Rocker Reacts: BTS Tiny Desk Concert 

I love watching musicians reaction to BTS. That was a good video! Please, ignore those hate comments. Unfortunaly, people think they need to defend BTS no matter what, but there was no need for rude comments, since you were very respectful in the last video, and just stated your opinions. Please, keep being honest and genuine, I'm tired of people reacting to bts or kpop in general and pretending to like it just bc it gives a lot of views. Anyways, if you want a sugestion for the next video, I think "Festa Room Live 2021" is a good option. They perform songs from their debut album in 2013 until their latest from 2021. There is no coreography in that video, but it's lot more energetic. I wanted to recommend a few performances with coreography so you could watch them sing while dancing, but I don't know what type of songs you want to react. I think "Dyonisus" is awesome, or their entire performance from 2019 MMA. It's very long, but I promise it's worth it! Also, I don't think you need to go deep in the lyrics, since you're watching as a musician. The songs have a lot of beautiful lyrics, but since it's in another language, it takes a lot of time to fully understand. If you want to keep reacting to the lyrics, i suggest the website "doolset", the lyrics translations are reliable, and they explain some wordplays and deeper meanings that usually gets lost in translations.

Indeed, in spring day, the woooowhhooo they don’t sing is sung by the audience, it’s our part 😘 and Jimin says at this moment “we miss you Army” because they sing without an audience, bc it was sept 2020. And the hated singing without us… also, spring day is a special song… I believe Army are telling you this in the comments. Just know this song is a long living success, always charted in Korea. Suga calls it zombie song bc it never dies, we call it Queen 😉. And yes, I’m old school and back track always frustrates me bc, obviously, they don’t need this, they have all the talent possible to do without it. Thank you it was very interesting 💜

Dynamite wasn't written by them and was made with the intention of cheering people up during the pandemic. It definitely achieved that aim.

This is my suggestion, and I don’t mean this as criticism or negatively. I am basically sharing what I have learned. Put your western/American music expectations to the side when you are listening to/watching BTS. BTS is a performance group - they sing and have complex, strenuous choreography and very high audience interaction. Their roots are in k-pop, and k-pop developed in the television era (not radio, like western popular music). As a result, the visuals (as well as the overall sound) have the highest priority. Rather than play instruments (which limits movement and makes it easier to sing), BTS dances and/or runs around two stages and a runway - all while singing live. Their songs are written for that type of performance. If you continue to watch/listen to BTS with expectations rooted in what you are accustomed to, you will continue to say the same things over and over (like “why aren’t they singing the background vocals,” for instance). Also, k-pop has much stronger audience participation than pretty much any western artist does - and I say that as an American who has attended more than 100 concerts by artists like Michael Jackson, Journey, Paul Simon, Elton John, etc. I loved all of those concerts, and fans sing along to those artists, but k-pop artists release fanchants that the audience memorizes - and everywhere BUT in South Korea, those fans don’t even speak Korean so they are memorizing chants in a non-native language (and that they don’t even actually speak in a lot of cases). Before the LA concert, for instance, there were fanchant practices in Zoom and in Twitter spaces, to help fans learn the chants.

i think you would really enjoy “proof live” it’s with a live band 3 songs and has anderson paak as a guest

This comment is for the timestamp 22:10 personally BTS have lots of response vocals in their songs and the reason BTS don't sing those parts themselves is because they are usually sung by ARMY in concerts and live performances. However during the pandemic when BTS wasn't able to perform live I think they still left space for ARMY to sing because they know that even if we're at home watching through the screen ARMY is still singing along. And I really enjoy that about BTS. It's an ongoing joke in the fandom that this parasocial relationship goes both ways lol BTS loves ARMY just as much as ARMY loves BTS. So yes they make space for us in their music!

Save Me is less about missing someone and more about that feeling of ‘needing’ to be saved/picked up by someone else. It has a ‘sister’ song (they are often performed in tandem) called ‘I’m fine’ where you learn to be your own strength. Context is often necessary to understand the subtext in BTS’s lyrics. Every one of us ARMYs are singing those backing/response lines every time we listen to these songs.

Most everyone has explained to some extent about the backing track & why they aren't singing every line but there's one more aspect/reason I wanted to add. Historically, almost every song they perform is intentionally written with ARMY in mind. Either lyrically referring to us, talking to us, or ensuring there are parts for us to sing exclusively. Something called "fanchants" exist for most concert songs & they write their songs with that in mind (you'll notice call & response is used very often in their writing for this exact purpose). I also need to mention that whenever a member is unable to perform, rather than try to "fill" their spot, they purposefully leave it empty or let the backing track take it (usually set low in the mix so it's VERY obvious there's something missing during that part). The reason they do this is to make it very clear BTS is 7, there is no BTS if even one member is missing. They are individually irreplaceable. So they let that part be intentionally empty to say, we miss you, we are not the same without you, we pay homage to you by saying no one can fill your part or take your place. They intentionally didn't sing the parts that ARMY fanchant during to say we too are irreplaceable, we their ARMY are missed, and it's empty without us there, and that's okay to show & feel through these "empty" moments in the songs. Those parts were entirely for us, their ARMY. A message only we would likely feel & understand. I remember the first time I watched this, those empty parts, those unsung moments actually made me tear up bc I knew instantly what they were saying. I've been to their concerts, I've screamed those fanchants, I've watched them struggle through without a member. It was those moments that made me keenly miss them & know they missed us too.

Spring Day is about grief, and makes reference to several different sources, The Sewol Ferry Tragedy, suicide, and in Suga's verse case, loosing a friend to drugs. I love it because it so accurately expresses how angry and resentful we can feel to those we loose, and how that just makes it more painful. "Honestly I miss you, but I will erase you because that hurts less than to blame you." When I read Suga's verse the first time, I cried so much, finally I stopped feeling so ashamed and guilty for how angry I was at the person I lost. Spring Day holds a very special place in many army's hearts. Because our Queen isn't super flashy, people often overlook her, but she hasn't left South Korea's hot 100 chart since she was released in 2017 for how deeply the South Korean population resonated with her lyrics in the wake of the Sewol Ferry Tragedy.

