life is just, just come thru
we ain't never ever want to
we're athletes chosen for coercion
you don't choose life chose you
life is monochrome pretending to be color
cuz everything so grey
night is much longer than even the Nile
and our sadness is ambiguous
the only obvious thing in this complicated world
is the state of you and me being pushed around by life
this bastard called 'fate' sets our value
and pressures us into lifelong loneliness
if you say that your discord with the world is unusually frequent
we, like the black keys
are certainly like part of the piano
you sit quietly and play sharps and flats
think about it, will we become stars?
or will we become starfish?
no disrespect for starfish, but
if you want a fish be selfish
if you looked in the mirror this morning
think carefully about what you thought then
and look again and say it
you are fighting for yourself
you are putting an edge on for yourself

Verse 1: Choi Ikje (i11evn) Swagger

'til it's over
'til it's over
let's get this over with
since my name is the number 11, call me Winning i11evn
this mic is like AK-47, I've got the winning hand
no players wanna battle me, since they know they'll lose anyway
you're just coming at me without knowing shit, your vest isn't bulletproof
like Lim Jeong-hee, you tell me I can't be real
since I heard your rap I'll tell you, you really make no sense
it's not even 2:00am so why can't you let me go even if you die?
then just clench your fists and lie down, I'll send you guys off instead
yeah your style, rap, swagger, all of it is childish
you showed up cause you knew I was good, right, one way ticket
you're staggering even at just this point, like you've been shot
start from zero and come at me, you're just like little kids
now lemme show you what it's like to be the Busan swagger
no matter how many tales you tell, your rap is all outdated
I'm a 1987 rabbit, you turtles are too slow
I hope you'll get some sleep but this game's already over

Verse 2: Min Yoongi (Suga) Swagger

so fresh boy G's in the building
we are D-Town
Daegu!
top one, I don't bleed off that pattern of seeing all the obvious things once
my rap isn't as easy as you think
but to me it's real easy, if I rap all day I don't get tired
the flat of my tongue takes insolence and runs with it
you can't estimate me at all, reason being I've got different genes at the root
a next generation rapper who's gonna be the 3rd generation of hip hop, my flow is the prettiest
if San E is a rap genius then I'm a prodigy, huh
like Supreme Team, my sense is the best
whether you're wack wack or fake fake I'm gonna crack you open
I'm coming up only a half a year after I started rapping
I'm a king, everybody saw me from the floor of Daegu
when I spit bars everybody says I'm a monster rapper
yeah, I'm the Godfather of Daegu, even the gods are jealous of me
I'm too fast for you guys to follow me
so fresh boy G's in the building, try to keep up

Verse 3: Choi Ikje (i11evn) Diss

lame intro English,
you're not in the building, not even the parking lot
why are you here?
Daegu D-Town, Busan B-Town
A, B, C, D, follow along behind me
your face is unsophisticated, only your earrings are bling bling
it doesn't seem like you can hear, so you kick kick from behind
you said you're stifled, that's a lie just like your rap
you can't even play with words, your rhyme and flow are all forced
if San E is Nike then my rap is Adidas
nothing is impossible and superstar
starting with my style, whatever I do has swagger
unstoppable, my lyrical evolution
don't block my way, I'm the lyrical phenom
the r*tarded kids who do out-of-season raps
can't understand this rap shit, do some research, asshole
don't try to follow me, you'll get a cramp in your tongue

Verse 4: Min Yoongi (Suga) Diss

so fresh boy G's in the building
we are D-Town
now the beat has started, I'm a little nervous
I heard your rap just now, it was pretty novel
but there's no answer, it's a problem that can't be solved
you must have paid a lot for this new identity since you're auditioning
but it looks like there's no need now
my rap is my identity, you went out as a carryover product
everybody saw it, my style and swagger
my rap bombardment has started, just like an Apache
this rap is a gentleman's rap, I'm not going to curse you
this is just some advice, receive it thankfully
start by cutting that unsophisticated hair
ah, before that, why don't you cover up that unsophisticated face
if my rap is gold then your rap is just copper
you're still a baby and I'm the stroller, I'll help carry you around
that's right, once and for all you have nothing to lay claim to
anyway it seems obvious, that I won this game

Big Hit Entertainment has donated 100 million won to the Sewol Ferry Tragedy 416 Family Conference.

BTS members and their company, Big Hit Entertainment, donated to the 416 Family Conference, which is comprised of family members of the victims of the Sewol Ferry tragedy. Each of the 7 members donated 10 million won, for a total of 70 million won, and their company donated an additional 30 million won for a total of 100 million won.

It is a deeply meaningful action for BTS to donate such a large amount of money to the grieving families of the Sewol Ferry tragedy, especially as they are in a disadvantageous situation in which there has surfaced a cultural blacklist in relation to the Sewol Ferry disaster. Previous to this, at the time of the tragedy, BTS fans also donated relief goods to Jindo. Through these various actions, both the fans and the artists have shown warm actions.

In particular, with an intent to keep the donation quiet, neither BTS nor their company revealed any information about the donations. Additionally, BTS' side intentionally did not alert the media to their intent to donate, stating that they only wanted to give some help, however small, to the grieving families of the Sewol Ferry tragedy.

BTS will begin their full-scale world tour with their "Wings Tour Seoul Concert" on February 18 and 19 at the Seoul Guro-gu Gocheok Sky Dome.

original article: here

News: ㅇㅇ is planning a comeback

SME: We have no plans for their comeback

- comes back

News: SM is planning an album for ㅇㅇ

SME: Still in discussion stages, not confirmed

- album is released

Lee Soo Man: "We're going to to this, we're going to do that"

- does it

= tsundere type

bounces us around even while knowing what they're gonna do

News: [Exclusive] ㅇㅇ is going to have their all-time greatest comeback!!!

YG rep: ㅇㅇ is in preparations, anticipate it, because it's the all.time.greatest

- no comeback

News: [Exclusive] YG's ㅇㅇ group secretly filmed a music video

YG rep: Ah! we got caught, that won't do, it's a secret but ㅇㅇ is sweating hard to make a comeback happen on ㅇㅇ day

- no comeback

News: [Exclusive] YG is planning a large scale project!

Yang Hyunsuk: yes we will do this, and that, and the other thing

- doesn't do this, or that, or the other thing

News: Will Yang Hyunsuk come out on ㅇ season of Kpop Star?

