Blue [bluː]

[adj] of a colour intermediate between green and violet, as of the sky or sea on a sunny day; [adj] (of a person or mood) melancholy, sad, or depressed; [noun] blue color or pigment [verb] make or become blue

My favorite color is blue and my favorite people are BTS. Thus this made perfect sense to me when I decided to analyze the usage of ‘blue’ in BTS’ lyrics over the years.

I have made a Spotify playlist of the songs mentioned below, so you can listen to them while reading this case study.

Starting with the song that inspired this deep dive, Blue Side uses the 2nd definition of blue: melancholy but goes one step further.

In 2018, J-Hope released Blue Side (Outro) as part of his mixtape, Hope World. In his March 2018 V Live on Hope World, J-Hope said that he had made the song three years ago after making 1 VERSE. He was really into the “blue vibe” — some feeling that wind and sky would bring. Although he didn’t begin with a big agenda when writing this song, he said this song brings him back to the days when he was naive and clueless — “blue sky and wind that are full of good memories.”

In 2021, to celebrate the 3rd year anniversary of Hope World, J-Hope released the full version of the song Blue Side. In his note, he mentions, “The thought that I should complete Blue Side, I think, stemmed from such an emotion. I believe that there comes a time for one where they develop empathy for old days or old things and, subsequently, have a nostalgia. And it feels like now is exactly that time for me. Working on music, I let myself freely draw and paint my innocent, childhood self who was like a blank, white sheet of paper. Although I cannot go back, I needed a blue resting place where I can, embraced in its arms, comfort myself; where I can calm and cool my heated self down in many ways.”

If we interpret these words as such, he, who used to be as innocent as a blank piece of paper, is sharing about his past by painting a ‘blue resting place’ on the paper. This artwork is now his way of remembering his past. This artwork is his music, and this Blue Side is his story.

In this sense, J-Hope uses the word blue to describe the feeling of nostalgia and melancholy, but with the additional element of missing his old self. Listen to the song with the perspective of himself talking to his old self.

He starts the song by talking about missing his past self:

모든 게 변해버린 우리 사이 나 홀로 외쳐 blue With everything between us changed, I shout out alone, blue

*us = his current self and his past self

너로 인해 물들어 새파란 눈물이 맺혀 blue I get colored by you, my eyes get welled up with blue tears, blue 봄 여름 가을 겨울 항상 그 느낌 그대로 blue Spring, summer, fall, and winter, always in that same feeling, blue

*He is always thinking of his past self

돌아가고 싶어 아무것도 모르던 그때로 blue I want to go back to those days when I didn’t know anything, blue

*He wants to go back to his innocent, naïve and young self

And hence, he made this song, his “blue resting place”, his Blue Side:

차가움에 태양이 비추고 구름이 감싸준 blue The sun shines on the cold, the clouds embrace blue 하늘 바람 타고 지금 이 순간 그곳으로 blue Riding on the wind, right now, to that place, blue 지금 날 위로해 주는 내 마음의 blue Inside my heart, comforting me now, blue 파란 달빛 아래 나 홀로 blue Under the blue moonlight, I, alone, blue

And now, whenever he is feeling down:

어둠 속 내 아픔을 토해낼 때 When I coughed up my pain in darkness, 한숨으로 찬 공기가 죄어올 때 when my sighs froze up and tightened my throat,

He feels that he can go back to the Blue Side:

난 느꼈어 무지개다리에 파란 길만 걷고 싶단 걸 I felt, that, on the rainbow bridge, I want to walk along the blue path only. I’m singing my blues, Singing my bloom, Back in my room

And when he has to leave the Blue Side, he misses his old self, back when he didn’t know anything:

그립다 그 시절 파란 나와 가벼운 숨 I miss my blue self and my light breaths back in those days.

*In Korean, there is the term “새파랗게 어리다(young like deep blue)” meaning ‘young’ (=wet behind the ears, mostly used in a negative meaning). He emphasized the notion that young himself didn’t know much about the world by describing himself as blue which is similar to 새파랗다(deep-blue)

He ends by describing the dilemma he has. He has to go from his innocent, blue self (calmness) to now (passion), trading one for the other:

냉정과 열정 사이 그 무게를 재보지만 I try measuring the weight between calmness and passion

*냉정과 열정 사이 (between calmness and passion) is the Korean title of a 2001 Japanese Movie 冷静と情熱のあいだ (Calmi Cuori Appassionati).

