Track 12 of Map of the Soul: 7 album.

Written by: Supreme Boi, Suga, RM, Hiss noise, j-hope, icecream drum

This ended up being a lot longer than I expected and I’m too tired. If you see any errors, please ignore them. I’ll have another look tomorrow…

욱, the Korean title for this song is pronounced Ook/Oog. This word is a very specific term relating to anger, non-existent in English, and I sometimes wonder if BTS does this to torture the translators. The term is often used as a verb, to be 욱/욱하다. The easy translation of someone who gets 욱 would be to say he’s easily angered. But there is a bit of… a flavor to this word. I don’t know if I can explain it.

This is what people will do when your anger quickly rises like a substance inside you. Similar English expression would be “rising bile” as expression of anger, and you “swallow the bile” as you try to suppress the anger down. Except that the expression also implies the anger rose really fast, over almost nothing important, because the person gets angry easily.. like being angry at the drop of a hat.

The actual first split second of trying to swallow the rapidly rising anger is what is expressed by the word 욱. I think it’s kind of like you strain, hold your breath, put on a constipated face, and almost gasp out an “Uck…” as the anger rises really quickly inside. This attempt to swallow the anger may succeed, or fail and cause an anger outburst.

I tried to look up photos that express this emotion and got this picture of Hulk. This split second before he goes on a rampage is the part where he is 욱.

Essentially, people have this angry, constipated expression when they’re being 욱. They may then go on an angry rampage or they may not. I’m sure you know people who always have that angry constipated face because they get offended and angry so easily, even if they don’t actually go on a rampage like Hulk…. and they’re not necessarily pleasant either.

The song later does goes on to talk about acting out in this anger with hate. But in addition to acting out in hate, it is about being offended easily and always being angry over every little thing.

I’ll use the word “angered” or “ugh” in the translation below to keep things simple….

Also, there are some ramblings (only a little related to this song) at the bottom of this post about Pengsoo, Bonobono, how to torture graphic artists, and BTS staff with sadistic sense of humor.

Crackling, again that spark is burning up

Before it touches the fuel, (they) swallow it up

Probably will get swept away, Yea yea mmm.

The word spark is 불씨 (boolssi). They have used this word to mean “bullshit” in the past (in the first line of Cypher Pt 1).

So the first line could mean, Crackling, again that bullshit is firing up/becoming hot issue.

Despite the spark being something dangerous, these people swallow it up quickly. If you can think of flame as anger, I guess they’re impatient to be angry. And because they’re impatient to be angry, they’re also fast to swallow up bullshit, without fact checking or thinking whether this anger is the right thing.

The third line of getting “swept away” is often used to describe masses of people who are easily swayed without their own thoughts, almost like people who are like sheep or lemmings in English.

Even though these people willingly swallowed this spark of anger, they’re not actually acting out in anger out of their own unique beliefs as they think. Actually, the people who are easily angered are also the easiest targets to to be fed bullshit information and to be manipulated. So they get swept up like sheep and follow in their blind righteous anger.

The “Yea Yea, mmm” is fun too. The “yea” is kind of polite form of “yes” in Korean, and people will say “yea yea mmm/예 예 음” in situations where you’re just trying to agree to get the other angry person to finish their rant and stop talking. It’s kind of the “in one ear and out the other” type of listening and agreeing we do, when dealing with people who are constantly talking about how offended they are.

Today, the player enters the scene

Grabbing their chance yeah

They take the bait and then

Doong doong doong, (another) becomes the village drums, doong doong doong.

I put in (another) there because they don’t specify the subject but it implies that someone else (not the angry hater) become the village drum.

“The player (or expert/pro) enters the scene” is an old Korean movie cliche. It’s like a self announcement of “I have arrived!” in a “I’m the best and I’m here and you guys are all doomed” type of cringe dialogue from years ago. It’s become an old cringy meme, to refer to people who think they’re so important, but are actually just cringe.

The phrase “they take the bait” again expresses the idea that they’re not as free thinking as they think. They’ve been fed a bait (or bullshit) and they’ve been easily lured like fish.

Doong is the sound of a drum.

A village drum is a drum where anyone in the village can hit without guilt. It is a commonly used metaphor for someone who everyone feels no guilt in bullying, not because it’s right but because you can use the excuse “but everyone does it”.

Actually, BTS in the first few years of their career would have been a perfect example of the “village drum” in the Kpop industry. Their haters created so much hate and bashing against them and it became so commonplace that even non-Kpop fans thought it was normal and acceptable to slander BTS. They’re now called the “group that managed to rise back from hell” in Kpop communities.

Took took, they lightly bother, without reason took took, yeah.

“Took” is like “nudge”. “Nudge nudge” … like trying to pretend they don’t mean harm, to provoke so that if you’re angry in return, they can say you’re the bad one.

If there’s no response, then they just submerge you, pook pook yeah.

Submerge, is kind of kind of gangster expression for killing people, I think. Essentially means they’ll drop the subtleties and show what they really wanted, which was to destroy you. Pook is sound effect for stabbing deeply.

The truth can become a lie too

The lie can become a truth too

Here, everyone become a person with moral reasoning and perfect judgement.

What a laugh.

Yep. Sometimes misplaced righteous anger from a moral high horse is really the hardest type to deal with.

Fury? Of course it’s needed.

There is a a reason when it burns up

In a way, it’s our history

Sometimes it changes the world.

But this is not fury, but human excrement

분노/boon-no = fury

분뇨/boon-nyo = human excrement

What is fury, you know?

