One week ago, Coldplay (“Paradise”) and K-pop band BTS (“Permission to Dance”) released their new song titled “My Universe.” To promote the song and to show the process of making it amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a short documentary style video was released by BTS’ agency BigHit Entertainment.
The song offers a mixture of English and Korean lyrics combined with a classic Coldplay melody. The lyrics reflect themes of connection, positivity and hope. There is a line sung by BTS rapper Suga that goes, “These hardships are just temporary, just shine as bright as you shine now.” The song is very bright and cheery, and going against Coldplay’s usual style, the listener cannot help but feel happiness while listening to it.
Furthermore, the music video of the song was released shortly after the initial release, and it has a very interesting concept. Because of COVID-19, the video has holograms of each band showing that filming took place both in the United States and in South Korea.
In the documentary video, viewers learn that BTS had been wanting to collaborate with Coldplay, stating they look up to lead singer Chris Martin. V of BTS even said that Martin was a role model in his life. Martin traveled to South Korea to record the song in person with them even with the challenges of the pandemic. Members of BTS even noted that the process could have been done remotely, but doing it in person added sincerity to their collaboration. The song was written by Martin and RM of BTS, and each offers their own take on the meaning. For Martin, he saw Coldplay and BTS as different representatives of Earth coming together to build a new universe. For RM, when he wrote the Korean lyrics he said that he pictured the day he could reunite with fans through concerts and that the song is dedicated to their fanbase commonly known as ARMY.
While watching the documentary one can see how excited each group were to work with each other. BTS has redefined the meaning of being a K-pop band. Their popularity has soared across the globe and the song “My Universe” reflects this idea. BTS even noted that working and collaborating with another huge band shows them just how far they have come in the music industry.
Some detractors may say that the song is simplistic, and the lyrics are not very deep, but after watching the documentary one can see how much effort was put into the making of this song. Jungkook of BTS noted that he felt nervous to record in front of Martin; it felt like he was in training again. The amount of respect and admiration they have for each other is clear in the video. All of these details illustrate that “My Universe” is much more than a song. It is an entire experience and both bands have shown intent and excitement to perform the song in concert once such events are up and running again. It should prove to be electrifying.
Image from Coldplay via YouTube
