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Interlude Shadow, and the themes of dreams & change – why this song is such a perfect bridge not only between MOTS Persona & 7, but also as a personal interlude for Yoongi’s lyricism, music & personal philosophy [thread]
#1YearWithShadow @BTS_twt +
#1YearWithShadow @BTS_twt +
+ <Disclaimer that all opinions & interpretations are my own, & I'd love to hear from anyone reading this as well!>
Yoongi’s music is often very autobiographical, & he’s admitted that he likes referring to his older lyrics as a way of revisiting specific sentiments/ideas from +
Yoongi’s music is often very autobiographical, & he’s admitted that he likes referring to his older lyrics as a way of revisiting specific sentiments/ideas from +
+ where he is, documenting how he felt & thought at certain points of his life, preserving those moments while also allowing space for growth & new perspective.
Interlude Shadow is not only THE perfect track (like seriously, I worship this song. This song is my religion) +
Interlude Shadow is not only THE perfect track (like seriously, I worship this song. This song is my religion) +
+ it’s also this incredible segue between states of mind & worldviews Yoongi’s documented in his lyrics prior to this song, themes explored in the MOTS series & into the themes he’s been exploring more recently, specifically with & since D-2.
It sounds & FEELS like the turning+
It sounds & FEELS like the turning+
+ point that it is – an inevitable encounter he has to go through in order to move forward. I’ve touched on this in my Hero’s Journey thread about the cinematic storytelling of Agust D, but Shadow is very reminiscent of the stage of this formula called The Ordeal –
+ the moment where the hero of the story is the darkest point, often a moment of deep internal confrontation.
Batman has to confront his reluctance to work with & trust others bc he doesn’t want to lose any more ppl but he can’t take on Gotham on his own; https://twitter.com/anotherunperson/status/1326555954834337793?s=20
Batman has to confront his reluctance to work with & trust others bc he doesn’t want to lose any more ppl but he can’t take on Gotham on his own; https://twitter.com/anotherunperson/status/1326555954834337793?s=20
+ Iron Man has to confront the legacy of the Stark name & the consequences of his own actions to figure out where he stands in how he can protect people.
Yoongi has to face his shadow – something he’s been trying to outrun. +
Yoongi has to face his shadow – something he’s been trying to outrun. +
+ “Yeah, the shadow at my feet,/ Looking down, it’s gotten even bigger,/ Even if I run away, following me is,/ My shadow that gets darker as that light gets brighter”
The sense of inevitability & an almost heartbreaking futility is right there in the lyrics – Yoongi, unable to +
The sense of inevitability & an almost heartbreaking futility is right there in the lyrics – Yoongi, unable to +
+ understand his shadow, afraid of it, trying to outrun something that’s a part of him, trying to outrun the other side of the coin that comes with the light.
Running is a recurring theme within Yoongi’s lyrics. In Never Mind he raps “I used to run only looking toward the front
Running is a recurring theme within Yoongi’s lyrics. In Never Mind he raps “I used to run only looking toward the front
+ "Without sparing a moment to look around/ Before I knew about it, I had become the pride of my family/ And I had become fairly successful.”
