Not everyone will love their music and the fandom i think understands that, but a lot of us just want people to be respectful about it. You can respect an artist without their music being someone's cup of tea. Thank you both for giving them an oppurtunity and showing respect. FYI, BTS are master storytellers with their music, lyrics, and choreography.
Personally, this song meant so much to me I could hardly listen to it when it first came out. It has a reference to Martha Graham's famous words about how a dancer dies twice, the first being when they lose their passion. BTS spoke about their passion and it was very raw because the fandom learned just before the release that the group had been considering disbandment at some point. As for me, it hit me hard because I was a dancer. When it came out, I had just gotten news from my doctor that I could never dance competitively again because of a worsened recurring injury. So I had my "dancer death" and fell into a depression maybe a week prior to its release. I could barely get through the song but I still love it. It means that much to me. Even without the lyrics, it's great. With the lyrics, it's phenomenal and poignant. With the background history of what the guys were going through when they wrote the song, it's even more meaningful. That's part of why ARMYs say that BTS songs mean different things to different people.
Wow. It's truly incredible how much music can mean to people. Thank you for sharing this experience of your with us. I know that it was probably very hard for you to go through that experience but I'm so glad that this song could help you heal from it. We just recorded a podcast with a guest (that hasn't aired yet) who is a professional sound engineer working with household names. He told us how hard his experience was of getting to the top but how he sees music as "scalable therapy" and that's why he does what he does. I love that about music. Thanks again for sharing. Borahae 💜
This song says, “The dancer dies twice. The first death is when the dancer stops dancing. And this death is much more painful,” the legendary contemporary dancer Martha Graham made its motif. Just as a dancer faces his first death when he quits dancing, it contains the fear of the moment when he will no longer be able to stand on the stage as an artist. "The more I do music, the more I fear that music will no longer give me a lot of emotion or trembling, but the moment I face my inner 'Black Swan' from the depths of my heart, I paradoxically realize that there is only music." Suga also said that if he is flying now with the wings that ARMY gave him, he wants to land slowly rather than fall. [Suga] Ayy, they say my heart is not beating no more listening to music Tryna pull up Time seems to have stopped Oh that would be my first death I been always afraid of [RM] If this makes me cry no more If you can't make my heart tremble more How could I ever die like this But what if that moment’s right now right now Ps:Black Swan is my favorite song. When I had to end my 25-year career as a contemporary dancer, I felt the same way, and this song comforted me.
I’m a dancer and I’ve seen a lot of dance performances but the only dancer who has ever brought me to tears with the emotion conveyed through his movements is Jimin. He is phenomenal! His dance is Technically fascinating… he blends so much together flawlessly, including his martial arts experience. It’s a pleasure to watch him perform. He worked SO hard on that performance for Black Swan. In the behind the scenes he can’t even get off the floor at the end he has to just lie there in pure exhaustion!
I am predominantly a metal head - I never really listen to mainstream western pop, I’m not normally a fan of a lot of genres BTS covers - I haven’t delved into other kpop either. These boys have such extraordinary talents in song writing, producing & performance that I like it if it’s BTS. They’ve had me listening to many different things I thought I didn’t like. Half of it is knowing they themselves put the hours, effort and emotion into their work, the other half is they are legit that good. Like there are artists that are ok, pretty good
Very relatable. They have me liking so many things I never thought I'd listen to. Theirs is the only rap I've ever really liked for example. I think a huge part of it is their choice of subjects, like who else writes about Pluto, whales, greek mythology etc.?! 🤯 The genius of their lyrics, the intricate music and as you say their personalities is really what makes them stand out to me. 💜
70 year old BTS Army here. Imo this song is not about duality. It is based on a quote by the famous late choreographer Martha Graham. "A dancer dies twice. First when they lose their passion for dance and this first death will be the most painful." The shadow represents a struggle with losing passion. At the end when you were talking, the shadow figure disappears back into the shadows, (for the time being anyway). RM and Suga both speak of their first death early on in this MV. Thanks for your interesting reaction!
Respectfully, one of the things I love about BTS' music and that is encouraged by the members themselves, is the multiple levels and interpretations that one can listen & relate to. Though a general meaning has been discussed by the members and ARMY has dug deeper into that, it is still ART that might touch others from a different perspective. RM has certainly spoken about this and encourages our openness to others' perspectives which will ultimately enhance our deeper understanding/appreciation for the music and each other. I gently urge caution in abject denial of another's interpretation lest you both lose this aspect of BTS as artists. 💜
Jimin is armys black swan. Also jimin could show off his contemporary dance skills, you can tell the passion he has for his dance just by watching this and seeing all the emotion he puts into every majestic beautiful dance moves. Jimin is and will always be my black swan that swooped down to save me
Black Swan is in the Map of the Soul album series. BTS’ albums are thematic. Mots encapsulates Carl Jung’s psychological concepts of self. The persona, the outward self we show the world. The shadow (Black Swan), our fears and doubts. The ego, our hopes and dreams. Black Swan was influenced by a Martha Graham quote: “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” Jimin’s (blue hair) solo dance embodied this quote.
Let me tell you BTS performances are like no other, better than most halftime shows I've seen in my life. One of BTS best performances is from MMA 2019 (Melon Music Awards) they put on a 37 minute performance at a freaking award show. Some reactors who react to it think it's a BTS concert they are reacting to when it's not. Don't get me wrong BTS music is great on its own but their performances definitely elevate their songs to a new level. Their performances are never boring and are very visually pleasing and never extremely raunchy or sexual like a lot of performers today. In some ways their performances remind me of how I felt watching Michael Jackson perform when I was younger. They never give less than 100% when performing and sometimes they push themselves too hard and will need supplemental oxygen or collapse backstage. They love the stage and during the pandemic they went almost 2 years without performing for an in person audience. They were so happy when they could hold actual concerts with people again, especially since they will be enlisting in the military soon and can't perform while serving their 18 months. But we are expected to get plenty of solo content this year and one of the members Suga is doing a short solo tour starting in April. The first member of BTS to have a solo tour.
This song is about the fear of the time when you can no longer perform your art for anything you love). There is an art film as well, with an orchestral version of the song and a modern dance company dancing to it. That video has a quote from ballet dancer Martha Graham: “A dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” In retrospect, we know that this album was to be their last one before they transitioned to the period we are in now with a focus on individual projects and their military service. They talked in a livestream last summer about their need to grow as individuals in order to return to the group even better, and about how they were at a loss for what BTS was. I think this song was to have been their way of explaining their period of individual project focus to ARMY…a sort of preparation. Unfortunately, the pandemic struck two weeks before the tour for this album began, ruining all of their carefully laid out plans. The tour was canceled and they kept pushing out their solo plans, both for ARMY (as a comfort) and to take advantage of opportunities that were falling in their lap - they released a new album - BE - and released their only all-English songs - Dynamite, Butter, and Permission to Dance, which were all in English…and eventually did mini-residencies in LA, Seoul, and Las Vegas. I appreciate your reactions. You are both so respectful and insightful.
Also I would love if guys check out their own(BTS'S) dance practice for this song as well. I think you would love the experience watching both of those dance for what they are trying to express.
Black Swan like all the Map of the Soul songs is also applied Jungian psychology. In fact it is an exploration of their "shadow" as artists. The "shadow" being the unconscious mind, the stuff that is unacceptable to even us and we therefore hide: anger, fear, insecurity, opinions, stuff that keeps us up at night, that we try to run from and will bring us to our knees when we least expect it when we deny it's existence too strongly. To be truly yourself, to love yourself you have to know yourself. And to be yourself you need to bring the "shadow" into the conscious part of yourself. In this case they explore the fear as artists that they loose the passion for their art. This is the "first contact" and it's instictive rejection. In "On" they are wounded by the contact but also more determined to integrate that part of themselves into their consciousness: To be aware. The "shadow" is part of us we can not run from, we can run only to a certain degree but it will give it more power that will strike when we are the most suspectible to it's power. True self is a tricky thing. I look at BTS story, - their discography - as a "coming of age" story. Which is also why it clearly ended in 2020. You can also see it in their award show appearences of winter of 2019/2020. The delay for father development for various reasons also delayed their farther development. But they did do a lot of collabs, solo songs, OST etc.
Not only is BTS an amazing group, each members excel as solo artists as well. Just in the last months, RM's Indigo had Erykah Badu collab and many more, his Mono is chef's kiss! JHope' Jack In Box, Jin' Astronut with Coldplay, JK's world cup song, Jimin, Suga with Psy so much muisc, so many genres!!! Listen to them all, I'm sure you will find something you love 💜
Another layer of *amazing* about these guys is, when you see how the are offstage. They look like a bunch of goofy friends just chilling out with each other or friendly dudes chatting with hosts or fans. There is no pretentiousness or attitude. They are genuinely humble and philanthropic people, but when they hit the stage and embody the performance it is just DAMN.
They finally performed Black Swan in their Permission to Dance concert and it was beautiful! Just full on art with backup dancers all wearing white wings and revealing the members individually!
