“Spring Day” will never end. BTS concludes the song with the words, “please stay.” It’s their way of telling us that we will meet again if we just “wait a little longer.” But the second they utter the last syllable, the many sounds that lingered in the background fade away. Just like the backdrop that transitions from day to night, “Spring Day” ends after their voices are locked in a forlorn space. The irony of a song about an imminent reunion ending in stillness and solitude is only mitigated once the song is played again. Time within the dark, dreary place starts to move forward only when “Spring Day” is played again with its calm main riff and keyboard sounds. But we know that all-ending darkness waits for us again at the song’s end. If that’s where the song ends, and if their voices are locked in darkness, then time doesn’t move forward anymore. The music video of “Spring Day” starts off with V in the snow listening for the train approaching the station from afar. There’s no promise that V will reach “there” where “you” are, even if he boards the train. But it can take him somewhere else, away from the snowy station where he stood alone. While the song “Spring Day” unfreezes time, the music video animates space. Ultimately, “Spring Day” is a song about someone who is stuck at a certain point in space and time, unable to reach “you.” It’s also an emotional journey about struggling to move on from the said moment. 

BTS released “Spring Day” on February 13, 2017, right after The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (HYYH) and WINGS, which together, are considered the first highlight of their career. Their popularity soared with their two HYYH albums in 2015, and they won the Mnet MAMA Artist of the Year after releasing WINGS in 2016. A little while after the release of YOU NEVER WALK ALONE including “Spring Day,” they began to completely change the global trajectory of pop music. The moment they were given every imaginable honor, and when their unimaginable future began, they looked back on everyone from their past, whom they no longer could be with. Some of them found success like BTS, while some aren’t here anymore. “The cherry blossoms are blooming. This winter is ending, too. I miss you. I miss you.” The winter coming to an end also means that the memory of the past will be left behind. Like the pain that SUGA had felt over his friend, the deep sense of longing for someone they can no longer reach is expressed in the line “I miss you”—that they want to go back to those moments, even if it means they’d have to turn back time. But reality urges them to face forward and run. When they debuted, they were far from being in the spotlight, just because they were an idol group that was represented by a small, unknown label. They were unjustly overlooked before their popularity, and they were just as unjustly attacked after. They could only protect themselves by earning more love, climbing higher, and proving themselves. They were hurt countless times in the process, and had to climb ever higher, only facing forward. BTS’ success story from HYYH to YOU NEVER WALK ALONE mirrored the experiences of many Korean late Millennials and Gen Zs at the time. Almost an entire generation had to compete. Some survived, while others fell behind—whether they were idols, studying to go to university, or trying to get a decent job. Some children weren’t even able to stand at the starting line. HYYH captures the experience of the youth of the times, and WINGS portrays the group of young people who reconvene after surviving the tough days. “Spring Day” is a prayer for everyone who disappeared along the way, and the purest form of consolation for all those who survived. Even those who are here now are constantly reminded of their loss. But we must push forward to the end of winter, to a place where the tree can start growing leaves and flowers blossom. “Spring Day” is a song for people who have accepted their fate of constantly marching into the future, cradling the sadness of their past in their hearts. It captures the essence of the lives that Korean people lead. They are always running forward with their eyes on the prize, never stopping for breath—the experience which inevitably leads to loss. But still, they endure. They shed tears, but they can never look back. 
 

Since its release seven years ago, “Spring Day” has never not been on the top of the daily chart on Melon, which is the most used music service in Korea. RM’s wish of wanting to create a song that is “loved by Korean people for a long time” as mentioned in BEYOND THE STORY : 10-YEAR RECORD OF BTS has come true. For those seven years, some may have outright bawled while they listened to the song on repeat. Others may have heard it for the first time as they finally resolved to move forward, baggage still in their hearts. Meanwhile, the meaning of spring in Korea has changed, as well as songs about the said season. Spring has now been made synonymous with the anticipation of having better days ahead, but overlapped with the memories of loss. This is proof that all the young people, including BTS, have grown. Everyone experiences loss. Everyone has regrets. But some won't forget and will grow trees in their hearts in the memory of somebody they refuse to let go. In the “‘Boy Meets Evil’ Comeback Trailer” heralding the release of WINGS, j-hope showcased his renowned dance solo. The lines to the rap “My breath shortens, and I close my eyes in this twisted reality tonight” is uttered between each crisp and powerful move. j-hope embodied the struggles of youth confronted with earthly temptations, at a time when his team had to deal with endless attacks, increasingly tight schedules, and the pressure to climb even higher still. But when he comes around to “Spring Day,” he leads a contemporary style group dance at the forefront of the stage with Jimin. His dance flows smoothly, without any breaks in his movement, just like the song that moves forward with the sadness from a past loss embedded in the heart. This marked the beginning of BTS’ signature contemporary dance performance that can be later seen in “Black Swan.” After “Spring Day,” they returned the love they received with the “LOVE YOURSELF” series. The ones who had to grow despite sustaining scars, are revisiting and contemplating the time during which their friends and contemporaries experienced loss and overcame it. They carry all the baggage, and embrace everyone they’d met along the way. And thus, they are adults. Kind adults. “Spring Day” celebrated the ascension of youths who have ever been hurt. And the song that embodies the saddest of their memories has become the most ubiquitous song defining an entire era.