Not Today – track 16 on the You Never Walk Alone album.
Why am I always at least one album behind with translations? I kinda wish I had done these when there were a lot of new confused fans post BBMA…but better late than never, I suppose.
I really like the lyrics, but I thought it was fairly straight forward. I really wanna tackle the “Hook Gayo” but that one’s more difficult and I’m tired, so I’ll do this one …
BTS, of course, started out as underdogs of K-pop industry. I think they broke through their glass ceiling some time in 2016 – and here is a Korean article saying they’re breaking through the glass ceiling.
This song has interesting mix of Korean and English. Also, they actually use Korean terms that roughly means “not today”, mixed with English “not today”…. so I tried to color code them.
translation of Korean lyrics in this colour.
lyrics that were in English in this colour.
The English CC on their MV is pretty good.. I think it just caused people confusion with the “crow-tit” for the new fans. They should have just left it as “baepsae”, or used “underdogs” or something.
Korean lyrics are from Naver Music.
Written by: Pdogg, Bang PD, Rap Monster, Supreme Boi, June
All the underdogs in the world
A day may come when we lose
But it is not today
Today we fight!
No not today
Someday the flowers will fall
But no not today
That time is not today
No no not today
To die, it’s yet
too good day
No no not today
No no not today
Yes, we’re extra
But still part of this world.
I know “being extra” is kind of a slang for being hyper, but this is not really used in Korea. I would say the most common meaning for “extra” is like the extras/extra actors in a movie – not special and unimportant, contributing in small ways to the whole.
extra + ordinary
ie. extra (unimportant/not special) + ordinary…..
which ironically makes “extraordinary”
Even that’s not a big deal
ie. even being extraordinary is not a big deal so don’t feel defeated just because you’re extra and ordinary
Never die, not today
The light pierces through the darkness
The new world. You want it too
Oh baby yes I want it.
If you can’t fly, then run
Today we will survive
If you can’t run then walk
Today we will survive
If you can’t walk, then crawl
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward” – Martin Luther King Jr. quote.
Even if you have to crawl, gear up
기어 = “crawl” but also “gear” written in Korean.
Aim gun! Ready! Fire!
Not not today! Not not today!
Hey baepsae’s, all hands up
Translated as “crow-tit”on their MV, meaning essentially “Hey underdogs, all hands up”
See Baepsae post for full detail about this small bird that is metaphor for underdogs.
Hey friends, all hands up
Hey if you believe in me, hands up
Aim gun! Ready! Fire!
Don’t die, don’t ask
also means “Don’t die, don’t bury it,”( thanks Ya Yostz in comments!)
Bury/ask are homonyms. The term bury here can apply to both something like a corpse or the truth.
Shout it out Not not today
Don’t kneel, don’t cry
Put your hands up, Not not today
Hey Not not today
Hey Not not today
Hey Not not today
Gun! Ready! Fire!
Too hot, doublin’ the success
Too hot, tumbling on the charts
“tumbling” is used for a type of gymnastic somersault in Korea… so “doing acrobatics on the chart.”
Too high, we on trampoline
Too high, someone try to stop
We couldn’t do failure
Because we all believed in each other
What you say yeah
Not today yeah
Will never die, not today, yeah
Believe in me next to you
Together we won’t die
I believe in you next to me
Together we won’t die
I believe in the word “together”
I believe that we’re bulletproof
Literally, “I believe in Bangtan” (since Bangtan = bulletproof)
Aim gun! Ready! Fire!
Not not today! Not not today!
Hey baepsae’s, all hands up
Hey friends, all hands up
Hey if you believe in me, hands up
Aim gun! Ready! Fire!
Don’t die, don’t ask
Shout it out Not not today
Don’t kneel, don’t cry
Put your hands up, Not not today
Hey Not not today
Hey Not not today
Hey Not not today
Gun! Ready! Fire!
Throw it up! Throw it up
Throw away the fear in your eyes
Break it up! Break it up!
Break up the glass ceiling that cages you
Turn it up! (Turn it up!)
Burn it up! (Burn it up!)
Until the day of victory (fight!)
Don’t kneel, don’t fall down
That’s (Do) not today!
Not not today! Not not today!
Hey baepsae’s, all hands up
Hey friends, all hands up
Hey if you believe in me, hands up
Aim gun! Ready! Fire!
Don’t die, don’t ask
Shout it out Not not today
Don’t kneel, don’t cry
Put your hands up, Not not today
Hey Not not today
Hey Not not today
Hey Not not today
Gun! Ready! Fire!
muish's ramblings... 
Thx for the translation/explanation, I can understand the context better now.
Can it be “Don’t die, don’t bury (yourself)” – ? Cause Naver gives the second meaning of 묻지 (마라):
묻다2 단어장추가
(땅에) bury
시신을 묘지에 묻다
bury a body in the cemetery
yes. sorry to be so slow to update. ;)
you’re right. updated…
I’m a little confused by tumbling on the charts. In context, I assume he means they’re climbing the charts, but, tumbling has a context of falling, too. Or is it, like… old-timey tumbling? Like, catapults, somersaults, circus performers?
Ah. clarified in the translation. Thank~~ Yes. it means somersaults. ^^
Sometimes I’m so used to this slightly modified use of the English word in Korean that I forget that it’s a bit different from the original English meaning.
Oh yeah, now that meaning of the word “extra” is something that should’ve come to my mind first, considering how that word is also used that way in the Philippines, but I guess the “hyper” meaning of “extra” used by international K-Pop fans stuck to me more because of how often I noticed it being used that way. Anyway, that makes that line even more amusing, yo! :D