"mono."

'Mono'

A Playlist Review

On Saturday 20th October 2018, as BTS legion of fans went about their own business, a simple tweet posted by RM turned their normal weekend upside down. The post simply stated -

RM's playlist

"mono."

10/23

--

and included a picture of a tracklist.

ARMY's all knew what this meant, his long anticipated mixtape, one which had been hinted at over months, was coming! And with almost no time to prepare ourselves... it was dropping in just 3 days.

ARMY's across the globe waited with bated breath, counting down the minutes for the release, unable to contain their excitement.

Finally it was here... and it did not disappoint. A well produced, thought provoking masterpiece, that won over the critics and the charts. A roller coaster of emotions, from the first note to the last; here's a review from the BTS Radio UK team.

Cat Frost

Tokyo

‘Tokyo’ impacted me the most out of all the tracks in ‘mono’. From the first time hearing it, I was hit with the raw emotions that Namjoon put into the song. I don’t usually ‘connect’ to songs or sympathise with the emotions, which was why this song impacted me so much. The sense of longing and emptiness, which I had felt many times after my father’s passing, resonated within me again as I listened to this song. The instrumental gives a vivid image of loneliness, with background ‘city’ noises, of everyone going about life, in a never ending vicious cycle of life and death, or love and hate; the longing to be comforted, but everyone else is stuck in their own cycles. ‘I see Pinocchio wearing a poncho, That’s me some time ago’ gives the image that even if Pinocchio, and Namjoon, succeeded, they’re still plagued with the curse of loneliness and being alone, with no one to comfort them. It honestly scares me a bit about how much emotions I feel when I listen to this song, and if it’s possible I only respect Namjoon more, for expressing such raw emotions and giving strength to ARMY and everyone who listens to ‘Tokyo’, as I believe his message overall is that he feels it too and that we are not alone. The fact that no official lyrics would be published either shows how the song is really adapted to the listener, and they can interpret it in their own way.

Seoul 

Despite Seoul’s upbeat, happy melody, its lyrics give another image. It delves more into the ‘love and hate’ concept from ‘Tokyo’. The lyrics play on the pronunciation of ‘Seoul’, ‘Soul’ and ‘so’, which allows the listener to interpret the lyrics to themselves. The play on words with love and hate, living and leaving, this all gives 2 contrasting sides of negative and positive. The ‘negative’ is also brought in the lyric ‘the Han Rivers that bear too much Han’, could be interpreted as the Han River having too much ‘sorrow’ (due to the high suicide rate), which shows despite how bright and happy everyone seems, it could all be a mask, with the high rate as evidence of the negatives of ‘Seoul’. But there is still much happiness for him in ‘Seoul’ with the memories he has made there. Even when the song ends, he doesn't give a clear thought, if he loves or hates it, which shows the complexity of our feelings and that it’s alright to not have a clear thought on whether we love or hate something, but rather let our emotions be and not try to find a reason behind them.

Source: ibighit - YouTube

Tannith Matthew

Moonchild

When I first listened to Mono, I was lying on the floor of my room listening through headphones with my eyes closed, and every morsel of sound that I devoured through that first listen brought me one step closer to feeling alive. I had known when I saw the tracklist that Moonchild would be an important song for me. Something about the title just told me that whatever RM was writing this song about, it was written for people like me. When I then heard Moonchild for the first time I was hooked from the first line. As soon as I heard RM’s low voice sing ‘we’re born in the moonlight’, I felt understood by someone on the other side of the world. He perfectly put into words a feeling which I have spent most of my life trying to explain. The beat felt like it was pumping my blood through my body like the beat of my own heart. I was entirely altered by that first listen.

Once I was able to read the translated lyrics for the second verse and see the lyrics of the song as a whole I was only more convinced that this song was speaking directly to me. Moonchild is the song I have found myself singing most often this past week as I’ve gone about my day, and it’s become a part of my life almost as integral to my being as breathing.

Source: ibighit - YouTube

Badbye

As Moonchild ended and I moved on to Badbye, I found myself drawn to the music behind the lyrics. The opening sound reminded me of a tattoo gun, and I found myself wondering what the sound actually was and what it was leading to. As I registered that it was the sound of a tuning radio, and then the beat kicked in I was in love. I didn’t really listen to the lyrics when I first heard Badbye, and it took me a few listens to really feel like I understood any meaning behind the words. But from that first listen the melody and the beat stood out to me, making it impossible not to hum along. The refrain ‘Kill me, kill me softly’ has stuck most in my head, and is the part I find myself singing at random times wondering when and why it popped into my head.