I love how much you react to the artistry. I think because they come with a certain image, people who would understand and enjoy their art don’t give them a chance. I see a lot of people recommending On (Kinetic Manifesto Film) and Mic Drop, but in my opinion they probably are the last music videos I want you to react to. They are their most popular and fun to watch, but I think you would enjoy the music and the cinematography of their “Most beautiful moment in life better”. It is more pop rock/emo and the story they tell is powerful and very human. I recommend “I need U” and BTS on stage prologue. Also thank you for making me discover Dark Blue, it’s an amazing song 😊
Also if you do watch I need U, you need to watch the one with:(original ver.) in the title, because the (official MV) one is the censored one which loses a lot of its artistry.
I’m so glad you liked Dark Blue! I love that band. “Hammers and strings” is another song by them that really hammers hard on my heart strings. (See my bad pun there? 😂😅) it’s about the lead singer missing his love interest while on tour and the sadness he feels. For the same time period but from her perspective he wrote the song “lullaby” I’m sure we’ll get around to these videos and thank you for the watch order suggestion. I am actually looking forward to our next video reacting to BTS. They’ve been incredibly good for these first two.
@@ChaseAndRemmingtonMusic On Manifesto Film is actually not bad, they have superb choreography and the lyrics are quite deep, it's very great ONLY IF YOU UNDERSTAND IT 😉 Anyways, but I also agree that it's also cool if you react to BTS "I Need U" the (19+ version) which is one of their old songs I highly recommend it Honestly, BTS has lots of good songs but the problem is, it is a LOT So it's actually hard to recommend one if you guys don't have personal taste Cause if you guys like Hip-Hop, reacting to Mic Drop Official MV or Hip-Hop Lover Live performance with English subtitles would be a great idea 💡 Do you guys like pure rap songs? Or social commentary songs? RnB? Latin Pop? Soul? Pop? Metal? Or just pure vocal songs without raps? Also what topic do you prefer? Do you like songs that talks about their music journey? Their life perspective? Their love for their hometown or music? Their dreams? Their struggles? Their fears? Their greed? Sadness? Anger? Metal illness? School bullying? Corruption? The System? Capitalism? Planets? Greek mythology? Respect? Coffee? Silver spoon? Dimples? Fishing? 🤣 Just name anything they probably have it Or do you want songs that motivates people?
Suga has said to think of KPop more like integrated content rather than a genre. It is the whole package of visual, auditory and lyrical content. In Map of the Soul: Persona and Map of the Soul 7 albums BTS explore Jungian theory of the persona, shadow and ego. In Black Swan they are talking about their inner fear of losing their passion for music. When they are viewed on the stage from the audience they are wearing white and showing their public Persona, their shadows are seen moving independently. When viewed on the stage from behind or behind the scenes they are wearing black and showing their shadows. Suga is scene on stage reaching to his shadow and then they move in unison and at the end Jungkook sees his shadow, accepts his fear, the shadow fades away and Jungkook moves forward.
this genre is like Trap music. glad ur listening w/ headphones on bec their musical productions are intricately layered, it's not same lazy half-baked producing. They have in-house producers that have been w/ them from the start, of course Suga a BTS member is one of the producers. The members especially the rapline are involved and have inputs with production, they have their own personal music studios.
bts has over 900 awards if you see thier award wall they probably have more then the average american artist. but these guys have incredible music videos and songs that tell stories and that has so much meaning as well. they have songs that are for between are or anyone going through personal issues. their song magic shop is so healing and means so much to me and so many armys out their like its beautiful and makes me cry for sure.
actually I think they just got a few more awards. 😏 But there are only 3 other artists that have more than 900 awards. So.... (to be fair the weekly show awards probably also counted but I guess that is fair for all the times BTS is excluded for categories they should be nominated in because of prejudice, selfishness of certain industries or even the awards they should have won but didn't for various reasons.)
@@terrancejohnson3071 Cool! Because the only list I saw recently had them but than the list didn't have a sum of awards. Without those it is even more brilliant! 💜
Hi guys! Welcome to the rabbit hole! I hope you guys really enjoy the journey! If you wanna know more about the guys there are a few intro type videos out there. These guys have a rich history and back story :)
What genres would you want to check out or is your preference? If you ask for a specific genre, ARMY would be happy to name suggestions for those. 😊 If kpop isn't your scene, it's understandable. Everyone has preferences but I appreciate you saw their artistry and were very respectful. Dynamite has a Michael Jackson feel to it and is in English. However, it is a very pop like sound lol but it's like that because it's supposed to be a feel-good song just for fun 😊 Also, synopsis of the music video might help understand it before you watch it. That is unless you prefer going in completely blind. Some reactors prefer it that way. Awesome reaction!
“Black Swan” is inspired by a quote: “A dancer dies twice. The first time is when he stops dancing and this first death is much more painful”. “Black swan” is about their fear that some day they’ll lose their passion for music and this would be their first death. They chose to use autotune in this song was to show the group's shadow (they're deepest collective fears/secrets) vocally, the fear being that they would fall out of love with their craft. It was RMs idea to use the autotune to blend their voices, (which makes sense since he adores Kanye and Kanye uses autotune on his vocals). Black swan is based on Jung's work of the map of the soul where the shadow, ego and persona (and more) are all equally important parts to a person's construct. The dance moves in particular you can see in the beginning they pluck what seems to be invisible string instruments, while at the end of the choreography they seem to be hanging by those very strings like puppets. Their shadow (fear/secret) has consumed them. Ok, so... the song draws inspiration from both the ballet (Swan Lake) in it's choreo and imagery, but also draws a lot of inspiration from the movie "Black Swan", which in turn is heavily based on the Japanese anime film "Perfect Blue". Both movies break identity and deal (in a non-obvious way) with Carl Jung's theory of the self: Persona, Ego, Shadow. In these movies, a female performer spirals into insanity as increased pressures in her career cause her to lose grip of herself and reality. “Black Swan” tells the story of Nina, a passionate ballerina (Natalie Portman) who struggles to maintain her sanity while competing for the main role (the White Swan, Odette) in “Swan Lake.” Meanwhile, “Perfect Blue” follows Mima, a former (Japanese) pop idol whose sense of reality begins to waiver as she attempts to transition into a career as a serious actress. Both stories feature a female protagonist is put in highly stressful situations and that makes them question their identity and ultimately conjure up a doppelgänger that messes with their psyche (persona, shadow and ego, basically clash). Just as Nina suffers from the pressures of being a ballerina, Mima is also forced to deal with the strict expectations of being a Japanese idol. Their personal conflicts also bleed into their professional lives causing them to spiral out of control. In Nina’s case, it comes in the form of her oppressive mother and in Mima’s situation, it’s an obsessive stalker fan. At the core of the film, both protagonists have a psychological battle with themselves that results in hallucinations that blurs the lines between fiction and reality. In the end, like I said, these films break the self and deal with themes like loss of passion and the heartbreak that come with working for your dreams. Black Swan (BTS), at its core, reflects these themes. I think that Perfect Blue can be chillingly on point for BTS, since they too are idols and experience some of the things that Mima experienced as an idol and continues to go through. BTS reflect the core concepts of these movies, identity, and conceptualise them to reflect their fear of losing their passion for music and, by extension, losing themselves. They portray people who are afraid that music is all there is to them and are afraid of losing themselves if they lose their passion. This song became even more heartbreaking for us after their FESTA Dinner 2022, when they announced they’re taking a break from making music as a group. They expressed that they had been feeling lost and unsure of their identity as a group since the MOTS: 7 (this song’s album) release and the plan to take a break had been in place since then. They planned on having their world tour (MOTS Tour, which got canceled due to COVID-19) and then taking a break to work on their solo music, not only to find their unique flavour as artists, but also to rekindle their passion for music. Reading the lyrics for Black Swan, it makes sense that RM cried after writing this song. It expresses their fears at the time, how they felt like they no longer had an identity and feared they’d die if they lost their passion for music. Jimin is the one doing the solo dance, he majored in contemporary dance. He is also trained in ballet, albeit very minimally and as part of his main focus, which was contemporary and that's what he mostly trained for during high school. He is "professionally" trained in contemporary, hip-hop and idol dance. Even the members have said that Black Swan is Jimin's song, that he embodies the black swan. This is further highlighted in the 2020 MAMA version of Black Swan, where he does a duet with Jungkook! (here's the link for a breakdown of the moment twitter.com/mintynkks/status/1335236325373448192?s=20&t=2C90i3inGV9MBv5dgoiYQA & twitter.com/sopeshopes/status/1567652963367239680?s=20&t=7xjj1LVpvBUJbNtYOWfnMg… Spoiler alert, since I dunno if you plan to react to the 2020MAMA performance. Which I HIGHLY recommend, it has an amazing performance of Dynamite as well). Anygays, Jimin's dance style is unique and probably near impossible to replicate since its highly influenced by his 8+ years experience in martial arts + hiphop training. +idol training + his contemporary (and minimal ballet and Korean traditional) training. He does a lot of tricking and aerials you could see with his medialuna (which is a very dangerous movement to do, because you can easily over rotate and injure your ankles) and with his movements here twitter.com/pjmgem/status/1466261374355402757?s=20&t=u_YLlw3YOrAu5eb2FaijzA and here twitter.com/jikookheart/status/1465173437589110788?s=20&t=u_YLlw3YOrAu5eb2FaijzA, during the live performance, where he basically does a one-handed cartwheel to cover more space. Black Swan is one of my favourite songs from BTS! 10:05 Actually, she's the third! Just behind Michael Jackson and Beyoncé! And BTS is the fourth, with over 900 awards to date! Legends!
