“When the world divides us, I’ll take another step closer” - ‘Please’
A while ago I shared this post on Jimin's love for Jungkook, the way he shows it and his love language; day by day I realize that there would be so many things to add, but lately, with his appreciation for “Please”, I realized I missed one point that, to me at least, is fundamental. Always, of course, based on the assumption (🧘🏼) that what he and Jungkook share might go beyond the platonic sphere.
That point is music. I should've mentioned, at least, how Jimin has put out two official solo records, Face and Muse, that are filled with elements of love, reliance, admiration, romantic wishes. Face was way more introspective and melancholic, less focused on romance, Jimin meant a different message for that piece of music. There is just one song in the EP that we could kinda connect with his love life - even if it’s more of a self-reflection and purging - and it is definitely Like Crazy.
That song is all about being in a dreamy state, which is painfully temporary, while you’re escaping reality, feelings, or unsatisfaction, and hoping that the person you’re with - the song was originally meant to be gender neutral - doesn’t leave, so you can prolong this state of mind as long as possible with them, and the sensations they evoke in you.
Together with the internal conflict, between the male/female aspect of the MV, Robert Mapplethorpe on his pants - that I already talked about ABUNDANTLY lol - and so on.
Of course on Face there’s also the hidden track, Letter, which we all know what is about: love. A genuine, transparent, I’d say innocent and tender confession. Jimin has explicitly stated it is a fan song, and in the name of that statement I keep things respectful when it comes to Letter. I don’t personally interpret that as a “don’t speculate, don’t assume it’s something else”. For what I feel like I know of Jimin, I see that as more of an “I’m not ready to be transparent about this yet, be delicate with it”.
I’ll share here the original lyrics that were not included in the final version:
“I hope you become happier, you who were the only one to hold me tightly and to protect me”
Edit__ I also find it interesting that the lyrics he initially wrote, and then cut out, are the ones where Jimin mentions being held and protected, where he implies that this special person “touched him”, like someone who was physically close enough to hold him tightly and protect him from harm, pain or suffering. Which, as we know, it’s pretty much impossible for a fan or army to do, as we have no chance of “holding him tightly” from afar.
And some of the lyrics of the song that I think encapsulate best what Jimin was trying to convey:
Will you still be the same even if some time has passed?
Like the first time we met
If we were together, even the desert could turn to a sea
Just the way we wеre then
You, who felt like warm spring to me, in the cold winter
You, who saw me greater than my little self
Don’t leave, just stay by my side, don’t worry
We don’t know what the future holds, and that’s scary, it makes us afraid
But don’t forget we’re always together
Basically a beautiful, so confessional declaration of love, of hoping that someone who has been in your life for a long time stays not only the same, but changes with you, so that you can be together. The entirety of Face - focused on loneliness, on emptiness - is closed with this hopeful, romantic Jimin, who’s wishing this bond lasts forever. Who believes in that concept of ‘forever’, in the desert becoming a sea when they’re united, in the fact that this person deserves these words because they held him, protected him, felt like spring when everything around was cold and unbearable.
Just 3 minutes before, he was feeling lost and hopeless. This love basically heals.
That song is a glimpse on Jimin’s way of thinking about love, how he feels about it, and the power it has on him. Someone who commits, who sees a connection with another as a vow, a promise he wants to keep, because in the end, all he and all they both know, is that they’re together. The future is uncertain, unpredictable, and scary - Jimin is being vulnerable, for the first time, exposing himself as frightened by the thought of a deep connection being challenged by life and eventually ending.
To tell someone “I’m scared too, we have everything to be scared about, but let’s just rely on each other. We are always together” means telling them “I’m choosing you always”. And I think it does need to be mentioned when we reflect on Jimin’s love language and his lover-personality.
Jimin’s second record, Muse, is way lighter, even though it was recorded almost simultaneously with Face, and I’d say that, for this one, 5 out of the total 6 are love songs, and 4 of them were written by Jimin too: Rebirth, which is an interlude, SGMB, Slow Dance and Be Mine.
