Let’s talk: Coldplay x BTS - My Universe
by Admin 1
After theories and discussions that started all the way back in April 2021 among ARMY when Christ Martin had been in Korea, the day has finally arrived--My Universe is here and it is a hit. As of me writing this the song has already gathered 90 #1s on iTunes and had the highest debut on Melon Top 100 (#6) and the first idol group song to reach #1 since the chart reform (doing so in 11 hours).
So then I called Phil, our fifth member, and Max Martin and said, ‘I think we’ve got a song to give to BTS.’ And they said, ‘Why don’t we hold onto it and give it to BTS.’ And then we started communicating with BTS and then went to Korea. — Chris Martin, NME interview
Sonically the song is a true collaboration of two legendary groups with neither losing any part of their identity. It sounds like a Coldplay song, but at the same time it also sounds like BTS, something that would share a shelf with Heartbeat, Mikrokosmos and a slice of Magic Shop. I won’t call myself an expert on Coldplay by any means. I own a few of their albums and I’ve been listening to them on and off for many years, but beyond certain songs and their general sound, especially the more recent one, my knowledge ends there. And yet, even based on that, everything in My Universe simply fits and works beautifully. It simply is a beautiful song.
Something I thought was a really beautiful touch was the song of the whale which reminded me of our lonely Whalian who so far sang his song all alone but now he isn’t alone anymore. His song did get heard in the end.
Now lyrically it is a love song, Chris Martin having described it as such as well, that talks about “difficult love”, one that may be forbidden or complicated due to other circumstances, just like is says in the lines that Namjoon sings and then harmonizes on with Jimin:
And they said that we can’t be together
Because, because we come from different sides
And really, at least in the context of Bangtan, a song with such a sentiment, such a message, that love transcends these different sides and other “barriers” makes perfect sense. Because of them being Korean and singing in Korean, many might find it difficult to give them a chance, to fall in love with their music, due to various reasons, and yet, once you do try and set aside your prejudices and opinions based on the popular “it’s cool to hate BTS” mindset, falling in love is truly one of the easiest things to do.
Thematically it also fits BTS so perfectly with mentions of the universe, stars, infinity, and lyricism that’s so romantic and poetic, you can’t help but wonder how they manage to think of these beautiful sentences each time. Hobi, Namjoon and Yoongi are credited on the song, and I really do think you can feel their lyricism in this, even if their parts may have been short, and yet it’s enough to know and feel that it is them.
Looking at Hobi’s verse there is so much beauty to it (translation via doolset):
나를 밝혀주는 건 What lights me up is
너란 사랑으로 수 놓아진 별 the star that was embroidered with love that is you
내 우주의 넌 Inside my universe, you
또 다른 세상을 만들어 주는 걸 create another world for me
This sentiment of a star that isn’t you but is made more beautiful because its been embroidered by you, a piece of you being added to it to make it more special. It’s so different from the usual thought of you being the ultimate thing, but rather that you being part of it is what makes it so beautiful, you being a part of that persons life, their metaphorical star, is what makes the difference. It also goes along beautifully with the final line from JKs second verse harmonizing with Chris Martin: We are made of each other baby. Made of each other instead of for each other, two equal parts of something united instead of two separate pieces that work for each other/together.
Another line that stuck out to me was one of Yoongi’s lines, being:
지금 이 시련도 결국엔 잠시니까 Because the trial we face now is just for a moment anyway
Whatever hardships we may be facing right now, in the grand scheme of a lifetime, they are temporary, will pass “after a moment”. It reminds me of his lyric from so far away, being:
dream 결국 시련의 끝에 만개하리 dream, will eventually be in full bloom at the end of hardships
This is something I love about BTS and their lyrics, that you can see certain themes and ideas appear again and again over time, watch as they change or evolve, or something is added to them. It shows how much care and thought that goes into their songs, into everything they write.
Now, as it happens every time, there is a discussion that could be had about the thing we know causes fights every time: line distribution.
As someone who adores Tae’s voice, I’m beyond happy that he got to have his moment in this song, on his dream collab with a band he's mentioned so many times that he’d want to work with them and that he likes. After so many other collabs and songs happened where he either didn’t make it on at all or only in the chorus, this is a beautiful moment.
