Diving Deep Into ARIRANG

What each aspect of this BTS era is saying, directly and indirectly

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From global-minded marketing to music video references, here is an assessment of both the top-line takeaways and deeper context behind all things ARIRANG. 

#1: The Promotional Strategy
Surface Layer: The first phase of the ARIRANG promotions involved a cryptic website (defunct as of publication time) asking the same question as signage posted in major cities around the world: “What is your love song?” This was a classic BTS move: to ask a globally applicable and easily understood question, but to do so in a way that prompts individualized, story-carrying responses. The open-ended question allowed fans to attach their own memories to this era from the jump. 

Deeper Layer: Netflix hosted a first-of-its-kind live-stream comeback show that was filled with Korean cultural homages but directed by Hamish Hamilton, who is behind every Super Bowl halftime show since 2010. What can also be seen as an attempt to target both South Korean and North American audiences simultaneously: the choice of venue for a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. BTS performed at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum, which is run by a foundation with the mission of exploring “ideas across cultures.”

#2: The Release Date
Surface Layer: ARIRANG came out on March 20, the day of the spring equinox, a symbol of new beginnings.
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Deeper Layer: The transition from winter to spring carries special significance for BTS fans. One of BTS’s most definitive songs - one of the most-praised critically and most-beloved by fans - is “Spring Day.” It is about hopefulness for brighter days after a long metaphorical winter.

What is most likely coincidental but interesting to note nonetheless: the “Spring Day” video features No Man’s Land by Christian Boltanski, an art installation involving piles of laundry. By bringing a spring day to mind and then the “Spring Day” music video, fans get the message that BTS are the same BTS they were years ago, people who resonate with physical and unconventional works of art that can represent fears of being discarded and forgotten.

#3: The Word “Arirang”
Surface Layer: “Arirang” is a traditional Korean folk song with context that has evolved over centuries; it did not start out as an overt message of Korean pride. By sampling “Arirang” in the song “Body to Body” and featuring a rearrangement of it on the piano that plays during the album’s trailer, BTS remain the epitome of a new-meets-old, always-in-flux culture.

Deeper Layer: Arirang is also the name of a short film from 1926. Yi Jeong-suk - who was renowned for genre-crossing back then, just like BTS are now - was hired to sing its theme song at the premiere. Japanese authorities tried to censor the performance, but the audience joined in to finish it anyway! Like what haters might end up doing for BTS now, the censorship attempts only boosted enthusiasm for Arirang, and by the time the movie house that hosted the premiere shut down (although it was soon after the premiere), it was already too late to revert back to the old meaning of the song. “Arirang” was a solidified symbol of Korean pride. (Read more about the history of “Arirang” here, here, and here!)

#4: The Album Cover
Surface Layer: BTS pose in formalwear as if taking a class portrait, and they stick to dark tones and serious expressions. It shows their “back to business” mentality, as well as their united front, since nothing in particular makes any single member stand out more than the others. 

Deeper Layer: The way BTS are dressed and posing is likely how the history-making class of Korean Howard University students would be photographed in the 1890s. In 1896, those students recorded “Arirang” at the university with wax cylinders, and it is considered the first-ever proper recording of that centuries-old song.

#5: The Live Comeback Show
Surface Layer: The Netflix-hosted ARIRANG comeback special did everything right from a marketing perspective. The event was open-air and free of charge, so when touting crowd size, anyone passing through the area could be included in the total! This meant that even people who did not intend to be included in the crowd were made to feel included, both technically and metaphorically! 

The message of unity was also stressed via the speaker distribution. Sounds bounced off of hard surfaces in ways that incentivized collective crowd movements. Popular Science Korea noted that rhythms stayed at the forefront of the experience, since the sound’s movements “made lyrics even harder to catch.” Because “[l]ow frequencies, which bend around obstacles more easily, held up,” the crowd was grooving as one as much as they possibly could from a technical standpoint!
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Deeper Layer: BTS performed at Gyeongbokgung Palace, which has a gate that runs by modern government buildings, which is where the king used to visit with civilians. Mixing the themes of tradition and change, that road used to be called “Sejongno” but is now “Yukjogeori,” aka “Six Ministries Street.” Further combining “past” and “future” concepts was the fact that BTS were unable to rehearse on-site before the main event. When they stepped on the wol-dae (a ceremonial stage in front of Gwanghwamun’s gate), it was as much of a first-of-its-kind moment as it could possibly be! 

#6: The Outfit Choices
Surface Layer: Designer Jay Songzio paid meticulous attention to not only BTS’s comeback show costumes, but the costumes for all other participants. He was intentional about distinguishing BTS’s looks from those of the instrumentalists, mixing hanbok and patchwork styles for the latter. He took personal input into account, too, changing the material used for studs on Jimin’s outfit to look more “jewelry-type” upon his request. He also took into consideration Jung Kook’s request for a more distressed shirt, one “inspired by Korean landscape painting[s].”

