The ABCs of BTS
The ABCs of BTS
An A-to-Z guide to pop culture references brought to you by BTS!
Whether paid homage to in a music video, mentioned in a song, or shouted out during a livestream, BTS have recommended an enormous amount of media. Below are 26 examples of the artwork, stories, movies, and more that BTS have introduced to a wider audience.
“A” is for “Anpanman”
This adorable cartoon character stars in a book and anime series. His only superpower is helping people, a power BTS celebrate in the “Anpanman” lyrics!
“B” is for Black Swan
In addition to overt nods to the movie Black Swan, including V’s injuries in the “Blood Sweat & Tears” video and allusions to an evil twin elsewhere during the “Wings” era, the group has also drawn inspiration from Black Swan’s source material: Swan Lake. One version of BTS’s “Black Swan” video features “The Graham Technique,” with a team of professional dancers using a “contract and release” tactic to create unique spirals, spins, and falls. The style’s namesake, Martha Graham, has said that “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” BTS’s “Black Swan,” Graham’s routine, and Swan Lake all share that message: passion is what gives life purpose. Ironically, in the movie, passion is also what nearly kills the main character, as it morphs into a dangerous quest for perfectionism. She loses herself in a performance doing the art form that also helps her find herself, a juxtaposition BTS can relate to experiencing.
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“C” is for Carl Jung
This groundbreaking psychoanalyst differentiated the personal from the collective subconscious and contrasted four main archetypes, two of which are BTS song titles: the persona and the shadow. He detailed how a persona cannot exist without a shadow, and BTS’s songs with those titles are indeed related. RM raps about feeling confused as to which “masks” to present to the world in “Intro : Persona,” and SUGA reflects on his “shadows,” the parts of himself kept out of the public eye, in “Interlude : Shadow.” Another main component of the psyche Jung wrote about at length is the ego, and j-hope’s song “Outro : Ego” is intentionally on the same album as “Interlude : Shadow.” “My dancing was chasing ghosts,” j-hope says, a reference to both seeing his shadow and possibly an imaginary friend (one of BTS’s many suspected nods to Demian by Hermann Hesse).
“D” is for Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a philosophical story about a man who makes a deal that allows him to stay looking young and beautiful forever, while his self-portrait grows older and uglier. The portrait ages more and more as Dorian commits more sins. The deal does not last, and Dorian ends up switching appearances with the portrait. The story prompts reflection on what people do to psychologically separate themselves from their darkest inclinations. Hiding from one’s true self allows more sins to be committed without being fazed by them, and Dorian not recognizing himself makes his moral demise correspond with his mortal one. This tale inspired V’s “Singularity” music video, which incorporates theater masks into a performance about hiding parts of oneself.
“E” is for Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm is the author of The Art of Loving, which BTS made recommended reading upon announcing the start of their “MAP OF THE SOUL” eras. Many quotes sound familiar when reading lyrics from the eras’ albums and Fromm’s book. Fromm details the innate desire to conform, and in “Interlude : Shadow,” SUGA opens up about feeling lonely at the top. Fromm also tackles the concepts of respect and childhood, themes in the BTS songs “Respect” and “Inner Child.” Fromm even touches on the same subjects as BTS’s pre- “MAP OF THE SOUL” releases, including “the strict routine of bureaucratized, mechanical work, which helps people to remain unaware of their most fundamental human desires.” BTS’s “Skool Trilogy” critiques systems that promote conformity and make students and workers alike feel like mere cogs in a machine.
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“F” is for Folklore
BTS’s Webtoon, 7Fates : CHAKHO, is inspired by folklore and can spark interest in the Joseon Era. The comics’ look takes inspiration from Bulgasari, mythological characters that are the subject of South Korea’s first-ever science fiction film.
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“G” is for Greek Mythology
BTS have incorporated mythological stories and characters into their work countless times, including the sculpture Perseus with the Head of Medusa in the “Blood Sweat & Tears” video, the song called “Dionysus,” and the retelling of “Pandora’s Box” in j-hope’s solo music.
