay
I want to be crusin’ like NEMO
Though I don’t have the money, I want to leave for somewhere far away
Though I don’t have the money, I want to relieve my fatigue
Though I don’t have the money, I want to eat Ono Jiro*
My pay that I earned by working hard
all into my stomach
Specks gathered are still specks
Squandering fun, pay it all
Leave me be even if I overspend,
even if I cancel my installment savings tomorrow morning like a crazy guy

*Per doolset lyrics, Jiro Ono is a famous Japanese chef who owns a three-Michelin-starred sushi restaurant (Sukiyabashi Jiro). The tasting omakase costs 30,000 JPY.

The speaker in the above lyrics is as poor as they are YOLO. Every dollar that they earn “by working hard” is used to either feed themselves “my pay… all into my stomach,” or, to purchase goods and services that they desire but can’t afford “squandering… leave me be… if I overspend…”

The speaker is dreaming to be “cruisin’ on the bay… like NEMO.” Nemo (from Finding Nemo) is a character known for his sense of adventure, discontentment of his life and recklessness – all of which propels him (for better or for worse) to swim out into the drop off zone and get captured by a human.

Thus, to be like Nemo is to be dissatisfied with what you have and to behave in a reckless manner because of that void.

The above lyrics provide us with an insight into South Korea’s wages, “my pay that I earned by working hard, all into my stomach.” We can infer from this that for many young South Koreans, the pay that they earn is only enough to feed them and that any incremental daily savings they are able to accumulate are still as worthless as specks of dust.

Coincidentally, I just learnt about this from the Good Manager on Netflix. In episode 14, the son of a rich dad who owns a large company is shocked to find out that the minimum wage was 6,470 won per hour, which is even less than a rolled omelette which costs 8,000 won (year 2017).

It is no wonder so many South Korean youths are feeling reckless and dissatisfied with their lives. For some, an hour of hard work is worth less than a cooked egg.

An important point I want to highlight is that though this song is set in South Korea (because of its Baepsae connection), the social issue of underpayment, unreasonable minimum wages and exploitation of children and young workers is prevalent in many societies. Thus, South Korean, ARMY or not… I believe many readers will resonate with this issue.

5. A future of debt

I refer to the following lyrics:

WOO there’s no tomorrow
My future has already been put in pledge
WOO spend more of my money
Friends, wussup
Do you want some?
Dollar Dollar

Spending it all in a snap
달려 달려, man I spend it like some party
Dollar Dollar
Until the sun gets in the mouse hole
Until the sun rises

The “WOO” (without an exclamation mark) and careless intonation of the lyrics convey to us a sarcastic drunk-like cheer. We can tell that in front of their friends, the speaker is acting as if they don’t give a sh*t about squandering their money.

Due to this underlying insincerity, we can sense the undertone of seriousness and helplessness that has been covered up with the fake YOLO cheer and the pretence that life is a party, “Woo there’s no tomorrow… Friends wassup… party.“

Unlike the light-hearted singing, the speaker’s future is heavy and ominous, “my future has already been put in pledge”. The speaker’s future is on the pledge because the speaker feels like they are burdened with debt (education debt, mortgage debt, credit cards, etc) that will take a lifetime to pay off… if they even pay it off at all.

The lyrics “until the sun gets in the mouse hole, until the sun rises” per doolset originates from the idiom “even in a mouse hole, there’s a day when the sun shines”, which is similar to “every cloud has a silver lining.”

Though this at face value presents a somewhat optimistic view, the speaker chose an idiom that metaphorically expresses them as a rodent (which has negative associations with poverty), living underground in a dark dirty hole.

This expression of a mouse hole is a reflection of the gloomy and poor conditions they feel like they are living in.

