A Is For ARMY: 5 School Classes You Could Score An A+ In Thanks To BTS

BTS isn’t just entertaining—the group is also educational! BTS’s songs, albums, and music videos incorporate ideas from tons of academic topics. Here are just a few school classes they could help you ace.

1. Psychology

With BTS set to release the second part of their Map of the Soul album series this month, ARMYs who study psychology are sure to get an A+.

The series is based on Jung’s Map of the Soul, a book by Murray Stein which explains psychologist Carl Jung’s theories on the human psyche. The first album, Map of the Soul: Persona, relates to the Jung’s theory of ‘persona’—the ‘social masks’ people wear when they present themselves to the world.

So far, Map of the Soul: 7 also includes two songs related to Jung’s theories. Suga’s “Interlude: Shadow” is based on Jung’s idea that ‘shadow’ is the unconscious part of a person’s personality.

Meanwhile, J-Hope’s “Outro: Ego” is about Jung’s theory of ‘ego’ representing the human consciousness and how people behave towards the world.

2. English

Struggling with your English Lit class? Maybe listening to BTS could help—after all, tons of their songs are directly based on famous books.

“Pied Piper”, for example, draws inspiration from a classic story called The Pied Piper of Hamlin. In the story, a man plays a pipe to lure children away from their town. In the BTS song, the story is a metaphor for how fans follow the group, just as the children followed the piper.

Other BTS songs based on literature include the Haruki Murakami-inspired “Butterfly” (based on Kafka on the Shore) and “Sea” (based on 1Q84), as well as the entirety of the Wings album (based on Demian by Hemann Hesse).

3. History

If you’re studying Classical History in school, you’re in luck. BTS has referenced Greek mythology time and time again, so there’s plenty to learn from their songs.

“Dionysus”, for example, is named after the Greek god of wine and revelry. You only need to read the official description from BTS’s website to learn all you need to know about this Olympian.

He was one of the twelve Olympians… and his unusual birth and upbringing marked him as an outsider… Dionysus was often called Eleutherios, meaning ‘the liberator,’ because his wine, music, and ecstatic dance freed his followers from self-consciousness and the restraints of society.

— bts.ibighit.com

“Blood, Sweat and Tears” also calls back to Greek mythology—specifically, the Icarus myth. A painting of Icarus is on the wall in one of the scenes, and V’s balcony jump mirrors Icarus’ doomed flight.

4. Science

BTS doesn’t just teach you about humanities and social subjects. You can even learn about science from some of their songs.

In fact, scientists from the Astronomy and Space Science Institute in Korea actually applauded BTS for their song “134340”. The song’s lyrics are inspired by Pluto, which was demoted from planet status several years ago and renamed 134340.

Plus, there’s always the music video for “DNA”, which features a wealth of molecular math symbols and science diagrams.

5. Art

Listening to BTS may not take you from drawing stick figures to painting beautiful portraits, but they can help you with art history. Their music videos have included numerous famous paintings.

Alongside the Icarus painting on the wall in “Blood, Sweat and Tears”, V also jumps into another painting called Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Bruegel the Elder. These are two of many paintings featured in the music video.