One of the best parts of BTS live performances, to me at least, is the fan engagement. It's so incredibly well co-ordinated. Fans learn and practice our part of every song so whichever song they surprise us with, we can perform our parts on beat. They don't need to prompt us, hold out their mics or indicate when to sing. ARMYs have done the work too and they know which snippets and call and response sections to do. It adds so much new energy to performances. I kind of hate when they perform in the US sometimes and the crew messes with their mics to try to mute the crowd interactions. Not only does it mess up their sound quality but it robs the performance of its intended collaborative energy. It's okay that you didn't know about fanchants while you were recording, but that's one of the reasons why they didn't perform certain parts of the song. BTS are known for valuing people's contributions. So whenever a member is sick, injured or unable to perform for some reason, they don't sing that person's section and they never rearrange their positions on the stage or in the dances. The empty spot is very prominent and it's a constant reminder that no one is replaceable or forgettable. They will stand with the empty spot and leave room for that person in group hugs (essentially hugging the air). It forces you to remember that someone isn't there and their absence is a lack in the performance. You just hear the recording of the person singing/rapping. So it was the same during the pandemic. They took it hard that they couldn't perform for ARMY and it was a rough time for them. Instead of taking over ARMY's lines, they left that dead air there and let the backing track fill it in like they do when missing a member. As alwyas, it's a reminder to us that we are not replicable or forgettable. It was an overt indication that this moment is for ARMYS and we can still sing with them from home or not, but they won't ever take our lines. It's a sweet sentiment to hear the silence during all our fanchant lines. It would be hard for non-fans new to BTS or kpop fan culture to get without context so this isn't me yelling at you or anything lol I'm just explaining don't worry. I hope it adds context for you! And please don't worry about lyrics needing to be profound or anything. BTS do have wonderful lyrics (even if the translations water down the Korean poetry a lot in order to get the basic idea out). Doolset is a good site to get fairly accurate lyrics and a little Korean context for wordplay and cultural notes. Overall BTS does different types of music and sometimes the lyrics aren't that deep (eg Dynamite). Don't hurt your head trying to find super deep meanings in everything because sometimes it truly is as simple as it seems. Other times it may take months to fully understand the web of storylines and meanings and artistic references.

So just some background on Dynamite. BTS was supposed to go on a world tour in 2020 which was eventually cancelled because of the pandemic. So they didn't really know what to do instead so they decided to release a song to cheer up people during such a difficult time. They were sent Dynamite (one of the few songs that BTS didn't participate in writing) and were even considering re-writing some parts in Korean but decided they liked it just the way it was so they didn't change anything. And it became BTS first fully English song. It also earned BTS first number 1 song on the billboard hot 100, their first Grammy nomination, and it broke the record for the most viewed video in 24 hours on youtube with 101.1 million views. And it's the most streamed song by a kpop artist on Spotify and the only kpop song so far to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify. At their past concerts Dynamite was actually in the middle of the concert. I don't have much to say about Save Me except the music video for Save Me is a 1 shot music video, which is neat. Spring Day is often referred to as the Queen because this song is still on Korean music charts after 5.5 years. Many have said the song was made in memory of the kids and teachers who died in the Sewol Ferry Disaster back in 2014. But of course it can be interpreted in many ways.

I am a 48 year old A.R.M.Y. and it’s been an amazing experience getting to know this group of boys. I started listening to them back in 2017 and haven’t stopped. They’ve made me travel the US following them through their concerts and have introduced me to a culture that was not on my radar. They are our boys now and forever regardless of age. 😊 I absolutely adore BTS but not a KPop. There’s a few songs from other S. Korean pop artists I enjoy but nothing/no one else has grabbed me as much as BTS, ever. Look forward to your journey. By the way Spring Day is a track that you should look deeper into. It’s been on the Korean charts since it’s release in 2017 and hasn’t left them a single day. We call her the queen! Plus the symbolism in the lyrics, the music video, and it’s coming at a time in that nation’s tragic Sewol Ferry incident that connected it all for some folks, it’s beyond anything anyone could possibly imagine. Spring Day is a masterpiece through and through. I understand you wanting to follow along the music and not give lyrics too much attention BUT to understand how this group went for being artists in a small Asian country from a starter agency to becoming global superstars breaking multiple world records and being on par with some of the greatest Pop Legends it would help if you went deeper.

The low voice was Jhope but the one who "drops the mic" right after the song ends was Jungkook. His voice in the harmony was kind of in the middle. I think they intentionally did those notes to harmonize well, rather than to take all the strong note and probably mess that harmonization. If you don't like auto-tune, you should not react to Festa Room Live even when it's highly recommended. You should probably checkout *BTS Medley Live* in their Speak Yourself Tour in Wembley Stadium (heads up, backing vocals still exist and note that this performance is in the middle of a 2-hour concert so their voices are probably a little tired after all the singing and dancing before this performance). I highly recommend you react to a song of the 4 vocalists called *The Truth Untold* live version. I can't tell if there is a backing vocals but in my ears, I can't hear auto-tune in their live performance. You'd probably like that better. For the rap-line song, if you like rap, please check out *Cypher Medley Live* Thanks for your reaction!

Hello! I appreciate the effort you put into this. it was not necessary to read the lyrics, but I appreciate the fact that you took this into account. As you have noticed we ARMY are very passionate and protective about this group, and we have our reasons, but nothing justifies the negative criticism, insults or aggression, for which I am sorry. Take it slow and enjoy the music without pressure. BTS has a ton of songs with lyrics like poetry, some of them are hits and some of them are, as we like to say, "hidden gems to discover the further one digs into their discography" and the reason we encourage people to read their lyrics is precisely because they are so involved in the songwritting process. About the fact that they don t sing all the parts of the song, usually those parts are sung by the fans, they choose not to do it, which is ok for us, but I understand your point of view, as a musician. Also, I think you won't resonate with much of their music if you look at BTS as those artists who have the kind of acoustic or stripped down performances. BTS and kpop are much more complex than that, as Suga (rapper in BTS) mentioned in a interview, “I’m a little careful to talk about K-pop as a genre because I don’t want to be defining Kpop as a genre. I’m a little bit wary of that but I think rather than approach Kpop as a genre, a better approach would be ‘integrated content.'He added: “‘K-pop includes not just the music, but the clothes, the makeup, the choreography…all these elements I think sort of amalgamate together in a visual and auditory content package, that I think sets it apart from other music or maybe other genres so again, as I said, rather than approach K-pop as it’s own genre I think approaching it as this integration of different content would be better.” sorry for the long comment, just wanted to say that even if bts is not your kind of music or performance, if you keep giving them a chance, you will be surprised by their discography, the multitude of musical genres they cover and all they represent beyond music. At the same time you will enjoy the support of army fans who are wonderful people. 💜 have a nice day!

