Music has always been an essential part of human life. Many may think that this statement is an exaggeration; however, it is evident that music permeates almost every aspect of humanity. The universal nature of music allows it to transcend age, culture, and language. It is a reflection of human emotions, a vessel for culture and tradition, and a source of entertainment.

The significance of music transforms it into a powerful medium for communication. Through lyrics and sound, messages are being conveyed, making both equally important. Sound appeals to the pathos of the audience, as the dynamics and notes of a song evoke feelings within an individual. In partnership with the sound of a musical piece, the lyrics communicate an artist’s thoughts and intentions behind the song. The words of a song relay underlying beliefs the performer may hold. Ideologies that an artist believes in and promotes can be highlighted through the careful analysis of lyrics from that artist’s discography.

The research question of this paper is what ideologies are presented throughout an artist’s lyrics across their entire discography, pulling from their first album to their latest release. This area is worthy of significant study because it sheds light on a reason behind a musical artist’s success, as the audience will be more drawn to songs with ideologies that they agree with and support. The concept that the popularity of an ideology presented by lyrics is correlated with the popularity of the artist’s music, thus the artist themselves, is transcendent of language and culture. Therefore, this study will be examining Korean music as opposed to mainstream American pop music.

The Growing Popularity of Korean Pop Music

Korean pop music (abbreviated as “K-pop”) is a genre of popular South Korean music that is influenced by various global styles of rock, jazz, hip hop, R&B, and more. The modern form of this genre emerged in 1992 with the formation of Seo Taiji and Boys and their style of incorporating foreign musical elements. However, Korean “idol” culture was not established until the debut of the boyband Highfive Of Teenagers (known as H.O.T.) in 1996. K-pop began growing a subculture of dedicated teenage and young adult fans. These fandoms grew in size and in 2003 with the debut of musicians such as BoA and TVXQ!, were a part of the beginnings of the Korean or Hallyu Wave, the phenomenal globalization of Korean pop culture.

BTS as a Global Success

Today, K-pop has secured a significant place in the international music scene due to the popularity of many different girl groups and boy bands. However, none have reached the heights that the boyband BTS has. The K-pop industry is fiercely competitive and cut-throat. If a group does not find success within the first year of their debut, it is quite hard for that group to achieve notable recognition and stay as a group. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan, Bangtan Boys, or Beyond the Scene) debuted in 2013 as a 7-member hip hop group, members including: Kim Seokjin (stage name: Jin), Min Yoongi (stage name: SUGA), Jung Hoseok (stage name: j-hope), Kim Namjoon (stage name: RM), Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung (stage name: V), and Jeon Jungkook.

During the first two years of their debut, BTS seemed to have moderate success but nowhere near the levels of the top industry groups at the time, such as EXO. It was only in 2015 that BTS started experiencing exponential growth with the album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1. Over the course of their careers, the members of BTS have accumulated many achievements together. They were the second best-selling artists of 2018 worldwide according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's Global Artist Chart, are winners of multiple Billboard awards, and even presented at the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019. BTS’s impact also extends beyond musical accolades into culture and society with their message of loving yourself. In 2018, they addressed the United Nations 73rd General Assembly and were also the youngest recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit, awarded by the president of South Korea. Their fanbase, known as the Adorable Representative Mc for Youth (ARMY), is estimated to have about 89 million members and is highly engaged with BTS’s social media.

Overall, BTS has made a name for themselves on the global stage that demands attention for the significant impact that follows them. With humble beginnings coming from a small and relatively unknown company, BTS’s journey to success seems to come out of a fairytale or movie. Their rocket launch into global stardom invites curiosity as to how it happened and what caused it.

BTS as Self-Producers

A significant difference between BTS and the other artists in their area of music (K-pop) is that BTS has a large influence over their own music. In the genre of K-pop, most albums are made by buying of demo songs or receiving songs from producers. It is quite rare for the artists themselves to be involved in the production and writing of their own music. However, BTS produces and writes almost all of their own songs. Their names are listed in all of the songs’ credits as producers and writers. The leader of the group, RM, has written and produced over 100 songs. This ensures that their music is authentic as they take part in and direct the creative process largely by themselves. Thus, examining the lyrics from their songs would be a credible method in analyzing ideologies that BTS personally believe in and promote.

Ideological Criticism as the Method of Analysis

This paper will utilize the method of ideological criticism to examine BTS’s song lyrics in efforts to answer the research question of what ideology is presented by the artist through their lyrics. After selecting the artifact (BTS’s lyrics), the next step is to identify the presented elements of the artifact, highlighting rhetorical aspects that provide clues to its ideology. Then, from the gathered rhetorical elements, the critic will identify suggested elements linked to the presented elements and formulate an ideology. Finally, the study will conclude with identifying the functions served by said ideology.

BTS's Mission

Before delving into individual songs and their lyrics, BTS already presents an overarching theme of their music as a way of representing and defending today’s youth. J-hope, one of the rappers of BTS, once explained the meaning of their group name in a Korean radio interview saying, “’Bangtan’ [part of Bangtan Sonyeondan] means to be resistant to bullets, so it means to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that rain on adolescents like bullets, to preserve the values and ideals of today’s adolescents” (Aida Quilapio, 2015). This mission coined by BTS's name becomes the focal point of the ideology revealed in their songs.

