JYJ's Jaejoong “My world is small, but I live freely & Happily within it” Part.3
- With the exception of “You Fill Me Up”, you wrote the lyrics of all the songs yourself. Was it burdening to be talking about your own stories?
Jaejoong said: There was no pressure. I think the direction for the entire album this time was formed by coincidence. As I wrote “All Alone” myself, my emotions were naturally included in it. Although “Mine” and “One Kiss” were composed by Kim Ba Da, he encouraged me to write the lyrics myself since he said that expressing yourself freely is very important in rock, and it would be best for the person singing to sing a message that he himself wants to send.
- In the title track “Mine”, there is a line that goes “Don’t come here / This is my ocean (T/N: bada)”. What does that mean?
Jaejoong said: I’m not saying that Kim Ba Da is my ocean (laughs). It refers to a particular field/realm, but I likened it to an ocean because of the depth. Although there’s also the sky and the ground, it is difficult to portray the depth through those. The ocean is an apt expression for it. The song begins with the line “You’re like a person who’s been struck with a terrible illness. Poison spat on a flood mixed with screams, a poison I am already used to”. The portion about the sick person doesn’t literally mean a sick person, it means something like a zombie. Someone who loses rational sense and merely keeps chasing (after me). “Poison spat on a flood mixed with screams” expresses the feeling that ‘Although I am really working hard to move forward, the poison that keeps coming at me dirties and pollutes’. This is why i wrote “poison (that is) spat”. ‘But no matter how hard you spit poison, I’m used to it and alright. So don’t come shouting around in my world.’
- From the lyrics to the music video, “Mine” seems to be the most intense song in the album. Did you hesitate when choosing it as the title track?
Jaejoong said: I really thought about it a lot till the end, right before we filmed the music video. Thoughts that perhaps “One Kiss”, which would be more easily accepted by the general public, would be a better choice. Conversely, as “Mine” is a very strong song, people will either love it or hate it, so I also thought it might be a little risky. However, considering that the music video will be filmed for the title track, I thought that aside from the music itself, the song with more colours that could be expressed through the video was “Mine”.
- Crows and snakes appear in your music video, it seems as though the overall concept of ‘Mine’ is connected to the situation you’re currently facing.
Jaejoong said : Well, I guess so. Having snakes across my body represents something that is constantly strangling me, while running through a flock of crows represents confronting and overcoming something dark. The dog barking, is just what it is. (laughs) But it also means that no matter what, I’m okay. It is also an expression of confidence in my courage. Although my world is small, I am happily and freely alive in it, so don’t mess with me. It’s not about feeling injustice or that it’s hard to bear. Since the song is a strong one to begin with, the lyrics came to me naturally. “One Kiss” on the other hand had to be edited. I had to completely rewrite what I had written.
- You are also working as an actor now, so do you worry that the strong image that you present with your music will lead to a prejudiced opinion about you?
Jaejoong said: Actually, this is something that I worried about. However, I decided a little hastily, to put out this album for now, for the sake of those who wanted to hear the voice of Jaejoong as a singer. With a long period of solo activities and not with JYJ, I felt that I wanted to present music to the fans from Korea as well as overseas who have been waiting for a long time. Therefore, it would be fine even if it wasn’t a full album. 3 to 4 years is a rather long time, isnt it. I thought that they would probably be hoping for new songs instead of listening to the same songs, so I was honestly in a bit of a hurry. Naturally, as I work on projects one by one, an image of (Jaejoong as) an actor is formed, so there will be people who question whether there is a need for me to show such a strong image. Of course, there is probably no real need for this, but if I have an “outfit” as an actor, and an “outfit” as a singer, once I dress in each of the outfits people will focus on one (of the 2 roles). If the colour of the music were such (i.e. rock), yet i were to wear a formal suit, i would not be doing the song justice”
- We’re all really anxious to see the rocker side that you will probably be showing at your upcoming concert, but do you have any “secret weapon”?