I always hold back from interpreting an artist’s work as strictly related to what I think I know about their life, or to a single phase, relationship, person, moment. Existence is complex, the reasons and motifs behind a song or even a verse are so wide, could come from multiple inspirations, goals, fantasies.
And Jimin himself has expressed how he’d like for people to “get the wrong idea”. Which to me, at least creatively, means: make this art yours. So I won’t scrutinize too much.
All I wanna focus on is the recurrence of themes. Rebirth is the sweetest thing, recalling that first crushing feeling you get when you meet someone or start to get emotionally involved with them. Some of the korean lyrics say “I can feel my heart pounding when your fingertips brush past me”, or “you can’t be hidden, in my darkness you’re my light, like a sun-shining vibe spreading softly”.
I think it’s interesting that the same concept comes back in the korean lyrics of Slow Dance: “your smile is filling my heart full, impossible to hide”.
The entire song just brings you back to that young fresh feeling of attraction and excitement towards someone you feel could change your life. The song ends with Jimin singing of clouds, petals and wind passing by as if they were waiting for the two lovers to meet, to walk towards each other.
There is this recurring theme in Jimin’s discography- and also in his preferred songs, like Serendipity or Please - of walking towards each other, of meeting, of always being headed towards the other. It’s so sweet.
SMGM is even sweeter and funnier. The song initially seems to clearly speak to armys, but there are elements of romance too - because, as I said, a single song comes from different places, can have different interlocutors, and it is just impossible to summarize without reducing its meaning.
One thing, though, that really gets me about this song, is not only the energy - I think it’s the speedy beat that’s so catchy - but the, again, mention of “dizzling sky and fluttering flowers” that “will all be there” when Jimin and his lover meet.
Slow Dance follows the same scheme, praising closeness in the korean lyrics like “this is the last romance, I’ll never let go of your hand”, or “the star in my heart is you, only you”.
And Be Mine, which is THAT bitch, still has elements of romance in all that body to body/sensual thing going on. “The more I fall, the deeper it gets, If I could have you forever in this way”.
There’s like a thread going on, between all these songs, and his solo discography, and the thought hit me of how romantic, and special, it must be for Jimin to have such a good love in his life that he can’t help but… dedicate every song to it.
It’s a bit of a stretch, considering he was not the only one who worked on the songs and that we basically… don’t know, officially, what goes on in his heart and mind. But I find it sweet that these elements of “forever”, “closeness”, and the nature basically existing around just to witness you loving the other, are so present in each song and perfectly reflect Jimin’s lovely nature.
I think it’s a big part of his love language and needs to be mentioned, especially if we go back to Jikook basically claiming Serendipity as their own song, “I am you, you are me”. A total fusion between them, basically admitting and implying that you met by fate, and that the other person is so meant for you that they feel like yourself.
“I am you, you are me” is a sentence fully meant to be romantic and intimate, in a love song like that, which they chose as theirs.
A while ago someone asked me what I’d ask Jikook if I could/what moment I’d ask them about, or something like that, and I remember mentioning the “plaster” moment from a 2016 fansing. It was on April 2nd, and it’s my roman empire. Always thinking about it.
For those who don’t remember, during that fansign, Jimin and Jungkook were both seen wearing band aids around their fingers. They were matching bandaids, on the same hand.
A fan asked Jimin why he was wearing it, and Jimin simply replied: “it was Jungkook’s idea, he gave it to me/put it on me, lol”.
I’m sorry if some people already remember me talking about it and feel like I’m redundant, but I need to clarify the context. It turns out, in the end, that in the same year, 2016, just three months before the fansign, Zico had released a song called “You are me, I am you”.
In the music video of that song, the male and the female lead meet at a shop, and after intense eye contact and subtle flirting, they end up wearing the same bandaid on the same finger by coincidence.
If I wanted to have any doubts on Jikook being actually inspired by this song to wear matching plasters, those doubts would collapse the moment Serendipity enters the game.