Societal Criticism

The initial part of BTS's ideology behind their music is that there is a universal problem with society and its demanding expectations of those within it. BTS recognizes that modern society is highly competitive and considers endless competition as the absolute good. However, they point out injustices in the pressure placed on individuals to succeed despite the differences in opportunities. This societal pressure is manifested in various specific issues that BTS addresses in their songs. Three examples of these sources of societal pressure are the older generations, the education system, and the peers in the younger generations.

In the song “뱁새 (Silver Spoon/Baepsae)” from the 2015 album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2, BTS talks about the system of neo-liberalism and how the younger generation is negatively affected by that (Lee, 2019). The first verse says, “At a part-time job, it's ‘all for experience’/At school, there's the teachers/My superiors use violence/In the media they go on about ‘the generation that's given up’” (BTS, 2015), noting how in order for the current generation entering the workforce to build up their resumes, they have to work for no pay. Later in the song, the lyrics say, “I have crow-tit legs, and you have stork's legs/They said, their legs are worth a million bucks/My legs are shorter, so how do you expect me to keep up?/They say ‘It shouldn't matter since we're coming from the same place’/Never Never Never” (BTS, 2015). Here, BTS references a Korean proverb “a crow tit following a stork will tear its legs”. It means that if you try to do something that is out of your reach or capabilities, then you will likely fail. The crow tit represents the younger generation trying to catch up with the older generation, represented by the storks. The chorus of the song translates to, “They call me try-hard/Our generation has had it hard/Hurry, chase ’em/Thanks to those that came before us I'm spread too thin/They call me try-hard” (BTS, 2015). These lyrics show BTS's criticism of how in South Korea, older generations look down upon the younger generations for not succeeding, blaming it on the younger ones’ lack of hard work. However, BTS argues that it is not because of the lack of hard work but because of different circumstances that make achieving success harder. Though they are addressing South Korean society specifically, this issue of tension between generations can be seen in other cultures as well.

BTS expresses another frustration with societal pressure from the education system in another song “N.O.”, from their album O!RUL8,2? that was released in September 2013. The song opens with the rhetorical question, “A good house, a good car, will these things bring happiness?/In Seoul to the SKY, would your parents be happy?” (BTS, 2013). This lyric highlights the goals set by the education system. Students work extremely hard for a specific kind of success in life measured by material goods and monetary value. This pressure to succeed by becoming rich is further amplified by parents expecting the same, referenced by the question “would your parents be happy?” (BTS, 2013). The ultimate goal of education being to gain physical wealth influences school to become a cut-throat learning environment, as described in the following lyrics, “Who is the one who made us into study machines?/It's either number one or a failure/They trap us in borders, the adults/There’s no choice but to consent/Even if we think simply, it’s the survival of the fittest/ Who do you think is the one who makes us step on even our close friends to climb up? What?” (BTS, 2013). The response BTS gives to this toxic environment produced by the education system is protest, “Everybody say NO!/It's not going to work anymore/Don't be captured in others dreams” (BTS, 2013). BTS rejects and criticizes the norm of what the education system expects of students.

Though many societal pressures may come from external sources, BTS also addresses problems within the younger generation that contribute to the downfalls of society. In their album Love Yourself: Her, released in September 2017, there is a song called “고민보다 Go (Go Go)” that comments on frivolous spending done by younger individuals. The lyrics “Dollar dollar/Squandering it all in one day/Run, run, I make and waste my own money” (BTS, 2017) mock the actions of someone unwisely spending their money on trivial things. In the rap verse, “I want to be cruisin’ on the bay/I want to be cruisin’ like Nemo/No money but I wanna go far away/I don’t have money but I wanna relax/No money but I wanna eat Jiro Ono’s sushi” (BTS, 2017), BTS points out how many want to have lavish lifestyles but are not willing to put in the hard work for it. The chorus, “Yolo yolo yolo yo,” (BTS, 2017), indicates that BTS is referring to the younger generation as YOLO (You Only Live Once) is slang or terminology used by teenagers and young adults.

Manifestation of Mental Illnesses

BTS adds to this ideology of social pressure by writing about how it manifests into mental illnesses in individual members of society. In very candid and honest lyrics, individual members share their personal struggles with mental issues such as loneliness, depression, and social anxiety. Some of these experiences and feelings are byproducts of pursuing what society deems as success.

The song “Whalien 52,” from the album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2, begins with the picture, “In the middle of the vast ocean/One whale speaks softly and lonelily/The fact that no matter how much they shout, it won’t reach/Makes them so gravely lonely that they quietly shut their mouths” (BTS, 2015). The lyrics of the song use imagery to depict a whale out in the deep, vast ocean to symbolize the feeling of loneliness. The verse then continues, “Of course I don’t care what‘s the matter or what I’ve now become/When loneliness is the only thing that stays by my side/I’ve become completely alone. It's a lock that fills sadness/Someone says, “bastard, you’ve become a celebrity”/Oh f*ck that! So what?! Nobody remains by my side and I'm fine on my own” (BTS, 2015). The rapper, SUGA, notes that even though other people (society) may see him as successful because he has become a celebrity, loneliness still plagues him and what he has achieved has not made him entirely happy. Regardless of what society defines as success, it does not guarantee happiness or a complete escape from sadness.

