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Analysis of BTS Love Yourself 轉 Tear 'Singularity' Comeback Trailer and Lyrics.
Intro: Singularity
BigHit introduces Love Yourself: Tear 轉 with a trailer called Singularity. Kim Taehyung presents the theme of the next comeback which will express the dark, mysterious, toxic, agonizing, contemplative, and even destructive side of finding yourself, loving yourself, and loving someone else.
The slow R&B song displays a sensual and sultry vibe that tastefully accentuates Taehyung’s soulful and baritone voice. The lyrics of the song and the music video conveys his feelings of losing himself to appease another, most likely but not exclusively, a lover. The other can also be interpreted as the people and the world around him. For simplicity, I will be referring to the other as a lover, but the following explanations can still be applied if the other is the people or the world around him!
Coat Rack
The scene starts off with Taehyung and the coat rack, symbolizing his lover (or the people and the world around him).
Immediately, there is a depiction of an unhealthy push-and-pull relationship. He takes her hand but sharply snaps out of it.
However, she captivates him back.
But then again, he tries to leave.
“A sound of something breaking I awake from sleep A sound full of unfamiliarity Try to cover my ears but can’t go to sleep The pain in my throat gets worse Try to cover it I don’t have a voice Today I hear that sound again”
Taehyung realizes there is a problem between them symbolized by the sound that won’t let him sleep. He copes with it by ignoring it and avoiding to speak out, even though it continues to bother him.
White Masks
Several white masks come out from Taehyung that symbolizes parts of himself or his fake selves.
He plays with them and tries to select which one would please his lover.
The flower he holds represents his love and he tries to match it with a fake self that would gain her love.
He finally chooses one and covers himself with it.
Memory Room and Frozen Lake
There’s many scenes of Taehyung inside a room covered in newspaper and flowers.
He’s seen cherishing and absorbing its ambience.
The room represents the memories and events of their relationship. (If it was the world, then it represents the news and events of the world). In the room, there is a small pool of water, which represents the lake in the lyrics.
“I suddenly run to the lake There’s my face in it”
On the surface of the water, he sees his face, his reflection. He sees his true self in midst of their deceitful relationship.
“A thick ice has formed Please don’t say anything Reach my hand out to cover the mouth”
When the lake water freezes, he is unable to see his reflection anymore. He loses his identity slowly in exchange for love, and she reinforces to suppress it.
“A crack again on this frozen lake I dumped myself into the lake Over the winter lake I was thrown“
He describes how he threw himself in the lake, trapping himself inside as it freezes. However, the crack in the ice symbolizes his realization of acting untruthfully.
“But in the end, spring will come someday The ice will melt and flow away”
An inevitable day will come when his true self cannot be concealed anymore and the ice will again turn into water.
He may or may not want his true self back, but regardless, he will see his own reflection again.
One day, he must choose between his lover (flowers/room) or himself (water/reflection). He realizes that the love that he tries to gain or has gained is fake and does not and will not last. His lover does not love him, she loves his fake self.
Smeraldo Flower
The Smeraldo flower makes its comeback!
From the past comebacks, we know that the Smeraldo flower means the ‘truth that cannot be told,’ which in this context, is his true self.
He holds it as he chooses a fake self for his lover, signifying his lie.
But it will eventually burn in the end. He will not be able to continue with the facade and must either choose himself or his fake love and fake lover.
“Have I lost myself Or have I gained you”
“Tell me if my voice isn’t real If I shouldn’t have thrown myself away Tell me if even this pain isn’t real What I was supposed to do back then”
These ending lyrics are the most depressing and ominous out of the whole song. He realizes his problem and regrets throwing himself away for her but at the same time, he continues to look for her and becomes reliant on her opinions as she now makes him who he is. He now only finds himself in her and his self-concept will only be molded by her, as evidenced by him asking her what to feel, what to think, and what to do. The push-and-pull relationship becomes a toxic cycle that traps him without easy escape as he gradually loses himself more and more.
