WEEK 32 | Learning to Love Myself

Monday Muster
Written By Quince

August 5 - 11, 2024

Embrace It.

Life is a series of lessons. We shouldn’t stop learning until it’s over. Who knows, maybe not even then. And sometimes the lessons are ones we thought we’d already mastered. Take the overarching theme of BTS’ Love Yourself albums—learning to love ourselves first and foremost. It isn’t a one and done type of thing. 

We have new challenges thrown at us all the time. We constantly have to deal with a society that tries to tear us down. If we look around for reasons to think we’re not good enough, we’ll always find them. Life isn’t just a board game where we drive around in a plastic car collecting relationships, kids, and jobs—or rather, it’s not just that. It’s the in-betweens… the quiet moments when we’re adjusting to change, assessing ourselves, and listening to the voices inside ourselves.

This is where we find ourselves as we finish exploring LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer'. Last week, “Epiphany” showed us that, yes, loving ourselves is the answer. But what happens after the epiphany? What happens when the voices creep in, and we’re in those quiet moments? This week, BTS will show us what the acceptance and application of ‘loving ourselves’ looks like. It’s about repetition, and self-reassurance more than anything. 

Ultimately, when we reach that place of self-love, we shouldn’t be afraid to shout about it from the rooftop. It’s been a long journey from “Save Me” to “I’m Fine”, so what do we tell the world?

That’s right. “You can’t stop me loving myself!”

 
 
 

Skip to Content: Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five

 

DAY ONE:

Jimin from “Save ME” Official M/V

Think back to Week 13 when we covered The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever and “Save ME”. I said that “Save ME” was a plea—a cry for strength and support from an outside source. At the beginning of the song, Jimin sings “Don’t wanna be lonely, just wanna be yours.” 


There’s nothing wrong with seeking love and support from the community that surrounds you. But “Save ME” has a tinge of desperation to it. It’s familiar. How many of us have sought refuge in other people—most notably inside a relationship doomed to fail from the onset because we can’t rely on another person to give us a reason to be? 

“Love Yourself” Trailer Poster

Because BTS likes to play the long game, two years later, they penned a response and called it “I’m Fine”.  The lyrics are a dramatic 180° from “Save ME”, emphasizing self-reliance over external comfort.

“Save ME” Official M/V

Even if I get endlessly crumpled,

even if my wings get torn apart,

and I become someone that is not me,

it’s okay– only I am my own salvation

I never die but live on with my fierce gait

How you doin? I’m fine

In the face of all opposition, remember that we can get back up. “...I am my own salvation” is the biggest take-away here. Having a support network is a key part of life. We function better when we surround ourselves with others who care about us. But at the end of the day, we are the ones who have to save ourselves. We have to want to—and that’s where loving ourselves comes in.

 
 

Bangtan Bomb: Theater of Situations 8/31/18

 

Fun Fact:

We talked about ARMY Bombs weeks and weeks ago, when they debuted in the BTS timeline. But it’s worth talking about again as we’ve reached the point when the third version was released, which had some heavy upgrades from the previous two.

ARMY Bombs (just to refresh your memory) are BTS’ official light sticks for their fans, ARMY. Version 3 came out on July 27, 2018, just before the group released LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer'. Remember when we saw videos of ARMYs putting colored bags over their Bombs in order to make them look purple? Big Hit made sure the new version could change colors.

The biggest upgrade was the Bluetooth-controlled seat syncing for events and concerts. If you synced your ARMY Bomb up via the event app when you went to a show, it would coordinate with specific colors and light patterns according to the set list and BTS’ actual choreography!

 
 

DAY TWO:

“I’m Fine” and “Save ME” are linked intrinsically in more ways than one. The lyrics are obvious—some of the lines in “I’m Fine” directly respond to those from “Save ME”. The speaker appears to be the same, and in “I’m Fine” is recounting lessons learned, or showing a change in mentality from what he thought during “Save Me”. The emphasis goes from relying completely on someone else, to finding strength and capability in himself.

