Hello everyone!
I am so excited to be coming back to Yoongi – I have missed learning about him and analysing his lyrics. The last chapter of Yoongi’s story that we analysed was Fake Love: By Yoongi, and thus, according to my theory’s order, the next song with Yoongi’s perspective is Trivia 轉: Seesaw.
You may also have realised that Yoongi’s natural order in the entire Love Yourself series is the number 2. For example, in Outro: Her and Outro: Tear, Yoongi always raps second, and if you follow my theory’s song order, the order leads us to analysing Yoongi’s perspective next.
Therefore, this natural order suggests that the second flower in the Love Yourself Albums is symbolic to Yoongi’s story.
According to this source, and many others, the general consensus out there is that the second flower is a peony. Therefore, we will be analysing what this means to Yoongi’s perspective today.
Let’s get it!
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 story line when read in a specific order;
- there are three different “Hers” and that when Yoongi refers to “Her”, he is referring to the BTS Members; and
- Yoongi’s story told so far through DNA, The Last of DT Suga, Agust D, (Outro) Her: By Yoongi and Fake Love: By Yoongi.
New Readers
Hello there and welcome to my blog! I’m sorry to say that if you haven’t read any of the above posts… 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 Yoongi’s lyrics are about the BTS members.
If you’re wondering where to start, please start here.
Please also note the assumptions I apply when I analyse songs.
I hope you enjoy my blog 😊 !
1. Establishing the Timeline
Trivia 轉: Seesaw per my theory’s order is after Fake Love and before “Tear”.
We know from this interview that Yoongi’s part in “Tear” was written for the members and it was about them nearly breaking up:
Suga said he wrote ‘Outro: Tear’ from ‘Love Yourself: Tear’ album, that released in 2018 while thinking about the members. The track, that is performed by rappers RM, Suga, and J-Hope, truly resonated with the fans. “The lyrics for ‘Tear’ were written for the members. At the time, we were deeply contemplating whether we should quit or not. When I played the song for the members, we all cried together.”
Love Yourself 轉: Tear was released on 18 May 2018, meaning that Yoongi would have written his part in “Tear” at the very latest in early 2018.
Therefore, we can derive two things of significance from this information:
1) Because Trivia 轉: Seesaw is before “Tear”, Trivia 轉: Seesaw is set in the period leading up to the day when BTS finally spoke to each other openly on whether they should break up or not.
2) Since Fake Love for Yoongi is set on 27 December 2015, we can infer that Trivia 轉: Seesaw is set during the period 27 December 2015 to early 2018.
2. Tired and sick of it
I refer to the following lyrics:
In the beginning, well, it was fun
Just going up and down itself
Before we knew, we both became sick of
meaningless waste of emotions
A repeated seesaw, seesaw game
Having come this far, I got sick of, got sick of it
A repeated seesaw, seesaw game
We both got tired and became sick of it
The repetition of “repeated” “sick of” and “seesaw” and the use of the pronoun “we”, emphasises the endless “up and down” emotional roller coasters that BTS endured since “the beginning.”
At the start, BTS thought it “was fun” sitting on the roller coaster “going up and down” ; however, over the years from 13 June 2013 to early 2018, the emotional roller coasters wore all of them down and they became tired and sick of it and of each other.
Besides being just over it, the use of the word “sick” takes on a literal meaning for Yoongi.
As we discovered in The Last of DT SUGA – Agust D, Yoongi became very sick after he debuted with BTS.
3. The Imbalance
Was the small argument the beginning?
The moment when I became heavier than you
There has never been a parallel balance from the beginning –
would that be why we were more eager to reach the balance?
Yoongi reflects on how they came to this unhappy point of their lives and wonders if it was because of “the small argument… The moment when I became heavier than you.”
Yoongi then uses the analogy of weight to describe someone’s power and influence: The heavier you are, the more power and force you can exert to bring the seesaw down to your side and influence the “game”.
We can also infer from this that Yoongi at the beginning was “lighter” than the person(s) he refers to as “You” and had less “weight” than others in the group.
There was an uneven distribution of power and influence within BTS from the beginning.
