Jeon Somi, or simply Somi, is one of the hottest soloists on this side of K-pop. The Canadian-Dutch-Korean K-pop sensation set the music world ablaze when she exclusively signed with THEBLACKLABEL, an associate company of YG Entertainment, back in 2018 – shortly after departing another major music label in JYP Entertainment. She debuted as a soloist back in 2019 with her hit song Birthday and, the rest as they say, is history. Her journey was a whirlwind, to say the very least, but it only made her stronger. From competing on survival shows such as SIXTEEN and Produce 101, to being part of the short-lived K-Pop girl group I.O.I., Somi has gone through a lot before she ever got to this point. Astonishingly, she is still only 20 years of age.
Many believe you can never truly keep a bright light in the shadows for too long. She was always destined to be an idol and now she’s one of the hottest acts in the world. We shall dive deeper and more in-depth into her journey to superstardom sooner rather than later. But, for now, let us focus on one of the tracks on her recently released first full-length album titled XOXO.
The lead singles, title track XOXO and Dumb Dumb, have a lot of buzz surrounding them, and for a good reason. They are amazing tracks that will keep you hitting the replay button over and over. But, we want to dive deeper into a much more slow happy sounding track with melancholic undertones. That song in question is Somi’s first full English song titled Anymore. We shall analyze the lyrical themes, arrangement, and message of the track as a whole. Without further ado, let’s get to it.
Lyrical Themes
Anymore is a song about a breakup that consumes one with grief, crushing pessimism, regret, and, surprisingly enough, hopefulness. Whether you’ve gone through a conventional breakup or just parted ways with someone but it was never official, it will definitely leave one feeling a world of hurt. This song explores head-on the psyche of an individual going through these stages of heartbreak. We’ve all gone through the crushing feeling of a love we so greatly cherished being lost. It’s not a very easy situation to navigate, to say the least.
More often than not, you don’t know what to feel most days and you just want the world to stop. But, we all know that’s practically impossible. No matter how much we want it to slow down, life goes on. One would have days of fearlessness and thinking one would be better off. There are days where one feels more alone than ever; just wanting that person back. It’s a cycle that goes on for for lengthy periods of time and we never truly knows when everything will get better.
Arrangement & Message
The arrangement of this song closely mirrors those stages. Somi’s sweet smooth voice would start out the song, with an almost muted guitar, singing the first few verses as if she was whispering all her pain. Then, the pre-chorus voices out lyrics of wanting someone back that lead into the chorus that blurs the lines of bliss and sadness reminiscing what was and what could still be.
The song is amazing in its execution because, if you weren’t paying attention, the message of this song will just fly right over your head. The song’s pace and the notes used in the song sound very happy. But, underneath all the cheerfulness lays a crushed soul that walks the line of regret of loving someone and the regret of not being able to keep them.
Somi’s expressiveness in her delivery tells the story in such an emotional way that one just wants the character portrayed in the song to feel better or start to. The following lyrics best exemplify how unpredictable a broken heart can be:
“For now, I’ll be stuck in this beautiful nightmare
‘Til you come back, I’ll be standing right here
Do I ever cross your mind?”
These lyrics show a heart not wanting to let go. Holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, one day they’ll realize it as much as this individual does too. Constant reminders of the past do not help either. Evidenced by these lines in the chorus:
“You used to be something like a beautiful daisy
But now you’re like a rose with your thorns how you hurt me
Do I ever cross your mind?
Anymore”
The song is simple but hits really hard. The track sounds so straightforward but it tackles such a complicated feeling – a feeling of having to make one serious decision; if the past really is a mistake even though it was comforting. Or one of holding out hope and firmly believing this love was meant to be. Jeon Somi is simply a phenomenon. She can evoke varying emotions from extreme happiness to sobering sadness. In the case of this song, it is practically both.
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