On January 1, 2017, RM, the leader of BTS, released a vulnerable song titled “Always” through SoundCloud, a music-sharing platform. The shockingly raw nature of the lyrics conveys RM’s personal struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. The opening lines of the song read, “One morning, I opened my eyes/And wished I was dead/I want someone to kill me/In this loud silence/I live to understand the world/But the world has never understood me, why” (RM, 2017). He then uses wordplay in the word ‘always’ and ‘all ways’ in the following lyrics to show that he finds himself in a constant struggle of hopelessness despite all his attempts to fight against it, “Why is it that I’m being so earnest/Yet it’s not working out/Always/Always/… /Always (I lost my all ways)” (RM, 2017).

Similarly, SUGA, another member of BTS, discusses his personal struggles with mental health in his song “마지막 (The Last)” from his personal mixtape Agust D. He begins by acknowledging his struggles with different mental disorders through the lyrics, “On the other side of the famous idol rapper/Stands my weak self, it’s a bit dangerous/Depression, OCD/They keep coming back again from time to time” and “Around the age of 18, I developed social anxiety/Right, that was when my mind was gradually polluted” (Agust D, 2016). He then moves on to how his striving for success became detrimental for his mental state, characterizing success as a ‘monster’ through the lyrics of “I’ve exchanged my youth for success/And that monster demands for more wealth/At times it puts a collar on my neck/To ruin and swallow me with greed” (Agust D, 2016).

In the K-pop industry and South Korean society in general, mental illnesses such as depression are extremely prevalent due to the high-stress environment of the country. However, it is often taboo to talk about as such mental issues are seen as signs of weakness or are not recognized as a legitimate medical condition. In sharing such an intimate part of their feelings, RM and SUGA raise awareness about mental health. In doing so, they convey a message that even if society does not want to recognize it as an important topic, one’s mental health should be valued and placed as a priority.

Self-Confrontation and Self-Love

The final and perhaps most important part of BTS's ideology presented through their lyrics is a call to action. BTS's response to societal pressure and mental illnesses amplified by such pressures is self-confrontation and self-love. In their recent albums (Love Yourself: Her, Love Yourself: Tear, and Love Yourself: Answer), BTS explores how self-love can lead to release from societal pressures and stereotypes.

To start, BTS realizes that self-love must begin with self-confrontation. The lyrics of “Fake Love,” the title track of their Love Yourself: Tear album released in 2018, show the process of someone realizing that they have lost themselves, “But I don't know me, Who are you?/The forest just for us, you weren’t there/The route I took, I forgot/I even became quite unsure of who I was/Try babbling into the mirror, who the hell are you?” (BTS, 2018). In another song “Epiphany” from the Love Yourself: Answer album, the singer Jin confronts his insecurities by questioning why he was so scared of himself, “I’m shaking and afraid but I keep going forward/I’m meeting the real you, hidden in the storm/Why did I want to hide my precious self like this?/What was I so afraid of?/Why did I hide my true self?” (BTS, 2018).

Once the self-reflection process starts, one can begin to work through insecurities and doubts, eventually learning how to love themselves. This development is celebrated in the song “Answer: Love Myself” as BTS sings about how they personally have begun learning how to love themselves. In this stanza, “Loving myself might be harder/Than loving someone else/Let’s admit it/The standards I made are more strict for myself/The thick tree rings in your life/It’s part of you, it’s you/Now let’s forgive ourselves/Our lives are long, trust yourself when in a maze” (BTS, 2018), BTS acknowledges that self-love is much easier said than done, as they struggle with it themselves. However, RM inspires hope as he admits, “It’s just that loving myself/Doesn’t require anyone else’s permission/I’m looking for myself again/But I don’t wanna die anymore/Me, who used to be sad/Me, who used to be hurt/It’ll make me more beautiful” (BTS, 2018). These lyrics hold significance as they reference his song “Always” from the previous year, where the lyrics expressed his personal suicidal thoughts. The chorus then proudly proclaims that “The me of yesterday, the me of today, the me of tomorrow/(I’m learning how to love myself)/With no exceptions, it’s all me” (BTS, 2018).

The Power of BTS's Ideology

After analyzing BTS's lyrics across their many albums, one finds that BTS presents an ideology of overcoming the universal problem of societal pressure detrimental to mental health by confronting and coming to love oneself. This ideology is significant because it is relevant and speaks to many people. The personal stories and convictions that BTS shares in their songwriting resonate and draw in the audience. Many BTS fans talk about how the lyrics written by BTS have helped them through tough times in their own lives. This widespread acceptance of BTS's lyrical ideology has contributed to their massive success and popularity. This study provides evidence that the more people agree with and relate to the ideology presented in an artist’s lyrics, the more the artist’s audience will grow.

References

Lead Image: M, R. (2021, May 8). [BTS in front their song titles at the GDA "Life Goes On" performance].