Jaejoong said: Ah no, actually we haven’t made a decision on how we should do it. Honestly, all this time I haven’t been wearing many accessories, or dyeing my hair, and trying to live a life with as much self-control as possible. This is because I feel like it would be better not to deck yourself out as an actor. When I get a new project and start acting out that role, I feel so exposed, as if there are no embellishments, but I’ve found that I really like it when I realize that, that is me, giving everything I have. However, for this album, I want to show the fans a stage that is a feast for the eyes and ears, so I will deck myself out on stage with everything that I have been holding back until now (laughs).
- In the music video you wore a horn-like headpiece, which left a great impression. How much participation did you have with regards to the concept and idea behind the styling?
Jaejoong said : I personally gave a lot of ideas. However, the director of the music video Lee Sang Kyu also prepared a lot of small props for me. When we were first deciding on the theme, I asked the director if he could read the lyrics and think about what would be suitable (for the music video). And the next day, he brought with him themes such as imprisonment, repression and freedom, and the dark angel, vampire, locks, horns and masks came out with it. I think he prepared a lot of things that really managed to express the song lyrics.
- After the release of the album, what has been the most impressive reaction that you have seen or heard so far?
Jaejoong said: It was the comment “This music video has every concept that I had thought I wanted Jaejoong to do.” that someone had left on some website after watching the music video. This is because I really wanted to live up to the expectations of those who love me. Actually, there are many different things that the fans want to see from me. There are people who came to like me for my appearance, those who became fans after watching my drama, those who have liked my voice from before. And then there are those who like me slimmed down, and those who liked me for my previous muscular self. Therefore, I really wanted to fulfil each and every one of those hopes, and I think I managed to do so with this album. All five tracks are songs that both people who like quiet and calming songs and people who like intense songs that pull at the heart can listen to. The music video shows a variety of images so what should have taken a couple of years has been cut by a whole year.
- What if you had to choose a song that you liked the most (from this album)?
Jaejoong said: I like all the songs but, hmm… among them, I’m especially attached to 2 songs, “One Kiss” and “All Alone.” Actually, the song I’m listening to the most now is “All Alone.”
Jaejoong said: I like all the songs but, hmm… among them, I’m especially attached to 2 songs, “One Kiss” and “All Alone.” Actually, the song I’m listening to the most now is “All Alone.”
If I listen to it before going to bed, I can sleep better (laughs) To be honest, ‘All alone’ made me sad, ever since I started drumming the keys on my piano. It is a song that isn’t so concerned with vocal techniques,tones or rhythm, but focused on communicating the emotions. “One Kiss” is a really great song, but it was really difficult to record, and the lyrics were the hardest to write, and it gave me a headache. I usually write songs at night, and this was the first song that I wrote in the daytime. Although saying this may be so embarassing that I won’t be able to bear it (laughs), it was one afternoon, I was in my studio and I totally couldn’t write any lyrics so I closed my eyes. I could feel the rays of sunlight from between the curtains falling on my face. Then, even with my eyes closed, I could feel a black object going through the space between the curtains, and it was as if a hand had been extended out from the sky. At that moment, I had a “ping!” moment in my head and could write the lyrics smoothly.
- What were Junsu & Yoochun’s reactions to the album?
Jaejoong said: Junsu likes “Mine” and Yoochun likes “One Kiss”. Yoochun said that when he went to China, he felt like drinking immediately after hearing “One Kiss.” And Junsu said (to me), “Wow hyung, this is really great.”
- Junsu released his solo album first, and his world tour was a great success. We’re interested in how you plan to do your activities this time.
Jaejoong said: I’m really jealous of Junsu. The fact that he was able to hold a solo world tour successfully is amazing by itself. I wanted to try to do the same thing, but since there are only 5 songs in my album this time it isn’t enough.
- It isn’t just the Korean fans, but also the Japanese fans that have been waiting for you. Since you (JYJ) have won the lawsuit against Avex for the nullification of the exclusive contract and compensation requests, I’m guessing there will be some changes with regards to activities in Japan.
Jaejoong said: The first thing we would want to do is to meet with our Japanese fans via a concert, and show them our performance. With the ruling of the lawsuit, if we are able to distribute our records without restriction, we would want to release an official Japanese album. I’ll be happy if we can appear on TV shows as well.
“On stage, I will deck myself out, something I’ve been holding back on till now”