I refer to a subsequent verse:
In the beginning, we brag about who is heavier
and smile, looking at each other
Now we became to compete over who is heavier
It became a tinderbox for a war
It seems like, eventually, someone will have to get off to end it
Yoongi reveals to us that in the beginning, the uneven distribution of power and influence was fine and friendly, as they were able to “smile” while “looking at each other.”
However… over the years, this turned into (an unfriendly) competition, and became the tinderbox that sparked wars.
4. Is this love?
If it was love, and if it is the word love itself,
would there be any need to repeat it?
…Now we became to compete over who is heavier
It became a tinderbox for a war
It seems like, eventually, someone will have to get off to end it
We should stop pretending to care for each other and decide now…
…If we didn’t have feelings for each other,
if we didn’t think of each other,
would we have dragged it on like this?
If you don’t have feelings for me anymore,
being on this seesaw is dangerous, dangerous
Don’t think of me anymore, and…
In the above lyrics, Yoongi reflects on whether the BTS Members actually genuinely love each other… and if they genuinely love him. This is consistent with what we saw in (Outro) Her: By Yoongi where Yoongi wonders uncertainly “Maybe I’m your love and hate, Maybe I’m your enemy and friend.”
We also discussed in (Outro) Her: By Yoongi that the lyrics indicate that Yoongi’s relationship and dynamics with the BTS Members were both fluid and extreme pre 27 December 2015.
Since we have established above that Trivia 轉: Seesaw is set during the period 27 December 2015 – early 2018, this indicates that Yoongi was dealing with this hot/cold relationship with his members for many many years – from pre 27 December 2015 all the way to early 2018.
Due to the many years of uncertainty and wondering if his members genuinely love each other and him, Yoongi finally requests his members to “stop pretending” and tell him honestly “if we didn’t have feelings for each other… [and] if you don’t have feelings for me anymore.”
Yoongi wishes to know how his members genuinely feel about him because “if you don’t have feelings for me anymore, being on this seesaw is dangerous, dangerous. Don’t think of me anymore…”
The repetition of “dangerous” emphasises the high level of danger from Yoongi’s perspective. But… what is so dangerous about someone (who doesn’t love Yoongi) remaining in BTS with Yoongi?
Though Yoongi does not make it clear in his lyrics exactly why it is so dangerous to him…
As per (Outro) Her: By Yoongi, Yoongi’s happiness is heavily dependent on the happiness of his members. Therefore, if a member admits that he no longer loves Yoongi or each other and causes others to be sad, these events would be extremely heartbreaking for Yoongi.
It will also be extremely painful for Yoongi to deal with seeing that member on a daily basis given his cocktail of illnesses.
Hence, I believe that the mental and emotional pain Yoongi would need to endure if the member continued to be part of his daily life was what Yoongi was referring to when he said that being on the seesaw would be dangerous.
Therefore, rather than continuing to be in BTS, Yoongi requests them to instead “don’t think of me anymore” and “to get off this seesaw…though I can’t.”
5. The Game
It seems like we’re both tired and holding the same card in our hands
Then, well…
Let’s not read each other’s face trying to figure out who’s going to get off or not
Let’s not drag it on and do as we please
Let’s now make the decision whether to get off or not
A repetitive seesaw game
Now, stop
How crafty the heart of a person is
Though we know one will get hurt if the other is not there,
because we both don’t want to be the bad guy,
we continue to awkwardly pass the buck, umm umm
and end up becoming exhausted, ironically reaching the paralleled balance
Ay, this is not the kind of balance that I wanted
Let’s not read each other’s face trying to figure out who’s going to get off or not
Let’s not drag it on and do as we please
Let’s now make the decision whether to get off or not
A repetitive seesaw game
Now, stop
Yoongi uses the analogy of an intense card game to describe the atmosphere between the members leading up to the day they talked openly about breaking up. This analogy is incredibly fitting given BTS are known for their games, especially their card games.
Yoongi tells us that all of the members felt like they were playing a card game against each other… in the most serious of senses. No one is speaking openly, everyone is trying to “read each other’s faces“, and everyone is avoiding being the “bad guy” and thus “continue to awkwardly pass the buck, umm umm.”
