Two Years with Map of the Soul: 7
Credit: HYBE Labels
It’s hard to believe it’s been two whole years since Map of the Soul: 7 was released. With the exception of The Remix That Shall Not Be Named (which I have hidden on all my streaming services so the album can end with Outro: Ego as nature intended), I truly believe MOTS7 is a perfectly constructed album from start to finish, both musically and emotionally. The journey that it takes you on through different genres and different aspects of the self is devastating and uplifting all at once. Therapeutic, I would call it - which makes sense, given that the album’s entire concept was modeled off of Jungian psychology.
Credit: HYBE Labels
To have such a masterful album released less than one month before a global pandemic brought the world screeching to a halt is both tragic and oddly fitting. With the sudden cancellation of music show appearances, tours, and award shows, the momentum and industry appreciation that this absolute gem of an album should have gotten was halted before it could even begin. Who knows what may have happened if life had continued as planned and more buzz had been generated as Bangtan performed their most ambitious album yet in front of hundreds of thousands of people? Yet how many of us turned to this album for comfort when our worlds suddenly shrank to the 4 walls of our homes and the feelings of isolation crept in?
I’ve mentioned before that I was a quarantine ARMY myself; I was aware of MOS7’s release because my ARMY friends were excitedly sharing the (stunning) concept photos in the days leading up to its release and posting about the chaos that was trying to secure tickets to the accompanying tour, but I didn’t pay much heed. Yet although it was “Dynamite"’s release that finally piqued my interest, it was Map of the Soul: 7 that hooked its claws into my heart and truly drew me in. The technical prowess and storytelling in the accompanying music videos, the lyrical depth to each song, the heartbreaking soul-searching it encompassed, the dancing…THE DANCING. It’s truly a work of art, one that will stand alongside many greats in the halls of music history.
Credit: HYBE Labels
Much has been written by people with far more musical expertise than I about just what a triumph each song on this album is. My experiences with it are far more personal, as most of ours are I think - fumbling through the dance to “Boy With Luv” in the park with a dozen or so other ARMY; blasting “Outro: Ego" and dancing it out each time the stress and isolation was overwhelming me; messing up my peripheral vision test at the eye doctor because “Zero O’Clock” came on the office’s playlist and I got too excited and started grooving in my seat; having my own complicated relationship with my childhood laid bare by the lyrics of “Inner Child”; sobbing quietly in my room the first time I watched the music video for “We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal”, and again at 5 am one October morning as I watched the guys tearfully choke their way through the song in an empty stadium for the Map of the Soul ON:E online concerts, a song about our unshakeable togetherness juxtaposed with seemingly endless isolation.
Credit: HYBE Labels
And one of my favorite memories - the day I was in a bad headspace so I grabbed my umbrella and my headphones and took a rain-drenched walk through the park while listening to the entire album from start to finish. I danced, I raged, I cried, and by the time “Outro: Ego” finished, my mood had truly shifted. A truly transcendental experience, I can’t recommend it enough.
Map of the Soul: 7 is truly a map of our souls - for each member of BTS, the band as a whole, all of ARMY collectively, and each of us as individuals. With that in mind, I’ve used each of the members’ solos as a guide for a tarot spread. I hope it brings you a little more knowledge and understanding of yourselves, ARMY. 보라해!