Aside from the other excellent recommendations here like ON kinetic manifesto, another song that really speaks to me when I feel so defeated and down is Not Today. The choreo, cinematography, lyrics and beat never fail to give me a boost of energy.
The groups with longevity in kpop have the contrasts in their groups. The very monotone sounding groups that don’t really get out of a specific genre end up disbanding after a couple years. There is a reason the guys have been around for 10 years.
This isn’t K-pop. This…is BTS. Oh, and btw, BTS just surpassed TS in the number of awards. And your interpretation of them feeling alone while performing yet being aching to be themselves and giving more is sung about in RMs latest song wildflower
BTS did an NPR Tiny Desk concert, three songs with live band. I think you'd enjoy watching that. You'll really get to see how they sincerely connect with each other, the music, and their fans 🤗🥰Thank you for your thoughtful honest and respectful reaction 💜💜💜
"Kpop" is not where I would expect to find too much of that." This statement is completely valid. Welcome to the rabbit hole! As you dive deeper and explore ALL that BTS has to offer musically, lyrically, humanly...you will soon see that these 7 men far transcend KPop. Looking forward to more reactions 💜
I think suga said it best and I paraphrase but he said koop is not limited to just the music. It's an amalgamation of the music the dance the choreography the cinematography the music videos of performance the acting the fashion the looks the aesthetic... All of these things come together to create what we know as kpop
Wait till you get to see the dance practices compilations on how difficult they actually are bts has the most complicated dance moves ever trust me It took me a few years to basically learn thier dance moves I practiced so much to get them all down.
Great reaction love that you really talk a lot about the song and make connections to other music. Don’t worry about not liking any of their songs as you continue. Army understands and you both are so clearly respectful .. Borahae 💜💜💜
i love music. my hobby is listening to and going to see live music, which i've been actively doing for over 4 decades now. bts is the first group that made me like genres of music i didn't previously care for.
I appreciate your insights to this video, when you get to understand BTS's journey then you can relate their MVs to it. The guys are great storytellers through their art and their lyrics speak to you when you check their English translations. Thank you and I hope you enjoy your dive into BTS 😊.
Thanks for your respectful reaction! So what style of music DO you usually listen to? I'm sure we could give you some recommendations closer to that style.
"they feel alone while they're in the spotlight on the stage" well, I gotta recommend Interlude: Shadow for this quote. (it's a solo song but it's from the same album as Black Swan)
Great second reaction video to Bts! Thank you. I have been an army for 5 years and there is many songs that I dont resonate so much. But I can allways appreciate their passion and their production and the thought they put to their music 💜🥰💜 and most armys dont judge you for song not being your cup of tea as long as the reapect to the talent is there 😌.
6:17 funny how you mentioned LP, there are a lot of armys who came from that music genre rock, alrenative rock, etc. We have a lot of LP fans, Muse fans etc. I, myself, am huge LP fan and Muse fan, and bts really reminded me of both groups with how they mix rythms and change within song, even though their music is very different somehow they remind me those two bands
14:22 BTS are known for their authenticity in their lyrics so they actually have LOTS more songs that talks about those topics like when they feel like they're lost due to their Fame 😅 For example: RM's WILDFLOWER Suga's SHADOW Agust D's MOONLIGHT You guys better watch those recommendations, I promise it won't disappoint
Oh, if you have a genre that you enjoy a lot we can make suggestions in that direction. Not everyone will like everything. It's all top quality but so varied in style and concept. There's rnb, pop, edm, hip hop, rap, latin pop etc... I'd recommend checking out some live performances too, they're just as good if not better live :) They have 2-3 hour concerts of just them (no opening act) and they sing AND do choreo for them, and they're just amazing performers. Some artists are great studio performers but just ok live, these guys sound like they eat cd's for breakfast and look like they were born with dancing shoes on while they're live on stage. You nice, you keep going! (Inside ARMY joke. It's something Jimin said when asked what he would tell his younger self. "Jimin you nice, you keep going!") Borahae and kudos on the Korean intro. I'm learning Korean and I'm no expert but I understood it and that's not bad!
They all do solos and sub-units also. I think you might like Run BTS and Mic Drop for lively vibes. Lie (Jimin Solo), Zero O'clock, Louder than Bombs and Outro Tear (live at the Wembley stadium concert, rap lines) give very different vibes.
Bts are the 4th most awarded artists in the whole world. First is Beyonce, rihanna, Michael Jackson, then BTS. Bts has won over 1000 awards in the past 10 years
I like your approach to doing reaction video of having a first watch and then an off-screen second watch. You guys are observant and thoughtful, and have real things to say about what you see. You’re doing great. You must be getting a lot of recommendations, for me personally I recommend BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS.
BTS dance choreography on live stage and in their MV are different, if you are interested in how their choreography reflects the musicality of the song, I would recommend their dance practices or the live performance. For black swan, their live in James cordon show was great! 🙂 There are many great dancers in K-pop groups however, BTS’ dance routines are very musical not only technical. That why I LOVE their performances so much!
5:55 BTS has amazing lyrics across discography, sure they have some feel good songs, we all need feel good songs no shame in them, but their lyrics always reflect their feelings and as RM and Suga said: meticulously constructed and they try to tell personal things in universal way. To feel the contrast of music and lyrics I suggest: Outro Tear, Truth Untold, Paradise These songs don't have official music videos, but you can look "Outro Tear Wembley english subtitles" and other name+ lyric video
Apart from a few questionable collabs I can honestly say that I haven't found one BTS song that I hated and they have a discography of about 300 songs! They have me listening to genres I never in a million years thought I'd be listening to. They're freakin geniusses at writing, composing and aesthetics (which their boss and founder Bang PD majored in) and they have amazing personalities to boot. I've never connected with an artist nor fandom the way I have with BTS and ARMY. I'm absolutely an ARMY for life. - a danish ARMY, age 46 💜
A Black Swan is a sudden, unexpected event, often disastrous. The shadows and black and white themes in the video are the fear and anxiety of their “first death” mentioned in the song, which would be falling out of love with and losing passion for their craft as artists, both with music and with dance. It’s based on Martha Graham’s quote “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” Their Blood Sweat & Tears mv would be a good one to react to. It’s based on Herman Hesse’s novel Demian and is about the struggle with good and evil, the loss of innocence as youths grow into adults, and the necessity of that loss to gain wisdom. As per usual with them, everything in the video has multiple meanings, like all the background art, black and white doorways, a quote by Nietzsche on the wall, etc Spring Day is another. Again, multiple meanings, a deft blend of both missing or losing a loved one and a critique of the Korean government.
BTS are album artists. They have a message arc expressed in track order. They generally have a 2-3 album series focusing on different aspects of a theme. Their series progress with them as they grow as young men and artists, and they look back at their journey in Map Of The Soul and Proof. They are meticulous as any 80's person tape recording mixtapes from the radio for the messaging from song to song. So the deepest understanding comes from a comprehensive chronological listening of their discography though of course you can cherry pick throughout their catalog. As newcomers you might value some of their medley compilation performances such as ARMYpedia, Festa Room Live, NPR Tiny Desk Home Concert, MTV Unplugged, etc. to give you a taste across the board of their music. Make sure you get English subtitles (ENG subs) (not auto-generated). Your reactions to those songs will help ARMY recommend more closely to your tastes. Thanks for the thoughtful analysis. Looking forward to more from you💜
Jimin is a magnificent dancer, who incorporates his hip hop and modern dance (contemporary and ballet) expertise, as well as his martial arts expertise (8 years) to create the masterpieces he does. He is one of the best and highly respected dancers in the (global) dance industry! And incidentally, he has been compared to both MJ AND Prince by many dance experts from all over the world. Jimin has created his OWN dance genre! BTS is an amazing group - not a boy band though…with each member being the multi-talented artists that they are individually, they transcend the aesthetic of a boy band.
From the gamous quote was it Martha Grahame. A dancer has two deaths the first is the hardest. This song is about fearing the loss of artistic inspiration. When the music doesnt make your heart beat.
Hello, thank you for your thoughts and time to react to BTS. I know it's been while since you did this one, but with Bangtan guys you really need to see their live performance as well. Most of them sound better live and they are still doing this intense choreo. It's a totally mind bending experience. Have a lovely day! 💜💜💜
“I’m a little careful to talk about K-pop as a genre because I don’t want to be defining Kpop as a genre”, he told Goldman. “I’m a little bit wary of that but I think rather than approach Kpop as a genre, a better approach would be ‘integrated content.'” He added: “‘K-pop includes not just the music, but the clothes, the makeup, the choreography…all these elements I think sort of amalgamate together in a visual and auditory content package, that I think sets it apart from other music or maybe other genres so again, as I said, rather than approach K-pop as it’s own genre I think approaching it as this integration of different content would be better.”-Suga of BTS at the Grammy Museum
I used to be a dancer... 'Go before you start!' That's deep understanding of movement and Art. Thank you. It would be perfect to have a conversation with both of you about BTS.
