2NE1 - UGLY--My Take on It.

I think I'm ugly

And nobody wants to love me

Just like her I want to be pretty

I want to be pretty!

Don't lie to my face

'Cause I know I'm ugly~

This song is so misunderstood by people everyone on the interwebz. 

By saying "ugly", I don't think they're just talking about feeling your appearance is ugly. They're talking about not liking yourself in general for whatever reason, about thinking that there's something fundamentally wrong with you, etc. And not wanting people to lie to you and tell you that there's nothing wrong with you.

The video, though?

THAT'S definitely about the beauty standards within society that make so many beautiful people feel like they're ugly, and how they should be destroyed. 

2NE1 is a great band to promote this song and message because they do not resemble your typical kpop girl group and thus receive a lot of censure about how their faces/bodies/etc. don't resemble the beauty ideal.

It might sound cliche, but it's true: every girl in 2NE1 is actually beautiful in her individual way, if you look, but they are not all skinny sticks or have the "ideal" nose or whatever, which also makes them very relatable as they are all "real" people with no manufactured beauty--except Park Bom, who obtained plastic surgery BECAUSE her appearance was bombasted by critics, so this song is actually even more relatable to her, as she felt her looks didn't satisfy the public's demands of a female kpop singer.

So they are the perfect voices to express the insecurities that everyone feels about themselves sometimes; because even the most beautiful girls can find something they hate about their appearances.


UGLY Lyrics (My Transliteration)

100(-ish) Words You Need to Understand a Japanese Pop Song

I've been an avid fan of jpop for quite some time. My first memory of reading Japanese lyrics was in Card Captor Sakura: The Movie's theme song Tooi Kono Machi de (In This Distant Town) in elementary school. As I read through the other lyrics for CCS, and then for InuYasha, I couldn't help but notice that certain words and phrases kept showing up again and again.

As I gradually learned the meanings of these words, I realized that certain ones were present in almost every Japanese song I encountered.

Here are around 100 words you need to get the gist of any jpop song. Tested on Gendou.com, but your mileage may vary.

1.     Sora- sky

2.     Yume- dream

3.     Hana- flower

4.     Tsubasa- wings

5.     Kokoro- heart

6.     Hikari (/akari)- light

7.     Aoi- blue (usually in reference to “the blue sky above” = aoi sora no miagete)

8.     Namida (/naiteru)- tears, cry

9.     Egao- smiling face

10.            Zutto (/itsumo/itsumademo)- always, forever

11.            Doko made mo- no matter how far

12.            Wasurenai- I won’t forget

13.            Omoi (/omoidasu/omoide/oboiteru/etc.)- remember, memory

14.                        Mieru (/Miteru/Mienai/Miageru/miagete/Mitsukeru/Mitsumeru ­etc.)- see/look/can’t see/look up/above/find/notice/gaze at/stare at

