Youth: a time of spring when seeds sprout green. Everyone finds their own way through this period, but there are common emotions, understood by all, scattered along each path. That’s how youth is—one song echoes the same through everyone’s hearts. We caught up with TOMORROW X TOGETHER, walking square down the middle of their youth as they face the reality beyond their dreams and fantasies, to ask them about the songs that touch their hearts, along with their thoughts on their new songs from The Chaos Chapter: FIGHT OR ESCAPE.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER - LO$ER=LO♡ER


SOOBIN:
If I’m being honest, when I first heard the song, I was like, Hmm? But after listening to it a couple of times, it became addictive and I fell in love with it, so I kept listening to it after I got the guide version. It feels like the behind-the-scenes extension of “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” featuring Seori. The lyrics continue from there, and the mood of both songs is similar, but I think people will be able to feel something new with this song, especially with how we held our microphones in our hands last time, but the performance feels totally new when we’re using microphone stands.

 

YEONJUN: This song should bring a lot of comfort to people my age living through these times. A lot of people are tired, whether from work or something else. I think this song will relieve them from their frustrations for a while. I wrote the lyrics for the bridge, and I think they’ll be comforting to people who are hurt or struggling. At the same time, I’m comforted by the lyrics, too, so I hope everyone can give this song a listen at least once.

 

BEOMGYU: I think you have to look closely to see the hidden meaning behind the lyrics to “LO$ER=LO♡ER.” But even if you don’t try to interpret the lyrics, there’s something that rings true about it in your heart, I think, that you can get from the performance or the feeling you get from the song itself. I think there was something sad about “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You),” with its love that couldn’t be, while “LO$ER=LO♡ER” shows how someone would fight or escape for another person, but either way they’re together. The emotions changed minutely in that sense, which was really hard to express. But I think it comes across well in the recording, so I’d love if people gave it a listen.

 

TAEHYUN: I think the song turned out really well and sounds trendy thanks to working with great songwriters. The process took a really long time this time, too, and they wrote a lot of melodies, but we chose some and refined them into one song, and I think that improved the quality of the song in the end. I really came to like this song a lot, especially while filming the music video. In the “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” video, my arm’s in a cast, and the story for how I got it is explained in the new song. When we were filming, I felt like connecting the two songs together meant they really told a story about us, so that’s when I started to like the song even more.

 

HUENINGKAI: I think a lot of people will relate because the lyrics are so good. I’m sure they’ll relate to the song overall as well as the title, and the lyrics, which are like, I’m a loser, but I want to be a really loving person; I want you to think I’m cool. I think teens will relate to the song especially well right now when they’re feeling very discouraged.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER - MOA Diary (Dubaddu Wari Wari)


SOOBIN:
The song is pretty good by itself, but it’s also something that fans will enjoy listening to. It’s full of things they’ll notice if they’re into us. For example, we borrowed lyrics from our old songs, or put in some of the titles—things like that that only MOA and TOMORROW X TOGETHER can relate to, so I think MOA will really enjoy the song when they hear it.

 

YEONJUN: First of all, it’s a song for MOA, so I think they’ll like it a lot. We can’t see MOA in this situation, so we’re both really hurt, sad and tired. But the song is hopeful and reminds us that we’ll be able to see each other again soon, and even though we can’t meet or see each other in person, we’re still connected. There are things that we say every day: See you tomorrow, see you the day after—let’s be together always. So when I was writing the lyrics, I kept thinking, We’re going to be together forever—thinking, We’re going to be together, always, even though we can’t meet right now and we’re in this really bad situation.

 

BEOMGYU: The song tells the story from when we first met MOA up until now, but as the song goes on, there are lyrics about what will happen from now on—about the future. I think all of that captures our relationship well. I mean, I know people aren’t going to just say “dubaddu wari wari” and suddenly have their problems disappear. (laughs) Still, if they forget about their troubles while thinking about us or watching our performances, I think that’s magical. I think people really need to watch the performance while they listen to this song because I think we expressed this sad situation in a levelheaded, lighthearted way, like when we take off our masks and all dance together. We keep telling one another we want to do a concert and a tour when things get better, and I think MOA will feel a little stronger emotionally after watching the performance too.