You had a question about why they don't sing the second 'Save me: I don't know if it's been answered before this. But it's because, Like you said, it's a "call an Response" Lyric. Those second rounds of lyrics are specifically for ARMY. You'll very rarely hear them sing ARMY's parts Out of respect for the importance of the fandom. You'll also see during live shows if a band member isn't able to be present (Due to injury or illness) they often leave that members spot open in line ups and choreo; sometimes even letting the backing track sing the missing members part rather than having someone else step in. this is because they are very vocal about importance of having everyone together. They’ve said numerous times that the group wouldn’t be able to continue if one member was missing. So them not singing ARMY's part when they were not able to have them present during the pandemic was handled in the same respect as when a member was missing. It’s actually very sweet. The song isn't suppose to sound complete without ARMY and all the members together.

"Spring Day" is one of my top five BTS songs. Even the first time I heard it and read the lyrics (and this video was my first "real" introduction to BTS), the song managed to convey to me just how much the singer misses the other person. Wanting to become a snowflake to reach the other person faster, wondering how many sleepless nights until they meet again, hating the other person for leaving. And in the middle of the song, I felt like the singer is talking to someone who has passed away, so the song became even more heartbreaking. And V's delivery of the line "you know it all, you're my best friend" that you commented on is always the highlight of the song for me. And then, as I got to know the unique tones of their individual voices, I fell more in love with the song. Just listening to the call-and-response in their different voices is a pleasure to the ears. RM (second from the right with blue hair) wrote the lyrics to this song and Suga (second from the left) wrote his rap verse, about their respective friends. The MV, though, is full of symbolism that's related to the Sewol Ferry Tragedy, which took 304 lives, including around 250 students. The song has never left the Korean charts since it came out in 2017. ======== BTW, this concert was posted in September 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, when there wasn't even a vaccine yet. I think this was why they chose these songs. "Dynamite" to lift up the mood and the other two songs to express how much they missed their fans. ======== BTS often uses vocal backing tracks in their performances, but I feel like they're very honest about it. They don't hide the fact and they don't lip-sync. They either sing live over the tracks, or they let the tracks take over (usually to do hard choreography, sometimes to do the adlibs). I do understand where you're coming from, about wanting to sing every line you wrote live. But I think maybe they're seeing it from the perspective of the overall performance. If you watch J-hope's Lollapalooza set, you'll see him leave out lines more than usual. But he commanded that stage with his whole being, not just his singing and rapping, but also through his presence, his moves, his dancing, his crowd engagement. He was captivating, even if he didn't sing every single line. ======== Like what everybody else has said, "Dynamite" (and their two other English songs, "Butter" and "Permission to Dance") was written by Western songwriters and was released to spread joy to their fans during the pandemic. They also released a Korean album, "Be", which they wrote themselves and is completely different from these three songs. The album takes you on a journey of emotions that we all felt during the pandemic, such as depression ("Blue and Grey" is a beautiful song about this), loneliness and feeling trapped, but also still connecting with people and hope that things would get better. Instead of joy, the album brought comfort and hope.

you asked why they don;t sing everything. Maybe because the songs often have a full on dance routine so they need breathing room and they've kept that format.

the backing track thing annoyed me too until I realized that it's always ARMY's part. It's a shoutout to us who are supposed to be there singing our part 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

"Dynamite" is probably one of the few songs of theirs that you DON'T need to dissect the lyrics. -_-" It wasn't written by them and it was straight up meant to be a happy up-beat song to cheer people up during the pandemic. It's their Korean and Japanese songs that need the deep lyrical dive. You also don't really need to break down "Butter" if you react to that one. BTS usually has insane choreography that they are doing WHILE singing live so a lot of their repetitive backings and harmonies are pre-recorded so that they can BREATHE in between their own lines. Also, from a musician stand point, you should listen to "Save Me" followed immediately by "I'm Fine". They are meant to go back to back and you'll understand IMMEDIATELY WHY they do. :)

About the call and response comment...usually during their live performances fans do the response part. Their live performances include the audience, it's more interactive than other concerts I've been to. Thus, making it more fun and enjoyable in my opinion. You should check out their live music show performances or concert clips to see the call and response (fan chants)with the fans.

Ive seen it mentioned in the comments a few times but I would also like to say that I really think you would enjoy Proof Live with Anderson Paak even performing with them for a song. 🙂

Looking at these essays in the comments once again reminds me how much BTS means to people. I hope you continue checking out their stuff on your own terms and continue giving us your unfiltered opinion :) 💜

22:00 this song came out in 2016 and they have probably performed it over 100 times in the past 5 years. But only ONCE sitting down (you are watching the once). If you watch any live perfomance they are doing the choreo which is literally a lot of jumping and moving. So the simple answer why they aren't doing the reponses live is: one person is singing and the other members are busy dancing behind the one singing and breathing so that when it comes to their part they aren't out of breath and are stable. 'Life goes on' (2020) and 'Yet to come' (2022) are their ONLY title tracks (fun fact, Save ME is a bside) without a choreo, so in those two songs they don't have a backing track, because they simply dont need it to perform live. Basically all songs with choreo have backing tracks and the slow emotional ones that don't have choreo don't have backing tracks because they dont need them.

Thank you for your insights into the songwriting. I know that salable pop needs to be at least partially formulaic, but it was nice to hear you break it down. I'm ARMY, but I listen to a little of everything, so I'll check out your other reactions and your own tunes too. Also, I want to apologize for the people who gave you grief. That's not what we should do, and most true ARMY are welcoming. I'm sorry that you were attacked by the negative side of the fandom. Please know that we're always just glad to have another person listening to BTS's music and enjoying it on whatever level. They have a lot to offer, and so do you. There's room for all of us, and there's always room to learn. Much love to you. Thanks for doing this video.

