Thread by @gmcantave1

Ok so I'm back (after a week intermission for fangirling purposes) to complete this OUTRO TEAR ANALYSIS.

As mentioned above, BTS has been quite consistent in personifying things like feelings, and emotions and concepts and in OUTRO TEAR, they've done the same thing+

And the way tear interconnects with past works and future concepts is just so masterfully done. As I said above, the line where RM mentions the "shabby and ugly friends within him" imo is a direct reference to Reflection on the wings album +

I will not go too indepth into the many different meanings contained in the lines from reflection(im saving it for a different analysis) but i will say that this fear could be for/of many different things. Fear of himself/the self (being left alone to face it), the fear of+

Being judged, the fear of being found weak or of their weaknesses being exposed for all to see(which they mention in respect on MOTS7) , the fear of disappointing which is at the base of the reason why they made uo these perfect selves/beings in the first place that they+

Presented in the relationship to the other person, and finally the fear of forgetting (and repeating the same pattern/present in JAMAIS VU) and being forgotten and these fears are emphasized in Outro Tear when J-HOPE mentions their moments together and also+

His hears/their fears of the "flashbacks". And we know from what RM explained in his Vlive that J-hope took on the fear aspect of the goodbye/parting so it makes sense that J-hope's verse focuses on the questions, concerns and fears that come with separation(I will expand later)+

Let's get back to RM's verse. The next line to explore is this one " I was just too afraid because somehow it seems like I never loved you at all". This line supports what I was saying about parting being a reward in itself as at the end of tbe relationship he/they are rewarded+

With the "truth" and this truth is that perhaps there was no true love there in the first place, just a sense of satisfaction and contentment and comfort rooted in the attention they were getting from their "dear" because of the lies/fake self they created for the sake of the +

Of the relationship. And this "you" they are referring to can mean both themselves (the self) and/or the loved one as in "it seems I never loved you (the other person/thing in the relationship) or " it seems like I never loved you (myself) at all.

When taken in the context+

Of them being famous. The "you" can be taken as "fame/success" and this is supported by the lyrics in magic Shop when they admit that they mistook their wish to help others and to be heard through music with an obsession with success and fame. That theme is again revisited +

In shadow where they speak of the emptiness that comes with all they've achieved and their want to keep grounded and go back to the roots of their love for what they do, going back to their true selves whom they've been trying to discover from the beginning of their careers +

LOVE YOURSELF TEAR is an album full of awakenings and disillusionment and which starts to bring to fruiction a lot of the themes and ideas that BTS have been exploring since the beginning of their careers, so to have this song made the way it was for the purpose that it was +

Is further confirmation of the boys authenticity and genuineness. See this line "I was just too afraid because somehow it seemed like I never loved you at all" is pivotal and connects the entirety of the song, and also foreshadows the following album (LOVE MYSELF ANSWER) +

And also the MOTS7 album. Because the realization of this truth is what sets them off to have their EPIPHANY (im the one I should love) and sends them on a journey to know themselves better (MAP OF THE SOUL) in order to be able to accept and love themselves. That realization +

Is also at the base of the guilt that we get in Suga's verse. This thought that they've not only been lying to themselves but to the other person(the fans or whoever) in the relationship because they thought that faking themselves was being accommodating and pleasing to +

This other person/loved one, that this willingness to completely change/mask/enhance themselves was proof of love when in fact they weren't being honest and were depriving themselves/this loved one of the chance to truly know them and love them for who they are. In the end,+

It was the most selfish thing they could've done and that makes them feel terrible (punishment), and they feel guilty and regret these decisions. This ties into SUGA's verse which actually discusses the pain/hurt and the regret that comes with this realization.+

I will only briefly touch on the chorus, as most ARMY know, they use the word TEAR in two different ways in the chorus (RM tear as in crying, Suga Tear as in torn/tearing apart). Now this line "thought we dreamt the same dream but that dream becomes for the first time, a dream"+

Gets me everytime with the poetry and cleverness of it. The nuances of the word dream depending on its placement in the sentence, the first dream being a goal or something that they wanted to achieve together with that loved one (which can also be themselves) and the second+

Meaning of dream being just a dream, something that will never happen in real life, something that only exists in their imagination and can never come to fruition. I always get goosebumps when listening to that part. Moving on, as explained earlier, SUGA's tear refers to +

The tearing apart that happens with separation and theres also a lot of guilt and regret involved which is what makes this first line of his verse so mindblowingly clever and well-crafted.

"Parting, to me, is a T.E.A.R, because to me tears are a luxury".