Deeper Layer: While Songzio took inspiration from Joseon Era generals while designing all of the members’ “warrior” looks, his team gave each member a specific nickname that could lead to different design approaches. RM was dubbed “The Hero,” Jin “The Artist,” SUGA “The Architect,” Jung Kook “The Vanguard,” and Jimin “The Poet.” The other two received Korean nicknames: J-Hope the “Sorigun” (aka “Sound Man”) and V the “Seonbi” (aka the “Nobleman” or “Gentleman”). 

Additional significance came from the silhouettes and lining of the dancers’ outfits, with vertical folds in them reminiscent of traditional folding doors.

#7: The “SWIM” Video
Surface Layer: A lot of metaphors naturally go with a sailing theme, including navigating choppy waters, treading water, diving into feelings, and setting sights on new places and adventures.

Deeper Layer: The performance video was filmed at the epitome of the “old meets new, classic meets ever-changing” theme: Sunhyewon. The name means “a place that bestows wisdom,” and the residence belonged to SK Group founder Chey Jong-gun. The family saw it as a beacon of educational and mentorship opportunities; they saw it as much more than just a house. SK Group’s current chairman, Chey Tae-won, spent part of his childhood there, adding to the nostalgia. The Seoul-based residence is also rich with meaning from an architectural standpoint. Its renovations incorporated a hybrid of traditional and modern techniques and designs.

#8: The “2.0” Music Video
Surface Layer: [Spoilers ahead!] The video pays homage to Oldboy, an iconic South Korean neo-noir film. Its themes that can be relevant to post-hiatus musicians include the passage of time (the events in the movie span 15 years) and living in an isolated and out-of-the-loop way (the kidnapped main character learns about his wife’s death from the TV news, which he watches while trapped in a hotel room for reasons kept a secret from him). The movie is also about revenge and psychological games, an understandable mindset for celebrities dealing with adversarial media outlets and a judgmental public. BTS’s song “2.0” hints at a desire for revenge against rumor-mongers and haters, with lyrics like “Hit ‘em with the truth… Let it bleed.” While making someone “pay up” takes much more gruesome forms in the movie, the “Don’t put words in my mouth” attitude is the same. 

Deeper Layer: Using Oldboy as a reference is not just a tribute to a famous piece of South Korean pop culture or an expression of resentment. It also combines traits of the “old BTS” and “BTS 2.0” in an understated way. BTS’s Wings era drew heavily on mythological sources of inspiration, and Oldboy is also full of mythological allusions. The movie includes an Apollo-like image, powers of a hypnotist character that mirror those of the goddess Aphrodite, and a tongue-severing scene that parallels an eye-gouging one in Oedipus (both scenes that represent avoiding the full truth, either not wanting to see it or to say it).

#9: The Lyrics
Surface Layer: Many lyrics simultaneously address BTS’s relationships with fame and with other people. For example, “Merry Go Round” is about feeling stuck, and “SWIM” and “Into the Sun” are about wanting to stay close to someone for the long haul. Others allude to a struggle for autonomy once one becomes a public figure: “[P]art of me is hauntin’ me, heard the things they callin’ me / What the hell you want from me?” (“NORMAL”); “Everybody hears the story that they wanna” (“they don’t know ‘bout us”). They mention feeling restricted by the “K-pop” categorization several times: “This that K, gotta get a better pop here,” and “This is international,” they assert in “Hooligan;” “Everybody know[s] now where the ‘K’ is,” they say in “Aliens.” Lastly, there are overt concert crowd requests: “I need the whole stadium to jump / Put your phone down.” These lines are repeated later for emphasis in “Body to Body.”

Deeper Layer: There are some moments when BTS nod to their Korean roots, like when they tell house guests “Take your shoes off” in “Aliens”! And they question if they are considered “red” or “blue” in “NORMAL;” both are colors on South Korea’s flag, and like how that flag would be erroneous without both colors, BTS wouldn’t feel like it was “right” if they showed up as less than their full selves. 

Additionally, there are subtle nods to solo songs. The “shadow” in “Like Animals” is presumably in the same Jungian context as it is in SUGA’s MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 solo “Interlude : Shadow.” And a lyric in “NORMAL” parallels one in SUGA’s “People,” about “normal” and “special” being flexible and arbitrary terms.

#10: The Album’s Overall Sound 
Surface Layer: The clear aims for BTS this time: western appeal and equal member participation (or at least more balanced line distributions than usual). They changed their procedural approach, making this album during extended time in Los Angeles and teaming up with western producers, whose stamps are all over these tracks. El Guincho is a particularly noteworthy choice, having previously worked with Rosalía on the same goal of combining cultural specificity with more general western influences (in Rosalía’s case, he mixed Flamenco with EDM).
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Deeper Layer: Beyond just a marker between the fired-up first half and the more low-key second half, “No. 29” is a meaningful interlude because it involves the Bell of Great King Seongdeok. The song lasts exactly 1:37, the same length it takes for the bell’s sound to completely fade after being struck. This bell is officially designated as South Korean National Treasure Number 29.

“Body to Body” is also more than what is first apparent. It is a straightforward hype song, but it samples “Arirang,” and the sample’s placement later on in the track changes its meaning. The Korean cultural emblem becomes not an introduction as much as an invitation to learn more about the group and a bridge into the rest of the album. 

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Catch up on previous BTS coverage here!