that in BTS āė“ė (spring day)ā MV, the train station that showed taehyung waiting in the beginning is actually a real train station, iryeong station in yangju city, gyeonggi-do, albeit an abandoned one, since they only transport cargo now.
and that the music video is one helluva train ride to a place where there stood a tall tree, the place where they got together and come in terms with grief and hardships in life because the cold winter does end at some point, and spring comes. but letās talk about that later :) lets, lets talk about the very first lines namjoon uttered so carefully, such vulnerable words
i miss you
saying it like this makes me miss you even more
even looking at your photos, i miss you
aināt time so heartless
i..hated us
the us who now canāt even look at each otherās face even once
ė³“ź³ ģ¶ģ“/bogoshippeo means āi miss youā, an informal, casual tone that you can use freely to significant others, friends, families, it literally means āi want to see youā but essentially, it means, āi miss youā, here, though, namjoon used ė³“ź³ ģ¶ė¤/bogoshipda, which is also an informal word, but a non-conjugated form of ė³“ź³ ģ¶ģ“/bogoshippeo, it holds a slightly different meaning than just āi miss youā because itās not a verb. ė³“ź³ ģ¶ė¤/bogoshipda for lack of better words, is an expression of longing, and carries a deeper emotion than just i miss you, kinda like a monologue (?) cos heās not saying it to someone in particular, the expression feels a bit colder, which is ironic cos then he went on about how cold time is for making him missing someone.
this place is all winter, even in august winter comes
itās like my heart/mind races with time
the lonely āsnowpiercerā who travelled to the south
(i want to) while holding your hands, go all the way to the other side of the earth
i wish i could end this winter,
i wonder, friend, how much does the longing should fall like snow for spring day to come?
ģ¤źµģ“ģ°Ø is the korean title for the movieĀ āsnowpiercerā, also the name of the train in the movie that holds the last remnants of humanity after an attempt at climate engineering in order to stop global warming has unintentionally created a new ice age. essentially, ppl in the train thought no life can exist outside of the train, not knowing there is (a polar bear), which showed up at the end of the movie. i thought it was brilliant how namjoon referenced this movie, itās like heās saying no matter how hard circumstances can be, no matter how hard you think you have it, there is always hope, there is always a way out, thereās always spring after a cold cold winter, even when it seems impossible,Ā you can have your cake and eat it
the lyrics in this song isnāt that hard to comprehend tbh itās quite straightforward but the way they express it is both poetry and cynicism at its best, and despite the repetitive chorus the song is atcually quick and full, leaving nothing short of amazement.Ā
like the tiny dust that floats/flies in the air
if iām the snow that flies in the airĀ
i wouldāve reached you a little fasterĀ
my heart swells a little here, because they are reiterating what namjoon says about wanting to hold hands so we can end this winter together, that they want to, if only theyāre with us,Ā doesnāt it soothe your heart a little? knowing there are people out there who knows how cold life can be, and wants to get to us quickly so we could the end it togetherĀ
and when some of the members lament
the snowflakes are falling
little by little bit more, they fall
i miss you (i miss you)
how much longer do i have to wait
and how many more nights do i have to stay up, to see you?
will i ever get to meet you?
the others be consoling like, well,
after we pass by the end of cold winter
until spring day comes once again
until the flowers blossom
at that place (even when itās cold/even when you have to waited long), for a little while, please stay
please stay
but then yoongiās part came and i sobbed a little because itās so??
iĀ wonder if you have changed,Ā or if i have changed.
perhaps, iāve changed.
i hate the time thatās flowing at this very momentĀ
i guess we have changed, huh
i guess everyone does that, huh
yeah, okay, i hated you
but even when you left, there was never a day that iāve forgotten about you
and even though i actually miss you, iām gonna erase you now
cos thatāll hurt way less than blaming you
and it doesnāt help when both seokjin and jimin go on to say
i try to blow away the cold you
who is like smoke, like white smoke
even when i say iām going to erase you
the truth is i still canāt let you go
Ā /crieS/ which is why the ending gets me because
you know it all
youāre my best friend
the morning will come again
no matter what kind of darkness or (bad) seasonsĀ
they canāt last forever
(and) it looks like cherry blossoms are blooming (now)
and this winter too, is coming to an end
i miss youĀ
if i wait just a little bit longer
if i stay up just a few more nights
i will come to see you
i will come to take you (away)
after we pass by the end of cold winter
until spring day comes once again
until the flowers blossom
at that place (even when itās cold/even when you have to waited long), for a little while, please stay
please stay
i want to mention here that omelas referenced in the mv as we are all prob aware of by now, tells a story of how a child was kept hidden in a secluded place in the omelas city, with horrible conditions, in exchange of happiness of the entire city. and that the same tragedy also shares with children in the movie snowpiercer itself, where they were enslaved and used as replacement parts to keep the train functioning. to put it simply, children depicted in both stories were convinced to give their life for the continuation of a way of life that was totally oppressive to their own circumstances, which is extremely radical in a way that has deep resonance for our real world, like how can you stand being together in a society that isĀ built from abuse and discrimination, entrenched inequality, and do nothing?
