BTS and their teen angst- an analysis of their first era

 By Maria Eduarda Ribeiro Cavalcanti

"2 Cool 4 Skool" © HYBE Ent.

When BTS debuted on June 11 of 2013, they had no idea of what they would become.

We all have ideas and dreams too grand when we are kids and as time goes on they get smaller as we start to get small in the big dimension of things. As we understand that our existence is basically meaningless we are finally able to have dreams that are compatible with our reality.

But with BTS, that was different. They were able to achieve each one of their dreams and much more. How?

Why, within so many K-pop groups, BTS was the one to conquer space in the western music scene? What is their music moves people? Who is after all BTS?

As any other human being alive on earth, the 7 members of BTS have their personalities, dreams, complexities, and flaws, and in the 8 years of the group, they were capable to show a little, in different forms, who they are and who they wish to become at the same time they can guide millions of young people who struggled and still struggle with the same situations that one day they struggled too.

And they did this by finding a balance between art and versatility, showing the different sides they can create and fulfill. In this series of posts, we will analyze the impact of every BTS era and what which album tries to say.

PART 1- BTS and teen angst- an analysis of the albums: 2 Cool 4 Skool, O!RUL8,2, Skool Luv Affair and Dark&Wild

© HYBE Ent.

Beginnings are important. The first impression we make in others can change completely our interactions. The bonds we make are based on our first impression of people, whether we thought they would make good friends or not, and this also causes an impact on our personality. That's why we spend so much time in front of the mirror, choosing carefully our outfits, trying on the best perfume, and training conversations in our heads. Because impression matters, the first one especially.

In their first album, 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS starts by saying "Teens and those in their twenties, it's easier for us to speak on your behalf". By this statement, RM proceeds to define BTS's entire career, as they always try to put young people as the protagonist of the story.

When they released the song, the eldest member of BTS was 21( by western age) and the youngest was 15. Although they had some experience in life when we think about the big picture of things we realized how little that is. They were( and still are) young.

But what is youth? Why being young is perceived as less in society, when they suffer as much as an adult? We have the same rights to being confused, sad, and stressed then why only your suffering is justified? Why only your fatigue is understood?

BTS begs for an answer to these questions in their first and second album, 2 Cool 4 Skool and O!RUL8,2?. They show what society has done to young people. How society represses everything we have to give, puts us in boxes, and underestimates us.

"No More Dream" © HYBE Ent.

BTS openly jokes in the face of society, in special the adults and the academic system, as they cut young people's wings. But they also don't go easy on teens, they also questioned the reason as we don't have any more dreams, why to us status and a big car speak louder than the spiritual realization? The love for what you do? Our wishes to make a change in society?

They also talk about the sacrifices they had to make to achieve their dreams. Jungkook talks about training into the night and losing the time to go to school while Suga says he has lost account of how many times we saw the light of the day as he pulled all-nighters writing music. All of this with a sense of melancholy as they are not sure if these moments that could have been exchanged for going out with friends or studying, will be paid off in the future. Or even if they will want to follow this path, if their dream will continue or if they will one day realize this was never their dream and they wasted all of their youth.

In the intro: O!RUL8,2? RM says:

"Intro: O!RUL8,2?" © HYBE Ent.

But who are the adults? Are they insensible pricks who looked down upon teenage dreams? or are they frozen teens with never fulfilled dreams who all have become comfortable in their monotonous boring common life? Is being safe and living a normal life the best option after all? if not then why do all the adults wish that for us? They are just unhappy as you and me, they just forgot that. But BTS remembers us that.

They open the discussion about why the unnatural becomes natural? Why to us the sacrifice became something acceptable? Since when is living incomplete and unsatisfied become something normal? Shouldn't we all be trying our best to fulfill our dreams?

Are we raising our teenagers wrong?

BTS in their first era captures the ugly and hurt part of being a teen, the part that nobody likes to talk about. When we realize that our perfect world does not exist, our invisible wounds caused by society, the social pressure that surrounds us, and how we are thought to step on those we call friends just to have the best and for who? To fulfill this material dream? To have a big house, with big cars and big rings? Why society wants us to have this so bad? The material life creates monsters that are so sunk in their luxury with their big coats tailor-made with greed. With "Spine Breaker" BTS questions the reason which we want so bad to be these monsters that pretend they are human.

On the other side, people with real dreams and a true desire to change the world are laughed at by the system. BTS, as artists, have the mission to be the voice of an entire generation in pain for having their wings cut off so early by society. An entire generation without dreams and perspectives of themselves and their future.

An entire generation tired of living the same painful day, as they sing in "Tomorrow":

"Tomorrow" © HYBE Ent.

It's easy to be caught entangled by melancholic feelings and overwhelming tiredness in our hustle culture-based society. In our study or work breaks we have this realization of "oh shit, I am living the same boring day over and over again for the rest of my life and just the thought of it gives me chills and suddenly my whole life seems meaningless". Society has cut off your wings and now it's too late to pursue your dreams and what do you have now? A mediocre and monotonous life. And just like that, tomorrow becomes your biggest fear. And the worse of all it's that you can't change anything, so you stick to the same place and the same day.

But life is not only suffering to the shock of many nihilists. And BTS recognizes that and also talks about the good part of teenagehood: the first love.

The 7 members showcase their different colors and views of love, but one thing that "Boy In Luv" has in common is the emotion of experiencing something totally unusual for the first time.

"Boy in luv" it's curious. It's a teenage boy discovering the wonders of love. But it's aggressive. He doesn't know what love is or how to love it, so he hurts, he ignores it. He's a bad boy. And a total prick. He makes mistakes. He is confused and anxious but can also be soft. The boy asked themselves "Who is she? Where she comes from?" and why this girl makes them have such intense feelings. Sometimes he's angry but in "Just One Day" they are more sensible. "Just one day" it's the soft flower boy and the lyrics talk about what they wish, both from her and from love.

"Dark&Wild" it's BTS 4th album and the last from the 1st era and with it, we get to the end of teenagehood. This time, more mature, they talk about relationships and the difficulties of dating and having relationships within the liquid modernity and at the peak of technology and social media. Everything it's superficial and fails and a little bit more lonely too. The cold relationship makes BTS run away from the girl but at the same time, they still want her. How can they balance these two such opposite sides that co-exist in them? In "Rain" these feelings of loneliness in big cities are represented by a rainy and grey day in Seul.

The title track "Danger" follows the bad boy concept just like its predecessors and they are still cold. The whole album is by far the most consistent, as they don't flow between different themes in their lyrics and are more focused on discussing relationships.

With 41 songs and 1 year of the group, BTS says goodbye to their first phase and the coming-of-age to most of their most members. But the majority does not mean that youth ends. The ghost of their lost youth full of resentment, pain, and doubts presented in first albums follow them long after, as proved on their 2nd era "The Most Beautiful Moment In Life pt.1 and pt.2"

You can check part 2 here.

 ♡ © BTS_official