February is here and we all know what month it is. Yes, it’s the month of love. This Valentine’s day, let’s celebrate the most important love of them all. Let’s jam all day with my favorite 7 Self-Love BTS Songs!
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, BTS is well known for its songs to have powerful messages. These messages are addressing serious social issues and also at the same time motivation for all young people around the world. They tackled a subject that the vast majority of youth experience such as mental health, desire to belong in society, temptation to sin, and last but definitely not least, self-love. The band really highlights their stand for loving yourself in almost all of their songs. To the point that it is their core. BTS spreads the message of self-love to their fans saying that we are enough. That it’s safe to be who we really are. And when you love yourself, you can also help others to love themselves too.
Since it’s Valentine’s Day is here, might as well celebrate it by listening to some BTS songs that remind us of the importance of self-love. Here are my favorite 7 self-love BTS songs:
“But first, there’s a question I’d like to ask. Do you see that door? To enter, I will need your keys. Concentrate on opening the door. Keep calm and relax. Take a deep breath. Empty your minds and focus. Are ready? I’ll show you.”
7. Magic Shop
“Welcome to the Magic Shop! Any worries you would like to share? Any wish you’d like to make come true? The Magic Shop will be your guidance.” Yes, these lines are from the voice-over intro during the 5th Muster of BTS. I chose this song as the first song to introduce since it sets the tone of this blog post. The song, Magic Shop is actually based on a memoir called Into the Magic Shop by American neurosurgeon James Doty. I won’t dig deep about this since I’m not an expert. So I recommend you to watch the video below which a Korean psychiatrist explains how BTS used the mental health techniques in the song.
What I love about this song is that it’s a good starting line when you want to learn on how to love yourself. The song helps you realize what you really wanted to be. Inside the magic shop, all your worries will be exchanged with your wishes. The line “So show me. I’ll show you.” means that BTS doesn’t want us to be afraid of showing our true selves to them. They want to hear our hurts and our pain. In return, they want to comfort us and be the light in our lives just like the concept of a Magic Shop.
6. I’m Fine
Look at the super cool gif above. Have you noticed that the words “Save Me” flips and turns into “I’m Fine”? So Dope right? The words are actually two BTS masterpieces that are correlated to each other. Save Me displays dark feelings and excessive codependency while I’m Fine shows self-encouragement and independence. The lyrics are connected and seem like they’re answering each other. The best example would be RM’s verse in I’m fine is an ambigram to his verse from Save Me. You can see it in the photo below.
The color-coded lines show the corresponding verses from each song. As you can see, the first line of his verse in “I’m Fine” corresponds to his last line in “Save Me. It showcases the growth that comes from losing in love, and how learning to love yourself is essential when pouring love into others. I’m always blown away by how they connect the two songs together with mirroring.
Not only the lyrics are so amazing but also the choreography, melody, and instrumentals of the two songs. Everything in it is so connected that even you listened to Save Me in reverse, you can also hear Save Me’s melody. Mindblowing right? You can witness it with your own eyes with that video above. I recommend you to be attentive as their performance is always so visualizing and too much good stuff are going on. Take note of the transition of the graphics and also the melody. It is so satisfying that watching it only once is not enough. So these two songs have a meaning that transitions from being too dependent on others because you poured yourself into them too much to realize you’re losing your true self.
5. Answer: Love Myself
This song is pretty straight forward. The first two songs I’ve mentioned are more about opening one’s self and slowly getting to know your true self. In this song, the lyrics tell you that the importance of wholeheartedly loving yourself which is by accepting your whole self. We tend to struggle more with loving who we are because we set ourselves to higher standards and keeps on comparing to other people. In short, we are so hard and strict with ourselves. However, this song reminds you that no matter who you are, it may be our past, present, or future selves , they are all you. Even your darkest past is still part of you.
“Even the scars made by your own mistake mark your constellations.” This line really hits hard for me. Since this is also mentioned by RM in his 2018 U.N. Speech. He mentioned that your mistakes still make you, YOU and that what makes you unique and beautiful. We may not erase our past, but if you choose to embrace it and learn from it, then you can move forward better and stronger. This song makes you realize that we must forgive ourselves now because our life is too long to be given up. Life has so much to offer and thus we should not waste it and just enjoy the ride.
