2021/2/23 Consequence of Sound：十首歌告訴你為什麼千禧世代會愛 BTS
10 Songs That Show Why Millennials Love BTS
十首歌告訴你為什麼千禧世代會愛 BTS
A closer look at their songs reveals just how relatable the K-Pop superstars are
細看他們的歌，透露 K-Pop 巨星有多貼近人心
BTS is one of those rare phenomena capable of uniting people of all places and ages. The fandom, called ARMY, have much to look forward to lately, as the band will be featured tonight in a groundbreaking MTV Unplugged episode full of firsts for both MTV and the band. However, for ARMY members whose teenage or young-adult years were impacted by artists like Nirvana, Alanis Morissette, and Pearl Jam, who not only performed on the venerated MTV franchise in the 1990s but also recorded some of their best music there, BTS’s performance will definitely have a special feel.
BTS 是少見的現象，能團結世界各地各年齡層的人們。他們稱作 ARMY 的粉絲群體，最近有很多可以期待的，因為他們即將破格出演今晚的 MTV Unplugged，這對 MTV 跟 BTS 來說都是第一次，不過對一些青少年時期是受 Nirvana、Alanis Morissette 和 Pearl Jam 影響的 ARMY 來說，這些歌手不只在 90 年代出演過尊爵的 MTV，最棒的幾首歌還是在那邊錄的，BTS 的出演對他們來說感覺一定更加不同。
And that’s not the only link connecting the Korean band to this generation. BTS is, after all, mostly made of Millennials, too, born between 1992 and 1997. While many of their self-written songs contain universal truths and dilemmas that anyone can relate to, some sound more like a Millennial chronicle book, filled with social commentary, self-reflection, and intersections of both. That the lyrics are in Korean is no problem — the fandom has plenty of translators and constantly engages in online discussions to interpret the lyrics and share their thoughts and feelings about them. Academic research has shown that while 89% of BTS fans credit the music as their reason to like the band, 63% also credit the band’s overall message. It’s only natural, then, that such music and message will connect with fans from the same age as the group. What is surprising, however, is just how many BTS songs could actually serve as Millennial anthems.
而這不是該韓團跟這個世代的唯一連結，畢竟大部分的 BTS 成員是由介於 1992 至 1997 年出生的千禧世代組成，他們自己寫的歌大部分都包含普遍的事實跟困境，每個人都能有所連結，有些聽起來更像是一本千禧年紀事，充滿了社會批判、自省跟兩者的交會，以至於韓文歌詞完全不是問題，粉絲之間有很多人可以翻譯並持續參與線上討論，闡釋歌詞的意思，分享他們對此的想法跟感覺。學術研究顯示有 89% 的人表示喜歡 BTS 的音樂，但也有 63% 的人表示喜歡他們傳達的訊息，那麼這樣的音樂跟訊息能跟來自同年紀的粉絲產生連結是很自然的。讓人意外的，是 BTS 有多少歌能真的成為千禧世代國歌。
Looking at the 10 songs on this list, you’ll understand a bit why Millennials feel so connected to these K-Pop superstars.
看了下面這十首歌，你能稍微了解為什麼千禧世代會感覺跟 K-Pop 巨星如此緊密。
“Silver Spoon” (뱁새)
鴉雀
Essential Lyrics: “Stop whining about more effort/ This cliché makes me cringe/ Ah effort effort, ah effort effort/ There’s no hope from the beginning” (translation credits: Muish)
歌詞大意：不要再叨念要努力／我的手腳都捲曲／啊努力努力，啊努力努力／壓根就沒有希望
“Silver Spoon” (or “Crow-Tit” or “Try Hard”) is one of BTS’ most intricate lyrics and hardest to translate. The title is a reference to a famous Korean phrase: “If a parrotbill walks like a stork, it will tear its legs” (the parrotbill is also called “crow-tit”). According to translator Muish, it means: “If you’re not born with ability or privilege, you should know your place.”
