IU’s songs + books recommendations: through the night, bbibbi, twenty three

welcome back to part two of me recommending books based on my favorite IU songs! like before, each recommendation is a mixture of my own understanding of the lyrics of the song and further research on what IU intended the music to mean. i believe each person interprets music in their own ways and each song would resonate differently with each individual. if you’re a fan of hers, let me know which IU song you like the most!

🎤 related: recommending books based on IU’s songs pt. 1

sadly, spotify had to remove multiple kpop artists from their catalog since their global licensing deal with kakao m expired. not sure when the situation will be resolved and i’m honestly devastated that i’ll be missing out on listening to IU, Mamamoo, Zico and other artists on a daily basis. regardless, here are three IU songs that i absolutely love and will continue to stream on other platforms.

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song: through the night
books: the song of achilles & violet evergarden

my first impression of “through the night” is beautiful, soft and delicate. there isn’t much mixing of artificial instrumentals which highlights the angelic aspect of IU’s voice. the lyrics are sentimental and woven with a theme of missing someone dearly.

☾ the song of achilles – madeline miller:
patroclus and achilles’s love story found its way into my heart. i couldn’t stop thinking about their romance and how it had tragically ended with my knowledge of the original tale of achilles. lyrically, “through the night” reflected the tenderness and earnestness of their love sprinkled with the fear of losing each other.

☾ violet evergarden – kana akatsuki:
for all her life, violet evergarden was used as a war machine. lethal, ruthless, merciless. before her captain died in battle, he whispered his true feelings to violet. however, having been brought up as a soldier, violet was at a loss. after the war, violet becomes an auto memory doll–a ghostwriter for people who needs help expressing their emotions in letters, something that she didn’t possess then. slowly, violet learned to reintegrate into society and search to understand gilbert’s final words. similarly, the lyrics reminded me of violet evergarden missing someone who means a lot to her. if you haven’t watched this anime, you need to. if you haven’t read the light novels, please do, you won’t regret it.

song: bbibbi
books: the poppy war & jade city

“bbibbi” is for the haters who has tested IU’s patience with their negative remarks. with this song, IU declares that she no longer cares about what people is discussing about her and she’ll continue being who she is.

☾ the poppy war – r.f. kuang:
the first person that popped into my mind was rin from the poppy war. she doesn’t give a damn about what people are saying throughout the three books. nobody tells her what to do, unless you are kitay, then maybe she’ll listen. if you dare to cross the line, i don’t even think she’ll be lenient enough to give a warning card first.

☾ jade city – fonda lee:
the entire no peak clan has no patience for haters. in jade city, their greatest rival is the mountain clan, the other crime syndicate that manages the island of kekon. with the proliferation of jade smuggling and non-jade wearers relying on drugs to build up tolerance, the kaul family has to deal with a variety of problems. while political machinations do come into play, the clan isn’t against using violence. in fact, look forward to wuxia-inspired battle scenes.

song: twenty three
books: let’s talk about love & a taste for love

similar to “eight”, “twenty three” is about a young adult reflecting on her current situation. lyrically, IU consistently duels between wanting to be one or another. tiptoeing between the line, IU wonders if, for example, she wants to be a woman in control or reverting back to childhood. the confusion and uncertainty IU feels as a 23 year-old is probably a universal experience to everyone transitioning from one phase of their life to another.

☾ let’s talk about love – claire kann:
though alice is only 19 years old, she’s starting to feel the heat of needing to get her whole life together. wanting her to following the family’s legacy, alice’s parents are pushing her to study law. while she might not know what she wants to do, alice know becoming a lawyer isn’t an option.

☾ a taste for love – jennifer yen:
in a taste for love, both liza and james are pushed to do things they don’t want to do. liza is starting to question her mother’s meddlesome ways while james is contemplating about what he wants to do in the future. i absolutely adore the romances, the friendships and all the nods to the chinese culture.

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that’s all for this post! i hope you’ve enjoyed reading another recommendation post based on the songs that i like from IU.

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