RM in the “Love Yourself” Trailer poster

“Save ME”: I knew that the salvation called you
    is a part of my life and the only hand to         embrace my pain

“I’m Fine”: It’s okay– only I am my own salvation

“Save ME”: for giving someone like me wings

“I’m Fine”: even if my wings get torn apart

“Save ME”: Please reach your hand to me save me         save me
        I need your love before I fall, fall
“I’m Fine”: Now I’ll let go of your hand
      I know I’m all mine, mine, mine


But the two are connected sonically and visually as well. RM, in his VLIVE about the creation of LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer', said that “I’m Fine” is the reverse of “Save ME” They wanted to flip the message, but maintain a similar energy—thus some of the rhythms and flows are the same in both songs. In fact, “I’m Fine” even samples “Save ME” at the beginning of the song.

RM also points out that if you flip the words “Save ME” upside down, you’ll get “I’m Fine”. They are reflections of each other. The visual of this appears multiple times throughout the LYS series, in the trailer posters, the LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel ‘起承轉結’, and most notably in the M/V for “Fake Love” from Love Yourself 轉 'Tear'. 

The truth is, we can’t have one of these without the other. We have to go through struggle in order to reach victory. Would we truly appreciate that feeling of saying “I’m fine. I’ve got this.” to ourselves, if we hadn’t been in that previous place of desperation, where we were looking for someone else to save us? Really, even though we want someone to reach out their hand to save us from falling, does that ever feel as satisfactory as when we save ourselves?

 
 
 
 
 

Bangtan Bubble: When you say “I’m fine” do you really mean it?

 
 

Let us know your answer in the comments below or on social media (include #BangtanBubble)!

 

DAY THREE:

I think I’ve brought this up before, but we all have a running list of songs in our head that we would play for anyone who might happen to ask “So, what is BTS about?”, right? Of course we do. The list might change a bit here and there, but there will be some songs that remain on there no matter what, because they are just so quintessentially BTS. I suspect that for all of us, one of those indispensable songs is “IDOL”.

“IDOL” Official M/V

The song was written and composed mostly by producers Pdogg and Supreme Boi, and RM. He said that, at first, he was wary of calling it “IDOL”—scared that it might be too aggressive. Which is ironic, considering the song itself is already loud, brash, and in your face. It needs a title worthy of its substance. Which must be the conclusion RM eventually came to, as he said he got used to saying it after a while. In fact it’s used in the opening lines and immediately sets the tone for the rest of the song.

You can call me artist

You can call me idol

Or you can call me anything else

I don’t care

I’m proud of it

I’m free

No more irony

Because I’ve been me all the time


Before they debuted, BTS had originally been slated to be a group composed of only rappers/producers. However, as Big Hit kept collecting trainees and saw who worked well with each other, and the different skills they brought to the table, the vision for the group began to change. And eventually they debuted as a hip-hop Idol group, consisting not only of rappers/producers, but also singers and dancers.

From the moment they debuted, they faced opposition from multiple fronts. Major networks and consumers of K-Pop looked down on them because they came from a small company, and their hard hip-hop image didn’t fit into the standard K-Pop Idol mold of the time. But they were also dismissed by the Korean hip-hop scene—most notably by a lot of independent rappers (some of whom had previously run in the same underground circles as RM and SUGA—remember B-Free?) They were called sell-outs because they became Idols who not only rapped, but also sang and danced on stage while wearing makeup.


Eventually, BTS showed all of those early nay-sayers what they’re capable of. Now they are treated with the respect they deserve in the South Korean music industry, with other artists only too happy to collaborate with them when asked. But more importantly than this outside validation was the evolving respect the members of BTS came to have for themselves. In the beginning they were fueled by a fierce need to prove themselves—to show that they deserved to be a part of the conversation. But eventually, they realized that wasn’t true. They didn’t need to be part of the conversation… because they WERE the conversation. They had become the sum of all the parts. They WERE rappers, dancers, singers, writers, producers… they WERE Idols.

And the best part? They loved it. “IDOL” is them declaring this to the rest of the world.

"IDOL" Music Bank Hot Stage 2018.08.31

 
 
 

Fun Fact

At the end of 2018, NAVER, (the company that used to own and run the now defunct VLIVE) collected votes for several award categories for their official VLIVE Awards.

BTS was nominated in several categories, and won in most of them (whether alone or jointly), obviously. Some of these included “Best Channel”, “Artist Top 10”, and “Best Artist”.

