Know The Team Through BTS - Charlie
Meaningful Songs (in order of release because they affected me in that order)
Tomorrow
If you play this song, you will see me yell “Aahh, the best song in BTS’s discography!”. And I am half-joking; I know that this song isn’t the most well-known, iconic Spring Day-style chart-topper BTS have ever produced. But it is my personal favourite, lyrics-wise (and by coincidence, as I type this, this song is now playing as I have my “Best of BTS” playlist on shuffle. If that’s not serendipitous…). I remember the first time I read the lyrics to this song; it was like someone had put a magnifying glass in my head, found my most pervasive thoughts, and written them down (and then for some reason had a Korean boy group sing them). The song is all about worrying about the future, feeling like you don’t want tomorrow to ever come even though you know deep down that tomorrow will become yesterday at some point and all the worrying was pointless. Feeling like the future is some sort of scary monster and everyone’s walking towards it carefree whilst you just wish time would pause for a moment because you feel too anxious to deal with it right now. It’s the song that made me realise that BTS’s songs aren’t just made to be catchy anthems, but to speak to us. It also helped me to feel that I wasn’t alone, that other people feel scared about the future, too.
This song also has some wonderful symbolism. I found the “CTRL C CTRL V” line (and their hand movements as they act out typing it) to describe every day being a boring repeat, particularly interesting. And when Taehyung sings his line about feeling like he’s staying in place while everyone else moves forward, the muffling of his voice to sound like he can’t shout out properly is quite interesting to me.
If you play this song, you will see me yell “Aahh, the best song in BTS’s discography!”. And I am half-joking; I know that this song isn’t the most well-known, iconic Spring Day-style chart-topper BTS have ever produced. But it is my personal favourite, lyrics-wise (and by coincidence, as I type this, this song is now playing as I have my “Best of BTS” playlist on shuffle. If that’s not serendipitous…). I remember the first time I read the lyrics to this song; it was like someone had put a magnifying glass in my head, found my most pervasive thoughts, and written them down (and then for some reason had a Korean boy group sing them). The song is all about worrying about the future, feeling like you don’t want tomorrow to ever come even though you know deep down that tomorrow will become yesterday at some point and all the worrying was pointless. Feeling like the future is some sort of scary monster and everyone’s walking towards it carefree whilst you just wish time would pause for a moment because you feel too anxious to deal with it right now. It’s the song that made me realise that BTS’s songs aren’t just made to be catchy anthems, but to speak to us. It also helped me to feel that I wasn’t alone, that other people feel scared about the future, too.
This song also has some wonderful symbolism. I found the “CTRL C CTRL V” line (and their hand movements as they act out typing it) to describe every day being a boring repeat, particularly interesting. And when Taehyung sings his line about feeling like he’s staying in place while everyone else moves forward, the muffling of his voice to sound like he can’t shout out properly is quite interesting to me.
Hold Me Tight
Those who know me well know how clingy I am. From the right person, I love hugs, affection and reassurance that that person really likes hanging out with me and doesn’t secretly find me annoying or something. And that’s why this song means a lot to me. The lines such as “Hold me tight, hug me” and “Pull me in tight” sound so desperate, like they’re begging for reassurance, and that strikes a chord with me. It’s one of those songs that I read the lyrics to and relate every word to my best friend. When I feel down, I just want to be hugged by her. (Somehow BTS have a lot of songs that describe my best friend and I perfectly, but I tried not to include too many here for fear of repetitiveness.) It’s cheesy to say, but the lyrics are so very beautifully written and make me think of a scene of two people lying down, looking at the stars and hugging each other. Something intimate and cute like that, with someone just wanting a bit of comfort from someone special to them: a family member, a friend, a partner, anyone that means something to them. And the fact that this was the first song that my bias produced makes it even more special to me.
Those who know me well know how clingy I am. From the right person, I love hugs, affection and reassurance that that person really likes hanging out with me and doesn’t secretly find me annoying or something. And that’s why this song means a lot to me. The lines such as “Hold me tight, hug me” and “Pull me in tight” sound so desperate, like they’re begging for reassurance, and that strikes a chord with me. It’s one of those songs that I read the lyrics to and relate every word to my best friend. When I feel down, I just want to be hugged by her. (Somehow BTS have a lot of songs that describe my best friend and I perfectly, but I tried not to include too many here for fear of repetitiveness.) It’s cheesy to say, but the lyrics are so very beautifully written and make me think of a scene of two people lying down, looking at the stars and hugging each other. Something intimate and cute like that, with someone just wanting a bit of comfort from someone special to them: a family member, a friend, a partner, anyone that means something to them. And the fact that this was the first song that my bias produced makes it even more special to me.
