#3 - “Dionysus”. BTS (방탄소년단), 2019

A Story of the Song... The Story behind the Song Contribution by Vama Suvani and Matthew Del Nevo

“Dionysus” is the concluding song on Map of the Soul: Persona by BTS. BTS is an acronym for Bangtan Sonyeondan (방탄소년단), the most famous and successful of K-pop boy bands. They formed under the relatively small music production company Big Hit Entertainment in 2010 and made their debut in 2013. They have since then diversified their music, taking a leading part in their own song writing, oversight of production, and their own public image. They are known by their mononyms, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

Figure 1: BTS performs Dionysus at KBS Song Festival. Image source: screenshot

Map of the Soul: Persona was a five track EP released in 2019. It was followed by Map of the Soul 7 the following year. The 7 refers both to the band of 7 members and the 7 years since their debut. This album, together with Persona amount a self-analysis and depthing of themselves as artists and mapping of their personal journeys, both individually and as a group. Map of the Soul 7 was a No.1 selling album in over 20 countries world-wide and the best-selling album in the world that year. In the United States both the EP and the album 7s debuted at No.1 in the Billboard 200 chart. The EP in 2019 simultaneously topped music charts right around the world.

The story behind “Dionysius” is Murray Stein’s book, Jung’s Map of the Soul. But there is a story behind that too, a story that takes us back in time, and then forward to the 2021 when Persona was released. BTS take the title of their two major works Persona and Map of the Soul 7 from the Stein book. Jung in the title is not the Korean name but refers to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung.

So tracing the story of the song back to start with…Carl Jung (1875-1961) was the founder of Analytical Psychology, based in Zurich, Switzerland. He worked with psychotic patients at the Burghölzli psychiatric hospital in Zurich in Switzerland, then in 1907 he met the pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, in Vienna and joined his International Psychoanalytical Society. Jung pioneered the idea of psychological types, introverts and extroverts, he split from Freud in 1913 and turned Freud’s discovery of the psychic unconscious into that of the collective unconscious that he theorized as having archetypal structuration that was imaginal rather than conceptual, for example, Jung thought the stories of the Greeks that we call myths provided images by which the truths of the collective unconscious were told and understood. A lost knowledge that Jung and Jungians in his wake sought to recover by an archaeology of the soul. Jung wrote on the paranormal, on synchronicity (non-linear time), he was fascinated by symbolism and religion, and he wrote on individuation.

This idea of individuation came from the German philosopher Nietzsche and means becoming all that you are. This “will-to-power” (der Wille zur Macht) appears in Nietzsche’s pivotal work, The Gay Science (1882). Becoming who you are means self-creation of one’s authentic inner reality; making it manifest from what is within one, out into the world, like an artwork, or a music album, that starts in the soul of the composer and is produced from something inaudible within the composer’s mind to something audible and able to be played and danced. It is the law of manifestation known in Eastern religion. This idea of “modern man in search of a soul” – or woman for that matter – is back of Jungian individuation theory, and back of these two albums, which are the inner storytelling of who BTS are and how they became all that they are today.

The link between Korea and Carl Jung is the novel Demian (1919) by Herman Hesse, that every Korean High schooler reads in Korean translation. This is a story about individuation, becoming all that you are. Hesse met Jung in 1917, and the two became friends.  Demian gives an account of Jung’s map of the soul.

Figure 2: BTS Map of Soul: Persona album cover. Image source

Now coming back up to date. Korean teens, Hesse, Jung and Murray Stein, author of Jung’s Map of the Soul are interconnected. Murray Stein is one of the world’s most prominent and authoritative Jungian therapists and theorists alive today. Canadian by birth, a Yale graduate, Stein is president of the Jung institute in Zurich, where he lives and works. His book Jung’s Map of the Soul is where BTS took their title for both the Persona EP and 7 album.

The number 7 has a loaded symbolic psychological meaning in Jung’s cutting edge work on alchemy, just as it does in the Bible, 7 is number of fullness, the Sabbath, a day set apart, declared good by God, a day of rest and family togetherness. Persona, from Latin, is a Jungian concept of a social self that is not the true self, although it may contain aspects of the true self.

Dionysus is the Greek god of wine and grape harvest (this is referenced in Persona’s concept photos). He is also the god of theatre, insanity, and holy inspiration.

Figure 3: Dionysus Greek God of Wine & Ecstasy. Image source

Dionysus was considered an outcast in Olympus as he was the only Olympian with a mortal mother. So, he established a group of dedicated followers separate from the other Olympians. This creates a parallel to how BTS were considered outcasts in the K-Pop industry since they came from a small company.

Dionysus is also known for entering a room and making everyone in his presence dance because his music and wine freed his followers from social constraint and false social personae.

Here, a reference is made to the staff Dionysus carries, Thyrsus which is made of reed and ivy. Thyrsus is a symbol of prosperity, fertility, hedonism, and pleasure/enjoyment in general. The Korean word for grape is also a metaphor for empty seats at a concert. Here they are referencing the lack of empty seats at their concerts; hence, prosperity.

Another reference is made to Thyrsus. RM says his mic is made of ivy and rough wood, hence comparing it to Thyrsus and symbolizing prosperity and enjoyment. Perhaps these release the artist and the fan from their persona, their inauthentic self, and release their hidden self.  The staff is in this sense like a wand, the magic is the music.

Here, RM engages in wordplay: The Korean word for “art” is 예술 (yesul), while, the Korean word for “alcohol” is 술 (sul). RM links the two words linguistically and equates art to alcohol. Art can be as intoxicating as alcohol in its own way. Both can offer intense pleasure and satisfaction to those who choose to consume it.