However, at the end of the day, he wants to be in his Blue Side, even if his current self wants to continue pursuing his passions

지금 난 그저 파랗게 타서 죽고 싶다 but now, I just wish to die, burnt in blue 내 파란 꿈속에 널 담을래 아니라고 해도 내 눈 속에 In my blue dream, I want to contain you. Even if you say no, in my eyes 내 파란 꿈속에 널 안을래 안 된다고 해도 내 품속에 In my blue dream, I will hold you. Even if you say no, In my arms blue side, Back to blue side

In 2022, J-Hope released his album ‘Jack in the Box’, with a song Safety Zone. The song talks about his search for a safe zone in his hectic life.

난 왜 없는데? 어디 가면 있는데? Why is it that I don’t have one? Where should I go to find one? 게임마저 잘 보면 안전지대가 있던데 Even in games, when you look around closely, you’d find a safe zone 나도 가고 싶은데 where is that mindset? I also want to go, but where is that mindset? 내 심리 속에서도 있기는 한 걸까? Does such a place even exist in my mind as well?

Here, he considered the Blue Side he built previously.

어둠 속 안도의 한줄기 빛은 어디일까? Where’s the ray of light to relieve me in the darkness? 고즈넉한 home? 아니면 저 먼 blue 일까? Is it a tranquil home? Or the blue that is far, far away?

It seems that from 2021 to 2022, the Blue Side had gotten increasingly far away from him.

But 이 길을 선택하는 순간 있기는 할까? 나의 safe zone But the moment I choose this path, will it even exist? My safe zone

He has traded too much of his old self for his current self to chase his passion. The weight of “passion” is now heavier than the “coolness” (discussed in Blue Side), and he needs a new Safety Zone to replace his old Blue Side.

Besides using the color blue to refer to one’s old self, blue can also be used to refer to the ocean, definition 1. This in itself can have many meanings. First, in referring to old memories.

In Telepathy (2020),

자 떠나자 푸른 바다로 우리가 함께 뛰어놀던 저 푸른 바다로 Hey, let’s leave for the blue ocean, the blue ocean where we used to rome around together

괜한 걱정들은 잠시 내려놓은 채로 잠시 Meaningless worries, for a moment. Lay them down, for a moment 우리끼리 즐겨보자 함께 추억하는 푸른 바다 한가운데 작은 섬 Let’s enjoy it among ourselves, the little island in the middle of the blue ocean that we reminisce about together

In Euphoria (2018), Jungkook also reminisces and sings about someone being “the sun that rose again in my life, the return of my childhood dreams.” However,

모르겠어 이 감정이 뭔지 I don’t know what this feeling is 혹시 여기도 꿈속인 건지 Perhaps this is also in a dream 꿈은 사막의 푸른 신기루 Dream is a blue mirage in a desert

This leads me to my next point, where the blue ocean can be used as a comparison to signify the path before and after achieving dreams. The blue ocean is wide and vast, just like dreams. This is used in Whalien 52 (2015), which talks about the world’s loneliest whale due to its high frequency that no other whales can hear.

The song eludes to dreams, and working towards them.

내 미래를 향해 가 저 푸른 바다와 내 헤르츠를 믿어 I go towards my future. I believe in the blue sea and my hertz 어머니는 바다가 푸르다 하셨어 멀리 힘껏 니 목소릴 내라 하셨어 Mom said that the ocean is blue. She told me to raise my voice with all my strength to reach farther

In Sea (2017), a song RM made in 2016, the comparison is clearly shown.

내가 닿은 이 곳이 진정 바다인가 아니면 푸른 사막인가 Is this place that I’ve reached really the sea, or is it a blue desert?

