The collective K-Pop fandom is an intense place where Twitter wars, fan art, fan fictions, group orders and just about anything you can think of happens. However, each K-Pop group’s fandom will do anything to prove that the group they stan is the best, especially the BTS fan base. BTS is quite possibly the most internationally famous K-Pop groups. In just 24 hours, their newest music video, “Spring Day,” reached over nine million views on YouTube.
Back in October, BTS left everyone speechless with their dark album Wings, which was based on the book Demian and all about breaking free from a toxic love and learning to love oneself. Since October, their music video for the track “Blood Sweat & Tears” has reached 97 million views and the long-awaited album lived up to its hype, as BTS was going to explore darker subjects than the beauty and freedom of youth. They have now made a comeback with You Never Walk Alone, which is perhaps a loving message to all their fans and to each other. You Never Walk Alone is an extension Wings, with just two new tracks, “Spring Day,” “Not Today” and “You Never Walk Alone.” Since their 2015 album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Part 2, BTS had not really made new music, as their following album, Young Forever, featured previously released songs as well as remixes of them, with only two new tracks, each which reached their usual 109 and 60 million views. Naturally, Wings was going to receive loads of attention and You Never Walk Alone slightly less.
“Spring Day” is about missing and wanting to see a close friend and features the seven members harmonizing to a moderate beat, making a loving melody. However, as usual, BTS manages to merge a concept from literature — in this case the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas — with beautiful melodies and some rap elements, which is probably one of the things that has brought them their fame. The music video is just as beautiful as the song would paint it to be and reveals what could possibly be the true concept of “Spring Day.” The video follows the seven members as they each either travel to an unknown destination or wait for someone. The colors are soft yet vibrant throughout and eventually the seven members come together. “Spring Day” explores something that BTS had never written about before: the strong bond between the members. Each member plays a strong role in the group and this is always evident, but never in their music. While their 2015 music video “Run” depicted their strong bond, the song’s lyrics did not. Now “Spring Day” has done a beautiful job of demonstrating this and will probably be another of their milestone music videos.
While You Never Walk Alone was an extension of Wings, BTS still managed to break records once more with their two new tracks and music video. Korean streaming sites crashed as soon as the “Spring Day” music video was released and hit number eight on the U.S iTunes charts, which gives me hope for whatever new music they’re in the process of making.
Viri Garcia is a freshman in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at [email protected]