Dionysus was the Greek god of partying and his parties were often associated with ritual madness and ecstasy, reflecting the chaos and darker sides of gaining pleasure. Here, BTS references their diligence in the studio to be extremely rewarding, despite the seemingly never ending workload. They reflect that even though they labor everyday to the point of exhaustion, they have no-one but themselves to blame as it is their own “greed” for music and success that pushes them onwards. This furthers the narrative of intoxicating oneself with art.

Here, a possible parallel can be found with BTS’ song “Dope” (2015), which also portrays music-making as a kind of all-consuming rave that the artists have willingly thrown themselves into.

Dope’s lyrics go:

All the time in “Dope” they sing that they have what it takes but they have to put the work in. Creativity and success is not an easy ride as outsiders may think.  “Dionysius” take it up.

Here, they continue to compare art to alcohol. Like alcohol, intoxication with art also has its consequences. “The pain of creation” can be directly compared to the negative effects of alcohol.

Alcohol is known to lower one’s inhibitions and makes one confident to do things they might usually not have the courage to do. After taking one shot of either literal alcohol or art (which RM stated earlier is alcohol too), one becomes adequately emboldened and mentally prepared.

Dionysus was the god of wine, ritual madness and religious ecstasy. These lines from the chorus are the epitome of Dionysus’ purposes because the repeated references to alcohol are symbolic of the ceremonious yet borderline insane level of personality Dionysus possessed and was perceived as by his followers. Yet this is what success takes.

A common effect of alcohol is acting more freely than one would when sober, or the drunk state can be seen as one’s natural state which one represses and conceals from the outside world – the authentic self, not the persona. The lyrics say to fall into ‘artistry’ which foretells the fall from the persona (or your sober self) into the part of the shadow self, the dark or hidden self, which is your free drunk self (with either alcohol or art) experiencing Dionysian ecstasy. This is the ecstasy of creativity and art that comes from their authentic selves, released metaphorically by alcohol, from the constraints of the persona that they are known by in the media and in their public image.

RM’s earlier analogy between art and alcohol is continued here. The lyrics compare continuously art and alcohol both linguistically and figuratively. Ongheya (옹헤야) is a Korean folk song that Korean peasants sang while they worked. It is also used as an excited reaction word in old Korean, but mostly used in traditional folk songs to uplift the hard work of harvesting. This phrase is similar to the 얼쑤 좋다 (ursu johda) in their song “Idol” from the previous Love Yourself: Answer compilation album (2018), a song that also utilizes Korean folk music elements. Through the use of this phrase, BTS also ensures they keep elements of South Korean culture prevalent in their music. To them, the alignment with the folk culture is part of staying true to themselves in the K-pop industry of “chaos”.

Here, the lyrics compare the feeling of alcoholic drunkenness (voices not being clear like mumbles, tumbling with a loss of balance) with the thrill of music and the excitement of the stage. The lyrics tell us how they lose themself in the performance as soon as the music begins. It’s as if they become different people, godlike, like Dionysus.

The bass drum and the repeat of ‘dum dum dum’ is also likely a reference to a heart beating fast, both when drunk and when exhilarated or nervous during the performance. Depending on the situation your heart beating fast can either feel good or frightening. Either way, it signals a sensation that can feel good and be (literally) intoxicating, but with a clear head can also be seen as dangerous and a sign of unhealthy behaviour.

Depending on the situation your heart beating fast can either feel good or frightening. Either way, it signals a sensation that can feel good and be (literally) intoxicating, but with a clear head can also be seen as dangerous and a sign of unhealthy behaviour.

In Greek mythology, Dionysus was born twice: he was first born from Semele, but she died. While she was dying Zeus implanted Dionysus on his leg and then gave birth to him, hence twice born.  The idea of rebirth was also referenced earlier in the song’s second verse: “At last I’m reborn (우린 두 번 태어나지)”. And Suga’s line here continue the idea of rebirth:

These lines are also in reference to RM’s starting lines in “Idol”:

All these lines tie together with BTS’ themes of conflicting identities within oneself, beneath the media persona and public image show up a Jungian interpretation of the soul, the inner person or what Jung called the Self. These lines present the idea that despite BTS’ varying personas of “idol” or “artist” in the public eye, it is ultimately their own perceptions of themselves that fuel what they do. This is as it should be according to Jung’s map of the soul, which requires individuation, the working out of the inner person into outward destiny.

This line by Suga can be interpreted in different ways. He may be thirsty for artistry, achievements, fame, or financially. It is possible that he feels as though he is capable of more and better in one or various of these regards. This line can also be connected to Suga’s rap in “Home”, another of the tracks on Persona, where he talks about the feeling of missing something despite having reached unparalleled levels of success and artistry-

“The illest”

The song ends on a phrase with double meaning. It is a slang for ‘the best’ but it can also mean behaviour that is not healthy.

The motif of excess and the theme of their creative process and artistry is continued into their Map of the Soul: 7 tracks “Interlude: Shadow” and “Black Swan”, songs which both tap into and express the unconscious side of the artists’ persona.

Watch the official music video of Dionysus here.

Find the lyrics and English translation of the song here.

Vama Suvani is a high school student whose interest lies in English literature and History. She writes articles and poems on a variety of topics relatable to teenagers. Vama Suvani published a shorter version of this article in The Teen Magazine.

Matthew Del Nevo is a Professor of Philosophy in Sydney College of Divinity and author of Melancholy, Poetry and Soulmaking, and Finding Harmony.

Vama Suvani and Matthew Del Nevo ©, please do not reproduce without prior permission.