BTS’s RM Reveals The Meaning Behind His Metaphorical Lyrics In eAeon’s “Don’t”
BTS‘s RM recently explained his thoughtful lyrics on “Don’t,” the title track from eAeon’s recent album Fragile during an interview with Weverse Magazine.
RM discussed his lyrics where he uses vivid imagery including aspects of nature like pebbles.
I can’t say for sure, but it’s likely a strong reflection. I had seen an article where an artist said that pebbles are the perfect form: a rock worn down over and over in a series of incidents and coincidences, made into some round shape in the end. It said the artist collected pebbles for a long time, saying pebbles are so perfectly smooth without any edges, although they’re neither perfect circles nor ovals.
— RM
Additionally, his love for artist Lee Qoede and his metaphorical use of a pebble created a timeless meaning for the symbol that RM believes is still relevant today.
I absolutely love Lee Qoede. I saw a quote in a book about his art: ‘Let’s become entangled. Let us stand united. Let’s not argue. And let’s become pebbles in the new leadership narrative of my country.’ He wrote it in a letter while he was working during the country’s liberation period. I thought it was, what, a very modern way to express things, for someone who lived through the chaotic political circumstances of 1948 to want to become a pebble. I felt like his words still have meaning—like they live on. I guess those two artists’ use of the word “pebble” made a very lasting impression on me.
— RM
Another piece of imagery he referenced was crashing waves and the complex thoughts that followed.
Yes, it was fun. I once thought how people’s relationships are like crashing waves, and I think that mixed together with my thoughts about pebbles and it came out all at once. There’s a sentence I wrote down a long time ago while I was thinking by the sea. I thought, Is there any color in the waves? When people talk about waves crashing in, what waves are they talking about? The blue waves, or the white waves? I went completely overboard with emotion when I was thinking that (laughs) but again, that’s just me. So I wrote this one sentence—“I wonder what color the waves are”—and listened to the music eAeon gave me, and it sounded to me like fog rolling over the ocean.
— RM
It was really easy to start writing the lyrics since the sensory perception of that sentence overlapped with what he gave me. It was a so-called ‘aha moment’ (laughs) and whenever that happens, the lyrics come out of me all at once. It only took about an hour and a half to write the lyrics. I thought of more lyrics later on, but I ended up sticking with the first ones.
— RM
In addition to music, RM also discussed other parts of his daily routine, including his recent interest in fitness. Read more from his interview below.
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