I’m a little bit surprised by your opinions on the lyrics to be honest. I’m going to do my best to state this is in a “here’s why I like these songs” way and not a “you’re wrong” type of way: Dynamite - I like the song but the lyrics are pretty generic pop. I’m surprised that this was the song that you liked the most lyrics wise. It sounds like a song that any other artist could write. Not hating on the song, I genuinely like it but the lyrics are not anything ground breaking in my opinion. Save Me - I interpret the song to be more about needing someone desperately rather than missing someone. Like holding onto someone as your life raft. But I think what makes the song unique is (1) the EDM beat is actually pretty upbeat so you might not realize how dark the lyrics are until you look up translations. And (2) I think RM’s whole verse is a really unique way of describing why someone is important to you and thanking them for being in your life. I don’t think I’ve every heard “Thank you for straightening out me who was wrinkled” in an English pop song about missing/needing someone. If you didn’t read all the way to RM’s part, I really recommend you go back and read his part of the song. Then I’d recommend listening to and reading the lyrics of I’m Fine because RM inverts the lyrics of his Save Me verse in I’m Fine. Spring Day - I know ARMY came at you pretty aggressively for not reading the lyrics of Black Swan and I’m sorry for anyone that was truly rude or offensive but why did you repeat that mistake and not properly read through the lyrics of Spring Day?? This song honestly has some of the best lyrics ever, period. It manages to capture all 5 stages of grief in one song. It’s wistful, sad, angry, nostalgic, and yet hopeful at the end. The beautiful comparison of grief and longing to seasons is such an amazing metaphor. The first half of the song talks about winter, snowflakes, hopelessly longing for someone that is out of reach and then transitions after the build to spring, morning coming after so much darkness, cherry blossom petals instead of snow, and knowing that you’ll be reunited with this person one day. Even without knowing the full backstory of the song, you can at least appreciate the beautiful imagery of the song. I will say that it’s usually people who have dealt with loved ones passing away that catch the meaning and emotion behind this song on the first listen. If you haven’t dealt with grief like that, it can just be another song about missing someone. To close this long ass essay that I wrote, I hope you continue your BTS journey. It seems like so far the songs aren’t quite capturing you the way we’re hoping they will, but don’t worry, BTS will get you eventually. Usually with the most unexpected line or riff or harmony too. When they do capture you, I hope you come back and revisit Spring Day because she truly is the queen of their discography. EDIT: I watched a few of your other videos and it seems like you really only skim through the lyrics for most songs. So I think rather than suggesting lyric heavy songs, we should be suggesting songs that have interesting music or production. For those reasons, I’m going to suggest Lie, Pied Piper and Baepsae. Looking forward to more reactions!

i don´t think anyone mentioned it here but spring day is actually a really deep song with references to multiple books and a movie. Its about missing someone but also about social injustice. The music video is also a tribute to a tragedy that happened in korea around the time when this song came out and is very complexs and artistic. There´s a video about it explaining all this references as well as the music video, So if you´re interested i´m sure a lot of armies will enjoy your reaction to it :) Lastly i´m sorry for the mean and disrespectful comments you´ve gotten so far. Not only is army very passionate but its also a giant fandom so obviously theres also a lot more mean people than in an average fandom. Don´t be discouraged by them and be honest. I´m sure true armies will value your constructive criticism. If you read this i hope you have a nice day! :)

Hey! Sorry for the ones telling u to read the subtitles, really just enjoy in ur way. They do the backing track bc this song is made to dance, check the live version, so is really hard to find someone "still" enough to do it. The one singing when u star talking about it is Jungkook, their main vocal (sing most of the lines) and the one with the most stable voice while dancing so is kind of imposible? U jet to understood BTS way just see them live and dancing. Have a great day! Amazing reaction. EVEN SPRING DAY HAVE A DANCE jajajaja please check it!!!

Sorry... just got to Spring Day. So the low note at the end is actually being sung by Hobi (red mic). Jungkook (purple mic) is singing the higher note, he's just got such an ease with his voice that everything is really relaxed and effortless. You'll soon discover the magic of Jungkook's voice.

Thank you for reacting to this performance. One of the best things about BTS is their live performances, their concerts on average are 2 to 3 hours long and most of their songs have very hard and powerful choreography to go with it. Also KPOP music in general is all about fan participation so there are actually chants worked into their music to give the fans a chance to be a part of their performance, hence the spaces. I know you are not knocking them, i am just giving you an overview of why this is. This performance was also during the height of the pandemic so it was one of over 30 plus performances that BTS did to give their fans and themselves some purpose and enjoyment during a globally hard time. I understand you don't like autotune and honestly BTS doesn't need it, To them it is all about ARMY and making sure everything about their performance is perfect, so sometimes they add it to enhance possibly tired or unwell vocals. One criticism of your reaction to me, is comparing what you do during performing with a band to what a performance group does. Both are great ways of sharing music but they couldn't be more contrasting from each other in skills. I personally love rock bands as I grew up listening to a lot of the greats. I was in my mid 40's when I discovered BTS and was immediately blown away by , their stage presence, their performance and their humility. They were something new and exciting and I for the first time in my lifetime became a part of a fandom. Do I still listen to all the great music from before yes, as to me and i am biased(the late 70s and the 80s were the best era of music). 🤩 As to lyrics, they never wrote Dynamite, Save me is about depression, and Spring day is about loss. So during a pandemic they were perfect song choices for this. Thank you again for your reaction 💜💜💜

I really appreciate the candid reaction. I think it’s important that, even as fans, we allow ourselves to think critically about the art we are consuming so I appreciate the perspectives you bring as a performer! ☺️ I hope you react to The Truth Untold live performance. It’s a vocal flex and I think you’ll appreciate the musicality and storytelling each member brings to the stage.

This was recorded during the pandemic lockdowns. The vibe was to comfort and acknowledge what people were going through at the time and to encourage that spring would come again metaphorically speaking.

Dynamite was early COVID and done to cheer people…a standard feel good song. Their first all English and they did not write this one. No deep or hidden meaning. It was a big hit for them in the US …and worldwide. RM is the only one fluent in English. His is also their leader which has certain meaning in Korea. The reason they do no sing all the lesser back parts is because they DANCE normally while singing. The dance for this is active and it would be impossible for anyone to do it all. No US groups do serious dancing. Their dancing is high level…really professional. As you are pointing out, not all their lyrics are multi levels….but many do have levels of meaning. Spring Day is very sad; it came out after a Korean national disaster in which more than a 100 high school students needlessly died. Koreans embraced this song to help them through the horror of the loss and the song has been on Korean charts for years.