and it is precisely because of this, bangtan continues to voice out their opinions as they did in previous albums, and call out the perpetrators as well as the bystanders for everyhting that has gone wrong, that could go wrong, and that is going wrong in the society, especially in the events relating to their home country south korea
let me bring you back to the music video where jimin picked up the white shoesĀ from the winter sea
the white shoes that middle-school/high school students wear in south korea
and how he carries the shoes all through out the mv
before he brought them to a treeĀ after they all got off the trainĀ
these scenes imo is very much referenced to the sewol ferry tragedy that took place in april, 2014, the incident that had resulted in more than 300 deaths, including 250Ā second-year high school students and their teachers from danwon high school who were on a field trip that day, and is recognized asĀ one of the most devastating maritime disaster in decades, and itās not just because of a sinking ferry itself but because of willfull negligence and corruption.
fyiĀ when the ferry was sinking, the captain of the ship and a number of cabin crew made announcement for the passengers to stay where they were when they themselves chose to abandon the shipĀ while hundreds of people were still trapped inside.Ā and being good citizens they all remained at their cabin, where they waited for further orders, which never cameĀ
the members of crew who stayed to help passengers were among those who died.Ā
and the disaster doesnāt end there. it was found out later that the ship itself was illegally modified and was carrying almost double its legal limit with inexperienced crew and a questionable relationship between the ship operators and state regulators. the investigation was also conducted behind closed doors where the families are not permitted to observe the recovery operation, these allegations as well as Ā the way the government lacked transparency adds more to the lengthy laundry list of grievances souht koreans have against park geun hyeās administration. there were questions raised as to where she was when it happened that morning and why wasnāt the issue addressed publicly even 7 hours afterwards.
the yellow ribbons symbolize hope and solidarity with the families victims and i think itās genius how they incorporate this knowing very well that they can be blacklisted from the government which is ridiculous at every level. the government was highly blamed for many lives lost that day, what with the lack of safety standards in the country, the families were also mostly left out of the investigation, thereās just so many dissatisfaction ppl have over park geunhyeās administration, and that itself is an understatement. and with bangtan and bighit donatingĀ 100 million won (approximately $85,000) to the sewol ferry disaster 416 family council, they are probably blacklisted already :/Ā
the pile of clothing could also be a metaphor to ppl who left this world as exhibited by french artist christian boltanskiās work entitled āpersonnesā as part of monumenta in 2010. i quote,Ā āThese grouped clothes may represent mass graves, or corpses arrayed for identification in the school gym, but they also constitute a kind of cemetery. For the experience is just the same: that there is nobody here and yet the place is crowded. Personnes, the piece is called: people, but at the same time no one.ā
which is why even thoughĀ tying shoes high on a tree branch or power lines have variation in meanings for different country and culture, there is one famous belief taht i think is what is meant here; that tying shoes high on a tree branch signifies someone has died and that the shoes belong to the dead person. that the reason they are hanging, is so when the dead personās spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heavenĀ
and it wouldāve been fineeeee to just reference spring day like this as a remembrance to the passing of the passengers and the beautiful children because the song DOES talk about grief and hardships in life, and that no matter what kind of darkness or (bad) seasons they canāt last foreverĀ
but then bangtan had these lines that are repeatedly voiced melancholically all throughout the chorus until the very end of the song and i justā
after we pass by the end of cold winter
until spring day comes once again
until the flowers blossom
at that place (even when itās cold/even when you have to waited long), for a little while, please stay
please stay
itās as if bangtan is throwing shade at the captain and his crew for being dishonorable, asking the children to stay where they were āuntil the rescue boats arriveā when they themselves were up and about ready to get out of the ship,Ā
when the boys say these last lines itās as if, itās as if the boys are saying to the children that they know itās hard to wait, but just stay there. itās okay to stay there, iāll come to you instead, yeah? just you wait there till i come to you so we can end this suffering together
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
turnnoffyourmind
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