Winter Bear// 26.11.19

'Winter Bear'  

By Kim Taehyung

She looks like a blue parrot
Would you come fly to me
I want some good day, good day, good day
Good day, good day

Looks like a winter bear
You sleep so happily
I wish you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Goodnight, goodnight

Imagine your face
Say hello to me
Then all the bad days
They're nothing to me
With you

Winter Bear

Sleep like a winter bear
Sleep like a winter  bear

  Analysis of Winter Bear

'Winter Bear' is a song written by Kim Taehyung and was released in August this year. During a live show, Taehyung mentioned that the song was inspired by the movie 'About Time'. 

In case you aren't aware of who Kim Taehyung is, he is a member known as V, of the world-famous boy group called BTS, however, the song 'Winter Bear' is his solo song.  Taehyung has a nickname given to him by his parents which is 'Baby Bear' or 'Teddy Bear'. It could be possible that while writing this song he was thinking of someone very precious and close to him. 

The song starts with the line, "She looks like a blue parrot". We come to realize he is writing this song about a particular girl. As he said during his live show, he was inspired by the movie 'About Time', maybe the "she" is a reference to the actress or his beloved fans A.R.M.Y or maybe even someone else who is as precious as his fans or even more. 

Focusing on "blue parrot", parrots symbolize a celebration or a happy expression of the good things happening in a person's life. This could be why in the next line he has written: "I want some good day, good day, good day". In the previous line, he wrote: "Wish you could fly to me". This could mean Taehyung wants "good days" and wants "her" the one who looks like a blue parrot to "fly" to him to bring those good days back. 

Parrots also symbolize the beauty of the world around us. While watching the video made for 'Winter Bear', Taehyung has included various scenes and shows the viewers how much he admires the world around him and how he sees it. Blue parrots are also known as Hyacinth Macaws. They are now extinct in the wild. 

The line, "I want some good day, good day, good day" could be a reference to the Japanese song called 'Good Day' by BTS. The song 'Good Day' is about how the seven members of BTS supported each other through difficult moments. One of the lyrics is: "I'll be by your side, we'll be okay". They continue to sing about how tomorrow will be a better/good day and how the members are a family in the song with the lyrics: "It's already been three years since we've started walking together". 

The song, 'Good Day' was released in 2016, which was 3 years after BTS debuted. 

The song sent out a hopeful message not just through their lyrics but also by the way the song was produced. It consisted of a very happy feeling of how everything will be alright and how they have each other by their side. Another message from their song was to dream of a better or rather happier tomorrow. 

"I want some good day, good day, good day" is Taehyung's way of saying he still looking forward to better days with the other members and even possibly A.R.M.Y. 

Skipping the second verse of the song. 

Taehyung sings "Imagine your face". He writes about imagining a face but in particular, the one he is writing this song for. "She" who is still unknown. He then continues the song with "Say hello to me". This makes listeners question why does he have to imagine this person's face and this person saying hello? Couldn't he just meet her? 

Going back to his nickname 'Baby Bear'. In the year 2016, Taehyung's grandmother passed away on September 3rd which is very close to the season Winter. While in 2018, Taehyung's grandfather passed away in July. The reason why he released the song in August could be because August is between September and July. In a way, he may be using this song to remember his grandparents. 

Taehyung had a very close relationship with his grandparents and mentioned before that he was raised by them for 14 years. He would call his grandparents all the time before his flights or any schedule. At the beginning of the song, he wrote the word "she" which is why I'll be writing this blog post as though 'Winter Bear' is mostly about his late grandmother.  

This could be the reason why he wrote the line:

"Imagine your face

Say hello to me,

Then all the bad days.

They're nothing to me,

With you." 

In the present, he has to imagine his grandmothers face since she is no longer here with him. 

Now going back to the second verse. Taehyung wrote:

"Looks like a Winter Bear, 

You sleep so happily". 

This line could be a reference to his grandmother. He wishes her the word "goodnight" over five times. This could suggest he is saying goodbye for the last time and hopes that she rests well. "You sleep so happily", this line could mean, if she was suffering then she is finally relieved from all the pain or burden. 

"Imagine your face" could mean he still thinks about her and longs for her. He recollects memories of her and their conversations which is probably why he wrote the whole verse in such a nostalgic way. As he remembers their conversations he must have written the line : 

"Then all the bad days,

They're nothing to me,

With you". 

He continues to sing out "Winter Bear" and then continues with the line: 

"Sleep like a Winter Bear".

It is a known fact bears usually hibernate during winter and as Taehyung's grandmother passed away close to winter, it could mean he hopes she is sleeping soundly, peacefully like a bear during Winter. 

It is said, during a bear's hibernation their heart rate and breathing decreases, and their body temperature slightly reduces to match the temperature outside. For humans, this could mean they are passing away and in the last two lines of the song, Taehyung wrote the words "Sleep like a Winter Bear" twice. 