Outro: Thoughts
I honestly did not expect BigHit to turn this dark and this deep for this comeback but I am glad they are going darker and deeper than the oceans. BTS has been addressing social issues relevant to youth since debut, especially youth in their teens and 20′s. The Love Yourself series focuses on the psychological struggle with identity and finding love, appropriately fit for people in their teens and 20′s as the BTS members are within this age group.
There are dangerous aspects of love, and losing one’s self is only one of them. There are existing partners out there that are captivating but manipulative in a way that they know how and when to turn on their charms to seduce another. There are also others who are insecure in themselves that they base their self-worth on their relationships and may sabotage their relationship themselves.
There are also people who mold themselves into someone else because they do not love themselves, and therefore think that others don’t as well. It becomes a coping mechanism to put on a mask to hide the shame of who they really are. Yet, in doing so, they confuse their true self and their fake self eventually that it becomes mentally, emotionally, and socially damaging.
In order for love to be true, loving yourself and having confidence in who you are is essential before you can fully give yourself to another person or love other people around you. You must find yourself first before you can find yourself in another.
Love, whether romantic or not, is a double-edged sword. It is addicting like a drug and uses the same chemicals and mechanisms in the brain as drugs do. That’s why it makes us do crazy irrational things and why it’s hard to give it up. We try to find so many ways to seek true love that sometimes we sacrifice ourselves or parts of ourselves in order to gain it. Love for one’s self is essential and lack thereof may develop in an evil concept of the world that may cause awful decisions and bitter behavior. Love is not just a beautiful thing that can bring the most happiness, but it can also be destructive and bring the most pain.
The Magic Shop & Pandora’s Box Theory [Fake Love Teaser 1]
BTS (방탄소년단) 'FAKE LOVE' Official Teaser 1 officially dropped. The Magic Shop is explicitly stated as “a psychodramatic technique that exchanges fear for a positive attitude.” Psychodrama is often used in group therapy workshops in mental hospitals or other mental facilities to help patients gain insight into their own lives.
However, the “Magic Shop” is a coined term from the book Into the Magic Shop by Dr. Doty, which was quoted before as seen above for their performance at KBS Gayo Daeshukje 2017. In the book, Dr. Doty met Ruth, an owner of a magic shop and “a woman who taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires. Her final mandate was that he keep his heart open and teach these techniques to others. She gave him his first glimpse of the unique relationship between the brain and the heart.” Her techniques include relaxing the body, taming the mind, opening the heart, and clarifying your intent. More details of her techniques linked here.
In the teaser, the boys are exchanging items from the WINGS era, that symbolizes their fear, for items from Highlight Reels, that symbolizes a positive attitude. These items also references to the girls that helped them gain this positive attitude, just like Ruth did for Dr. Doty.
Jin is exchanging his earpiece for a ?
Jhope is exchanging his snickers for a cake
Namjoon is exchanging his glass shard for a hairband
Jimin is exchanging his forest photo for an umbrella
Suga is exchanging ? for a lollipop
V is exchanging ? for a backpack
(some of Jin’s, Suga’s, and V’s items were not shown).
Jungkook is the only one that did not exchange something for an item but instead got a key. This is because in the WINGS era and in the book Demian, Jungkook symbolizes Sinclair when he was an innocent boy naive to the evils of the world. He had no fear of the world because he was not exposed to it yet.
This teaser also references to the story of Pandora’s box. If you don’t know, the story of Pandora’s box is from Greek mythology that explains how evil was spread to the world. The Greeks believed that the world was once pure and innocent until Pandora, a curious girl, opened a box that was given by Zeus but she was instructed never to open it. When she did open it, evil things were released such as greed, envy, hatred, pain, disease, hunger, poverty, war, and death. She tried to close the box, but the only thing that was left in the box was hope. The myth conveys the message that hope is the only thing that humans can hold onto in an evil world.
In relation to the teaser, Jungkook’s key opens up to a room full of dirt, rubble, coat hangers and a hooded figure. The room and the figure symbolizes the world and its evils and the coat hangers symbolize the other boys, who have been exposed to evil. There are 6 coat hangers in total. Remember that the boys are all personas of one person at each stage of life according to WINGS and Demian. Jungkook is now exposed to the evil world and must surpass it, going through each persona, in order to find himself and mature. The coat hangers symbolize the personas of the Self because in Singularity, Taehyung uses it to dance with himself.
