Winter Flower, and other reasons why BTS’ RM is a lyrical genius
“They say life is full of paradox, all you gotta do is get used to this marathon.”
Artist Younha had BTS’ RM (Kim Namjoon) featured on the track ‘Winter Flower’, in her latest album. The track ‘Winter Flower’ was released on 6th January, 6 pm KST. ARMY’s on Twitter flocked to trend #WinterFlower and #YounhaxRM in honour of the song’s release worldwide.
Diving into the lyrics of ‘Winter Flower’, Namjoon’s verse specifically talks about how this winter flower (a metaphor symbolising us) is born in harsh circumstances, and it tries to bloom despite what it may be surrounded by (a metaphor for life’s hardships we may all be going through). He provides examples of actual flowers which are able to bloom in winter: SeolJoongMae (설중매 雪中梅), Apricot (plum, Flower DongBaek (동백 冬柏), Camellia SooSeonHwa (수선화 水仙花), and the Daffodil.
Namjoon sang this specific line in English: “They say life is full of paradox, all you gotta do is get used to this marathon.” He follows it up, supplementing his previous line, “Is the world only cruel to you? ‘Everyone suffers the same’ — This word can’t comfort you when you’re an adult.” We are so used to telling each other ‘good luck’, ‘cheer up’, ‘get through it’ — so insistent on finding a solution that sometimes we forget we just have to be present and hear each other out. Yes, everyone has their struggles. But this does not mean that your struggles are invalidated nor should you be stopping yourself from expressing what you feel.
Namjoon draws his verse to a close, declaring power over his circumstances, “Listen up, winter — you burned me. I’m going to make a blue scent with my own branch. I’ll let you know, that there’s another sky. With all my strength, I’ll call for it, the autumn that resembled you.” He calls out the harsh circumstances that life may toss at us, but yet reminds us that we don’t have to bow down to them. We will fight to bloom, even past the cold winter.
‘Winter Flower’ is a beautiful symphony of two artists with equal admiration for each other’s work, whose careers are shaped around their purpose of creating music for healing — reminding us to hold on and that we are not alone. As Younha sings in this track, “I will take it away before you stumble, I will stay by your side until you survive. I hope that you bloom.”
‘Winter Flower’ adds on to the multiple collaborations RM (or Rap Monster, his previously known stage name) has under his belt. These are notable mentions of some of his collaborations over the years:
HONNE’s ‘Crying Over You’ (feat. RM & BEKA)
Namjoon delivers a self-written bridge for the remix of HONNE’s ‘Crying Over You’, the electro-soul duo’s single that featuring vocalist Beka. In between verses from the British synth-pop pair and vocalist, Namjoon adds on to the track’s emotionally reflective mood. He raps in English, “We thought we gave each other a whole world but turns out that we didn’t know such a thing / Guess life’s like this, shit happens.” He laments that although they’ve given it all they got, it was inevitable that life would not necessarily go according to plan. “And we look for the magic but / Good things always come to an end.” The mood set by Namjoon emphasises that although he is not the happiest about how things turned out, he accepted that this was part of life, and he should roll along with what life continues to hurl at him.
RM, ‘seoul (prod. HONNE)’
HONNE also collaborated with Namjoon on a track for his mixtape (‘mono’). As I mentioned in my review of ‘mono’, Namjoon describes his inner dilemma of the way he perceives the city of Seoul. It was interesting to note how he pairs the song with the Han River in the accompanying music video. The word “Han” translates to sorrow or suffering. In that portion of the music video, Namjoon/the protagonist in the video was then asked when he would be returning home. But where was home, when it was a love-hate relationship? Was it a play on irony, that he went to the Han (sorrow or suffering) River to escape his own sorrow and suffering?
RM, Wale ‘Change’
The track is an East-meets-West collaboration, filled with the pair’s hopes for a better world. This hip-hop track is one of the most progressive songs yet from the socially aware band. ‘Change’ features both rappers talking about some of the social issues faced in their society.
Namjoon starts the song on a pensive note, saying, “Oh, tell me that dark could never win the light / Oh, tell me that wrong could never win the right / Baby, tell me that we gon’ someday stop the fight / And tell me that every, everything gon’ be alright.” He wonders if the ideal he pictures in his head, is actually the reality he faces. Questioning himself if he is naive for thinking this way, he asks, “Oh tell me who’s stupid, baby, is it me or them? / Just tell me who’s insane, baby, is it me or them?”
Not just Namjoon alone, but the whole of BTS has been quite vocal in speaking up about the education system. Namjoon sticks to his belief, saying, “All we got is mad teachers and some visible classes / Divided spaces, and forever-lastin’ stresses.” He questions himself, wondering, “Would the pain always win you gain?”
The usage of social media has become more and more prominent as time passes. Words become a double-edged sword, we have cancel culture, keyboard warriors, cyberbullies, haters — yet the people behind those words change when they are not behind the shield of a screen. Namjoon mocks this, saying, “Everybody’s mad / Kill people with fingers on Twitter / More than a gun, more than a knife / The tip of your tongue just glitter.”
The pair raps together in an ending verse, reminding us that “real change lies in the mirror”. They also call out how everyone sticks up for you when you’re successful, but only true friends will love you to no limit.
RM, Warren G ‘Please Don’t Die’ (P.D.D)
After meeting Warren G for the band’s appearance on American Hustle Life, Namjoon was invited to collaborate with Warren G for this track. Namjoon explains that the lyrics were inspired by the haters, “P.D.D reflects how I feel lately towards those who hate me and criticize me. I used to find it really upsetting and got very angry a long time ago. However, I’ve been able to rise above that a bit more that. I wanted to truthfully add that feeling.”
He accepts that regardless of whether people are hating, he will “never beg for your compassion or superficial praise.” Instead, he tells them to live so that they can be the witness for his success. The message from this track seems to be a foreshadow of BTS’s ‘Cypher’ series, where the rapline called out their haters — yet wished nothing but a good bill of health for them.
Fall Out Boy, ‘Champion (Remix)’
To be frank, I feel ashamed that it was only today I realised that Kim Namjoon was featured on a track with Fall Out Boy.
He starts off the song, rapping, “Ain’t gotta be somebody, be anybody, Rather be anybody than live in a dead body.” Namjoon’s addition to the track seems to be addressing the need to be true to oneself. Further on into the song, he shares, “Remember, the man told me that this life is a party / Yeah, all the glory’s so short you should put away the garbages.” He also reminds the listener to be mindful, to not be carried away by the temptations of the world.
“What’s wrong with the life of a passenger / If somebody gotta be, then I’mma be the messenger”. This specific line reminds me of BTS’s “Paradise”, where they too mused about the pressure of having a dream — why can’t they just live and be happy? Namjoon brings his verse to a close, that although he is young and inexperienced, he should take every opportunity he has to truly be living his life, “I’m just too young, don’t know what to believe in / But too young, you know, not to be living.” He proclaims powerfully, saying, “I will stay, I will wait and I’ll fight like a king.”
