IU's collaborative song with BTS's Suga "Eight," released on May 6, made netizens emotional after some theories claimed that it might be dedicated to the late K-pop Idols Sulli and Jonghyun.
IU's "Eight" with the BTS rapper became a record-breaking track. And indeed, the success of the single has been claimed by the fans since the get-go. Meanwhile, some fans claimed that IU is trying to commemorate her late friends through the tender song. For them, the song is something the K-pop singer would like to express to the deceased.
In the music video, an animation of IU clad in a white dress, flying with a seemingly Charmander, was seen. Fans speculated that the lady who was flying freely into the skies is Sulli, who was of good friends with IU. It will be recalled that the late star did a cameo appearance in IU's drama "Hotel Del Luna," where she wore a white dress as well.
On the other hand, the Charmander that was flying along with the lady is claimed by fans as SHINee's Jonghyun, who was known to adore the creature, as seen in his old photos.
Due to these theories, fans of the late idols became emotional as IU, who was close to the two, might be dedicating the said song for them. They also expressed their gratefulness to IU for giving them the music, if it's true that the song is indeed for them.
"If this song is dedicated to Sulli then I won't be able to stop crying. She has no mole on her cheek and the way the animated IU smiled with tears in her eyes is so - Out of all comebacks of IU, this one is the saddest, I think," said one tweet.
"If this is really dedicated to sulli, then iu was crying and watching her go from the plane oh my god ok i'm not okay," one netizen posted
"Some fans of IU interpret the song with IU's deceased friends, Sulli and Jonghyun. They said that the girl in white was Sulli and she's now soaring high with the dragon which is Jonghyun (since he loves charmander)," according to one netizen.
Some are thinking that the song is meant for Sulli because they remembered when Sulli mentioned in one of her interviews that she has never been happy in life. With this, fans are saying that the song is IU's way of asking the late idol if she has now found happiness - thus, the memorable line from "Eight," "Are you happy now?"
In IU's 2019 Concert "Love Poem" in Seoul, she expressed her sadness over the passing of her precious friend, which made the audience break in tears.
"I am not able to see my friend whom I've loved so much. She used to always come and witness my performances that are held in Seoul, no matter how busy she was. So I tried my best not to shed tears today. But it has been a month since I last saw her," she said.
In 2017, days after the passing of SHINee's Jonghyun, IU performed in an event but wore a black suit as a sign of mourning for her friend. However, after trying hard to make a cheerful atmosphere, she was not able to finish the song and burst in tears.
Meanwhile, IU explained that "Eight" is the continuation of her previous tracks, "Pallette" and "Twenty-three." The singer wrote in the introduction of the track, "If the previous songs used to take a form of an 'essay' through which I directly talked to listeners, 'Eight' is like a short novel that confesses my life as a 28-years-old by using a virtual figure and various metaphors."
She added, "While I'm not sure whether it's from my personal emotion or from the overall social atmosphere coming from the disaster, my 28 would be remembered by the recurring feeling of lethargy and longing for the 'orange island' where we felt freedom rather than sadness."
Watch IU x BTS Suga's "Eight" MV below.