Another reason why the song was released in August could be because of a song called 'Spring Day' by his group BTS. Taehyung has mentioned a numerous amount of times just how much he loves the song 'Spring Day'. Looking at the lyrics of 'Spring Day', during the member RM's part he raps: "It's all Winter here, even in August." When talking about the song 'Spring Day' the members, RM and Suga said they wrote the song mostly based on their experience with loss or saying goodbye to someone precious to them. There are also other interpretations of the song but I will mostly be focusing on the members' explanation. RM also helped co-write the song 'Winter Bear' which is probably why it has a very similar feeling to 'Spring Day'. 

To quote the story of 'Doctor Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe and 'Paradise Lost' by John Milton, there is a very similar line in both stories. 

In scene 3 of 'Doctor Faustus', we read the exchange of conversation between Mephistopheles who is a demon and Dr Faustus. To explain in simple words, Dr Faustus asks Mephistopheles about hell to which Mephistopheles replies with: 

"Why this is hell, nor am I out of it:

Think’ st thou that I, who saw the face of God, 

And tasted the eternal joys of heaven, 

Am not tormented with ten thousand hells,

In being depriv’d of everlasting bliss?"

To quote 'Paradise Lost' Milton writes:

"The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." 

In both quotations, we can see the concept of Heaven and Hell being questioned. The two quotes represent how Hell is not a place but how the mind is affecting the way you feel. Even if you are in a happy environment, your mind can still manipulate you into thinking that you are suffering. This pain and suffering are caused by ourselves. 

Going back to the song, 'Spring Day', in RM's verse: 

"It's all Winter here, even in August" and "Wanna put an end to this Winter". In this short interpretation of 'Spring Day', I feel as though it is Spring in the world and yet the members are trapped in the cold of Winter. This could represent their emotional state and this state can be seen as their concept of Hell. 

While in the song, 'Winter Bear', Taehyung sings 

"She looks like a blue parrot 

Would you

come fly to me?

I want some good day, good day, good day

Good day, good day."

It could mean that Tae is stuck in Winter which is his concept of Hell and wants those good days to come back. 

The concept of Heaven, however, can be seen in the third verse.

"Imagine your face

Say hello to me

Then all the bad days

They're nothing to me 

With you"

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE 'ABOUT TIME'*

Now to elaborate on the movie 'About Time'. The movie may be a romantic fantasy drama and follows the story of a guy and a girl falling in love. However, there are also elements of familial bonds. 

The main character is Tim who finds out from his father that all the men in their family can travel back to the past. He uses this power to travel back in time to fall in love and if he ever messes up a moment, he quickly goes back in time. He finds it hard to find someone even with his powers but eventually finds a woman named Mary who he marries later on. Now, this may be the story in the beginning. However, after Tim and Mary have their first child he realizes that he can't go back in time when the baby wasn't born yet. 

The movie then proceeds and we find out his father has been diagnosed with cancer. Now, the story revolves around the relationship between his father and him. On the day of his father's funeral, we see that he travels back to one of his memories with his father and the focus is back on the relationship between the two of them. Mary then decides she wants a third child but Tim has to decide whether he wants to have another child or not. This is because he won't be able to go back to visit his father anymore if he has another child but then he decides to have another child with Mary. He goes back in time once again right before their child is born and spends one last day with his father. He and his father travel further back into the past when Tim was just a little kid and skip rocks on the beach which is something they always did together. 

The movie ends with Tim saying a few words which are:

"As all families do, we got used to life after death. 
And it was still fine. 
And things settled back to their traditional rhythms. 
Season after season and are much as they have always been."

Now, analyzing the music video for 'Winter Bear'. 

The video was directed by Taehyung and filmed some of the parts as well. 

Throughout the music video, we see Taehyung smiling and having a really 'good' time. However, at the end of the music video, Taehyung keeps the video in rewind by making the birds, people and even himself walk backwards. This could be as though he wants to go back to the time he was able to talk to his grandmother instead of imagining her. Throughout the video we see birds and Taehyung keeps looking upward or taking a video or picture upward. In some stage performances as well, Taehyung blows kisses upwards. This could mean that he is still thinking of his grandmother and constantly still remembers her. 

His focus on birds could mean about freedom but the birds that were walking backwards, I think they were black swans (I'm not sure). However, in some cultures, it is believed that black swans represent death and he also mentions that 'she' looks like a blue parrot which is a Hyacinth Macaw. In the present, Hyacinth Macaws are extinct. 

Just like in the movie, Tim keeps moving forward with Mary and the story proceeds to revolve around them but then in the middle, the main focus changes and revolves around Tim and his father. In the video of 'Winter Bear', Taehyung can be seen walking forward and continuing with his life but towards the end, he starts walking backwards. In a way, he could be saying, even though he is proceeding with his life he would never forget the precious memories he had and often revisits them. 

It's a really long post but I hope you enjoyed 😅💕 This is just my interpretation of the song and video, the interpretation of the song and video may not be the same for Taehyung.   

References:

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/v-bts-winter-bear-lyrics.html

'About Time' the movie 

https://trustedpsychicmediums.com/spirit-animals/parrot-spirit-animal/

https://www.scienceworld.ca/blog/do-bears-actually-hibernate

Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe 

Paradise Lost by John Milton