BTS-'Fake Love' EXTENDED ANALYSIS (40 minutes)

it took me so long to figure out J-hope's candy bar. apparently his character's tragic backstory is that his mother took him to an amusement park (also explains the carousel motif you'll see throughout this era), sat him on a bench with a candy bar, and told him to wait there, and she'd be back before he finished it. needless to say she did not return

https://youtu.be/0guVJ0HXrhk?si=6lrFamCAiv7f5qoE this is an official recording of one of their concerts (so the quality is good) that i think really showcases them!! two songs i believe you’ve yet to hear, and the thing i love abt this performance is that it shows how much they LOVE performing and being on stage and having more casual fun with it, and sounding still incredible while they do! i think you’ll enjoy seeing yet another side to them here!!

I am so glad you enjoyed the song and got so invested in the story of the music video! This is the song that made me realize BTS was more than just another kpop boy group and I got invested in their journey. It really spoke to me then and still does to this day. In response to your comment on their pronunciation of Fake Love. To my ears it sounds the way a Korean would pronounce these words. Fake is a 1 syllable word in English but if you said it phonetically with Korean characters it would be 3. The BTS lore is deep and I honestly don’t know it all as it spans so many music videos and other media. Personally for me (just my take and not confirmed) Fake Love is about confronting our fears and insecurities and realizing hiding parts of ourselves does not lead to true love. The symbolism in the MV of the water for Jimin, fire for Suga, candy for jhope, the dark figure for JK (who is himself), the container for RM, phones for V, the flower for Jin all represent points of trauma in their lore that manifests into them portraying themselves in a way to hide the trauma. The song is about the realization that suppressing a side of you to make yourself or others happy does not work and leads to fake love.

This BTS song is part of the BU (BTS Universe, a fictional storyline that runs across many of their albums). The BTS lore runs deep and wide. ENJOY!

https://youtu.be/sVH2eKVKIWU?si=rZNr2KpDV6IBM341 I would like to present this song, Epiphany. One of Jin’s solo songs from the same album series as Fake Love. It’s the realization of ‘why am I changing myself for you? I’m important too and I need to love myself’

Ok lots to write here. First of all, Jin always cracks me up with his difficulties in making a v sound. So we get Fake Lub instead of Fake Love. This is one of the music videos attached to the Bangtan Universe storyline, but it also matches the song really well so it can be hard to tell unless you know. I’ll go over a very brief breakdown of each member’s story as it pertains to this music video at the end of my comment. All of these big special effects were actually done on set which is an amazing budget for a short music video. At certain times during the choreography you can see the central person directing everyone else and then they drop, like marionettes with their strings cut. For full choreography I’d recommend watching the dance practice video. They have them for most of their songs. Some of them also have silly versions. The Save Me written on the wall is reference to their song Save Me which you heard during the tiny desk concert. It has a sister song called I’m Fine and the graphic is an ambigram. I’ll try to post a picture of it if I can, if not you can easily look it up. There is so much symbolism packed into this music video, same with almost all of their music videos. It’s turned ARMY into detectives and conspiracy theorists. So much discussion and dissection. The nice thing about BTS’ music is that their discography is so varied in style, there’s something for everyone. Every translation is going to be a bit different and a lot of that comes down to how poetic it is. There are no direct translations for some of the things RM writes. He’s a poet and many of their themes come from different philosophers. Which is also why there is so much symbolism packed into their lyrics. It’s why their lyrics are so important, and many fans become fans because of the lyrics. The flower you see is a fictional flower called a smeraldo. It means something along the lines of ‘the truth that couldn’t be told’ and its imagery shows up a lot especially during the Love Yourself albums era which is where Fake Love is from. The background art piece is actually a 3D molded sculpture. Yes Suga, J-Hope, and RM are the rappers. Ok, remember everything story wise I write here is specifically the fictional Bangtan Universe and not real life. J-Hope- Abandoned in childhood at an amusement park with nothing but a candy bar. The ‘person’ he’s trying to keep out are his memories but they keep slipping in. The candy bar coming in through the keyhole. Jin- Jin is the protector trying to fix and save everything, this is represented by the flower, but he fails. The flower turned to sand and he walks away. Jungkook- He’s stuck watching everyone but he can’t help. The floor falling could represent a loss of control. After Jin abandoned the flower Jungkook finds it. The flower petals, maybe bringing it back to life? Jimin- The water. In the Bangtan Universe Jimin’s character is stuck in the hospital and commits suicide by drowning in the bathtub. Suga- The Fire and piano. He gives up on his love for music and commits suicide by starting a fire. V- All the phone screens. V becomes somewhat of a watcher. He’s somewhat aware of what Jin is doing, there is time travel involved, but he doesn’t understand it. RM- The mirror. He’s the leader always trying to be the best version of himself. Alternatively life is forcing him to be one way and he must give up on his dreams and lose himself. So yes, everyone is miserable and at a low point at this point in the story of the Bangtan Universe. And the theme goes really well with Fake Love. This got really long, but I think I covered everything?

KPOP isn't too precious about "owning" their own songs and covers are a pretty essential section of the entire industry whether its the entire song or a choreography cover (and it's just more money for the companies that own the song rights)......dance challenge clips artists put out where they have members from other groups doing tiktoks/IG/YT shorts choreo along with them are technically covers. At the end of the year during the major awards shows for music......the cover performances are some of the most anticipated performances since often they'll have members from various different groups come together and cover another artists song and fans absolutely eat up group to group interactions Weekend show hosts do special performances all the time as well. But if you think about it, it makes sense especially for younger groups that might not have a discography. Groups will often put out dance covers or singing covers on their own channels just to stay visible or even get recognition. Case in point, there was a girl group called LOONA that was kind of struggling and they released a set of dance covers of boy group songs on their channel (including BTS actually) and they went pretty viral. The did a cover of an NCT song and it went so viral that the CEO of SM Entertainment (the company that formed NCT) reached out to LOONAs company and ended up producing a song they eventually released that became super successful for them

I’ll use one word with this video that others will likely elaborate on: lore. There’s a backstory to some of the imagery. For example: the candy bars for j-hope relates to a story of his “character.” But the video totally tells the story without all that extra knowledge. Also, the “I’m Fine” relates to another song of that title. It has a “sister” song called Save Me which appears on the same wall later in the video. As for covers, they are common in k-pop for special event performances, not releases. BTS did covers of senior idol’s songs. It’s almost a rite-of -passage. A great one is BTS doing Perfect Man ❤️‍🔥

I’m SO happy you’ve reacted to Fake Love, Tim! As you dive deeper into BTS content, I’m sure you’ll hear how much these men have helped various people through tough times within their lives. Their music transcends a lot of cultural and societal walls and they sing about issues that are taboo to talk about (even back in 2018). When you get a bit more familiar with the boys and who they are, I would recommend you check out their speech at the United Nations. They were invited twice, and both times their speeches were incredibly powerful, talking about mental health and teenage suicide/depression. They are huge supporters of women’s rights, the LGBTQ+ community, and do a lot of outreach to those less fortunate than them. As an example, Suga helped fund to build a school for autistic children a couple of years ago and was even a music teacher there during his stint in the army. Anyway, can’t wait for your next reaction!!

'Neverland' is the fandom name of i-dle. ☺️