POET REACTS to TAEMIN GUILTY Lyrics

[@HenryMcC-u3m]

Taemin has said that the concept of Guilty is about a toxic relationship... But it's also about the two sides of his personality that are constantly at war with each other, which is the theme of his entire solo career: Taemin the Artist vs. Taemin the Regular Guy. He's singing to himself and that makes it even more disturbing! The song 'Guilty' itself can be seen as a companion piece to his other title track 'Criminal'. 'Criminal' lyrics are from the perspective of the victim. 'Guilty' lyrics are from the perpetrator. There's a lot of theories about the Guilty MV. But the general consensus is that it's a critique on how Taemin has been sexualised and objectified in the kpop industry from a young age - he debuted at 14 and has struggled with the "pretty boy" label from the beginning. His feminine/androgynous good looks have been both a blessing and a curse. Taemin has dealt with harassment, ridicule, and trauma over the years and if the MV made you feel uncomfortable or unsettled, it was all intentional. There are also possible references to his difficult time in the military. It's taken him a long time to feel comfortable in his own skin, and 'Guilty' is Taemin letting go of his past and now fully in control of his image. Definitely recommend watching the Guilty MV trailer as well kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZW8oXigltx-aZo Also, the now-infamous dance move with the hand under his shirt - apparently it's supposed to symbolise eating the "poison/forbidden fruit".

[@kayepopreactions43]

I love it. And good for him for finally feeling like he's in control of his own image! He deserves it!

[@dheu]

Yes, I agree about the hand through the shirt not feeling that sexual to me. It feels more like he’s still being controlled (like those hands coming up from below or moving him around) but we have pulled the camera back far enough to see that HE is the one controlling himself instead. This feels like it ties into his previous MV themes about his own duality, where he has the real Taemin and then the idol Taemin kind of at war within himself. So it feels to me that the Guilty choreo reflects that there is still a part of him deep inside that is controlling him in a kind of self-destructive way.

[@kayepopreactions43]

Oooh I love that!

[@thespianoge]

I’ve literally written pages of analysis about this MV and its surrounding media. Basically I can condense it down to three theories: He experienced a traumatic military service and had to be transferred to the public service sector due to mental health reasons. It could be speaking to that. It could also speak to being taken advantage of by the music industry as a child, especially. And as a queer person who kind of finds queerness in everything, I felt gay conversion camp vibes from the time I saw the first trailer. It could be one of these, two of them, or perhaps a melding of all three in various ways. There have been some sort of pat “press release” type responses about it being just about an unhealthy type of love. But I think that the MV hints at so much make than that. There's also the book Erotism by Georges Bataille that the director recommend he read in preparation for this comeback. It’s about the intersections of sexuality, religion, death, the sacred and the profane and taboo. (Which has ironically basically been his brand from the beginning, more or less.) There’s also the quote by Herman Hesse that he's mentioned in interviews even before enlistment from the book Demian. "The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas." People think that the feather crown is a nod to Abraxys, which is supposed to be a heretic god, both God and Satan, without a binary. I think the element of child abuse you’re picking up on is intentional. Taemin became a trainee at the age of 12, and had been called beautiful and treated in extremely inappropriate ways even on variety shows. He was in sexualized photo shoots as a minor. I think an aspect of this MV is the catharsis and breaking free from that trauma, along with the general emotional damage of being a child star. The bunk beds may reference the dorms SHINee lived in during their early days. Someone made a really good video analysis from the point of someone who knows the nuances of the Korean languages and they said that the lyrics are quite poorly translated. I always felt a mismatch between the lyrics and the MV and this really highlighted why I felt that way. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXaTZZ54a9V0pLMsi=eMwsterv2fxxH6g2 So yeah, so much thought went into making this MV and only Taemin and maybe his team know how deep it goes. I love him so much! (There’s much more where this comes from…)

[@kayepopreactions43]

Thank you so much for the backstory and breakdowns! I'll check out the video you recommended!

[@konagirl86]

Ps-I loved the crowned alter ego Taemin though who lifts his own chin up and gets him out of that environment to burn it all down

[@matchynishi]

Agree with the points @user-im9rj5xl9p has made, much more coherently than I ever could. There is also the potential of the scenes before the bridge being Taemin when younger - the question of how would abuse/trauma affect the victim who grows up and itnegrates into society. He might be tempted to manipulate others, knowing it's wrong, identifying with what happened to him previously, but still set aside his guilt, and do it anyway. I agree with you about the hand under the shirt being a popular dance move that's been 'sexified' but it does give flashbacks of the scene in the first half of the MV where Taemin clearly feels there are anonymous hands strangling him - showng anxiety and fighting with themselves, perhaps. There are multiple levels to it, and it's been taken really well. Also, the words 'Forgive me ooh~' 'You played the fool for me' in the chorus part is not shown in the subtitles, idk why, they're so integral to the storyline!

[@kayepopreactions43]

Good points! Thank you!

[@konagirl86]

Oh I loved your commentary-iI love this whole comeback.and I wondered if the voice in the song is played by someone who took advantage of someone and that someone is revisiting the past relationship with more mature eyes and seeing how manipulative tgat person had been too, like all the pages that are strewn on the road were his past and memories just trashed with his new understanding. Check out the trailer and teasers for this comeback too cause they give more context u think to the institutionalization aspect

[@kayepopreactions43]

Thank you!!

[@Irene-cb3wx]

This is interesting::::: Taemin GUILTY MV Explained (ENG) Song Meaning Breakdown Analysis | English lyrics translation fix

[@kayepopreactions43]

Ooh! Thanks!

[@avotia]

12:25 Well, then Taemin succeeded. He wanted to make evil( bad things) seem attractive. . As for the script of the video, there are scenes from his childhood, where he is forced to harm his friends and this breaks him and he becomes a villain.

[@BlueNightShineeWorld25508]

Choreo was done by casper and bada lee. As to Taemins new body physique blame his hyung Minho. Whenever they are at the gym together he works Taemin hard.

[@kayepopreactions43]

LOL!! Well for a song where he's flashing his abs I'd say his hard work with Minho paid off!

[@BlueNightShineeWorld25508]

@@kayepopreactions43 check out minhos new song MV stay for a night it came out today. Yes his hard work paid off. Taemin looks great now .