Love your reactions. Well thought. I look forward to more BTS from you. As someone who is older, I appreciate the nods to MJ and Prince. (Prince was my first concert in 1983, I love my dancers) These guys have brought back those kind of performers. And as ARMY(the fan base) will tell you, they are even better live. It’s such a rare thing. You will also find that BTS is their own genre. Musically I would love for you to see On Kinetic Manifesto Film Come Prima and a lot of their early stuff is 80’s and 90’s Hip Hip based. I found you accidentally so I don’t know what kind of music you love, but ARMY will guide you as only they can. 😘💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🫰🏻
Once you start really delving into their catalog, their live performances will blow your mind. Also, check out Taylor Mari’s Guide to the Bangtan 7 video for introductions to the guys and what they do for a greater appreciation of their artistry. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
I like that you keep relating BTS to Linkin Park. My favorite bands of all time are Pink Floyd, Linkin Park and BTS. On the surface, these bands probably don’t seem to have any similarities, but I think what connects them is their innovative musicality, emotional lyrics, and the realness that only comes from artists who write and produce their own music.
Great reaction! You pretty much nailed the meaning to the lyrics. RM based his lyrics on Martha Graham’s famous quote, “a dancer dies twice - once when the stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” The guys are struggling with their immense, unexpected fame, but are questioning what will happen when they can no longer, or want to, do their art anymore.
Great reaction! When you said you didn't expect to find this in a genre like kpop, you were right. Its not like kpop doesn't have good songs but the depth isn't easily available. BTS is an anomaly and that's the reason they are where they are.
Black Swan is in the Map of the Soul album series. BTS’ albums are thematic. Mots encapsulates Carl Jung’s psychological concepts of self. The persona, the outward self we show the world. The shadow (Black Swan), our fears and doubts. The ego, our hopes and dreams. Black Swan was influenced by a Martha Graham quote: “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” Jimin’s (blue hair) solo dance embodied this quote.
Surprise. They came from that KPop label. But as you can see they created something quite different. They aren't KPop. They are Korean. And they do sing some pop. But they are their own genre, art form, or creation. Michael Jackson. Prince. They aren't that. But they are Genius and Vitality and Uniqueness like them. They are their own. One of a kind like those magnificent artists. We understand your compliment. We do. But as you go along you won't compare them to anyone. They are their own artistic creation and genius! Welcome to their world. We LOVE watching new people discover them and appreciate them. We are here for you if you have any questions. I enjoy your eloquent reaction.
Thanks for this reaction.:) I recommend ON kinetic manifesto film after Black Swan. Black Swan is a song that expresses their fear of losing their passion for music. And ON is their determination to overcome that fear and move on to the future. :) BTS member Jin said in his acceptance speech at the 2018 MAMA that BTS suddenly became famous worldwide and had a hard time for a year due to great pressure and fear. They even thought about disbanding. However, after a year of talking and contemplating with the members, they decided to stay in the industry only for the fans and members, and move forward. The albums that have been released since then are Map of the Soul series. The albums are filled with songs that reconsider their inner self, the relationship between the seven members, and the relationship between them and fans. Black Swan, ON, Boy with Luv, and We are Bulletproof : the Eternal are one of those songs. Boy with Luv contains a message that they will fly toward fans, not the sun, with wings attached by ARMY. After listening to Black Swan, you can better understand how they feel by reading ON's lyrics. :) And at the last October's concert in Busan, SUGA told ARMY to grow old together because they will make music for another 20 or 30 years.😭 The lyrics of BTS' songs are based on their own experiences, and their albums are organic because they contain their growth narrative. It will also be fun to listen to their albums in order and analyze them. :) Oh, there're many good Black Swan live performances. These two are my favorite lives. :) BTS Black swan The Late Late Show with James Corden ruclips.net/video/wSNd02kVv8o/видео.html 2020 MMA Black swan & On & Life goes on & Dynamite ruclips.net/video/PtaP4UkZKyc/видео.html Suga couldn't participate in the performance due to rehabilitation after his shoulder surgery, but this is one of the masterpieces.
Some of my favourite BTS songs don't have MV's but I will recommend a few that are very different than the two you have already watched. Try Your Eyes Tell, Louder Than Bombs or House of Cards for superbly emotional vocal prowess. Jump, Idol, Run Bts or So What for high energy. Mic Drop, No More Dream, Attack on Bangtan for hiphop/rap style. Boy with Love, butter and Dynamite for total pop. Blood Sweat and Tears. DNA, Not Today, Run and On for outstanding visual MV's. Enjoy the journey guys
Please react to their dance practices, too. Since you reacted to Fake Love and Black Swan already, and know what the songs are all about, you may want to check out the dance practices for those songs as well. 😊☺️
I think something that you might find interesting (since you reacted to Blood, Sweat, and Tears) the theme of some of that is actually in or plays a part in their future albums. For example the shadows (in Black Swan their are shadows dancing on their own and at one time Suga is facing the shadow) could also represent like trials, our weaknesses, etc. just like blood, sweat, and tears talks/shows/introduces a little too…It is kind of crazy how things connect and how many layers BTS music have if one is willing to take the time to learn and “connect the dots” so to speak.
For anyone who creates the idea of losing the passion or ability to peruse your art is just so relatable. They have an aesthetic in their videos regardless of the style that they create such beautiful videos. BTS explores and blends genres because they love music and art and you can see it. We all want to move like BTS and even in kpop among the best dancer BTS has some of the top dancers (Jimin - a vocalist with the highest voice and contemporary dance training, and JHope a street dancer rapper and the dance leader for the group, plus Jungkook who is top tier dancer and the main vocalist). Yea I you for respectfully reacting and being open minded!
Enjoyed your reactions so far, thank you. Sitting here smiling as I can imagine your shock if you continue on this journey. I don't think there are 2 songs in the BTS discography that sound alike, where you could say 'oh this sounds like...". In fact, in so many of their tracks, I feel like you get 2, 3 or even 4 songs in the one song. They have me loving their hip hop, rap, jazz/R & B (Taehung's forte) - genres that previously held no interest for me whatsoever. They are so talented (each and every one of them) and yet so humble. Looking forward to your next reactions. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Thanks for the thoughtful reaction Keep going you will be surprised and amazed by them Some of their songs that I didn't think I liked as much at first are now my favorites, some need more than one listen 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Kim Taehyung has always been The Standard! A persona full of charisma & endless talent, gifted with the stunning visual.. He is beyond Kpop and anything ordinary!
Hey, what happened to all of your comments? I like revisiting your reactions--you're insightful, and it's like having a conversation with friends about BTS (because boy, are my real life friends tired of me talking about this). But the whole conversation has disappeared!
They have fun/pop music that is less favored, but was necessary because mainstream only notices this kind of music. Especially the English songs which they can't properly inject much depth into. Welcome to ARMY. 💜🇨🇦
I just found you guys this today I loved y'all reaction I hope you guys continue with bts reactions next I'm gonna recommend things I'm sure already been requested but I hope react to Bts On mv than On kinetic manifesto, black swan live on Jimmy Fallon, not today mv, Dna mv, idol mv and bts vocal line house of cards lyrics than live with eng sub
I would also recommend you For a mix of genres are Dionysus, Mic Drop, Magic Shop, The Truth Untold, Stigma, So What, Jamais Vu, Outro:Tear, Ma City, Intro: Persona, ON and Danger.
![[2024 ENniversary] ENHYPEN (엔하이픈) '포글포글 엔토크 🫧🍀' #2024ENniversary](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ejUYIqroD0/mqdefault.jpg)
Not everyone will love their music and the fandom i think understands that, but a lot of us just want people to be respectful about it. You can respect an artist without their music being someone's cup of tea. Thank you both for giving them an oppurtunity and showing respect. FYI, BTS are master storytellers with their music, lyrics, and choreography.
Exactly. There is a difference between someone saying a song isn't their preference or style and saying they are complete trash with no talent.
Well said 💜 Borahae
Personally, this song meant so much to me I could hardly listen to it when it first came out. It has a reference to Martha Graham's famous words about how a dancer dies twice, the first being when they lose their passion. BTS spoke about their passion and it was very raw because the fandom learned just before the release that the group had been considering disbandment at some point.
As for me, it hit me hard because I was a dancer. When it came out, I had just gotten news from my doctor that I could never dance competitively again because of a worsened recurring injury. So I had my "dancer death" and fell into a depression maybe a week prior to its release. I could barely get through the song but I still love it. It means that much to me. Even without the lyrics, it's great. With the lyrics, it's phenomenal and poignant. With the background history of what the guys were going through when they wrote the song, it's even more meaningful.
That's part of why ARMYs say that BTS songs mean different things to different people.
Wow. It's truly incredible how much music can mean to people. Thank you for sharing this experience of your with us. I know that it was probably very hard for you to go through that experience but I'm so glad that this song could help you heal from it.
We just recorded a podcast with a guest (that hasn't aired yet) who is a professional sound engineer working with household names. He told us how hard his experience was of getting to the top but how he sees music as "scalable therapy" and that's why he does what he does. I love that about music.
Thanks again for sharing. Borahae 💜
@@ChaseAndRemmingtonMusic Oh wow, I'll have to check that out! It sounds interesting, and thank you for reacting to BTS and TXT! 보라해!💜
This song says, “The dancer dies twice. The first death is when the dancer stops dancing. And this death is much more painful,” the legendary contemporary dancer Martha Graham made its motif. Just as a dancer faces his first death when he quits dancing, it contains the fear of the moment when he will no longer be able to stand on the stage as an artist.