Yang Hyunsuk: Who knows? I'm still considering it

- comes out

= compulsive liar type

knows that nothing will happen but opens their mouth anyway

News: ㅇㅇ is planning a comeback

JYP: I don't think so

- doesn't have a comeback, but JYP has a comeback

News: ㅇㅇ is preparing an album, comeback on ㅇㅇ date

JYP: yes, seems like they will come back

- comes back, but JYP also comes back

= type

in a rivalry with his own company's artists for many years

original article: here

1. I don't believe YG until the music is out ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

2. YG... I don't even get mad about it now

3. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ My friend is a fan of an artist from YG and she says she doesn't even believe it if the teaser has already come out ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

4. Cube: We haven't even discussed anything...

5. Seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ when the articles come out saying SM denied the plans, the fans have a party since an album will definitely come out ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Continued from Part 1 ― #The Fragrance of the Classics Buried Within Their Songs

On December 2, we uploaded the first part of "Seven Ways to 'Read' BTS as Classical Literature.' In this posting, we mentioned how the "WINGS" album borrows from Demian's concept, and attempted to analyze the message and storyline of BTS' works through the lens of 1) rebellion, 2) growth, 3) destruction and inspiration, while looking back at the consistent storylines and messages in BTS' past works.Many fans read our posting and shared it. We are sincerely thankful.

In this posting, we plan to conclude the examination through the prism of classical literature of BTS' works since their debut in June 2013. In addition to the 3 keywords of the last part, we will add another four, 4) sense of identity, 5) sex, in addition to 6) effort and 7) dreams, for a total of 7 keywords that attempt to connect BTS' songs with works of classical literature. Through this opportunity, we were more deeply able to appreciate the songs and performances of 'the hottest idol group in the world,' BTS. It was an enjoyable time.

We'll repeat it once again, but we all believe that BTS songs can't help but contain the fragrance of the old classical works of literature, and that the place where the problematic protagonists of great works of literature should be is not 'within' a book but rather 'beside' those in their teens and twenties today.

It's true that compared to music, books are more boring and more difficult to experience, but just as you can know from this year's Nobel Peace Prize in Literature being awarded to Bob Dylan, music and literature have always had a deep and profound connection. If BTS' members were to have been born in the Middle Ages, it is clear that they would have been bards who wrote poetry and sang songs and stole the hearts of numerous noblewomen.

 So, we will begin.

* translator's note. please be aware that the following post contains the following: explicit mentions of sex, slurs for female genitalia, mention of sexual violence, discussion of misogyny.

#Sense of Identity

While rebelling against the world, yearning for growth, and occasionally suffering from a craving for destruction, a person ultimately gains their 'sense of identity.' A correct awareness of oneself is the sole channel that a child needs in order to be born again as an adult.

What is a sense of identity? The dictionary definition is "being aware of the position one is in or one's own behaviors or personality." In this, the core is to "be aware of oneself." Knowing what kind of person I am, knowing where I am treading and where I am standing, and knowing what I therefore must do is, exactly, a sense of identity.

The phrase 'sense of identity' is commonly suggestive of the period of puberty in which one is excessively and sensitively aware of oneself and acts as though one is the center of the universe. But this kind of sense of identity is a false sense of identity. It is nothing more than a frail and easily-broken understanding of oneself.

The reason is that such an awareness is insufficient in terms of a strong understanding of one's limitations and impotence in comparison to one's strengths and possibilities. This is because it lacks awareness of the harshness of the world, as well as the responsibility to stand and face it. A self awareness that lacks understanding and a deep view of the world is expressed in a defensive attitude that only attempts to protect oneself. And this defensiveness is paradoxically expressed as a self-intoxication with the idea that "no matter what anyone says, I am me."

Anna Freud (1895-1982), daughter of Sigmund Freud and authority on developmental psychology

Anna Freud, born in 1895 and who became an authority on developmental psychology, is the daughter of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who is considered the 'father of psychoanalysis.' She who, incredibly, overcame her father's excessively deterministic approach to psychoanalysis, had this to say about the ego of a young child.

"As a rule, children in a dangerous situation lack the physical strength to escape, and their capability to understand is limited, so they logically understand the inevitability of the situation and cannot accept it. In this immature and dependent time, it isn't only that the ego tries to control instinctive stimulus, but also that it mobilizes all possible methods to defend itself from the objective unpleasantness and danger that threatens it."
― Anna Freud, from 『Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense』

A standardized society and school system gives children cold feet. And parents project their own desires onto their children as if their children were their possessions. In this environment, as in Christina Aguilera's famous song "Beautiful," affirmation of the strengths and inner beauty which others have not yet discovered is the first key to a healthy sense of identity. This is different from thoughtless and groundless narcissism. Self-affirmation is to discover the beauty and possibility within oneself even while acknowledging the limitations and weakness that one carries.

In BTS' songs as well, this desire for self-affirmation stands out. If you listen to "21st Century Girls" from the "WINGS" albums, it is like this.

don't get cold feet
no matter what anyone says, you're okay
you're strong
20th century girls
21st century girls
say it, that you're strong
say it, that you're enough
― from "21st Century Girls"

But the world tries adamantly to scatter such self-affirmation. It becomes a repeated shrinking. The song "Whalien 52" from the "Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2" album, with its memorable refined and sharp flow and peerlessly memorable lyrics, discusses the world being ignorant to an individual's pain.

the world doesn't know
how sad I am
my pain is water and oil that can't be mixed
I only breathe above the surface of the water, and the interest ends
a child in the lonely ocean
I want to make my value known too, every day
― from "Whalien 52"

Like this, the process of expressing strife with the world even while perceiving our own strengths is a process of formation for our senses of identity which everyone passes through. A child's ego passes through childhood and moves on to the level of adulthood.

Sigmund Freud (right) and Anna Freud (left)

Sigmund Freud's theory of the ego is that it depends on a triangle between the outside world, the superego, and a concept called id. One's instincts (id) and the values of parents and society (superego), and the environment that surrounds one (the outside world) makes us who we are. Freud said as follows.

