Run BTS, Run.
The song shares a title with their popular variety show, “Run BTS” (or “달려라 방탄” in Korean). Running has been used as a metaphor throughout BTS’ discography for determination and progress (e.g ‘Run’, ‘Young Forever’, ‘Sea’, ‘Yet To Come’ and more). Therefore, the title is referring to how much BTS have ‘ran’ (worked hard to move forward and make progress) as well as how they are still running, still pushing forward to reach new heights. I believe the ‘running’ emphasises the determination they have as it suggests high power and effort to me, because running takes a high pace and energy compared to walking, so it shows to me they try hard with high effort.
Nonhyeon 100m, our place. When school ends, the company is calling. Ah, I’ll be over right now, please don’t send me home.
The song begins with their beginning, reflecting how this song is a message of their journey. During the earlier days of BTS’ training, Nonhyeon is the name of the neighbourhood where their work buildings were, therefore that became their ‘spot’ of spending time. This section of the song represents how much work, time and effort they put in during their trainee years to reach where they are; they would go to school all day and when school finally ends, the company is calling them to come to the office or practice rooms etc. Their response is that ah, they are heading there straight away. They show their determination of how even when they are tired or maybe do not want to, they still go immediately as they do not want to risk losing what they are working hard for, reinforced by the next line ‘please don’t send me home’. This line perhaps reflects the uncertain and competitive nature of their job, that they could be cut suddenly, which drove them to work even harder.
Sometimes I dream about those days, I shudder and open my eyes, I don’t wanna go, go back again.
They say that sometimes they have dreams about those days and when they suddenly wake up and open their eyes, they’d wake up shivering, implying that thinking about these times is more of a nightmare than a dream. He confirms this by saying he doesn’t want to go back to those times again, times of uncertainty and endless hard work.
(Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go). 10 years, wait, wait, we from the bottom. I caught you bae, bae, we’re pretty fast. We seven mate, mates, look carefully, we got us.
It has been ten years since they began and they have since steadily climbed the ladder of success, for ten years they waited to be where they are today. They started at the bottom — financially, popularity and more was something they had to gain as they climbed. In terms of ‘running’, as the title says, they are fast in regard to this. In relation to the metaphor this perhaps means that they make progress at a quick pace. Because they are fast, they ‘caught’ others, likely meaning that in terms of a race metaphor they caught up to them, or overtook them. Also, if you run after someone and catch them in a game, it would imply they won. ‘Bae’ is often an affectionate term, therefore if they caught someone here to beat them, bae may be used in a patronising way. Similarly to Cypher 4, it has been suggested that when ‘bae’ is used in this way it may be a wordplay across languages; the word ‘선배’ (sun-bae) refers to people with more experience in their industry, reinforcing the idea that they caught up to or overtook others in the industry who were perhaps here before or at the same time as them. They are seven mates, seven friends who worked together as a team to get where they are. Take a good look and you will see this, they have each other and support one another.
Tell me what you wanna, tell me what you wanna woah. (If we live fast, let us die young).
You can tell them what you want to, but they are confident in their bond and work, so it does not tear them down. A staple song in BTS discography is ‘Young Forever’ which this lyric contrasts. Both songs are about how they work hard in their career and hope to keep going (or ‘running’) forever/for a long time, but they emphasise it in different ways. I interpret this line to mean that through their youth and career they have been living fast, constantly working every hour of the day and sometimes the night too, therefore they have sacrificed their youth for their career (as they have said in other songs such as Dope). If they choose to live their life in this rapid style, they know what they are sacrificing, therefore they ask not to be criticised or ‘saved’ because it is something they care fiercely about and therefore a sacrifice they are happy to make. You can ‘tell them what you wanna’ but they are confident in their decisions.
We’ve got you totally hypnotised (make it move, left and right) whoever you are (make it move, left and right).
Whoever you are watching them, they have you hypnotised. These lines of the chorus emphasise their talent — they will impress anyone who watches their performance to the point where they are hypnotised and cannot look away. In between each of these lines they sing ‘make it move, left and right’. I believe this could relate to the imagery of hypnosis, how a common example of one is something swinging back and forth, left to right, in front of someone’s eyes. In this metaphor, their dance during a performance may be them moving left to right, acting as the hypnosis trigger.
