“Flu” by IU, Saturday, February 24, 2024

Thinking back on when I started my blog back in 2021 feels like a fever dream. In South Korea, social distancing measures were in full effect. Daily Covid infections dramatically started to rise just before Christmas, and it seemed like I’d be wearing a mask until my ears fell off. In 2020, I had spent so much time at home, not really accomplishing much, and in 2021 I wanted to start a new project and stick to it. That project was my blog NewYearsDayProject. Now in the fourth year of the project, posting every day and writing almost every day, it’s hard to remember the thrill of when a new song came out. Now a new song is a stressful choice: do I write about it right away to try to be relevant? If I write about it, I have to push back the song I’ve got planned in my queue. 

THIS PAIN IS LIKE HAVING A FLU. In 2021, IU released her fifth studio album, Lilac. The album coincided with the coming of spring and her 29th birthday (in Korean age, though the system was abolished last year). IU planned to release an album on which she composed the majority of the songs. She composed the lyrics for 8 of the 10 tracks, though, of the melodies, she only co-wrote 2 of the 10 tracks. Her decision to cut the songs that she wrote by herself was that she wanted Lilac to be a “blockbuster” rather than an “independent film.” The three singles from Lilac feel like pop anthems rather than singer-songwriter ballads for which IU is most famous. The promotional single, “Flu,” today’s song, also has a big pop song structure, with IU’s soprano vocals staying at the upper end of her range before dramatically falling. The instrumentation is light with bird sounds and IU’s vocals filling out the mix. It’s a rhythmic song with a punctuating base.


I FEEL LIKE I’VE BEEN COMPLETELY DEFEATED. I thought “Flu” was an interesting choice of an album cut, especially during the height of the pandemic. The 2020-2021 flu season was surprisingly absent, although health experts had speculated that the flu and COVID may have competed for patients. That didn’t happen that season, though it happened in subsequent years with a weakened COVID-19 virus. While IU didn’t shoot a full video for “Flu,” only a teaser, in which the singer appears with chapped lips and makeup looking a mess like she has come down with something.  The song may not literally be about getting sick; falling in love seems to be the extended metaphor, complete with denial. It's a bit upbeat for a song about getting sick. It's more about being distracted by love rather than being powerless in bed. So as flu season draws to an end for the winter and allergy season is beginning, remember to get enough rest, take your vitamins, and don't let your heart be too easily distracted. 







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