i don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not but despite their opposing genres and vibes, the two tracks complement each other and i have to give heeseung his tens for this.
oveflow is such a deeply personal survival track about the behind the scenes of the idol industry. he literally talked about three different topics in just 55 seconds.:
idols forced to hide their true feelings:
“I've been losing hope, but I never show / so just holdin on, but there really goes”
“I've been tryna keep it low, it never never goes”
an idol is required to perform perfection energy and happiness 24/7, regardless of how they actually feel and if u dare to show vulnerability or exhaustion you will get dragged to the muds. there is no room for real human struggles until they overflow.
coping mechanisms:
“Swallowed the pills, you know I'm sober”
“We will never find a way out of this haze now”
i think this one is clear we’ve seen how idols get burned out to the point they need to rely on meds to be able to sleep and sometimes they need drops to be able to stand up and perform the lyrics perfectly described how it’s hard for an idol to feel fully sober bcz of their cruel schedules and the companies who don’t see them as humans.
the feeling of being completely sucked into the vortex of comebacks:
kpop is the only industry where artists have to release two or three albums a year which require an insane energy and time to prepare,
“Here it go again, here it go again”
“Everytime I call yeah I fall back in like here we go again”
like even when an idol is drained and wishes they could finally rest they had to start all over again and prepare for the next era.
now let’s move to ride or die which a thank you for the fans who kept him alive through what he went through (talked about in overflow)
while performing could be something exhausting and draining cuz they have to do it constantly, the loud cheers and the support of the fans give him energy. when his idol makes him feel numb and helpless the fans and their support are what wake him up and bring him back to life.
this is my own theory and i could be right or wrong but what matters is heeseung is telling his own story here this is not something he randomly chose to release there is a storyline and personal thoughts and feelings he was brave enough to share with his fans.
for me overflow is the reality of the industry and how many times he wanted to give up while ride or die is the reason why he didn’t and what was his driving force and source of hope and energy during the hard times.
#EVAN #에반 #RIDE_OR_DIE #OVERFLOW