(Outro) Her: By Hobi

Welcome back everyone!!

I hope you had a wonderful break and festive season! Personally, I consumed a lot of potatoes, fried chicken, Peking duck, soju, gin, Christmas cookies and ice cream! I am stuffed! I’m definitely avoiding my fitted pants for the next few weeks…!

Christmas FaceTime catch-ups were also an interesting feature this year… As terrible of a reminder as it was about the state of our world… I am grateful we live in this era where this technology exists. I remain hopeful hopeful hopeful that we will all return to our pre-covid lives soon.

Speaking of hopefulness, no one knows more about hope than our sunshine – J-Hope! And today, we are going to be diving into Hobi’s mind and finding out his story in Outro: Her.

Assumed Knowledge & Assumptions

I have written this post assuming you know:

• my theory, that all of the songs in LY albums are connected and reveal a storyline when read in a specific order;
• Joon and Yoongi’s stories discussed in my blog so far; and
• Hobi’s story in Trivia 起: Just Dance and the Calla Lily and DNA.

New Readers

Hello there and welcome to my blog! I’m sorry to say that if you haven’t read any of my previous blogs… I may lose you in the detail as my lyrical analyses are built on existing knowledge!

This is simply because all of the songs are interconnected and need to be read in a specific order for it to make sense, just like a book.

You can absolutely still continue to read and follow how I draw meaning from the lyrics, but you may not understand for example why I believe when Hobi refers to a “HER” in his lyrics, he is referring to ARMY.

If you’re trying to figure out where to start, please start here!

Please also note the assumptions I apply when I analyse songs.

Enjoy! 😊

1. Finding Hobi’s Perspective

Just like we did for Namjoon and Yoongi, the first thing we need to do is to identify Hobi’s lyrics.

If you have been following my blog, you will know that neatly, Hobi raps the third verse and chorus. Thus, these are the lyrics we will be analysing today:

As always, mask on
Her, who greets me with cheers
A star of yours and yours only. I shine as if there’s nothing wrong
But at the time that I need to shine the brightest, I take my mask off
Lost star I put down my burden and enjoy the darkness
There are no lights to shoot at me as if it’s killing me
Just following my heart
However my senses lead me, whatever doesn’t hold me down
Tick tock the dark is over
To be your best again
I hold onto myself
Love drives a person crazy
Yeah a crazy guy’s resolution
I put myself into the equation that’s like me the most
And I give you, my everything, the answer that I made
You who loves that
I who tries harder for that
Because of your existence, the Night shines and becomes meaningful
I learnt that even after the darkness if over
You’re the morning to me

You woke me up

All of my wonder
The answer for that*
I call you her, her
Cuz you’re my tear, tear

*Alternative translation: You’re the answer

2. Establishing the Timeline

We have previously established that Outro: Her is set sometime between 13 June 2013 to 27 December 2015.

Unfortunately, I have not identified any clues in Hobi’s lyrics to further narrow the accuracy of when Outro: Her is set in. Hence, we will continue to analyse Hobi’s perspective with the assumption that Outro: Her is set sometime between 13 June 2013 to 27 December 2015.

3. The Star in ARMY’s Galaxy

I refer to the following lyrics:

As always, mask on
Her, who greets me with cheers
A star of yours and yours only. I shine as if there’s nothing wrong

As previously discussed, when Hobi refers to a “Her” in his lyrics, I believe he is referring to us, ARMY.

Given Hobi is known to be the sun and sunshine of our BTS world and galaxy, the above lyrics are incredibly poetic since the sun is technically a star and Hobi is a famous star. He is quite literally “a star of yours [i.e. ARMY] and yours only” in every sense.

Further, the metaphor of a singular star (“A star” ) creates an intimate connection between us and Hobi as we subconsciously register the meaning that this bright beautiful and irreplaceable being belongs to ARMY only.

This has the same effect as the Calico Cat reference in Serendipity where the lyrics imply proprietary ownership to one person.

In Hobi’s case, it implies proprietary ownership to a singular entity, ARMY.

However, Hobi shares with us a secret – that right before he steps out meet ARMY (“who greet him with cheers” ), he always puts a mask on.

Similar to Namjoon and Yoongi, Hobi’s mask is the mask of pretending to “shine as if there’s nothing wrong.”

A mask that is oozing with happiness, cheerfulness and hope.

3. What’s wrong with our Star?

But why does Hobi need to put on a mask? What is wrong with our Star?

We previously learnt from Trivia 起: Just Dance and DNA that:

• Hobi’s dream was to become a successful dancer and performer;
• Hobi’s life as a trainee/idol, particularly at the beginner was stressful and far from glamorous; and
• Hobi felt that he was blindly working towards his goal and didn’t know if he was on the right path.