Silver Spoon（或稱鴨雀或努力）是 BTS 最錯綜複雜的歌詞之一，很難翻譯，歌名本身是參考韓國知名俗諺：鴨雀跟著黃鳥飛的話會弄斷雙腳（意味不自量力），譯者 Muish 說明這表示「如果不是與生俱來，或是你非出生權貴，就該知道自己的位置」。
But, despite its many titles and complex Korean wordplay, the track feels familiar to Millennials all around the world as well. In “Silver Spoon”, BTS raps about older and wealthier people criticizing the youngest for not working hard enough while their system was built for them to never win anyway. Perhaps the most fun thing about the song is the choreography: it combines a mix of comic moves and hip thrusting — almost like a metaphor itself for how the economic system fucks people over.
但是，儘管他們很多歌名有複雜的韓國文字遊戲，這首歌對全球千禧世代來說非常熟悉，在鴨雀這首歌中，BTS 的饒舌在說長輩跟有錢人批評年輕人不努力工作，但社會體系根本沒有讓他們有成功的機會，或許這首歌最有趣的地方是編舞，其結合了搞笑動作跟頂跨，根本就像在隱喻經濟體系是如何強暴人們。
“Pied Piper”
吹笛人
Essential Lyrics: “Now stop watching and study for your exams/ Your parents and boss hate me/ (…) Even if you try to resist, it’s probably useless now/ (…) I’ve come to save you, I’ve come to ruin you” (translation: Wisha)
歌詞大意：好了不要再看了，去準備考試／你的爸媽跟主管都討厭我／（略）再怎麼掙扎都沒用／（略）我是來救你的，我是來毀了你的
How many artists would have the guts to tell their fans not to get too attached to their idols? BTS does. But the lyrics of the funky “Pied Piper” are hardly just about the fan-idol relationship — they can also apply to young people’s relationship with other forms of escapism in a capitalist world. And few generations had it like the Millennials: TV and propaganda were already a thing when they were born, but they also experienced the boom of the Internet, social media, and more recently, smartphones. We’re all slaves to these things, yet it all can be so sweet, can’t it?
有多少藝人有這個勇氣告訴他們的粉絲不要這麼迷戀自己的偶像？BTS 就是。但時髦的 Pied Piper 歌詞幾乎不只是關於粉絲與偶像的關係，也可以應用到年輕人在資本世界中跟其他逃避形式的關係，有幾個世代也像千禧世代一樣：他們出生的時候已經有電視跟宣傳，但他們也經歷網路、社交媒體跟最近的智慧型手機爆炸，我們都是這些東西的俘虜，雖然這可能很甜美，不是嗎？
“Go Go” (고민보다 GO)
比起煩惱 GO
Essential Lyrics: “Leave me be, even if I overspend, even if I cancel my installment savings tomorrow morning like a crazy guy/ There’s no tomorrow/ My future has already been put in pledge/ Woo, spending more of my money!” (translation: Doolset)
歌詞大意：不要管我，就算我過度消費／就算明早我像瘋子一樣去解除儲蓄／沒有明天／我的未來已經被抵押／再多花點錢
Disguised as a harmless party song, “Go Go” is an ironic, painfully accurate depiction of young adults’ relationship with money. It recalls economic analysis, such as Eduardo Gianetti’s “The value of tomorrow” about the paradox of youth discounting the future in the present versus saving for a tomorrow that might never come.
偽裝成無害的派對歌曲，GO GO 實際上是一首諷刺歌曲，痛苦又精確地描繪出年輕人跟金錢的關係，讓人憶起 Eduardo Gianetti《明天的價值》的經濟分析，年輕人對當下的未來價值打折對比為了不會到來的明天儲蓄之悖論。
But if you’re in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, you don’t need to read economic books to relate to “Go Go”. Even before the devastating economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Millennials were foreseen to be the first generation to earn less than their parents, and some will never be able to afford a house or pay their student loans. So what do they do? They laugh about it. They spend money on things that bring instant joy — what difference does it make for someone already in debt? A sad, relatable truth in an irresistibly fun song.
