Mono by RM

SEOUL

"Seoul" is the second track of RM's second mixtape. Despite being the second twice, the song has a very good meaning and a kind of a wordplay he has done in the lyrics between "Seoul" and "Soul".

In the verse 01, he describes how this unfamiliar city has gotten familiar to him with the time. Even when Ilsan, his hometown is not
so far from Seoul, still he has thought this city as somewhere strange, unfamiliar to him. But now, after living in Seoul for sometime, he has became a part of this city. He harmonizes with the city. In 2018, RM being a 24 year old fine young man, who has achieved so many things already, still he worried about his youth, which seemed still far away. The days, he hoped  to be his youth, now has filled with buildings and cars. Here it has came to that golden point that he has accepted this life and days as his youth, as his life. That's the turning point and the motivation of his life, where he decided to live his life as it was, without complaining, without thinking Seoul as somewhere he didn't belong.

In this second verse, here he has came to the word play with the word, SEOUL. He questioned why Seoul, and Soul sound like the same, even when Seoul has no soul, no life, but still holding this young man by that soulless hands of the city. Even though RM came to the point of acceptance, he still has that void in his heart about this city. He doesn't have beautiful memories to reminisce about this city, the city filled with worries and sadness in his youth, where he shed his blood, sweat, and tears. And now that was enough, he was so sick of this city, his life in this city, the boring, dull life where no sun was bright in a single day. "The same old ashy face" of the city represents how dark this city was. Ash is the color which represents the sadness. The "ashy face" of the city means the sadness of his life in this city. And then, rather than rejecting the city, he has come to that point of feeling fear of himself which has blended with this boring city very well. he fears that because, the possibility of himself being like "Seoul" is higher.

Then here comes the chorus,

"If love and hate are the same words
I love you, Seoul"

simply this man trying to say that he loves the city and hates it at the same time.

In the third verse, RM was describing the city. How it looks when travelling by a bus, how it smells, how it feels, how it's people behave, how Han river bearing too much sorrow, how kids grow up in a city very fast, and still he feels like he is not grown enough compared to the kids in Seoul.

The fourth verse, where, RM trying to accept things and move on with all the odds and flaws in the city.

Then the bridge,

"I'm leavin' you
I'm livin' you"

Living and leaving also can consider as his play of words. Both have different meaning while RM wants to live the life in the city and
leave it also. While the chorus and the bridge is kinda confusing, he was trying to express his intermediate attitude about the city. He neither loves it nor lives it.

Then again the man, expressing his genuine feeling about the city, his love and hate for the city. Through out lyrics it's kind of him having a love-hate relationship with Seoul, as if Seoul is a person in his life.