This basically confirms that yes, they claimed Serendipity’s line “I am you, You are me” as theirs because they believe in destiny, and appreciate the song itself, but also that they claimed Serendipity’s line because they had already dedicated it to each other.
When, indeed, Zico’s song came out two years before Jimin’s Serendipity.
I really suggest you watch Zico’s music video just to get a glimpse of what was going on in the mind of 18 years old Jungkook when he watched it, LOL. What he saw at the time and what brought him to give Jimin that band aid.
If you’re lazy, I’ll tell you🙄. The MV revolves around the concept of accidentally matching clothes with a girl that works at the convenience store. Head to toe, shirt pants and shoes. Which, as we know, is a repeated pattern between Jikook still nowdays. They even matched HAIR colors and highlights for a period of time.
Going back to Zico, the two slowly start noticing each other, and that their clothes match everyday even though they don’t know each other, and even their shoes untie at the same time. Even when the store is closed, the guy goes by the door just to watch the girl behind wearing the same sweater he has on. They even share tattoos of a key and a locker, and realize none of it is actually a coincidence.
Young Jungkook basically saw all of this, like ALL OF IT, and thought:
Before I share the lyrics, I wanna specify that the song is also about the ways a couple connects at a young age. Just because we’re speaking of “coincidences”.
If our hearts are the same
Tell me what you want from me
We’re at the age we look the most beautiful
So we need to love to the fullest
Young Jungkook saw these lyrics too….
Horoscopes or tarot cards
I never did relationships based in the stars
And these lyrics as well…
All night long we kiss each other and
We wake up in the morning
Suddenly you’re seriously so pretty
All of this to say that Jikook think of themselves when they listen to music, or make music, and nothing new under the sun; so Please is the last example I wanna bring to the table, even if there’d be plenty to add and I probably will later in time.
Jimin has shown particular love for that song. On stage, he smiles and looks so shy and giggly when it’s Please’s turn. He used it on his instagram post where we can see him and Jungkook with a rainbow in the sky, he used it multiple times in his ig stories. His reaction on stage, though, it’s the most telling on how much he likes that song.
Every clip of him singing it - and specifically from the last Tampa concert, where he glanced at Jungkook multiple times - proves to me that he likes that song because he feels the words. And coincidentally, the song is about walking towards your lover despite difficulties, and being down to do anything with and for them, and wanting to please them. And, coincidentally, the chorus is sang by Jimin and Jungkook themselves.
Some of the lyrics, infact, are:
When the world divides us
I'll take another step closer
Stay with me on my worst day
Hold you even tighter right now, even hell, I'm down
BRO. LIKE. THERE IS ONLY ONE COUPLE I CAN THINK OF READING THIS.
“Even hell I’m down”…. “stay with me on my worst day”…..yeah. I mean. We got it.
Any place that you are, I'll surely follow
Path of thorns, I'll tread right over
The world's always getting in between us
You want me just all day, all night
Hold me from the front, back, left, right
I need you like all me, all mine
If I ever knew happiness, it was only you
Look, my cup runneth over, come and get a sip
Yeah, praying on it, for eternity, your soul and mine
Find reliance in you, baby, baby, please
Again the reliance, the other person being “the only one”, “the only happiness”, “your soul and mine for eternity”. Wanting them just for you, even when the world divides you, you just keep going and keep loving. It’s just logical that someone like Jimin relates to it and feels it deeply, and it’s just logical to associate it with Jikook considering how much they reflect - I’d say perfectly - all the lyrics and themes of the song.
This is definitely going in the Jikook’s lyrics series, and it’s definitely one of the most emotional ones I’ve ever dived into. Going back to 2016 was a ride, and looking at love through Jimin’s eyes is just an honor that I try to approach with nothing but respect.
Because above all, he’s a brave lover. Someone who craves freedom in that sentiment and is forced to adjust. And the same goes for Jungkook, who’s meant to be light and carefree. In this light, and in many others, I have nothing but admiration for these two’s story and hearts.
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