“Winter Bear” by V (BTS)
“Winter Bear” starts off with BTS’ V arguably addressing a romantic interest. But as the track progresses, the lyrics become increasingly symbolic and thus more challenging to decipher.
As many of us know, bears hibernate in the winter. They sleep for an extended period of time. And in this song, V is also observing the addressee and comments that this individual, ‘sleeps so happily’, which reminds him of a “winter bear”. And the way he uses this metaphor in the song’s singular verse can also be interpreted as being directed towards a lover.
However, in the pre-chorus the song gets heavily-metaphorical. And the prevailing theory seems to be that the “winter bear” is actually the vocalist’s grandmother, with this song being intended to commemorate the third anniversary of her passing. FYI, V was actually raised by his paternal grandma, who left the mortal plane on 4 September 2016. And fandom has more or less concluded that this track is dedicated to her. And the sentiment he is expressing is basically that he misses her and more specifically wishes that she rest in peace.
Thus we can conclude that “Winter Bear” is actually a bereavement song. But at the same time if a listener is not privy to V’s personal history, they can also logically conclude that he is actually addressing a current lover or perhaps friend.
Facts about “Winter Bear”
- Music producer Adora produced “Winter Bear” along with fellow producer Hiss Noise. They also co-wrote the song along with V and his fellow BTS band member, RM.
- “Winter Bear” was officially released worldwide on 10 August 2019. It was a surprise drop which BTS first alerted fans about during that same day via Twitter. And being that BTS has one of the most-loyal fanbases of any pop act in the world, the song instantly went viral, which included its music video garnering in excess of five-million views in just one day.
- V also directed the music video to the song. It features footage captured in popular cities ranging from London to Paris to New York from one of BTS’ biggest world tours.
- While “Winter Bear” is not V’s first solo track, it is the first which he wrote entirely in the English language.
- V is a native of South Korea and more popularly known as part of the seven-member boy band BTS.
It’s a beautiful song,glad RM & Arora, etc helped him write this.. if it’s for his grandma, hope it gives him much peace..if it’s for a dear friend or loved one, they will keep the song close to them & for Jimin, who gave his bff the 2 bear statues v used on the cover art, it was even more special…😊
i love that song very much its very emotional and a very calming song i enjoyed it and i hope many others did as well. Rest in peace Taehyungs grandma.
Your comment is very nice
Winter beer is the most lovely song I’ve heard I’m 71 years old my hair is white I still smile but somehow I feel like a winter wear because the end is not so far away what a beautiful beautiful song it brought life back to me there’s a movie I would hate to see it’s called LadyhawkWinter bear is the most lovely song I’ve heard I’m 71 years old my hair is white I still smile but somehow I feel like I wonder where because the end isn’t so far away what a beautiful beautiful song it brought life back to me there’s a movie I would hate to see it’s called Ladyhawk Oh and I always had lovely parrots my entire life
Awk
That should read a movie I’d love you to see you put hate that’s not right
I don’t think it’s about his grandmother since there are other reasons the song was released this day and also the lyrics are all in English and the music video is set mainly in London, on tour, but whoever it is for, they’re the luckiest person
I think Winter Bear is about someone he lost, and maybe it is about his grandmother specifically, but I don’t want to assume that. In the first verse it says “She looks like a blue parrot”. Since blue parrots were a type of parrot that was really rare but went extinct a few years ago, I think this means that she was special, but now she is gone. Also, of course winter bear symbolizes something similar since bears hibernate in the winter and both sleep and the winter season symbolize death. I think by wishing her ‘goodnight’ he is saying rest in peace. I also think the part where he sang ‘Imagine your face Say hello to me, Then all the bad days, They’re nothing to me With you’ is talking about him meeting her in Heaven. I especially think this because when he told us about his grandmother’s death on stage, he said that he thinks she is in Heaven supporting them. I could be totally wrong about this, and the deep metaphors could all be coincidental and meant something else entirely, but this is what I think it means in my opinion. I love this song so much and even though it makes me cry, it fills me with so much hope. I hope you all have a good day today!💜💜💜💜
This song is beautiful I’m a massive army and I support taehyung and the rest of the boys allot. This song brings tears to my eyes everytime I listen to it but I also love listening to it because it brings back happy memories ect
Two days left in anniversary of winter bear.
Winter bear is a very emotional song. It always makes me cry. It’s my favourite😍😚😘😆 song. I think he wrote this song by addressing his grandma👵. We purple💜💜💜💜💜💜 you taehyung. Lots of love from 🇮🇳India🇮🇳. I wish his grandma rests in peace like a winter bear. Love you v. BTS ARMY FOREVER. 😭✌
I cant assume anything. I just enjoyed a lot and this song heal me so much. It is for the luckiest one.
