Listen: Sunmi Reveals Original Version Of "Siren" From Her Wonder Girls Days Had Entirely Different Message

Dec 27, 2018

Sunmi has shared the original 2016 version of her hit song “Siren”!

Earlier this year, Sunmi revealed that her latest title track had originally been written several years ago for the Wonder Girls. The singer explained that she had initially penned the lyrics and co-composed the song together with music producer FRANTS while she was still a member of the Wonder Girls, before the group’s eventual disbandment in January 2017.

Although “Siren” had been considered as a potential title track for the Wonder Girls, the song was ultimately shelved because JYP Entertainment decided that it “wouldn’t sound as great if arranged for a band.” (At the time, the Wonder Girls were promoting as a band and not as a dance group.)

On December 27, Sunmi surprised fans by sharing a brief snippet of an earlier version of “Siren” on Twitter. Although the melody is fundamentally the same, the newly released audio clip reveals that the song’s original lyrics were completely different from the version that Sunmi ended up releasing as a solo artist in 2018.

Unlike the current version of “Siren,” which was inspired by the seductive and dangerous Sirens of Greek mythology and whose narrator ominously warns a lover to stay away lest he get hurt, the 2016 version tells an entirely different story of heartbreak and vulnerability.

Check out the new audio clip and the lyrics for the 2016 version of “Siren” (as well as its 2018 counterpart) below!

2016 version:

I’d rather you just told me
That you’re slowly starting to forget me
That you’ve emptied your heart [of me]

I can no longer bear to look at
Your unchanging expression
Even as you know how sad I feel

Just leave
Instead of hesitating like this any longer
Just leave
Instead of making things hard for me like this,
Leave me
Me, who doesn’t fit your fantasies

2018 version:

I told you not to be fooled,
That the moment you took my hand,
Things would become dangerous for you

Now you’re bleeding; are you still drawn to me even so?
You know all too well how predictable [this is]
So why are you still staring at me like that?

Just let go
Don’t hesitate even for a bit
Just let go
You know that I’m going to hurt you
The beautiful version of me that [lives] in your fantasies doesn’t exist