Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, BTS return to their roots with the swaggering, confident “Run BTS.”
“Okay, let’s go,” SUGA directs at the start of “Run BTS,” one of the new tracks on BTS’ anthology album, PROOF (out today, June 10th). The album is dense, 48 tracks pulled from the group’s nine years of activity so far. “Run BTS” is one of the brand new offerings, kicking off Disc 2 of the three-part collection.
The title of the song has nothing to do with BTS’ longstanding variety show of the same name, and everything to do with the fact that the members of BTS have been “running” virtually nonstop since their debut in 2013 — the driving guitar and energetic beat recall some of the more unhinged energy of earlier eras of the group. This time, though, the song isn’t being performed by a group of seven young men trying their very best to make their way, but by a septet of confident adults who have achieved things beyond their wildest dreams.
There are references to the many hardships they encountered in their past — the looming threat of being sent home during their days as trainees, their old address in a one-bedroom dorm where they all resided, and an old studio that often flooded when it rained too much. SUGA is completely in his bag on his verse, his rapid-fire flow lending itself to one of his best offerings in recent memory: “The reason behind Bangtan’s success? I don’t know if there’s something like that/ All of us just run hard/ No matter what, we just run,” he says.”
“Comfort? Got them (Got them)/ Principles, got them (Got them)/ Good music, got them (Got them)/ Good team? Goddamn,” RM replies. Jimin and Jin’s vocals soar during the pre-chorus, before V’s rich baritone and Jungkook’s reliable riffs keep the energy careening forward. And, as usual, J-Hope nearly steals the show by the time his verse closes things out.
This kind of (well-earned) confidence that teeters into flexing hasn’t really been front and center on a BTS track like this since the days of “Mic Drop,” but if there was any time for these boys to take a step back and tally up their achievements, it was this present moment. The whiplash from “Yet To Come” into this explosion of energy is welcomed.
— Mary Siroky
Contributing Editor