BTS Confirms That “Spring Day” Was Written About A Specific Event, Leading Fans To Believe It Was About The Sewol Ferry Tragedy
Recently, BTS spoke about their inspiration behind “Spring Day” while guest starring on Immortal Songs 2: Singing the Legend.
On the show, Suga and RM spoke about how the song was based on the BTS leader’s experience of losing a friend.
The members have long discussed the meaning behind the lyrics of the 2017 song, often focusing on the general theme of love and loss, and yearning for what was in the past.
RM has also talked about being inspired by the Bong Joon Ho movie Snowpiercer as well as the book The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin.
However, a recent interview by Esquire has fans thinking they might have confirmed something long believed by fans to be true.
The Sewol Ferry Tragedy occurred on April 16, 2014. The cruise ship MV Sewol was on route from Incheon to Jeju Island when it began to capsize, and because of how the situation was treated by those controlling the ship, over 300 people (including about 250 high school students) ended up losing their lives as the ship sank.
In the years since this horrific and tragic event, the lives of those that were lost have been memorialized in different ways, most notably by the display of yellow ribbons. This was one clear indicator from fans who have long thought that “Spring Day” was written in honor of those who lost their lives in the accident, as yellow ribbons appear in the music video quite clearly.
There have been other hints that fans have theorized suggested that the music video was about the incident as well, such as the pile of clothing, and the shoes washed up on the beach. However, BTS has been reluctant to confirm whether or not “Spring Day” truly was inspired by the Sewol Ferry Incident.
In the interview by Esquire, though, when asked directly if the song is about a sad event, Jin replied with, “It is about a sad event, as you said, but it is also about longing.”
Though this still isn’t a concrete confirmation that the song is about the incident, fans have taken this as a pretty solid piece of evidence that it is. A post on Reddit titled “BTS confirm for the first time that Spring Day is indeed, about the Sewol Ferry Tragedy” has fans putting the pieces together as evidence, as well as others speaking about how much the song means to them and how difficult it can be to listen to because of its presumed meaning.
Whether the song truly is about the ferry incident or not, there’s no doubt that “Spring Day” will be immortalized as a song that has helped people deal with grief and longing of something or someone that was lost. Watch the beautiful ballad by BTS all over again here:
