Those Wonderful Hormones
The Glory Years
Remember those adolescent years and how glorious they were? Going to school every day, sitting through classes that most likely will have no purpose in life unless one will become a doctor or engineer, and not to mention all of the hot girls strutting around in their high heels and fully made up faces! Honestly, aside from the boring schoolwork, the sight of girls sounds pretty sweet! For a guy, anyway. I bring this up because today’s review is about beautiful young women and how much of a gift they are to young adolescent men, mostly from a physical aspect. The popular K-pop idol group presenting this topic to us is the Bangtan Boys, or more commonly known as, BTS.
Rapping Young-ins
BTS appeared on the radar about a yeara ago when their single “No More Dream” captured the ears and hearts of many fans. Their sound was different from ordinary K-pop; there was a much higher hip-hop/rap feel to their early songs with little singing and mostly hard rapping and beats to follow. In the last couple years, many new groups debut with a song either about changing the world (having the listener change the world) or an explanation about how awesome the group is. BTS went for the “change the world” theme, creating a plea for the listener to take control of their lives and follow their dreams, not the ones implanted on them by society. After “No More Dream”, BTS became situated in many fans’ hearts with their shining charisma in front of the camera and their adorable goofiness away from the camera. In all of the singles released, only two of them have “stand up against society” messages. The others concentrate more on a crush of some kind, and Hormone War is one of those songs.
Break It Down!
The song starts off with the scratching of a DJ record. Being a 90s child, DJ record scratching is very nostalgic. It also adds a level of class to the song instead of present electronic sounds like dubstep. In fact, there is no dubstep in the song at all. I bring this up because it is refreshing to hear actual instruments in music (not all the time), but once in a while in this era of electronic everything. In Hormone War, the mixture of hard drums, guitars, vocals, and even wind instruments make the song sound very epic, even if the main idea of the song is that girls are awesome. BTS has a history of making these kinds of epic-sounding songs including Boy In Luv (Feburary 11, 2014) and N.O. (September 10, 2013).
Oh, What a Gentleman!
Another way Hormone War stood out to me was the use of cheesy puns in the song, my favorite being:
“여자들은 방정식 우리 남자들은 해 / Girls are like an equation, guys just do them”
This line would fit perfectly in a current American rap/pop song. One of the writers of Hormone War’s lyrics is BTS’s leader Rap Monster (not his real name obviously) and he spent a good amount of time in the United States studying English and getting acquainted with American hip-hop and rap. Along with developing a clear Brooklyn accent whenever he speaks English, it’s not surprising to see that the lyrics of American music have come through in BTS’s songs. Aspects of unique phrases not normally used in everyday conversation can be seen in the line above and the following:
“건축학개론 / Body 101”
“미적 기준이 바다면 넌 좀 심해 그 자체 / If the standard of beauty is the ocean, you’re the Seriously Sea”
I don’t know what the latter means. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
The last point I will highlight about this song is that every part of a women is appreciated in this song:
“그녀 머리 바디 허리 다리 말 못하는 범위까지 / Her hair, body, waist, legs, even her unspeakable parts”
This is appealing because the only body part highlighted in American music nowadays is the , and women are so much more than butts! The way the song mentions women’s nether regions (“her unspeakable parts”) shows how high the Korean conservative level is in the music industry world. Well, at least in the lyric writing. I can’t speak for the girl idol groups who pole dance and in their music videos, but at least the lyrics are fine for the song to be played on public radios (unlike many American pop songs that have to be edited). I see Hormone War’s lyrics as a salute to the beautiful women that make adolescent boys go crazy, not just because of butts, because of the whole picture. As a woman, I can say that is ten thousand times more respectable.
Rock On
To be honest, I wasn’t really interested in BTS when they first debuted. The underground rap sound didn’t capture my attention like many of my friends, but sometimes it takes one song after a group’s debut to get me hooked. That song was N.O., another “change the world” song about having self-confidence and following your own path. The lyrics appealed to me and the music soon followed. I’m not a die-hard fan of the group, but I do like their music style most of the time and the member’s personalities make them charming and interesting. Hormone War is a really good addition to BTS’s history and we’ll see what happens with the next comeback. Whatever happens I’m sure will be epic and worthwhile waiting for.
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