Euphoria (BTS song)

"Euphoria" is a song by South Korean boy band BTS, sung as a solo by member Jungkook. It was released August 25, 2018 with the compilation album Love Yourself: Answer. It was written by DJ Swivel, Candace Nicole Sosa, Melanie Joy Fontana, ”hitman” bang, Supreme Boi, Adora, and RM, with DJ Swivel being the sole producer. Although the music video was released in April, the song was not released until August when Love Yourself: Answer was put out.^[3]

Background and release

The music video was released as a theme for 起 Wonder, a part of the Love Youself series. It shows the story line that last nearly nine minutes.^[4] The song title was first hinted at the 2017 Melon Music Awards where BTS used certain words during the live stage with “Euphoria” being one of them.^[5] Upon release, "Euphoria" trended worldwide and searches for the word increased 2883%.^[6]

Music video

Billboards described the music video, stating member V is seen jumping into the ocean, and features a variety of dark scenes such as Jungkook getting beaten up along with the other members getting caught in fires and trapped in rooms. Jin alone seems separate from the darkness, and instead is left recalling the memories of the seven men together, while Jungkook peers off into the distance. A sudden drop and cinematic shift reveal “Euphoria,” which acts as a soundtrack to scenes of the band members playing around with one another in what appears to be a run-down factory yard. The song ends as the seven men appear together at the seaside where V jumped, with the Debussy tune returning while Jin peers into a video camera and smiles, even as V is seen in the water. ^[7] Celeb mix stated the music video helped connect past narratives touched on in prior music videos.^[5]

The music video was directed by Yong Seok Choi of Lumpens.^[8] The assistant director was Lee Wonju of Lumpens. Other key personnel were Nam Hyunwoo of GDW who was the director of photography, Song Hyunsuk from Real Lighting who was the gaffer, Emma Sungeun Kim of GE Production who was the producer, and the art directors Park Jinsil and Kim Bona of MU:E.^[9]

Composition

Musically, the song has been described as future bass by Billboard. ^[10] In an interview DJ Swivel explained how "Euphoria" was made. A guitar combined with a piano leads the opening of the song, and then drums were added. There are four different sounds used for the drums in the beginning. For part B the aim was to make it sound open and bright. The featured instrument there is the synth string sound, with a sub base anchoring the section. In certain sections of the song vocal chops were placed in it to compliment the lead vocal. After section B the chorus becomes the most important part of the song with it being built around a main stab chord sound.^[11] The key of the song is in D major and is 105 beats per minute. ^[12]

Reception

The Grammys described the song as "an art-pop rabbit hole looking to the future" while Billboard stated it was a big statement piece and set the overall tone of Love Yourself: Answer as optimistic.^[13]

In the United States the song sold 15,000 digital copies in the first week of release, coming in at number twelve for the best selling songs in the country.^[14][15] In Canada the song was the nineteenth best seller upon release.^[16] Worldwide, it came in at number two for best selling songs. ^[15]

Credits and personnel

The song's credits are adapted from the CD liner notes of Love Yourself: Answer.^[17]

• Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young- producer, all other instruments, mix engineer
• Candace Nichole Sosa- producer, guitar
• Melanie Joy Fontana- producer
• ”hitman” bang- producer
• Supreme Boi- producer
• ADORA- producer, chorus, digital editing, recording engineer
• RM- producer
• Jungkook- chorus
• Slow Rabbit- additional production, vocal arrangement, recording engineer
• Hiss Noise- digital editing
• Jeong Wooyeong- digital editing

Charts