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“H” is for Haruki Murakami, Hermann Hesse, and “Haegeum”
“Haegeum” is a term for both a Korean string instrument and “liberation,” giving Agust D’s (aka SUGA’s) song of the same name a double meaning. In terms of literary influences, BTS have given much praise to the works of Haruki Murakami and Hermann Hesse. The latter wrote Demian, a fascinating, psychological story retold in a new way through BTS’s “Wings” video series.
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“I” is for Icarus
This Greek myth is about someone literally getting carried away by a big ego! Icarus flies with his wax-and-feather wings too close to the sun, the wings melt, and he falls into the sea and drowns. Similar to the “higher you fly, the harder you fall” moral in the song “Black Swan,” BTS use this story to illustrate their fear of the unknown future. They do not know what happens after their high perch in the industry shows its unsustainability, indicating it was intentional to make V’s fall off of a ledge in “Blood Sweat & Tears” so sudden. The transition from his main role to an “out of sight and out of mind” one comes fast.
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“J” is for Dr. James R. Doty
This CCARE (Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education) founder, professor, and author of Into the Magic Shop is intrigued by the mind-body connection. His book is a partial memoir and explores the power of the mind to get out of an anxious state. The book planted the seed for BTS’s song “Magic Shop,” which encourages fans to retreat into their own mental “magic shops” as a coping mechanism. BTS keep it real, not singing “Cheer up!” but giving fans permission not to: “I’m not going to say anything blatant like ‘Find strength.’” The song reinforces their belief in “your galaxy” and gives permission to not be okay. The give and take of BTS’s and the fandom’s consolation is refreshingly equal for an idol group. One of the best quotes from Into the Magic Shop is “We get sick alone, and we get well together,” a perfect summation of BTS’s ethos.
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“K” is for Kim Whanki
RM has praised the work of this abstract painter, who had a love of the Korean countryside and hoped to contribute to an “internationalization” of Korean art. He often worked with shades of blue, which is one of many reasons it is unsurprising that one of RM’s solo albums is called Indigo.
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“L” is for The Little Prince and Louder Than Bombs
These two sources of inspiration epitomize the wide spectrum of BTS’s source material. Louder Than Bombs is a powerful movie about loss, the strange nature of memory, and family bonds, and it is the inspiration for BTS’s song of the same name. The Little Prince is the source of visual inspiration for Jimin’s “Serendipity” video, proving this group’s applications of influences are just as remarkable on an aesthetic level as they are on a narrative one.
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“M” is for “Mikrokosmos”
This term for “little universe” was added to fans’ dictionaries after BTS used it as a song title. “Mikrokosmos” has come to represent the way BTS concerts envelop fans in a comforting, welcoming aura for a few magical, musical hours. The song has become a welcome setlist conclusion, capping off a beautiful memory with one last chance to revel in a self-created “little universe” of unison voices and fireworks!
“N” is for No Man’s Land
This peculiar art installation by Christian Boltanski is recreated in the “Spring Day” music video. It holds meaning less so because of the actual piles of clothes and more so because of its larger-than-life scale. The ways the exhibit reorients viewers’ sense of place and prompts them to reflect on all that material items can come to represent have intrigued a global audience.
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“O” is for The Owl Service
This story by Alan Garner is based on a Welsh myth and influenced BTS’s “I Need U” music video. Some of the many themes both BTS’s video and The Owl Service explore: the tendency for habits to repeat themselves across generations, the power to change that, and the reclamation of autonomy. A sense of identity, among other things, is represented by flowers in both projects as well, as the characters endure periods of blooming and withering.