"The more I do music, the more I fear that music will no longer give me a lot of emotion or trembling, but the moment I face my inner 'Black Swan' from the depths of my heart, I paradoxically realize that there is only music."
Suga also said that if he is flying now with the wings that ARMY gave him, he wants to land slowly rather than fall.
[Suga] Ayy, they say my heart is not beating
no more listening to music
Tryna pull up
Time seems to have stopped
Oh that would be my first death
I been always afraid of
[RM] If this makes me cry no more
If you can't make my heart tremble more
How could I ever die like this
But what if that moment’s right now
right now
Ps:Black Swan is my favorite song. When I had to end my 25-year career as a contemporary dancer, I felt the same way, and this song comforted me.
I’m a dancer and I’ve seen a lot of dance performances but the only dancer who has ever brought me to tears with the emotion conveyed through his movements is Jimin. He is phenomenal! His dance is Technically fascinating… he blends so much together flawlessly, including his martial arts experience. It’s a pleasure to watch him perform. He worked SO hard on that performance for Black Swan. In the behind the scenes he can’t even get off the floor at the end he has to just lie there in pure exhaustion!
It’s amazing. It takes a tremendous amount to work to get to that level.
I am predominantly a metal head - I never really listen to mainstream western pop, I’m not normally a fan of a lot of genres BTS covers - I haven’t delved into other kpop either. These boys have such extraordinary talents in song writing, producing & performance that I like it if it’s BTS. They’ve had me listening to many different things I thought I didn’t like. Half of it is knowing they themselves put the hours, effort and emotion into their work, the other half is they are legit that good. Like there are artists that are ok, pretty good
Very relatable. They have me liking so many things I never thought I'd listen to. Theirs is the only rap I've ever really liked for example. I think a huge part of it is their choice of subjects, like who else writes about Pluto, whales, greek mythology etc.?! 🤯 The genius of their lyrics, the intricate music and as you say their personalities is really what makes them stand out to me. 💜
I could’ve written this, 💯
It’s an artist’s struggle to keep their passion going. To lose it is to die their first death. So poetic. 💜
70 year old BTS Army here. Imo this song is not about duality. It is based on a quote by the famous late choreographer Martha Graham. "A dancer dies twice. First when they lose their passion for dance and this first death will be the most painful." The shadow represents a struggle with losing passion. At the end when you were talking, the shadow figure disappears back into the shadows, (for the time being anyway). RM and Suga both speak of their first death early on in this MV. Thanks for your interesting reaction!
Respectfully, one of the things I love about BTS' music and that is encouraged by the members themselves, is the multiple levels and interpretations that one can listen & relate to. Though a general meaning has been discussed by the members and ARMY has dug deeper into that, it is still ART that might touch others from a different perspective. RM has certainly spoken about this and encourages our openness to others' perspectives which will ultimately enhance our deeper understanding/appreciation for the music and each other. I gently urge caution in abject denial of another's interpretation lest you both lose this aspect of BTS as artists. 💜
@sharron roe wow, awesome thoughts. You are correct and that is why I love them so much ❤️ 💜💜
Jimin is armys black swan.
Also jimin could show off his contemporary dance skills, you can tell the passion he has for his dance just by watching this and seeing all the emotion he puts into every majestic beautiful dance moves.
Jimin is and will always be my black swan that swooped down to save me
Oh, those are beautiful words describing Our Beautiful Jimin. I, too, agree he's my Prince in Shining Armor
#Jimin_FACE
Jimin my Bias
Black Swan is in the Map of the Soul album series. BTS’ albums are thematic. Mots encapsulates Carl Jung’s psychological concepts of self. The persona, the outward self we show the world. The shadow (Black Swan), our fears and doubts. The ego, our hopes and dreams.
Black Swan was influenced by a Martha Graham quote: “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” Jimin’s (blue hair) solo dance embodied this quote.
Let me tell you BTS performances are like no other, better than most halftime shows I've seen in my life. One of BTS best performances is from MMA 2019 (Melon Music Awards) they put on a 37 minute performance at a freaking award show. Some reactors who react to it think it's a BTS concert they are reacting to when it's not. Don't get me wrong BTS music is great on its own but their performances definitely elevate their songs to a new level. Their performances are never boring and are very visually pleasing and never extremely raunchy or sexual like a lot of performers today. In some ways their performances remind me of how I felt watching Michael Jackson perform when I was younger. They never give less than 100% when performing and sometimes they push themselves too hard and will need supplemental oxygen or collapse backstage. They love the stage and during the pandemic they went almost 2 years without performing for an in person audience. They were so happy when they could hold actual concerts with people again, especially since they will be enlisting in the military soon and can't perform while serving their 18 months. But we are expected to get plenty of solo content this year and one of the members Suga is doing a short solo tour starting in April. The first member of BTS to have a solo tour.
This song is about the fear of the time when you can no longer perform your art for anything you love). There is an art film as well, with an orchestral version of the song and a modern dance company dancing to it. That video has a quote from ballet dancer Martha Graham: “A dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” In retrospect, we know that this album was to be their last one before they transitioned to the period we are in now with a focus on individual projects and their military service. They talked in a livestream last summer about their need to grow as individuals in order to return to the group even better, and about how they were at a loss for what BTS was. I think this song was to have been their way of explaining their period of individual project focus to ARMY…a sort of preparation. Unfortunately, the pandemic struck two weeks before the tour for this album began, ruining all of their carefully laid out plans. The tour was canceled and they kept pushing out their solo plans, both for ARMY (as a comfort) and to take advantage of opportunities that were falling in their lap - they released a new album - BE - and released their only all-English songs - Dynamite, Butter, and Permission to Dance, which were all in English…and eventually did mini-residencies in LA, Seoul, and Las Vegas.
I appreciate your reactions. You are both so respectful and insightful.
Also I would love if guys check out their own(BTS'S) dance practice for this song as well. I think you would love the experience watching both of those dance for what they are trying to express.
Black Swan like all the Map of the Soul songs is also applied Jungian psychology.
In fact it is an exploration of their "shadow" as artists.
The "shadow" being the unconscious mind, the stuff that is unacceptable to even us and we therefore hide: anger, fear, insecurity, opinions, stuff that keeps us up at night, that we try to run from and will bring us to our knees when we least expect it when we deny it's existence too strongly.
To be truly yourself, to love yourself you have to know yourself. And to be yourself you need to bring the "shadow" into the conscious part of yourself.
In this case they explore the fear as artists that they loose the passion for their art. This is the "first contact" and it's instictive rejection. In "On" they are wounded by the contact but also more determined to integrate that part of themselves into their consciousness: To be aware.
The "shadow" is part of us we can not run from, we can run only to a certain degree but it will give it more power that will strike when we are the most suspectible to it's power. True self is a tricky thing.
I look at BTS story, - their discography - as a "coming of age" story. Which is also why it clearly ended in 2020. You can also see it in their award show appearences of winter of 2019/2020. The delay for father development for various reasons also delayed their farther development.
But they did do a lot of collabs, solo songs, OST etc.
Not only is BTS an amazing group, each members excel as solo artists as well. Just in the last months, RM's Indigo had Erykah Badu collab and many more, his Mono is chef's kiss! JHope' Jack In Box, Jin' Astronut with Coldplay, JK's world cup song, Jimin, Suga with Psy so much muisc, so many genres!!! Listen to them all, I'm sure you will find something you love 💜
👍👍👍
Another layer of *amazing* about these guys is, when you see how the are offstage. They look like a bunch of goofy friends just chilling out with each other or friendly dudes chatting with hosts or fans. There is no pretentiousness or attitude. They are genuinely humble and philanthropic people, but when they hit the stage and embody the performance it is just DAMN.
They finally performed Black Swan in their Permission to Dance concert and it was beautiful! Just full on art with backup dancers all wearing white wings and revealing the members individually!
I love how much you react to the artistry.
I think because they come with a certain image, people who would understand and enjoy their art don’t give them a chance. I see a lot of people recommending On (Kinetic Manifesto Film) and Mic Drop, but in my opinion they probably are the last music videos I want you to react to. They are their most popular and fun to watch, but I think you would enjoy the music and the cinematography of their “Most beautiful moment in life better”. It is more pop rock/emo and the story they tell is powerful and very human.
I recommend “I need U” and BTS on stage prologue.
Also thank you for making me discover Dark Blue, it’s an amazing song 😊
Also if you do watch I need U, you need to watch the one with:(original ver.) in the title, because the (official MV) one is the censored one which loses a lot of its artistry.
I’m so glad you liked Dark Blue! I love that band. “Hammers and strings” is another song by them that really hammers hard on my heart strings. (See my bad pun there? 😂😅) it’s about the lead singer missing his love interest while on tour and the sadness he feels. For the same time period but from her perspective he wrote the song “lullaby”
I’m sure we’ll get around to these videos and thank you for the watch order suggestion. I am actually looking forward to our next video reacting to BTS. They’ve been incredibly good for these first two.