4. Idol
This upbeat song is a song of celebration. Since you’ve already accepted yourself, it’s time to celebrate now. You know don’t really mind what will others say. They may call whatever they want but it doesn’t matter because you’ve finally embraced your true self. You now know what you are, what you want and no one will stop you from loving yourself. The song truly screams self-acceptance and self-affirmation. It is a good mood booster whenever you are down.
Aside from the lyrics, the music video and the melody itself has deep ties with Korean culture. Such as the seven members are wearing hanboks, some parts of the choreography have traditional Korean dances incorporated, and in the instrumentals, they’ve used some traditional Korean instruments. It is the band’s answer from the criticism they’ve received that they were becoming too much “westernized.” Instead of bowing down with their haters, they created this song as a celebration of their own identity. The song screams that they are still Korean and they are proud of it.
3. Cypher 4
This song is quite different from all that I’ve mentioned before since this is a diss track that is created by the rap line of BTS. RM, Suga, and J-Hope answered back all the hate comments that they’ve received. The rap line regularly released a “BTS Cypher” to address their haters and naysayers.
In the past (well even up to now), RM constantly being made fun of with his stage name (rap monster), being criticized for his manner of rapping, and his face not being a standard “Idol” beauty. However, RM answered back by mocking his haters by being sorry for his own existence, and also for being successful as it is annoying the haters. And to a point where he is already bored on the hate. He answered them with the line, “Ya playa haters you should love yourself brr”.
In the next verse, J-hope entered with his funky and unique rapping style. He has this way of half rapping and half-singing which is his signature. In his part, he highlights their hardships and their dedication to how they make music. And they worked hard for the stage they are standing on right now. Haters can say whatever they want but for them, it doesn’t matter anymore as long as they got each other.
While for Suga’s part, it just overflows with irony and sarcasm. He is well known for dissing back at haters without incorporating actual vulgar words. Ehem hello “Agust D“. He just straight up saying that he promises he’s going to be more famous and earn more money, and he doesn’t even care what jobless people think about him.
“I love myself. I know myself.”
Altogether, they’ve agreed that since they love themselves, they won’t give in to the haters or anyone who will bring them down. They can’t control what these people may say but they will continue to strive more to the point they would be more and more famous. And if that annoys them, let them burn in it. BTS assured their critics that they are happy doing what they love.
2. So What
Since you don’t care about what other people are saying, you are now free from them. There are always going to be those who will agree with you and those who will disagree with you. “Damn you do, damn you don’t. People will always find a way to criticize you. However, in this song, BTS highlights that we will never able to please everyone so might as well do whatever you want. As long as you’re not hurting anyone, you should not allow yourself to be influenced so much by the perspective of others.
“Just go instead of worrying. Don’t get scared, cheer up. Shout it out. So what!” Now that you’ve already embraced your dark past, know what you really want, and don’t care about haters, so what’s next? Sometimes we still worry if we’re really on the right path. In this line, BTS encourages us to muster up all of our courage and move forward. People sometimes worry too much to the point that we got stuck and trapped with it. This song is a constant reminder that we may not have all the answers to life figured out just yet, but by taking small steps forward, we will be able to grow closer to our purpose and dream.
1. Epiphany
And we’re finally here on our last stop. After all the things we’ve done so far, we finally realize and got our “Aha! moment”. Epiphany is a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand. This solo track of Jin is well known as the anthem of self-love and we ARMYs labeled this song as our national anthem. It is a healing song for BTS themselves and also wants to share it with everyone. This song encourages everyone that now is the time to put down the “smiling” mask and reveal your true self.
“I’m the one I should love in this world. The shining me, the precious soul of mine. I realize only now, so I love me. Though I’m not perfect, I’m so beautiful.”
The chorus part is just a chef’s kiss. And it never fails to let ARMYs cry. This emotional ballad song is a constant reminder about self-love even in the acknowledgment of our own imperfections. We may not be perfect, but all of us are so beautiful in our own way. It is truly one of the best Self-love BTS songs!
If you listen to these songs, be sure to check out the lyrics and the translations of it first. I highly recommend Doolset Bangtan as they have a most likely accurate translation and also they put some tiny notes where they explain more about the lyrics.
Here is a Spotify playlist that I made with the 7 Self-love BTS songs I’ve mentioned above so that it would be easier for you to give it a listen. I hope you’ve enjoyed and learned a lot from this blog post. Till next time, sweeties!
1 Comment
Nice selection of songs. Will check them out. Following your playlist now.
PS These are the songs that made John Cena a BTS fan, right? HAHA