Stigma
Stigma is Taehyung’s solo song from Wings, an album which I will discuss overall in the next song. I feel bad picking a solo song from just one member, but this song is so sophisticated, so beautiful, that it deserves a place in my playlist. Taehyung’s sultry voice in the speaking parts contrast so beautifully with his high notes that it really demonstrates the versatility and talent that that man has. Every time I listen, I need to have the volume up loudly so I can properly hear his deep voice and stop what I’m doing when it gets to his iconic high note. This song made me proud to have Taehyung as my bias, as his voice is so refined and flawless to me. I wish I could have gone to the Wings tour and seen this song live, as to me it’s slightly underrated and means a lot to me because of the emotion he pours into it, which in turn makes me feel emotional because I can hear how hard he worked on it.
Stigma is Taehyung’s solo song from Wings, an album which I will discuss overall in the next song. I feel bad picking a solo song from just one member, but this song is so sophisticated, so beautiful, that it deserves a place in my playlist. Taehyung’s sultry voice in the speaking parts contrast so beautifully with his high notes that it really demonstrates the versatility and talent that that man has. Every time I listen, I need to have the volume up loudly so I can properly hear his deep voice and stop what I’m doing when it gets to his iconic high note. This song made me proud to have Taehyung as my bias, as his voice is so refined and flawless to me. I wish I could have gone to the Wings tour and seen this song live, as to me it’s slightly underrated and means a lot to me because of the emotion he pours into it, which in turn makes me feel emotional because I can hear how hard he worked on it.
Wings
I now want to include a more uplifting song. It would have been Boyz With Fun, but I just wrote about that for our Spotify Playlist, so I wanted to take the opportunity to write about something different.
I have a huge love for this song. Wings as a whole is my favourite era as it was the first comeback that I watched the moment it dropped, and it made me become a true OT7 fan thanks to the solos on the album, and suddenly had an epiphany moment in school when I decided that I truly loved BTS more than just someone who’s a casual fan of someone’s music. I often listened to the Wings album in its entirety, from start to finish, and I felt very emotional every time when I reached the outro: this song. It was happy, but I felt sad, knowing that I had reached the end of the album again. I usually didn’t get such an emotional reaction to supposedly happy, uplifting songs encouraging one to just “spread their wings”. It’s wonderfully produced, and Hoseok’s rap about not being afraid is so comforting and uplifting in typical Hoseok fashion. Every time I listen to any song on that album, I often don’t make it to the end because I feel too nostalgic for the happy time in my life when this album came out. But this song deserves a special mention as it’s not intended as a sad song at all and yet makes me almost cry every time.
I cried when I saw the Wings tour trailer and heard this song in the background, even though I knew that the tour wouldn’t stop in Europe, let alone England. And yet 2 years later, they finally came. So, this song also sounds like a reminder to me that good times are coming. It’s happy, jumpy, and I particularly love Jungkook’s “Take me to the sky-y-ye-y”, which is addictive and the type of sound that you want to bounce around to when you hear it. It’s just such a likeable, lovely song with a nostalgic history for me.
I now want to include a more uplifting song. It would have been Boyz With Fun, but I just wrote about that for our Spotify Playlist, so I wanted to take the opportunity to write about something different.
I have a huge love for this song. Wings as a whole is my favourite era as it was the first comeback that I watched the moment it dropped, and it made me become a true OT7 fan thanks to the solos on the album, and suddenly had an epiphany moment in school when I decided that I truly loved BTS more than just someone who’s a casual fan of someone’s music. I often listened to the Wings album in its entirety, from start to finish, and I felt very emotional every time when I reached the outro: this song. It was happy, but I felt sad, knowing that I had reached the end of the album again. I usually didn’t get such an emotional reaction to supposedly happy, uplifting songs encouraging one to just “spread their wings”. It’s wonderfully produced, and Hoseok’s rap about not being afraid is so comforting and uplifting in typical Hoseok fashion. Every time I listen to any song on that album, I often don’t make it to the end because I feel too nostalgic for the happy time in my life when this album came out. But this song deserves a special mention as it’s not intended as a sad song at all and yet makes me almost cry every time.