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“P” is for The Pied Piper
In one of BTS’s cheekier releases, “Pied Piper” likens fans being drawn to their music to the rats drawn to the Pied Piper’s song! The reference is less surprising given its presumed context: The corrupt mayor only pays the Pied Piper half of the agreed-upon amount for taking care of the rat infestation, leading the Pied Piper to get revenge by ridding the town of youths too! The moral of the story is to keep one’s word, and keeping promises is a repeated topic in BTS’s songs and videos - along with criticizing corrupt leadership!
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“Q” is for a High Quantity and Quality of References
This is the only cop-out on this list! That is a promise!
“R” is for Relativity by M. C. Escher
While the parallel between the staircases in “Spring Day” and Relativity might be unintended, one bringing to mind the other shows the lithograph print’s symbolic potential. The people in the picture appear nonchalant and all look the same, making the fact they are walking on staircases that are upwards, downwards, and sideways all the more odd! The message is that even concepts like “up” and “down” are relative, and when one’s entire world feels disrupted, it feels surreal for other people to act like everything is normal. In “Spring Day,” BTS sing about profoundly missing someone, but that loss does not stop others from going through the motions, oblivious to the upended lives of the members.
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“S” is for Svayambh
This art from Anish Kapoor is in the “Interlude : Shadow” music video. It is intentionally messy. The bright red wax is supposed to give its surroundings unmissable stains, yet it leaves onlookers feeling like they are the out-of-place ones! Their presence intrudes on the art itself, so who is really the distraction?! This thought-provoking art prompts a similar train of thought to the one prompted by “Interlude : Shadow”: SUGA frets about the day when his presence is seen as a nuisance instead of what people came to see.
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“T” is for The “Today” Series, aka The “Date Paintings”
On Kawara, a conceptual artist from Japan who has a fan in RM, made a decades-long series of pictures corresponding to dates. The catch: if the clock struck midnight and the day’s image was incomplete, he abandoned it and started the next day’s one. It is a fascinating example of life revolving around art and vice versa, as well as how art can feel both personal and cleanly detached from the artist.
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“U” is for Ursula K. Le Guin
BTS most directly nod to Le Guin’s work in “Spring Day,” which includes Omelas as a setting. The fictional town in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is where every single person can live joyfully, as long as one child is kept in misery. It raises questions about what people are willing to turn a blind eye to and how much true happiness and freedom require the happiness and freedom of others. BTS taking the train out of town proves their moral compasses will not allow them to live out their days in Omelas.
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“V” is for The Venus de Milo
On display in the Louvre in Paris, this sculpture is seen in the “Blood Sweat & Tears” music video.
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“W” is for Whales
BTS fans have learned a fun fact because of “Whalien 52”! That song is about feeling like a cross between a whale and an alien and feeling even more alone due to being a rare 52-hertz whale. These whales make noises at a frequency too high for anyone else to hear, taking the symbolic potential of a lonely whale to a new extent.
“X” is for FAST X
The Fast and the Furious series could gain some new fans, or at least new attention, thanks to the inclusion of Jimin on the FAST X soundtrack!
“Y” is for You Are the Weather, and Other Works by Roni Horn
RM has bought and spoken highly of the work of Roni Horn, an artist who works with a vast array of mediums to create art made to feel interactive. Her work engages audiences and allows them to see themselves as parts of the pieces, hence the name You Are the Weather, a photo book with photos that are nearly identical except for the weather. Horn is encouraging viewers to embody the change amidst the constants. Another intriguing message in Horn’s work comes from a sculpture RM owns, called Untitled (“But the boomerang that returns is not the same one I threw.”). That parenthetical is from Sputnik Sweetheart, and Haruki Murakami is a long-time favorite author of RM’s.
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“Z” is for Zao Wou-Ki
This is another artist RM admires. He made waves internationally, received an honor from the French Minister of Culture, traveled with the French president on a trip to China, and was elected to the French Academy of Fine Arts. His work has appeared in twenty countries and over 150 collections!
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Check out this episode of 17 Carat K-Pop for more versions of the “ABCs of BTS,” including key career moments associated with each letter of the alphabet and the best BTS song starting with each letter!
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