Once again, the genre is BTS.
An intimate diary of the rollercoaster life can be during a pandemic. Self-produced in every aspect, BE follows a narrative that is both consoling and encouraging, each track ratable to each person for whatever reasons it might be.
Opening this narrative with the verses "One day, the world stopped without any warning" the track starts off recounting life during the current hard times. The following verse "spring didn't know to wait, showed up not even a minute late" references how even though everyone's lives were forced to be paused, the seasons kept passing by as if nothing has changed.
Life Goes On, produced by Pdogg and written by the members Suga, RM, J-hope, the producer Pdogg, and the songwriters Antonina Armato, Chris James, Ruuth - is described as an alternative hip-hop track blurred with an acoustic guitar. This track is the lead single of the album and the music video was directed by the youngest member Jungkook.
The band stated that "even in the face of this new normality, our life goes on and imparts a message of healing to fans and to the world". Life Goes On, Let's Live On was the main message delivered by BTS in their speech at the 75th General UN Assembly.
The second track, a sub-unit of the members Jimin, Taehyung, RM, and J-Hope takes the name of "내 방을 여행하는 법 Fly To My Room". The frustrations brought by social isolation and mandatory quarantine if reflect in this track through verses like "Every day it's so frustrating, it's driving me crazy. Feel like it's still day one. Somebody turn back the clock the entire year got stolen. I'm still in bed, my stomach feels uneasy... It's killin' me slowly"
The title 내 방을 여행하는 법, literal translation would be something like "How To Travel In My Room", comes from the acceptance of all the restriction measures leaving us only left with doing what we can do - reinvent our daily lives, use our imagination and creativity in order to not fall into a deep dark hole "I want to leave anyway, there's no way this room is all I have. Then, what can I do here? Into my world, let's change it. / Let's go, let me fly to my room. Lower your gaze and zoom anywhere. Come on now, let me fly to my room. Get me outta my blues and now I'm feelin' brand new". Also narrating how the room has become a small comfort during these hard times "Landing over the bed, this is the safest place. Somehow there's no joy, no sadness, no emotion it's just me here. Sometimes this room becomes an emotional trash can, it hugs me"
There's an especially interesting part in this song - in J-Hope's verse "It's as crowded as if we're out of the city. The TV sound" you can hear the sample f the news anchor saying “while there’s still no cure yet for the virus”.
Throughout the song grows a certain feeling of appreciation towards the smallest thing in life that was once often ignored "Everywhere, I wonder if this place was like this. Suddenly this strange scenery, I'm absorbed by memories. Even the old desks, the changing sunlight looks special. I'm a little less lonely.
Better way, I just found a better way. Sometimes we get to know broken is beautiful".
An R&B influenced track sung over a heavy slow beat, produced by Cosmo's Midnight and written by RM, J-Hope, Suga, Joe Femi Griffith, and the producer himself.
"Blue & Grey" a guitar pop ballad that uses the color blue and grey to represent the sadness and coldness one might feel.
Originally produced and written in English by member V for his upcoming solo mixtape, this song was added after the members listened to it and encouraged him to submit the song for the album. Changes were made to fit in the seven members - joining V as the producer is Ji Soo Park, Levi, and Hiss Noise. Metaphor and members J-Hope, RM, and Suga joined them as songwriters in this seven-members version (It's possible to listen to a snip of the original track in an episode of their show In The Soop"
The track was highly praised and one of the most critically acclaimed tracks, noting it as the highlight of the album. A song that easily connects many who are suffering from their mental health, the band was praised for addressing depression and anxiety so candidly.
As V explained, blue is universally symbolic of sadness, while grey is the color that RM often referred to in songs he writes which inspired him to use both colors to describes the feeling in the song "Can you look at me? 'Cause I am blue and grey. The meaning of the tears reflected in the mirror, my color hidden with a smile, blue and grey."
Just like every song V has written, this one is also quite hard to review due to its lyrics and the message being both too personal and relatable, open to each person to reflect their own hardship and story in this track. An emotional journey that makes you feel understand and comfort.
In the end, there's a lyrical shift "In the distant future, when I smile I'll tell you I did" this alight a glimpse of hope that no matter how far in the future it might be, happiness will come and they will make sure to acknowledge that feeling.
The song ends as someone who's struggling with their depression and anxiety spends the whole night up overthinking, writing about their feelings and desperations - a heartfelt and melancholic outro "After secretly picking up the words in the air, now I fall asleep at dawn, good night"
This album has a SKIT. very frequent in BTS discography but not used in the latest release. A hip-hop skit is a form of sketch comedy that appears on a hip-hop album or mixtape.
This one starts off with Jin saying "Billboard No. 1 singer is entering". Recorded on August 31, 2020 [spetember 1st in Korea] when they achieved their first #1 on Billboard Hot 100, with the song “Dynamite". This is quite funny and touching for fans if you think that the last SKIT BTS did was in their album "Love Yourself: HER", being it their speech when they won their first Billboard award ever.
I believe this SKIT also serves as an "ice-break" moment in the album since the following songs, in contrast with the three first ones are more upbeat and cheerful.
"잠시 Telepathy" is a retro song with funky rhythms. Member Jin has said that this cheerful song is “meltdown the feeling of not being able to meet with fans” - "Every time, even in a different everyday life you're the most special person to me". A song to bring joy and happiness.
