Airplane Pt. 2
Interestingly, the painful plot twist of "Love Yourself: Tear" was foreshadowed in the prior release. For example, the smeraldo flower means "sincerity that cannot be delivered." A multicolored smeraldo is depicted on the album cover of Her but is reduced to chaotic squiggly lines on Tear. In this album, we'll see how BTS transitioned from the uncorrupted love of "Her" to a love that turned out to be smoke and mirrors.
1. Intro: Singularity
BTS have a tradition that they follow - they reveal a special comeback trailer ahead of their album release. Since the Dark & Wild era, these trailers have been performed as a solo by one of the members and are included as an album intro. "Singularity" is performed by V, and the whole package is quite a work of art.
To complement his voice, V takes on the neo-soul genre. He also performs a dramatic, interpretive choreography that shows his dance-savvy as well as the meaning of the concept. The term "singularity" indicates being by oneself, and appropriately, V is seen dancing by himself - with his own arm as if it were another person. This video has references to the Greek story of Narcissus and Echo. The lyrics mention hearing a voice (which would be Echo) and seeing one's face in a lake (which is how Narcissus fell in love with himself). On the contrary, this narcissistic love is indicated to be fake love as there are scenes with V wearing a mask. Is he putting on a fake persona so he can love himself? Or so someone else can love him? Likely both.
As a sequel to "Love Yourself: Her" the dark storyline of Tear may seem like such a shift, but it was foreshadowed in the former album's outro. Some lyrics read:
"But I’m lookin’ for love, I don’t care if it’s a fake me if you hold me" -
RM (Outro: Her)
"I can never take off the mask. Because the me behind this mask is not the one you know. Make up to wake up today too and dress up to mask on. In order to become the me that you love. In order to become the one that you love" -
Suga (Outro: Her)
2. FAKE LOVE
BTS's musical evolution is quite impressive - they started out as a hip-hop group but have confidently branched out to many other genres. And now, with "Fake Love," BTS has returned back to home-base, so to speak. As the lead single, "Fake Love" is an emo hip-hop track with trap elements. The blend of sounds (guitar, trap beat, vocal harmonies) gives the song a much-appreciated complexity and a high-quality production. This genre-layered sound is quite reminiscent of "Blood Sweat & Tears." Much of "Fake Love" is in English, presumably because the group has gotten much attention from a Western mainstream audience.
Just as "Her" and "Tear" are in sequence, the lead singles are as well - "Fake Love" continues the story of "DNA." "DNA" talks about a fated love that is sure to last forever. The lyrics to the song emphasize the flawlessness of the love. "From the day of the universe’s creation and beyond. Through the infinite centuries and beyond ...We’re eternally together." However, according to "Fake Love" that fated love turned out to be completely phony - and it's devasting. Looking between the two music videos - there is a stark contrast. And this contrast allows me to appreciate the storyline even more.
 |
| Saturated, bright colors (DNA), Faded colors (FAKE LOVE) |
DNA is exploding with exuberant colors. The beginning scene opens brightly and there are murals of art with red, blue, and yellow. The members also wear clothing in these same colors. On the other hand, "Fake Love" starts with a dark scene that has little lighting. The members either have dark or muted clothes (that look as if they once belonged to DNA, but were faded). There is one large black and white mural - it depicts hands that are reaching for each other but cannot connect. I also noticed that the choreography for "DNA" ends with all the members standing in a face to face line, and "Fake Love" begins with all the members standing in a line...which further connects the two songs! Essentially, BTS shined a bright, beautiful light that was "DNA," only to bring us into the dark with "Fake Love."
 |
| Multicolored mural (DNA), Monochrome mural (FAKE LOVE) |
3. The Truth Untold
Last year, BTS teamed up with American producer Steve Aoki for a remix of one of their album b-sides "Mic Drop." He worked with the boys again - this time composing an original song for the vocal line-up (V, Jin, Jimin, Jungkook). I am not too familiar with Steve Aoki, from what I have passively observed about him, he typically does upbeat party music. In fact, his remix of Mic Drop sums up what I expected of him. However, "The Truth Untold" is quite the contrary - it has a very simple, bare instrumentation. The bare piano and synth-based production forces the focus on the members' vocals and makes the whole piece a captivating listen!
The title, "The Truth Untold" may also be translated as "Sincerity that Cannot be Delivered." This directly ties into the entire "Love Yourself" theme because that is the meaning of the Smeraldo flower in flower language (as I mentioned above). Moreover, the meaning of "The Truth Untold" is carried over from the previous track "Fake Love," which was carried over from "Intro: Singularity." All three tracks include the ideas of a fake, insincere love and hiding behind a mask or being untrue to oneself and others.
