BTS - Intro: Persona (English Translation)
BTS - Intro: Persona (English Translation) Lyrics
Yo
[Verse 1: RM]
Who am I? The question I had my whole life
The question which I probably won’t find an answer to my whole life
If I were answerable with a few more words
Then God wouldn’t have created all these various beauties
How you feel? How’re you feeling right now?
Actually I’m real good but a little uncomfortable
I'm still not so sure if I'm a dog or a pig or what else
But then other people come out and put the pearl necklace on me
Ptui!
I laugh more than I did before
I dreamt of becoming a superhero
Now it feels like I really became one
But as it goes on there’s so much blabbering
One says, "Run" another says, "Stop"
This one says, "Look at the forest" that one says, "Look at the wild flower"
[Verse 2]
My shadow, I wrote and called it hesitation
It has never hesitated after becoming that
It keeps appearing under the stage or the light
Keeps glaring at me scorchingly like a heat wave (Oh shit)
Hey, have you already forgotten why you even started this
You were just digging it that someone was listening
Sometimes everything sounds like freakin' nonsense
You know what comes out of you when you're drunk.. like immaturity
Someone like me ain't good enough for music
Someone like me ain't good enough for the truth
Someone like me ain't good enough for a calling
Someone like me ain't good enough to be a muse
The flaws of mine that I know
Maybe that's all I've got really
The world is actually not interested in my clumsiness at all
The regrets that I don't even get sick of anymore
I tumble with them every night until I'm disgusted
And twist the irreversible time habitually
There's something that raised me up again every time
The first question
The three syllables of my name and the word 'but' that should come before any of those
[Chorus: RM]
So I'm askin' once again yeah
Who the hell am I?
Tell me all your names baby
Do you wanna die?
Oh do you wanna go?
Do you wanna fly?
Where's your soul? where's your dream?
Do you think you're alive?
[Bridge: RM]
Ah, shit
I don't know man
But I know one thing
My name is R
The 'me' that I remember and people know
The 'me' that I created myself to vent out
Yeah maybe I have been deceiving myself
Maybe I've been lying
But I'm not embarrassed anymore this is the map of my soul
Dear myself
You must never lose your temperature
Cuz you don't need to be neither warm nor cold
Though I might sometimes be hypocritical or pretend to be evil
This is the barometer of my direction I want to keep
The 'me' that I want myself to be
The 'me' that people want me to be
The 'me' that you love
And the 'me' that I create
The 'me' that's smiling
The me that's sometimes in tears
Vividly breathing each second and every moment even now
[Chorus: RM]
Persona
Who the hell am I
I just wanna go
I just wanna fly
I just wanna give you all the voices till I die
I just wanna give you all the shoulders when you cry
Persona
Who the hell am I
I just wanna go
I just wanna fly
I just wanna give you all the voices till I die
I just wanna give you all the shoulders when you cry
About
“Persona” is the intro song for BTS' MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA. Sung by BTS' rapper and leader, RM, it samples the instrumental from the group’s 2014 song “Intro: Skool Luv Affair” and is reminiscent of BTS' earlier more rock influenced sound from their mini album Skool Luv Affair. The song’s message parallels the theme in “Intro: Skool Luv Affair” as well, being a song about discovering Bangtan’s style when they first started out.
“Persona” is a self reflective song that challenges the concepts of personality and character. It depicts RM’s journey to discovering who he is as a musician and a person in general, also exploring themes of self doubt and self understanding and ending in the sentiment that he just wants to be there for someone.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In a Vlive, RM said:
“This is my solo track. One that I’ve done in almost five years after "What am I to you”. It was so much pressure and so tough. Of course it is, since it’s a solo track. I wrote and fixed the lyrics and tore the structure apart countless times. When I first got this beat, it was 2 minutes and 54 seconds. I had to fill this entire thing with rap. The structure was simple. Verse, hook, chorus, and then verse, and then hook. Another hook and out. It wasn’t anything special but I wanted to go back to the “What am I to you” feel. In “Mono”, I presented some chill and calm vibes. So I wanted to try out something wild which is my cup of tea. I really wanted to nail the rap, to fill the entire thing with rap. I started with that thought. But it was SO tough.
[…]
I [recorded] it five times in over three weeks. But I ended up going with the very first version. The one I recorded about gulping down some beer. The draft version that was done quickly. Most of the time, it happens a lot. You’d know if you plan something, it’s hard to beat the draft version. We ended up choosing the first version. Though I couldn’t get the feel I wanted, […] I loved the energy in the first version, so I ended up using the rap I did lightly at first. It happens quite often."
- 21.BTS - Intro: Persona (English Translation)