"An old adage warns against serving two masters. It is very difficult for the pitiful ego, which must serve three strict masters. It works to harmonize the demands and opinions of those three. However, there are also times when these demands disagree with one another and appear as if they will never reconcile. As such, in these situations, it is not strange at all for the ego to often become stuck. The ego's three masters are the outside world, the superego, and the id."
― Sigmund Freud, 『New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis』

While stroking one's destructive instincts, obeying the real laws of the world, and informing the outside world of yourself as you improve, is soon no different from developing one's sense of identity. Now BTS tries to actively attest to their individual worth. From "We On," which contains the members' amazing rap skills which stick in one's ears―

I don't know you, and you don't know me
please shut up, are you gonna die?
don't worry about me, I'm better than you
I'll be like that in the future too
where are all the friends who
ignored me from before? we on
this is nothing like a joke, I'll show you
I promise ya, we on
― from "We On"

Furthermore, the awareness of their identity as a company's boy group, that is to say an idol, is one of many such characteristics. It is an intense self-meditation on the limitations of being an 'idol.' Justin Timberlake, who originally came out as a member of N*Sync in the 1990s and is now working as a solo singer and film actor, said this. "I am a person who tried being a member of a boy group who had to endure criticisms and mockery. What's left that I can't do?"

since you're idols even if you don't hear it, it weighs on you
if you don't like the lyrics even if you don't see it, it's a video
if you don't have strength you'll obviously have done something suspicious
but you see the things you do if there's even a little, you're screwed
(thank you so much) thanks to your inferiority complexes
I got the certification I couldn't in high school
applause, clap clap, that's right, keep going, keep going
we'll just be happy with ourselves
good yeah I’m good
― from "2! 3!"

BTS in their promotional period for their 2014 album <SKOOL LUV AFFAIR>

#Sex

When we become adults, we inevitably end up facing the problem of sex. Sex is the endless mystery and powerful riddle of humankind. Sigmund Freud, who we mentioned above was a revolutionary thinker who advocated the idea that a human's sexual energy has influence over a person's conscious and unconscious. Based on Freud's theory, various scientists, including Wilhelm Reich and Herbert Marcuse, have demonstrated how serious an influence human eros has held over the civilizations of humankind.

How these healthy youths of 20 or so must be crowded full of sexual energy. They've sung in so many songs about their passions towards women. (In particular, "I NEED YOU" with its beautiful music video is one of my favorite songs among theirs.) But the song among BTS' songs which most actively lays bare the issue of relations between men and women is "Hormone War."

my eyes keep turning to the girls (yup)
girls are like an equation, us guys just do them (yup)
wear them more,
your high heels
I’m 18, I know what I need to know
I know that girls are the best things in the world
yes I’m a bad boy so I like bad girl
come here baby, we’re gonna hit it off 

her hair, body, waist, legs,
even her other unspeakable parts
saying I don’t care would be ridiculous as a guy
I lose it just at her tiniest gestures
girl, your temptations keep me away
from my computer every night
for her, it’s lady first
girls are like cold ice mountains? let it go
a female that drives me crazy, provoking me every day
after fighting my hormones again today,
I’ll pop my pimple
― from "Hormone War"

As is already exposed even in these few parts of the song, BTS have sometimes been caught up in a misogyny controversy. It is a clear truth that whether through their official accounts or through their individual activities, the members have made remarks that objectify women on SNS or in videos. Their songs were the same. The lyrics from "If I Ruled the World,"* "I’ll be buried under pretty girls as I watch TV / all girls of the world would want me, ready to die [...] Instead of holding designer bags, you hold my hand / instead of jealousy and envy, you understand my nature" unexpectedly pale in comparison to the lyrics from "Joke" on Rap Monster's mixtape. 

* I am aware that the second part of the lyrics quoted comes from "Miss Right" and not from "If I Ruled the World," but the above is translated as written in the article.

yeah you're the best woman, losing to pussy
so you do fucking well, being bossy*
pull out and tell your lover you have gonnorhea
― from "Joke" on RM's mixtape 

* 갑 is slang for vagina and 질 is "will lose," 갑질 is to boss someone around.

These are lyrics which we cannot make excuses for. If we consider that many of those countless fans who support them are women, it's an even more regrettable circumstance. Frankly, it is hardly possible that the members of BTS 'hate' women. It is possible that they thought they were simply expressing their 'honest desires' (as men).

But the image of a 'pure woman' that they (and many Korean men) cut out as the ideal is connected by a sloping road to the objectification and hatred towards the 'real women' who are living on this earth. Koryeo University professor emertius Hwang Hyun-san said this in a column. "In this as always unchanging male-centered society, the 'womanliness' that we particularly expect from our mothers, our wives, our female coworkers, from the women we meet on the street, and even worse, from women we will never even meet, is in reality all connected to 'misogyny.'" (source)

Ultimately, in July of this year, BTS officially released an apology regarding this issue. The company said, "This examination and discussion is a way to receive the influence of personal growth and experience, as well as the things learned from society, and we have learned that even we are not free from the bias/prejudice and errors made by society," and added, "additionally, we have realized that the roles and value of women, when defined from a male point of view, is not something to be desired." It could be said that it was a huge relief to see that BTS is a group that will (musically, and personally) continue to grow as they move forward.

You could say that 2016 was very much the 'year of hatred.' In particular, it feels as if the scandals of misogyny/misandry that have been the center of online talk for many years reached their peaks this year. Male writers, once greatly loved, fell from grace in a moment after their backgrounds of sexual violence and sexual assault were revealed. Even in the publication industry, many written theories and analyses were published that took a view of this phenomenon.

With regards to this topic, I think there is no more suggestive book than 『Lady Chatterly's Lover』, published in Italy in 1928 by English writer D.H. Lawrence.

This book suffered the stigma of being banned in its home country of England until 1960 for its shocking-for-the-times portrayal of sex. The English government prosecuted the publisher, Penguin, under suspicion of violation of the law regarding publication of obscene materials, and from October 27, 1960, the famous 'Chatterly Trial' began. At this trial, many great men of letters of the time, including E.M. Forster and Richard Hoggart, were called in to defend the literary value of 『Lady Chatterly's Lover』. Finally, on November 2, 1960, the English court took the side of the publisher, Penguin.

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

However, 『Lady Chatterly's Lover』 is not a book that simply describes the erotic love between a man and a woman, but can rather be seen as a classic that strongly expresses a humanistic personality that possesses a sexual element. In addition to the lunacy and horrors of World War I, among the ruins of the industrial society of the early 20th century which had advanced at inhuman rates, Lawrence repeated an awl-sharp insight into men and women, and into sex.

"Ay! it's tenderness, really; it's cunt-awareness. Sex is really only touch, the closest of all touch. And it's touch we're afraid of. We're only half-conscious, and half alive. We've got to come alive and aware. Especially the English have got to get into touch with one another, a bit delicate and a bit tender. It's our crying need."
― D.H. Lawrence, 『Lady Chatterly's Lover』

As in Lawrence's expression, tenderness cannot become a commodity, and nor should it. Sex is not popular recreation but rather the most private human means of communication. If we believe in this means, then I believe that we can overcome hatred. I believe that this is the reason why BTS' "I NEED YOU" is so beautiful, and the reason why the lyrics of a few of BTS' songs were justly criticized. I anticipate listening to more of their songs of mature love and sexuality in the future.