Our two bare feet are our gasoline, let’s go now, are you ready? (Okay, let’s go!). Run bulletproof, run, yeah you gotta run (x3). Run bulletproof, run.
The ‘gasoline’, what powers them to run, is simply their two bare feet; they power themselves without any other tool or support, even shoes. They reached where they are by themselves, with no external fuel or support, simply their hard work and talent. A brilliant depiction of this lyric is how the Black Swan choreography is performed barefoot — a song about their artistic struggles and passion. At its core, it is their passion and ability that fuels them. They ask “are you ready?” before entering the chorus, which could be directly to the listener, preparing them for what is to come, or to each other, a prompt before they do some running. The ‘B’ in BTS’ Korean name stands for ‘방탄’ (bang-tan), which translates as ‘bulletproof’. Therefore, when he sings ‘run bulletproof’, he is directly saying ‘run BTS, run’, encouraging them to continue running and working hard. It could also be a reflection on the past, what they kept telling themselves in order to continue pushing forward.
I was right, the rain that seeped through that Nonhyeon-dong studio.
Due to the verb that is used, I have seen the first line of this section translated in two ways:
- “I was right”
- “I stood under it”
In relation to the verse, both make sense, so I will explore both interpretations. I am unsure if it is intentionally a double meaning, but it could be a wordplay since both meanings fit well. The first meaning is more abstract. In this verse, Suga wonders about Bangtan’s future and promises to make success, and therefore ‘he was right’, to say all this. The second translation is a more physical description; he tells a story of being in a studio that contains leaking water, therefore he would be standing under the leaking roof while making these promises of success — he stood under it and therefore he witnessed the progression of their journey and success firsthand. Referencing the studio and the condition it was in back at their beginnings in Nonhyon emphasises that they truly ‘came from the bottom’ as they say in the pre-chorus, as they used to work in less good conditions due to finance.
Cracking open some soju without snacks and telling my sob story, the words I promised myself, that everyone was dead meat when I succeeded.
In that studio, he opened some alcohol and ‘threw a pity party’ for himself, likely thinking about the negative aspects of their situation, feeling bad for himself and hoping one day, if they run enough, they will be in a better situation. It was mentioned that this alcohol is usually consumed with snacks however this time he does not, which perhaps increases the speed with which he got drunk and that is how his emotions and story flow out suddenly in this ‘pity party’. While feeling these negative things, he made a promise that they would succeed so well that nobody else would stand a chance in comparison, they’d be ‘done for’.
The reason for Bangtan’s success? I don’t know either, is there even one? I guess we all just ran like hell, no matter what, we just kept runnin’. Here’s your answer hahaha.
He asks this question almost like he is quoting what others are asking — what is the reason for BTS’ success? What made them reach such heights that others haven’t? What is the secret? How can others do this too? He says that he does not know, is there even one? There is not one sole reason or ‘formula’ for their success that can be replicated, it is a combination of many aspects such as quality, talent, hard work and their individual personalities as well as many more things. His guess for a reason of how they became so successful is that they all ‘ran like hell’ — in regards to the running metaphor, they worked so hard, they pushed with such force and they were all passionately determined. No matter what hardship they faced or tiredness that tempted them to stop, they simply just kept running and working hard. He ends the verse almost in a full circle, saying that ‘here’ is the answer to their ‘question’ (of how Bangtan became successful). ‘Here’ is this performance you are watching, this song you are listening to, these lyrics you are reading. The quality and talent of BTS on stage, the music they make and the lyrics they write showcase a reason for how they became successful — because they are simply good at what they do. He laughs at the end of this, adding a tone of amusement and relief to his previous worries from the beginning.
Comfort, got them, consistency, got them, good music, got them. Good team? Goddamn! U said u hot, oh man, u not.
RM begins listing more reasons Bangtan are successful as a response to the question in Suga’s verse. They have comfort — they have great communication between each other and can work through any hardships together. They have consistency, constantly working hard and putting out the same quality and standard of work. They have good music, a key thing for success in the music industry. Goddamn, they have a good team! Seven talented individuals who, together, make a brilliant team in terms of their work between each other and the work they create. Others say they are ‘hot’, that they have all these things RM listed, but in reality it is just words, they do not have all these things, which is one thing that makes BTS stand out as a group.
