Hello everyone, welcome back!
This is the post I’ve been talking about since DNA Part 1 and Part 2.
Though this post is not a lyrical analysis of one of their songs, I’ve written this post because I believe understanding the antithesis applied in BTS’ Love Yourself albums will assist us with appreciating BTS’ craft so much more as it reveals the nature of connections between songs.
Assumed Knowledge
I have written this post assuming you have read:
- DNA Part 1 or Part 2 , and you know DNA is a love song;
- Who is “Her”?, and you know there are three different “Hers”; and
- My Theory about the Love Yourself Albums, and you know that I believe song order is important because all the songs in LY albums are all connected and reveal a story line when read in a specific order.
New Readers, please start here.
Lettttttt’s get it!
1. What is this Antithesis thing and why is this important?
Antithesis (Greek for “setting opposite”) means “a contrast or opposite”. For example, when something or someone is the opposite of another thing or person (e.g. Real Love vs Fake Love).
Antithesis, used as a rhetorical device, is a technique that an author uses to convey meaning to their listeners to encourage or provoke an emotional response. It is used by simply pairing exact opposite or contrasting ideas in a parallel structure.
The use of Antithesis, I quote, “is one of the best ways to develop a conflict, paving the way to a resolution. It allows the “good guy” to develop some strength in character and fight back against evil forces”.
Understanding Antithesis is important as this is a literary device that BTS has applied to the the structure of their LY Albums.
The use of this literary device conveys meaning which your subconsciousness picks up and provokes an emotional response from you.
This is probably why you find yourself feeling emotional after listening to Love Yourself: 結 Answer although you may not be able to clearly articulate why.
2. My Real Love vs Fake Love observation
As per my theory, we settled on this group of songs to analyse first because I believe there is some kind of pattern going on:
When I was analysing DNA, I observed the following lyrics:
“I want it this love, I want it real love“
Given the above lyrics and the love we explored in Part 1 and Part 2, I think we can safely say that DNA is a story about
Real Love.
I observed that “Real Love” is the antithesis (i.e. the complete opposite) of the song “Fake Love“.
The words “Real Love” and “Fake Love” are also both sung in English, meaning that my subconsciousness would have picked up these opposing concepts.
This realisation prompted me to reorder the above table so that all of the songs from Love Yourself: 承 Her are on the same line as Love Yourself: 轉 Tear.
The above table shows that DNA, which is about “Real Love”, is on the same line as “Fake Love”. In other words, Fake Love is conceptually like the “black mirror” version of DNA which is about Real Love.
Or for anyone who has watched Stranger Things, think of it like the Real World vs The Upside Down.
The above table and order suggest that the DNA and Fake Love are connected as they are the antithesis of each other.
They are two opposing concepts, like two sides of the same coin.
3. The Four Antithesis Groups
This literary device has also been applied to the other 3 groups of songs:
- Serendipity vs Singularity
- 보조개 (Dimple) vs 전하지 못한 진심 (The Truth Untold); and
- Her vs Tear
As this can be confusing, I have provided some antithesis examples to assist you with understanding the meaning further:
These opposing concepts can be clearly observed from their music videos:
- Serendipity is white, airy and bright, whereas Singularity is black, dark and enclosed; and
- DNA is set outside and in space, with bright outfits and bright yellow and blue hues, whereas Fake Love is set in enclosed underground spaces, with black outfits and dark yellow and blues hues.
We can also observe that there is a direct connection between “Her” and “Tear” from the lyrics of “Her”:
“I call you Her, Her
Cause you’re my Tear, Tear“
The identification of the antithesis groups is significant as it:
1) supports my theory that song order is important; and
2) evidences that there is (intentional) structure in the Love Yourself albums.
By extension, we can infer that BTS gave a lot of thought into constructing the framework of the albums and writing the lyrics of their songs.
This also means that to enjoy the full expression and meaning of their lyrics, songs should be analysed in conjunction with their individual opposing songs.
In other words, when we analyse the lyrics for Fake Love, we should analyse the lyrics with consideration to DNA as they are directly connected.
4. So what can this tell us about the Love Yourself albums?
By structuring the eight songs in this specific order, BTS is intentionally employing the technique of antithesis to develop tension in the plot for their readers and listeners when they listen to Love Yourself: 結 Answer.
BTS develops tension in the plot by first showing us the happiness they experience from loving “Her”, and then the pain and suffering they feel from loving “Her”.
In other words, BTS is telling us their story about the “Good” and “Bad” sides of loving someone.
The story of loving “Her” is told to us in a trilogy format. This is further guided by the trilingual prefixes in their album titles:
- 承 means “due to”
- 轉 means “turn”; and
- 結 means “conclude”
Hence, even if we don’t analyse the lyrics in depth (or understand Korean), this structure enables us to subconsciously and intrinsically understand that the story BTS is trying to tell us is:
Due to “Her”, BTS experienced a lot of happiness, and this is told through the four stories/chapters of Serendipity, DNA, Dimple and Her from the first album.
However, the plot developed and things took a turn for the worse some time after meeting “Her”.
Because of “Her”, BTS experienced conflict, suffering and “Tears”. This is told through the four stories/chapters of Singularity, Fake Love, The Truth Untold and Tear.
However, through their suffering, BTS learnt (or had an Epiphany!) that the “Answer” to overcoming the challenges of love is not about trying to change the other person, but about accepting themselves. In conclusion, the “Answer” to being able to truly love “Her”, is that they must learn to “Love Myself” first.
And this is a bit of a teaser… even after all that, the last song “Answer: Love Myself” in Love Yourself: 結 Answer is not the end of BTS’s story of loving “Her”.
Remember, BTS are masters at wordplay (e.g. besides “due to”, 承 can mean something else) and as they love to say… the end is just the beginning of something else.
Everything will circle back around 😊 You will see what I mean.
Buttt that is something we will need to leave for another day! We need to get through the three story lines first before we talk about what I mean by my last comment!
I hope you found it insightful and if you did, please share it with your friends! Please also feel free to connect with me via Twitter or the comments section down below 😊
x G