#Effort

In the first episode of the drama "God of Study," there is a famous line which lawyer Kim Su-ro, while visiting his alma mater, thunderously shouts at the students. It was a line in which he tells them not to blame the rules for harassing them, but rather to become a person who can renovate the rules and make them anew. "You say that this world that sings the song of S-university is disgusting? You say that this world that is a playground for people with money and connections is dirty? If so, then shouldn't you become the person who makes the rules? Don't live as a loser who spreads unfairness behind him, I'm telling you to become the person who remakes the rules!"

These words are close to reality, and as always, a huge dilemma will as always be approaching students. They are words that say that the society and system made by adults isn't something to blame only with your mouth, but rather to do everything you can from your position and gather up all the strength you need to change that system. But these words are conclusively not that different from telling someone "just focus on studying right now," packaged in a slightly different way. This is because it's simply a state of railroading the students who, for whatever reason, don't like to study into the category of 'latent lowers,' and browbeating them into not making excuses.

In the student season of which there is only one in the world, one must explore one's dreams and prepare to go out into society. At this time, students have the right to enjoy this time free from anyone's interruptions and without worries about their livelihood, on behalf of only their own future.

In this precious time, many students bemoan the fact that they are taught in a way that doesn't match their aptitudes. We have previously discussed at length the ways in which BTS actively resists this. In that case, the question remains, what path will the students who choose not to study take? Ultimately, can the students become the "subject of their own lives, which have always been suppressed" (from "No More Dream")? How?

However, in the end, the paradox remains that no matter what you do, you must 'try.' There also exists the paradox that if you choose a life that isn't studying, you must work even more fiercely. In Miyazaki Hayao's animation "Whisper of the Heart," the main character Shizuku's wise father says these words. "A life different from others can be difficult. Even if you fail, you can't blame anyone else."

In this aspect, BTS is 'unexpectedly' exemplary. They have chosen their own paths as musicians, and the fact that they are trying hard often appeals. Taken as an example is a song which has very much succeeded even among the general public. If you see the lyrics of "Dope," they are as follows.

I stay up all night to work, every day
while you're playing in the club, yeah
differently with the other kids
I don't wanna say yes
I don't wanna say yes 

not in school, but in the practice room
I danced and sang all night
when you guys are playing
I'm living my dream and holding back from sleeping
I stay up all night holding my ball pen
I close my eyes after the sun comes up in the morning
among the standards and countless oppositions
my limits have been broken
― from "Dope"*

* again, the second half is actually from "We Are Bulletproof," I don't know why this writer can't properly source the BTS lyrics lmao 

In this perilous world, it is a tremendous thing to live and prove yourself. Taking care of my own body is also just that difficult. We come to understand why so-called adults say things like "eating and living is difficult." We were all once people who overflowed with bright energy just like Peter Pan and Wendy... The sadness of adults is that in order to live brightly and positively, one must slog more arduously than others and cultivate your own weapons in an even more lonely way. Shall we listen to "Hip Hop Lover" from BTS' 2014 album?

I want a rapstar, as others,
I hated living the same, the prematurity of a little kid
even if people hold me down and warn me
hip hop persists in me
and completely turns me inside out
the young me used to write
my 16 bars on the corner of my textbooks
thanks to that, I threw away my secure life
and went to a studio in Namsan-dong, Daegu
all night, I sharpened my blunt pen tip
at the end of my efforts,
instead of having a language marks for school
I filled up my rhymes,
which made my dreams come true
everyone asks me, what is hip hop?
then I confidently answer, my everything
as a result, my life has buried itself into music
if loving this culture is a sin,
I’ll die over a hundred times
― from "Hip Hop Lover"

But like the society that will follow these modern times, only a few hundred years ago, the concept of a 'child' that attends school and studies did not exist. Before the birth of the nuclear family in the Western world and the development of systematic education, children and adults did the same work, and children prepared to take over the family business.

It may seem like a pitiful job, but it is proof that in the history of youth, the moments of school were not a 'playful period.' (We can play comfortably when we die.) That is not a statement from those of us who have already become adults, but the voices which BTS directly convey.

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

One's school season is, in that case, even less a period in which students must unconditionally study or 'develop themselves.' The most important keywords that surmount the above-mentioned 'Kim Su-ro logic' from "God of Study" are, as expected, to be found in Mark Twain's 『The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn』. Logic that tells students to study to change the system if they don't like the system is, in itself, willful logic that in itself already a part of and a benefit to that system.

When one does not like a system, the place where one can best see the system's weakest aspects is not from inside the system, but outside of it. Scholar Sin Young-bok, who passed away at the beginning of this year, also often accentuated that the "truth is always at the borders."

『The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn』 is, together with 『The Adventures of Tom Sawyer』, widely considered to be one of the best among bildungsroman and youth literature, but it is also a book which is wonderful to read even after becoming an adult. Great American writer Ernest Hemingway said, "All of the culture of modern America is contained within Mark Twain's 『The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn』." This book, which is told from the first-person perspective of vivacious and playful Huckleberry, is a cheerful adventure novel, but is also a novel that expresses the process of Huckleberry's growth into maturity while delivering an incisive lampooning of the oppression of Black people and the damaging effects of the established social system.

While traveling the Mississippi River with a runaway slave, Jim, who has escaped the abuse of his vagrant master, our Huckleberry becomes vividly aware of himself through his own eyes and body. In particular, while agonizing over whether or not to report Jim, and after writing a letter to Miss Watson, the wife of the slave's master, the moment in which he rips the letter up is the ethical highlight of the novel. Huckleberry regards slave masters as pitiful and becomes caught up in his resolve to help the runaway slave, and ultimately takes a position of friendship with Jim. In that period where slavery was surviving intact and racial discrimination was common!

"I'd see him standing my watch on top of his'n, 'stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; and would always call me honey, and pet me and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now; and then I happened to look around and see that paper. 

It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was atrembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: 

"All right, then, I’ll go to hell"—and tore it up." 

― Mark Twain, 『The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn』

Huckleberry does not lose his passion and faith towards humanity even after experiencing so much cruelty and violence and being scammed so many times by adults, and through these vivid experiences is able to learn ethics and love. In a disadvantaged environment, he has come through a stereotyped system of education and nonetheless bravely took on his own life. And the important thing is not whether he was a student or not. It is whether or not he was able to learn with his own eyes, in that bright and innocent time, love and morality, warm-heartedness towards one's neighbors, and bravery and determination towards life. At such a young age, Huckleberry Finn is able to prove to us what I call the fact of the greatest effort.

