I figured I would start this  off with a nice Rant. I posted this on my blog a while ago but it makes sense here. Enjoy!

*Cross post from my Blog (Exact duplicate (+MVs), post still up)*

Warning, this is long and ranty...really long. Not sorry.

So I had to get this out because talking to my self was not helping at all and I have no one i can rant about kpop to so here it goes...Why you gonna make lyrics that ed up sound so good? Wae?! If you haven't watched them check it out below (if you really havent seen Psycho TURN OFF CC THE FIRST TIME YOU WATCH! just, trust me on this. Voodoo has no subs on this video so you are okay there.)

The way I feel about Psycho is much like the way I felt about Vixx's Voodoo and so I will speak of both. I am in a constant state of being torn between loving everything about the song, video, and the boys and realizing that I am so not okay with these lyrics. Now, I have had issues with themes of some music before (Teen Top- No more Perfume on you, anyone?) but these two songs feel very different from. The psychology of these songs is so messed up.

The Lyrics:

Voodoo involves the most sado/masochistic situation I can even think of. Taking out the fantasy of the voodoo doll overlayed into the song by the visual concept, you are listening to the insane ramblings of a guy that can't get the girl to love him and so he just waits on the sidelines hoping she'll need him to fix everything...sweet, right? Wrong. This guy is saying I will hunt down anyone that has ever hurt you, say the word and I will make them all pay. And then, in the same breath, is telling her that he is worthless except as a tool for her use to exact said revenge. He literally is saying and I quote "If I can’t give it to you, step over me Nobody can treat you recklessly Whatever the reason is, you need me Me that becomes a doll to fight for you I shut my hurting eyes and run for you Just please don’t leave me Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you." To some up the rest-Use me and abuse me so you can get what you want and who you want, I don't care if it kills me, seeing you smile once (at someone else cause this chick don't give a damn about him) is enough to make sacrificing myself okay.  Yeah. That is one seriously messed up song. It would make a hell of a horror movie though.

I have to say, at least Psycho is exactly what it says on the tin, psychotic. Unlike voodoo which makes it all sound like fantasy with it's concept. I'll get back to that later in the other sections.

So Psycho...well, this is messed up. Now, i'm dumbing this 'poetry' down a bit for the sake of convenience but-You thought you could break up with me? I'm going to sneak into your house in the middle of the night when no one can see you and no one is around to hear you scream and you. I said it. you. If anyone can think of a different way of interpreting the words, "I’m saying we should take this as far as we can go, bad girl, bad boy. Don’t try to stop me, I can’t hold it back anymore. If you’re trying to tell me it’s all for my sake, it’s a bad lie, bad love. Don’t be afraid, now look at me. It’s our romantic thriller. We’ll both be smiling in the end. It’s all because I love you. Jerk, , crazy bastard… call me whatever you’d like." please let me know. Please. I am totally willing to hear it because damn i love this song and want desperately for it to not be about what it sounds like. 

This song is about nothing less than a crazy ex-boyfriend hell-bent on getting his girl back. I have one thing to say...this better not have worked. He is implying that once he her she is going to run back into his arms because...i don't know, he's that good in bed? Yeah, no. The only place she will be running is to the cops and then you can put those interesting black and white striped outfits to good use.  Even if you take away the ideea of you still got this dude on stalking and threatening.

So, I totally disapprove of these songs on the lyrical level. They aren't nice. They are messed up. If anyone thinks that they can defend these lyrics please, try. I dare you. The lyrics, not the song, not the boys, the dance, the video, etc...just the lyrics. That being said...

The songs:

Are gold. I am currently listening to Psycho on repeat and Voodoo doll is one of my most played songs ever. They sound great I think the person that composed them in such a way that the lyrics mean nothing to me should have statues erected in their honor. The melodies, beats, and the mixing on both songs are great, no complaints. The vocals too. Stellar. Bravo, boys.

Will I stop listening to these songs because the lyrics are so messed up? No. And this has nothing to do with the fact that it is in Korean. Much like how I still enjoy listening to Blurred Lines(Robin Thicke) and Superman (Eminem), despite the god awful lyrics, I will continue to listen to these songs. I'm fickle like that. Do I think that anyone else should stop listening to them? No, well I mean...if it makes you uncomfortable go right ahead. But I don't feel like anyone should feel bad for listening to the songs either. Music is music. Creepy songs have been around for a long time...creep people too. The songs are entertainment not endorsement. Vixx is certainly not telling anyone to have a relationship like the one portrayed in Voodoo Doll, neither is History telling guys to hurt their exes in order to get back with them.