但如果你是二字頭、三字頭或是四字頭，你不用去讀跟 GO GO 相關的經濟學書籍，在 COVID-19 疫情大流行毀滅性經濟效應之前，就已經預測千禧世代會賺得比他們的父母少，有些永遠都買不起房子或償還不了就學貸款。那麼他們該怎麼辦？他們一笑置之，他們及時行樂，對已經負債的人又有什麼差別？在這個無法抗拒的歡快歌曲中存有的悲傷相關事實。
“Sea” (바다)
大海
Essential Lyrics: “I wanted to have the sea, so I wholly drank you in/ But the thirst is worse than before/ Is this place I’ve reached truly the sea or is it a blue desert?” (translation: Muish)
歌詞大意：想要擁有大海，全數飲盡／但卻比以前更口渴／我到的這地方是大海嗎？／還是藍色沙漠？
Millennial ARMY might remember the famous U2 refrain: “Still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” “Sea” has a similar feeling, but it hits harder for the fans that accompanied BTS’s rise to stardom. The song is a hidden track from the album Love Yourself: Her, released a few months after BTS’s first Billboard Music Awards win and a few months before their first performance at the American Music Awards. In “Sea”, BTS uses Haruki Murakami references and sea/desert metaphors (recurrent imagery in their discography) to deliver some of their most brutally honest lyrics, addressing their ambiguous relationship with fame and success. But the sentiment is relatable to anyone, especially for people growing up in a world full of possibilities and equal potential for emptiness and despair.
千禧世代的 ARMY 可能會記得 U2 有名的副歌：Still haven’t found what I’m looking for.（還是沒能找到我在找的），Sea 這首歌也是差不多的感覺，但這對和 BTS 一路走來的歌迷來說更為強烈。這首歌是《Love Yourself 承 'Her'》專輯中的隱藏曲目，該專輯發行於 BTS 第一次獲得告示牌音樂大獎數個月之後，他們第一次登上全美音樂獎頒獎典禮之前。BTS 參考村上春樹，使用大海跟沙漠隱喻（重複出現在他們的音樂中），帶出他們最殘樹又真實的歌詞，闡述他們跟名氣與成功間曖昧的關係，但每個人都能理解這感觸，特別是那些在這個充滿可能性同時也有那麼多空虛和絕望的世界中長大的人。
“Paradise” 낙원
樂園
Essential Lyrics: “We learn that we have to become great/ Your dream, actually a burden/ (…) A dream doesn’t need to be anything grand/ You can just become anyone/ We deserve a life/ (…) Stop running for nothing, my friend” (translation: Doolset)
歌詞大意：必須要偉大，學習吧，像光一樣／你的夢想其實是包袱／（略）如果說夢想是宏大的／那成為什麼樣的人都好／We deserve a life／（略）Stop runnin’ for nothin’ my friend
A fan-favorite from BTS’s Grammy-nominated 2018 album, Love Yourself: Tear, “Paradise” is a breath of fresh air amongst the overwhelming, supposedly-motivational pressure that Millennials face to “dream big” and “be the best.” In times when anxiety and burn-out affect millions of young adults, and social media makes it easy to feel like everyone’s doing better than you, BTS says it’s okay to have no big dreams or to just do things at your own pace — a much-needed message.
BTS 獲 2018 葛萊美獎提名的專輯《Love Yourself 轉 'Tear'》中粉絲最愛的歌曲，Paradise 讓處在必須要有＂遠大夢想＂、＂成為最棒的＂這個讓人喘不過去的假定動機壓力之中的千禧世代獲得喘息，在焦慮跟倦怠影響上百萬年輕人的時代，社交媒體輕易地讓人覺得其他人都過得比自己更好，BTS 告訴你沒有遠大的夢想也沒有關係，照著自己的腳步往前進就可以－一個世界急需的訊息。
“IDOL”
Essential Lyrics: “There are tens and hundreds of myself within me/ Today, I greet my another self/ They are all me after all” (translation: Doolset)
歌詞大意：我的體內有數十數百個我／今天又迎接不同的我／反正全部都是我
For better or for worse, multipotentiality is a trait associated with the Millennial generation. While Gen X grew up being told to be great at one thing, Millennials have countless possibilities. It’s a bliss, but it can be confusing as well. Along with the empowering message of self-love in its chorus (“You can’t stop me loving myself!”), BTS examine their own, complex identity to speak of what it means to allow yourself to just be whatever you are, letting go of the urge to define yourself or present yourself as cohesive.