Ultimately, telling someone to study in order to change the system is simply a meaningless and therefore useless thing to say. We remember not the names of the 19th century American elites, but rather the name Mark Twain, who lived life as recklessly as Huckleberry and who fundamentally shook the sensibilities of that system to its core. Will BTS become such artists too?

#Dreams

Up until now, we have studied BTS' songs in conjunction with various works of classical literature. Rebellion and growth, destruction/inspiration and sense of identity, sex, and even effort... But after setting foot in all of these different processes, ultimately I believe that BTS is a group who sings about 'dreams.'

And all of our lives are the same. Although this phrase is matchless in how fed up with it we've become, just as in Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," we are all withstanding each day cherishing hearts that want to become "complete seagulls, seagulls with endless possibility." Dreams are what made BTS sing, and they are what make us keep living on.

Their dream is music. Among those abundant songs which sing of their dreams―

saying that I’m just a rookie and that it’s okay
they sat me down and
taught me how cold the world is
with a few subjects
bias, negative comments, double standards,
smack talk and disinterest
teacher, do we have SATs for this too?
if I get first place, will I be a successful artist?
that’s good too but I wanna do music
― from "2nd Grade"

they're useful, these setbacks
I believe, we're going right along
if we find it some time
obviously we'll come home at once
like the ants
― from "We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2"*

* not from WABP2, from Lost. idk what this writer is up to.

But their dreams are impressive, not because they are chasing vague success and pursuing wealth, but because they draw an image of returning to one's hometown and one's family. The 'dialect' that comprises such an important part of their identities can also be understood in this context. Their simple dreams seem to contain an extremely Korean characteristic.

if I ruled the world, sometimes, I dream
if I ruled the world, first I’ll hire a real estate agent
and buy a house to live in with my family
yes, next I’ll awaken my savings
and buy a four-wheel drive, put in some gas
even if it’s too much,
I’ll get it with zero-interest discount
stocks and gambling
I don’t wanna do things like that
I rule the world so why would I dream small?
don’t ask me that because
I still want to do music with my BTS family
― from "If I Ruled the World"

hey you country boys,
I have a Seoul state of mind
I was born in Seoul so I learned the Seoul language well
although these days, satoori is highly regarded
yes, I’ll admit it, the accents are pretty cool
but as much as it’s the standard language here, it’s that much honest
the beginning and end are clear and organized
as the example of a well-built Korean language
only ours goes with English,
y’all never understand it
okay, I’ll honestly become honest
Gyeongsangdo accents make guys want to use it,
Jeollado words sound so friendly
once I start to use it, I get all happy
― from "Satoori Rap"

the scene of Channel Bangtan for "Satoori Rap," which has a unique meaning to their fans

The world is overflowing with literature that speaks of indomitable dreams, but among those, how about reading Hemingway's short story 『The Old Man and the Sea』? If I read Hemingway, it always gives me strength. One Japanese writers has said that on the first morning of the new year, he always reads Hemingway's 『Snows of Kilimanjaro』. Something about his works pulls us in, whips us, and has a virtue of making us live thoughtfully.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

The many works of Hemingway always contain a main boy character who either has dreamed and become frustrated with it, or has shyly held back his dreams. (So much so that BTS could make an album using Hemingway as a model next...)

"He had destroyed his talent by not using it, by betrayals of himself and what he believed in, by drinking so much that he blunted the edge of his perceptions, by laziness, by sloth, and by snobbery, by pride and by prejudice, by hook and by crook. What was this? A catalogue of old books? What was his talent anyway? It was a talent all right but instead of using it, he had traded on it. It was never what he had done, but always what he could do."
― Hemingway, 『Snows of Kilimanjaro』

As a matter of personal opinion, for some reason I believe that if you are a person who enjoys Western classical literature, then that person cannot dislike Hemingway. You can dislike Tolstoy, but even if you can turn your head at Shakespeare and Proust, it feels like you can't help but like Hemingway. As such, he left behind works that are both widely popular and powerful. And his life was in itself charming.

"This is the second day now that I do not know the result of the juegos, he thought. But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel. What is a bone spur? he asked himself. Un espuela de hueso. We do not have them. Can it be as painful as the spur of a fighting cock in one’s heel? I do not think I could endure that or the loss of the eye and of both eyes and continue to fight as the fighting cocks do. Man is not much beside the great birds and beasts. Still I would rather be that beast down there in the darkness of the sea."
― Hemingway, 『The Old Man and the Sea』

If you read 『The Old Man and the Sea』 and 『Snows of Kilimanjaro』, you go to a quiet and refined place where you want to focus on a glass of strong martini. And after going home, you will want to sleep deeply after writing a long diary. Because the next day, you will have to wake up early to find your identity. Hemingway's theory is that even if you are ruined, you can be ruined with dignity, but that rather than accepting our ruin, we must again run towards our dreams and towards tomorrow. That is one point which BTS' songs let us know.

It is time to conclude this writing.

Above, I briefly mentioned Justin Timberlake. In 2016, he took his position as the singer with the highest number of single album sales in the world. Robbie Williams, who began as a member of the boy group Take That, was nothing more than a 'novice' who craved rock 'n' roll and followed in the footsteps of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher after his departure from Take That, but after a few years, through his own strength, he surpassed Oasis' number of Knebworth concert attendees and became a best selling artist in the UK.*

* Robbie Williams' album "Life at Knebworth" is the second fastest and highest selling live album in English music history, second only to Take That's album "The Greatest Day."

BTS have a bright path ahead of them. We continuously hear of how they are on a roll around the world after only 2~3 weeks.

And although they sometimes waver, and sometimes make mistakes, they are walking on their own path. Like Justin Timberlake and Robbie Williams, they can be the representative group of our country, even beyond their existing fandom. If you look at the trend now, this is not a hollow goal. Of course, it could be that all of that may disappear in a moment. The important thing, more than this trendiness and popularity, is how purely they love music, and whether they can continue to express their identities through song and performance as they do now. It will shake all of our hearts as fans.

In the face of the popularity given by their hundreds and thousands of fans, it could be that literature is something that teaches a 'way to be alone.' And when the members are alone (even while they are together), or when they search for their own style and individuality that will not be swept up by others, we may see all of their best moments for a long time to come.

