"Eight" (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 에잇; ''eit'') (stylized in

all lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

) is a song recorded by South Korean singer-songwriter IU featuring

Suga Suga may refer to: * Suga, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran * Suga language, a language of Cameroon * Suga (rapper) (born 1993), South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer * ''Suga'' (EP), 2020 EP by Megan Thee Stallion * ''Sug ...

, a rapper of South Korean boy band

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...

. It was released as a digital single on May 6, 2020 by EDAM Entertainment. It is IU's first single following the release of her fifth EP ''

Love Poem Poetry (derived from the Greek language, Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metr ...

'' (2019). The song was written by IU, Suga, and El Capitxn and produced by Suga. Musically, "Eight" has been described as a "nostalgic"

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

song with lyrics that find IU confessing as a twenty-eight year old, using a virtual figure and various analogies. The song received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who not only praised its lyrics and production, but also compared the song to the works of musicians such as

Avicii Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German disc jockey, DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaise ...

and

Alessia Cara Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara (), is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Mississauga, Ontario, to Italian Canadian parents, she began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploadi ...

. Commercially, the single debuted at number one on the South Korean

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

. It also entered the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific s ...

chart at number one. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Eight" was directed by Kim Woogie (GDW) and features IU revisiting various phases of her youth through her memories.

Background and release

On April 27, 2020, EDAM Entertainment announced that IU would release a new digital single on May 6, 2020, which would be a collaboration with

from

. The agency also reported that IU was involved in several aspects of the song, such as its composition and concept. It is IU's first single to be released after six months, following her fifth EP ''

'' in 2019. On April 28, the first teaser photo was revealed via the singer's official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

along with the song's name, "Eight". The teaser contains a close-up image with one hand and a white dress adorned with colorful accessories. A second teaser photo was released on IU's official SNS accounts on April 30. The photo shows the singer in a faded

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

dress, staring outside the window anxiously with blank eyes. The style of the second teaser image is in contrast to the lighting, costumes and nail tips depicted in the first teaser. On May 2, a 17-second moving teaser of the song was released through IU's SNS account. It shows a round reel tape playing constantly and a snippet of the song's lyrics "So are you happy now" was heard towards the end of the teaser. On May 5, a 40-second music video teaser of the song was released through the YouTube channel, 1theK Originals. Set in a "futuristic" backdrop, it shows IU dressed in white, entering a laboratory and then laying down on an examination table. The song was released for

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

and digital download on May 6.

Composition and production

"Eight" was written and composed by IU and its producer Suga who also featured on the track. In an interview, IU said that she decided to work with Suga to deliver music that feels different from the music style that was previously presented to fans. Talking about the production process behind the song in a

V Live V Live (stylized as VLIVE), sometimes referred to as V App, is a South Korean live video streaming service that allows celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos such as live chat sessions with fans, performances, reality shows ...

broadcast, Suga stated that it was very smooth. He recalled, "There wasn’t a lot of back-and-forth. Shortly after I sent the (song’s) beats to her, she sent it back with the melody." "Eight" follows IU's previous singles " Twenty-three" (2015) and " Palette" (2017) which together comprise her "coming-of-age" series. The song's title derives from the last digit of the Korean age "twenty-eight" of both singers. Musically, "Eight" has been described as

song that fuses acoustic

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

and trendy

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

sounds with "delicate and emotional" vocals and "soothing rapping". The song is composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

C♯ major C-sharp major (or the key of C-sharp) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. It is enharmonically equivalent to D-flat major. Its key signature has seven sharps. The C-sharp major scale is: : I ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 120

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. It runs for two minutes and forty-seven seconds. It derives from

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

and incorporates Suga's characteristic "airy"

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

in its production for which the song invokes "feel-good" and "nostalgic" vibes. According to IU, the lyrics are a confession of a twenty-eight year old "using a virtual figure and various metaphors". It has a theme of "self-reflection." ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

''s Sara Delgado described "Eight" as "a narration between two characters in soliloquy form" that "dwells on memories and past encounters" and felt that the various analogies in the song are used "to transmit a sense of longing, all through the lens of youth and loss."

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

IZM ''IZM'' () is a South Korean online magazine that publishes pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ...

'', Hwang Sun-up gave the song a positive review, praising the lyrics and production and likened its musical direction to

's " Wake Me Up" and

and

's "

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...

Commercial performance

"Eight" debuted at number one on the week 19 issue of South Korea's

for the period dated May 3–9, 2020. The song also took first place on the component Download chart for the same period, and entered the Streaming chart at number two, peaking at number one the following week on the chart issue for the period dated May 10–16. It topped the monthly digital charts for both May and June."Eight" on Gaon Monthly Digital chart: * * In the United States, with only two days of activity counted—the song was released on a Wednesday, just before the end of the weekly tracking period—"Eight" debuted atop the ''

chart issue dated May 16, becoming both IU and Suga's (as a solo artist) first number one on the ranking. The song sold 6,965 copies and entered the US

Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally sta ...

chart at number 13, making it one of the highest-charting Korean-language songs in the chart's history. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the OCC's Singles Downloads component chart at number 42. Six months after its release, "Eight" was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) on November 12, 2020, for surpassing 100 million domestic streams. It ended 2020 as the sixth most-downloaded and streamed song in South Korea, and was the sixth best-performing digital single overall.

Music video

The song's accompanying music video premiered simultaneously with the release of the single. Directed by Kim Woogie (GDW), its synopsis follows IU as the protagonist, "growing out of her youth". The video opens with IU walking into a "futuristic" sci-fi room. She activates a "mysterious machine" and lies on a "stretcher". She then goes back to various phases of her life through her memories. The video alternates between "high-quality" 3D and 2D

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

scenes and "live-action" clips of her travelling to different worlds. There are scenes where she strolls through a house, and in others she treasures a "gecko" in different forms of herself. The video ends with her waking up from her trance.

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

. * IU – lead vocals, songwriting, arrangement *

– featured vocals, production, songwriting, arrangement, piano, synthesizer * El Capitxn – songwriting, arrangement, piano, synthesizer * Jukjae – guitar *Vendors (Zenur) – guitar * Choi In-sung – bass * Song Myung-gab – recording *Kang Sun-young – engineering *Gu Jong-pil – mixing *Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

! colspan="3" , Streaming , -

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 songs 2020 singles Korean-language songs IU (singer) songs Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Number-one singles in Malaysia Number-one singles in Singapore Songs written by IU (singer) Songs written by Suga (rapper) Song recordings produced by Suga (rapper)