15.            Itsuka- someday

16.            Ashita- tomorrow

17.            Sekai- world

18.            Mirai- future

19.            Jidai- age/era (they say this more than you think)

20.            Soba ni iru (yo)- by my side

21.            Yasashii- kind

22.            Tsuyoku- strong

23.            Aruite- walk

24.            Ikite (iru)- live

25.            Michi- road

26.            Futari- the two of us

27.            Tomaranai- don’t stop

28.            Owaranai- never-ending

29.            Tsunaide- connect

30.            Te- hand

31.            Toki- time

32.            Basho- place

33.            Hi- day (e.g. ano hi “that day”)

34.            Kodomo (/ko)- child

35.            Afureru- flow, overflowing, etc.

36.            Chiisa-na- small (They use this one  A LOT…”because I’m such a small person” is common)

37.            Chikara- strength

38.            Hitomi- eyes

39.            Hitori- alone

40.            Kodoku- loneliness

41.            Sabishii- lonely, sad

42.            Onaji- same (something along the lines of “although we had the same type of heart…”)

43.            Hajimete- start

44.            Subete- everything

45.            Kotoba- words

46.            Hitotsu- one (commonly used as “the one [single] thing”)

47.            Mune- chest (heart)

48.            Jibun- self

49.                        Ima- now

50.             Ima sugu- straight away

51.            Kodoku- loneliness

52.            Mitomeru-  accept; admit; acknowledge; attach (importance); award (damages); discern; vindicate

53.            Deau (/deatta)- to meet, (“I met you”), etc.

54.            Atatakai- warm, hot

55.            Nemuru (/nemuite)- sleep

56.            Naka- inside

57.            Kikoeru- hear

58.            Oikakete- hide

59.            Sagashite- searching

60.            Shunkan- moment

61.            Hanasu (/hanashite)- talk/(past tense)

62.            Mamoru- to protect

63.            Kidzuku (/kidzuite)- to notice

64.            Setsuna (/itami/itai)- pain/sorrow; it hurts

65.            Kizutsukeru- to hurt, damage, injure

66.            Hayaku- fast

67.            Keshiki- landscape

68.            Asa- morning

69.            Yoru- night

70.            Koe- voice

71.            Kaze- wind

72.            Hoshi- star

73.            Yuki- snow

74.            Tsuki- moon

75.            Nagareboshi- wishing star

76.            Mainichi- everyday

77.            Tooku (/hanarete)- far away, distant, isolated

78.            Kanjiru (/kanjite/kanjiteru)- feel

79.            Tsuzuku (/tsuzukeru/susumu)- to continue

80.            Hanasanaide- don’t let go

81.            Kotaeru- answer

82.            Kawaru (/kawatta/kawaranai)- to change, changed, do not change/unchanging

83.            Kioku- memory

84.            Kiseki- miracle (“the miracle that I met you…”)

85.            Tatoe (/tatoeba)- for example

86.            Eien (eien ni, eien no)- eternity, eternally/forever, eternal/infinite/undying

87.            Umarete- born

88.            Karada- body

89.            Kao- face

90.                        Eranda- “I chose” (past tense te-form of ‘erabu’)

91.                        Monogatari- narrative, story

92.                        Todoku- reach, come to; come through (news etc.)

93.            Tabi- journey

94.                        Wagamama- selfishness, egoism, willfulness

95.                        Kurikaesu- repeat; echo

96.            Kaeru- to return

97.            Mou ichido- one more time

98.            Yami- darkness

99.            Dakishimete- embrace

100.       Uso- lie

101.       Sotto- softly

102.       Kakera- fragment

103.       Kyo – today

104.       Kinou - yesterday

105.       Kagayaku – shine/glitter/sparkle

2NE1's UGLY: The Real Lyrics (My Transliteration)

I've seen so many translations of this song on the internet, but I think many of them got it wrong and in the end present the wrong tone to the song.

Here's my preferred translation, amalgamated from multiple sources.


[CL] I’m trying to smile brightly but
I don’t like it
I’m not pretty, I’m not beautiful
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

[BOM] I’m trying to sing but
No one is listening
I’m not pretty, I’m not beautiful
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

[DARA] Why am I so ugly?
How can I smile brightly and freely like you?

[MINJI] I’m angry again
Why can’t I be perfect?
All I see is flaws through the shattered glass

[BOM] Don’t look at me, I hate this feeling right now
I want to hide away somewhere, I want to escape
This world is full of lies

CHORUS:

[CL] I think I’m ugly
And nobody wants to love me
Just like her I wanna be pretty I wanna be pretty
Don’t lie to my face tellin’ me I’m pretty

I think I’m ugly
And nobody wants to love me
Just like her I wanna be pretty I wanna be pretty
Don’t lie to my face ‘cause I know I’m ugly

[MINJI] Don’t tell me that you can understand me so easily
My ugly and crooked heart may come to resent you

[BOM] Don’t talk to me, I can’t get along with you
Your cold fakeness behind your arrogant eyes suffocate me

[MINJI] Stay away
I don’t even want your concern
I just wanna get away anywhere
I just wanna scream out loud
This world is full of lies

CHORUS


[CL, BOM, MINZY] (All alone
I’m all alone
All alone
I’m all alone)

[DARA] I feel no warmth
I have nobody

[CL, BOM, MINZY] (All alone
I’m all alone)

[DARA] I'm always all alone

[CL, BOM, MINZY] (All alone
I’m all alone)

[DARA] I feel no warmth
I have nobody
I have no one to hold me

CHORUS

Transliterated by me

Using translations by:
http://www.sandara2ne1lism.com/2ne1-ugly-lyrics-english-translation.html/

http://www.popgasa.com/2011/07/2ne1-ugly.html

+and others

Fukai Mori - Do As Infinity

I'm sure that the heart I left behind
Still lies hidden in the heart of the deep, deep forest.

Exhausted, without the strength to search,
People vanish into the infinite darkness.

If it's so small, I wonder
If I can see it even now?

As we live on,
We lose a little bit more.
Shrouded in falsehoods and lies,
We stand frozen to the spot, unable to cry out.

The days pass by and change,
Without us even realizing how blue the sky really is.

Overcoming that made-up scheme, we live the present,
And our rusted hearts begin to beat again.

If we can find the rhythm of time,
We can fly once again.

We live our lives,
Wandering to the ends of the earth.
Believing in you, now I begin my journey with you,
In search of the light.