“
To all my wonder, she is the answer
I call you her, her
'Cause you're my tear, tear
”
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BTS
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KENNA ROWAN’S PLAYLIST 1) “Raise Your Glass”—P!nk 2) “Dynamite”—BTS 3) “Happy”—Pharrell Williams 4) “Particle Man”—They Might Be Giants 5) “I’m Good”—The Mowgli’s 6) “Yellow Submarine”—The Beatles 7) “I’m Too Sexy”—Right Said Fred 8) “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”—Justin Timberlake 9) “Thunder”—Imagine Dragons 10) “Run the World (Girls)”—Beyoncé 11) “U Can’t Touch This”—MC Hammer 12) “Forgot About Dre”—Dr. Dre featuring Eminem 13) “Vacation”—Dirty Heads 14) “The Load Out”—Jackson Browne 15) “Stay”—Jackson Browne 16) “The King of Bedside Manor”—Barenaked Ladies 17) “Empire State of Mind”—JAY-Z 18) “Party in the U.S.A.”—Miley Cyrus 19) “Fucking Best Song Everrr”—Wallpaper. 20) “Shake It Off”—Taylor Swift 21) “Bang!”—AJR
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Colleen Hoover (Reminders of Him)
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BTS are unique because they’ve succeeded without the backing of a major music company, the members of the group are heavily involved with the writing and production of their own songs and, most notably, they’re not afraid to talk about their aspirations and their anxieties, and to be the voice of their generation.
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Adrian Besley (BTS: Icons of K-Pop)
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SUGA explains what was behind the lyrics of “Born Singer”: ______I remember in the week after we debuted, Bang Si-Hyuk said, “We should make a record of how we feel right now,” “We should make it into a song.” He said that, as time went by, we wouldn’t remember these emotions. So when we were at the broadcasting station, I wrote down the lyrics on a notepad.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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for Korean idol groups, it went without saying that dance music would be chosen as the title song, which would be accompanied by elaborate choreography based around the concept of “kalgunmu.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
“
I NEED U,” a calm and delicate sound is layered against SUGA’s incensed rapping, and then, when the sound suddenly speeds up, he sings in a low and sorrowful voice, “Sorry (I hate u) / Love you (I hate you) / I forgive you (Shit).” With intensity and sadness appearing constantly alongside one another, listeners feel sad while also becoming more and more elated. Then, in the chorus, these emotions fuse together and explode. The way in which the drawn-out chorus suddenly switches to a powerful beat demonstrates the song’s cathartic element alongside its explosive dance routine.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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SUGA, who had been writing songs since he was twelve and was already a professional musician in high school.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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struggling with the lyrics to “No More Dream.” RM had to compose a staggering twenty-nine versions of the rap lyrics for this particular song.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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A common misconception outside the idol industry was that management companies were in charge of everything about the music, taking the lead in musical creativity. But even the most finely produced songs cannot shine if the idols performing them are untalented or unwilling.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
“
BTS had neither produced English-language songs nor heavily promoted themselves to the Americas, and did not have the backing of influential international media channels to carry their names across language barriers, as with popular artists from the US and UK.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
“
FAKE LOVE” is not, as the title would suggest, about fake, or false, love. As the opening lyrics convey, the song is about the intentions and concerns of a person hiding their pain before the one they love, trying to show them only the best of themselves. On the surface, these lyrics might appear to tell a universal story of the pain of love, but they also represent the BTS members’ minds at the time, standing before ARMY.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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Even when it was really difficult to write a song, when it came down to it, I went, “Pfft, whatever! Just do it!” Whether the song would get released or not, I decided to write it first and think about that later.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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During its first week of sales, LOVE YOURSELF轉 ‘Tear’ became the first ever Korean album to make number one on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, the title song “FAKE LOVE” hit number 10 on the Hot 100—the fact that its music video reached 100 million views on YouTube in about eight days, breaking their record for “DNA” by a large margin, ended up being secondary.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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This is connected to the way idols are viewed within the Korean music industry, and also within Korean society as a whole. Idols were often belittled as having inferior musicality to other kinds of artists, for reasons including the fact that the company directs the production, that they don’t write their own songs, or even that they’re really good-looking or dance onstage. On top of this, there is also the highly misogynistic assumption that because fans of idol music tend to be women in their teens and twenties, the music must be of a poor quality.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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This is an important principle for idol groups in particular, as their popularity is rooted largely in their fandoms. In order to retain and grow the momentum created by one hit song, an idol group must continue to produce stunning hits that visibly grow the scale of the fandom.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
“
FAKE LOVE" is not, as the title would suggest, about fake, or false, love. As the opening lyrics convey, the song is about the intentions and concerns of a person hiding their pain before the one they love, trying to show them only the best of themselves. On the surface, these lyrics might appear to tell a universal story of the pain of love, but they also represent the BTS members' minds at the time, standing before ARMY.