There are those who race forward, those who fly above them, and above them all runs BTS lezzzgo.
This lyric comes from a Korean proverb meaning ‘there is always someone better than you’. If someone is running, there is someone flying above them, doing better than the running man. However, BTS is above even that person, running so well they overtake the flying man. This verse solidifies their confidence in their team and the great work they do together. This lyric has also been used by BTS even in 2014 in Cypher pt.2, showing they have had this confidence in their abilities even since the beginning.
Through ignorant faith we just run, with our two legs, that’s how we do it all, that’s how we proved it.
After another pre-chorus and chorus, J-Hope raps his verse. While Jungkook and V described their beginning, J-Hope describes how they got to where they are currently in this journey. With blind and ignorant faith, they just ran. They had faith that working hard would bring them the success it deserved and so they carried on simply ‘running’ forward trusting that faith. They just ran, just with their two legs, simply carrying themselves, that’s how they did everything and proved it — by themselves with the bare minimum. The fact that they got this far on their legs alone emphasises how impressive their success is.
Seven Chowonies with our million-dollar legs.
The continuing line references a movie: “Marathon”. It is a true story based on an autistic marathon runner (Bae Hyeong-jin). Bangtansubs added information about the wordplay in this lyric: “The word ‘cho-won’ means ‘grassy plains’ in Korean, but is also the main character’s name in the film. His legs are insured for 1 million won. The line from the film where his mother fiercely declares that his legs are worth 1 million became quite famous in Korea.” Therefore, Bangtan are seven ‘runners’, their legs worth “1 million”, showing how impressive their ability is. It could be noted also the ‘marathon’ aspect reflects BTS’ previous lyrics from Paradise: “marathon, marathon, life is long, do it slowly.” Furthermore, the lyrics also resemble metaphors in BTS’ other song, ‘Baepsae’, where they sing about how their ‘small legs’ could never compare to other people’s ‘million dollar legs’ — a metaphor about the advantages people have in society that benefit them to reach success.
Jiminie, V, you’ve worked hard. Namjoonie, Hope, you’ve worked hard. Yoongi hyung, Jjin, you’ve worked hard. Jungkookie, everyone, so thanks.
J-Hope continues by listing each member and telling them (through a casual slang phrase) they have worked hard in the last ten years in all their ‘running’ to reach where they are today, and thanking them for this hard work. He somewhat lists them grouped in a pattern of age: Jimin and V were born in the same year, Namjoon and J-Hope were born in the same year, Yoongi and Jin are the two eldest and Jungkook is the youngest. This section is also filled with different nicknames and ways of addressing them: nicknames such as “Jiminie”, “Namjoonie” and “Jungkookie” as well as stage names “V” and “Hope” (from J-Hope). Yoongi is a “hyung” to J-Hope, so he calls him in such way, and also uses a nickname for Jin that is used between them (Jjin).
Get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, more in the future. Go get it, go get it, go get it, go get it, go get it, let’s run, run.
He tells them many times to get ready for more in the future — they may have ran for a long time and ran really far, but that does not mean they will be stopping anytime soon. There will be more hard work, more running, more hardships to overcome so prepare for them, but they will face them together and conquer them nonetheless. He tells them many times to ‘go get it’ and initiates them to run together. It may also be worth noting that this song was released before BTS announced their ‘new chapter’, so these lines could be referring to all the things they have planned and yet to come in the approaching future.
Run beautiful, run, yeah you gotta run (x3). Run beautiful, run.
After another chorus, the final refrain changes from ‘run bulletproof, run’ to ‘run beautiful, run’. If we use the logic of the previous choruses, saying ‘bulletproof’ meant they were directly addressing themselves, therefore by replacing it with another word, they may be calling themselves and referring to themselves with the ‘beautiful’ here. The previous chorus felt determined, powered and running with a lot of vigour, whereas this lyrical change softens the tone. It feels like it shifts from almost angry passion in the past to more gentle encouragement for the future. They could also be singing to the listener here, speaking in a more gentle way and encouraging them to run in their future as well.
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