Uhgood

When the first few notes then led me into Uhgood, I already knew that I was going to love this next song too. Even the transitions between each track felt thought about and meaningful and as I got to this song and felt myself moving towards the ending of the playlist, I had already made up my mind that this playlist was a masterpiece from start to finish. Through the first listen, I mostly enjoyed the beat, and I loved the melody of the refrain. I knew as I heard the refrain that it was saying something I needed to hear. This was the third song to make me feel close to tears through this playlist, the first two being Tokyo and Moonchild. I didn’t understand on my first few listens why the Korean sections brought a lump to my throat every time I heard this song, but there was something about it that spoke to me.

When I was able to look at the translations Uhgood went to a whole new level for me. I already loved the beat and the melody, but the lyrics were so powerful that I fell in love with Uhgood, and with RM all over again. I have suffered with mental health problems for five years, and I only just went and asked for help a couple of months ago. I felt that I had to push myself harder, work harder, and get better all on my own. I felt that it was weakness to admit that I wasn’t able to be perfect. The lyrics to Uhgood spoke to my own feelings on my mental health so clearly, and it was heart-breaking to read those lyrics as I listened along to the track. The line ‘you should rather die than lose’ stuck with me and reminded me so much of how I feel at my lowest points that now I can’t hear the song without crying. But seeing how much of himself Namjoon put into each of these tracks is beautiful. Listening to Mono from beginning to end is like getting a glimpse into the heart and soul of one of the greatest leaders of our generation, and I feel privileged to have been able to hear it.

Amber Bevan

EVERYTHING GOES

When I first heard the song I could tell by the backing music that there was a good message behind it. Now looking back at the lyrics in detail the track is an uplifting song about how everything in life, even the pain you may be feeling has to go even if you don't believe it will or don't think it will it has too. As he says Nothing on Earth lasts forever, including the hardships in life. The detailed lyrics throughout the song bring this message to life. from past experience I know that there is a lot of hardships in life and you may not have faced them just yet but they will come and when they do you challenge them head on and soon they will be over. Even when you think you have lost the battle but the pain is still there you carry on, as everything goes you do just need to give it some time.

'Embrace the world and suck in a breath, That prickling air that fills up your lungs says everything'

RM states that he is going to breathe in and take in what the world has become today. And since he says that the air is cold, he is describing how he sees the world now which is cold. He says that the world is cold and dull, but I believe with the right mindset you can overcome the dull and coldness and move forward to a bright future.

Overall I think the way he has worked the whole song/album and some of the quotes he has used could really help inspire so many people, also the music video for this song is black and white and shows he loneliness even if he doesn't want to show it to everyone. I think that RM has shown his opinions on the world and how he sees things, which is letting us see the world through his eyes. I don't think he realises how inspiring this could be to many and he should continue to tell his story and not be afraid.

FOREVER RAIN

When I first heard the song I could tell that the song was going to have very meaningful lyrics to it that will make the whole song more sentimental and emotional for him, so maybe he felt like he could help someone with it.

Looking at the lyrics and music video in detail I can really relate to RM in this song when he is talking about feeling alone. Also, I think this really relates to my depression when I was going through a hard time and felt alone I wish I would have had this song then.  

'I’m living because I can’t die'

This quote shows RM's struggle with trying to define why he is alive; he says he will continue to live even without knowing why or having a reason to live I feel like RM is having a really hard time, maybe with all the stuff going on in his career so he wrote this to tell us all how he's really feeling. RM also says in this song that the rain is there even though he feels alone, he also says he wishes it could rain forever as then no one would see his tears but they do see them when the sun rises.

Source: ibighit - YouTube

Everyone can find reasons to lie even in the smallest of things. I can relate to this quote as when I was in hospital i felt so useless and I thought there was no point of me living as no-one loved me, but I carried on going even if it hurt a lot or even if I didn't have a reason and I'm glad I did keep going as I would never have felt so loved and welcomed as I do now.

'wanna live in the ashy world'

The word ash means like everything gray and dull, I think this is how RM may be telling us how he sees the world. He might also find it really depressing and sad throughout the whole album; Mono, while the theme is being alone and dark and gray. I think that he is really trying to show us how he feels, without trying to make it all about him so people don't get the wrong end of the stick.