This “game” has been played many times, so much so that it became boring and repetitive…. However, since no one was speaking openly and truthfully, no outcome was achieved after any of the “games”.
After cycles and cycles of inertia… Yoongi finally states, “I try to put an end to it only now.”
Yoongi was the one who pushed the group to have an open discussion and to “make the decision whether to get off or not.”
6. Getting Off the Seesaw
The three choruses contain the following lyrics:
Someone has to get off this seesaw
Though I can’t
These lyrics reveal to us that though Yoongi feels like BTS as a group is not working out, he is unable to bring himself to leave BTS. Instead, he says “someone [else] has to get off this seesaw“.
Interestingly, Yoongi’s stance holds firm and lasts through out the entire song except towards the end.
In the end, Yoongi raps the following lyrics:
(Hol’ up Hol’ up) I walk on this seesaw that you aren’t on
(Hol’ up Hol’ up) Like that time in the beginning when you weren’t here
(Hol’ up Hol’ up) I walk on this seesaw that you aren’t on
(Hol’ up Hol’ up) I get off this seesaw that you aren’t on
These lyrics indicate to us that despite all of the pushing from Yoongi and Yoongi’s belief that “You”‘s heart is no longer in BTS (“this seesaw that you aren’t on”), no one in BTS made the move to get off the seesaw.
Thus, Yoongi finally caves and tells them that “I [will] get off this seesaw” instead.
The lyrics “like that time in the beginning when you weren’t here” indicate to us that Yoongi was contemplating about leaving and becoming a solo artist or producer, just like he planned to do at “the beginning” before BTS was formed.
This contemplation, and Yoongi’s push for the BTS Members to reveal how they truly feel about each other and about him leads to that moment where BTS contemplated seriously about breaking up in early 2018.
7. The Peony
The Peony is the second flower in the Love Yourself album covers:
We identified that the meaning of the first flower, the Rose, in Greek Mythology and Latin was incredibly fitting and symbolic to Namjoon’s story.
Thus, for consistency, I researched the meaning of the Peony in Greek Mythology and Latin. As no results turned up for Latin, I have only discussed the Peony in Greek Mythology below.
Greek Mythology and the Peony
Peonies were named in honour of the Greek deity of healing, Paean or Paeon.
Based on this source:
Paeon was the physician to the gods who angered his teacher Asclepius after he extracted a milky liquid from the root of a peony that cured Pluto. Asclepius was the god of medicine and healing. He threatened to kill Paeon out of jealousy because he was outsmarting his teacher. Zeus saved him by turning him into a beautiful flower, the peony.
In other words, as described succinctly in this document: Peony is the Plant of Healing.
Given that Yoong’s perspective is about BTS as a group, this is perfectly fitting given BTS’ reputation of their commitment to healing through music.
After all, this is what is displayed at the start of their videos:
In addition, the story line about BTS as a group in the Love Yourself albums is about the many “tears” they experienced, and their healing journey to self-love.
In short, the Peony is perfectly symbolic to BTS.
It symbolises BTS’ existence as Musicians and Artists for Healing, and also their healing journeys told through the Love Yourself albums.
Author’s Thoughts
Wow… the timing of this could not be any more coincidental given Yoongi is currently recovering from his shoulder surgery!
I wish I could send him a huge big bunch of peonies… :”) It is time for Yoongi to (physically) heal.
In terms of emotional and mental healing… Luckily, it seems like BTS have healed each other along the way to where they are now.
I would also like all of us to just stop and pause for one second to reflect how meaningful BTS’ works are. Think about it… every… single… flower… word… metaphor etc is chosen with so much care and filled with so much meaning and depth. It leaves me utterly utterly breathless. 💜 No artist in my humble opinion, comes anywhere close to BTS.
That is all for today folks! Please remember to share and retweet if you enjoyed the post! Borahae!
💜 G
Lyric sources: “Trivia” 轉 from Doolset Lyrics
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 Trivia 轉: Seesaw is based on my interpretations of its lyrics. Please enjoy.