An awards ceremony and party was held in January of 2019. It was called the “Re:MemVer-Party” (j-hope says the name SO cutely). BTS attended and, as usual, got up to their usual award show shenanigans. Jin admires himself, V waxes poetic again about how they named the whole app (VLIVE) and now the awards after him; they all complain that the awards are heavy. (Jin can’t lift it and calls it “Excalibur”.)

Below we’ve linked to all the above-mentioned content and some more extras centered around BTS and their use of VIVE. Enjoy!

 

DAY FOUR:

Once BTS began dominating in South Korea, it naturally followed that they started moving into the International scene as well. Once the Love Yourself series was reaching its conclusion with LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer', the group had already been experiencing success in the western music market for a few years. They’d won several trophies at American award shows, where they’d also performed. They’d become a staple on American talk/variety shows, and were collaborating more and more with western artists.  

And since jealousy thrives in the shadow of success, it didn’t take long for the members of BTS to start hearing the term “sell-out” being thrown in their faces again. This time, instead of betraying the underground hip-hop scene, they were betraying their Korean heritage by selling out to the western music industry. They were accused of catering too much to a western audience with their songs and concepts, and trying to leave their Korean identity behind. 

Awarded the “Order of Cultural Merit” October 2018

BTS found this to be ridiculous. Obviously. They were largely responsible for a decent chunk of the world’s English-speaking population now looking up the Korean language in an effort to better understand the lyrics they were hearing. In fact, just after LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer' was released, the President of South Korea awarded the members of BTS with the “Order of Cultural Merit”, given to them in recognition of their efforts to spread South Korean culture globally through their music. Not only did this make them the youngest people to ever receive the honor, it was awarded to them only five years after they debuted, despite the fact that it typically only went to people with more than 15 years of notable achievements.



It seems fortuitous that “IDOL” was one of the songs they were promoting at this time. Because when haters come after BTS, they rarely respond in interviews or with the press. Instead, they put it in their music. The lyrical message of “IDOL” is “You can’t stop me loving myself”. The sounds were global—mixing African rhythms and trap-style rapping with EDM. But the visuals were mostly an explosion of Korean Culture. The M/V features the members dressed in traditional Korean hanboks and performing traditional Korean choreography. The lyrics also contain some famous Korean expressions, and you can hear some traditional instruments in the track itself. The M/V also contained a lot of traditional Chinese folklore elements as well. In other words, it was a global smorgasbord.

Modern hanbok from “IDOL” Official M/V

It was clear what BTS was saying: “Guess what? We ARE Korean. And we love our culture. But we also love cultures all around the world too. So have all of them in this one song. Enjoy.” It’s quite possibly one of the most colorful and ingenious ways to say “Fuck off” ever created. 

So yeah. “IDOL” always stays on the list.

 

  1. "IDOL" LIVE | 2018 MAMA IN HONG KONG (06:11)                        

  2. "IDOL" | THE TONIGHT SHOW (04:09)            

  3. BTS AND JIMMY FALLON DO THE FORTNITE DANCE CHALLENGE | THE TONIGHT SHOW (02:49)                                

  4. BTS PERFORM IDOL!!! - BBC (04:01)       

  5. BTS MEET GRAHAM NORTON!! - BBC (05:20)               

  6. JK REACTING BACKSTAGE TO WHOOPI'S SHIRT GIFT (00:37)       

  7. JK WEARING WHOOPI'S GIFTED SHIRT (00:25)   

  8. "IDOL" | GMA (GOOD MORNING AMERICA) (04:28)       

  9. BTS, ONE OF THE HOTTEST MUSIC GROUPS IN THE WORLD, SPEAKS OUT ON 'GMA'  | (06:27)

  10. “IDOL" | M COUNTDOWN (text not included in link: 03:59)

  11. "IDOL" | 2019 SEOUL MUSIC AWARDS (07:02)

