F2020
Updated: Sep 27
⋆ Released: December 29 2020
⋆ Genre: Contemporary R&B
⋆ Writing/Composing Credits: Yeonjun, Hueningkai, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, danke
CONTEXT: “F2020” is TXT’s remake of American trio Avenue Beat’s viral 2020 song of the same name, which expressed frustration with the pandemic and a series of personal difficulties that made the year particularly painful. For TXT’s version, all five members participated in writing new Korean lyrics alongside danke, adapting the premise to their own experiences of cancelled or postponed plans, empty stages, isolation and being unable to meet fans during the pandemic.
ABOUT/MEANING: TXT’s remake of Avenue Beat’s “F2020” turns the original song’s frustration with 2020 into a reflection on the group’s own experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans and promises are disrupted, time seems to stand still and the excitement of performing is replaced by stages without cheering fans. As their world shrinks into a “tiny” space occupied by only the five members, the song captures the loneliness and exhaustion of a year in which ordinary life suddenly disappeared.
Yet TXT’s version ultimately looks beyond that frustration. Rather than ending only with anger towards 2020, they imagine being able to look at the sky instead of a ceiling, remove their masks, meet people again and recover the everyday life that everyone has lost. Saying goodbye to 2020 therefore carries both relief and hope - acknowledging how difficult the year has been while holding onto the possibility of reconnecting when the isolation finally ends.
LYRICS - ENGLISH TRANSLATION
December 31st, back then we
Held each other tight, saying,
"I hope only good things happen"
(Three, two, one, Happy New Year!)
This year we planned together,
And our promise to meet again for the next album—missed it
The fourth season has already come again
Postponed concerts,
Empty seats wherever we look
Our hearts, distant without a word of goodbye, now vacant
Longing for your voices that used to call us
Where did they all go?
Lowkey f2020
Whatever we do we feel lonely
As if time has completely stopped
We just blankly blame the world
Lowkey f2020
On a stage where the cheers have disappeared,
Before we knew it, we got used to it
Just the five of us in this tiny, tiny world
Please, lowkey f2020
The lost seasons, this damn life,
I prayed for it a lot, but why can't I get away
From this damn never-ending pandemic?
In the end, I wanna time leap
Below the stage, there's nothing
Pretending to be happy again
I force a smile, but outside the screen, my world is unhappy
A smile hidden within a face that has lost its expression
Don’t hide it anymore behind your mask
Lowkey f2020
Whatever we do we feel lonely
As if time has completely stopped
We just blankly blame the world
Lowkey f2020
On a stage where the cheers have disappeared,
Before we knew it, we got used to it
Just the five of us in this tiny, tiny world
Please, lowkey f2020
Tomorrow I want to throw my head back
Not towards the ceiling, but at the sky
And shout out loud
“We made it through, everyone!”
Goodbye, 2020.
I earnestly hope
That after throwing off these masks,
We’ll meet again after a year
Goodbye, 2020.
Amidst everything growing distant
We wait for the day you and I find the everyday we lost
Please, goodbye, 2020.
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