I cried when I saw the Wings tour trailer and heard this song in the background, even though I knew that the tour wouldn’t stop in Europe, let alone England. And yet 2 years later, they finally came. So, this song also sounds like a reminder to me that good times are coming. It’s happy, jumpy, and I particularly love Jungkook’s “Take me to the sky-y-ye-y”, which is addictive and the type of sound that you want to bounce around to when you hear it. It’s just such a likeable, lovely song with a nostalgic history for me.
Spring Day
Similarly to the songs on Wings, Spring Day is a song that I once physically could not listen to or watch the music video or live stages for without crying. Everyone says they love Spring Day and never skip it, but I always must skip it because it’s so real for me. When I first watched the music video, I found it sad for obvious reasons: Taehyung was lying on a train track looking like he wanted to be ran over or something (and I had just watched the episode of Hwarang where his character died so I was NOT in the right frame of mind for that) and the song just sounded sad. Then, I read the lyrics.
After the happiness in my life that was Wings, it was February and Wings: You Never Walk Alone came out. I was coming to terms with the fact that I had just had my last Christmas before leaving home for university. It was 2017, and I had around 6 months of school left seeing my friends and best friend every day at school before Summer came, and I would have to start saying my goodbyes before heading to university. Every day that went by was just another day deducted from the time I had left in this place, and that terrified me (the song Tomorrow had again found its relevance in my life). So, for BTS to release a song at that exact time, that discussed missing a friend, that started with the simple but devastating “I miss you” - it was too real. Just like with Tomorrow, it was like BTS knew exactly what was going through my head and put it into a song, a perfect display of how their messages evolve as their fans grow up. And I also find it refreshing that Yoongi said the lyrics were partly about a friend he used to have, when many people assumed that it was about missing someone after a break-up. Friendship is such a fitting theme for BTS to sing about, given their family bond, which makes this song seem very honest and authentic.
Of course, leaving home wasn’t so bad in the end, and it helped me to grow up and gain confidence, and I can now even listen to this song without crying, which means that this song helps me to see that sad times eventually end, and worries aren’t forever. But it is such a beautiful song that I still can’t listen to it if I’m sad. It’s that impactful.
Similarly to the songs on Wings, Spring Day is a song that I once physically could not listen to or watch the music video or live stages for without crying. Everyone says they love Spring Day and never skip it, but I always must skip it because it’s so real for me. When I first watched the music video, I found it sad for obvious reasons: Taehyung was lying on a train track looking like he wanted to be ran over or something (and I had just watched the episode of Hwarang where his character died so I was NOT in the right frame of mind for that) and the song just sounded sad. Then, I read the lyrics.
After the happiness in my life that was Wings, it was February and Wings: You Never Walk Alone came out. I was coming to terms with the fact that I had just had my last Christmas before leaving home for university. It was 2017, and I had around 6 months of school left seeing my friends and best friend every day at school before Summer came, and I would have to start saying my goodbyes before heading to university. Every day that went by was just another day deducted from the time I had left in this place, and that terrified me (the song Tomorrow had again found its relevance in my life). So, for BTS to release a song at that exact time, that discussed missing a friend, that started with the simple but devastating “I miss you” - it was too real. Just like with Tomorrow, it was like BTS knew exactly what was going through my head and put it into a song, a perfect display of how their messages evolve as their fans grow up. And I also find it refreshing that Yoongi said the lyrics were partly about a friend he used to have, when many people assumed that it was about missing someone after a break-up. Friendship is such a fitting theme for BTS to sing about, given their family bond, which makes this song seem very honest and authentic.
Of course, leaving home wasn’t so bad in the end, and it helped me to grow up and gain confidence, and I can now even listen to this song without crying, which means that this song helps me to see that sad times eventually end, and worries aren’t forever. But it is such a beautiful song that I still can’t listen to it if I’m sad. It’s that impactful.
A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone
In a similar vein to Spring Day, this became “our song” for me and my best friend. We went through a phase of forever quoting it together; whenever one of us had to go somewhere else or was worried about something, the other person would say, “Hey, you never walk alone”. It became our thing. The beginning sounds at the start of the song still made me sad (sometimes certain sounds sound sad to me, I can’t explain why, especially as I’m tone deaf) because I was anticipating being alone once I left her for university, and I remember dancing around to this song in her kitchen, knowing that in a few months I wouldn’t be able to do this anymore (I know I was overdramatic; I was able to come home for long holidays, but I couldn’t help being afraid).