 

TAEHYUN: I thought, Don’t tell me the lyrics are actually “dubaddu wari wari.” Then I heard the melody and the words “dubaddu wari wari” were in there, too. (laughs) But I think it’s ultimately a good song that MOA will like. First of all, the melody’s really good, and the lyrics are touching, so I think we came up with a pretty unique and special song for our fans. It felt surreal seeing a hashtag event with the lyrics I wrote for our first fan song. I hope MOA listen to it and really like it, and I hope we’ll have more opportunities to produce fan songs like this in the future.


HUENINGKAI: The song’s melody is good, and it’s more meaningful because it’s our first song for our fans. I wrote the lyrics as though I were reflecting on all my memories. I helped write the lyrics while thinking about things like what I talked with MOA about, what I wrote in my diary, and what kind of messages MOA have sent. Most of the songs we’ve released so far are related to our album storylines, but this song is good I think because I could say what I really wanted to say. It feels like a fan song through and through. I think this is the kind of song that will stir people’s hearts.

Shakira - Try Everything

SOOBIN:
The lyrics go, I want to do it even though I might fail. I won’t give up. I’m not running away—there are so many things I wanna try. It's just like if you look at our songs—it’s about trying to make a move in the midst of despair. I think there’s something about it that’s similar to the songs we’re doing, but it’s also really cheerful and bright. It reminds me of the way I look at youth. Youth isn’t all that bright or exciting, but when I think of youth, this is the kind of atmosphere I imagine.
Finn Askew - Roses

YEONJUN:
I just think of flowers as soon as I hear the word “youth.” (laughs) Youth is a flowery time, so it reminds me of cheerful feelings, like running around in a flower garden (laughs) and I think the song fits the image of youth well—the atmosphere. I don’t know. (laughs) Am I thinking too positively about youth? When I listen to that song, it feels—I guess I could say refreshing. It makes my heart race. I think it’s a good song to listen to when you’re in a bad mood. We often had music playing during our shoot, and I heard that song and thought it was good so I added it to my own list right away. MOA recommended the song a lot when I was on Weverse, too.
Khalid - New Normal

BEOMGYU:
This song says something like, This situation is nothing but a season—it’ll all pass. And it says that very calmly. It was really touching to me, so I thought I’d like to sing it later and added it to my playlist. There’s a lot of hurdles you have to overcome in the process of becoming an adult, you know. There’s schoolwork, then after that it’s hard to find a job, and it’s even harder these days because of the pandemic. Everyone’s going through the same rough patch, and there’s a lot of people who feel like they’re falling apart because of it. But in one way, from the perspective of an entire lifetime, it’s a really short period. So lately I’ve had a lot of thoughts like, I hope I can get over this without any problems, and that it’ll be okay when it’s all over. That’s why I want to recommend that song.
Justin Bieber - Swap It Out

TAEHYUN:
When I think of youth, it makes me want to recommend Justin Bieber’s album Journals. In my opinion, Believe showed Bieber when he was still a young, cool teenager, while in Purpose he’s a completely full-grown man. But Journals came out between those two albums and shows the voice of a growing adolescent and the words he used really well. Among the songs on it, I felt like “Swap It Out” showed how his love songs became deeper. The love songs he did before were young and inexperienced, but the love he deals with in Journals is deeper, I think. We have two back-to-back love songs on Chaos Chapter. In that sense, his album and this song were a lot of help.
Shawn Mendes - Show You

HUENINGKAI:
My older sister’s the reason I know about the song. The song feels like it’s out of a teen movie, with lyrics that basically say, Be confident and show me everything about yourself. That’s why I recommend this song. Sometimes when I felt my self-esteem was low when I was in middle and high school I would listen to this song and I think it gave me some confidence. (laughs) The song makes your heart beat faster and it’s also a lot of comfort, especially if you’re at that high school age.
Article. Yejin Lee
Design. Yurim Jeon
Photo Credit. BIGHIT MUSIC