I'm sorry people are being rude; we're not all like that. I'd love for you to do the explanation to 'Spring Day' by Italian Army. Most of BTS songs have 2 levels of interpretation - the surface and then the deep, amazing lyrics once you have the references.

Glad to see you're getting more positive comments compared to the last one. I loved the detailed reaction. I don't expect people to "love" or somehow "like" BTS songs right away. But I absolutely believed that there is a BTS song for everybody. A song that would turn everything around for you and change your life. It's the same story for each and every one of us ARMYs. And that's no exaggeration. Also, if people end up not liking their music, I assure you 100% that they would end up loving BTS because of their personalities. That's the main reason why ARMY is so dedicated to them. Because they feel like family to us.

I like that you ask questions when you think there's something you would personally do differently. I can instantly see how different your music and performing is as someone that's very used to BTS, so it's interesting 😄 At 22:30 where you talk about the call and response and think it sounds empty because no-one is singing anything, my thought is "aw this is where we as fans would do the response like always, and where the members have a really cool dancebreak, except now it's the pandemic so they can't perform with us so they're still leaving that part for us as if we were there and so they're just vibing to the backing track here." It's interesting seeing you explain your views when they're clearly very different than mine! 😄 But yeah BTS have very high fan engagement and the relationship between BTS and ARMY is something you won't have seen before. A lot of their songs are designed for ARMY in some way and they shine the brightest at a stadium show in front of 80 000 ARMYs 💜

Taehyung the one in green is naturally a Bariton. He learned to sing in the same range of the other 3 Tenors. He has the widest vocal range of them. And u says R&B u should listen to his solo song Singularity. And for interresting arrangment listen to Lie solo song from Jimin. This Song surprised many pll who do music or learned to play a instrument of professional level.

I remember you mentioning expecting a song with unusual chord progressions in your last BTS reaction. If you're still interested in that, I suggest reacting to "Lie", a solo BTS song by Jimin. (BTS albums contain groups songs, solo songs, and unit songs, the most common unit being rappers-only and vocalists-only but it can be any combination of the members. They each also have personal solo projects; the latest of those is J-hope's "Jack in the Box", an old-school hip-hop album, which he performed at the Lollapalooza last July, where he headlined.) I'm excited to watch your reaction to the Tiny Desk Concert.

RM is a cool one, for sure. He's the Leader of the group. Okay they are all cool, but he exudes leadership. He's also the only one fluent in English. And as mentioned before, there are specific parts written for ARMY that they typically don't sing. Trust me, the audience is involved and love that parts are written specifically for them. Please watch a live performance with an audience and you'll understand completely. 🙂 The Save Me MV is a must watch and follow that with I'm Fine... there are many cool live performances of these songs back to back... for a reason. Yes the lyrics are important but the translation is more than just reading them. There are really cool videos out there of how the concepts for songs and videos were formed if you really care to know all that. Not every single song is full of deep lyrical metaphores, but many are and because I can't understand their language (yet) I dive deep into the lyrics so I know exactly what they are singing about when I listen to them and I love it so much! Dynamite is a bop and definitely got them noticed globally but in my opinion they are so much more than that song. I enjoyed your reaction and will enjoy your honest opinions. Anyone willing to ask questions and really learn will always be appreciated.

Hey, thank you for the reaction :) I really enjoyed your energy and commentary. Hope you check out more of them in the future!

In their concerts this last year, Dynamite came in the middle of their concert. The songs have places where ARMY responds to the calls, and also some dance breaks. RM has swag; they all have their own kind of swag. DoolsetBangtan has the most accurate lyrics; they also explain Korean references and word play. I watched your Black Swan reaction, before watching this reaction. I really like your energy. I am interested in watching your journey. Just a bit about the roots of Kpop... Western pop began in the 1950s with radio. Korea was in the midst of a war, and then post-colonial and post-war rebuilding. Kpop started in the 1990s with television. The visuals (clothing, MVs, dancing) are important, along with the music.

Thank you for another reaction. I really like your sense of humor! Everyone has already said everything (a few times 🤣) so I'll just leave with I hope you continue to react to BTS. I can't wait for your "Oh, now I see what they meant" moment when you dive deeper. 💜💜😁

BTS and their fan base, ARMY, are very tight. The 'response' parts of the lyrics are *our* parts during live performances - they're called 'fanchants' and most BTS songs come with official fanchants and I love that we get included, that we are thought of and considered in this special way all the time....Anyway, since their world tour was cancelled by Covid, and this Tiny Desk was recorded during the pandemic, I think BTS didn't sing the response parts as a way of showing they missed us, a little show of respect to the fans; because as you mentioned, there's enough of them in the group that they certainly could do it themselves Fun fact about the song 'Save Me' - it is mirrored thematically, musically, and lyrically by another BTS song titled 'I'm Fine' (during live shows the words Save Me are projected and then flipped upside-down to reveal the ambigram I'm Fine)

I know you heard auto tune & I can hear it here as well. I understand it’s a musical choice not a negative …but actually it’s not so different to how it is without…Jungkook’s voice sounds a bit like a harmonica while Taehyung (V) sounds like pipes… you get to recognise their different tones. We know this because we hear them without mics … Jungkook in particular sings to us live-streaming. Highly recommend you check him out. That being said, I’m sure ARMY have made plenty of recommendations… two of my faves are House of Cards live with Eng subs & Outro Tear live at Wembley with Eng subs.

I personally think Festa Room Live 2021 is a better indication of their voices and genres. Would love to see that reaction!

All of these songs were chosen carefully to reflect that this broadcast took place during the pandemic, at the end of lockdown. Save Me and Spring Day reflect missing someone or something and hoping for it to return, while Dynamite is letting people know that life is still worth living, and can be fun despite the difficult circumstances that the world was currently dealing with.