And now for the part that makes all those that read the lyrics most uncomfortable...

The MVs:

Mmm, damn those boys look good. Both sets. The visuals were killer and the concepts dynamic and gorgeous and I deeply regret watching psycho with the cc on. At least with voodoo I had time to apreciate the pretty that was Vixx and the awesome that was the video. No such luck with History. Coupled with the teasers I had seen I should have gone with my instinct to turn off that button the second I saw the words dangerous night. Much regret was had in those minutes. 

Psycho is a damn pretty and damn creepy MV. I was more freaked watching it than I was for Voodoo, that's for sure. (Then again BtoB's Thriller also freaked me out 'cause damn that Ilhoon plays crazy well.) Voodoo was gory and over the top which actually toned down the scare factor considerably for me.

Psycho felt a little to real for my comfort. (Not that i suspect most crazed ex boyfriends look that good and dance around in harnesses touching eachother and pulling hair ily...i mean i could be wrong though) The sets were all realistic and the outfits in the non-dance scenes felt...well...like reasonable attire for a normal human being. This made it feel really creepy (also like all of the scariest movies I have ever avoided watching) and the black and white didn't help. I have to applaud them though, they didn't even attempt to hide the crazed lunaticary (Yes, I did just make up that word). The MV matched the lyrics too, a rarity to be sure. I mean, they didn't even have the kindness to make it super dramatic. They boys looked like insane stalkers (albeit pretty ones) but not like most movie psychos who are over the top creepy. Like real 'didn't know he was that crazy until he tried to strangle me in my bedroom' scary. I don't know that I am completly okay with that. The only exception in that one with the smirk and the rosary beads, boy looks like someone pulled him right out of a horror movie. He now makes my list of kpop boys that belong in horror movies (Ilhoon, The Jo twins, Lee Joon, Kyungsoo, and Himchan are also esteemed members of this list)*. 

*Before anyone gets affronted I mean this as a compliment. You have to have some great acting chops and a very visually dynamic face to pull of lunatic well on screen. 

Voodoo Doll by comparison is much less scary (for me) in it's dramatization. It is fantasy plain and simple, nothing is realistic about it. There is not even an attempt at realism which makes sense given the concept. The lyrics and the video don't match, persay, they relate. The lyrics are taken and interpreted into fantasy instead of reality. In some ways it avoid the worst of the issue with the song by avoiding relating to realistic situations. It is easy to interpret the song as a fantasy about a voodoo doll instead of a person because of the concept. It was a much more fun watch (again probably partially attributed to the fact that I didn't know the lyrics until i watched a live preformance with subs). Also, something about the richer colour palette and more saturated colours made it less terrifying in comparison to Psycho's black/white and blue-grey.

To compare- Voodoo doll drew attention away from its creepy lyrics with its over the top MV while Psycho went the spot on route which draws attention to the lyrics themselves. All of the boys look amazing and the choreo for both is fantastic and I continue to watch both videos (even whilst cringing during Psycho).

I love Vixx and really like History as well and weirdly think that these concepts really suit them (which after the rant I just went on might imply that I think that they are all nuts.) I actually hope to see more darker and more mature concepts from groups. If we could try to avoid the psychotic lyrics, that would be great but not necessarily a dealbreaker for me. I can recognize it for what it is, entertainment. I do think that they might want to consider rating based on lyrics rather than dances though in some cases. Let me tell you Psycho deserved a far more than What I am I to you? and the not-so-tighty-whiteys (Seriously, they couldn't get the boy underwear that fit?). I think there are a lot of people like me that have more issue with the idea of kids that may take things too seriously hearing those kinds of lyrics. They are, as much as I like them, creepy, insensitive, and even offensive. Not going to stop me- heard worse, seen worse, more than a little desensitized to these things- but I do think they are unnecessary. Less creepy lyrics could have been created even keeping the themes and they really should have. I do think that part of the issue might be in translation itself though. Things may hold connotations in English that are not present in Korean and so the song becomes instantaneously more offensive. I could more easily apply that to Voodoo though. Psycho and it's video makes it pretty clear that there was no translation error. Psycho ex is psycho ex. No doubt about it.

So, that is what I have to say and I'm glad to get it out of my system because ranting to myself about them was starting to feel a little crazy so that is that. This was cathartic. I might keep doing this. If anyone made the attempt to read this I'd love to know your thoughts about the songs.