“Save ME” is a song I have always loved. And I know I’m a little late for the discussion but the way BTS’ lyrics continually change my life in positive ways is timeless. (Also I am aware that there are posts like this, but my whole purpose in doing these is to offer a different or less popular or personal view on a song.)

Anyway, let’s get into it.

“I want to breath. I hate this night.

I want to wake up. I hate being in a dream.

Locked in me, I am dead.

Don’t want to be lonely, just want to be yours.”

That is the first verse. (Sung by Jimin) Now I think the common theory on this is that the boys are talking about some significant other, but I’m gonna say the first time I read these lyrics I thought they might be talking about ARMY. Let me explain...

The first two lines make it clear that this “night” or darkness they are talking about is some small life thing. It sets the stage that there is something they were in that they want out; personified by the “night.” And another interesting thing is night and the ability to breath (line 1) have nothing to do with each other. Perhaps it’s letting on that they could see what they wanted, even if it was night, but the atmosphere, (where they were in life at that time) wasn’t giving them the freedom of breathe.

“I want to wake up. I hate being in a dream.”

So here’s where my theory begins, but it will take some explaining first. So some older ARMY will recall that around 2014-2015(ish) BTS went through a concept change of sorts. (Also, keep in mind this song was released in 2016 after that change become more of their new style.) They opted their more edgy songs for more ballads with meaning. (No shade, I enjoy every era of BTS, but it is a fact.) And as most people in the Kpop community know, concepts are decided by the artist’s label. And labels are usually really strict about the concept and allow little room for experimentation. So, I believe, that this “dream” Jimin sings he “want(s) to wake up” from is their old concept. That would fit with them previous analyzation of lines 1 and 2 about seeing the dream, but not having the freedom to pursue it. Another interesting thing, they refer to it as a “dream” which doesn’t really have a negative connotation. It could just be word choice, but perhaps they’re letting on that it’s not a nightmare, because it’s what they want, just not exactly how they wanted it.

“Locked in me, I am dead.”

In the vein of the theory I’m crafting, this starts to make sense. “Locked In me” might mean that their true selves are being suppressed. And that since their passion is what keeps the boys running, it means they are now “dead.” They wanted something so badly, but when they got it, what drove them towards it in the first place is now within them, dying.

“Don’t want to be lonely, just want to be yours.”

In keeping with the “suppressed passion” theme, this also makes more sense. Perhaps they’re calling out to us as if to say “if I can’t be loved for what I really want to do, rather than being lonely, I’ll just be what others need me to.” It seems to me they’re reckoning with they’re future as a concept, and not humans with a passion.

“Why is it so dark here without you.

It’s dangerous, broken my figure

Save me. I can’t hold myself. Can’t.”

We’re onto the next verse, sung by Jungkook. I think the first line is a carryover about trying to obtain ARMY, or love (to BTS at least lol.) It’s still “dark” and they still can’t see. He warns us that “it’s dangerous” to try to do what they are doing. (Suppressing passion.) And that it’s “broken my figure.” This is an odd line in my opinion. Of all the things to have broken, why his figure? (aka one’s physical self.) Well here’s my reasoning; it’s broken their “figure,” but not their spirit. Although they are battling they are persisting. Persisting for the next line I believe.

“Save me. I can’t hold myself. (I) Can’t.”

They’re calling out to us that we need to recognize the passion behind their songs, even if it’s not the type of ones they want. “I can’t hold myself” basically is them admitting they can’t do it alone. Pretty powerful stuff. And I think the repeated “(I) Can’t” is to emphasize that fact.

“Listen to my heart beat. It’s calling you at its own will.

In this black darkness, you are shining so bright.”

This next part is a small section sung by Jin and Taehyung right before the chorus.

“Listen to my heart beat. It’s calling you at its own will.”

I think this is saying that they’re hearts (aka their own selves) aren’t beating for them anymore. They’ve given into its beats and they’re “calling you(ARMY) at its own will.” They may not be able to do what they want how they want, but they need us to recognize their passion.

“Give me your hands, save me, save me. I need your love before I fall, fall. (x2)

Give me your hands, save me save me. (x2)”

The chorus. So, the meaning is pretty clear, they need us to “save me(them)” but this next part I’m going to talk about is a little far fetched, and I myself kinda doubt that they meant to do this, but hang with me...

So they repeat both lines twice, and if you count up the number of times they say “me” it equals the number eight. (Hang with me) One “me” for each member and that leaves one “me” leftover. Maybe...just maybe the significance of that is there’s eight “save me”s because each member is calling out to us personally and the final “me” belongs to Bighit. (their company) Here’s my reasoning, perhaps they’re saying that if we fail to save them, we fail to save Bighit, thus spelling disaster. Now of course this could just be a random coincidence but theories so...

“Tonight, moon shines more than usual. Vacant room in my memory.

The lunatic night swallows me. Please save me tonight.

Please save me tonight. (x2)

In this childish craziness you can only save me tonight.”

Yoongi’s part. So these lines are actually really interesting. So, the first line he says the “moon shines more than usual.” Why is this interesting? Well, remember how the night was compared to their problem and light to their solution? (Verse 3, line 2) Well, the “moon” is mentioned. (Aka a light source) It’s also interesting because the moon only comes out during the night, which means if night = problems, they are still in them, but now they see a light. I’m so many words, they’re gaining hope.

“Vacant room in my memory.”

