Could ‘Stay Gold’ MV contain scenes inspired by Carl Jung’s dream?
‘Stay Gold’ MV is one more brilliant piece by BTS and it undoubtedly brings a multitude of images full of meanings for us to explore. So, after watching and analyzing countless times, I believe that the MV, as well as the music in its entirety, is an expression of three very important factors in relation to this point / moment we arrived at with the boys: first, it carries several references from BTS’ journey so far; second, it brings that message of hope that is so necessary in the context in which we find ourselves; and, finally, it is configured as another step into all the stages that will still come forward through the process of individuation — a term used by Carl Jung to describe the psychological development through which the components of our psyche are integrated.
But today, I would like to focus on a very specific part of the MV: the final scenes. In his book, “Map of the Soul”, Dr. Murray Stein mentions on page 141 a dream that Carl Jung experienced and that caught my attention. So, in order to fully understand this account, I went straight to the source: the book “Memories, dreams, reflections”, by Carl Jung, in which he describes this dream in full. Jung wrote:
“I found myself in a dirty, sooty city. It was night, and winter, and dark, and raining. I was in Liverpool. With a number of Swiss — say half a dozen. I walked through the dark streets. I had the feeling that there we were coming from the harbor, and that the real city was actually up above, on the cliffs. We climbed up there. It reminded me of Basel, where the market is down below and then you go up through the Totengasschen (Alley of the Dead), which leads to a plateau above and so to the Petersplatz and the Peterskirche. When we reached the plateau, we found a broad square dimly illuminated by street lights, into which many streets converged. The various quarters of the city were arranged radially around the square. In the center was a round pool, and in the middle of it a small island. While everything round about was obscured by rain, fog, smoke and dimly lit darkness, the little island blazed with sunlight. On it stood a single tree, a magnolia, in a shower of reddish blossoms. It was as though the tree stood in the sunlight and were at the same time the source of light. My companions commented on the abominable weather, and obviously did not see the tree. They spoke of another Swiss who was living in Liverpool, and expressed surprise that he should have settled here. I was carried away by the beauty of the flowering tree and the sunlit island, and thought, ‘I know very well why he has settled here.’ Then I awoke.”
Did you notice any similarity? Well, let’s list some possible similarities below:
→ Jung says he found himself in a dirty, sooty city and that everything was dark → In much of the MV, we see the boys in different places, but all under the same perception: scenarios plunged into a certain darkness. In addition, in the scene where JungKook looks out the window, we can see a city also plunged into darkness.
→ Jung says that, in the dream, he was accompanied by a group of Swiss friends. He says “half a dozen”. → We know that BTS is composed of 7 members, right? It may just be a happy coincidence, but just as in the dream there were 7 people together, in the MV we have the same amount.
→ Jung says that, after going up to a certain point, they found a poorly lit square, but there was in the center something like a lake and a small island, in which, besides the sunlight, there was a magnolia tree. Notice that he says “It was as if the tree was in the sunlight and at the same time it was the source of light”. Interesting, isn’t it? → In the final scenes of the MV, the boys also ascend towards a place hitherto poorly lit, but, in the end, everything gains light and colors together with the presence of the beautiful tree and a lake. See here the photo of a magnolia tree (Jung’s dream tree) and a photo of the tree present in the MV. I can’t say if they are exactly the same, but we cannot deny that the similarity is absurd! In addition, the whole scenario in these final scenes also brings numerous similarities to the scenario of Jung’s dream.
→ Jung also says that he was completely taken by the beauty of the tree. → Yes, in the MV, Jimin also appears next to the tree, but the final scene is completely focused on Taehyung interacting with the tree.
Moving towards the end of this analysis, you may be asking yourself: what could all this mean if there is, in fact, a connection between the MV and this dream?
Well, in the book I mentioned earlier, Jung also brings some comments that complement his understanding of his dream. He wrote: “The dream represented my situation at the time. […] Everything was extremely unpleasant, black and opaque — just as I felt then. But I had a vision of supernatural beauty, which is why I was able to live. This dream brought with it a sense of purpose. I saw that here the objective had been revealed. You couldn’t go beyond the center. The center is the goal and everything is directed to that center. Through this dream, I understood that the self is a principle and archetype of guidance and meaning. This is where your healing function resides. For me, this insight meant an approach to the center and therefore to the goal. From it came a first clue of my personal myth. ” And he ends his comment by saying “[…] The dream represented the climax of the entire development process.”
If we take Jung’s own analysis into account, it becomes quite clear that BTS is showing us that, as in ‘ON’ MV, they are reaching a new level and opening new stages of this eternal journey, moving towards the self, the center of the psyche that unifies all that is conscious and unconscious. In addition, we are going through a moment of “darkness”, a collective shadow and, for many of us, a moment of facing the individual shadow as well. Thus, Stay Gold, along with the other tracks on the album MOTS 7: The Journey — with special attention to ‘OTHER: The Journey’, comes to announce both for us and for the boys that, in times of external limitation, the internal journey can and must take deeper steps and, thus, thousands of new possibilities will open up in the dawn ahead of us. Stay gold, ARMY!
*A drawing that represents Jung’s dream:
