Purple is not just a color
At the 3rd Muster held in Seoul, in 2016, Taehyung said in one of his speeches: “Purple is the last color of the rainbow, it means I will believe and love you for a long time”, and although soon afterwards he told us he had just invented such a concept, he continued by saying “I hope to see you guys for a long time, like the meaning of purple. Also, we’ll always believe and walk with you.”¹ Taehyung may have not realized that then, but he had just turned a color into something we often can’t explain: love.
Purple has never been one of my favorite colors, and while writing this text, during one of my research projects, I discovered that I was not alone. For Color Psychology, violet is the color of ambivalent feelings. People reject it more than they appreciate it. Heller (2013) brings us an overview with numerous references to the color and its nuances: violet, purple and lilac. The author claims that for 12% of women and 9% of men, violet is the least favorite shade. Only 3% of women and men quoted violet as their favorite color.
Furthermore, in studies on color, the author states that purple is absolutely lightproof, since it is generated by it. Therefore, in the past, when almost all colors faded, purple was considered as the symbolic color of eternity. Violet is the most unique of colors. There’s nothing we wear or have around us that is violet by nature. And based on these discoveries, violet reveals that the choice was consciously directed towards a special color.
Since “I purple you”, or “Borahae (보라해)” was created, it has been recorded in Naver’s dictionary — “The term was coined 11/13/16 by Taehyung. In the same speech, quoted above, he says: “You don’t need to help us all the time. Now you can hold our hands and follow us. We’ll really come very high.” If we went back in time to try to understand the context of that sentence, we would see the sad reality of that time, when the group still suffered from media boycotts and massive attacks by haters, with only ARMY to lean on and vice versa. I hope BTS knows today that they have reached high and even though many of us haven’t been there since the beginning, we will always support them.
In 2018, Magic Shop was released, and it conveys the message that if fans look into their hearts, they will find a place called the Magic Shop where they can exchange their fears and anxieties for the certainty of finding the love that all of the members have for them. The song is inspired by James Doty’s Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, whose main concept addresses the importance of opening your heart and loving yourself and others.
“Let’s make a door in your heart
Open the door and this place will be waiting
It’s okay to believe, the Magic Shop will comfort you”
Magic Shop — BTS, 2018
Violet is the most intimate color of the rainbow. It is transmitted to the invisible ultraviolet. Therefore, this color marks the boundary between the visible and the invisible. So, how could we not think that this color, that represents comfort and connection between ARMY and BTS, cannot be summed up in the word CONNECTION?
In Mikrokosmos, BTS draws an analogy to the idea of microcosm, in which each person is their own universe. They compare the 7 billion people in the world with the billions of universes that make up the cosmos. A life alone may seem insignificant, but it is just as important as the stars and giant universes. We can’t deny the way the group uses these analogies to try to express how much BTS and ARMY brighten and fill each other’s lives.
“A story in a person
a star on a person
7 billion different worlds
Shining with 7 billion lights”
Mikrokosmos — BTS, 2019
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic everything has changed: our way of living life, our routine, our work and, above all, our relationships. Whatever we knew and were used to no longer exists in infinite contexts, even for the BTS members. The stages and face-to-face contact with ARMY were circumstances that had no concrete forecast to happen again.
Even with the use of technological means as one of the main sources of interaction between BTS and fans, it was impossible not to feel the impact of the pandemic which forced the world into isolation. The tour was canceled, and the members could not meet ARMY in person. Several times the members have talked about how important it is for them to be at concerts with their fans and therefore how they felt frustrated during the pandemic, which took that possibility away from them and from the fandom. (GUIMARÃES, 2021) There are those who say that without this contact the relationship between artist and fans tends to subside, but maybe that person doesn’t know the relationship between BTS and ARMY.
It was through online events and appearances such as BangBangCon, MOTS ON:E, lives, Dear Class 2020 and others that we consolidated the relationship between fans and artists. We were more connected than ever! The BE album, which we can consider as a gift to the fandom, is a proof of how much we comforted each other and a demonstration of tremendous intimacy between the group and ARMY.
