IVE - LOVE DIVE (2022)

Writing about music and lyrics.

IVE - LOVE DIVE (2:58) | 2022
 

The beat is good, but the simple melody and the harmony of the members are beautifully filled. In particular, the sense of space delivered by the reverb of the chorus fills the entire atmosphere of this short song (less than 3 minutes). Then, the lyrics that get stuck are “I need to see that heart.”

Based on the hooking lyrics, I hear paragraphs such as "Eyes," "I'm hiding," "bad," "good," "night shining on each other," and "deep in love." Like most K-pop songs, the lyrics of "Love Dive" are delivered as a combination of fragmentary words if you listen to the sound without looking at the text, and the overall image of the song is determined by how the words listed in parallel sound. In my case, "LOVE DIVE" is sinister. The words that stick in your ears are contradictory and conflict with each other.

The sound sounds differently. The space felt cramped as thick bases, glitches, reverbs, and harmonies piled up in a structure that proceeded with minor codes. In addition, the noise, wind instrument sound, and reverb, which are repeated over eight bars of "breath-holding love dive" before the song ends, fade out with a slow motion-like effect, giving the impression of being trapped in a narrow space or drowning. C#m - G# - C#m - G# - A - B - C#m - G# is also an uncommon structure in pop, and a constantly repeated structure without a bridge creates a tense and unstable mood.

Finally, if you check the entire lyrics, you can see that this song deals with narcissism based on the story of Narcissus. The expression "Cupid reinterpretation" in the song description also means that this narcissus and narcissism are viewed from a slightly different perspective.

I'm really curious about you. That'same for you
This is enough. A game of chasing and chasing
unbearable attraction and curiosity
You and I, we'll see
Woo, under your eyes, Woo, hiding
Woo yeah It’s so bad It’s good
I need to see how that feels

Narcissistic, my god I love it The night that shines on each other
Beautiful black eyes, fall deeper
(You come to me, I come to you)
Hold your breath, love dive

Woo lalalalalalala
Woo, come on love dive
Woo oh perfect sacrifice yeah 
Hold your breath, love dive

I know how you feel, but I don't know
Love will bloom in an instant
Come in and check with your own eyes
You can come to the deepest part of my heart

Woo The time to hesitate Woo 3 seconds is all I need
Woo yeah It’s so bad It’s good
Dare to jump in if you want
 

IVE - LOVE DIVE | Written by Seo Ji-eum

However, the views of verse 1 and verse 2 are different. If the first verse is the perspective of looking at oneself reflected on the water, the second verse is the self under the water. The moment when two egos in one body face each other with their sleep in between. It is bound to be precarious and disturbing. The tension is tense. The song spends 2 minutes and 57 seconds trying to portray the edge.

However, it is the lyrics that turn this anxiety into fascination.

The main character of the song is a teenage girl, just like "ELEVEN". Looking back at the times that everyone went through, the world we faced at this time was full of things that seemed to be unknown. Among them, the most unknown thing was his mind, and after realizing it, he was afraid of how long to live with such an unidentified mind. But this fear also gives a sense of unfounded security. The relief that worries me that I might become different and live as a non-universal being.

In other words, teenagers are contradictory beings who generally aim for universality but admire specificity, and for the first time, it is an experimental time to realize and objectify the self as a substance. We've come this far past that time of chaos. Somehow I became an adult, lived without much thought, and suddenly realized one day. What happened to my heart back then?

Ive also pointed out in his previous single "ELEVEN" that "I didn't know my heart was so colorful." Here, words such as "eye pupil," "wave," "room," and "transparent" appear to convey the image of water. However, the object of emotion vaguely described in "ELEVEN" is only revealed in "LOVE DIVE." As if the first and second verses create a symmetrical structure, "LOVE DIVE" and "ELEVEN" are also connected like decalcomanies. It is assumed that what Ive is paying attention to is the ambivalence or multifacetedness of emotion.

My boring eyes
His expressionless face
I'm shining looking at you
The eyes that contain you are odd

Blooming in my heart, blue
These feelings I'm feeling now are true
The strange name that tickled my lips
I didn't know my heart was so colorful

Make me have a long dream This room is small heaven
I dance to the point where I'm dizzy
Oh my, oh my god
I'm filling in one more space
Look. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
You make me feel like eleven

The transparent relationship between you and me
peep in
into the ripples of the waves
I'm getting more into it
 

IVE - LOVE DIVE | Written by Seo Ji-eum

The reason why "LOVE DIVE" is fascinating is the way it deals with this contradiction, or its attitude. Seo Ji-eum takes an active attitude, saying, "Let's (re)define self-love as one of those complicated and confused minds, beyond advising them to naturally accept the Chaos of Chaos experienced during their growth." If the number 11 in "ELEVEN" meant 101 percent by filling 10 fingers with "one more space," narcissism in "LOVE DIVE" would be that "one space." As a result, Ive becomes a colleague and role model who suggests a shift from an unprecedented perspective to the main target Generation Z, and "LOVE DIVE" becomes a cheering song filled with affection and encouragement.

The fact that Ive's fan club name is "Dive" also shows that the song has room for three-dimensional interpretation and positioning. In addition, the connection structure of the message from "ELEVEN" to "LOVE DIVE" is likely to be puzzle-like in the next song.

What story awaits you after you jump below the surface of the water toward yourself. Will more than two complex emotions emerge then? In fact, however, this complex mind does not disappear as an adult. We just grow old and grow up without getting the chance to convince ourselves or even convince ourselves. This may be why a middle-aged man of Generation X listens to this song over and over again and again.