Just a reminder that BigHit officially declared that in Highlight Reels, the boys were acting not as themselves because they FEARED that they will not be loved for who they are. They gained fake love since the world, including themselves, did not like them for who they are, but for who they were acting to be. This time, the boys are exchanging their fears for a positive attitude in hopes to find real love, real love for their true selves. The book Into the Magic Shop teaches how you can change your life by first changing what’s within yourself, losing your fears of being judged and hated, and having a positive attitude to break free from your fake self to gain real love.
Here are my past theories of WINGS and LY: Her. Please read it so it would make more sense. THEY’RE ALL RELATED!
FAKE LOVE THEORY
I stayed up all night for Fake Love to drop and it was worth it! Before I get into the theories, I just want to say I am REALLY proud of the boys. They have come this far and now they are taking the U.S. by storm. They’re only going to get bigger after the BBMAs and it makes my heart so full.
Intro: Brief Summary of Past Theories
Fake Love is a song about losing one’s self to please another in order to gain their love. When the first teaser came out, I theorized that Jungkook was going to go through each persona, which are the other members, and I was right! You can view that theory here.
I am a huge believer that all the boys are manifestations of one person at each stage of life, exposed to a particular kind of evil, and must overcome them. There are LOTS of clues from the WINGS era about this. It’s in Demian, it’s in the short films, the music videos, and they are even explicitly stated in the concert WINGS VCR’s. Here are just some examples of quotes from the VCR:
“The boy walks, with not one but seven hearts. Seven beats and one strides forward. Altered perspective and one is seven.”
“Two worlds back to back, Relentlessly merge into one. Now the seven boys are on the road, Seven but One. Seven boys with one heart. One boy with seven hearts, One and Seven, a reflection of each other.“
Remember my pandora box theory about Jungkook’s box and key? Greek mythology believed that evil originated from Pandora’s box and she released different kinds of evil such as greed, envy, hatred, pain, disease, hunger, poverty, war, and death. The myth conveys the message that hope is the only thing that humans can hold onto in an evil world. Jungkook will now start his journey to maturity through the exposure to the dark and evil side of life, paralleling the myth. He first stumbles into the shop seeming naive to the place but the others knew how to make a transaction right away. Jungkook receives a key from the Magic Shop because he does not have a fear to trade. This is because in Demian and WINGS, Jungkook is the persona that represents the young innocent boy naive to the evils of the world and therefore has no fear. He is the BEGINNING of a man’s life. Concluding from all the past videos and short films, Jin is the PRESENT, and everyone else represents a stage of life in between Jungkook and Jin (You can view in detail how I concluded that here). Therefore, Jungkook receives a key instead that would start his journey to maturity by going through each persona in the shop, which are the other members, exposing himself to evil. This leads us to the story of the music video.
THE MAGIC SHOP AND LOVE MAZE
The members are in a building or in the Magic Shop in their respective rooms except Jungkook. It actually seemed like a maze with obstacles in the music video and this is not the first time BTS has referenced mazes (Young Forever).
He experiences what the others members are experiencing in each room. Everything, especially their fears. He experiences them acting untruthfully to themselves, hiding themselves in order to gain love. Jungkook is the members and the members are Jungkook.
This is reflected in the acting...
...and in the choreography. (Edit: as I saw more of the choreography, Jungkook actually mirrors more members other than J-hope, which are RM, V, and Jin.)
FEARS
The members’ fears are those ones that prevent them from being themselves because the world might not love them from who they are. Their fears are of course related to their WINGS solos and the HYYH notes.
Jin - fear of the truth
J-hope - fear of abandonment
Jimin - fear of being caught in a lie
Taehyung - fear of being like his abusive father
RM - fear of being lost in life
Suga - fear of losing his music
(*Note that some of these might not be accurate because we don’t have everything from the HYYH notes yet).