“Imagine your face say hello to me, then all the bad days they’re nothing to me” it was heal me so so so much.
That was deep.
I have this friend who I like less nowadays but that’s only because he had to move in with meat the start of the pandemic and we drafted an actual 1-year lease so he could have a spot to temporarily call his own and not be homeless and also I can be flexible if he he needs more time to pay his rent. But stopped paying on time after six months and stopped paying after 7 but it’s not about the money. Lol my fiance calls him winter bear in secret with me and its so funny because he is so lazy, sloppy, arrogant, self centered and abrasive. But he’s the winter bear because he just does so little with the 400lbs he has that it’s comical at this point. His daily routine is to wake up around 2 or 3 in the afteroon, literally drink about 5 to 6 cans of mountain dew, play Xbox and peruse facebook for 8 hours straight, smoke at least one pack of cigarettes, listen to the song “love yourself” by Justin Bieber in the restroom once or twice, leaves messes without cleaning them up, “forgets” to flush the toilet practically every time he used the head, and flouts all the littles boundaries or rules we all try to communicate to each other to maintain a semblance of social harmony that every house has. We just call him winter bear because he is just this extremely large, self-absorbed gluttonous sloth that takes advantage of his friends hospitality leaving a vast amount of empty soda cans, full ashtrays, bags of fast food wrappers, and dirty dishes in his wake. Neither of us listen to BTS, let alone know much about them other than they are massively popular. He is just winter bear because we don’t want to use his real name when we make jokes about him in private to cope through his hijacking of our tiny house with laughter instead of tears.
Its like a lullaby for me
so soothing to the ears
When I first heard this song, I thought it was a cute song about a “Winter Bear” who seems to be like a cuddly pillow that you can wrap your arms around it, to never let it go. I thought it was an emotional time for “V” missing his grandmother. I didn’t know that he was raised by his paternal grandmother, more so now that the love he shared with her was special. No one knows what it’s like losing someone special to you, everyone’s grieving are different. In my opinion, this song has a beautiful meaning to it, lost of a loved one specialized a unique affection with each other. In the moment, the winter bear symbolizes the passing of his paternal grandmother who he has longed for and the separation that he’s feeing is accepting the loss of her and that his gramma is peacefully resting in peace and that he’ll be all right with his life changes. As for the “blue parrot come fly to me” to me that symbolizes a lover or a friend that he has found and he’s trying to reach out to that special person who he became infatuated with. Apparently, that person may have caught his heart ♥️ . I’d like to think so, that’s my opinion in this song. Very cute and very exceptional✨
the song was inspired by “about time” and the looks like a “winter bear you sleep so happily” was inspired by the scene of rachel mcadams sleeping. i dont know about that extra stuff people are saying lmao. he talked about it and explained it. some of yall are assuming way too much. he is basically wrote this song in inspiration and thought. watch the moive and you’ll see it based on his p.o.v
guys just cause it was based in london and in an english doesn’t mean it was cause he fell in love with a british girl. its based in london cause of the movie about time. and most of the lyrics are based on rachel mcadams in the scenes.
like when she was asleep. he wrote “you sleep so happily” i dont want to sound rude but like ya’ll dont know what went on during that time like who its about and what its about assuming will make fans make these useless theories.
This song is very calming like a lullaby and not just from his soft voice as he sings it.
It’s reminiscent of a song called 🎶Greensleeves🎶 that I heard for the first time while watching the 1993 version of “The Secret Garden” starring Dame Maggie Smith in the kitchen scene as dough was being rolled out by the cook.
It’s an old English song from the 16th century and if listened to as only instrumental has the effect of a lullaby. I’ve often listened to it when I’m having trouble sleeping.
I was doing research about songs and when I came across this I started crying because after V’s paternal grandmother passed away, it was only a few months after that,my paternal grandmother whom I adored heavily passed away, she was my favorite person and her death was a shock, and this song reminds me of the fond young memories I have of her and since she lives in a different country, I wasn’t able to see her before she passed. This song reminds me of her and its really sad but its also amazing
Love it bestie
The song makes me remember my grandma. Well, for me, she was the sweetest…
All I can say is “V, may I be your second grandmother”?
This is such a beautiful and calming song …. absolutely loved it !! Love you loads V … may you create more beautiful and soul stirring songs … God bless !!
All I will say is the song is a better piece of work. And the love that two of them share is something you don’t see much in this world today. They each have a winter bear and the world could be so lucky. We are Fortunate to be able to experience the friendship, the love, the happiness, the beautiful moments they allow us to witness. They will change the world
If it is about is grandma, perhaps walking backwards was metaphorical of him wanting to go back in time to see her again. However, at one stage he walks forward, suggesting that it isn’t possible and he needs to move on. It would also explain all the travelling. Wating to get away and stimulate himself so he can forget her. But he can’t.