”
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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Who will tell these stories if music doesn't? And that music, looking at it now, it's like those are words speaking to me. A few years later, listening to the songs I made back then, I feel comforted. They're like a letter written to my future self.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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In LOVE YOURSELF (Tear's first song, "Intro: Singularity," the final lyrics go, "Tell me / Even if the pain was fake / What should I have done," while the next song, "FAKE LOVE," opens with, "For you I could pretend like I was happy when I was sad." These lyrics are saying that, no matter what pain the person is going through, they can show a happy face in front of the one they love.
Then, in the following song, "The Truth Untold" (Feat. Steve Aoki), the lyrics go, "I'm afraid / I feel small / I'm so afraid / Will you end up leaving me as well / I put on a mask and go to you again." These lyrics tell the story of someone who is afraid that the one why love will turn away if they see their true face, and so, they wear a mask.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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When I wrote the lyrics to that song, I remember I really tried to write to my friends. Friends like the ones who left my side, the ones I see once in a while but are so far away that even though we're under the same sky, in some ways they're someplace else.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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Looking at the history of BTS so far, these lyrics from "Burning Up (FIRE)" were yet another declaration. In the song's opening, they have no choice but to say, "I'm just nobody," but they also tell themselves, "It's okay not to try hard.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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I couldn't understand him at first. Sure, I was a little too young to be very understanding of others, and hadn't met many people then...But I was really curious and kept thinking, 'Why does he work so hard?' Because Jimin really, really gives it his all in every single song. And I came to realize, 'This kid is absolutely serious about being onstage. And he's constantly worried people will be disappointed by his performance.' I'd though long and hard about Jimin this way, and it turned out, Jimin had also thought about me. And once I realized that I had things I was good at while Jimin had his things he was good at...I started to understand. It's just so fascinating to me. That complete opposites can be like, 'Wow, we really don't go together,' but once we saw how we made up for each other's deficiencies, we came to see each other with even more respect and admiration.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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Everyone has it hard, of course, but I really wanted to capture and share the pain and thoughts we experienced in our growth or our path to success. I guess you can say, I wanted to make it obvious a bit. To make my feelings known. I'm not the type to talk directly about my feelings, but it occurred to me that I could still talk about them through song.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
“
In LOVE YOURSELF (Tear's first song, "Intro: Singularity," the final lyrics go, "Tell me / Even if the pain was fake / What should I have done," while the next song, "FAKE LOVE," opens with, "For you I could pretend like I was happy when I was sad." These lyrics are saying that, no matter what pain the person is going through, they can show a happy face in front of the one they love.
Then, in the following song, "The Truth Untold" (Feat. Steve Aoki), the lyrics go, "I'm afraid / I feel small / I'm so afraid / Will you end up leaving me as well / I put on a mask and go to you again." These lyrics tell the story of someone who is afraid that the one they love will turn away if they see their true face, and so, they wear a mask.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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As it so happens, following on from LOVE YOURSELF, the first line of the MAP OF THE SOUL series' opening song, "Intro: Persona," goes: "Who am I." Of course, like it says in the lyrics, "The question I had my entire life" is "The question I'll probably never find the answer to my whole life." However, it is in the process of answering this question, which comes around in every period of life, that a person learns what it is they have to do.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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I wanted to fill it with the hurt I felt. It's a very lively song, but the lyrics are really sad.
