I feel like I became a zombie

We have been living this quarantine life for almost 3 months, right? I am sure that everyone has their own “quarantine” song that you just can’t get enough. You listen to it over and over and over, it echoes in your dreams. I know you already thought of one in mind.

For me that is the newly released song by DAY6, titled Zombie. I must say this song is memorable because it emits a deep depression energy. I have been thinking about the lyrics for some times now, wanting to share what’s in my mind, but too lazy to write. However, today, I dedicated one hour of my Youtube-browsing schedule to write it down (finalleeeh).

What have been taking my interest are the lyrics of the two versions of the songs, Korean vers and English vers. DAY6 has been doing two versions for some of their titled tracks before, but I have never really paid any attention to both . Usually, I instantly like the Korean vers better, simply because I listen to it first and I go on listening to it more. Nevertheless, this time, there is something very compelling about the English vers. I am going to put both lyrics down here.

Left: The Eng translation of Korean vers

Right: English vers

Both are fascinating, but they give off different vibes. The English vers are more articulate in describing the depression itself, especially Young K and Jae’s first two parts. I personally adore Jae’s very first part in the song. It said “today’s a present that I don’t want”. What a poignant analogy.

You know, people always said “be thankful that you still have another day to live” and they will go on with the “thousands of people in the other parts of the world are dying and begging for their lives” card. They try to imply that living is a present that you should cherish. But, what if you don’t want it? What if “today” is the last thing you want on your list? Should you still be thankful?

That’s why you cannot judge someone’s well-being solely based on your perspective. It is not right to measure gratitude according to other people’s misery. You should not be happy because others had it worse. Your happiness is not relevant with what’s going on with others. I personally think that it’s a really messed-up mindset.

Your happiness is your own. I’ve never trusted motivational quotes, but I do believe that we have to seek our own happiness. We have to know what our “present” is. If “today” is not it, what can make today be something that we can treasure? Slices of pizza? Donuts? New episodes our favourite Korean drama?

Going to the chorus part, you can grasp different underlying ideas between the Korean vers and English vers:

Kor: Tomorrow will be no different, I live counting the times till I close my eyes

Eng: So tomorrow I know I’ll be, just the same you’ll see me wishing to stop and close my eyes

Both are depressing, but the Korean one has more a “zombie” feel to it. You just go through everyday, try to make ends meet, nothing special happened… So dull… So not exciting… I’ll just live like this everyday, like a zombie…

The Eng vers is more, aggresive? It’s like, I want to end this life because it is so painful… I wish I can stop living tomorrow… When will today pass…

The Eng vers also describes about “dream” (Sungjin and Wonpil’s part), about wanting something that can’t be seen, can’t be reached, and could not exist. It’s like saying “I still have something that I want to do in life but it all fucked up, I’m so tired of dreaming, I’m so tired of hoping, can this just end now so I don’t have to feel this sadness anymore”. Meanwhile, the Kor vers implies, “I can’t seem to do anything. And I’ve got nothing left here with me”. For me, that one is like “I am done with life. I am so done with doing anything, it ain’t gonna change for me. It’s okay if I stop living today”.

In conclusion, for me, the Korean one depicts the depression of dullness, the fatigue of going through routine and repetitive activities. The Eng vers is the depression after being betrayed by life (?). I know I am not good with words so I am not sure if my points will get through this post thoroughly. Honestly, I still have a lot of opinions about the lyrics of this song, but maybe I will continue this post later when I get the mood.

This is the first time that I listen to an English version religiously. Since both are written by DAY6 themselves (Young K and Wonpil!!!), their feelings are delivered perfectly to us. They are writing two different songs, not just translating it. So yes, DAY6’s Zombie is very special.