Is the blue I see really the sea, or is it just a desert painted blue? In SUGA’S interlude, released in 2020,

Ey, 내 머릿속엔 파란색만 가득한 이 방황 Ey, in my head, these wanderings that are only full of blue 자기혐오들과 자만이 내 마음속에 살아 In my mind, living are the self-loathing and excessive pride 꿈이 가득한 난 자라 모든 꿈을 이뤘건만 I, full of dreams, grew up to have all my dreams realized but, 꿈은 꿈으로만 간직하는 게 더 낫지라는 생각을 동시에 하며 살아가고 있지 at the same time, am living with a thought that dreams are better when kept as dreams

RM also talks about being filled with blue in Trivia: Love (2018)

기분은 파랑, 파랑, 파랑 (머릿속은 온통 blue) My mood is blue, blue, blue (Inside my head, it’s all colored in blue)

V also used this imagery in Blue and Grey in 2020.

어디서부터 잘못됐는지 잘 모르겠어 From when it went wrong, I’m not really sure 나 어려서부터 머릿속엔 파란색 물음표 From when I was young, there’s been a blue question mark in my mind 어쩜 그래서 치열하게 살았는지 모르지 Perhaps that’s why I lived fiercely

The next line of the song brings us to the next usage of ‘blue’ to signify sadness, the common usage of “feeling blue”, definition 2. This was also prevalent in the previous example in Trivia: Love, where RM described his mood as blue. This is the main theme in Blue and Grey.

During the global press conference for “BE,” V said this track expresses gloomy and anxious internal emotions as the colors blue and grey, and although the lyrics can be dark, the guitar sound gives a warm feeling. He described himself as someone who experienced and knows burnout. While previously he absorbed it and suffered from it as a result, he thinks he’s grown now as he writes it out. He feels accomplished by writing a song that contains the emotions he feels from burnout, and it’s the thrill he gets after completing a song that helps him recover. This song is V’s Blue Side.

But 뒤를 돌아보니 여기 우두커니 서니 나를 집어삼켜버리는 저 서슬 퍼런 그림자 But, as I look back, standing here absently, that ferocious shadow that engulfs me 여전히도 파란색 물음표는 과연 불안인지 우울인지 The blue question mark that still exists, would it be anxiety or depression 어쩜 정말 후회의 동물인지 아니면은 외로움이 낳은 나일지 Could it be that humans are really the animals of regret or, is it just me who was created by loneliness 여전히 모르겠어 서슬 퍼런 블루 잠식되지 않길 바래 찾을 거야 출구 I still don’t know, the ferocious blue. Hoping I don’t get eaten away, I’ll find the exit

During Christmas 2020, V released Snow Flower, thanking ARMYs, and the frontline health workers. This song gives a shoutout to Blue and Grey further emphasizes the usage of blue as “sadness”.

차가운 계절 속에 네가 오는 건 이벤트 In this cold season, you coming to me is a special event 내 blue and grey를 녹여줄 따뜻한 네게 To the warm you who will melt my blue and grey

In Fly To My Room (2020), During the global press conference for “BE,” Jimin explained that the song began from the question that the concept of “traveling” might change now that we cannot freely travel, and that BTS hopes the listeners enjoy the track, which contains the feeling of traveling one’s own room.

Get me outta my blues And now I’m feelin’ brand new

Of course, the usage of blue can just be… well… blue. Going back to the usage of the color blue to describe ocean, “blue sky” often comes hand in hand.

In Life Goes On (2020),

Yeah life goes on. Like an arrow in the blue sky 또 하루 더 날아가지 Another day will fly by

In Moon (2020),

꽃들이 피고 하늘이 새파란 별 정말 아름다운 건 너야 A star where flowers bloom and the sky is blue the one who is truly beautiful is you 두 눈을 감아도 넌 파랗게 내게 밀려와 Even if I close my eyes, you come to me, blue, like waves roll in In the full moon night 두 눈을 뜨고서 널 담아도 괜찮은 걸까 Would it be okay if I open my eyes and contain you in them

Speaking of Moon, the moon light is alluded to blue in 4 O’Clock (2017)

새벽은 지나가고 저 달이 잠에 들면 When the dawn passes and that moon falls asleep, 함께 했던 푸른 빛이 사라져 the blue light that was with me disappears But 지금은 눈 떠도 돼 But, for now, you can open your eyes 그 어느 영화처럼 그 대사처럼 달빛 속에선 온 세상이 푸르니까 Because just like some movie, just like some line, the whole world is blue under the moonlight

