“still with you” is a masterpiece — a thread to appreciate jungkook’s production skills bc it deserves all the love;

a quick but necessary disclaimer as always; this entire thread will be based on my personal experience with music, production and interpretation. jungkook, himself, talked about the process of making in kkkulfm and even gave us this iconic live of chorus

the song opens with the soft pattering of rain and jungkook’s voice comes along to draw a dreamy picture. there’s a filter on his voice that makes it sound distant, far away but it’s at the centre, heavy. the guitar riffs, on the other hand, are not. we hear a lot of panning—

some of you might not be familiar with that term so allow me to elaborate. panning is when you hear an audio to the left/right or simple centre headphone. it’s an AMAZING mixing/production tool to create a space for the listener, make them feel surrounded by the sounds. it can+

even make the song sound live as it tricks human ear into creating a setup with closeness/ distance between their ear and the instruments, vocals. but why am i talking about this? because jungkook uses this amazing technique to make us a part of the song and include army.

when the song starts with jk’s voice at a far away location, the guitar riffs switch between both ears almost like they’re hypnotising. it’s nimble, smooth and neat. dreamy even when piano chords join in to set the tone for an incredibly smooth, jazzy melody. then bam!

jungkook’s voice joins but this time it’s near, up close and personal. he invited us into a space through the guitar riffs, gentle rain pattering until he’s standing before us all. the song doesn’t float far away anymore but it’s weighed down with bass. more real and intimate

it’s ironic because he sings about our faint voice in the beginning as he sounds FAR away from us. but then he invites us in, drawing a strong visual with his voice right against our ear, even making us feel the aircon on our skin with the lyrics.the space he painted is tangible

in a time where both army and bts themselves felt helpless about the world’s situation and the distance, jungkook’s words sounds so fragile and yearning. beyond his beautiful songwriting, it’s even felt in his voice tone. his transitions from head voice to mid range voice+

beautiful and strong vibratos are all so light, effortless with the harmony in the background. it’s so dreamy. i don’t even know how he can mask the herculean effort it would take for him to control the upper register for a breathy tone and make it sound that delicate

“by the time this mist clears, i’ll run with my feet wet so hug me then”,,, there’s something so deep in those lyrics for me. it’s almost like after this “rain” which jk uses as a metaphor for these hard times we all have been feeling “under the weather” and distanced +

instead of acting like nothing had happened, jk’s lyrics suggest once we meet once again there will be traces of these times (wet feet),rain still clinging to pieces of us. acknowledging it gives our reunion so much more power as we embrace each other tighter &feel the gratitude

there are sparkling/twinkling chimes that make the track sound even more dreamlike,, it fits in so well after the trumpet and guitar instrumentals that make the song so jazzy and smooth. we end up feeling hazy and dazed, almost like jungkook’s painting the frames as we move along

the outro closes with the same distant filter on jk’s voice as the intro. but this time, as he’s saying goodbye, he’s giving a promise. it’s a bittersweet way of closing a song,a farewell reassuring to meet soon. the filter is there to remind us the reality; we still are far away

even for those who don’t get to meet, he acknowledges them with “we may not be on the same page but i want to walk this path with you”. it’s incredibly touching how jungkook wrote this song w ALL army in his mind. he carries it on his knuckles, on his skin, his mind and heart

that’s the thing about jungkook. he wrote this song with so much affection and fondness, beyond all the technicality, i can’t look away from the emotions he poured into it. it’s a beautiful, masterful song with a touching analogy on our hard times and the feeling of aloofness

“still with you” is an emotional letter from jungkook, a boy who deserves the nickname of “golden” in every way from his wide range of talents to empathy and genuine care for people around him. from the formal language he uses in the lyrics to regard to listener,to vocal control+

from beautiful instruments to bittersweet lyrics, the track is filled with traces of his desperation to reunite with us. i hope on his birthday, he feels our presence and pure adoration for him and knows his sentiments are mutual to say the least,,, we love you, jeon jungkook