why “LIE” by Jimin is a musical masterpiece, an explained educational thread

DISCLAIMER: i play instruments but unlike jimin, i am not a musical genius. this thread is what my art geek IRL (who recently got into bts) noticed about LIE.

also! i do notice that there may be tons of musical theories on LIE already, but my small brain cannot understand all of them, so this thread is gonna be simple. musical geniuses who wanna educate me further, please do!

firstly, the song starts off with what sounds like a string orchestra but actually kinda funked up. elegant, but funky.

however, as we listen further, the song starts hitting you with a thicker base, slowly creating textures to the song.

in music, textures refers to all the tempo, harmonies, rhythms etc that contribute to a musical piece. in LIE, there is a thick texture, which basically means that there are tons of these melodies and harmonies playing at the same time.

there are also a lot of beats and musical instruments used, (eg string, guitar...) further contributing to the thick texture of the song.

LIE is about lying to yourself, saying how you’re not good enough, making you feel very trapped and lost.

and it’s because of these thick textures i’ve mentioned above, there seems to be a LOT of layers in the song (maybe 3?) and we as listeners easily get trapped in such layers, which is EXACTLY what Jimin feels: lost, trapped and confused

remember what i said about the string orchestra? very fucking elegant, yes. but this elegant and calm look is simply how the songwriter presents themselves to other people.

it might suggest that the elegant jimin is a mask, a mere display to the public. there is a lot more character and depth in this person that people simply wouldn’t know about. there is a CONTRAST

Now, there are two kinds of chords: Major and minor chords. Major chords, using ABC as an example, gives us a more happy and easy vibe.

whereas minor chords usually give listeners a sad vibe. but in LIE, we get an uneasy and funky vibe instead.

and when you think this song is just gonna last like this, sounding all funky and tense, you get a slap on the face because out of nowhere, Jimin sings the chorus “CAUGHT IN A LIEEE” in a major chord.

it’s almost saying “u thought it’s gonna be a song in minor key? LMFAO SIKE BITCH WE GOING IN MAJOR NOW” — tying tightly to the concept of LIES

this is actually very clever, because musicians rarely change up the damn chords like that.

this creates a lyrical texture, bringing out the meaning of the song, contrasting between what’s the truth and what’s the lie.

LASTLY, most songs would end after the fourth beat because that’s just usually how people complete their songs. BUT jimin decides not to stick to this norm again

this makes us feel very incomplete AND AGAIN UNEASY. this might be why we keep getting chills when listening to the song, we feel very empty and trapped as the song creates a very heavy aura.

in conclusion, jimin genius, the genre is bts.