We will always support BTS. Thank you.

original post: here

I went instead of another friend with somebody I know, I went on the first day of the Gocheok fanmeeting and after playing a bunch of games and laughing and chatting, when V talked about his grandmother who passed away, I sobbed so hard. I've never even cried that hard at my own group's concert ㅋㅋㅋ I think it was the most sadly I've cried in years, I was holding it in but then he said something about how his grandmother passed away but because of their activities... roughly it was like because of activities, he couldn't watch over her last road. (I'm a dumbass so I can't remember exactly) I seriously cried like wahahahahha at that moment. There was some situation and the people I was with had to leave their seats so I was just sitting there holding the ARMY Bomb in blinking mode with one hand and wiping my face with my other hand ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Anyway, since everybody cried and got it all out, I think it made us feel better. I want to go again, it was really enjoyable

+) I was told to go to the Fan Talk, is this the right place?
+) What the heck, I just randomly wrote this messy thing but there are so many upvotes ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I was shocked, you guys are so nice, thank you!!

original post: here

1. [+24, -0] This is the beginning of stanning

2. [+6, -0]

("I became their fan without knowing")

(the character for 'han' is 翰 meaning "letter," and the character for 'sung' is 星 meaning "star.")

A letter sent from the stars... ah... I'm being struck again♡

original post: here

1. [+0, -0] ah amazing ㅠㅠ it's exactly Taehyung

2. [+0, -0] A star-like kid, a jewel-like kid, a kid who shines no matter where he is... it's exactly like Taehyung

1. ARMY Bomb
And in case you're nervous about your ARMY Bomb's battery,
switch it to a new one beforehand

2. 1 bottle of water
In case you're thirsty

3. A small snack
You'll be hungry if it goes over 2 hours
You'll be hungry from screaming too

4. Tissues
Not needed if you have the confidence not to cry during Two! Three! or while the kids do their ments

5. Backpack, rather than cross-bag
If you put in your goods and put in your ARMY Bomb it'll be heavy
Your shoulders and arms will hurt
Backpack is best

6. Memorization of fanchants
If you mess up the fanchant it's really embarrassing
If you don't know the fanchants
then just memorize the lyrics to Two! Three!

Distinguish between the parts with 'in the future'  or 'even more' good days
'Take my hand and laugh'
Don't mumble at this part

7. Manners ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Don't shriek when the kids are doing their ments
It's really loud
Put trash in the trash can

------- From here is for people who will stand in line for goods -------

8. Without question, warm clothes
The wind at Gocheok is like the wind on Wolmi Island
If you smile, even your teeth get cold
Mask, hat, gloves (touch gloves), scarf, warm shoes
A warm drink in a thermos is necessary
Attach 12 hot packs

9. Use your battery pack relaxedly
It's for using your phone while you wait
Wear touch-capable gloves
Your hands will freeze so you can't bare-handedly use your phone for a long time

Minimize your luggage
If you're not at a table seat in Gocheok Dome, there's not even enough space
to put down a handbag

Goodbye!

original post: here

1. [+5, -0] #7, seriously, during Muster when the kids were doing their ments this one person kept screaming and I really wanted to find them and hit them

2. [+3, -0] If I have my phone and a bed that's enough, since I didn't get a ticket

3. [+3, -0] Two! Three! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ There are really a lot of ARMY who get confused between 'in the future' and 'even more'

4. [+2, -0] I want to suggest something, for things like water either bring it from home or buy it in your own neighborhood ㅠㅠㅠ There's one convenience store inside Gocheok but it'll be completely emptied... And when you buy things there are tons of people so you have to stand in line... This was during Epilogue concert, I went inside to buy water but was totally shocked and just left

Around debut, he said in an interview that he's a crybaby who cries a lot, but until MAMA (excluding the concert in the Olympic Gymnasium!) he hasn't shown himself crying even once, so it seems like he's a tough kid... I thought 'no matter what, he's a hyung' but these days I feel certain that Min Yoongi is so foolishly kind and tender ㅠㅠㅠ Of course he tries not to show it in front of people when he cries or when things are hard, that's Yoongi's personality, and that's just as comfortable so he doesn't say anything, but even while being like that, he gets so touched when other people recognize him... (this is my personal opinion but he seems a little similar with me so I think I know how it's like...!) anyway!! He was like that today and seeing his eyes get all glossy because he was sorry to the fans makes my heart hurt and I want to hug him ㅠㅠ I want to break the doorframe that hurt my baby and I hope he doesn't blame himself ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

original post: here

1. [+16, -0] It seems like he's the style who normally doesn't let people know, but if it breaks through once then he just sobs... It must be hard

Taehyung has said that Jimin really doesn't like martial arts, and Jimin said that the feeling of his body floating is scary, but when I see him doing a stage this cool it makes me really proud.

Let's treasure our joints

original post: here

He's as tall as Namjoon...

original post: here

1. [+11, -0] I see, Taehyungie's shoe lifts are higher than Namjoon's

2. [+5, -0] The power of a hat...

3. [+4, -0] He is tall, but seeing as his ankles are higher up than Namjoon's I think this is the strength of shoe lifts ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Why am I imagining him going in and yelling "You said to put it in my bag when I go around!!@!" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

original post: here

1. [+34, -0] Bungle's rap is starting... oh? so I oh? am carrying it around because you told me to carry it around! Because I'm thinking of the sincerity you gave! I'm carrying it around like you wanted so why are you being like this to me!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

2. [+33, -0] Min Yoongi: Ey, hyung, was it like that? You listened to me when I said to do that? (awkward laugh)

3. [+25, -0] Yoongi: I didn't really think that hyung would carry it around... heh...

Pretties!! I have a thing for hands so I've brought a compilation of BTS' hands! Our BTS who doesn't have a single non-pretty place❤

Writer

Bungle (Jin)

Min Yoongi Genius Jjang Jjang Man Bboong Bboong

Hobi Hobi

Chim Chim

Tae Tae

Golden Maknae

BTS' hands❤

I don't know how to end this ㅠㅠ
Pretties, let's make our kids fly high! Two, three!

original post: here

#BTS x Demian

BTS' popularity is ever so hot. It's almost too repetitive to mention the popularity of those who are laying down a career of awards while already hovering between broadcast and internet and creating countless records. They've charted on Billboard and Oricon, they've achieved 1st rank on the iTunes album chart in 97 countries including America, it's ordinary for them to be on the Billboard 'Social 50' chart which symbolizes the hot topics on social platforms all around the world, and so on and so forth...Those boys who have freshly passed 20 are already performing on stages around the world.