I refer to the following lyrics:

But at the time that I need to shine the brightest, I take my mask off
Lost star I put down my burden and enjoy the darkness
There are no lights to shoot at me as if it’s killing me
Just following my heart
However my senses lead me, whatever doesn’t hold me down

We can observe that the same themes and feelings expressed in Trivia 起: Just Dance and DNA are expressed again in the above lyrics:

• The word “burden” conveys to us that Hobi carried a lot of weight and responsibilities on his shoulders, indicating to us that his life behind the camera was hard; and
• The lyrics “following my heart, however my senses lead me” convey the meaning that Hobi was blindly working towards his goal relying on nothing but faith and gut instinct.

Besides the importance of realising that Hobi has another side to him that he tried (or tries?) to hide from ARMY…

The significance of this observation is that it supports my theory that the lyrics in the Love Yourself albums are continuous storylines.

It supports my theory that the boys are writing lyrics based on their life and experiences.

Next, the metaphor of a “Lost star” is incredibly fitting to Hobi as:

• Hobi, who is ARMY’s star (i.e. the Sun) and a star (i.e. famous person) is:
  • feeling lost because he does not know if all of his hard work will be for nothing;
  • feeling lost because he doesn’t know if there is something else he should be doing;
  • metaphorically, like a sun that has disappeared or gotten “lost” in our skies and is no longer shining; and/or
  • metaphorically, like a “dead star” (i.e. a lost cause or a lost (dead) loved one) in the galaxy that has completely exhausted and burnt itself out.

The lyrics “but at the time that I need to shine the brightest, I take my mask off, lost star I put down my burden and enjoy the darkness” conjure up an image of Hobi, exhausted and shineless but for his gleaming sweat, collapsing onto his hotel room bed alone in the darkness, and giving in to his inner demons and negative thoughts.

Hobi describes to us that when he lets himself find solace in the dark, his world becomes so void of light (i.e. positivity) that even a single light ray has a painful and fatal effect on Hobi, “there are no light [rays] shoot[ing] at me as if it’s killing me.”

In other words, in these moments of darkness, concepts of hope and positivity become too painful for Hobi to bear.

In addition, the imagery of “shoot” and “killing me” adds a dark and sombre tone, and reminds us with an uncomfortable jolt…

…that our irreplaceable and bright Star of hope… is a fragile and vulnerable human mortal too.

4. Eat, Rise, Set, Repeat

4a. Rise

Tick tock the dark is over
To be your best again
I hold onto myself
Love drives a person crazy
Yeah a crazy guy’s resolution
I put myself into the equation that’s like me the most
And I give you, my everything, the answer that I made
You who loves that
I who tries harder for that
Because of your existence, the Night shines and becomes meaningful
I learnt that even after the darkness is over
You’re the morning to me

You woke me up

In the above lyrics, Hobi tells us that when his “alone-in-the-darkness” time is over and it is time to meet ARMY again, Hobi always finds the strength to put on his cheery hopeful mask and rise again like the sun to “be your best again.”

Hobi shares with us that the only reason why he is able to continue this painful cycle of pretending to be okay when he isn’t is because “love drives a person crazy.”

Because of his love for ARMY, Hobi resolutely pours himself into his performances to be cheerful and to “give [ARMY] my everything.”

In other words, no matter how tired, dead or negative Hobi is feeling, the moment he steps on stage, Hobi gives ARMY his all.

Hobi does this out of love because he wants to make ARMY happy.

And he knows that being happy-positive-Idol Hobi is what ARMY loves about him.
(“You who loves that, I who tries harder for that”)

His commitment to his performances and to being a beacon of positivity and hope is so extreme, Hobi calls himself “a crazy guy.”

This implies to us that if we knew about all about the sacrifices and decisions Hobi took just to perform for us… we would probably call him crazy too.

NB: “The answer that I made…” is Hobi’s dream and belief that he is destined to be a professional dancer/Idol. This was explored and discussed in DNA.

4b. The power of ARMY’s love

Hobi shares with us that “because of your [i.e. ARMY’s] existence, the Night shines and becomes meaningful.”

The lyrics “the Night shines” is an oxymoron and conveys the contradicting emotions Hobi feels when it comes to the Night: Exhaustion, doubt, dark thoughts, but happiness, beauty and wonder because of ARMY.

The use of an oxymoron as a literary device adds an element of complexity to the lyrics and encourages us to stop and reflect deeply about the mixed and complex emotions felt by Hobi. It encourages us to reflect on what it means for Hobi to suffer while gazing at ARMY’s beautiful shine, and how ARMY’s simple existence is able to give so much meaning to Hobi’s hard life.

Hobi then says: “I learnt that even after the darkness is over, you’re the morning to me. You woke me up.”

In other words, ironically and poetically, we, ARMY, are Hobi’s Sun.

We are ARMY’s Sun’s Sun.

4b. Maths Equations

For a guy who didn’t like maths in his high school days, Hobi sure likes to use math references in his lyrics!

We have previously discussed in this post the following maths references:

• “Our meeting(s) is like a mathematical formula” ~ DNA; and
• “This moment, you and me baby, this all fits like a math formula baby” ~ Trivia 起: Just Dance.

We discussed the rich meaning behind these mathematical references and why and how maths references are romanticised from Hobi’s perspective.

Hence, let’s discuss Hobi’s next math’s reference: “I put myself into the equation that’s like me the most.”

