More than a year after FACE, Jimin of BTS released his second album MUSE, all while being an active military personnel. ARMYs and even casual listeners commended Jimin’s MUSE because compared to its predecessor, it is livelier and easy to listen to. Jimin’s vocals noticeably improved too. I’ve been trying to find the best word to describe the album, and the word “perfect” still does not give it any justice.
MUSE’s general theme is clear from the first song. MUSE is about love; from looking for “a real good love,” to asking “Who is my heart waiting for?,” and then eventually wrapping it all up saying, “I’ll never let you go.” MUSE dabbles on every aspect of love: from wanting to keeping love. Hmmm, love — such a beautiful feeling to have. No wonder people keep looking for it even in the wrong places.
Having a muse as an artist can be a double-edged sword. It’s inspiring to do a song for someone you love. Words flow easier when you dedicate an essay to someone special. But as easy as it seems to create when inspired by someone, the essay crafted with so much love can be tinted by bad memories if ever things don’t end well.
Love has been described probably a lot more times than how much the Earth revolves around the Sun, so I trust that love is a feeling that we’ve felt once in our lives. Whether towards someone or something, we’ve found love; something so special and delicate in our life — a feeling, but like all feelings, it can fade away. Even if it’s over, we desperately cling on to it. But it’s already over.
Maybe that’s why it leaves a bitter feeling to review a work dedicated to someone you used to love. Should this be a reason not to create something for our muse? It would be sad not to. It would be wasteful not to capture the magical feeling of love at that moment.
Similar to Jimin’s feelings while making this album, I’ve also been having a sense of apathy towards… everything. I’m having a prolonged compassion fatigue after tending to many things all at once. Writing, a hobby that I enjoy, became boring. I have been writing a few essays lately, but I feel like it lacks my distinct voice. My essays are just blocks of words I’m not satisfied with. My lack of inspiration and forcing myself to have one probably caused these dry essays.
It’s hard enough to create. It’s much harder to write when you cannot think of what to write. You’re just writing, that’s it. Imagine driving in a full tank, but then the GPS turns off. You are left with entering random streets, checking the place out, saying “cool,” and then moving forward. These types of places leave no profound impact. But that time of discovery is also important. Wandering around with zero goals can help shape new goals.
I find it ironic that Jimin titled his album MUSE even though he didn’t write it with a specific person in mind. As he said in his “Thanks to” letter he’s been looking for the feelings he felt before as he worked on this album. I assume that through MUSE, Jimin eventually found “a real good love” that he wanted. Such feelings were palpable in the album. MUSE can be described in many ways, and I’m disappointed that no one noticed how it is wrapped with so much sincerity from him. And sincerity is difficult to fabricate. MUSE must have been made with so much love and care from an artist who wants to share the same feelings with his audience — the magic of love.
Now, it’s my turn to say “Thanks to Jimin”. Thanks to MUSE, my GPS started running again. Thanks to Jimin, I’m reminded of what love for one’s craft feels like.