Pretending to be fury, they kill the real fury.

The countless people who have become sick of it

You’re not just killing me

We’re used to stepping on shit anyway

Look at those people who have become desensitized

Human excrement and indifference, you guys are a team.

Eh

“We’re used to stepping on shit anyway” is derived from a common saying “똥밟았다 생각하고 그냥 잊어버려/just think of it as stepping on shit and try to forget it.” When something or someone bad happens and you’re agonizing what you did wrong to deserve or cause this, people will say this to you. It means that sometimes you encounter bad things in life, through no fault of your own, just out of bad luck – just like accidentally stepping on shit. And these bad things (and often bad people) are just shitty and worthless, not worth the time to think about them, and the best course of action is to forget them and put them behind you and move on.

With this line in mind, it implies that BTS are practiced in trying to not waste time on these bad things and moving forward. They’re used to having bad things happen to them, but they’re also used to putting things into perspective and are aware that some of these angry opinions are shit, not worth putting weight on them.

But of course, they worry that not everyone is able to do this and the world can be negatively affected by the excessive anger.

I am angered, angered

I am angered, angered

It’s more like, “I am being 욱, being 욱”, which I really don’t know how to translate into English without writing a whole paragraph. This part is kind of being sarcastic. You’re being angry all the time? Let me mirror you and be angry too.

I’m furious at the fury full of malice

I’m furious at the fury full of malice

I am angered, angered

I am angered, angered

I’m furious at the fury that had to be put out

I’m furious at that fury that had to be put out

Yeah, ugh ugh, just be angered ugh

or, more like, “yeah, 욱 욱, just be 욱, 욱”

Until you become ashes, just be angered ugh

Yeah, ugh ugh, just be angered ugh

Until you break, just be angered ugh

This part is being sarcastic too. Kind of like, “If you wanna be angry so much, fine, go ahead and be angry.”

I am angered, angered

I am angered, angered

I’m furious at the fury full of malice

I’m furious at that fury that had to be put out

This world, is ruled by fury

Everyone must need fury in order to live

To be furious, then again be furious and furious again

Go insane like that ugh ugh ugh

There are tens of thousands of reasons they’re furious about

Whether with good intentions or malice,

If they can similarly let them be furious

If it causes harm to others’ lives, I don’t like

Then stop ayy

With someone’s action, someone is hurt

With someone’s words, someone is made hopeless

Someone’s split second becomes someone’s moment

Someone’s fury becomes someone’s life.

Damned rotten.. ptui!

I am angered, angered

I am angered, angered

I’m furious at the fury full of malice

I’m furious at that fury that had to be put out

“Ah, so what about getting cursed a bit?

You earn good money, so why are you whining again?

You should be willing to put up with at least that much, ahem”

Weird, I’ve actually read these exact sentiment multiple times on multiple Korean forums, directed to both BTS and other Kpop stars. I never understood when Kpop fans/communities say the celebrity should do what they say just because they bought albums. I mean, even parents who give birth and raise their children often don’t get to tell them how to live their lives, so it’s really baffling to me that fans or random strangers will think they have some kind of power over these stars.

“Ahem ahem ahem ahem

You guys, ahem ahem”

“Ahem” is clearing throat to try to get attention, so someone can express their opinion. There is extra layer in Korean context of “ahem” sounding pretentious and snobby like your opinion is soooo important. But even without that, these lines exaggerate the speech of people who are always trying to constantly express their “superior” opinion, all the time…

“Ahem ahem ahem

If you got me to do that, I’d be able to put up with all of it.

You guys, ahem

You guys, ahem ahem ahem ahem

If you got me to that, I’d just ahem, bhem, ahem”

Why is there a “B-hem” hidden among the “A-hem”? lol

Yeah, ugh ugh, just be angered ugh

Until you become ashes, just be angered ugh

Yeah, ugh ugh, just be angered ugh

Until you break, just be angered ugh

I am angered, angered

I am angered, angered

I’m furious at the fury full of malice

I’m furious at that fury that had to be put out

I’m not terribly familiar with Pengsoo, but I know he’s also a bit of a meme character. He’s from a kid’s program with adult black humor, parodying annoying behavior and hiding behind the identity of a kid friendly character to get away with it.

The “ahem” in this song sounds similar to “ahem” that Pengsoo often uses…. pronounced as “et-hem” in Pengsoo speech. Here is a song made with his “et-hems.”

The lyrics are: Et-hem Et-hem, I’m excited, I’m excited..

You can see BigHit staff references this in the banner from the MOTS: 7 Vlive Comeback Special.

There is a faint picture of Pengsoo on the banner. In addition, the writing on the banner says:

BTS comeback Et-hem Et-hem I’m so excited

Waiting will not do that thing.

Also referencing when Pengsoo once said “Hard work will not do that thing” instead of “Hardwork will not be betrayed” because he couldn’t remember the word “betray.”

So the banner essentially means “Waiting will not be betrayed.”

Somewhat unrelated and branching into random things, these colorful banners with Bonobono (an anime from 1980s) have plagued the BTS comeback specials since WINGS era.

This is from a meme about how to torture a graphic designer. There was a PowerPoint done by a beginner with Bonobono as background, thought to be one of the worst example of ppt layout. This combined with other bad graphic memes (with clashing colors) gave birth to the worst possible graphic design combination meme.

And there seems to be staff at BitHit who is very sadistic and loves to torture people intentionally with the worst possible graphic design.