@@ChaseAndRemmingtonMusic On Manifesto Film is actually not bad, they have superb choreography and the lyrics are quite deep, it's very great ONLY IF YOU UNDERSTAND IT 😉
Anyways, but I also agree that it's also cool if you react to BTS "I Need U" the (19+ version) which is one of their old songs
I highly recommend it
Honestly, BTS has lots of good songs but the problem is, it is a LOT
So it's actually hard to recommend one if you guys don't have personal taste
Cause if you guys like Hip-Hop, reacting to Mic Drop Official MV or Hip-Hop Lover Live performance with English subtitles would be a great idea 💡
Do you guys like pure rap songs?
Or social commentary songs?
RnB? Latin Pop? Soul? Pop? Metal?
Or just pure vocal songs without raps?
Also what topic do you prefer?
Do you like songs that talks about their music journey? Their life perspective? Their love for their hometown or music? Their dreams? Their struggles? Their fears? Their greed? Sadness? Anger? Metal illness? School bullying? Corruption? The System? Capitalism? Planets? Greek mythology? Respect? Coffee? Silver spoon? Dimples? Fishing? 🤣
Just name anything they probably have it
Or do you want songs that motivates people?
I Need U would be a great song from them to react to. Great suggestion.
Suga has said to think of KPop more like integrated content rather than a genre. It is the whole package of visual, auditory and lyrical content.
In Map of the Soul: Persona and Map of the Soul 7 albums BTS explore Jungian theory of the persona, shadow and ego. In Black Swan they are talking about their inner fear of losing their passion for music. When they are viewed on the stage from the audience they are wearing white and showing their public Persona, their shadows are seen moving independently. When viewed on the stage from behind or behind the scenes they are wearing black and showing their shadows. Suga is scene on stage reaching to his shadow and then they move in unison and at the end Jungkook sees his shadow, accepts his fear, the shadow fades away and Jungkook moves forward.
this genre is like Trap music. glad ur listening w/ headphones on bec their musical productions are intricately layered, it's not same lazy half-baked producing. They have in-house producers that have been w/ them from the start, of course Suga a BTS member is one of the producers. The members especially the rapline are involved and have inputs with production, they have their own personal music studios.
bts has over 900 awards if you see thier award wall they probably have more then the average american artist. but these guys have incredible music videos and songs that tell stories and that has so much meaning as well. they have songs that are for between are or anyone going through personal issues. their song magic shop is so healing and means so much to me and so many armys out their like its beautiful and makes me cry for sure.
actually I think they just got a few more awards. 😏
But there are only 3 other artists that have more than 900 awards. So....
(to be fair the weekly show awards probably also counted but I guess that is fair for all the times BTS is excluded for categories they should be nominated in because of prejudice, selfishness of certain industries or even the awards they should have won but didn't for various reasons.)
@@ruthfischer7615 the weekly award shows are not counted
@@terrancejohnson3071 Cool!
Because the only list I saw recently had them but than the list didn't have a sum of awards.
Without those it is even more brilliant! 💜
And their mv are really amazing❤️
Hi guys! Welcome to the rabbit hole! I hope you guys really enjoy the journey! If you wanna know more about the guys there are a few intro type videos out there. These guys have a rich history and back story :)
What genres would you want to check out or is your preference? If you ask for a specific genre, ARMY would be happy to name suggestions for those. 😊 If kpop isn't your scene, it's understandable. Everyone has preferences but I appreciate you saw their artistry and were very respectful.
Dynamite has a Michael Jackson feel to it and is in English. However, it is a very pop like sound lol but it's like that because it's supposed to be a feel-good song just for fun 😊
Also, synopsis of the music video might help understand it before you watch it. That is unless you prefer going in completely blind. Some reactors prefer it that way. Awesome reaction!
“Black Swan” is inspired by a quote: “A dancer dies twice. The first time is when he stops dancing and this first death is much more painful”. “Black swan” is about their fear that some day they’ll lose their passion for music and this would be their first death.
They chose to use autotune in this song was to show the group's shadow (they're deepest collective fears/secrets) vocally, the fear being that they would fall out of love with their craft. It was RMs idea to use the autotune to blend their voices, (which makes sense since he adores Kanye and Kanye uses autotune on his vocals). Black swan is based on Jung's work of the map of the soul where the shadow, ego and persona (and more) are all equally important parts to a person's construct. The dance moves in particular you can see in the beginning they pluck what seems to be invisible string instruments, while at the end of the choreography they seem to be hanging by those very strings like puppets. Their shadow (fear/secret) has consumed them.
Ok, so... the song draws inspiration from both the ballet (Swan Lake) in it's choreo and imagery, but also draws a lot of inspiration from the movie "Black Swan", which in turn is heavily based on the Japanese anime film "Perfect Blue". Both movies break identity and deal (in a non-obvious way) with Carl Jung's theory of the self: Persona, Ego, Shadow. In these movies, a female performer spirals into insanity as increased pressures in her career cause her to lose grip of herself and reality. “Black Swan” tells the story of Nina, a passionate ballerina (Natalie Portman) who struggles to maintain her sanity while competing for the main role (the White Swan, Odette) in “Swan Lake.” Meanwhile, “Perfect Blue” follows Mima, a former (Japanese) pop idol whose sense of reality begins to waiver as she attempts to transition into a career as a serious actress. Both stories feature a female protagonist is put in highly stressful situations and that makes them question their identity and ultimately conjure up a doppelgänger that messes with their psyche (persona, shadow and ego, basically clash). Just as Nina suffers from the pressures of being a ballerina, Mima is also forced to deal with the strict expectations of being a Japanese idol. Their personal conflicts also bleed into their professional lives causing them to spiral out of control. In Nina’s case, it comes in the form of her oppressive mother and in Mima’s situation, it’s an obsessive stalker fan. At the core of the film, both protagonists have a psychological battle with themselves that results in hallucinations that blurs the lines between fiction and reality. In the end, like I said, these films break the self and deal with themes like loss of passion and the heartbreak that come with working for your dreams. Black Swan (BTS), at its core, reflects these themes. I think that Perfect Blue can be chillingly on point for BTS, since they too are idols and experience some of the things that Mima experienced as an idol and continues to go through. BTS reflect the core concepts of these movies, identity, and conceptualise them to reflect their fear of losing their passion for music and, by extension, losing themselves. They portray people who are afraid that music is all there is to them and are afraid of losing themselves if they lose their passion.
This song became even more heartbreaking for us after their FESTA Dinner 2022, when they announced they’re taking a break from making music as a group. They expressed that they had been feeling lost and unsure of their identity as a group since the MOTS: 7 (this song’s album) release and the plan to take a break had been in place since then. They planned on having their world tour (MOTS Tour, which got canceled due to COVID-19) and then taking a break to work on their solo music, not only to find their unique flavour as artists, but also to rekindle their passion for music. Reading the lyrics for Black Swan, it makes sense that RM cried after writing this song. It expresses their fears at the time, how they felt like they no longer had an identity and feared they’d die if they lost their passion for music.
Jimin is the one doing the solo dance, he majored in contemporary dance. He is also trained in ballet, albeit very minimally and as part of his main focus, which was contemporary and that's what he mostly trained for during high school. He is "professionally" trained in contemporary, hip-hop and idol dance. Even the members have said that Black Swan is Jimin's song, that he embodies the black swan. This is further highlighted in the 2020 MAMA version of Black Swan, where he does a duet with Jungkook! (here's the link for a breakdown of the moment twitter.com/mintynkks/status/1335236325373448192?s=20&t=2C90i3inGV9MBv5dgoiYQA & twitter.com/sopeshopes/status/1567652963367239680?s=20&t=7xjj1LVpvBUJbNtYOWfnMg… Spoiler alert, since I dunno if you plan to react to the 2020MAMA performance. Which I HIGHLY recommend, it has an amazing performance of Dynamite as well). Anygays, Jimin's dance style is unique and probably near impossible to replicate since its highly influenced by his 8+ years experience in martial arts + hiphop training. +idol training + his contemporary (and minimal ballet and Korean traditional) training. He does a lot of tricking and aerials you could see with his medialuna (which is a very dangerous movement to do, because you can easily over rotate and injure your ankles) and with his movements here twitter.com/pjmgem/status/1466261374355402757?s=20&t=u_YLlw3YOrAu5eb2FaijzA and here twitter.com/jikookheart/status/1465173437589110788?s=20&t=u_YLlw3YOrAu5eb2FaijzA, during the live performance, where he basically does a one-handed cartwheel to cover more space. Black Swan is one of my favourite songs from BTS!
10:05 Actually, she's the third! Just behind Michael Jackson and Beyoncé! And BTS is the fourth, with over 900 awards to date! Legends!
Aside from the other excellent recommendations here like ON kinetic manifesto, another song that really speaks to me when I feel so defeated and down is Not Today. The choreo, cinematography, lyrics and beat never fail to give me a boost of energy.
The groups with longevity in kpop have the contrasts in their groups. The very monotone sounding groups that don’t really get out of a specific genre end up disbanding after a couple years.
There is a reason the guys have been around for 10 years.