For her birthday in 2017, I found something on the Internet to buy for her: A plaque which you can personalise with a picture on one side, and words on the other. For her to have to remember me in the weeks I was away for university, I bought one with a picture of us next to the YNWA lyrics: “As long as you and I are together, we can smile.” I know, I’m cheesy, but the lyrics to this song are so wonderful that they needed to be written down.
In a similar vein to Spring Day, this became “our song” for me and my best friend. We went through a phase of forever quoting it together; whenever one of us had to go somewhere else or was worried about something, the other person would say, “Hey, you never walk alone”. It became our thing. The beginning sounds at the start of the song still made me sad (sometimes certain sounds sound sad to me, I can’t explain why, especially as I’m tone deaf) because I was anticipating being alone once I left her for university, and I remember dancing around to this song in her kitchen, knowing that in a few months I wouldn’t be able to do this anymore (I know I was overdramatic; I was able to come home for long holidays, but I couldn’t help being afraid).
For her birthday in 2017, I found something on the Internet to buy for her: A plaque which you can personalise with a picture on one side, and words on the other. For her to have to remember me in the weeks I was away for university, I bought one with a picture of us next to the YNWA lyrics: “As long as you and I are together, we can smile.” I know, I’m cheesy, but the lyrics to this song are so wonderful that they needed to be written down.
Skit: Billboard Music Awards Speech
Yes, I am including a skit. It sounds stupid, but there’s something that hits me when I’m listening to Love Yourself: Her, and the music halts for me to relive that moment when BTS won their first award at a US show. I remember waking up to the news they’d won, and telling my mum, who was shocked that the little boy group I kept going on about had won, and seeing my best friend run up to me at school that day, hugging me as we both went, “They did it! I’m so proud! Did you see the interviews they did?”. It was at this moment that we knew that this was a new era for BTS. And as time goes on, Namjoon’s hint of this era with “Love myself, love yourself” feels eerier looking back.
For all these reasons, I love listening to it. Skits can sometimes be skippable, but this one is like a victorious addition to the album. Their skits used to be clips of just the boys talking together about how they wished their albums would be more successful, but now they’re winning speeches at American award shows. If that’s not the most satisfying thing, I don’t know what is.
Yes, I am including a skit. It sounds stupid, but there’s something that hits me when I’m listening to Love Yourself: Her, and the music halts for me to relive that moment when BTS won their first award at a US show. I remember waking up to the news they’d won, and telling my mum, who was shocked that the little boy group I kept going on about had won, and seeing my best friend run up to me at school that day, hugging me as we both went, “They did it! I’m so proud! Did you see the interviews they did?”. It was at this moment that we knew that this was a new era for BTS. And as time goes on, Namjoon’s hint of this era with “Love myself, love yourself” feels eerier looking back.
For all these reasons, I love listening to it. Skits can sometimes be skippable, but this one is like a victorious addition to the album. Their skits used to be clips of just the boys talking together about how they wished their albums would be more successful, but now they’re winning speeches at American award shows. If that’s not the most satisfying thing, I don’t know what is.
Paradise
This is yet another song that I relate to on such a high level that I am thankful to BTS for being an artist that speaks to me and does not just release boring love songs repeatedly.
I often feel like everyone else has a certain dream and knows where their lives are going; they have a plan. Whereas I am just winging it and studying things I enjoy until I figure out what my goal is. And that can be a very scary thought, so I really appreciate BTS having a song that assures you that even something as trivial as buying a new laptop or having a good day can count as a dream. It shows the growth of their music that their debut song started with the accusatory, “Hey kid! What’s your dream?” and now they sing lyrics such as, “It’s alright to not have a dream.” It’s another catchy song that’s addictive to sing along to, with English lyrics such as “Stop running for nothing my friend,” which is a great mantra to have, as well as having a sweet message. If I feel under pressure, this song is easy to listen to, relaxing and helps me feel, “Stop taking life so seriously, just take a break and appreciate the paradise you’re already in”.
You can listen to Charlie's bangin Spotify playlist on the following link: Charlie's Bangin Tunes
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