BTS' songs were originally quite good, but the writing of this article is thanks to their album 'WINGS,' which was released in fall of this year, and its connection to Herman Hesse's <Demian>, which became a hot topic. This album has borrowed its entire concept from the classical novel <Demian>, from the short film-style teasers to the music video and the composition of the songs. It seems like the simple fact of an idol group's album borrowing inspiration from a classical literature objet and motive is, in itself, exceptionally wonderful (although some may criticize it for being too light an approach to classical literature, or for being commercialized).

(However, speaking with the opinion of an employee of a publisher of very 'heavy' books, what on earth is the standard for a 'light' or 'serious' approach to literature? Who establishes that standard? Those seem like laughable things to say.)

a capture from one of BTS' short films

"The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas." - <Demian>

#The Fragrance of the Classics Buried Within Their Songs

In particular, Rap Monster, who takes the lead on the production of BTS' music, did an interview in which he said, "When I was younger and read classical literature, I also used to think 'how did I read this?' but now that I'm older and I read them again, it gives me a different feeling," and said, "I really like that people call us the 'idols who make people read the classics,' thanks to our fans taking this opportunity to read <Demian>." Rather than regarding it as a 'light commercialization,' the consistent messages and storylines in their past works truly captivate us. The outstanding lyrical and production skills of each member are also contained in this album.

So in this article, it seemed natural to look through the prism of classical literature at BTS' songs from their debut in June 2013 and following. The title of this article, which will span over 2 sections, is 'Seven Ways to "Read" BTS as Classical Literature." I will endeavor to look at BTS' songs and classical pieces through the 7 keywords of 1) rebellion and 2) growth, 3) destruction/inspiration and 4) sense of identity, 5) sex, as well as 6) effort and 7) dreams.

Ultimately, we are all of the belief that the fragrance of classical literature can't help but be contained in BTS' songs, and that that the place where the problematic individuals of great literary works should be is not 'inside' a book but rather at the 'side' of the teens and 20-year-olds of today. It's true that compared to music, books are more boring and more difficult to experience, but just as you can know from this year's Nobel Peace Prize in Literature being awarded to Bob Dylan, music and literature have always had a deep and profound connection. If BTS' members were to have been born in the Middle Ages, it is clear that they would have been bards who wrote poetry and sang songs and stole the hearts of numerous noblewomen.

So, we will begin.

1. Rebellion

The most basic code that contains the identity of BTS is 'rebellion.' Starting from the beginning, even their very group name is evocative of direct rebellion and resistance. With 'bangtan' having a meaning of blocking bullets, the motto that the members assert is one of singing on behalf of the teens and 20-year-olds in the world who are suffering prejudice and oppression. Of course, they are also protecting their justly valuable music.

Since the debut single '2 COOl 4 SKOOL' that signaled their start in 2013, BTS have sung passionately about the value of their rebellion. In their debut song 'No More Dream,' which had a slightly retro gangster feel, they rebelled against a generation that forced uniform rules for success. They declare that the discipline and teaching of 'adults' are 'hypocrisy' and 'lies,' and they give a warning "not to dawdle anymore" to the weak youth that are swayed by those adults.

Sick of the same day, the repeating days
Grown-ups and my parents
keep instilling confined dreams to me
Number one future career is a government worker?
It’s not a forced dream, a ninth inning relief pitcher
Throw a fast ball at the waste of time that is night study sessions
Rebel against the hellish society,
dreams are a special pardon
Ask yourself about your dream profile
Become the main subject of your life
that has always been suppressed
- BTS 'No More Dream'

They raise their voices against the establishment and the system, but BTS' characteristic is singing as though chiding the teens who are being tormented by the system to "stand and fight." It's similar to 'Class Idea,' by Seo Taiji and Boys, which was called a syndrome around 20 years ago. They sing to say to their peers and those younger than them that they 'can't just settle for things as they are.' Their title track 'N.O' from their first album 'O!RUL8,2?' is like that as well, and the context for 'Can You Turn Off Your Phone?' from their first full-length album 'DARK&WILD' and 'Am I Wrong' from 'WINGS' is the same.

With 'Spine Breaker' from their mini album 'Skool Luv Affair,' they 'refreshingly mock' (as they say) the youth who wear coats costing hundreds of thousands of won while making their parents' backs bent. But if you repeat the superficial words, they are also 'mocking' the adults who want to interfere in the lives of others. As it is, it is a general rebellion without division between my side and your side.

With shoes worth a couple hundred,
padded jacket worth a couple thousand
With a watch worth a couple hundred,
you feel good about yourself
Education goes over the hill and
the student identity goes over the hill too
The class system of the 21st century is divided into two
Those who have and those who haven’t
- BTS 'Spine Breaker'

And if you hang this in the opposite way, and slow down, establishing a 'general rebellion' within this sickening world is not BTS' invention. We will take as an example of famous classical literature  Albert Camus' <The Stranger>. The main character, Meursault, who shoots and kills an Arabian for the sole reason that the seaside 'sun was too strong,' is one of the most shocking main characters in world literature. He had no comrade in his rebellion, and no ideology, and no excuses. He just committed a murder. Indifferently.

Albert Camus

But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me. Yes, that was all I had. But at least I had as much of a hold on it as it had on me. I had been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn't done that. I hadn't done this thing but I had done another. And so?
- Albert Camus, <The Stranger>

The beginning of the 20th century where so many were mercilessly mowed down. The French Meursault, through the extreme measure of murder, had to prove his own humanity. He squarely recognized is own crime and through perseverance, through some faith and philosophy, didn't rely on the system and testified to humankind's existence and dignity through the choosing of a thoroughly solitary death. This novel was a synthesis of the existential philosophy that was sweeping through those days, and Camus won a Nobel Peace Prize in Literature for this work.

#Growth

It's almost surprising, BTS takes care of each individual among their many fans and how they've achieved such a fandom. Each of the seven members, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Rap Monster, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, boasts their own individual personality and style and they receive love liberally. They are united under the one name BTS, but ultimately, they are breathing in sync with the fans through their individual identities and capabilities. There cannot be an amazing group without amazing individuals. This is the reason why the word 'individual' must be placed before the second keyword, 'growth.'

The philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche once said, "People who make a group and move around in crowds are essentially vulgar." These words are excessively cynical towards humans, and (disregarding his great philosophical legacy) he eventually died lonely of a mental illness. However, living without being swept up by other people, the discovery of a strong and firm individual character, is connected to a cultural rebellion against the system that surrounds us. That rebellion could not be more urgent than it is in this Korean society, in which people's tastes are fixed in various biases and stereotypes against those who are even a little different from others.

a capture from BTS' 'Blood Sweat Tears' music video

Here, the keyword of rebellion is connected with the value of growth. This is because the process of growth is at times also the process of discovering the 'self' that can naturally stand sturdily on its own from the help of 'outside strength.' In sum, growth is the process of discovering myself. Growth is a process of withstanding loneliness, and finding the things that are 'only mine' that remain after sweeping away all of the enmities and odd bits of trash.

