Recent song by Ali has stirred up the public opinion, otherwise known as netizens.
She wrote a song about a rape victim, being herself one. And now she is forced to remove the song from album just because as the title she used the victim's name "Nayoung".
There are many songs with people's names as titles, "Maria", "Susannah", "Johnny B Goode", "Billie Jean", "Frankie and Johnny", or infamous "Pink Noise (Rock Me Amadeus) mehehe, just to name the few out of dozens that come to my mind right now.
Maybe it was a bit risky to use it, especially in Korea, but I still can't fathom the fuss around it.
Very disturbing story follows, so enter on your own risk.
The story:
“Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologize to Na Young and her
parents. No matter what my intentions were, if my actions have caused
you to relive that pain all over again, I want you to know that it
breaks my heart and I am deeply sorry. The song “Na Young” was one I
felt especially attached to while working on this album, and I wrote the
song very cautiously. I simply wanted to tell her to “trust her mind”
and to never lose hope.”
“The lyrics that got criticized the most were ‘You threw away your youth, selling your body, selling your soul, your entire helpless life has been stolen from you’, which was my way of passing judgment on the heinous and shameless character of the assailant. I am solely and completely at fault for not being able to accurately deliver the intended message with the right words. But I hope that all of you will believe me when I tell you that when I wrote those particular lyrics, I was in no way trying to say that the victim was at fault.”
“I understand that as a rookie artist, I have provoked much confusion and controversy, and I humbly bow my head in apology to Na Young, her parents, and everyone who has supported my music thus far. I learned a valuable lesson from this incident, and will use it as an opportunity to grow and mature as both a person and an artist, and I will work to bring you better music. Thank you.“
“The lyrics that got criticized the most were ‘You threw away your youth, selling your body, selling your soul, your entire helpless life has been stolen from you’, which was my way of passing judgment on the heinous and shameless character of the assailant. I am solely and completely at fault for not being able to accurately deliver the intended message with the right words. But I hope that all of you will believe me when I tell you that when I wrote those particular lyrics, I was in no way trying to say that the victim was at fault.”
“I understand that as a rookie artist, I have provoked much confusion and controversy, and I humbly bow my head in apology to Na Young, her parents, and everyone who has supported my music thus far. I learned a valuable lesson from this incident, and will use it as an opportunity to grow and mature as both a person and an artist, and I will work to bring you better music. Thank you.“
Background on Na Young:
One morning on her way to school, 8-year old Na-Young was dragged to a public toilet by a 57 year old man. He was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, according to information from the police department. She was beaten and strangled, then violently raped and sexually tortured.
After that was done, in an attempt to destroy the evidence, he then inserted a pump (used for blocked toilets) into her anus in attempt to extract his semen which led to severe ruptures in her large intestines. Then, he tried to push the organs back inside her using the long stick of the pump. During this process, he completely damaged her genital organs.
He then flushed her blood and other traces of her organs down the toilet, washed her and made her sit upright. After having another intercourse with her, he ran away leaving Na-Young to die.
This 57-year-old man was only sentenced to 12 years in jail.
One morning on her way to school, 8-year old Na-Young was dragged to a public toilet by a 57 year old man. He was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, according to information from the police department. She was beaten and strangled, then violently raped and sexually tortured.
After that was done, in an attempt to destroy the evidence, he then inserted a pump (used for blocked toilets) into her anus in attempt to extract his semen which led to severe ruptures in her large intestines. Then, he tried to push the organs back inside her using the long stick of the pump. During this process, he completely damaged her genital organs.
He then flushed her blood and other traces of her organs down the toilet, washed her and made her sit upright. After having another intercourse with her, he ran away leaving Na-Young to die.
This 57-year-old man was only sentenced to 12 years in jail.
The song:
Lyrics:
The sound of the light and wind, falling from the sky
It rides the leaves and it rides the snowstorm
The deep sounds of the ocean from the ends of the earth
It shines on the sun, it shines on the sky
It's hard even to be alive and to breath
So she waits for the sun to set
She doesn't try to run away anymore
She stands there and waits for the moon to rise
The gray light that seeps out of a young girl's wet eyes
You threw away your youth, selling your body, selling your soul
Your pitiful life has been taken away from you
In this dizzy world, when you hope for a warm and brilliant love
Can you feel - can you feel it?
In the soiled heart, when you want a true and pure love
Can you do that - can you do that?
Looking here and there but you still can't believe in this world
Even if the world flows by so quickly, even if time leaves us
Trust your mind, trust your mind
It rides the leaves and it rides the snowstorm
The deep sounds of the ocean from the ends of the earth
It shines on the sun, it shines on the sky
It's hard even to be alive and to breath
So she waits for the sun to set
She doesn't try to run away anymore
She stands there and waits for the moon to rise
The gray light that seeps out of a young girl's wet eyes
You threw away your youth, selling your body, selling your soul
Your pitiful life has been taken away from you
In this dizzy world, when you hope for a warm and brilliant love
Can you feel - can you feel it?
In the soiled heart, when you want a true and pure love
Can you do that - can you do that?
Looking here and there but you still can't believe in this world
Even if the world flows by so quickly, even if time leaves us
Trust your mind, trust your mind
And to just add, one of my cuties (just one) wrote something.
according to Korea.com:
"Super Junior’s Ryeowook drew attention by writing a post implying about Ali.
according to Korea.com:
"Super Junior’s Ryeowook drew attention by writing a post implying about Ali.
On December 16, Ryeowook tweeted, “My heart aches… I hope her tears don’t go to waste.”
Not everyone uses Twitter to spam with hideous pics. Plus, he's a sweetie.
