"BE" feels like home to BTS' fans
The album, their most recent work and described as the most BTS-esque album to date, is a long and honest love letter to ARMY –who was always there.
Throughout 2020, korean group BTS, just like all of us, couldn’t go out and about in the world, so they invited people into their home on several different occasions.
From the comfortable BANG BANG CON The Live sets, to their United Nations speech filmed on their home studio, their small vacation on In The Soop (a reality show that felt more like a hug and a therapy) released in September, their performance of “Home” at BTS Week, to, finally, the concept photos and numerous live streams to share the process of making their latest work, “BE”. We were always welcomed at their home.
“We had to [share the process], because we couldn’t meet our fans in person. There was a fear of disconnection”, explained RM, the group leader, at a press conference held hours before the album release.
Of course there wasn’t the slightest chance of ARMY feeling disconnected from RM, Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, but who in 2020 didn’t feel afraid of being disconnected from their friends and loved ones in these eight months of social isolation we’re living in?
And, just like all of us, the boys felt the need of reassuring their fans and loved ones that, even in this times of uncertainty, we’re still together and, more than that, it’s ok to feel sad and frustrated about everything, but, as their comeback single materialized in a song, “Life Goes On”.
“This song and 'Dynamite' [considered the album’s first single] come from the same roots”, said RM at the press conference. Both songs share the same message of positivity and of being “reborn”, in the sense that we have to shake the dust off our shoulders at some point and keep going. It’s not a coincidence that the songs open and close the album. RM also explains the decision of even considering 'Dynamite' a part of this album: “We discussed a lot about it, but it has the same roots and it’s to be like fireworks at the end of a concert.”
The “Life Goes On” music video has the group’s maknae (their youngest), Jungkook, as the Director, and who better to show us the group in their most relaxed and authentic selves than the person who grew up with them? At the press conference, he talked more about the idea behind: “show a sensibility and our emotional side”, and also making the atmosphere feel relatable to the fans who are, just like them, stuck in their houses and rooms.
I honestly lost count of how many times I laid in bed looking at the ceiling and at the walls in my room thinking how small it was and how it ended up being the only world I came to know these past months, and thinking I am the only one feeling like this is silly–”Fly To My Room”, the second song, talks about the bittersweet feeling of having to turn your room into your new world, how that’s difficult and “how the idea of travel will change in the future”, explained Jimin, one of the performers of the song and the album's Product Manager, which is a unit of Jimin, V, SUGA and J-Hope.
“Blue & Grey” is absolutely synesthetic. V, one of the main composers of the song, said it was “about expressing deep sadness and depression through colours”, and that the song is “a bit darker, but the guitar makes it soft and warm.”
Talking about the challenges of making “BE”, V, who had the responsibilities of a Visual Director, talked a lot about how the whole thing was important not only musically but also how inspired him to take on roles he’s not used to and how he felt happy and proud of the results. “I asked the members about their opinions, and I asked ARMY”, and that resonates deeply with the fans.
One of the most amazing things about following ARMY in any form of social media is to follow someone that suddenly finds out a new talent through a project made for the band. It’s inspiring to see people taking control of their own lives and abilities, all because a spark of inspiration that may have come from a song, a picture, or someday waking up feeling confident like you can do something you’ve never done before –and actually doing it.
“Skit” is a great surprise to the "oldies" who missed it and to "baby ARMY" who wanted a skit to call their own. It's non-musical track, an unedited and candid audio recording from the day they found out their first #1 at Billboard's Hot 100, and how happy they were. After knowing the "theme", it is impossible not to feel the emotion and the happiness they were feeling. You really don't have to know korean to listen to skit with a big smile on your face.
It also works as a transition, as a “turning of the key” to the next songs of the album. “Telepathy”, the first one, is a love letter to the fans, a celebration of a moment that hasn’t even happened yet, a long awaited meeting and an unbreakable connection. Musically is extremely dancing, not at all like the songs before this one, which are more like sitting-on-the-floor-and-chilling kind of songs.
But if you went all Lizzie McGuire, dancing around in your room with a comb as microphone, it’s ok, because “Dis-ease” is a trip around J-Hope’s mind as composer and producer, which basically means you’ll keep dancing, yes –but maybe you don’t want to read the lyrics just yet. Described as an “old-school hip-hop” by J-Hope himself, it is, still according to him, “a song about how everyone has a mental illness in one way or another”, and how this forced and uncertain break in the middle of a pandemic may trigger a series of questions about your own profession and your place in the world.
When Big Hit said BE would be the most BTS-esque album to date, they weren’t only talking about the fact that the whole process was their responsibility. “Dis-ease” is the perfect example of how BTS stands out in the music industry, by emphasizing what the boys do better: the word play. Even though the korean title is translated as “disease”, the way the english title is written tells us a different story: “dis” works as a prefix for “ease”, meaning that the title could also mean “uncomfortableness”.
“Stay” is the second and last unit of the album, being a collab between Jungkook, Jin and RM, and it’s yet another love letter to the fans “who always stay”, and, in message, is very similar to “Telepathy”, although being musically different and unique. On the v-live made to celebrate the album release, after the world had already had the opportunity of listening to the songs, Jungkook confessed “Stay” was supposed to be the last track of his solo work (still unreleased), and that the original lyrics were english-only.
“Dynamite” closes the album in a way you end up feeling very positive, and it couldn’t be different since… life goes on, after all. At the press conference, the boys said multiple times how they wished this album were extremely relatable, and they achieved that in the most amazing and effortless way.
ARMY is used to get raw honesty from BTS, and of course that an album that had their creative leadership in every single detail would give exactly that. Honesty, even if this honesty is them saying “yes, we feel frustrated and depressed too.”
So far we were used to wandering around each other’s rooms, taking in only what was there for our eyes to see and touch. With “BE”, BTS took us in a warm and tight hug that says “we know how you feel.”
How good it is to have Bangtan. How good it is not to feel alone. How good is to know that life goes on.