On the other hand, as someone who has both Tae and Seokjin has their bias wreckers, I can’t completely ignore/gloss over the fact that Seokjin is only on the song in the gang vocals for the chorus and his one line before the rap part. After how magnificent he was on their Fix You cover, you would’ve thought he’d get more of a moment in My Universe, but he didn’t. But, in all fairness, while he only had one line, Tae only had two while Namjoon had one on his own and one harmonizing with Jimin (so let’s call it 1.5 lines). If you look at it this way, lyric wise instead of how long it takes to sing the line, there isn’t much of a different between these three.
Of course, if you compare Seokjin’s line with JKs two verses, that’s an entirely different discussion, but the same can in that moment also be said about Tae, Namjoon and Jimin. JK though is the main vocalist so this makes his amount of lines always different from the other vocal line members.
Something to note though would be that the song essentially ends singing wise at 3:11 but continues with instrumentals for 37 more seconds before it actually ends, since it is 3:48 min long. If they really would’ve wanted, in theory there was room to fit more singing, more lines, in but the choice against that was made for whichever reason, one we’ll likely never know. Since it’s a Coldplay song and none of the BH producers and staff are on it, the call likely was made by Coldplay, though seeing as this was treated as more of an equal collab instead fo a feature, I’d guess Bangtan had a little more of a say, or at least could voice their opinion, and yet the song sounds the way it does.
We still have the acoustic version and the supernova 7 remix to come so who knows if perhaps the distribution will change a little on those. Interesting though is that, thanks to the video Namjoon posted on twt earlier, we saw him record the opening verse along with Chris Martin, though ultimately the verse is only sung by him on the final version. I’m curious to see if the documentary will give us more details on all of this, and what we’ll get to see in general.
Generally what I find fascinating is how, depending on what device and with what quality, you listen to the song, you can discover more of the song, more layers and more voices. From discussions and gushing I know that most people say that the member harmonizing with JK on JKs second verse is Jimin, but I’ll be honest that for me it sounds more like it’s Seokjin, or even both. At the same time, some say that at the end of JKs first verse the line where he harmonizes with Chris Martin that they can hear Tae there as well, which I only do sometimes, which makes no sense, but it shows just how seamlessly their voices blend into each other and fit together, which is a good thing, the whole point of harmonies.
The thing that, for me, “saves” the situation when it comes to Seokjin is the fact that despite having only one solo line, he was still so, so excited for this song to come out, that he walked around with a polaroid picture of him and Chris Martin behind his phone case, and that now he even got Chris Martin’s guitar with a signature and “Jin Worldwide Handsome” written on it as gift simply because he said the guitar is awesome. So, for me, as long as he seems happy, I’m happy too.
When it comes to the lyric video we got that I thought was a really wonderful and fitting addition was this line at the end of it:
We Are AllOne In The Universe
instead of
We Are Alone In The Universe
It goes along well with Coldplay calling themselves and their fans, if I got that right, “One Big Band” while Bangtan have We Are Bulletproof : The Eternal and the idea that BTS and ARMY have each other and because of that we are not alone anymore either.
From anon: Lately, the BTS collabs have been so great. In a sense that the artists are so respectful of BTS and genuinely get along with them and speak so kindly of them. Megan, Coldplay, also Halsey supporting My Universe. Jason Derulo who?
I completely agree. Megan showed so much love and support, I mean, she literally fought for the remix in court, and then met the members in NYC. Halsey was one of the few that since their first arrival in the US showed them support and didn’t treat them like outsiders, and has been supportive ever since. It was really nice seeing them And then Chris Martin who went out of his way to go to Korea despite COVID and all the restrictions to meet the members and record the song with them, instead of going the more standard route of each group recording on their own and them putting the parts together remotely.
I love them, and we love them, and it’s been such a joy… So, I unabashedly and unashamedly feel really grateful for the song, grateful for the person that inspired the song, and grateful for the people we sing it with. — Chris Martin, Apple Music interview
We’ve heard a lot about Chris singing My Universe and also singing the Korean lyrics, but actually getting to hear it ourselves, so cool! It’s wonderful to see him embrace Bangtan in such a way, not only have them sing in their own language on the track but also, when performing, sing it that way as well instead of substituting it with the translations which would make it easier for him.
It shows that these are artists that really respect each other and see each other as equals despite all their differences. And that’s what makes My Universe feel like a song that is genuine and fits both perfectly.
