Agust D (BTS) – Daechwita (English Translation and Ramblings)

Track 02 of D-2 Album

Produced by Agust D, EL CAPITXN

The music video is awesome an their subtitles are really really good too.  BigHit is getting better with CC’s over time.  Mine are gonna be more literal, which might be a bit choppy sounding, but hopefully it’s still fun.

My blog is mostly rambling about the lyrics, without going much into detail about the MV itself.  But I’m really looking forward to reading/watching the theories and explanations from other ARMYs about this MV as it’s so complex and interesting.

I actually don’t think these ramblings are all that essential to understand the lyrics, since the lyrics are fairly straight forward.  But for those who like to delve in to random things, here are my ramblings, a bit longer than I had expected….

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Daechwita (Dae-chwi-ta) is a Korean traditional marching band type of a song that is used to welcome or celebrate kings, loyalties and other important national events.

The MV starts with “명금일하 대취타 하랍신다” and “예이”, which means something like, “After the one ring of the jing (a metal gong), the Daechwita is ordered.” and “Yessir”.

This part is from the sample from the “National Gugak Centre.”

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Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
It’s shining, it’s shining, my crown is shining. 
Don’t forget, don’t forget, don’t forget the days gone by. 
We so fly, we so fly, with private jets, we so fly.

Just a comment about stylistic things I noticed over the years…

I don’t usually indicate which words rhyme, as that would make my ramblings too long, but I find Suga to be the one that uses longer rhymes. He would have 3-5 character/syllables that would rhyme, which is really really hard to do. Much harder than getting just 1-2 syllables at the end of words to rhyme.

In case you’re curious about other members, I find J-hope tends to use shorter rhymes, but he sometimes puts them multiple times in a line.  So if there’s a section with a dozen words, it feels like every other word in it rhymes instead of just at the end of the line, creating a very rhythmic feel when listening.

And RM…  Hmm…  RM does a bit of mixture of above.  He stands out to me more for working in multiple meanings into each line, and always making me edit my posts with additional meanings as they become more clear to me.

From origins of a slave to become a King.
A tiger that has gone crazy, Gwanghae flow.

Random tibits about slavery in Korea:
Slaves in Korea hundreds of years ago were a bit different from those in the Western world.  Generally, if you committed a serious crime, you might end up being a slave.  I would say they were probably more similar to indentured workers or serfs.  They would work for their “owners/lords,” wear same type of clothes and mingle with other poor commoners, and often got married to other free commoners.

Nobles often tried to report to the government that he had a lot of slaves rather than commoners working for him, because slaves didn’t have to pay federal taxes nor be conscripted into the federal army when needed.  And the Kings would try to change laws to reduce the number of slaves (eg. if only your dad was a slave, you would be a commoner and not a slave), to get more taxes.  I guess the tax evasion strategies existed even back then

Gwanghae was the 15th king of the Joseon dynasty.  He was an intelligent but complex character and there’s still disagreement whether he was a good king or not.  The “slave to become a King” line likely refers to the movie about the King Gwanghae, called the “Masquarade (2012)” where a commoner takes place of the king.

Regarding tigers…  man-eating tigers were greatly feared in Korea, although I think they’re extinct outside of zoos now. They were feared enough to be revered as almost magical mystical creatures.  But they’re often portrayed as the evil or antagonistic character in many Korean folklore, so this awe of the tiger is a bit of fear-induced love-hate.  I think the tiger represents the King, and it fits since both have so much power that they can be especially scary when they decide to harm.

Someone who rose out of a creek to become a dragon.
That’s the law by which I live.
“rose out of a creek to become a dragon” is similar to the phrase “rags to riches” in English, but implies it was done through hard work for a long time.
The folklore says that Imoogi, which is like a large mythical snake living in a creek, must work 1000 years in the water to try to become a dragon.

Sorry, don’t you worry
I have a lot to lose as well
Put the past in the rice chest
I’ll take what is mine and consume it all.
Sigh.  Suga…. why make it so difficult for the translators?
This word for “rice chest” he uses is 뒤주, which is not used at all these days and only well known in context of the Crown Prince Sado.  This was a very sad story.  The Crown Prince was said to have been really smart and loved as a toddler, but his father the King started to be more and more strict and abusive as he grew up.  He was abused and publicly humiliated by the King all his life, until he started to go crazy in his twenties and started raping and killing people around him. The King then took the crown prince status away from him, and locked him in a rice chest where he starved to death.

To “put the past in a rice chest”…what does it mean?  It definitely has feel of “killing the past” rather than “storing the past” in that rice chest.   And it would also imply a very painful and dark past.

It’s also a bit alarming as Suga is dressed as royalty in the MV and the rice chest is where one royalty locked up another royalty to death.  Does he imply himself as the killer or the killed?  I think I read he’s wearing the clothes of a traditional king, but he’s acting like the crown prince that started killing people.