THE TRUTH PROTECTED
In the beginning, we see Jin closing the curtains on Jungkook. It’s as if he’s preventing him from seeing his room and seeing his fears, perhaps even preventing his child persona from evil.
Jin is then seen protecting a Smeraldo flower, which we now know represents ‘a truth that cannot be told.’ The flower can represent lots of things that are untold, however, in this context, it is the truth to one’s self. Jin protects his flower with extra care as evidenced by the glass case. His room then explodes and the flower turns into sand, and when this happens, the truth is unveiled. BUT WHY SAND? I took a while to figure this out but I will explain it later.
Something important to note is that the members are all trying to keep something out of their rooms and/or lock themselves in.
J-hope keeps his door from opening.
Suga has barricades on his windows and the fireplace.
Jimin closes the faucet.
They are trying to keep the evil that they fear out of the rooms. Out of sight and out of mind. However, we know many times from WINGS and Demian that someone cannot mature without exposure to evil. They themselves want to be perfect and they want their love to be perfect (”I wish love was perfect as love itself”). They deny all the bad things in themselves and the bad things that comes with love. Hence, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
This is also reflected in the choreography.
And in the set (the hands are the actions of covering your eyes, ears, & mouth)
THE ANSWER
However, when Jungkook finally finishes going through all of the personas, he realizes the truth and the importance of staying true to yourself depicted by the sand that he picks up with the shadow of the flowers flying away. He realizes that the truth, which may be the evil and the bad in themselves, cannot be contained any longer. It will eventually be uncovered, it will not last. They have to face their fears, the good and the bad in themselves and in love, in order to mature. (Edit: This statement is now proven true through their behind the scenes shooting of Fake Love).
We saw from Jin’s case that when the flower turns into sand, the truth is unveiled. Now, Jungkook unveils all of the members’ truths after living their experiences and carrying it with him. Also, this scene is reminiscent of the sea/beach where the members want to meet each other again according to the HYYH notes. The sand and the water represents the beach, and all of the members reaching the beach together means the merging of all the personas together as I’ve said stated before in my holistic theory. This is why the flower turns into sand in particular. The merging of the personas is symbolic of when a man becomes WHOLE, finds himself, finds his answer, and ready to find real love.
Back to the theory, after Jungkook unveils the truth is when the evil that they were trying to keep out, gets in their rooms. This is metaphorically depicted with...
Snickers flooding in J-hopes room.
Fire exploding in Suga’s room.
Water flooding in Jimin’s room.
V’s phone starting to flicker the words “Save Me/I’m Fine” (Zoom in to see).
RM seeing his fake reflection
In addition to the explosion in Jin’s room.
It is very reminiscent of the interlude of Blood, Sweat, and Tears. After Jin kisses the statue, signifying a lie that cannot be told, all hell breaks loose. However this time, after Jungkook uncovers the truth, all hell breaks loose.
THE NEXT STEP
Jungkook uncovers the secret passage to Jin’s room, which is found to have already exploded with rubble on the floor, with 6 coat hangers, and a hooded figure. The room and the figure symbolizes the world and its evils and the coat hangers symbolize the other boys, who have been exposed to evil. There are 6 coat hangers in total. Remember that the boys are all personas of one person at each stage of life according to WINGS and Demian. Jungkook has now been exposed to the evil world and surpassed it by going through each persona.
This figure can also be seen as the shopkeeper of the Magic Shop. He waits for Jungkook in the end after giving him the key, to trade him a fear of the world. I’m not exactly sure what this fear would be but from the theme of the era, it would have to be losing yourself. Since the members are personas of himself, it can also be that he is afraid to lose parts of himself which are the other members, hence his WINGS song Begin. Losing one’s self tumbles into losing one’s love.
Outro: Conclusion
The whole point of all the eras is to convey the message of finding yourself and loving yourself. The last thing that is important to note in the music video is that Jungkook ends up in the room that Jin was in at the beginning. He ends up in the present and who Jin is. He’s now maturing to find the answer and is now ready to take on the world to find real love.
“Fear is another name for hope.
Tears are another way to smile.
The boy smiles.
He can smile when he is whole.
The boy walks on."
- WINGS VCR (2017)