This isn’t K-pop. This…is BTS. Oh, and btw, BTS just surpassed TS in the number of awards. And your interpretation of them feeling alone while performing yet being aching to be themselves and giving more is sung about in RMs latest song wildflower
BTS did an NPR Tiny Desk concert, three songs with live band. I think you'd enjoy watching that. You'll really get to see how they sincerely connect with each other, the music, and their fans 🤗🥰Thank you for your thoughtful honest and respectful reaction 💜💜💜
"Kpop" is not where I would expect to find too much of that." This statement is completely valid. Welcome to the rabbit hole! As you dive deeper and explore ALL that BTS has to offer musically, lyrically, humanly...you will soon see that these 7 men far transcend KPop. Looking forward to more reactions 💜
I think suga said it best and I paraphrase but he said koop is not limited to just the music. It's an amalgamation of the music the dance the choreography the cinematography the music videos of performance the acting the fashion the looks the aesthetic... All of these things come together to create what we know as kpop
I love how respectful you guys are , even if is not your kind of music you are appreciative of their work💜
ARMY will show up and enjoy reactors who are genuine and respectful. Looking forward to future videos!
Wait till you get to see the dance practices compilations on how difficult they actually are bts has the most complicated dance moves ever trust me It took me a few years to basically learn thier dance moves I practiced so much to get them all down.
This song is about the "first death"....when a performer or artist loses their passion or ability to perform...........BTS has over 700 awards
Great reaction love that you really talk a lot about the song and make connections to other music. Don’t worry about not liking any of their songs as you continue. Army understands and you both are so clearly respectful .. Borahae 💜💜💜
i love music. my hobby is listening to and going to see live music, which i've been actively doing for over 4 decades now. bts is the first group that made me like genres of music i didn't previously care for.
I appreciate your insights to this video, when you get to understand BTS's journey then you can relate their MVs to it. The guys are great storytellers through their art and their lyrics speak to you when you check their English translations. Thank you and I hope you enjoy your dive into BTS 😊.
Thanks for your respectful reaction! So what style of music DO you usually listen to? I'm sure we could give you some recommendations closer to that style.
"they feel alone while they're in the spotlight on the stage"
well, I gotta recommend Interlude: Shadow for this quote. (it's a solo song but it's from the same album as Black Swan)
Thanks for the reaction ,guys ❤️🩹🫂
Great second reaction video to Bts! Thank you. I have been an army for 5 years and there is many songs that I dont resonate so much. But I can allways appreciate their passion and their production and the thought they put to their music 💜🥰💜 and most armys dont judge you for song not being your cup of tea as long as the reapect to the talent is there 😌.
6:17 funny how you mentioned LP, there are a lot of armys who came from that music genre rock, alrenative rock, etc. We have a lot of LP fans, Muse fans etc.
I, myself, am huge LP fan and Muse fan, and bts really reminded me of both groups with how they mix rythms and change within song, even though their music is very different somehow they remind me those two bands
14:22 BTS are known for their authenticity in their lyrics so they actually have LOTS more songs that talks about those topics like when they feel like they're lost due to their Fame 😅
For example:
RM's WILDFLOWER
Suga's SHADOW
Agust D's MOONLIGHT
You guys better watch those recommendations, I promise it won't disappoint
Oh, if you have a genre that you enjoy a lot we can make suggestions in that direction. Not everyone will like everything. It's all top quality but so varied in style and concept. There's rnb, pop, edm, hip hop, rap, latin pop etc...
I'd recommend checking out some live performances too, they're just as good if not better live :) They have 2-3 hour concerts of just them (no opening act) and they sing AND do choreo for them, and they're just amazing performers. Some artists are great studio performers but just ok live, these guys sound like they eat cd's for breakfast and look like they were born with dancing shoes on while they're live on stage.
You nice, you keep going! (Inside ARMY joke. It's something Jimin said when asked what he would tell his younger self. "Jimin you nice, you keep going!") Borahae and kudos on the Korean intro. I'm learning Korean and I'm no expert but I understood it and that's not bad!
Please watch their solo songs Wildfower (RM’s), Shadow (Suga’s), and More (J-Hope’s) to see how they put their feelings to their songs.
There isn't a good moment to pause in a BTS mv 💜
The blue spirit?? Thanks for your reaction 💜 I would recommend Louder than bombs although no mv for that song. Take care 👋🇸🇪
They all do solos and sub-units also. I think you might like Run BTS and Mic Drop for lively vibes. Lie (Jimin Solo), Zero O'clock, Louder than Bombs and Outro Tear (live at the Wembley stadium concert, rap lines) give very different vibes.
Tae is an ARTist. The way he can match his movements and music with his facial expressions is no joke .👌💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚😍😍
Blood, sweat and tears is another favorite. 😊
Thank you for being open minded and genuinely trying to understand the various aspects of their creations. Honestly and opening is what we appreciate!
Bts are the 4th most awarded artists in the whole world. First is Beyonce, rihanna, Michael Jackson, then BTS. Bts has won over 1000 awards in the past 10 years
I like your approach to doing reaction video of having a first watch and then an off-screen second watch. You guys are observant and thoughtful, and have real things to say about what you see. You’re doing great.
You must be getting a lot of recommendations, for me personally I recommend BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS.
BTS dance choreography on live stage and in their MV are different, if you are interested in how their choreography reflects the musicality of the song, I would recommend their dance practices or the live performance.
For black swan, their live in James cordon show was great! 🙂
There are many great dancers in K-pop groups however, BTS’ dance routines are very musical not only technical. That why I LOVE their performances so much!
5:55 BTS has amazing lyrics across discography, sure they have some feel good songs, we all need feel good songs no shame in them, but their lyrics always reflect their feelings and as RM and Suga said: meticulously constructed and they try to tell personal things in universal way. To feel the contrast of music and lyrics I suggest: Outro Tear, Truth Untold, Paradise
These songs don't have official music videos, but you can look "Outro Tear Wembley english subtitles" and other name+ lyric video
Apart from a few questionable collabs I can honestly say that I haven't found one BTS song that I hated and they have a discography of about 300 songs! They have me listening to genres I never in a million years thought I'd be listening to. They're freakin geniusses at writing, composing and aesthetics (which their boss and founder Bang PD majored in) and they have amazing personalities to boot. I've never connected with an artist nor fandom the way I have with BTS and ARMY. I'm absolutely an ARMY for life.
- a danish ARMY, age 46 💜
Please stop to compare... They are BTS with a lot of influences of a lot of good musicians, con temporary and classic ones... They are Pure art.
A Black Swan is a sudden, unexpected event, often disastrous. The shadows and black and white themes in the video are the fear and anxiety of their “first death” mentioned in the song, which would be falling out of love with and losing passion for their craft as artists, both with music and with dance. It’s based on Martha Graham’s quote
“a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.”
Their Blood Sweat & Tears mv would be a good one to react to. It’s based on Herman Hesse’s novel Demian and is about the struggle with good and evil, the loss of innocence as youths grow into adults, and the necessity of that loss to gain wisdom. As per usual with them, everything in the video has multiple meanings, like all the background art, black and white doorways, a quote by Nietzsche on the wall, etc
Spring Day is another. Again, multiple meanings, a deft blend of both missing or losing a loved one and a critique of the Korean government.
BTS are album artists. They have a message arc expressed in track order. They generally have a 2-3 album series focusing on different aspects of a theme. Their series progress with them as they grow as young men and artists, and they look back at their journey in Map Of The Soul and Proof. They are meticulous as any 80's person tape recording mixtapes from the radio for the messaging from song to song. So the deepest understanding comes from a comprehensive chronological listening of their discography though of course you can cherry pick throughout their catalog. As newcomers you might value some of their medley compilation performances such as ARMYpedia, Festa Room Live, NPR Tiny Desk Home Concert, MTV Unplugged, etc. to give you a taste across the board of their music. Make sure you get English subtitles (ENG subs) (not auto-generated). Your reactions to those songs will help ARMY recommend more closely to your tastes. Thanks for the thoughtful analysis. Looking forward to more from you💜
Jimin is a magnificent dancer, who incorporates his hip hop and modern dance (contemporary and ballet) expertise, as well as his martial arts expertise (8 years) to create the masterpieces he does. He is one of the best and highly respected dancers in the (global) dance industry! And incidentally, he has been compared to both MJ AND Prince by many dance experts from all over the world. Jimin has created his OWN dance genre!
BTS is an amazing group - not a boy band though…with each member being the multi-talented artists that they are individually, they transcend the aesthetic of a boy band.
I really enjoyed your conversation and thoughtful analysis of this video. Great work guys.
From the gamous quote was it Martha Grahame. A dancer has two deaths the first is the hardest. This song is about fearing the loss of artistic inspiration. When the music doesnt make your heart beat.
Hello, thank you for your thoughts and time to react to BTS. I know it's been while since you did this one, but with Bangtan guys you really need to see their live performance as well. Most of them sound better live and they are still doing this intense choreo. It's a totally mind bending experience.
Have a lovely day! 💜💜💜
Jimin es increíblemente bello creativo su voz es Angelical y un bailarín de primera clase todo de él es maravilloso
와우!!!!!👏👏👏한국어 인사 완벽하게 잘 하셨어요!!! 우리 방탄 리액션 감사합니다. ❤
감사합니다 !
K pop is not actually a music genre but an industry. BTS are art.
Um...is art?
