This year, BTS celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their debut, marking a huge milestone in their career as a K-Pop group. But as many fans know, they were on the brink of disbandment a few years ago.
BTS | Weverse
It was during the 2018 MAMA Awards when Jin shared during an acceptance speech that the group had considered parting ways that very year. During the emotionally charged speech, Jin revealed that the year had been exceptionally hard on all members’ mental health, which had led to such an extreme consideration. But thankfully, they were able to overcome it and continue their journey.
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It was really tough for all of us mentally earlier this year. We even talked about whether to disband or not and gave it a lot of thought… but we pulled ourselves together and I’m so glad that we were able to receive such an amazing award. I’d like to thank our members for pulling togther. I’m so grateful for our members and for ARMY for always showing us their love and support. Thank you.
— BTS’s Jin during his “2018 MAMAs” speech
The incident has later been discussed by the BTS member on a few occasions and was brought up again, in detail, in their new documentary BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star. Suga, in particular, likened the situation to a romantic relationship that is fated to end, but neither side wants to be the bad guy by doing it first.
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“We eventually had to make a choice,” Suga said, adding that the same fear of being the “bad guy” held them all back.
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The clip immediately reminded many of his song, “Trivia: Seesaw,” where he said something almost verbatim.
A fan translation of “Seesaw” lyrics | doolsetbangtan.wordpress.com
Initially, when the song came out, it sounded like a story of a romantic couple to many. But only now are ARMYs realizing that it was a direct allusion to BTS’s relationship at that point in time. Even though nobody knew about the group’s predicament until the end of November, when Jin mentioned it at the MMAs, Suga had actually laid it bare months ago.
figuring out like 5 years later yoongi wrote all these gut punching heart wrenching break up songs and for them to be about bts… pic.twitter.com/ZpXqL2bFil
— ree⁷ (@jkyoongs) December 20, 2023
So Seesaw was never about a romantic relationship. It was how Yoongi felt towards Army and the members when they thought of giving up. He climbed off the Seesaw because he realized it couldn’t give him the answer. He had to find the “Answer” himself. I’m fine pic.twitter.com/0VPNxJTZwP
— AgustNamGee⁷ ProjectStillLifeWithBTS (@AgustGee3275) December 20, 2023
I’m sure everybody cried after knowing that the song “seesaw” isn’t a couple song but a song for bts members
OH YOONGI pic.twitter.com/IqX1wyq9fw
— tinyturtle⁷ᶜˡᵒˢᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵇʸ ʲⁱᵐⁱⁿ (@aahExcusemeee) December 20, 2023
Waking up with all the spoilers and Yoongi wrote seesaw for the members????
pic.twitter.com/P5aIw1se1H
— •ʀᴏsᴇ⁷•D-DAY• (@CYPHERS_DDAENG3) December 20, 2023
This new discovery has also added to the emotionality around Suga’s live “Seesaw” performance during his solo tour. Contrary to the Love Yourself tour setup, Suga did a very stripped-down version of the song during the D-DAY Tour with an acoustic guitar. However, the guitar was decorated with signatures and messages from all the BTS members.
the zoom to the members signatures while yoongi was playing seesaw pic.twitter.com/PjYuazWQBc
— ★ (@fayepjm) December 20, 2023
thinking about it now.. yoongi only used the guitar that has members signature on it during seesaw pic.twitter.com/dhn59orPLr https://t.co/lLHL49Dsjf
— sen (@sugatradamus) December 20, 2023
yoongi performing seesaw acoustic with the guitar signed by the members… oh. pic.twitter.com/wfWLKdHUFr
— tay ⁷ closer than this (@kimgayism) December 20, 2023