I love so much your reaction and I'm going to tell you why: 1. It's genuine, there are not many reactors that are so honest, professional and also very funny as you are🤣🤣. I trully appreciate when people don't fake it cause you can tell when they do... 2. I love how your love for music and also your knowldge of it shows up during the video, you seemed so interested and curious that I wanted to answer to all of you questions right away haha. * PLEASE don't care too much about hate comments, don't even answer to them, they are just narrow minded people. * BTS is so much more than that I promise. I hope you can trust me on this one, they deserve all the recognition they have, during all the video I was wishing for you to discover in your upcoming journey into them all their incredible aspects, your mind will be blown by how hardworking, humble, approachable, talented, passionate about music, lovable and sweet people they are. I think people want to protect them but they just don't know the right way to do it, and it ends being a mess.. please forgive us and please keep reacting to them, if its possible more frequently... we know you are not doing it just for views, we can tell, I hope you can reach the level where you do it just for your genuine interest in them... they deserve it and so do you, you deserve to be amazed by them. Once you get to know them as musicians/persons you will not be able to return. Thanks for your reaction and welcome to BTS😉 I purple you= Borahae 💜💜💜💜

TYSM for reacting to more BTS content, their tiny desk concert is super fun, I suggest you react to DNA and fake love next, they’re actually polar opposites to each other 💜

Can't wait for the reaction. The last song deserves a section on its own. You need to react to the mv and the explained video afterwards. It's important because of its meaning and significance to the Koreans due to that incident. Also another good live performance is their recent proof live video in bangtan tv where Paak Anderson was featured as he played drums for the tittle track of their latest anthology album. If you need links let me know.

I really enjoy your reaction!!🥰 I can see your curiosity and honest opinions about music and that you enjoy it!

If lyrics aren't your thing then don't read them but also don't be upset when ARMY says you aren't understanding the meaning of the performance. Like with Black Swan, you didn't get the meaning of the theater they performed in, the suit changes, the shadows, the reason for the autotune, what their lyrics was saying etc. KPOP is about ALL these aspects to create a cohesive performance and BTS is one of the best at doing that. Lyrics are the backbone of BTS' songs. RM (the leader and main songwriter for BTS) said once that he understood that many just listen to beats and melodies of pop. He said he himself fell into that until he realized that he wanted the lyrics he wrote to be seen. He wanted you to see his words and take meaning from them. So listen to only the music and their vocal cadences if that's what you like but you will lose the substance of the songs without knowing lyrics and that's fine if that's all you want to get from them.

I liked your reaction! The low note at the end that sounded disinterested to you is sung by one the rappers (Jhope-red mic) he usually supports the vocal line with his low register which I find beautiful. But it makes sense it might not sound as polished as vocals are not his specialty. The one you guessed (Jungkook- purple mic) actually is the most hardworking in regards to performing vocals, he stays mid/high range and provides many adlibs and harmonies in every song. He also tends to fill in for other members when they can't perform, even rapline as he is also a sub-rapper. His body language might look 'aloof' sometimes but I find it's part of his theatricality and flair.

I love this commentary💜 Gave 5 thumbs up😁

When BTS perform live I don't think they have or use autotune but they do have backing tracks because of choreography. As you know choreography with singing is quite challenging to the body hence why they use backing tracks. BTS have long concerts and so it becomes tiring. All love though from ARMY!

They use backing tracks bc they usually have intense choreography. Especially for "Save Me", they are usually dancing while singing. Also, for some of their songs, during a concert, fans do participate & would reply like in "Save Me".

I think you should watch the MVs for ‘Save me’ & ‘Spring Day’. Fun fact: Save me has a sister song. Which is like an answer for it called ‘I’m Fine’. The songs are connected in more ways than one. You should watch the live performances for them. P.S. Also a good source of accurate lyrics is ‘Doolset Bangtan’.

I didn't see anyone recommending it but you should react to proof live they sing three songs too

Save Me is a lot deeper in Korean than English. English translations don't do justice to their lyrics. I recommend the channel "A PIECE OF KOREAN CULTURE" by a Korean, to help you navigate through the nuances missed/lost in translation. That channel actually has an analysis of just one rapper's(RM) verse in Save Me. It's not even a song about missing someone, but about needing someone to help/save you out of/from a dark place (could be depression, doubt, sadness, etc). It's about being overly reliant/dependent on someone and is actually connected to another song called "I'm Fine", which has opposite lyrics to save me (being more reliant/dependent on oneself).

I don't know if someone said that before but Tiny Desk concert was recordered during pandemic so, no public in there, that's why they are not interacting with the public there, not pointing them with the mic waiting to sing along because they weren't there... And, as everybody said before... They make music to perform on the stage with the choreographies so, it's not posible to sing every part of the songs all the time, and also they do all of this for more than 3 hours... They are just people, not machines...

Thank you for being open minded to check out BTS. As others will have said regarding backing tracks, the songs are constructed to take into consideration 2 things,the often intense choreography and the parts that ARMY will sing along to. If you go any further with BTS it’s worth checking out the Introduction to the 7 members by Taylor. It will give you a better understanding of what they are about and will answer many questions. The Grammy live performance of “Dynamite “ is worth watching. Vocally stripped back.

Great reaction! I love seeing people break their music down. Keep in mind, they are normally dancing as well. Their concerts are dance heavy so a backing track for certain ad-libs is normal. Since it’s a tiny desk here, there’s no dancing, they do ad-libs as well on live shows. but I would assume they used an older stage mix and just added the live band since “Save Me” is a fairly old song (2016). You also mentioned that Jungkook was using auto tune at the beginning of dynamite. But that’s just his voice. Lol

A number of ARMYs while recognizing the quality of Dynamite find it a departure from the depth characteristic of BTS lyrics and mixed genre typical to their sound. For me the repetition within Dynamite perfectly suits the pablum Americans take to so readily. Americans gravitate toward the catchy and are not overly desirous of depth. So interestingly, for BTS which is characterized by message music, it took an inane just be happy song to make a true mark on the American music scene. Please keep in mind this concert was when the pandemic was raging. The song choices were more to reflect hope than show off how deep their lyrics can go. Spring Day was something they had repurposed during the Dear Class of 2020 Graduation Performance in which they with many other top artists tried to make a gift for US high school graduates unable to have normal celebrations due to Covid. In Spring Day's previous incarnation, it was a more emotional song tied to the loss of around 300 school kids and decrying government corruption which led to a massive coverup of the antecedents to the tragedy.

