Happy new year beloved!

Hope 2023 brings a lot of joy.

Let us start this which is the first blog post of the year by telling you something you may not know.

THE LONELIEST CREATURE IN THE WORLD

The 52-hertz whale is a whale of an unidentified species that calls at an unusual frequency of 52 hertz. This pitch is higher than that of the other whale species. Its call has been detected in many places since the 1980s. The whale itself hasn’t been seen, it has only been heard through Hydrophones. It has been described as the “world’s loneliest whale”. Now, you may be wondering “ Why does Iretomiwa care about a lonely whale?”.

If you guessed BTS, then you were right. Clap for yourself. Before you stop reading , hold on. Let me explain.

Whalien 52 is one of the songs on the album titled “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt 2” which BTS released in 2015.It serves as a metaphor for describing loneliness. Loneliness that comes from not being heard or understood. Now, I have been a BTS fan since 2019 and this song hasn’t been on my top 20 songs. This is not to say the song is bad but it never connected to me beyond casual listening.

That was until August last year when loneliness came visiting. See, I had gotten something that looked to everyone like it was a good thing, a good opportunity. Well, everyone thought this but me. It took me by surprise and it met me when I was very overwhelmed and barely making it. It was an opportunity that I saw was going to drain the things that sparked joy for me and I couldn’t opt out of it.

Unfortunately, no one around me saw it that way. I remember speaking with people that I know love me and them not getting it. I kept on hearing “ This is a great opportunity, you just have to suck it up. It’s just for a short time”. The thing is I was tired of sucking it up. I had been sucking up so many draining things that were supposed to last for a short while but somehow managed to last for what feels like a lifetime. Absolutely knew they loved me but I still felt like the lonely whale speaking at a different frequency. I even tweeted about having a hard because I really did feel like I was losing my mind.

Hinted at this loneliness when I reviewed indigo here. It was at this dark point of my life last year that I met whalien 52. I heard “The most lonely creature in the world” during this chaos and the song took on a new meaning for me. 

There is a part of the song that goes

Oerumiran nyeoseokman nae gyeoteseo meomul ttae

Onjeonhi honjaga dwae oeroi chaeuneun jamulsoe

Which translates to 

When this guy called loneliness stays by my side by himself,

I become completely alone and lock a padlock in solitude.

“To lock a padlock on lips’ means ‘to close one’s mouth or to remain silent and not talk at all. This line is thus meaning-wise parallel to ‘feels so lonely that it closes the mouth,’ appeared earlier.”

Shout out to doolset and wattpad translations for making listening to BTS easier.

Anyway, back to topic, the lyrics in this song especially what I highlighted felt so relatable. I suddenly felt “Oh I am not the only one struggling with this?!”. Knowing I am not the only one who wasn’t being heard or understood made me feel less alone. Did I still see shege aka trials and tribulations during the opportunity? Yes, I saw full time shege and cried a lot. There was also comfort in whalien 52.

Now, I don’t feel like a  lonely whale speaking a foreign frequency from everyone else but I would always remember whalien 52 as my companion in darkness.

Let me know you know what you think in the comments.

Till I write again, see you later.