不論好壞，多潛能是千禧世代的特徵。X 世代是需要專精一件事，千禧世代則有無窮盡的可能性，這是一種幸福，但也可能讓人迷失。合唱中伴隨著愛自己的訊息（歌詞：You can’t stop me loving myself），BTS 檢視他們自己，複雜的身分，闡述讓你能成為自己的意義，不再執著定義自己，或是讓自己變成綜合體。
“HOME”
Essential Lyrics: “The place where you are/ Perhaps that place is mi casa/ (…) As long as I have you, anywhere will become my home” (translation: Doolset)
歌詞大意：有你在的地方／或許就是 mi casa／（略）只要有你在就是我的家
Be it for all the economic reasons that have made house-ownership a distant dream, or for how the concept of family evolved to embrace friends and pets, too, the Millennial mindset of what “home” means is way less conservative than that of previous generations. For pop stars like BTS, finding a sense of stability can be even more challenging as they tour all over the world. They speak about it in songs like “Airplane pt. 2” and “ON” — but it’s in the groovy “Home” that we learn what keeps them grounded: the comfort found in their welcoming and loyal fandom.
不管是經濟原因讓買房變成遙不可及的夢想，或是家庭的概念演變成擁抱朋友跟寵物，千禧世代的對＂家＂的想法比上一個世代來得不那麼保守。對 BTS 這樣的流行歌手來說，在世界各地巡演的他們，要找到安定感可能更不簡單，他們在 Airplane pt. 2 跟 ON 都談到過，但在這首輕快的 Home 中，我們理解了他們紮根的根源：他們熱情又忠實的粉絲帶來的舒適感。
The fans have many reasons to like “Home” — it’s catchy as hell, RM’s “I’m exhausted, man” is super relatable, J-Hope and SUGA are being the power rap duo they always are, and the vocalists smash the melodies as always. But the atmosphere of the song is also as cozy as its lyrical concept and hits close to home, pun intended, for a generation that have learned to find “home” and stability not only in places but also in people, things, memories.
粉絲有千百個喜歡 Home 的理由，它朗朗上口，RM 的 I'm exhausted, man 超有同感，j-hope 跟 SUGA 如同以往是強力的 rap 雙人組，主唱們總是主宰旋律，但如同歌詞的概念，歌曲的氛圍還是那麼的慵懶，還跟家一般流行，這雙關寓意，讓這代人學會怎麼找到＂家＂，還有安定感並不限定地方，也可能是人、東西、記憶。
“Black Swan”
Essential Lyrics: “If this can no longer make me cry/ If this can no longer make my heart flutter/ Perhaps, this will be how I die once/ But what if the moment is right now?” (translation: Doolset)
歌詞大意：如果這無法讓我哭得更厲害的話／如果我的心不能更加顫動的話／或許會不會這樣死一次呢／But what if the moment is right now?
Finding passion is hard, and losing it can be fatal. If in songs like “Paradise” and “Dis-ease”, BTS speak of accepting life as valuable in itself regardless of defining it by your dreams, work, or passion, “Black Swan” shows the other side. The song inaugurated the band’s most ambitious era and had two music videos, one even including a performance by the Slovenian dance group MN Dance Company, filled with Jungian psychoanalysis symbolism. But it’s the lyrics that hit the hardest, especially the metaphors of “first death” representing a life without passion, which can be terrifying to encounter when you’re barely in the middle of your life.
找到熱情很難，失去熱情可能更加致命，如果像 Paradise 跟 Dis-ease 這些歌，BTS 說的是接受人生本身就是珍貴的，不論是用夢想、工作或熱情定義，Black Swan 展現了另一面。這首歌開啟了他們最野心勃勃的時代，總共有兩支音樂錄影帶，其中一個還有 MN Dance Company 的 Slovenian 舞團表演，充滿了榮格精神分析象徵主義，但最有力的是它的歌詞，特別是＂第一次死亡＂的隱喻，代表沒有熱情的人生，對人生僅到達中段的人來說，如果遇到會非常恐怖。
“UGH!”