6. Forever we are young working

I refer to the following lyrics:

My week is Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu Fri-Fri-Fri-Fri
My bank account is yah
a bottomless jar
I’m pouring water into it every day
Just rather break it
To worry all the time, we are too young
At least today, rather than worrying, just Go
If you keep saving in fear, it becomes a shit
Just rub it off

The lyrics “my week is Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu Fri-Fri-Fri-Fri” convey to us that weekends are non-existent in the speaker’s life. Interestingly as doolset pointed out, Friday is repeated four times in the above lyrics, making it an 8 day work week.

An 8 day work week is used to describe work that involves more than working 8 hours a day over 6-7 days per week. Unfortunately, I think there are many of us here (me myself included!) that may be able to relate to this!

Even after working over 8 hours a day 7 days a week, the speaker’s bank account still feels empty. Every 달려 they have poured into it every day just mysteriously vanishes – most of them probably “all into my stomach.”

The lyrics however evoke in us sympathy for the speaker (and by extension, young South Koreans) as the speaker appeals to us that they “are too young” to “worry all the time.”

We sympathise with the speaker and young South Koreans because we are shown that behind the terrible spending choices, deliberate coolness and careless attitude… the speaker and young South Koreans are actually trying their best to “pour water into [their bank account] every day” 8 out of 7 days in a week.

Whilst the structure and literary devices in the song lead us to the conclusion that spending money recklessly and giving up on the future is not ideal or encouraged… we are led to forgive the people that do through the evocation of sympathy and empathy.

After all, we don’t wish for anyone to be “saving in fear” because they are in fear of their future.

7. YOLO YOLO YOLO GO!

The song ends with the following lyrics repeated multiple times:

YOLO YOLO YOLO YO
YOLO YOLO YO
Squandering fun, squandering fun, squandering fun
Where my money yah?
Where the party yah?

고민보다 Go
고민보다 Go
고민보다 Go Go (Everybody!)

The repetition of the lyrics YOLO and 고민보다 (Go/고) highlights two important points:

1. You only live once; and
2. Either decision (i.e. choosing to save and work hard vs squandering on fun) results in worry.

Thus, the song leaves an unanswered question for us listeners to decide:

Since we only have one life to live and either decision results in worry, what should we do?

Should we try to enjoy life as much as we can before we die? Or should we live a responsible life and die without truly living?

고민보다 GO? OR 고민보다 고?

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Author’s Thoughts

Isn’t this song amazing or whattttt?! So elegant, so simple, but yet so philosophical.

I absolutely love the cheekiness of the lyrics: “Friends, wussup. Do you want some? Dollar Dollar.” All I can think about is Yoongi being all swag and cool, offering money to his friends, hyping them up, and proceeding to give them a dollar bill like he is some big shot. (This is the video I imagine when I hear these lyrics!)

I also love it when:

1. Yoongi raps “even if I cancel my installment savings tomorrow morning like a crazy guy” exactly like a crazy guy;

2. Namjoon raps like a drunk (달려) person slurring his words; and

3. Someone (Yoongi? Who knows!) yells in the background something that suspiciously sounds like “F*cking hell!”

F*cking hell indeed (excuse my language!). GoMinBoDa Go! 😉😆

💜 G

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Lyric sources:

Doolset lyrics

Please note I made some minor updates where I thought things could be expressed better. These minor updates do not result in any substantial change in meaning.

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Disclaimer:

As per my first author’s note, please, no hate!

I do not have a shipping or individual bias, I love all seven members equally and I do not write my blogs because of a particular personal desire for one of them. I reached my conclusion on Joon and Jin being together based on the lyrics, logic and patterns as I have discussed in all my posts (i.e. I did not ship Namjin first, and then started trying to find things to prove my point). I genuinely enjoy all ships because I enjoy watching the different chemistries between the boys.

It does not matter one bit to me if they are straight, gay, intersex, a skrull, a mutant or if they could lay eggs. I love them wholeheartedly (as a sister who would love her younger brothers) for their individual selves.

This theory of 고민보다 고 (Go Go) is based on my interpretations of its lyrics. Please enjoy.