Magic Shop Song Review
Music can’t be judged. That being said, this music review of Magic Shop by BTS will merely be my interpretation of the lyrics and overall flow of the song.
The first draft of the song was written by Jungkook, the youngest member of BTS. He specifically wrote this song keeping his fans, aka ARMY, in mind (one of the very few instances where you see an artist writing a song for their fans). Previously too, they have released songs like 2!3! dedicated to Army as a piece of comfort and strength during sadness or pain and continue to do so with their latest album BE.
Let’s get right into the lyrics, shall we?
The first verse by V and Jungkook starts as a warm cup of tea on a rainy day. In a world where toxic positivity is quite prevalent, where phrases like “be positive”, “find strength” are often used as tokens of comfort, the artist attempts to do so by sharing their own stories of hardships and listening to ours. It’s almost as if they are saying “It’s alright to be miserable sometimes, let me be the one to share that misery with you”.
In every part of life, each decision will be accompanied by self-doubt and insecurities. In the second verse, RM seems to be stuck in a similar dilemma where he is questioning his abilities and self-worth. Amidst this, he realizes there will always be people who will believe him and make their way to him.
The pre-chorus and chorus make use of some incredible and heartwarming imagery. BTS has always been quite raw with their emotions in the songs and lyrics they write. |Trigger warning: suicide| Here, they have made an effort to console the people who might hate themselves and feel like “disappearing forever” or ‘ending it all.
Through a doorway in your heart there awaits the Magic shop, where you can forget all your life troubles and worries. “It’s okay to believe, the Magic Shop will comfort you.”
RM, the leader of BTS takes inspiration from several sources. A song released earlier “The Truth Untold” takes inspiration from a story called ‘’La Città di Smeraldo’ (which translates to ‘ The Emerald City ’). In the song, the singer talks about putting on a mask to see the one that they love. The mask symbolizes a façade to hide behind to not reveal their broken and damaged side. BTS’s inspiration ranges from characters of Greek mythology in “Blood Sweat & Tears” to a leaf falling from a tree that led to the song “Spring Day”.
Similarly, in this instance, the artist found inspiration in James Dirty's autobiography “Into the Magic Shop”.
The hook sang by the vocal line in unison has become quite a visual to see during BTS concerts, where they get a roar of “I’ll show you” to their “So show me” lyrics. This is probably my 2nd favorite BTS and crowd interaction, “You can’t stop me loving myself” from their song “Idol” topping the list. (Can you imagine the whole crowd going “You can’t stop me loving myself”? Chills, literal chills)
“ I always want to be the best
So I was impatient and always restless
Comparing myself with others became my daily life
My greed that was my weapon suffocated me and also became a leash
But looking back on it now, truthfully
I feel like it’s not true that I wanted to be the best
I wanted to become your comfort and move your heart
I want to take away your sadness, and pain.”
This incredibly beautiful and poetic verse by Suga is most definitely my favorite part of the song. The lyrics above are quite self-explanatory.
During his debut time rookie, Suga compares himself with everyone in the hopes of being the best which in turn restricted him, “became a leash” and made him miserable. Now that he’s far ahead in his career, he realizes providing comfort was his main goal.
In the bridge of the song, V sweeps in with his rustic deep baritone, accompanied by Jimin with his sweet angelic voice. The contrast between their voices gave this song an overall heavenly touch.
Concluding the song is the chorus sang by all 7 members. As they have received love and affection from their fans all over the world, they ask the same fans to give that love and affection to themselves. RM further makes a speech during one of the concerts of Love Yourself world tour which pretty much sums up this chorus:
“I didn’t know anything about how to love myself. You guys taught me through your love, through your tweets, through your letters, through your everything.
You guys taught me and inspired me how to love myself.
It’s never intended, but it feels like I’m using you guys to love myself.
So, I’m going to say one thing…
Please use me. Please use BTS to love yourself.
Because you guys taught me how to love myself. Every day.”
Refer to this link to find the song: HERE
Refer to this link to find the lyrics of the song: HERE
Penned by Manasvi Agarwal