He references this sentiment of running & pushing forward in other songs as well – Suga’s Interlude, which fittingly is the song Yoongi+
He references this sentiment of running & pushing forward in other songs as well – Suga’s Interlude, which fittingly is the song Yoongi+
+ released right before Shadow, & echoes several of its sentiments, reaffirms the message, but also expresses doubt in whether he’s even on the right path. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m walking on the right path,/ What else will be there if I run unceasingly towards the end of the +
+ tunnel/ And if it is right to do so in the first place”
And we get an echo of that same sentiment in Moonlight, a release we got after Interlude Shadow introducing the entire body of work Yoongi referred to as reflecting himself of the present. +
And we get an echo of that same sentiment in Moonlight, a release we got after Interlude Shadow introducing the entire body of work Yoongi referred to as reflecting himself of the present. +
+ “Sometimes I ask myself again, “if it’s possible to go back, will you go back?” Well, I’ll have to think about that/ One moment I feel like I’ve easily earned what I have,/ and the next moment I’m compensated for the fucking hard work I’ve done”
In both songs, though, +
In both songs, though, +
+ Yoongi still firmly repeats the sentiment of Never Mind, despite doubts & uncertainties. [ Suga’s Interlude “Honestly, it’s different from the future I hoped for,/ But that doesn’t matter,/ […] We’re too young to drag our feet, so let’s try crashing into it” +
+ Moonlight “What can I do, I should just keep running/ What can I do, I should just keep hold of things that I’m grasping,/ What can I do, I should just pay back what I’ve received,/ If you think you’re gonna crash, accelerate even harder, you idiot”]
And here’s the thing –
And here’s the thing –
+ despite Shadow encapsulating the conflict between two different sides of Yoongi, the thing that ultimately allows them to become two halves of the same whole & emerge out of this conflict stronger is that they *do* share the same motivations.
In this moment of the song where+
In this moment of the song where+
+ you can basically hear Yoongi switch from persona, timid, exhausted, mournful almost, to shadow, aggressive, determined, unapologetic, he is echoing the same words, the same dreams – https://twitter.com/i/status/1312757678658052096
+ and it is after this moment that we get to hear the following verse where they’ve become one & the same, the I & you have become “we.”
This common goal is peppered throughout the lyrics – persona Yoongi says early on in the song “that sometimes running away is second best”. +
This common goal is peppered throughout the lyrics – persona Yoongi says early on in the song “that sometimes running away is second best”. +
+ Later in the track, shadow Yoongi adds “That sometimes your rest can be your fall/ Do you get it only now,/ That always doing the best is the first best” This not only balances out both persona & shadow, indicating that they agree that running away isn't the BEST choice +
+ & the shadow fills in the blanks for the other half of his psyche about the first, but it also echoes the sentiment of Never Mind “On a stone that doesn’t roll/ Moss grows certainly/ If there’s no way back, go straight/ Forget about all your mistakes/ Never mind” +
+ Shadows are these metaphors for doubts, uncertainties, anxieties that Yoongi has referred to leading up to the release of this song as well as a Jungian concept MOTS has explored. The shadows have grown the higher Yoongi’s flown:
+ “Going higher, higher & only higher/ it makes me dizzy,/ Going only higher, higher/ I hate it/ I pray, I pray that I will be okay/ The moment I’m flying as high as I wished/ My shadow grows larger, beat down upon by that light” +
+ [Suga’s Interlude: “I, full of dreams, grew up to have all my dreams realized but/ at the same time, am living with a thought that dreams are better when kept as dreams” ]
[Moonlight: “The emptiness I feel after flying fucking high/ Although it’s been more than 10 years since+
[Moonlight: “The emptiness I feel after flying fucking high/ Although it’s been more than 10 years since+
+ I started in Namsandong,/ It’s the same that my head is a mess, fuck that]
Shadow builds up the moment of confrontation between persona & shadow so incredibly, because ultimately, these shadows cast by the light Yoongi still craves, still dreams of, have not changed +
Shadow builds up the moment of confrontation between persona & shadow so incredibly, because ultimately, these shadows cast by the light Yoongi still craves, still dreams of, have not changed +
+ [ as early as Hip Hop Phile Yoongi’s said “I want to be a rap star” ] – it’s a part of him, & it’s only when he accepts it, is he able to overcome his fear & emerge on the other side.
