욱 (UGH!)

(Lyrics in colour are the official lyrics, lyrics in black are translations. Official English lyrics are italicized.)

SUGA RM j-hope

타닥 또 타오르는 저 불씨

crack! there isn't even fuel on this fire

기름에 닿기 전에 먼저 집어삼키네

and already the embers are alight,

필시 휩쓸려가겠지 예 예 음

look at them, without a doubt an inferno in the making yeah yeah hmm

오늘의 수선 입장하시네 건수를 yeah

ah, here they come, the players of today yeah

물기 시작하면 둥둥둥 동네북이 돼 둥둥둥

they catch ahold of an issue, bam-bam-bam and a scapegoat they create bam-bam-bam

툭툭 건드네 괜시리 툭툭

tap-tap what needless provoking, tap-tap

반응이 없음 걍 담궈버리지 푹푹 yeah yeah

if they get no reaction, you'll be swimmin with the fishes (glub glub) yeah yeah

진실도 거짓이 돼

truth becomes lies

거짓도 진실이 돼

and lies become truth

이곳에선 모두가 도덕적 사고와

here everyone becomes someone

판단이 완벽한 사람이 돼 웃기시네 

with perfect judgment and morals, it makes me laugh

분노? 물론 필요하지

fury? of course it’s necessary

타오를 때 이유가 있으 

cause when it burns it does so purposefully

어쩌면 우리의 역사지

it’s occasionally been our history

그게 세상을 바꾸기도 하지 

to our world it's even brought change

but 이건 분노 아닌 분뇨

but this isn’t fury, it’s feces

 뭐가 분노인지 you know? 

what’s fury you know?

분노인 척하며 죽여 진짜 분노 

you kill, with false fury, real rage

질릴 수도 없는 많은 people

growing numb to it are countless people

넌 나만 죽이는 게 아니야

i'm not the only one you're murdering

똥 밟는 게 익숙해 우리야

we, we’re used to dealing with your shit

무감각해진 저 사람들 봐

look at the people who are becoming desensitized 

분뇨, 무관심, 너넨 팀이야 eh

human waste, indifference, you’re a team eh?

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 꺼져야만 했던 분노에 분노해 

i am outraged by the rage that had to die

나는 꺼져야만 했던 그 분노에 분노해 

i am outraged at that rage that should have died

그래 욱 욱 욱해라 욱

yeah temper, temper, go on, lose your temper temper

재가 될때까지 그래 욱해라 욱

until you turn to ashes, go on, lose your temper

그래 욱 욱 욱해라 욱

yeah temper, temper, go on, lose your temper

부러질 때까지 그래 욱해라 욱

until you're in pieces, go on, lose your temper

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury

이 세상 분노가 지배함

in this world, seems to me like rage reigns

분노가 없음 다 못 사나 봐

like nobody can live without it

분노하고 또 분노하고 분노하고

gettin mad at this and that, this and that, 

그리 미쳐가고 욱 욱 욱 욱!

so they're going mad, ugh, ugh ugh ugh!

분노하는 이유도 다 수만 가지

there are indeed tens of thousands of reasons to rage

선의와 악의도 다 매한가지

good intent, ill intent all the same

분노할 수 있다만 남의 삶에 

feel free to be furious, but if to others’ lives

피해가 있는 건 i don’t like

you bring harm, i don’t like

그건 stop ayy

that so stop ayy

누구의 행동에 누구는 아파해

somebody gets hurt by someone else’s actions

누구의 언행에 누구는 암담해

somebody's choice of words brings gloom to someone else

누구의 찰나에 누구 순간이 돼

someone’s split second leaves an impression on another

누구의 분노에 누구 목숨이 돼

someone’s anger takes the life of someone else

썩을 퉤!

you awful- *spits*

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury

나는 꺼져여만 했던 그 분노에 분노해 

i am outraged at the rage that had to die

아 대체 욕 좀 먹는 게 왜

"ah why the hell shouldn’t you get hate?

잘 벌잖아 또 징징대 왜?

you’re earning lots, so why are you complaining

그 정돈 간수해야지 에험

you should at least put up with that much, ahem

에헴 에헴 에헴 에헴

ahem ahem ahem ahem

니네 에헴

you guys ahem

에헴 에헴 에헴

ahem ahem ahem

나 시켰어봐 다 참아

if i was in your shoes, i'd endure,

니네 에헴

you guys ahem

니네 에헴 에헴 에헴 에헴

you guys ahem, ahem ahem

나 시켰어봐 그냥 에헴 베헴 에헴

if i was in your shoes, i'd just- ahem bhem ahem"

그래 욱 욱 욱해라 욱

yeah temper, temper, go on, lose your temper temper (temper!)

재가 될때까지 그래 욱해라 욱

until you turn to ashes, go on, lose your temper (temper!)

그래 욱 욱 욱해라 욱

yeah temper, temper go on, lose your temper (temper!)

부러질 때까지 그래 욱해라 욱

until you're in pieces, go on lose your temper (temper!)

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 욱해 욱해

losin’ my temper, temper

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury

나는 악의에 가득 찬 분노에 분노해

getting outraged at that malice-filled fury 

Translation Notes:

욱하다 "ook-ha-da" (dictionary form, appears in the song as 욱해 "ook-hae") means "to be incredibly angry". 욱 "ook" is a word that expresses anger. (like ugh!) I've chosen the translating "losin my temper" because it matches the beat and the original meaning. You could also think of this as "I'm like, ugh!"

Something I thought was kind of funny as a native English speaker was that this word sounds like "okay". The first time I listened to this song I had no access to lyrics and had never heard the word "욱해" before. Due to sound change rules it's actually pronounced "우캐" "ookay" so I genuinely wondered, "are they singing "I'm okay?" It sounds a little aggressive for that to be the case." Turns out, it's the complete opposite.

To better demonstrate the themes of Yoongi's first verse, I did some reworking in English. This is the literal verse:

"tadak, those embers that burn again start devouring before they touch oil, it seems a certainty that they will go and get swept away yeah yeah eum"

I thought for a long time on how best to convey what's going on here. "those embers" = the unnecessary anger that this song is built around. this anger doesn't need fuel to start growing. in no time, it's going to get out of control.

I should probably explain the "swimming with the fishes" line, too. It actually says, "if there's no reaction, they'll submerge (their target/scapegoat)." and then there's an onomatopoeic stabbing sound. Basically, if you don't give them the reaction they want from the tap-tapping? well, they'll drop all pretenses and you'll be "swimming with the fishes" which is English slang for "murdered and your body dropped in the ocean". Look, I'm just trying to keep these slang terms narratively similar haha. Both are gangster cliches related to water, so I think it works.

The word 분노 (boon-no) means "rage" or "fury" or just "anger" and i have translated it all three ways throughout the song depending on how it best fits re: alliteration and rhythm. There's a clever wordplay in the sentence "but 이건 분노 아닌 분뇨" (but this isn't fury, it's feces) because 분노 (boon-no) means fury, or rage, and 분뇨 (boon-nyo) means human waste. The fury/feces comparison was the best I could do in English. 

You should have seen how delighted I was that I could make the "getting mad/going mad" wordplay work in this song. The word 분노하다 repeats three times (meaning to get outraged, mad, furious, angry, as we've talked about). Basically- these people get mad over and over and over again, and it drives them to insanity- madness.

The excessive use of 에헴 (a-hem) is the rapline mocking those who hate them on the internet. It's something people say online to sound superior, so naturally the rappers took that and used it to mock them. They also snuck a "b-hem" in there just for the sake of it. That entire verse is them making fun of how people talk about them. I've put it in quotations to emphasize that.