BTW, that was V who you couldn't remember... he went soft (almost whisper falsetto) then went bolder. He is the baritone of the group vocal line. The vocal line are the singers (JK, V, Jimin, & Jin) from youngest to eldest. J-Hope is a sub-vocalist, as he is part of the rapline (RM, Suga, & J-Hope). RM is the leader of the group & speaks English fluently. He is one of their main songwriters & lyricist. Suga is one of their main producers & also songwriters. All members contribute to writing songs, produce, etc. I would highly recommend watching a video introducing you to all the members.

Omg I'm pausing the video to say that this is one of the funniest reactions I've ever watched! You are so funny!!

Love people like you, just doing your thing and spreading happiness

Regarding your past reactions, I don't know, was not there...but here's a suggestion for a future one. ON: KInetic Manifesto....I think you will like the vibe. ALSO, if you want to hear their "own voices", please try "Truth Untold" live or "House of Cards." There's some real voices in there, friend! Have a good week!

You should check out their “film out” and “your eyes tell” live performances. Their vocals are truly amazing, especially Jin with his belting and Jimin with his unique high pitched tone

I love that you love that guitar riff!!!! thats my favorite part of this live ~

I just watched your two reactions to BTS and I really appreciate how sincere you are in your comments! Falling in love with their music is very easy and fast, but at the same time it is a process that requires some dedication because it is not linear. This performance was my first contact with BTS and the first time I heard it, I thought the songs were good, but nothing exceptional. I continued to get to know the boys better and learned more about the entire context in which their music is inserted (both in relation to their trajectory as a group and the general culture). After that I revisited those same songs and then the meaning of the lyrics, the silences you punctuated, it all made much more sense and had a much greater emotional impact for me, especially with Spring Day. It's normal for us to use our cultural and personal references to experience what they're creating musically and it's okay if we don't want to go deeper. But once this journey begins, it's so cool to see how little by little we gain new insights into things we thought we already understood or that somehow we ended up taking for granted, new ways to reflect on the lyrics and the importance of the messages they share. As a little side tip, cool sources to help on this journey are the doolset website (they don't just translate the lyrics into English, but also add essential comments to understand the messages, the word plays and everything else) and explanation videos on youtube. Anyways, you're doing great, don't mind the hate comments and just keep your honesty!

BTS don't need autotune they just use it for stylistic purposes which means black swan just wouldn't be for you as a general song to listen to because of that. No biggie.

During Save Me, I feel like the reason they use that part as backing because it is like your subconscious is responding to you as an echo I suggest you look at Doolset bangtan because they have English translation but they also show you korean breakdown since some some words may have double or triple meanings in korean Save me is more like a cry for help. Not necessarily about a relationship in my opinion. To me, save me is like my subconscious is trying to reach me in my time of darkness. Spring Day is about loss, overcoming and surviving. Spring Day is our Queen, it has not left the charts in Korea since it was released. The MV was released on the anniversary of a korean national tragedy. The arrangement of the song, I heard by another reactor, is structured in a style that is popular in korea as a whole. I say korea as a whole because I was not referring to just kpop. The meaning of the song has evolved.

Lmfao the intro with the comments 🤣🤣🤣💜 excellently done. Excited to watch this one!

I think it was not Jungkook who was doing the low note in the end, the one in the far left Jhope was doing the low note. Jungkook just sings effortlessly.

17:56 The exact moment he realizes the autotune was dropped after Dynamite and he's hearing a spectacular voice (Jimin's), but decides he's going to pretend he can't hear four excellent singers for the rest of the video

Jimin's vocals are insane, always so proud of him 🥺

I appreciate you! 💜

truly thank you for giving us honest opinion and different inputs of yours! I know tons of armys already giving you many suggestions. *_But since your channel is a 'Rocker reacts' I'd bet you'd prefer seeing them performing with live with minimum to no backing tracks & minimum tuning._* The most recent performance I'd highly suggest would be : 1. *_BTS - Proof Live, we got Anderson Paak in one of the performances (3 songs - Born Singer, Yet to Come, For Youth)_* >> link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9sJ_I1lHpps.html

I enjoyed your different take on our guys. For better context, I would recommend that you watch the Save Me MV as it is a one-take and the "making of" for that one. It was filmed under very harsh conditions. Spring day requires a lot to be truly appreciated. The MV is full of meaning and just one explanation video doesn't capture it all. There are two good ones. One by Italian Army, which will be hard to watch. Then the live performance which has the choreography is beautiful. Last is Dynamite. I would recommend the 2020 MMA performance. That dance break! For additional discography I will defer to other ARMY. There are so many wonderful songs & solos. I will throw one out, because you mentioned R&B...Singularity by V. It's a killer.

Dynamite usually comes up in the middle of the concert, their setlist goes through different kinds of moods. Start the show with a hype song and end with an uplifting one. There is an opening performance ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aNu0DEWPuL0.html And this is the closing performance ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Iq6RdCTLBd8.html

Hi, please don't be scared of armys! we really don't bite LOL! sometimes some are just overprotective of the boys but as long as you're honest and genuine (with your reactions) and don't hate for no reason, you're good! we appreciate reactors who say their true thoughts so please feel free :)

I assume you don't dance and sing at the same time like BTS normally do which is why there is always a backing track. They are the best live performances I ever seen. This is tiny desk there was no audience try watching them live magic shop with English subtitles. Also dynamite was not written by them which was not even a planned song but they were looking for easy up beat song for the pandemic to help people and was thier first English song. RM who you pointed out is the leader of BTS also main song writer.

If you want something fully live with minimum backing tracks, then I'd suggest you check out J-hope's solo work Jack in the Box Lollapalooza set. Live band, no tune essentially, and an awesome set. Their music in general is very hiphop heavy and that can include heavy production. Based off your two reactions already, they might not be what you're looking for tbh, and that's okay. All we hope is to continue is to try and make people who might not know their music feel welcomed.

they each have very unique voice, the only person who likes to use autotune is suga... cos he can't sing he's a rapper.. and he likes to play with sound, and for JK he doesn't do autotune, he is autotune, 90% of adlib in BTS are from JK voice....

42:47 jungkook was doing the main harmony here lol

Dynamite in concert is amazing, for sure!

