SPRING DAY- A Song Review

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Winning countless awards and achieving top spots on various digital platforms, Spring day left the critics stunned through its melodic tone and its insightful meaning. Released in 2017, as a part of BTS’s album, You Never Walk Alone, it became the third most-sold album of 2017.  Spring day reminisces all the old, tranquil memories one shared with one’s loved one, who was now separated due to a terrible tragedy. The title Spring day may seem vernal or blissful, but the song’s lyrics have a whole different take on it.

Diving deep into the meaningful lyrics of the song, one can feel the agony of South Koreans during The Sewol Ferry tragedy. On April 16, 2014, MV Sewol was traveling from Incheon to Jeju. The ship boarded by about 476 passengers among which 250 of the passengers were high school students heading on a field trip from Danwon High School. The trip was supposed to be a vacation for the youth to enhance positive moods, but little did they know, what was coming forth. It has been said that the ship capsized and sank due to terrible safety inspection and poor government response to the incident. Consequently, approximately 304 passengers were killed.

The whole song was conducted to honor the sorrowful deaths. This representation was seen in the lyrics, images, tone, and music video. For example, the ribbons tied on the carousel in the music video were used to represent the students. The song’s nostalgia became a hope for all the families that went through all the grief and pain of their loved ones. Each and every component of the song justified the beavering and despair. The figurative expressions used in the song were very powerful.  BTS compared one’s lonely, dark days, to winter and symbolized hope with spring as stated in the song, “The morning will come again, No darkness, no season can last forever.”

Even though BTS never specifically mentioned the actual meaning behind the lyrics, Many Army’s claim that it alludes to the Sewol ferry tragedy. Throughout the song, BTS’s use of metaphors depict one’s strong desire to love someone who is far away from them. Jungkooks states, You Never Walk Alone, as a reminder that the tragedy has not been forgotten and surely never will be. The song has now become a symbol of justice for all the victims of the Sewol ferry tragedy.