Yesterday's you
Now I see it all
So many thorns on a sprouting rose
I want to give you a hug
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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We just tried to overcome it. Because we couldn't stay mired in negative feelings forever. These days I'm like...If I pour these feelings into something, if I take the things I've felt or my mood and make it into a song, then I feel a bit better.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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On what he was like as a trainee, V remembered himself less as a person who did his best unconditionally and more as someone who had to "like" something to do it. He needed, therefore, the leisure to recharge and take stock just as much as he needed practice to improve. He referred to this as "the adolescence of the mind," which could be interpreted as the determination to attain personal happiness over material "success."
I tell myself a lot that I will become a better person. But I think I have to become happy myself first or somehow receive a kind of energy in order to take a step closer to becoming that better person. It's the same when I'm inspired. In the beginning of the pandemic, when our entire schedule was canceled and we could rest a bit, I suddenly had this craving to see the ocean at night. So I went with an old school friend to Sokcho in the middle of the night. We lit sparklers, recorded the sound of the ocean, and tried writing songs over the recordings of the night waves. Seeing the ocean at night when I really wanted to see it as opposed to when I really didn't was incredibly different. When my heart is satisfied this way, I take note of the emotions that come to me and write them down.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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The first part of LOVE YOURSELF 'Tear'—from opening song, "Intro: Singularity," up until "FAKE LOVE," "The Truth Untold" (Feat. Steve Aoki), and so on—tells the story of a person living their life wearing a mask, and feeling the pain of being unable to be sincere in front of the one they love.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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That they would listen to our songs and like them and enjoy them with us...Wouldn't that be it? Success and fame and the money that follows are not the biggest meanings in our lives. I just want to do one more performance, to converse with more people. Even if we can't have a long and deep conversation with each and every individual, at least a conversation where we look at each other and shout together and exchange glances, that kind of conversation. That's what's more meaningful.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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Whether the song would get released or not, I decided to write it first and think about that later. Each and every moment was agonizing, writing it down line by line.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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When I read the critiques about painter Song Sangki, there was one part that touched me most. As far as I remember, it said, "I think that the greatest artists are the ones who can take their most personal experiences and distill them into the most universal of truths. Isn't this person art itself?
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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This song is basically saying, "Give us all the suffering, we'll withstand it all!
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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Different people will respond differently to BTS's music, as musical taste is completely subjective. However, no one can deny that the BTS members filled their songs with their genuine emotions and experience from this time.
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BTS (Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS)
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1) “Raise Your Glass”—P!nk 2) “Dynamite”—BTS 3) “Happy”—Pharrell Williams 4) “Particle Man”—They Might Be Giants 5) “I’m Good”—The Mowgli’s 6) “Yellow Submarine”—The Beatles 7) “I’m Too Sexy”—Right Said Fred 8) “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”—Justin Timberlake 9) “Thunder”—Imagine Dragons 10) “Run the World (Girls)”—Beyoncé 11) “U Can’t Touch This”—MC Hammer 12) “Forgot About Dre”—Dr. Dre featuring Eminem 13) “Vacation”—Dirty Heads 14) “The Load Out”—Jackson Browne 15) “Stay”—Jackson Browne 16) “The King of Bedside Manor”—Barenaked Ladies 17) “Empire State of Mind”—JAY-Z 18) “Party in the U.S.A.”—Miley Cyrus 19) “Fucking Best Song Everrr”—Wallpaper. 20) “Shake It Off”—Taylor Swift 21) “Bang!”—AJR
”
”
Colleen Hoover (Reminders of Him)