Music Monday – Proof
I really wanted to post today and give my thoughts on the new BTS anthology. But I also got my second booster shot over the weekend and, as with previous shots, I am totally wiped. Feverish, achy, tired. So I will be brief.
1) Yet To Come
One of the few new songs included in the anthology. I could spend the entire week diving into the layers of this song and the video. It’s a message of hope, of carrying on, and of reassurance to ARMY. The video has elements of previous eras. The lyrics remind us that they are now and always have been about the music. Expectations, trophies, awards, flowers? “We ain’t about it.” Dreams, hopes, going forward? “We so about it.” Absolutely love this song.
2) Run BTS
This one is fun and funky. It’s a mix of genres, and I’m not even sure I could tell you which genres. “Two bare feet are our gassoline …” so good. That reminder again of how hard they worked, coming from a small company with no “ins” in the music world. “We from the bottom; we kinda fast.” And then Yoongi’s scream after his verse, that is the answer, I just about died laughing but I love it. I’ve been playing this one the most because it gives me energy. From “Run bulletproof, run” to j-hope saying how great they all are and thanking his hyungs, I am so there for it. Chaos and all. “Run beautiful, run yeah you gotta run, run.”
3) For Youth
This one, I’ve listened to it twice. It hasn’t connected with me. I watched the live performance earlier today. The lyrics are beautiful, the sentiment is great. It has an 80s ballad feel to me, which I’m just not digging. I will give it another try or two, but so far for me, it’s a pass, despite how much I love the words. It starts out with Young Forever live, probably from Wembledon with ARMY singing the lyrics, which is an absolutely beautiful moment. Interesting to note that Young Forever is also a pass song for me (the anthemy sound, repetitive chorus, please don’t take my ARMY card, I’d totally have sung along at Wembledon and really dig the demo version they included on disc 3) and then goes into the song.
4) Disc 3
The demo versions and unreleased songs they included on the 3rd disc give me life. All of them are really good. Some are a bit funny. 😉 But my favorite at the moment is the DNA demo by j-hope. LOVE. And V’s Spring Day demo. Melted. And that version of Epiphany from Jin … my god. The Seesaw instrumental. Melted again. The Young Forever demo, yes. I Need U. Beautiful. I’m not certain why they didn’t release this on spotify. I assume it has to do with the fact that these are demo versions and there’s some sort of red tape around it. At least I hope that’s the reason. But every one of those demo versions stands up on its own. Perfectly imperfect. Perfectly perfect.
One of these days I’ll find the time and the energy and most importantly the words to really go into one of their songs layer by layer. For now, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the collection they’ve put together and be glad I was alive during this era. ?