I don’t know what room exactly, but perhaps a training room? Maybe this is referring to a discussion the boys may have had about this topic of suppressed passion? It’s hard to tell, but one thing is clear, it has to do with the next lines and there being hope.

“The lunatic night swallows me. Please save me tonight.

Please save me tonight. (x2)

In this childish craziness you can only save me tonight.”

The first line in this verse, about the “lunatic(crazy) night swallows me whole” is referring to that internal struggle they constantly face. That fight against passion and production. But I think overall this is a verse of hopeful sorrow like they can almost reach their dreams but are so close to giving them up, and that carries onto the nest verse...

“I have known that you are my savior, the part of me and only hands cover my sorrow.

The best of me. I have only you.

Please level up your voice to make me laugh again. Play on.“

This is Hoseok’s part, and there’s a lot to unpack here. The first part, “I have known that you are my savior,” is him (and BTS) admitting that they believe ARMY is the only way out of this night. The next sentence doesn’t make much sense in English when read, but I think that’s due to translation issues. I’ll paraphrase; you are a part of me and you cover my sorrow worth your hands. I think that’s the basic vibe we’re supposed to be getting from that, and basically, he’s saying that we (ARMY) are the reason they’re able to act as if they’re flourishing under this restricted passion.

“The best of me. I have only you.”

So that “the best of me” line I think has to do with the previous line. I think Hoseok is saying that it’s ARMY that “cover(s)...the best of me.” Or in other words, they are giving us their best selves in the situation they’ve been placed and we’re protecting them. But the next line, “I have only you” kind of lets on that we’re failing somehow. That we don’t get the full picture because we don’t see the real BTS, therefore can’t love it wholly, we’re loving personas (wink wink) if you will. Which makes the next line really sad...

“Please level up your voice to make me laugh again. Play on.“

BTS is basically asking us to keep cheering them on, even if it is “dangerous” (as Jungkook says earlier) to support the BTS persona that was created. They’re basically running themselves into a ditch of meaningless production and admitting that they can’t fix it but at least want to feel love (no matter how misled) from ARMY before they go out. And that final “play on” is haunting when that is thought about in that light...

“Thank you for making me myself. Making me able to fly.

Giving me wings. Ironing me who was wrinkled.

Breaking me who was stuffy. Waking me up who was in a dream.

Whenever I think about you sun is shining. And I throw away my sorrow.

Thanks you. Be ourselves.”

So I skipped the chorus and went to Namjoon’s part, the final part that we’ll be analyzing. (Although the chorus once again plays after this.) So for the first, he’s basically thanking us for letting him “be myself” as the translation puts it, but I should note that another way to translate this is “thank you for letting me do this” which I think may be more of the intended meaning. He’s thanking us for letting him get as far as he has.

“Breaking me who was stuffy. Waking me up who was in a dream.”

That translation is sort of vague, so I like this one better: “(thank you) for waking me from being suffocated, for walking me from a dream which I was living in”

So I believe the “suffocated” part plays into the part at the beginning where I talked about the atmosphere being unbreathable (aka they couldn’t flourish there) and he’s thanking us (ARMY) for “walking me (BTS) from a dream which I (BTS) was living in.” Once again he used the word “dream.” Not nightmare, but a dream, which is something neutral as far as negativity goes. So I believe he’s thanking us for supporting him through those hard times.

“Whenever I think about you (the) sun is shining. And I throw away my sorrow.”

He’s now saying that us (ARMY) is the light or (as mentioned before), their goals and savior. And the “throw away my sorrow” part is saying that when BTS is in a bad situation or moment in their lives, they only have to think of us and we drive away their sorrow. And no matter how hard it is for them, they’ll do it for us. And now time for the final (other than repeated chorus) line. Which, when all things are considered, is pretty chilling...

“Thanks you. Be ourselves.”

So this sounds awkward in English when translated literally, but in Korean, it is more like “thank you for being us.” Namjoon (and BTS through him) is thanking us for “being them” or being the passion they can’t have. They sacrificed their passion for what the company wanted to give us passion for them... Even when we didn’t fully realize they were suppressing their own passion, they somehow gave us a passion... Here’s the big question: Did we (ARMY) end up saving them? Well, keeping in mind this was released in 2016 and probably written in 2015 area, so this is stuff they’ve been through, not necessarily a current issue. But BTS does have a list of songs talking about this same sort of thing so it’s actually kind of hard to tell. Don’t get me wrong, since their concept shifted and Bighit gave them more freedom they seem WAY happier, but this just proves that unless we really think about it, they could be suffering for us and we don’t even know. Not to say Bighit is a bad company, it’s the best in my opinion, but contracts do exist. But one thing is for sure, this song’s meaning is completely different when mulled over...and it makes me sad to think they ever had to go through something like this. But it also makes me happy that they seem happier now, and I’m sure we can all agree they’d claim that that’s all due to ARMY.

Thanks for reading this all! I know it’s a lot but congratulations if you did. Please, leave a comment to add to the theory, disagree, or perhaps say how it may have impacted you. If you’d like me to analyze any other Kpop song lyrics, just ask and I’ll see if I can get around to them. Anyway thank you so much 💜💜💜 (Please notethat this was merely my take on it, not an attack on BTS or their message. I love BTS and would never wish to disrespect them in any way and I am sorry if I offended anyone. I will be more clear in the future. Thank you)