The meaning of the song of the famous boyband BTS “Black Swan”
On January 17, 2020, the most famous not only in Asia, but also in other foreign countries, the South Korean boy band BTS made a revolution in the k-pop industry with its extraordinary track for this style “Black swan”. The listeners immediately fell in love with this song with all their hearts and lifted it to the first places in various charts. On the Youtube video hosting, the band’s performance alone with this song gained more than 29 million views in a week – this is simply unthinkable! But why did this song manage to hook the listeners so irreversibly? What is so special about it and what is its main message? Let’s try to figure out this difficult matter together!
Many of you are clearly familiar with Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, released in 2010. Why do we remember this thriller? It’s not just that! The fact is that the hallmark of BTS is an excessive love for Easter eggs, riddles and hints at certain details of their future work: the guys constantly leave hints even elementary in their photos on social networks or just in an interview. Back in 2019, the group had a photo shoot, the footage of which, with certainty, resembles the cover of the aforementioned film. And there were countless similar hints.
But let us return directly to the meaning of the enigmatic song. There are no special hidden messages or details in the text, the guys left everything on the surface in order to accurately reach their listeners. The main message of the song: “Do your thing” (this is also the first lines of the track in general). The song talks about the life of creative people and how important it is for them to continue to live their own business, not to stop and not be subjected to imaginary criticism from the outside – not to lose heart. The entire song is inspired by the Martha Graham quote: “A dancer dies twice. The first time is when he stops dancing, and this first death is much more painful.” This is exactly what the guys sing about: about how, having become well-known stars and celebrities, they can lose their love for their work, thereby losing themselves.
They seem to remind themselves, and the listeners, and, of course, their fans, that the most important thing in the creative business is creativity, and not fame and popularity. You must always remember what you are doing and for whom (naturally, the emphasis is on the fact that you are doing all this only for your own satisfaction). You can’t let fame, wealth and almost intangible success overshadow the most important goals of your creative path. For both dancers and singers, the first death is the loss of interest and love for their own works, for their work: the loss of passion and impulse to create is what really scares the most popular band in the world.
This sensual and emotional song can be fully considered as a confession and a kind of confession of guys, because they openly talk about their fear of losing themselves. BTS’s attitude to their own creativity, understanding the essence of music, dance and art in general, self-criticism and criticism from the outside – these are the fundamental issues raised in the song “Black swan”. Many viewers, especially those who know most of the structure of the K-pop industry, also noted the group’s unusual approach to the visualization of the song: none of the guys appeared in the music video. But who were then the faces of the release of this song? Real dancers. True creative individuals not associated with the BTS name. Thus, the guys wanted to show that this fear, which they sing about, haunts all creative people, and not just them. Fear of losing your “I” – here,
We hope we were able to explain to you the main message of the song and clarify some aspects. And if you still haven’t listened to the new BTS track, go ahead, this song will definitely not leave you indifferent!
