Today a song I wanted to feature for a long time already. This is also a bit of a throwback, as it is the third track from i-dle’s ‘I love’ album from 2022: ‘Change’.

In true i-dle fashion, they choose a rarely discussed and even less explored topic in K-pop—the other side of being an idol. In an industry that demands constant beauty, happiness, and an outgoing persona, they delve into the darker emotions and the inevitability of change. While this is the life they’ve dreamed of and worked tirelessly for, they’re unable to express their true selves and have lost their dreams along the way.

As exemplified in these lines from Soyeon:

그래 사랑에 배가 부른 거지 매일 꿈꾸던 삶이야

그리고 꿈이 없어진 삶이야

“Yeah, it’s being full from love —

the life I dreamed of every day.

And it’s a life where dreams have disappeared.”

Vocabulary & grammar breakdown

1. 그래 사랑에 배가 부른 거지

• 그래 = “yeah / right / so” (discourse marker)
• 사랑에 = “with/from love” (–에 marks cause or state)
• 배가 부르다 = “to be full” (literally from eating; metaphorical here)
• –거지 = explanatory ending (“it’s that… / you know”)

→ Structure: [noun + 에] + 배가 부르다 + 거지

= “It’s that (I’m) full/satisfied with love.”

2. 매일 꿈꾸던 삶이야

• 매일 = “every day”
• 꿈꾸다 → 꿈꾸던 = past attributive form (“that I used to dream of”)
• 삶 = “life”
• –이야 = informal copula (“is”)

→ [verb-던 + noun] expresses a habitual past action.

3. 그리고

• Conjunction meaning “and”
• Links ideas without implying contrast grammatically

→ Any contrast comes from meaning, not grammar.

4. 꿈이 없어진 삶이야

• 없어지다 = “to disappear / to be lost”
• 없어진 = past attributive form
• 삶 = “life”

→ Structure: [adjective-like verb-은 + noun]

= “a life in which dreams have disappeared.”

I’m delighted that I-dle, known for their outspoken nature, have managed to attain even greater freedom to express their authentic selves following their contract renewal.

#idle #change #idolreality #learnkorean