Spring Day (song)
The song received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its production, sentimental lyrics and BTS' vocal delivery.
Commercially, the song was a success in South Korea debuting at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, and it has since sold over 2.5 million copies in the country.
Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin's novella "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (1973) and Bong Joon-ho's movie Snowpiercer (2013), the video explores the concepts of death, afterlife and closure.
[1] Following the success of Wings, Big Hit Entertainment announced in January 2017 that a sequel to the album, titled You Never Walk Alone, would be served as a reissue.
[4] Band member RM created the main melody of the song, which he wrote between November and December 2016 during a walk at Saetgang Eco Park in Yeouido, taking inspiration from the dried leaves that were blown off trees by the wind.
[5] "Hitman" Bang, RM, Suga, Adora, Arlissa Ruppert, Peter Ibsen, and Pdogg are credited as songwriters on "Spring Day", with the latter of the seven solely handling production.
[6] "Spring Day" was released for digital download and streaming in various countries by Big Hit Entertainment on February 13, 2017, as the lead single from You Never Walk Alone.
[24] Speaking about the concept and meaning behind "Spring Day" during a V Live broadcast, RM stated that he wrote the lyrics when thinking of his middle and high-school mates, from whom he hadn't heard in a long time.
"[26] In another review for the same magazine, Benjamin stated that while the song keeps up with the "hard-hitting beats, buttery vocals and punchy rap verses—as one would expect from any BTS release, it's "newfound maturity and enlightenment that makes the single stand out so much.
"[25] Caitlin Kelley, also of Billboard, cited the track as one of the best songs by BTS and said that it "packs an emotional wallop as the lyrics hover in the bargaining stage of coping with the absence of a loved one.
"[23] Taylor Glasby of Dazed lauded the song's production and the band's vocal delivery, regarding the track as "an intelligent, compelling and elegantly restrained study of loss and longing" that "deliberately avoids cliché pomp and drama.
"[29] Jacques Peterson of Idolator said the band "tugged on the heartstrings with this hit," which he felt is "K-pop's answer to the Mariah Carey classic 'One Sweet Day'.
"[32] In The Malaysia Star, Chester Chin regarded the song as "the most vulnerable cut" on You Never Walk Alone and opined that it "sees the boys baring their soul, shedding light on a more sentimental side of the group.
Park and Youngdae Kim felt that the song "opened a new chapter in [BTS'] aesthetics" by "substituting the group's previous calling card in hip-hop with the romanticism in pop and rock."
"[34] Music journalist Youngdae Kim said that the track displayed significant growth in the band's sound, lyricism and aesthetics by embodying nostalgia and sorrow.
[35] Rhian Daly of NME listed it as BTS' best song, labelling the track an "absolutely gorgeous, a stirring piece of alt-pop."
"[30] Hyun-su Yim from The Korea Herald acclaimed the song, stating that it "has beautiful melodies without getting too soppy, as crisp vocals and clean guitar riffs aided by sentimental lyrics make for easy listening.
"[28][61] The music video opens with V standing in the middle of a snow-capped railway station, which has rusty signboards and a faded slate roof.
[61][66] The following scene begins with a close-up shot of RM, who stands inside an empty train compartment as the opening line of "Spring Day" starts playing.
[61] RM opens another door when inside the train, which leads to a room where the rest of the members are enjoying a birthday party, throwing cakes and playing with each other.
[66] The video then zooms in to depict a close-up shot of Jin gazing up a staircase, on which the other members are ascending, eventually leaving him alone at the bottom.
"[28] To end the visual, a closing shot is shown of the tree blooming with cherry blossom leaves, against the backdrop of blue spring sky, with the pair of shoes hanging from the branches.
[66] Several fans and media publications speculated that the visual references the Sewol Ferry Disaster that took place on April 16, 2014, which left more than 300 students missing or dead.
[67][69] Tamar Herman of Billboard wrote that the music video "reflects the album's title and transmutes 'Spring Day' from a love song into an ode dedicated to the dead.
[16][72] A week later, the music video for BTS' follow up single "Not Today" overtook the record with 10 million views in a shorter period of time.
[76] BTS performed "Spring Day" live for the first time on February 18, 2017, as part of their setlist for the band's two-day stop during The Wings Tour at Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul.
[85] BTS sang it as part of their three-song set for YouTube's Dear Class of 2020 online graduation ceremony on June 7, 2020, at the National Museum of Korea, with the band wearing soft pastel-coloured outfits.
[87] A studio live band rendition of the track was performed at NPR's Tiny Desk (Home) Concert on September 21 with an intro from RM, "It's been the roughest summer ever, but we know that spring will come," offering comfort and optimism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