According to Brown (2016), intimacy is related to vulnerability and compassion. Both practices involve a relationship between equals and the recognition of humanity in themselves and in the other. In Stay, when they talk about “7G”, it refers to a metaphor for the connection with the seven members as well as conveying the message that “even if we are far away, stay where you are, we will reach you”
“I’m thinking about you now
Wherever you are
It does not matter
We connect to 7G”
Stay — BTS, 2020
This year, as another gift for fans, and conveying the message that a new era will begin, the group delivered Permission To Dance, a MV filled with reflections and visual representations such as the purple balloons, which represent our connection and hope as a sign that we are somehow moving towards the end of this heavy period we’ve been experiencing since 2020. When Jimin and Taehyung hand out purple balloons to children they are showing us how our future is connected with that first step. Right after that — a chilling moment — the people in the MV take off their masks showing us all that we shouldn’t worry and that this bad moment will pass!
“There is nothing that can stop how we move, yes
Let’s break our plans
And live as if we were golden”
Permission To Dance — BTS, 2021
In addition to this, the group included various elements of international sign language in the choreography which proves us once again that music has no barriers. The message that remains is that it’s not just about music, the color purple today doesn’t simply represent a color shade. It means, for us ARMY’s, the purest connection with love.
“Please don’t forget that whether we win the Grammy or not, we already have what we wanted and we have you, so that means we have it all.”
— Kim Namjoon
“Got ARMY right behind us when we say so”
Translate by: Ana Fonseca
Portuguese version: O roxo não é apenas uma cor
References:
¹BTS Brasil ON — Significado de “I PURPLE YOU — 보라해” | BTS (방탄소년단) [Vídeo]. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdl6pgMt8r4&t=147s
² HELLER, Eva. A psicologia das cores: como as cores afetam a emoção e a razão. São Paulo: Gustavo Gili, 2013.
방탄소년단 (BTS). Stay. Produzida por: Arston; escrita por: Arston, JungKook, RM e Jin; arranjada por: RM e Pdogg. CD digital. Faixa 07. Big Hit Entertainment, 2020. CD digital. Faixa 07.
방탄소년단 (BTS). Stay (English Translation). Genius, [s.d.]. Disponível em: https://genius.com/Genius-english-translations-bts-stay-english-translation-lyrics Acesso em: 18 agosto 2021.
방탄소년단 (BTS) Butter. Produzida por: Ron Perry, Rob Grimaldi & Stephen Kirk; escrita por: Ron Perry, Sebastian Garcia, Alex Bilowitz, RM, Stephen Kirk, Rob Grimaldi e Jenna Andrews; arranjada por: Pdogg. BIGHIT MUSIC, 2021.
방탄소년단 (BTS) Butter (Tradução em português). Genius, [s.d.]. Disponível em: https://genius.com/Genius-brasil-traducoes-bts-butter-traducao-em-portugues-lyrics Acesso em: 18 agosto 2021
방탄소년단 (BTS) Magic Shop (English Translation). Genius, [s.d.]. Disponível em: https://genius.com/Genius-english-translations-bts-magic-shop-english-translation-lyrics Acesso em: 18 agosto 2021.
방탄소년단 (BTS) Mikrokosmos (English Translation). Genius, [s.d.]. Disponível em: https://genius.com/Genius-english-translations-bts-mikrokosmos-english-translation-lyrics Acesso em: 18 agosto 2021.
방탄소년단 (BTS) Permission To Dance (Tradução em português). Genius, [s.d.]. Disponível em: https://genius.com/Genius-brasil-traducoes-bts-permission-to-dance-traducao-em-portugues-lyrics Acesso em: 18 agosto 2021.
GUIMARÃES, Gabrielle. Relação entre ARMY e BTS em tempos de pandemia Disponível em: https://gabrielleguimaraes.medium.com/rela%C3%A7%C3%A3o-entre-army-e-bts-em-tempos-de-pandemia-d5b96fdd51cd
