BTS’ “Black Swan” Aptly Addresses The Fear Of Losing Sight Of What We Love
“Love is not always about the good things”
When we think of the term ‘black swan’, many of us automatically think of the movie. I have not personally watched it, but to my understanding, the movie revolves around a ballerina who was cast as she fits the role of the White Swan perfectly. A White Swan exudes innocence and grace. However, the performance required a ballerina who would also be able to play the Black Swan: one that represents guile and sensuality. Does she ultimately transform into what the world wants? Does she lose herself to the expectations and the pressure? Does she remember why she was passionate about her craft at all?
Bandleader RM shared during his livestream that he had cried a lot while watching the movie. The movie had inspired the lyrics of their Black Swan track. RM shared that he had written it based on the protagonist’s desperation to transform into what the world wanted from her. He also wrote it while reflecting on what the life of a dancer would be.
Our first glimpse of Black Swan by BTS, was the Art Film that was released in January this year. The dancers in the film are from MN Dance Company. The video starts with a quote by choreographer Martha Graham: “A dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is more painful.”
The quote was reflected in this lyric of the track: If this can no longer resonate, no longer make my heart vibrate, Then like this may be how I die my first death. When we lose passion for what we used to love, it really feels like a part of us has passed away. Why do we lose passion? It can be due to constant struggle, surrounding circumstances, loss of focus, allowing the downs to swallow us whole, giving in to self-destruction because we think recovery takes greater effort. We compartmentalise these negative feelings as the “bad” of us: the demons hanging in the shadows.
There was a clear ‘main character’ in this art film, who seems to be struggling against a group of dancers dressed in all-black. The main character keeps struggling to break free from them. Sometimes we wonder if the fight is worth it. We fluctuate between wanting to fight, or wanting to give up. In the art film, the main character finally gets away. Strangely enough, he reunites with the same group of dancers he was trying to escape from. Unlike earlier when they were holding him down, the group of dancers banded together to lift him up. They were no longer controlling him or weighing him down. When the main character chose to face them, he regained control — they were lifting him up to help him fly rather than fall.
The waves go darkly by in a throe, But I’ll never get dragged away again
There are some things that we will always feel or always struggle with. But what if we learned to work alongside them, rather than denying or giving in to them? Instead of saying “I have this thing that I need to get rid of” — what if we found a way to work around them?
This reminds me of a quote Suga once shared during an interview: “You must face your inner shadows, but resist becoming submerged to its depths. You must face it and move forward.” As you learn to recognise who you are and what you wish to be, you will learn to empathise and navigate these troubles instead of allowing them to overwhelm you.
What’s interesting about the message of this track is the mindset of the 7 members behind it. You would think that having the nickname “the biggest boy band in the world right now”, their main fear would be the fear of losing relevancy. Black Swan instead focuses on their fear of losing passion for their craft — the music that they love to create. This says a lot about BTS as people, staying true to their aim to be known as the musicians who are sincere in who they are and what they do.
RM picked this particular lyric as one that suits their track most: Every moment becomes eternity, film it now. We often take photographs or record videos on our phones, and eventually, they become memories we get to look back on. On a cheeky side note, this reminded me how V accidentally kicked J-Hope in the face during their performance on the Late Late Show. When BTS was asked to give hints about MOTS:7, RM had repeated multiple times that it was going to be hard. This new era has definitely gifted us with some of the most challenging choreographies they’ve had since Idol.
To sum up the message of Black Swan, I’d like to quote RM who shared this during their interview with Billboard: “Love is not always about the good things. When we love something or somebody, it’s like admitting, recognizing all the history that someone or something’s got. It could be shades and shadows, maybe some dark sides.”
