Sharing my thoughts on #RMono as a journey through loneliness, where Namjoon expresses loneliness in various situations. Each song flows seamlessly into the next, all are interlinked, check them out in this thread!
+ #RMverse

#2YearsWithMono #방탄소년단RM #KimNamjoon #RM

"mono" comes from the Greek word "monos", meaning "alone". Already the title of mono evokes loneliness and solitude. It also has a second meaning in sound recording, I'd be interested to hear experts on it! + #RMverse #RMono #2YearsWithMono

The first track of mono is "Tokyo". The song is entirely in English, but there is a very interesting double meaning of the word. In Korean, "Tokyo" is synonym with "longing". Tokyo is about feeling out of place and alone, and longing to be with a loved one +

Namjoon may have chosen "Tokyo" for the double meaning in Korean, but also because Tokyo is often described as "Tokyo desert", where you're surrounded by people but, being shy (or a tourist) it's very hard to meet people and so you feel very lonely. +

Namjoon said on the fancafe that he didn't want to give official lyrics because he wants the listener to hear what they want to hear. The second line of Tokyo is a good example: you can hear all 3 versions, and they all have meanings of feeling out of place, or stuck, or broken +

Mono starts at an emotional low, where the listener is let into this ambient space filled with a dreary stream of consciousness. The lyrics of Tokyo communicate a sense of loss, weakness, lifelessness often associated with depression. One lyric links to the next track: +

We know BTS travel a lot and they do get homesick. In Tokyo, Namjoon mentions feeling homesick and wanting to see a loved one while he's stuck in Tokyo. This loved one might not be an actual person, but might be the city of Seoul, his home, his identity (soul) +

Sonically, the mood picks up a bit when we enter Seoul. Interestingly, instead of waking up badly in Tokyo, he wakes up more peacefully in Seoul, see here +

While in Tokyo, Namjoon longs for his home but when he arrives home he expresses a love-hate relationship for it. Everyone has these similar feelings when returning to their hometowns. Faded memories that cling, and a tough time letting go. +

We know Namjoon loves nature and plants, so his love-hate relationship with a concrete jungle is perhaps him wrestling with his identity, accepting the good with the bad. It's not as clear to me what the link to the next track is, but I think it is this line in Seoul:
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Namjoon trying to confront his identity, his sense of self, in times of struggle is what Moonchild, the next track, feels to me. This isn't just him speaking to himself, but speaking to listeners and telling them to find light and comfort in darkness, where we least expect it. +

"Moonchild" feels like an ode to the solitary, the introverts, the people who find themselves more comfortable alone in the depth of the night than surrounded by people in broad daylight. Being alone doesn't necessarily mean being lonely, and the moonchild shines in solitude.+

The second verse of Moonchild feels like a call-back to Seoul, where he said "livin' you, leavin' you". Namjoon calls himself out, and says "well here's all you say you'll do, but you do the opposite". It also allows the listeners to self-reflect and question themselves.+

Namjoon then stops pushing and takes a step back. Here the night is synonym with vulnerability, where all our "thorns", faults, mistakes, weaknesses, come out. He calls the thorns 'magnificent' and says that we can console each other by being vulnerable with each other +

Throughout mono, Namjoon is choosing to be vulnerable, to show us his inner feelings and struggles, show us his thorns. In Moonchild, he finds comfort in the night, and he asks us to do the same. So Moonchild don't cry, because we are each other's night view, each other's moon +

"badbye" follows Moonchild in this theme of trying to cope with pain (or here a breakup). The song feels like an interlude of sorts, like we've reached emotional rock bottom. Instead of seeking comfort like in Moonchild, in 'badbye' we give up, and simply accept our fate. +

The song starts with a tuning radio, which is pretty interesting in the whole mono/stereo imagery. There seems to be bright sounds until we tune to the sad melody. At the end of 'badbye', it feels like the sadness becomes overbearing, we emotionally crack, and the tears flow +

I think the fact that he says "I cry" at the end of "badbye" is really a sign of him finally feeling his emotions, allowing them to take over, and begin the healing journey. It is the halfway point of the playlist, where we transition to "uhgood", where Namjoon self-reflects +

While "uhgood" has an English title no doubt to mirror "badbye", it is the phonetic of the Korean 어긋, which either means "to not reach expectations" or "to miss each other (diverge)". The lyrics of the song mix all those meanings into an introspective monologue +

In "uhgood" Namjoon talks about his ideals and expectations for himself, and how far those are from reality, and how hard he is on himself because of this discrepancy. He wants to reach his "real me", perhaps somewhere in between his current self and his unrealistic ideal self. +

In "uhgood", Namjoon uses rain as a metaphor for good feelings, it "rains" when he feels his current self matches his ideal, but even in the desert rain can fall, this confidence in himself is only temporary. This also reminds me of the imagery he uses in the LY:Her song Sea +

"uhgood" gives the other side of the quest of self-improvement. Wanting to chase the ideal version of you leaves you overly critical of your current self. Wanting to reach the "real me" makes me feel uncomfortable with the current "me". The motif of loneliness comes back again +

Namjoon revealed that "uhgood" was originally meant to be the song "Reflection" for the WINGS album, but Reflection took its place and he used it in mono instead. The two songs do mirror each other very well. Although critical of himself, he still wants to reach his 'real me' +

We now transition into "everythingoes", the 6th track of mono. Sonically, this track is super interesting, it has an escalating melody, with new instruments/sounds folding in every 20 seconds or so, culminating in a rap verse by Namjoon that sounds both hopeful and powerful +

The repetitive rhythm or "everything goes" and "it passes" feel like a calming chant. This song feels like a soothing balm on anxieties, self-doubt, pain. "Everything needs to go through pain" but Namjoon wants us to remember that even when it's tough, this too shall pass. +

The final lyrics of "everythingoes" reference rain. Just like in "uhgood", here rain signifies something good, something soothing and positive that washes over the bad things, the pain, the struggle. Everything passes and the rain comes. The track ends with sounds of rainfall. +

The rainfall sound transitions into the final track of mono, "Forever Rain". I consider this song the apex of the playlist, the culmination of all the lessons learned through all the tracks to get here. Namjoon speaks truthfully about who he is, and accepts his solitude. +

In "Forever Rain", Namjoon finds a friend, he no longer feels lonely with the rain by his side. The rain makes people focus on other things, letting him be free of the spotlight, free to slow down, free to be himself, and be sad when he needs to be, without judgement. +

Unlike in "Tokyo" or "Seoul" where he feels out of place but can't quite do anything about it, he feels like he belongs in the rain. Unlike Moonchild where he deals with his pain in the night, he can go out in broad daylight in the rain, and no one will judge him.+

Unlike "badbye" and "uhgood", he is not overwhelmed by his pain or criticizing himself too hard. He is just him, free to slow down, and finally found a friend who won't judge him, a friend he'd like to have by his side forever. +

Everythingoes when the rain pours down, forever rain.
#RMverse #RMono #2YearsWithMono #RM

I hope you've enjoyed this thread, check out Namjoon's VLIVE about mono if you haven't yet! Happy 2nd anniversary to this beautiful mixtape, Namjoon's lipbalm for the heart
What's your favorite mono song? https://www.vlive.tv/video/96907?channelCode=FE619