It makes no sense, to say I’m a dog.
I was born as a tiger – at least I don’t do drugs like you.
OR:  I’m born as a tiger – at least I’m not fragile like you.
where 약하지 =does drugs/is fragile.
EDIT:  Also, reference to “Give It To Me“, making references to Give It To Me (talking about being born a tiger and not being a dog).  (thank you, Mianne Do in comments!)
The little shits putting on a kids show
I love the word좆밥!  Ahaha.  It means smegma, commonly used to mean “little shits” or translated as “pathetic fucks” in the MV.  It’s so gross but I think this word sounds cute.
EDIT:  This is a commonly used derogatory term. It’s not an unusual thing to use this word – I just find some swear words in Korean really interesting and expressive.
Honestly, I find it fucking outrageous
Kill them all, I’ve got no manners
Bastard, yeah you, with no exceptions.
The above 3 lines are where he does the 4 syllable rhymes.

Flexing, I don’t have. 
I don’t need it. 

Who’s the king who’s the boss
Everyone knows my name
Those who bastards who only talk shit 
Off with their heads now. 

Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita

Hit it big and then I’m gonna run on the jet
This country is still small to hold me
Woo, some say time is money
But my time is more expensive than that.
Tic tok,
In the face of those Seonbi bastards I spit. 
Seonbis are scholars during Joseon dynasty.  They were really into being right, righteous, and strict.  In modern day, the word is often used to negatively describe those who are too politically correct, on their moral high horse.
The revenue that’s never gone down
Our Bang PD is dancing every day

I’m really thankful, that I’m a genious
To be popping pills just because of that, how endlessly pitiful?
It means you have no talents, that’s what.

I got everything I wanted.  What else can I have to be satisfied?
The things I wanted were clothes clothes, then money money, then goal goal, what’s after this?
What’s after this?  Feeling a strong feeling of reality check, a situation where there’s no higher. 
I had only looked up, now I just wanna look down and gently land.

Fun Korean terms and their origins!
The word for “reality check” is 현타, short for “현자타임,” meaning the “time of a wise man.”  Which refers to the time right after orgasm, when you are no longer hormonal and feel kind of down, coming down from feeling euphoric to see that reality is not so euphoric.
Western equivalents would be “Post-Coital Tristesse” or “Post Nut Clarity.”
EDIT:  this is the origins of the word.  It doesn’t mean that the word is used only in sexual situations.  It’s used in general situations when you come down from something euphoric and feeling more down.  I thought the origins of this word was kinda fun, and it is a slang so you shouldn’t use it in formal situations.   Just clarifying that it’s used generally, not just sexually.

I’m a king I’m a boss
Make sure to engrave my name
Those who bastards who only talk shit 
Beat them up now

I’m a king I’m a boss
Everyone knows my name
Those who bastards who only talk shit 
Off with their heads now. 

Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita
Daechwita Daechwita, let it ring, Daechwita

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A bit of an additional ramble about 삿갓/Satgat (Sakkat?), which is the Asian conical hat.

I wasn’t really planning to talk about the visual aspect of the MV very much, but this hat has certain connotations in Korea.  There was a wandering poet, commonly called “Kim Satgat (real name: Kim Byeong-yeon)” in 1800’s.

These satgats were widely worn in Joseon dynasty, but as they’re not used commonly now, most people think of the poet, Kim Satgat when you see this hat.   (Kind of like “riding hood” would make you think of the “little red riding hood” story, even if riding hoods were commonly worn by many people in the past.)

In Korea, as a noble, you could inherit wealth but you couldn’t inherit a title or position in government.  Positions in government and ruling were fair game to all nobles, who took exams to earn their places in government (unlike the Western countries where the son of a duke could inherit the dukedom.)  I feel like the Korean obsession with education runs deep, starting from these times.

Kim Satgat’s grandfather committed a crime, and the lore has it that he did not know about this and wrote an essay dissing his grandfather on one of these government exams.  He felt very ashamed (saying bad things about your ancestors was considered very bad in Confucius society back then), so he wore this satgat and wandered all his life, as he was too ashamed to look at the heavens.   Or so the story goes.  Another theory is that he was just fed up with his family and the government, and being the badass that he was,  he just dissed them and left them.

His poems are characterized by black humor, sarcasm, and at times outright insults hidden in complex eloquence.  The character so reminds me of Suga.

I read a book about him when I was about ten.  I remember one time he wasn’t treated very hospitably, so he gifted the host with a poem that sounds great, but states that the host is a donkey if you read it backwards.

Reading more about him as an adult, I’ve found other records of his writing.  One time, he put up a sign saying he’ll teach writing (to make money in his travels) which said:

自知면 晩知고 補知면 早知다.
Which means something like, if you learn on your own, it will be slow, but if someone helps you, you will learn faster.

This was written using Chinese characters, and if you read the phase phonetically ignoring the meaning of each character, it sounds like the phrase, “If it’s a penis, I’ll rub it and if it’s a vagina, I’ll fuck it.”

Anyway, translating BTS songs make me go on to random weird tangents and read more about things that I’ve only previously read about as a child.  It’s been interesting to say the least…