4-6. 134340 (Pluto), Paradise, Love Maze
The next track on the album is a jazzy r&b number that reminds me of music from the 70s. The title "134340" refers to the nondescript name that scientists gave to Pluto after it was declassified as a planet. According to Suga, the lyrics work as a metaphor to describe "something being separated from something else." Pluto is now isolated from the planets in the galaxy and "134340" describes that loneliness.
"Paradise" is an R&B ballad that has BTS's classic sentiment. In Korea, where youth are pushed into a fierce competition to be the best, BTS are saying it's okay if you need to take a rest. The song opens smoothly with Jungkook's vocals, invites a hip-hop beat, then slightly picks up in energy.
Many have interpreted "Love Maze" to be dedicated for fans, but I do not think that is the case. So far none of the songs that BTS have dedicated to ARMY have been romantic in nature. Fan songs are for all fans, and making a fan song romantic would exclude fans of certain demographics. With that said, "Love Maze" is a love song that mixes R&B and Future Bass. It describes navigating through obstacles in a relationship. The lyrics maintain a positive attitude, asserting that the couple will get through anything. "We ran and ran endlessly. But all the fake noise. Can’t tear us apart, it’s true baby."
7. Magic Shop
Ahead of the album release, RM told fans that "Magic Shop" was co-composed by one of the vocal-line members. As many have guessed, that member is Jungkook! RM, Suga, and J-hope are recurrent composers in BTS, but recently it has been hinted that the golden maknae would try his hand at writing and producing too. "Magic Shop" is a light, electronic song that Jungkook dedicated to fans. The concept of this track is based on a "psychodramatic technique [called magic shop] in which the participant trades in their fears for happiness" - as explained in the teaser for Fake Love. Essentially, BTS's message to ARMY is that they can listen to their music when they feel sad and exchange those negative emotions for happiness. How true that is because music can be healing and lighten your mood!
8. Airplane Pt.2
In March, J-Hope dropped his first mixtape which includes "Airplane," a hip-hop track which details the story of his successful career. As a singer, his life includes traveling to all parts of the world to tour with fellow members. "Airplane Pt.2" expands on the story and involves all of the BTS members' stories. Jungkook's part says, "An odd kid. He sang as if he was breathing. Wherever was fine. He only wanted to do music." This refers to Jungkook's young self and his dreams. Likewise, RM's rap refers to how the members work even in their hotel rooms (by practicing and editing their music).
As they sing about traveling from Cali to Italy, "Airplane pt.2" is made even more international by its Latin-infused sound. It was co-produced by Ali Tamposi, the same man who created Camilla Cabello's hit "Havana."
9-10. Anpanman, So What
The ninth track on the album is a playful, bouncy hip-hop anthem with a very tasteful use of autotune. I find "Anpanman" to be classic BTS because of the hip-hop, positive attitude, and high energy. Moreover, the mention of their name "Bangtan" in the lyrics reminds me of some of their songs from their rookie days, like "The Rise of Bangtan."
The "Anpanman" that BTS is singing about is a character from a Japanese anime of the same name. He is dubbed "the weakest hero" because he protects and helps people despite not having any special powers. In the same way, BTS are "weak" heroes because they are regular people just like us who touch listeners' hearts with their music. They've come a long way but they assure us that they are still the same Bangtan.
With "So What," BTS venture back into the electronic-dance genre. RM also pays homage to old school rap with his verse "I don’t wanna die right now. I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna fight right now." It refers to Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's 1998 hit '"It Takes Two" and plays nicely with the beat's rhythm. The main message of "So What" is to not focus too much on your worries. One line that really stood out to me was, "90% of your worries are an imaginary swamp that you created. Just go instead of worrying Don’t get scared, cheer up."
11. Outro: Tear
Lastly, the outro is performed by the rap line-up and sums up the emotions that are felt after one realizes a love was fake: animosity, anger, and sadness. Before the three even begin rapping, the dark, dramatic instrumental makes you feel the pain that the song will convey. This instrumental actually samples from the Love Yourself Highlight Reel - which also had a painful ending. RM, Suga, and J-hope all spit fire and in some verses, they incorporate the new trap-style rapping that is sung with autotune. "Outro: Tear" is a bitter end to the album, the final cry, and last emotional release.
To summarize, "Love Yourself: Tear" is such a beautiful collection of songs that completely deserves it's number one spot on the Billboard Top 200! My top 5 songs would have to be: (1) Magic Shop (2) Fake Love (3) Paradise (4) Anpanman (5) The Truth Untold. I hope you enjoyed my first complete album review. Feel free to share your favorite tracks from Tear!
Sources