As discussed above, in Blue Side,

파란 달빛 아래 나 홀로 blue Under the blue moonlight, I, alone, Blue

Back to the sky. In Interlude: Shadow (2020)

가장 밑바닥의 나를 마주하는 순간 The moment that I face myself at the lowest, 공교롭게도 여긴 창공이잖아 it happens to be that I’m high up in the blue, cloudless sky

In Hope World's Airplane (2018),

그때 나를 다시 기억해 Again I remember myself of back then 메마른 땅이 날 불태울 때 When the barren land was burning me down, 저 푸른 하늘 보며 뛰었네 I ran looking at the blue sky 날고 싶었어 그 Airplane에서 I wanted to fly in that airplane

In I'm Fine (2018),

시리도록 푸른 하늘 아래 눈 떠 I open my eyes under the painfully blue sky 흠뻑 쏟아지는 햇살이 날 어지럽게 해 Sunshine raining down on me makes me feel dizzy 한껏 숨이 차오르고 심장은 뛰어 I breathe in fully, and my heart pounds 느껴져 너무 쉽게 나 살아있다는 걸 I can feel it so easily that I’m alive

In Ma City (2018),

자 부산의 바다여 Hey, the sea of Busan Say la la la la la 푸른 하늘아래 this sky line Under the blue sky, this sky line

In I Need U (2015),

하늘은 또 파랗게 하늘은 또 파랗게 The sky is so blue again The sky is so blue again 하늘이 파래서 햇살이 빛나서 It might be because the sky is so blue and the sun is so bright 내 눈물이 더 잘 보이나 봐 that my tears are more clearly seen

Notably, RM uses blue to describe a scent in Winter Flower (2020), while still describing the sky.

똑바로 들어 겨울아 네가 날 피운 거야 Listen well, winter. It is you who bloomed me 나 이제 내 가지로 파란 향을 피울 거야 Now, with my branches, I will emanate a blue scent 내가 알려줄게 다른 하늘이 있음을 I will let you know that there is another sky

Or other usages of the literal meaning of blue

In Serendipity (2018), blue mold here refers to penicillin, a type of antibiotic derived from Penicillium fungi.

넌 내 푸른 곰팡이 날 구원해 준 You’re my blue mold that saved me 나의 천사 나의 세상 My angel, my world

In Ma City (2018), where the members talk about their respective hometowns, Suga mentions the Samsung Lions. Samsung Lions is a professional baseball team based in Daegu, that Suga is a well-known fan of. Blue is the color of Samsung Lions.

대구에서 태어나 대구에서 자랐지 I was born in Daegu and raised in Daegu 수혈 받기엔 좀 힘들어 It’s a bit hard for me to receive blood transfusion 몸 속에는 파란 피 In my body runs blue blood

In Converse High (2015), talking about the rainbow

Alright 빨주노초파남보 [bbal-joo-no-cho-pa-nam-bo] Alright, red-orange-yellow-green-blue-navy-purple 니 발에 무지개는 shot like 람보 The rainbow on your feet is shot like Rambo, 날 저격해 탕탕 shout out wow wow shooting me tangtang shout out wow wow

In Moving On (2015), describing furniture.

벽지도 화장실도 베란다도 다 파란 집 Wallpaper, bathroom, and veranda were all blue 그 때 난 여기가 막 되게 넓은 집인 줄 알았지 Back then I thought this was really a huge house But 내 야망이 너무 커졌어 But my ambition has grown too big 그리 넓어 보이던 새 집도 이제는 너무 좁아졌어 A new house that used to look so big now feels so small

In The Truth Untold (2017), for flowers.

푸른 꽃을 꺾는 손 The hand that picks a blue flower, 잡고 싶지만 I want to hold, but 내 운명인 걸 it’s my fate

And of course, the song that is Blue (2023) by V.

What if I show you And make it all new Green, yellow, red, blue Whatever seems good to you But baby you're still blue, blue

ᴊɪᴍɪɴ | ᴍᴏᴏᴅʙᴏᴀʀᴅ ✨

Requested by @babeyooniex ♡

I wish I could love myself