Greatest Hits:: RM (BTS): Wild Flower

 I hunted through his discography for a song that would match what I wanted this post to do. For a number of reasons I'll get into in the next post, even though this will be posted on NU'EST's anniversary, I'm not doing one of theirs then. Instead, I wanted to do an RM song because BTS has an album coming out in the next week and I wanted to honor the friendship between the two groups, and because I finally get to pull JR's photocard off my enlistment wall next week as well, I wanted to do RM specifically. Both of them are rapper leaders, neither of them is the eldest member of their group. They debuted around the same time, they're both Kims, they're less than a year apart in age, and because their groups had near-disbandment-causing struggles early in their careers, they have that connection as well. And they ended up being at the same company, technically, when HYBE bought Pledis. You can actually see the spike in sales for NU'EST because RM would not stop talking about "Hello". (and annoying his members, exhibit a, exhibit b (they're not the same thing, the second one is shared for the last part because I think it's adorable)). And also there was a really cute interaction with him and a LOVE last year at JR's birthday thing.

His love and support for NU'EST is actually the reason why RM is my bias, no matter how much I might like some of the other members. So! It's only fitting that I do a post of my bias who is my bias because of NU'EST on NU'EST's anniversary. 

RM (real name: Kim Namjoon) is the leader and middlest of the seven-member boy group BTS, who debuted under BigHit Entertainment in 2013. If you have a tendency to love the members that often break things, then boy, do I have a potential bias for you.

Wild Flower is the title track and ninth track from RM's 2022 album, Indigo, which is an interesting spot to put the title track and given what I know of him, there's meaning to be pulled from that position. We only have two writers for this song, mikscod (Epik High, XG, Chancellor, Leehi, So!YoON, g.o.d, Shindrum, and Block B) and RM (Steve Aoki, Megan Thee Stallion, Fall Out Boy, So!YoON, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, GLAM, Lim Heong Hee, Lee Seung Gi, Tiger JK, 3OH!3, and Kim Seon You).

• Group: BTS
• Debut Date: 2022 December 02
• Company: BigHit Entertainment
• Album: Indigo
• Song: Wild Flower (with yeojeen)
• Release Date: 2022 December 02

There are performances of this song! Yes! I chose well!

One of the reasons why I picked this song specifically instead of one of his other songs is because this one is less aggressively rappy than some of his others, and I have to ease myself into those and given the time of year this is (thank you, two car accidents in a week), I wanted something easier. So, here we are.

Before I get into the actual music, which is a departure from the usual, I know, I found this fantastic short that I wanted to share where RM talks about being the flame and then returning to the wild flower version, and the Korean word translates to something more like "flowerwork" using "firework" as a base.

Okay. Anyway. Now that we've got some deep meaning to the song (and I'm not meaning that facetiously), let's go back to the regularly scheduled programming. 

Even in just the audio track, you get the sound of the fireworks at the very beginning, which is folded in so well with the start of the music video, just more expansively. But generally speaking, this song's instrumental is so strongly film soundtrack that I'm a little bit in love. The entire thing soars so well for the entirety of the four-and-a-half minutes that the song takes up. Between the violin and the heavy guitar and the piano, there's a sense of the epic here framed in celebration from the fireworks at the beginning. 

No matter what else happens in this song, it starts off in celebration, which is important to remember during the storms that RM goes through later in the music video. The fireworks are also the gold starbursts that remind me of chrysanthemums, which are my favorite flowers. 

The song transitions between the expansive fields of flowers, sometimes in the middle of the day and sometimes at the point of sunset, and the the storm that surrounds RM. One part warm and peaceful, one part dark and chaotic. The thing that links the two though is the fireworks. Using what RM said about the song and the fireworks being idol RM, the public facing performer, "RM" straddles the good experiences and the bad, existing in the both the peace and the darkness that Kim Namjoon feels.

But I think my favorite part of the music video is the transition to literal idol RM when he's on stage with his mic, because the light sticks look both like flowers and fireworks in the darkness. There are a couple of poignant things about that part as well, because the light sticks are purple and the suit he's wearing is kind of a dark mauve, but it's still purple. I actually think that's the color of my favorite nail polish when I was like eight, which is a fantastic coincidence.

And speaking of that part, the lyrics, man. "Yeah, my start was poetry/My one and only strength and dream that protected me so far/Burning fireworks to flowerworks/Boyhood to eternity". The transition from him standing on the stage to him in the field is so poetic, and considering he, like many of the idols, gave up his childhood and spent his transition from boyhood with his found brothers, it's genuinely beautiful. And poetic. 

Like, I know that generally, I hate poetry. I had several professors in college flabbergasted by the fact that I was an English lit major with a hatred of poetry (my favorite was also the one that I took the History of Literary Theory and Criticism class from, partially because he had a swear jar for himself on his desk), but despite that emotion I feel almost any time I have to interact with poetry, I'm always deeply impressed with RM's ability to use language, both in Korean and in English. 

His skills are very admirable, his strength to withstand the storms even more so.

But I love that the music video ends with nothing flashy, just him in white, lying in a field of flowers, at rest and at peace. It starts with RM the idol with the bright and temporary fireworks, but it ends with Kim Namjoon the man. It's simple, and beautiful, and simply beautiful, and it had me tearing up a little.

The cinematography for this performance is gorgeous. We've got both black-and-white in sections, something that's almost sepia (although that might be mostly the effect of the brown lighting, which is a Choice with a deliberate capital), but then there's so much blue going on in the background that the song has a very calming, grounded effect.

For the record, brown and blue is one of my favorite combinations for that very effect, which is why I painted my room those colors. 

Youjeen, since I haven't talked about her yet, she's the lead vocalist and maknae of the first gen rock band Cherry Filter (who has actually been on my radar to pick something for either a Greatest Hits post or a Battle of the B-Sides post). At the time of this song's release, she was forty-five. She looks amazing, she holds her mic like someone in a rock band (I'm reminded a lot of Joan Jett watching her sing with him, and I've seen her in concert), and she's mesmerizing on stage as much as he is.

Her voice is gorgeous. It's such a good match for his rapping. I don't know who approached her for this or if she volunteered, but whoever okayed that decision was brilliant. Absolutely inspired choice. 

 And they clearly both enjoyed this performance. She's smiling a lot while she's looking at him at 4:13, but I absolutely love the look he gives her at 4:20, and then he breaks into a smile at the very, very end of this video. 4:20 actually would have been my choice for the thumbnail of this video. I love that shot so much. But then we get a shot of his dimples right after that while he's still looking at her, and that's my second favorite shot.

There aren't a lot of performances of this song, mostly because of the timing and how close it was to his enlistment (the Weverse Live concert this came from was weeks before he would enlist). This one is about as simple as you can get, just a man and his mic, which is why it's coming second in this post.

But you want to know the best part of the song? When he shifts back from the mic and lip syncs along with Youjeen's voice. A prime example of it is at 2:47. RM is feeling that in his soul and you can tell by the way he's looking up and away from the camera.

He's feeling this song a lot, as he should considering how intimately attached to it he is. I wish he actually would have sung along with Youjeen's voice, but I can wait for his next performance of this for that.

I appreciate RM a lot, and I know that the fandom respects him as their leader and the backbone of BTS, but I also hope he knows how much he is loved, even outside of the fandom. I'm glad he was discharged safely and he could begin recovering, and I want for him and his group to have a safe and successful comeback and upcoming tour. 

If you've got a song you'd like me to cover, feel free to drop a comment or leave the submission in The Form! I'll see you next time!

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