And this is (one of the countless) things that makes this a brilliant interlude –
And this is (one of the countless) things that makes this a brilliant interlude –
+ this ISN’T the solution to all of Yoongi’s worries & anxieties. But it is this moment of confrontation, of facing HIMSELF, that allows the artist drunk on his art in Dionysus [Born as an idol, then reborn as an artist/An artist who reincarnated, an artist who reincarnated/ +
+ Whether I’m an idol or an artist doesn’t matter, cheers/ At this level, even art is like excessive drinking, excessive drinking, yeah/ Breaking a new record is a race with myself, a race, yeah/ Raise the glass of celebration, one shot/ But I’m still thirsty],
+ who then realises that the ground beneath his feet has disappeared, he’s in uncharted territory, he’s run so far ahead he can’t see anyone around him anymore, & feels terrified of the shadow cast by himself the higher he flies, to the person who accepts both sides of himself,
+ unified under his dream for his art. And THEN, only then, he re-emerges from the dark depths in Black Swan [“Slowly, I open my eyes/ This is my workroom, my studio/ Even if harsh waves brush again me in the darkness, I will never get dragged away again/ Inside, I say myself"]+
+ That last bit has inspired a whole thought dump where I’ve theorised that Interlude Shadow is the inside out version of Black Swan – the sense of drowning at the prospect of losing love for music is the experience Shadow devises, https://twitter.com/anotherunperson/status/1310253295525482496?s=20
+ it makes the listener experience right alongside Yoongi the growing presence of shadows seeping out from distant corners until they engulf you completely, but then you emerge as one with it.
But Black Swan shows us what happens after Yoongi’s made this vow to never let go +
But Black Swan shows us what happens after Yoongi’s made this vow to never let go +
+ of his music, embracing the darkness as well as the light that fringes his journey with music – he makes it back to shore, where else but in his studio, admitting, softly, that he had come out of the depths after having met himself.
It brings to mind 2 things –
It brings to mind 2 things –
+ first, the beautiful metaphor in Moonlight; “That moonlight that shines on me at dawn,/ It’s still the same as then/ changes are fated to happen to everyone,/ Perhaps how we change is what our undertaking is about.”
In this track, Yoongi brings up so many of the themes we’ve +
In this track, Yoongi brings up so many of the themes we’ve +
+ encountered already – his dreams, how he is still “A Peter Pan who still can’t wake up from his dream” even though “in my head, reality fights with the ideal tirelessly” and sometimes his doubts about “what I’m doing, and if I love music at all”, & a theme he’s heavily +
+ referred to in his music & interviews lately, change, & how change isn’t as terrifying when you accept that it’s a constant of life.
Moonlight itself is an example of this – like inspiration, like enjoying music vs the pains of creation, it waxes & wanes, +
Moonlight itself is an example of this – like inspiration, like enjoying music vs the pains of creation, it waxes & wanes, +
+ bright on some nights & absent on others, but it’s an inevitability; like clockwork, predictably, the moon goes through its phases. It’s as though after facing himself & accepting the dark nights as well as the brightly lit ones, Yoongi has found a sense of peace & comfort in +
+ the knowledge that change is a constant. . And he explores this concept & it’s many meanings & definitions throughout D-2. Here’s a thread outlining it that I’m actually for once proud of having written, https://twitter.com/anotherunperson/status/1309502985731358721?s=20
+ because Yoongi very subtly but masterfully threads the theme of change & explores it track by track in D-2. Moonlight is the perfect starting point; it sets up this theme of change as well as us catches up to Yoongi’s journey so far, which had initially started off as +
+ an uphill one (an excellent thread on Moonlight below)
But now he’s at the top, where does he go next? And while he figures that out throughout the rest of the mixtape, he is anchored by the constant in his life – music. + https://twitter.com/sugambas/status/1295870565044101124?s=20
But now he’s at the top, where does he go next? And while he figures that out throughout the rest of the mixtape, he is anchored by the constant in his life – music. + https://twitter.com/sugambas/status/1295870565044101124?s=20
+ It’s like the post Interlude Shadow Yoongi, having made peace with himself, is now able to tackle the questions crowding his mind with the acceptance that “changes are fated to happen to everyone,/ Perhaps how we change is what our undertaking is about” +