J-Hope lines "Now let's go to the blue sea, that blue sea we used to play with" reference the 2017 hidden track “Sea” where they compare the sea to success. It can also be a reference to the HYYH storyline where the sea is a symbol of nostalgia and happiness, the last good memory
RM verse "Another heavy bruise Murphak I stroll around and think about this star" references Murphak, the brightest star of the constellation of Perseus. In the 75th UN General Assembly, Jungkook mentions that when quarantine started, RM said he couldn't see the stars anymore.
Also an RM verse "Oh, can I be your Bibilly Hills" there's a wordplay with the term "BiBilly" which sounds similar to Beverly, as both have the meaning of "hill". There's this saying in Korea "A cow needs a hill to scratch his back onto" from here, the term "비빌 언덕 originated, it means "a person or a belief that you can always rely on or lean on" so he is basically asking to be someone we can lean on.
The song that has become a favorite among fans and listeners, was actually one of Suga's rejected songs. However, the members listened to it in their show In The Soop and decided to put it on the album. Suga said he wrote the song for the fans with the intended message of "hang in there"
Joining Suga in songwriting is member RM and Jungkook, as well as El Capitxn and Hiss Noise who also produced the track.
"병 Dis-ease" brings back old-school hip-hop in its purest form. A bright track talking about how an artist's profession can be a disease and how frustrating it feels, however, it also brings a message of hope for the future.
This track was mainly written by J-Hope and produced by Brasstracks, counts with member Jimin (who wrote the bridge to the song in the matters of 3-4 minutes), RM, Suga, and also songwriter GhstloopIvan, Jackson Rosenberg, Randy Runyon, and the band's long-time producer Pdogg.
"병 Dis-ease" the title of the track itself is a wordplay 병 directly translates to “disease” but the English title of this song written as dis-ease alludes that rather than just being about the disease, it is also about the opposite of ease - disease or uncomfortableness.
In the pre-chorus the verses "One for the laugh, two for the show" hint to BTS' song If I Rule The World (2013) "I said one for the money, Two for the money" and in My Time (2020) "One time for the present, two times for the past" - This is a reference to a little poem for children sung since the mid-1800s as a countdown to starting a race or competition: "One for the money. Two for the show. Three to make ready. And four to go!"
In RM verse there's another wordplay in "I'm ill, yeah, I'm the job itself" - work in Korean "일" has the same pronunciation as "ill", and "일" also means "one" in sino-Korean numbers. Being one of the topics of this song the disease of the artist's own profession, Namjoon is stating he is sick, he is his own job and he is number 1.
Another wordplay from RM "This hits your head like a glass bottle" originally "이 유리 같은 병이 때리지 니 머리" - 병 means both Disease and bottle so this verse have a double meaning at the same time it can translate as "This hits your head like a glass bottle" it can also be translated as "This hits your head like a disease".
A fun and joyful track to jam to, everything about this is appealing - for me, personally, Suga's flow on his rap is the highlight of the song. However, everything about this track screams J-HOPE!!! It has Hoseok's colors and blueprints all over it, so much that the fans even said this track feels as if BTS was invited to Hope World.
The following song is "Stay", also a sub-unit track performed by Jungkook, Jin, and RM. An EDM sound that made me imagine how great it would feel to listen to this live while dancing around in a stadium full of ARMYs.
Written by members Jungkook, Jin, RM and produced by Arston, the track was originally a self-produced song by Jungkook meant to be on his upcoming solo mixtape, however after V listened to it, they decided to change it a bit and add it to the album.
The lyrics to the song narrate a love story - the story of someone missing their loved one and saying that despite everything, they know they will always stay.
RM does a funny wordplay on his verse "We connect to 7G" because of the pandemic, people all around the world were forced to retreat to online activities due to the high risk of infection of COVID-19, but here Namjoon uses a made-up term "7G" alluding to the 7 members of BTS and their constant connection and interaction with ARMY via social media and online concerts.
A song from BTS to army, about the band and the fans missing each other but stating "I know you always stay" despite everything. I love this song with all my heart and everyone relates to it in their own way. But knowing Namjoon was the reason why Jungkook joined the team and Seokjin was the reason why he stayed brings a whole other feeling.
The album closes with Dynamite, written by David Stewart and Jessica Agombar and produced by Stewart. The band's first song fully recorded in English.
It was the first promotional single of the album, being released in late August. It is the most successful track of the group, earning their first #1 on HOT 100, and more than 500 PAKs in Korean charts.
Honestly, listening to the whole album made me re-like Dynamite and enjoy it even more. BTS stated that "due to COVID-19, people around the world have been going through tough times and we wanted to share some positive energy with our fans." An upbeat disco-pop song with elements of funk, soul, and bubblegum pop is the perfect way to finish the album and end this narrative that is BE, closing it with joy and hope for a better future
BE catapults BTS to another level of artists. The musical maturity, as well as the album being self-produced by the members in every single aspect, from visual, to direction and music, elevates BTS to a whole new patamar.
This album became too special and personal for me. This year has been extremely hard in every aspect of my life. I almost committed suicide and I am struggling mentally in a very dark place.
However, the day before this album released, after spending the day after in the hospital due to a terrible anxiety/panic attack that made me blackout - I decided to restart my treatment for depression and bipolar disorder. BE, to me, was a gift. To have this little diary deliver to me on the same day that I decided to give life a new chance gave me more strength to keep holding on.
Always thankful to have found BTS.
I wish people would put aside their prejudice and misconception on BTS, and listen to this beautifully crafted record. BE cures where it hurts, the message delivered in this album is what the world needs the most.
Watch Life Goes On music video on Youtube
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