The long awaited BTS album, 'Map of the Soul : 7' is finally out, and it has incredible stories attached to it.
The tracklist features group songs, solos, and subunit songs that involve different groupings of the members.
After listening to the album and looking up the English translations, I felt like I went on a rollercoaster of emotions.
Like any BTS album, the songs tell a story; however, 'Map of the Soul : 7' is special because there is an abundance of personal reflections from the members through both their solo and group tracks.
The solo songs for each member all tell their own personal stories.
RM's rap solo takes the first spot on this album with "Intro : Persona". In the lyrics of this track, he is reflecting on his past self as both a musician and an individual.
Within the song, he determines he simply wants to be there for someone, "I just wanna give you all the shoulders when you cry".
Suga's "Interlude : Shadow" kicks off the beginning of the new tracks. In this song, he discusses his personal fears, such as loneliness and exhaustion, that come with fame, "Yeah, hmm, shadow at my feet / Look down it's gotten even bigger / I run but the shadow follows, as dark as the light's intense".
"Filter" is Jimin's solo song, and even though he didn't write it, he came up with the concept behind the lyrics.
The word filter can mean either something that is overlaid on a photo or someone's perspective on something and this is what he wanted to convey especially through the chorus, "Mix the colors in the palette, pick your filter / Which me do you want?"
Jungkook's "My Time" delves deep into explaining the emotions he felt from his trainee days to the present. He sings about how he was on planes while his friends were on the subway and he was worried if the chance he took by becoming an idol was the right choice.
At the end of the song, Jungkook discusses how all the difficulties were worth it. He is thankful for the person he has become and the fans, "Happy that we met each other / Now til' the very end".
"Inner Child" written and sung by V reflects on his childhood and the hardships he faced. In talking to his younger self through this song, V wants to tell himself that he will "be showered with all those stars," or love from his members and fans.
BTS's fans, or ARMY, are the center of Jin's solo, "Moon". Jin sees himself as the moon and their fans as the planets, "I'll orbit around you / I'll stay by your side".
Using the image of the moon, Jin sings to his fans about how much he looks up to them, "You are my Earth / And all I see is you / The only thing I can do is gaze at you like this".
The last solo song is "Outro : Ego" sung by J-Hope. Following in accordance with the track's title, this song is about identity. J-Hope sings about his past and uses these experiences to "Just trust myself".
The music video for this song is full of various references, so I highly recommend checking out this song's Genius lyric translation because if you scroll down the page, on the right side there is a section dedicated to explaining all of them.
Moving onto group and subunit songs on this album, Jimin and V's song titled "Friends" is an essential part of this album's story.
Jimin and V have been best friends since high school, and this song is a perfect embodiment of their friendship. The lyrics contain hidden references within their relationship and is a verbal display of how much they mean to each other.
Some of my favorite lyrics include, "One day, when the cheer dies down, stay hey / You are my soulmate / For eternity, keep staying here hey / You are my soulmate" and "I remember our uniforms / Our memories are movies / The dumpling incident is a comedy movie yeah"
https://www.reddit.com/r/btspics/comments/akhfa0/taehyung_and_jimin/
One of the last songs on the album is "We are Bulletproof : the Eternal," and in this track, the members recount how at the beginning they "were only 7" but they have all their fans now. The word "bulletproof" references back to the original meaning of BTS and two of their older songs.
The lyrics for this entire song are noteworthy, but I really like "Yeah, we got to heaven" and "Throw stones at me / We don't fear anymore / We are we are together bulletproof / (Yeah we have you have you)".
I will never forget the stories BTS told in this album.