  12. BTS VCR ENG SUBS | 2019 SEOUL MUSIC AWARDS (03:04)

  13. BANGTAN BOMB: "IDOL" SPECIAL STAGE (BTS FOCUS) | 2019 SEOUL MUSIC AWARDS (03:56)

  14. INTRO + "IDOL" | 2018 MMA (06:32)    

  15. BONUS: BANGTAN BOMB: BTS (방탄소년단) @2018 MMA (33:14)

  16. BONUS: 2018 MELON MUSIC AWARDS (FULL PERFORMANCE) (20:46)   

  17. BONUS: BANGTAN BOMB: 'IDOL' INTRO PERFORMANCE (3J FOCUS) @2018 MMA (01:56 - as shown)

  18. BONUS: BANGTAN BOMB: 'IDOL' SPECIAL STAGE (BTS FOCUS) @2018 MMA (06:28)

  19. BONUS: "NO MORE DREAM" + "BOY IN LUV" + "DOPE" + "FIRE" + "DNA" + "IDOL" | 2018 SBS GAYO DAEJEON MUSIC FESTIVAL (13:36)

  20. BONUS: BANGTAN BOMB: "IDOL" SPECIAL STAGE (BTS FOCUS) | 2018 SBS GAYO DAEJEON MUSIC FESTIVAL (03:45) 

  21. BONUS: BANGTAN BOMB: 'TITLE MEDLEY' SPECIAL STAGE (BTS FOCUS) | 2018  SBS GAYO DAEJEON MUSIC FESTIVAL (09:43)   

  22. BONUS: BANGTAN BOMB: SNACK TIME! @181225 SBS GAYO DAEJEON (02:15)  

  23. BONUS: MONITORING MMA (WITH. 쩝/JJEOP) (01:07)    

Fun Fact:

RM’s VLIVE discussing the making of LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer’. Am I reusing a Fun Fact from last week? Absolutely. Why? Because it’s that good, and if you didn’t watch this last week, I’m giving you another chance to do so.

No one (in my humble opinion) gives better insight on the album-making process than Namjoon. Something about the way he explains the intricacies of lyric-writing is so endearing and engaging. I walk away feeling hyped and like I also helped write the album.

It’s also so wonderful to hear him praise his fellow members. When he says, so earnestly, that Jin is the only person who could have sung “Epiphany”, you know he really means it. And you can hear the pride in his voice when he talks about them also contributing to writing songs for their albums.

Honestly, there’s nothing better to me than something educational that is also heartwarming and entertaining as well. Which pretty much sums Namjoon up in a nutshell.

 

Bangtan Bomb: "IDOL" Intro Performance 2018 MAMA

 
 

DAY FIVE:

The last track on the first disc of LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer' is meant to close out the entire story. RM said that “Answer: Love Myself” would do exactly that—it would “make you want to love yourself more”. But it’s not preachy, it’s realistic. The song admits that there’s actually no perfect answer and reaching legitimate self-love is incredibly difficult.

Perhaps, rather than loving someone else,

it is more difficult to love myself

Let’s be honest and admit what we have to admit

that your standards are more strict when they are applied to you


We’re harder on ourselves than we are on others. “Answer: Love Myself” reminds us to give ourselves grace as well. RM told us in his VLIVE I mentioned earlier in the week that the song comforts him when he doubts himself. “I may have made a mistake yesterday, but the me yesterday is still me. It’s still me when I lack something today. It’s still me if I get better tomorrow.” It sounds so fundamentally simple, but of course, it’s not always easy to keep these words in mind.

Every day we are faced with terrible things happening around the world. It can make us feel small, and helpless. Societal standards and social media constantly make us feel less than. It can seem impossible to surmount these obstacles to self-worth. RM offers us this perspective: 


“If we can’t change the world, we need to change ourselves.”

Again, learning this lesson—that we hold all the power—isn’t easy. Looking in the mirror when life has beaten us and still seeing someone worth loving is the ultimate resolution to the Love Yourself journey. Luckily, when we misstep, we know BTS will catch us.

And we should. We’re worth it. Even if we don’t believe it yet, BTS certainly does.

 
 
 

"Answer: Love Myself" | Stage Mix

 

Bangtan Bomb: Come Again! JK & Jin's Exercise Time!

 

"Answer: Love Myself" | LYS World tour - Chicago

 
 
 
 

Bangtan Bubble: What do you think it means to “love yourself”?

 

Let us know your answer in the comments below or on social media (include #BangtanBubble)!