Lets start with the obvious part here, where our genius MIN PD literally tears apart the word TEAR by separating its letters in accordance to the definition of Tear as in being torn, like a wound, but also like initials to be branded on flesh. It took me a while to think about+

The reason why he chose to write the lyrics that way and why he chose to follow it up by "because to me tears (as in crying) are a luxury". And when I looked at the pattern throughout the song and previous works and connected the dots, my mind was blown to bits! 🤯🤯+

When taken in the context of the song, T.E.A.R is an acronym and an acronym that literally could take on the many different meanings that were discussed in RM's verse from that line "goodbye is the result/reward, that came at the end of my play/histrionics made of/full of lies"+

And it totally connects with the concept they explored in 134340(pluto) where they/especially RM broke down/separated Pluto's Korean name to give it many different meanings to emphasize the damage left by a love/a relationship that has fallen apart, which is Ultimately what+

OUTRO TEAR focuses on (I will explore pluto later) but in short the same principle of breaking down words is used here but in the most simple form and imo one of the most clever form of wordplay ive ever seen (if it was intentional which imo it totally was).

Let me expand+

The acronym of T.E.A.R here can have many different meanings. On one end, it could stand for THE END AND REWARD as in "Parting to me is THE END AND REWARD at the end of my play of lies." (Like in RM's verse)

Next, THE END AND RESULT, +

As in "parting to me is THE END AMD RESULT of my histrionics made of lies.

3) THE END AND REMNANT, as in 'parting to me is THE END AND REMNANT (as in whats left) of my theater made of lies.
4) THE END AND RECKONING, as in parting is THE END AND RECKONING at the end of my lies+

Whichever meaning you choose or go for, this line plays in the duality and the nuances presented in RM's verse and throughout the song, the bittersweet feeling of the separation, the fact that this separation is both a bad and a good thing. The goodbye itself is the +

Release/relief they needed to move on and turn a new page (like mention in OUTRO HER) and try to live themselves but it is also a punishment/condemnation/reckoning that they faced because they lied in the first place. Which explains why "Tears", as in crying, are a luxury +

Because it feels like they shouldn't cry in the first place. One because they've been dancing on the edge of that goodbye for a while now, and they started this game in the first place, they picked this game (like they say in LOUDER THEY BOMBS). Two, because this is supposed to +

Be for the better, and even if they cried the tears wouldn't really change the outcome of it all (like I said they've known this was bound to end). In LET ME KNOW (from dark and wild), in J-hope's verse (which again deals with memories and illusions in the relationship) +

They have a lyric where they mention hypnotizing themselves and not wanting to think about that goodbye rule. Having to let go in general, is a part of life in general but we always dread the moments where we do need to let go and move on, and it hurts anyways.+

Third, tears are a luxury because of the feelings of guilt and regret and hurt and resentment due to the fact that they/BTS/SUGA feels guilt over the fact that they are responsible for the end of that relationship in the first place so they have no right to cry over losing it+

Which again connects and support that line where RM says (I was afraid because perhaps I never loved you at all).
All these different feelings of hurt, regrets, resentment, and guilt is what pushes them/SUGA to make that heartbreaking request in this line+

"Set my heart ablaze so that regrets/longing don't remain", "burn it so that not even ashes are left". Ashes here are referring to the reminders of the relationship (the brand mentioned earlier T.E.A.R), the tears, the memories, even the love since it was ultimately FAKE LOVE+

Suga/they fear the "flashback" moments in J-hope's verse and that is very fitting since SUGA's verse deals with regret and pain while J-hope deals with the fear and concerns and the questioning aspect of separation as mentioned earlier.

Again the idea of disillusionment is+

Is visited. Along with the regret and hurt. Because pain is one if the most effective ways in which we confirm reality and make a difference between reality and dream (pinching yourself etc...). The idea of the real is always accompanied by pain which explains these lines👇🏾

Another one of my favorite lines is this one "The answer is fixed but replying is always hard". This is such a true statement for so many things. Often times we know what we need to do or say in order to fix something but doing it or saying it is always the hardest thing. +

Next stop is J-hope's verse which imo is the perfect topper for this song and often overlooked because people don't get the lyrical genius of Jung hoseok but today I aim to bring to light some of that lyrical genius.

As I have said throughout this analysis, J-hopes verse+

Focuses on the fear, aspects of separation, the concerns and the questions that form when we say goodbye to someone or something. And so it makes perfect sense that the verse starts with a set of questions. Which often times are translated somewhat awkwardly and don't account+

For the wordplay. The doolset version is the same way. The way I translate this line goes like this. "Why it flows? Why it gets torn? I no longer need to know. Goodbye/parting, to me, is only those moments (flashback)".
The way this is crafted is awesome for so many reasons!+

1) "Why it flows?" When translated like that refers to two different things. First, the tears, flowing down their faces like in RM's verse, and second to the relationship flowing away from them (slipping through their fingers) like the sand
from the sandcastle(truth untold)+

2)" Why it gets torn?" Again refers to two things, their hearts being ripped apart, and second, their relationship/bond/unit which has been broken apart by this goodbye. As explained in SUGA'S verse, this tearing apart causes pain and it is a pain that repeats and remains+

Because of the memories the flashback. So the goodbye itself/parting itself is not what's causing the pain, so the why of it in the long run is not what is gonna matter but the memories that come with it, the good and bad memories which hurt more than the actual goodbye and is+

Ultimately what they truly FEAR. Because those hurt more than the actual words "goodbye". That's the fear. These memories will be all they have left Ultimately and they are what is really causing the pain.