“I’m a little careful to talk about K-pop as a genre because I don’t want to be defining Kpop as a genre”, he told Goldman. “I’m a little bit wary of that but I think rather than approach Kpop as a genre, a better approach would be ‘integrated content.'” He added: “‘K-pop includes not just the music, but the clothes, the makeup, the choreography…all these elements I think sort of amalgamate together in a visual and auditory content package, that I think sets it apart from other music or maybe other genres so again, as I said, rather than approach K-pop as it’s own genre I think approaching it as this integration of different content would be better.”-Suga of BTS at the Grammy Museum
I used to be a dancer... 'Go before you start!' That's deep understanding of movement and Art. Thank you.
It would be perfect to have a conversation with both of you about BTS.
Love your reactions. Well thought. I look forward to more BTS from you. As someone who is older, I appreciate the nods to MJ and Prince. (Prince was my first concert in 1983, I love my dancers) These guys have brought back those kind of performers. And as ARMY(the fan base) will tell you, they are even better live. It’s such a rare thing. You will also find that BTS is their own genre. Musically I would love for you to see On Kinetic Manifesto Film Come Prima and a lot of their early stuff is 80’s and 90’s Hip Hip based. I found you accidentally so I don’t know what kind of music you love, but ARMY will guide you as only they can. 😘💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🫰🏻
Once you start really delving into their catalog, their live performances will blow your mind.
Also, check out Taylor Mari’s Guide to the Bangtan 7 video for introductions to the guys and what they do for a greater appreciation of their artistry.
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Blackswan is a piece of arttttt
I like that you keep relating BTS to Linkin Park. My favorite bands of all time are Pink Floyd, Linkin Park and BTS. On the surface, these bands probably don’t seem to have any similarities, but I think what connects them is their innovative musicality, emotional lyrics, and the realness that only comes from artists who write and produce their own music.
Great reaction! You pretty much nailed the meaning to the lyrics. RM based his lyrics on Martha Graham’s famous quote, “a dancer dies twice - once when the stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” The guys are struggling with their immense, unexpected fame, but are questioning what will happen when they can no longer, or want to, do their art anymore.
Great reaction! When you said you didn't expect to find this in a genre like kpop, you were right.
Its not like kpop doesn't have good songs but the depth isn't easily available.
BTS is an anomaly and that's the reason they are where they are.
Black Swan is in the Map of the Soul album series. BTS’ albums are thematic. Mots encapsulates Carl Jung’s psychological concepts of self. The persona, the outward self we show the world. The shadow (Black Swan), our fears and doubts. The ego, our hopes and dreams.
Black Swan was influenced by a Martha Graham quote: “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” Jimin’s (blue hair) solo dance embodied this quote.
Surprise. They came from that KPop label. But as you can see they created something quite different. They aren't KPop. They are Korean. And they do sing some pop. But they are their own genre, art form, or creation. Michael Jackson. Prince. They aren't that. But they are Genius and Vitality and Uniqueness like them. They are their own. One of a kind like those magnificent artists. We understand your compliment. We do. But as you go along you won't compare them to anyone. They are their own artistic creation and genius! Welcome to their world. We LOVE watching new people discover them and appreciate them. We are here for you if you have any questions. I enjoy your eloquent reaction.
Thanks for this reaction.:)
I recommend ON kinetic manifesto film after Black Swan.
Black Swan is a song that expresses their fear of losing their passion for music.
And ON is their determination to overcome that fear and move on to the future. :)
BTS member Jin said in his acceptance speech at the 2018 MAMA that BTS suddenly became famous worldwide and had a hard time for a year due to great pressure and fear. They even thought about disbanding. However, after a year of talking and contemplating with the members, they decided to stay in the industry only for the fans and members, and move forward.
The albums that have been released since then are Map of the Soul series. The albums are filled with songs that reconsider their inner self, the relationship between the seven members, and the relationship between them and fans. Black Swan, ON, Boy with Luv, and We are Bulletproof : the Eternal are one of those songs.
Boy with Luv contains a message that they will fly toward fans, not the sun, with wings attached by ARMY.
After listening to Black Swan, you can better understand how they feel by reading ON's lyrics. :)
And at the last October's concert in Busan, SUGA told ARMY to grow old together because they will make music for another 20 or 30 years.😭
The lyrics of BTS' songs are based on their own experiences, and their albums are organic because they contain their growth narrative.
It will also be fun to listen to their albums in order and analyze them. :)
Oh, there're many good Black Swan live performances. These two are my favorite lives. :)
BTS Black swan The Late Late Show with James Corden
ruclips.net/video/wSNd02kVv8o/видео.html
2020 MMA Black swan & On & Life goes on & Dynamite
ruclips.net/video/PtaP4UkZKyc/видео.html
Suga couldn't participate in the performance due to rehabilitation after his shoulder surgery, but this is one of the masterpieces.
Some of my favourite BTS songs don't have MV's but I will recommend a few that are very different than the two you have already watched. Try Your Eyes Tell, Louder Than Bombs or House of Cards for superbly emotional vocal prowess. Jump, Idol, Run Bts or So What for high energy. Mic Drop, No More Dream, Attack on Bangtan for hiphop/rap style. Boy with Love, butter and Dynamite for total pop. Blood Sweat and Tears. DNA, Not Today, Run and On for outstanding visual MV's. Enjoy the journey guys
Please react to their dance practices, too. Since you reacted to Fake Love and Black Swan already, and know what the songs are all about, you may want to check out the dance practices for those songs as well. 😊☺️
I would recommend watching the black swan art film version that they collabed with MN dance company. Serious work of art
More BTS soon please....I want you to discover them deeply...I can't wait 😂
아하하하~~
안녕하세요~^^
당신들의 반응에 감사드려요
두분모두 늘 행복하시길~^^❤
I think something that you might find interesting (since you reacted to Blood, Sweat, and Tears) the theme of some of that is actually in or plays a part in their future albums. For example the shadows (in Black Swan their are shadows dancing on their own and at one time Suga is facing the shadow) could also represent like trials, our weaknesses, etc. just like blood, sweat, and tears talks/shows/introduces a little too…It is kind of crazy how things connect and how many layers BTS music have if one is willing to take the time to learn and “connect the dots” so to speak.
Thanks for your input in 12:50 ...loved it
There's a BTS Art Film of Black Swan performed by Dance Company & it's more of an orchestra like version of the song
here's the link ruclips.net/video/vGbuUFRdYqU/видео.html
For anyone who creates the idea of losing the passion or ability to peruse your art is just so relatable. They have an aesthetic in their videos regardless of the style that they create such beautiful videos. BTS explores and blends genres because they love music and art and you can see it. We all want to move like BTS and even in kpop among the best dancer BTS has some of the top dancers (Jimin - a vocalist with the highest voice and contemporary dance training, and JHope a street dancer rapper and the dance leader for the group, plus Jungkook who is top tier dancer and the main vocalist). Yea I you for respectfully reacting and being open minded!
There's a Fake Love Rocking Vibe Mix
Taylor Swift is one of the most awarded western artists that's true. But BTS' total awards for both group & solo work is at 800+ now
Ahhhhh. The men who can do it all, BTS.
Enjoyed your reactions so far, thank you. Sitting here smiling as I can imagine your shock if you continue on this journey. I don't think there are 2 songs in the BTS discography that sound alike, where you could say 'oh this sounds like...". In fact, in so many of their tracks, I feel like you get 2, 3 or even 4 songs in the one song. They have me loving their hip hop, rap, jazz/R & B (Taehung's forte) - genres that previously held no interest for me whatsoever. They are so talented (each and every one of them) and yet so humble. Looking forward to your next reactions. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Thanks for the thoughtful reaction
Keep going you will be surprised and amazed by them
Some of their songs that I didn't think I liked as much at first are now my favorites, some need more than one listen
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Watch FIRE, MIC DROP; NOT TODAY; DOPE
ON; RUN BTS CHOREOGRAPHY
Kim Taehyung has always been The Standard! A persona full of charisma & endless talent, gifted with the stunning visual.. He is beyond Kpop and anything ordinary!
If you love contrast you should listen to "shadow"
I'm so here for ALL your BTS reactions. Great reaction! Looking forward to more!
Hey, what happened to all of your comments? I like revisiting your reactions--you're insightful, and it's like having a conversation with friends about BTS (because boy, are my real life friends tired of me talking about this). But the whole conversation has disappeared!
They have fun/pop music that is less favored, but was necessary because mainstream only notices this kind of music.
Especially the English songs which they can't properly inject much depth into.
Welcome to ARMY. 💜🇨🇦
I just found you guys this today I loved y'all reaction I hope you guys continue with bts reactions next I'm gonna recommend things I'm sure already been requested but I hope react to Bts On mv than On kinetic manifesto, black swan live on Jimmy Fallon, not today mv, Dna mv, idol mv and bts vocal line house of cards lyrics than live with eng sub
You should also check out Blood Sweat and Tears by BTS.
Yep, I love BTS and I love Avatar
That Zuko's mask in the background is really cool paired with those twin swords
I hope you guys react to more BTS 😉
What is your favorite genre(s)? Army will make suggestions based on your preferences.
I’m enjoying your reactions. You guys deserve millions of subscribers and views ❤
Thank you SO much for your honest and sincere reaction! :)
I would also recommend you For a mix of genres are Dionysus, Mic Drop, Magic Shop, The Truth Untold, Stigma, So What, Jamais Vu, Outro:Tear, Ma City, Intro: Persona, ON and Danger.
Excellent suggestions!
🙏 Borahae 💜💜💜