Sophia Michaels
After a year of anticipation, BTS’s Jimin has finally released his prerelease single, “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” off his upcoming album “Face,” which will be released on March 24. Jimin teased fans with two 30-second clips of the single and music video on March 14 and 15, showing him in a black leather jacket with his backup dancers all dressed in black. The final product did not disappoint, with a hip-hop-tinged track featuring powerful horns and a choir providing haunting backing vocals.
The song is about Jimin facing his fans and haters as his true self, no matter how scary it may be. He sings, “I won’t hide anymore even if it hurts,” and “I won’t stop even if they mock me.” He calls out his haters, exclaiming, “Just get out of my way! Shut up, f*ck off! I’m on my way.” But ultimately, the song continually circles back to Jimin finding his freedom to pursue the path he wishes. “Fly away, butterfly. Finally free,” he sings at multiple points in the song.
The music video for “Set Me Free Pt. 2” is simple yet powerful. It shows Jimin dancing among his backup dancers in what looks like a panopticon, covered head to toe in black. At the song’s midpoint, the screen goes dark, only for Jimin to emerge from the darkness with no shirt under his leather jacket, revealing words in gothic font tattooed all over his torso. Dancers swarm around Jimin throughout the video and point at him and mock him when he sings lyrics like, “I won’t stop even if they mock me,” but by the end of the video, they lift him up into the air as he sings, “Set me free,” over and over. When they drop him to the ground in the last few seconds of the video, he’s suddenly wearing a loose-fitting white outfit that reveals some of the moon tattoos running down his spine — much softer than his previous look.
Super-sleuth fans figured out that the words tattooed on Jimin’s torso are actually a German poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. The poem goes:
I live my life in ever widening circles, each superseding all the previous ones. Perhaps I never shall succeed in reaching the final circle, but attempt I will. I circle around God, the ancient tower, and have been circling for a thousand years, and still I do not know: am I a falcon, a storm, or a continuing great song?
The music video ends as Jimin turns his head to look back at the camera, seemingly teasing what’s to come in his next music video for “Like Crazy.”
After a year of waiting, BTS’s Jimin has finally debuted as a solo artist with his prerelease single “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” off his upcoming album “Face,” which will be released on March 24. The song is about Jimin facing his fans and haters as his true self no matter how scary it may be. The accompanying music video sees Jimin dancing among his backup dancers in what looks like a panopticon, covered head to toe in black. At the song’s midpoint, he emerges from the darkness with no shirt under his leather jacket, revealing words in gothic font tattooed all over his torso. The words are actually a German poem by Rainer Maria Rilke about living life in ever widening circles and circling around God. By the end of the video, Jimin is wearing a loose-fitting white outfit that reveals some of the moon tattoos running down his spine — much softer than his previous look — as he turns his head to look back at the camera.
