Black Swan Review - Michayla

Black Swan

by

Michayla Rap

The first time I heard ‘Black Swan’ I was taken aback because it wasn’t what I expected, even though I hadn’t thought that I had any expectations at all. I had been blown away by ‘Shadow’ and that had rocked my world, having it on repeatedly and then ‘Black Swan’ was released and my world was shaken once again.

This song hit me right in the centre of my soul, I always like to listen to a new BTS song in its rawest form to begin with, no translation, no social media opinions… just the song. I then look into it and try and make sense of those initial feelings and see if they change once I have looked beneath the surface.

For me, ‘Black Swan’ gave me ‘Let Go’ and ‘Singularity’ vibes from the start. This was for no other reason than the deep emotional feeling these songs also gave me and perhaps the connection with Taehyung after he wore the black feathered outfit. I felt a slight angst, a feeling of emotional urgency and I was looking forward to reading the lyrics to understand ‘Black Swan’ better.

Upon reading the lyrics I felt justified in my initial feelings especially with the first verses by Yoongi and Namjoon:

(Yoongi)

‘The heart no longer races

When hearing the music play

Tryna' pull up

Seems like time has stopped

Oh that would be my first death

I been always afraid of’

(Namjoon)

‘If this can no longer resonate

No longer make my heart vibrate

Then like this may be how

I die my first death

But what if that moment's right now

Right now’

To think that these two amazing artists felt so disconnected from music, really hit me hard. We know how talented they are, we know how much they put into the songs they write and produce, we know how much they put into performing and how emotional they have become at times when awards have been won. If this is how Namjoon and Yoongi felt then I can only begin to imagine how the whole group was feeling at the time.

‘Black Swan’ has quite a melancholic sound but has a rhythm that makes me nod my head along to it. It really does have a gentle, beautiful vibe and the vocals appear to blend in and be ‘one’ with the music, one doesn’t seem to step in front of the other. It has an overriding sense of togetherness, which I feel is an important factor with the upcoming album, Map Of The Soul: 7.

This song also blends into the whole discography, I have it in many playlists now and it fits, no matter which song is before or after it, this is indeed a BTS song and is already a part of my life as ARMY. I find comfort in the fact that BTS have once again shared their innermost feelings with us, no matter how hard it was for them at the time. A song like ‘Black Swan’ feels like a window into their lives and I am forever grateful that they overcame this and made such a beautiful song out of it.