I love the omv & song "Save Me". I could watch it over & over. RM is the leader. They are all so humble & great guys. Rappers are RM, Suga , & J-Hope. Singers are Jimin, Jin, V & the youngest Jungkook. 💜 Spring Day is about the 2014 Sewol Ferry tragedy, where the captain & staff got off the ship & left hundreds of students there to drown. Wikipedia has good info, the OMV is very deep. The parts on Tiny Desk Concert where you say BTS need to sing is where ARMY participate during concerts. BTS love ARMY & are so versatile, I am so happy my daughter introduced me to them. 💜

I subscribe after watch this. FYI, "Spring Day" somehow becomes an anthem in Korea due to a horrible tragedy in 2014 (the song isn't officially about it. But the MV has lots of symbol for this painful tragedy)

Responses come from the audience. That is why backing tracks seem that way. Now for the auto tune. Like many, you hear auto tune when it is not. There are a number of videos on this. BTS is actually known for the limited use of auto tune. What they sound like in video is how they sound in live performances. Jungkook is particularly spectacular at not needing autotune. They really are the real voices you hear.

it is fun to watch another music nerd react even if we have different default audio preferences. love that you have such a good grasp on rhythm bc there's always something interesting going on in there with BTS

RM is the leader and the only one fluent in English (He's the leader in a sense of like a football team captain, not "main person"). He's also the main rapper. I guess he's cool, but I think they're all cool hahahaha he's calm, goofy sometimes, serious when needed, he's like an ambivert.

They made their debut in 2013 and have several hundred songs of their own, which means you have a long way to go if you are really willing to dive in and interested in their musical career not just bc you can get a lot of views lol. You can't judge them by just listening like 3-4 songs. Plus, when it comes to the performance, you definitely should consider what kind of artists they are. They are not the type of artists who just sit or stand still there and sing. So maybe you are an artist but that doesn't mean you can explain what they are going through when they do the performance live. They might look super young but are 10-year experienced singers and have done hundreds of shows in front of like countless audiences. Anyway, hope you would check out their dance practice videos someday and do the lyric breakdown for the specific songs known for their meanings.

"I have the captions on" Every ARMY: "Oh no, he is listening to Dynamite" 😂

BTS doesn't generally bother with autotune. When they do, it is used in a deliberate way, specifically to add to, or enhance, the story being told; such as the way it was used in Black Swan.

Hey! I enjoyed your reaction. I appreciate how you are able to express your opinion and criticism in a constructive manner. We tend to get protective when the comments are rude or just hateful, but we appreciate people giving BTS a chance! Here's a little info for you. BTS have A LOT of songs in a lot of different genres! They have been making music as a group since 2013 and they also do solo work. The 3 rappers of the group have each released 2 mixtapes/albums as well as having solo tracks on the official BTS albums. The 4 vocalists each have solo tracks on the BTS albums, all 4 of them have also released solo songs on their Soundcloud as gifts for their fans and they have all released covers of other artist's songs. They currently are all in the process recording their solo projects. In other words, if you combine all of their albums and solo projects, BTS have somewhere around 400 songs in their discography! While they do all write, compose, and produce music, and they tend to have very deep meaningful lyrics, not all their songs are as deep. Also worth noting, BTS tend to tell a story with the whole album, so one song out of context might not be as meaningful as it would be if you listened to the whole project. To get a sense of the many different genres they play with, I would suggest you watch "BTS Room Love Festa 2021" which is them performing a medley of 9 of their songs from 2013 to 2021. Another great video would be one of their most recent #BTS Proof Live'" with contains 3 songs with fully clean vocals and a live band.

Dynamite is usually in the middle of their concerts. They start off with a bang with insane choreography and super high energy songs. Then there's often like more artistic songs, and then we go into the fun songs of the concert. Dynamite is easier choreo and just a fun time. The end is emotional fan songs and a very long goodbye 😄

I appreciate all of your insights into the music, it's always nice to see someone who has the musical expertise to actually talk about the music itself. I think you are being very respectful and honest and it's great. You notice and can call out things that I, without the experience you have, would never pick up on. No one should be rude or unkind for your honest opinions. I won't say anything about the audience sing-a-long parts as I've seen plenty of comments about that already, but I would like to offer an opinion on the lyrics thing. On their own without context, BTS' songs are good. They may not be groundbreakingly unique, but as you've said, they're still good and you are 100% allowed to enjoy them for just that without needing to dig any deeper. Everyone has different preferences. That said, the reason so many people are as attached and over the top as they are, is because of the context you may not be seeing all of yet. I know other comments have gone into some of the context of Spring Day, and how Save Me is mirrored both musically and lyrically by I'm Fine. Because of the previously mentioned aspects of those songs, as well as their exploration of things like Jung's works, cohesive narratives across albums, them seeming to be genuinely good people outside of their music, and their willingness to touch on topics like mental health or societal issues that ARMY feels they don't see enough of from other artists, ARMY is fiercely devoted to BTS (sometimes in ways that are not entirely useful, but people be people, which is a reason not an excuse). I do recommend Doolset Bangtan for lyric translations, they are widely believed to be the most accurate and give a lot of the cultural context and references between songs that are easy to miss, if that is something you are interested in looking at.

A lot of the call and responses are army fan chants (if you ever watch a performance where you can hear the crowd you can hear these chants) so this could be a reason why the members don't sing it, as a lot of times its the fans that sing it. Fan chants are times the fan sing along with the song but not the lyrics of the song could be their names in between the lyrics or a response to the lyrics e.g. in micdrop the lyrics say 'did you see my bag' and army sing 'where' after. This could be one of the reasons behind not doing the response as they are letting army who can't be there fill the gap at home like they would at a concert!! That's the only reason I could think of to be honest! Also if you can it would be amazing if you could listen to a live performance with fan chants like magic shop live or BTS Medley live performance which as many songs in it!!

Ah BTS didn't write Dynamite, they're not fluent in English. The lyrics we're talking about are their Korean lyrics hahahah

Oooh, nice to see you reacting to Bangtan, again. Thank you! Excited to watch this. 😍

You would like “ Film Out “ live. This song is amazing. You wanted to hear natural vocals.

thanks for giving them another chance! i hope you react to their 2021 room festa live, as it’s a medley of their songs through the years (2013-2020) and it shows how they can genre hop so easily!