Niccijade Reeves-Alhark
Editor-in-Chief
As of recently, BTS has been extremely successful with their promotions in the U.S, winning the Artist of the Year at the AMAs, getting the 2nd nomination for a Grammy, and beginning a tour after two years of not performing publicly. Their success is owed to their hard work and extremely supportive fans over the past few years. Throughout their discography, one album, in my opinion, was the beginning of their prime: Wings.
Not only is Wings my favorite album from BTS, but it also introduced new eras and concepts that the group had never done before. Along with their use of storytelling through their music videos, teasers, and albums, BTS begins to use excerpts from darker pieces of literature. The main inspiration for Wings literature-wise was the German novel, Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth by Hermann Hesse. The novel is mainly about the realization of oneself and revolting against the ideals of the world. The main character, Emil Sinclair, struggles between two worlds: the show of illusion and the real world. He goes through all of these struggles with his mysterious classmate Max Demian. The short films that promote the album use quotes from Demian to progress the story they have been telling throughout their media since their debut in 2013
What Wings does differently than the albums before is that each member has a track that they write, sing, and produce. In the past few albums, the only people in the group who helped produce and write the songs were RM, Suga, and J-Hope, with the exceptions of Jungkook and V on the first and second parts of The Most Beautiful Moment In Life. Each of the seven tracks has its aura and meaning that is personal to each member of BTS and it gives the listener a look into their past, internal struggles, and values. The promotional short films are used to visualize each song and are named after the titles. The emotions of each song are not only heard but seen by their audience and captured by lyrics.
From the intro to the interlude tracks the theme of finding meaning in, discovering oneself, and growing is expressed, whether it be through relationships, revealing the truth, or being hidden in it. The title track, Blood, Sweat & Tears, exemplifies these themes perfectly. Intense temptation and desperation are expressed in the lyrics of Blood Sweat & Tears, in a press conference for the album, RM explains the meaning of them, "The harder a temptation is to resist, the more you think about it and vacillate. That uncertainty is part of the process of growing. Blood Sweat & Tears is a song that shows how one thinks, chooses, and grows." In addition to this Suga tied it to the main concept of the Wings, “the song conveys an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we encounter temptations in life."
Overall, Wings has brought BTS much success, winning them 5 Album of the Year awards and many others throughout 2016 and 2017, the most notable ones coming from the MAMAs (Mnet Asian Music Awards) in 2016. Wings was a cinematic, philosophical, and harmonious masterpiece of an era in BTS’ career.
Image Credit: YongSeok Choi (Lumpens)
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