I believe the lyrics “That’s like me the most” refers to Hobi’s hopeful self as he is quite literally, the embodiment of Hope. As Hobi famously said: “Looking back, I think the name [J-Hope] was the right choice. And I think the name made me who I am.”

In other words, Hobi always inserted his spirit of Hope into his speeches and performances so that he could give ARMY hope.

4c. You woke me up

This is going slightly off tangent, but I wanted to discuss the lyrics “You woke me up.”

The official lyrics are: “You woke me up.” But… to an English speaker… honestly all I can hear is “you f*ck me up.” Have a listen:

Given the many wordplays I’ve identified, the brilliance of Cypher 3 (to an English speaker, Cypher 3 sounds like it contains a lot of swearing, but to a Korean speaker, there is no swearing at all!) and BTS’ reputation for their genius lyrics, I am going with my gut and say that this is an intentional wordplay.

If we assume that Hobi also meant to convey the message “you f*ck me up” – what does that mean? What message is he trying to convey?

Well, anyone who has fallen in love can tell you this – love does f*ck you up. Love is powerful force that drives people crazy and make people do the craziest things. It is like in a K-drama where a boy falls in love with the girl and the boy ends up doing all these crazy romantic things… like crawling through an old gold mine tunnel from North Korea to South Korea that was nearly 10km (6 miles) long (and that at one point, collapsed on him) just to save the girl he loves.

In other words… ARMY drove Hobi crazy.
(In the most romantic of senses!!)

5. You’re my Tear, Tear

I refer to the chorus:

All of my wonder
the answer for that*
I call you her, her
Cuz you’re my tear, tear
(x 2)

*Alternative translation: You’re the answer

We previously discussed that for:

• Joon’s chorus, Joon pronounced “tear” as crying tears (i.e. the “t” was heavily emphasised); and
• Yoongi’s chorus, there was heavy d-sound so “tear” sounded like dear (i.e. the “d” was heavily emphasised).

For Hobi’s chrous, if you listen very carefully, BTS have overlayed three words:

• “tear” (i.e. crying tears)
• “dear”; and
• “tear” (i.e. ripping tears).

The word “tear” in the last chorus sounds uniquely complex and particularly ambiguous compared to previous choruses. Have a listen:

This, my readers, is an example of “Trivia” – the merging of three perspectives into a single word.

The intentional merging of three words into a single word in the Outro song of the first album has the effect of foreshadowing the things to come for Hobi, Namjoon and Yoongi at the end of the Love Yourself 承: Her album.

In other words…

It foreshadows the tears, and tears between Hobi, Joon and Yoongi and someone dear to them (i.e. “Her”) that will happen in their next album, Love Yourself 轉: Tear.

Author’s Thoughts

Thanks everyone! I hope you enjoyed the post!

It is easy to forget that Hobi may be struggling underneath given his extra sunny exterior.

One observation that particularly stayed with me when I was writing this post was: “the imagery of “shoot” and “killing me” adds a dark and sombre tone and reminds us with an uncomfortable jolt…that our irreplaceable bright and strong Star of hope and light… is only a fragile and vulnerable human being too.“

It was then uncanny that I came across this interview today just as I was about to publish this post. Yoongi said this about Hobi:

“His condition wasn’t good. He just came to the dormitory and he couldn’t get used to the practice so he was really stressed out. Once, you got up and didn’t you say that you felt dizzy. I was aware of that so I went back to the dormitory earlier than I’ve planned.

J-Hope looks bright, likes to joke around and he’s pretty delicate? In another word, he’s vulnerable to stress. He suffered from stress-induced enteritis, so I often took him to the hospital to get an injection.“

Hanryupia 2014 March Issue Catch up with BTS: Relay Interview vol.4

This article is dated March 2014. This is within the same period that I believe Outro: Her is set in (13 June 2013 to 27 December 2015).

For anyone who doesn’t know what stress-induced enteritis is, please click here.

If there was any doubt about Hobi’s love for ARMY and the stresses Hobi endured… well, I think that is all gone now.

Hobi, if you ever read this, we love you too Hobi and hope you don’t get stress-induced enteritis anymore!

Love, G

Lyric sources: Doolset Lyrics and Genius Lyrics. Some minor changes were made where I thought it could be expressed better. Changes do not have a material impact on the lyrics’ meaning.

Disclaimer:

As per my first author’s note, please, no hate!

I do not have a shipping or individual bias, I love all seven members equally and I do not write my blogs because of a particular personal desire for one of them. I reached my conclusion on Joon and Jin being together based on the lyrics, logic and patterns as I have discussed in all my posts (i.e. I did not ship Namjin first, and then started trying to find things to prove my point). I genuinely enjoy all ships because I enjoy watching the different chemistries between the boys.

It does not matter one bit to me if they are straight, gay, intersex, a skrull, a mutant or if they could lay eggs. I love them wholeheartedly (as a sister who would love her younger brothers) for their individual selves.

This theory of Outro: Her is based on my interpretations of its lyrics. Please enjoy.