Please kill me softly
Please close my eyes with your hand
I can't refuse
I can't run away anymore
You're too sweet, too sweet
Because you're too sweet
- BTS 'Blood Sweat Tears'

But the process of growing by treading the earth 'alone' with two feet is not an easy task. As said above, the concept for BTS' 'WINGS' was taken from Herman Hesse's <Demian>. Hesse is a distinguished German writer who received huge influence from Nietzsche and was a contemporary of Camus, and <Demian>  is the best and most of all the bildungsromans of humankind past and present. The points of this album's concept and music video which embody the contents of <Demian> have already been explained in great detail by many people.

In particular, the above lyrics of 'Blood Sweat Tears' very well contain the complicated love and hatred that Sinclair, a teen who has fiercely struggled to find himself, feels towards Demian, who he feels is part of the 'perfect world.'

"I wanted only to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult?"
- Herman Hesse, <Demian>

Becoming oneself. Properly facing the world without relying on anyone, with only your own thoughts, your own language, your own body, is so lonely and difficult as to be unbearable. It is not a fruit that one automatically acquires when one becomes older. BTS' album, and the fans who love it, will walk their own course, create a world of their own, and depart.

Herman Hesse

And, if we look at the track 'Move' from BTS' special album "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life," with its sexy beat and rhythm, it seems as though they have slightly become adults themselves. Although it's the share of each individual member to assign the name of 'growth' to that fact...

When the nine trainees shared a 17-pyung house
Seems like it was just yesterday, we grew up a lot
Good things were always other people’s things
We were always hoarse
from an uncertain future and worries
Seeing all the senior artists at the end of the year awards
Let’s not forget those things but put them away
This place smells like us
Let’s not forget this scent, wherever we are
We cried a lot and laughed a lot
but it was so beautiful
- BTS 'Move'

#Destruction, and Inspiration

But it isn't that we can always be healthy and grow moderately. A world in which all people can go through a beautiful process and grow exists only in the imagination. After Emil Sinclair departed from Max Demian, he also wandered the road alone while being pestered by suicidal impulses. Accepting the me who is different than others, and not evading the high wall of reality that faces me but rather standing fairly against it is a scary and difficult thing to do.

There's nothing different about everyday life. When one pushes off the things they have to do in favor of laziness, how easy it is to hate ourselves. Our appetites for self-hatred and self-destruction are just as strong as our desire for growth. And we are seized by a desire to destroy the society and world that makes us torment ourselves as we progress.

"I realize today that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself."
- Herman Hesse, <Demian>

That frustration is a ceremony through which we all must pass. The hopeless awareness of the reality that young people must face up against was no different tens of thousands of years ago, hundreds of years ago, or even now. It seems like BTS knows that well. They are scared sometimes too. They too gasp at their consciousness of the 'thrown-away future' and 'harsh stares around them,'

My breath is getting shorter
I close my eyes every night from twisted reality
The music box of tragedy echoes
But in order to be free from this crime
It’s impossible to forget and give up
Because those lips were too sweet
I threw my future away because I was drunk on dating
When I woke up, I was surrounded by land mines
Surrounded by people’s stares that can’t be touched
- BTS, 'Intro: Boy Meets Evil'

I beg for something to newly become different in me, but reality isn't easy.

It’s funny, you think anything is possible when you’re a kid
When you feel how hard it is to get through a day
Keep feeling like the “Control” beat, keep downloading it
Every single day is a repetition of Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V
I have a long way to go but why am I running in place?
I scream out of frustration but the empty air echoes
I hope tomorrow will be different from today
I’m just wishing
- BTS, 'Tomorrow'

However, sometimes this frustration and desire for self-destruction can become the source of inspiration. Destruction gives birth to inspiration. Just as the bird fights its way from the egg, if you destroy what exists, something new is born. That is also the storytelling in BTS' 'WINGS' short films and 'Blood Sweat Tears' music video. In particular, their 'The Most Beautiful Moment in Life' title song 'Fire' dramatically shows exactly this destruction → creation process. Their shout to "burn everything up" is suggestive of the young generation's desire to find something new through destruction.

So Suga's final part, in which he says "I'll forgive you," is significant. 'Forgiveness' is something only the strong can give. The rebel, the person who pities himself and hates himself, the weak person, cannot say to the person who goes after them, "It's okay, even if you sin with me I will forgive you. Don't be afraid." After shaking off the restraints of reality that have bound them, only those who can face the world on their own terms can say the bold words, "I forgive you."

Stendhal

It isn't only one or two classical works that contain the relationship between destruction and inspiration. Among these, Stendhal's <The Red and the Black> is the story of Julian Sorel, a low-born but ambitious youth who stands against the oppressive French society of the 19th century. But his ambition was doomed to destruction from the start. In the end, he shoots Madame de Rênal, who he loved, and precipitates his own demise.

"Now I am isolated in this underground prison, but I did not live my time on earth in isolation. I lived a life devoted to my duties. Right or wrong, I imposed upon myself the duty I determined..."
- Stendhal, <The Red and the Black>

But even in jail, Julian Sorel searches for his true self. The end of his life is right in front of his eyes. He receives a new language and new emotions, and freedom from the time he spent with Madame de Rênal, who watched over him. Julian looks into his heart and finally finds the 'happiness he missed even when it was at his side, having been seized by ambition.' As the translator said, "Society has locked him in prison, but contrary to expectation, he gets revenge on society by finding in that prison the true meaning of happiness."

If I scorn myself, what will be left to me?

I was bursting with ambition too, in the past. I do not wish to reproach myself for that now, for all I did then was follow the current of the times. Now I am living out the days that have been given to me. But if I were to say what base act I committed, it would be that in front of all the people watching, I became an person evil to myself."
- Stendhal, <The Red and the Black>

All people rebel, and grow, and sometimes are caught up in a desire for destruction. The abovementioned Albert Camus, Herman Hesse, and Stendhal, and writers like them, are people who can edify that desire through artistic inspiration. BTS, as well, are working to sublimate their desires through the music that they themselves are creating. Their desire is no different than the desire of their fans. So it may be that that is why we cheer for them.

(To be continued in Part 2)

original post: here