“The Astronaut” by Jin (BTS)

As with virtually every K-pop love song, it can be said that this one (“The Astronaut”) doesn’t read explicitly romantic. But all things considered, you can tell that the addressee is the vocalist’s sweetheart. For instance, when pop singers get to referencing “heaven”, as Jin does in the chorus, it is invariably a metaphor for amorous/romantic gratification.

So with that in mind, from a creative perspective what we are met with here really isn’t anything original, i.e. these lyrics being based on a motif whereas they are replete with references to astronomical bodies and occurrences. 

In fact, this is the same shtick that Coldplay and BTS utilized on “My Universe“, a song they collectively dropped not too long ago. So apparently Coldplay, who are recognized as the main writers of “The Astronaut”, still had that track fresh in their minds when they penned this one. 

And it also appears as if Jin may be moving ahead in his solo artistry along a similar and also already-trodden vein, i.e. portraying himself as an alien or what have you.

Jin

Jin, as you undoubtedly know, is a member of the K-pop guy group BTS, an act that can be considered the greatest musical phenomenon of the early 21^st century. 

However, throughout the years BTS has been together, he also dropped a handful of solo joints, and his latest offering (as of this writing) in that regard is “The Astronaut”. This is a track which Big Hit Music (the same label behind BTS) made public on 28 October 2022. 

But although Jin has already come out with a handful of tracks that he held down individually, he described this as being his first true solo debut. This is because it is part of a larger project (i.e. album) under his own name.

Credits for “The Astronaut”

The entirety of British rock outfit Coldplay are credited as co-writers of this song. We therefore have the following names as being this song’s official co-writers:

• Chris Martin
• Guy Berryman
• Jonny Buckland
• Will Champion

The production was done by well-known Norwegian DJ Kygo alongside Bill Rahko. 

Jin also receives co-writing credits on “The Astronaut”. So do Joan La Barbara and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018). And concerning that diversity in authorship, as the story goes this is a piece that basically the Coldplay gang wrote and gave to Jin.

To note Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, also pops up in the music video to this track. And on its day of release, “The Astronaut” was also given its live premiere, with Jin performing it alongside Coldplay at a concert the latter headlined in Buenos Aires as part of their tour dubbed Music of the Spheres. 

And to note Coldplay has worked with BTS itself in the past, on a very-successful 2021 track titled “My Universe”.

The music video to this song was directed by Yong Seok Choi.