Essential Lyrics: “In this place, everyone becomes someone with perfect moral thinking and judgement/ How funny/ Anger? Sure, it’s necessary/ (…) Sometimes that changes the world/ But this is human waste, not anger” (translation: Doolset)
歌詞大意：這裡所有人的道德思考跟／判斷都是完美的，真搞笑／憤怒？當然是必要的／（略）這也改變世界不是／But 這不是憤怒而是屎尿
This flammable B-side from Map of the Soul: 7 finds the three rappers of BTS firing shots not exactly at specific people, but mostly, at the way we deal with anger. Being themselves a target of lots of hate on the Internet, especially in their early days as underdogs, BTS have sure learned about channeling anger into more productive stuff (their series of Cyphers was born out of this) — and besides, it resonates with the psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s theory of integrating the “shadow,” one of the key themes of the album. With the Internet and social media providing easy platforms for people who want to spread hate, songs like “UGH!” remind us that rage and anger can and should be used productively, and that’s not exactly what a lot of us are doing.
這首出自《Map of the Soul: 7 》的可燃 B 面有 BTS 三位饒舌擔當，火光四射，沒有針對特定對象，但很有可能，在說我們處理憤怒的方式。他們自己本身就是網路上攻擊的對象，特別是早期沒有資源的時候，BTS 肯定知道怎麼將憤怒轉化為有產出的東西（他們的 Cypher 系列由此而生），除此之外，這首歌跟心理分析家榮格的整合理論 shadow 串聯，這也是專輯的關鍵主題之一。網路跟社交媒體提供了讓人輕易散播仇恨的平台，像 UGH 這樣的歌提醒了我們，要有效使用生氣跟憤怒，而我們多數人都沒能做到。
“Dis-ease” (병)
病
Essential Lyrics: “I should be doing something to the point my body shatters/ (…) I’m ill, yeah, I’m work itself/ (…) I’m confused whether it’s me or the world that’s diseased” (translation: Wisha)
歌詞大意：好像要做到身體粉碎才行／（略）I'm ill，對呀我的工作／（略）都搞不懂生病的是這個世界還是我
“What happens when tech gives us more leisure time? We work,” writes Zander Nethercutt in a Medium blog post titled “We’re optimizing ourselves to death.” The essay seems in tune with “Dis-ease”. It’s symbolic that the song was written for BE, an album born in response to the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stuck at home after almost a decade of working non-stop, what else could BTS do?
Zander Nethercutt 在他的 Medium 文章《We’re optimizing ourselves to death》中寫道：「當科技給了我們更多休息時間，我們在幹嘛？工作。」那個說法在 Dis-ease 獲得印證。這首歌收錄在《BE》中具有象徵性，這張專輯是在 COVID-19 疫情大流行導致的隔離中產生，在馬不停蹄地工作了將近十年後被關在家，BTS 還能做什麼？
But they’re not the only ones suffering from that.
但他們不是唯一受折磨的人。
J-hope’s rap addresses the guilt we feel for not being productive (“I should be doing something to the point my body shatters”) while RM’s genius wordplay in “I’m ill, I’m work itself” (“work,” in Korean, is pronounced like “ill” in English) sounds like a less-optimistic sister to Jay-Z’s iconic verse: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” It suggests how today’s adults are conditioned to build their entire persona around work and career.
j-hope 的饒舌說出了我們如果沒有產出會感到罪惡的心理（好像要做到身體粉碎才行），而 RM 的天才文字遊戲＂I’m ill，對呀我的工作＂ （韓文的＂工作＂音近 ill）聽起來就像沒那麼樂觀的姊妹回應 Jay-Z 的經典副歌：I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man，暗示了當今的成人都陷入以工作還有職業來塑造整個人格的情況。
