A New Era BEgins: BE Album Analysis

When talking about BTS’ newest album, BE, what comes first to your mind? For us, we’d like to call it our “home.” We’ve known since long that the album would be self-produced by BTS themselves, and now it’s out, let’s take a closer look at this masterpiece. 가자!

Earlier in April, BTS started the production process of BE and held a YouTube livestream to share important parts with ARMY. Each member took part to almost every aspect of the production, from music to design and MV filming - with RM working on the album design, Jimin in charge of A&R, V as the Visual Manager, j-hope, SUGA and Jin as Production Coordinators and Jungkook as the MV Director. Just from the task distribution, we knew that this album would be special as BTS divided the responsibilities based on what they did best or aimed to improve.

Jimin, who wanted to be involved more in music producing, explained that he was to discuss with other members the kind of music they wanted for the album. BTS agreed that BE should portray their/our daily lives - how it was rough for everyone but each experienced a different pain - while offering an antidote. Hence, the title track Life Goes On is a perfect consolation for our longing. With positive yet melancholic vibes, BTS calmly tells us that whatever happens now is not our fault and everything will get better eventually; “like an echo in the forest, life (that we used to know) will come back around.” Jungkook helped direct the MV, the influence from his GCF videos is quite prominent. There are also several scenes that touched ARMY deeply: BTS hugging each other on the sofa, Taehyung looking at the stadium expressing his longing for concerts, and Jin closing his eyes and ending up in an empty hall singing with BTS, with ARMY Bombs in the background representing ARMY who couldn’t be there.

The second song is Fly To My Room by subunit Jimin, V, SUGA, and j-hope, expressing their helplessness during the pandemic when locked in their room, which becomes their whole world. With a rather laid-back mood, the lyrics evoke in us the familiar feeling of being in our own room. The song then fades and Blue & Grey pampers our ears with melodious guitar strains and heart-rending vocals and slow rap. Blue & Grey was supposed to appear in V’s mixtape-in-the-making, but its emotional meaning fits BE’s theme perfectly. Through this acoustic pop ballad, V captured the feeling of isolation and loneliness and a world seemingly losing its colors as it softly pleads, “I just wanna be happier.” But as dark as it may sound, Blue & Grey also gives us strength to rediscover our colors.

The album also features Skit, a recording of their honest and humble reaction to their first #1 in Billboard Hot 100 with Dynamite. With a promise that they’ll continue to make music forever, the album progresses to brighter sounds with Telepathy, Dis-ease, Stay, and Dynamite. A cheeky, retro-pop disco track, Telepathy invites us to imagine things that we can enjoy together after the world becomes normal again. Dis-ease, a track heavily influenced by old school hip-hop containing a genius wordplay from j-hope, discusses the meaning of “disease” as in an abnormal state (the pandemic) as well as “dis-ease,” the feeling of discomfort. Stay, an EDM track about a special bond between two people, sounds modern. We can assume BTS made this song for ARMY through the wordplay, “We connect to 7G, it ain’t the end of the world,” referring to their seven-year journey and reassuring us that after it all ends, we’ll meet again. Dynamite wraps up the album with joy, a gentle reminder that tough times don’t last, but tough people do, if we remember to turn up the music and dance.

For the album’s visuals, SUGA and V worked hard to portray the most sincere sides of BTS. The concept is just the members at their core, in rooms designed for them, doing whatever they like. The album jacket is monochromatically simple but holds a thousand meanings. The song list was handwritten by each member, with a lyric from Life Goes On engraved in the cover. What caught ARMY’s attention is the boys’ voice notes that explained more about their individual rooms, especially their favorite colors and what item represents them. Although small, these details envelop us with warmth, making us feel appreciated, as an invitation to get to know BTS as humans beyond their persona on stage.

Overall, BE offers us a never-before-felt experience. Our interpretation might be different, but one thing we certainly know is BTS’ wholehearted love for their ARMY. If you haven’t bought a copy yet, order it on Weverse Shop now!

Written by: Avi

Edited by: Ren

Designed by: Rei

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