 
 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

What can I say? It’s been eight weeks of often brutal self-examination, but also rewarding affirmation. As we say goodbye (for now) to the Love Yourself series, I can’t help but feel humbled by BTS and their dedication to remind us constantly that we are worthy of love—most importantly from ourselves. It makes me try harder to be gentle with myself. I hope you all feel the same.


Join us next week as we dive into a completely new era. If you think we’re leaving introspection behind, I have bad news for you, friend. It’s about to get real psychological up in this blog as we begin our exploration of the Map of the Soul series, beginning with Map of the Soul: Persona…

 
 
 

Side Quest

This week’s Side Quest is a REAL treat. When BTS embarked on their massive Love Yourself World Tour, they decided to do the same thing they did during their tour for WINGS—they filmed everything. All the backstage and in-between moments from concert to concert, and then release it for ARMY to enjoy, just as they had with “Burn the Stage”.

This time, we have “Bring the Soul” (aren’t they so clever with their acronyms matching… ahem) the Docuseries. It’s the same premise as before, but it’s three years later. Not only is the tour bigger, so is BTS’ popularity.

There are a TON of memorable moments from “Bring the Soul”. We get to see Jung Kook wearing the shirt Whoopi Goldberg gifted to BTS on the Graham Norton Show, and get adorably drunk and give a long and rambling emotional speech. (Definitely a “top ten” Kookie moment.) During one dinner, Jin casually mentions that his song “Tonight” came out and the members all demand he play it for them immediately. They praise him endlessly and his ears turn delightfully pink. V gets sick with the flu while they’re in Paris, and he gets extremely emotional about the state of his voice. There is an abundance of VMin soulmate cuteness to be found as well.

They take us with them through all the ups and downs, the highs on stage, as well as all the injuries and chronic pain they have to deal with. (Remember Jung Kook accidentally cutting his heel?) It’s a roller-coaster of emotions, but what a ride!

 
 

  1.  BTS BRING THE SOUL EPISODE 01 (30:18, not in YT playlist)   

  2. BTS BRING THE SOUL EPISODE 02 (29:45, not in YT playlist)     

  3. BTS BRING THE SOUL EPISODE 03 (30:18, not in YT playlist)   

  4. BTS BRING THE SOUL EPISODE 04 (32:41, not in YT playlist)    

  5. BTS BRING THE SOUL EPISODE 05 (31:23, not in YT playlist)     

  6. BTS BRING THE SOUL EPISODE 06 (30:27, not in YT playlist)  

 
 
 
 
 

CREDITS:

YouTube/Web

HYBE LABELS, BANGTANTV, Bangtan Subs, ALL THE K-POP, ANEEL, BBC, Beloved Galaxy, BTS Live Archive, BTS-TRANS/BANGTANSUBS, Buzzfeed, Crush on Lai Guanlin, ctc0128, Enjoy BTS more, Euphoric누나, Galaxy Joonbug, GOLDEN 정국, Good Morning America, Hannah Wu Film, Hov Shahnazarian, Jaeguchi, KBS Kpop, kristine kayla mharis, lisa1x3, Lord Grim, LoveMaze, MBCkpop, Melon, MK Shows, NME, Noisey, Producer Vinco Trần Official, Run BTS, SBSKPOP X INKIGAYO, SugARMY, sweetoothsuga, Thanh Trúc Phạm Thị, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, theultimatedodo, Timeless Music, Аделаида Мельен, 서울가요대상 Seoul Music Awards

ARMY Project 529 Volunteers

Research Team: Angel (TikTok: Lilangel2828), Leslie Day (TikTok: Leslie Day), Merry (TikTok: merryj67), Sam T (TikTok: samt_26), Shelley (TikTok: shels167), Trudy (TikTok: theeducationmommy), Viv (TikTok: VivEliz); Video Team: Leslie Day (TikTok: Leslie Day); Editing Team: Kendra (Discord: Mudskipper); Website Team: Colette (TikTok: voicesinmyhead2)

 
 

Join us on TikTok every Sunday evening at 8pm ET for #the529live, a wrap up of each week's blog and current BTS events/releases. It’s hosted by the AP529 Admin Team on Stefne’s channel (@StefARMYProject529). If you can't watch live and want to watch later, Lives will be recorded and posted to our YouTube (@ARMY Project 529).

Quince
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WEEK 31 | Take My Hand Now