“Take Two” by BTS

Of late, BTS has not been dropping songs as frequently as they were a couple of years back. In fact up until the release of this track on 9 June 2023, they’ve only come out with one other single this year, a song called “The Planet”, as part of the soundtrack to a South Korean animated film titled Bastions.

As generally recognized, the reason they haven’t been as musically active is because, beginning with Jin in December of 2022, the Bangtan Boys have begun individually fulfilling their mandatory military service, as stipulated upon healthy-bodied males of South Korea. 

As scheduled, all seven of them will not complete their respective obligations and be reunited until 2025.  And as it currently stands, Jin and J-Hope are in the military. But this is still a full-fledged BTS track in that both had their pre-recorded vocals added onto it.

And it couldn’t be any other way, as the reason “Take Two” was dropped to begin with is in celebration of BTS’s 10^th anniversary, and they have proven one of the most-successful music acts in history. Their very first EP, the colorfully-titled “2 Cool 4 Skool”, officially came out on 12 June 2013. 

As such, “Take Two” was released through BigHit Music, the label that has backed BTS throughout, practically an exact decade to the date that the group’s debut EP was issued.

CREDITS FOR “TAKE TWO”

Besides J-Hope, a couple of his bandmates, RM and Suga, get writing credit for this song, as does Nois upGrader, Max Graham, Matt Thomson, Gabriel Brandes and El Capitxn. 

El Capitxn – who, unlike his name may insinuate, is actually a South Korean musician – also produced the track with Suga. And as implied earlier all seven of the Bangtan Boys, including those who haven’t yet been mentioned – Jung Kook, V and Jimin – contributed vocally to “Take Two”.

LET THE RECORDS BEGIN

As it currently stands, anytime BTS drops a standard, and may we say non-collaborative and non-soundtrack single, you can expect some records to be broken in the process. And amongst those have been set with the release of “Take Two” are:

BTS became the only act to have topped the Billboard Global 200 every year since the chart was launched in 2020. (Mariah Carey’s will likely replicate the feat later in 2023, though she has done so via one track, that being “All I Want for Christmas Is You“.)

“Take Two” debuted atop another Billboard chart which commenced in 2020 called the Global Excl. U.S.  This marks the seventh time BTS reached the summit of that listing, having done so over twice as many times as any other act.  And they are also the only musicians to have topped this list every year since its inception.

“Take Two” managed to debut at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. And in doing so, BTS has become the first South Korean act to make it onto the Hot 100 seven years in a row, with their current streak dating back to 2017.

THE LYRICS OF “TAKE TWO”

One of the aspects of BTS’s mega success which makes their musical achievements so extraordinary is the fact that their songs tend to more or less be based on the same subject matter. That would be a situation whereas the vocalist and addressee are tasked with facing a challenging future. 

But as invariably implied, so long as they do so together, then realizing the dream is achievable. And as always said addressee in this case, as generally interpreted, wouldn’t be a romantic interest, even though some of the lyrics, such as those in the bridge, may be read as such. 

Instead it would once again be the Bangtan Boys ultra-committed fandom, who are collectively known to the world as ARMY.

So with hardcore BTS songs, not collaborations or anything like that, the sentiment and storyline are always basically the same, but of course the lyrics vary. And with that being said, in this case what it appears the title is meant to point to, theoretically, is the singer and addressee being about to enter the second phase of their relationship.

That is to say that the term “take two” is one most often associated with the film industry. And what it represents is the second filming of a particular scene. 

“Can’t you see the take two?
Stories unfoldin’ just for you”

So in the pre-chorus, when Jin asks “can’t you see the take two”, in context that reads as if he may recognize that he and the addressee, as noted earlier, are about to enter a second phase. And said phase would be one in which they are most notably reaffirming their youth. 

So if the vocalist is in fact referring to the phenomenon known as BTS now entering its second decade of existence, then what he may be saying is that they intend to do so, with their fandom, as invigorated as ever.

But that said, this is a song that is actually rendered, in large part, in Korean. So we’re dealing with a translation which may be such that certain notions became more complicated along the way. But as generally depicted, the relationship between the vocalist and addressee is such that they remain united and optimistic (even in hardship, such as hypothetically the Bangtan Boys concurrently being in the military). 

But as most clearly relayed in the second verse, the former perceives the latter as being his strength and source of inspiration.