Next up is this line "Our end was handed to us in two characters or+

Our end came in two characters/syllables" (I like doolset's translation for this but I prefer mine because it somewhat accounts for the wordplay).

First off, "our end was handed to us in two characters/syllables", just like you hand someone the results of a test or an exam+

, both in the sense of medical testing for an illness (connects with this line "I have a terminal/incurable disease of parting/goodbye), but also in the sense of testing on an academic level (connecting to my explanation of the whole math formula idea from DNA, where jhope +

Compares the relationship to a math formula and OUTRO TEAR is the failure of that equation.

Next up, the two characters/syllables refer to the korean writing of TEAR which is written and pronounced TEE-YO/ 티-어 as explained in doolset but parting/goodbye itself has the same+

Principles. Two syllables/characters , "EE-BYUL /이--별.

Not only that the English translation of goodbye/parting is two syllables as well for the words. GOOD -- BYE, PAR--TING.
Literally the words have been +

Torn apart, just like the two components of the relationship.

So "the end came to us in to characters" is also a reference to the fact that the two components of the relationship are no longer a unit and have been broken apart and because indeed 2 characters, 2 different +

Or separate beings. These again are super clever lyrics that people tend to overlook from jung hoseok because it flies over their head due to the way things get translated. But I wanted to bring attention to that.

Next line, "I wish I hadn't cried, I wish it hadn't torn me, +

But I cant say those things" as in i cant say It didn't make me cry and that it didn't tear me apart (which may seem quite unnecessary but in the context of the song it makes complete sense). First it supports SUGA's line of tears being a luxury as in he hates/regrets +

That he/they shed the tears and that this goodbye has torn him/them up like that.
However there's a second way this line could be translated and that part is the bow on the present and such clever writing.

So this other translation is +

"I cant say that I won't cry, or that I'm not going to tear/ be torn" (notive the future tense/implications, that the goodbye hasn't happened yet or that the goodbye will keep happening). There is an awareness there that this is something that is happening but hasn't happened +

Yet while it will keep happening like a cycle. So we know the boys haven't broken up but the moment in which the song was written the goodbye was very real and even in the general and less specific concept of the song when taken in the context of the self, instead of two people +

They said goodbye to a stage of their lives/career and were headed towards a reboot (MOTS7), towards a new start spurred on by the realizations that they needed to confront their true selves had been hidden until that realization, until they woke up from their sweet dream in+

SINGULARITY, realized that the love was FAKE LOVE, lamented about the fact that they should've been truer and shown their true selves in TRUTH UNTOLD, kept yearning and trying to hold on to the relationship in PLUTO and followed to journey to OUTRO TEAR which i explained +

Foreshadowed MOTS7 with the idea that this goodbye is a cycle that will keep happening and that is painful like the process of individuation.

In OUTRO HER too, they mention a constant goodbye/ending and compare it to the pages of a book being turned, chapters coming to an end+

Repeatedly and new beginnings and the process of turning the pages imo is similar to moving on/growing up/maturing, like the process of individuation in MOTS era.

This cycle concept is again supported in OUTRO TEAR in the lines where J-hope says "from now on, the fear will +

Repeat itself" and "I'll have an incurable disease of parting/goodbye" as in this is something that I'll always have to deal with.+

Finally, this line "you were/are my beginning and my end..you were/are my everything". Its a kicker in the guts, especially when you realize they are talking both to each other and to the fans. This again ties into OUTRO HER where they ask this loved one +

(Fans, other person in the relationship, self or other members) to be the one to "end" them because they/this loved one gave them/BTS their beginning/determination to go on this journey in the first place, their success and their fame, so it is only fitting that they end it too+

Which is also why this loved one/dear are also their tear (sadness), their tear (pain/wound) and their HER (weakness/vulnerability), something they have to protect/strengthen, satisfy, and discover again and again.

Which is why at the beginning of the thread I explained that+

OUTRO TEAR goes well beyond what it was written for (a break up song for the band) but encompasses the human concepts of growth and the pain and disillusionment that comes with growing and also discusses in depth the dynamics of relationships failure and success wise.+

BTS music does that, they write humanity and they do it well and it always angers me when I see the way their lyrics are dismissed. And I hope more people dig further and discover ther wealth of emotions and the genius of their lyricism and music composition.+

I have more Analysis to come for other songs but this completes my lyrical analysis of OUTRO TEAR.

END OF THIS PAINFULLY LONG THREAD 😂😅💜💜