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Expectations were incredibly high following the initial announcement of RM’s debut album back in November 2022; fans have long since been familiar with the artist’s depth as both a musician, and as a connoisseur of the arts, thus making them extremely interested to see how the artist would summarize all his thoughts into a singular art piece.
Well, RM – or rather, Kim Namjoon, did not disappoint. ‘Indigo’ is an album with a listening experience that is completely raw and open, and to be completely honest, trying to sum up all the concepts contained in, and the multitude of thoughts that stem from this album into a singular article would simply be an impossible task.
However, with so many poetic messages, raw emotions, and RM’s typical geniusness - admittedly ‘Indigo’ can be a little overwhelming for those going into it for the first time, even if they’re familiar with the artist himself. As such, today we’re going to focus on just a few meaningful elements from the plethora found within this album, hopefully serving as a guide for those who wish to explore the person behind the famous superstar a bit further.
Though ‘Indigo’ is technically RM’s first official album, he’s actually released two mixtapes before these, the most recent being ‘mono’ which was released in late 2018. ‘mono’ was an incredibly vulnerable piece with a clear musical flow from start to finish and explored several emotions the artist experienced during his late teens and early twenties; however, ironically, by the time it was released, RM said it was no longer a reflection of who he was at the time.
Though he had a history of rocking dark, monochromatic colors at the time, in several recent interviews and personal lives, RM commented on the fact that by the time ‘mono’ was released, he’d already started experimenting with different colors and styles. The release of ‘mono’ at the time, rather than serving as an illustration of self, was rather a homage to the person he used to be. In contrast, however, ‘Indigo’ holds meaning because it is about his existence in the moment (- a theme we’ll explore later.) The tagline for this album is “the last archive of my twenties” and RM himself said it was symbolic to him that this album would drop in his last month as a 20-something, as he turns 30 in Korean age next year.
Not only that, but this album is about much more than RM as an artist, but also Kim Namjoon as a person. The title ‘Indigo’, whilst being his favorite color, is also ‘namsaek’ in Korean, which could serve as an abbreviation of ‘namjoon-ui saek’ meaning “the colors of Namjoon.” This could just be a poetic coincidence, but being a lyricist well known for his multilingual word-play, many believe it to be an intentional hint to the fact that RM is talking about himself as a person, rather than a star, which fits well with the overall natural vibe of the entire album.
Before we talk about the leading track, there is another track on the album that has been seeing a heavy amount of promotion throughout RM’s solo debut activities, the B-side titled ‘Still Life (with Anderson Paak)’.
Many fans were surprised by the groovy and upbeat track at first listen as it didn’t match the emotional and artistic vision many expected, however, when you take a closer look at the meaning and lyrics of the song, everything starts to make sense. Just as ‘Indigo’ is an album that captures this moment in RM’s journey, RM stated during his launch live that still life art is a way to capture a moment - typically when something is at its most beautiful, like a flower in bloom - and turn into something eternal, long after the subject has actually died.
As a song, ‘Still Life’ also explores different perspectives of this idea. On the one hand, there is the discomfort of feeling trapped or stagnant - in the first verse, RM compares this to being trapped in the present between the past and future, and says he wants to “escape the frame of this canvas”. However on the flip side, he also acknowledges that the capturing of the moment - the process of becoming a still life piece of art - is also what allows him, his life, and his legacy, to continue moving forward, and ultimately he declares his wish to leave his mark, and for his flower to keep blooming.
Fans of BTS will often associate the motifs of ‘flowers at full bloom’ with the group’s ‘The Most Beautiful Moment In Life’ era, which was also recently referenced in their recent title track ‘Yet To Come’, and it’s likely that the flower motive seen throughout ‘Indigo’ in both ‘Still Life’ and the title track, ‘Wildflower’ is a subtle nod to that. One’s 20s are often referred to as “the best years of your life”, and with this album being about capturing RM’s 20s, and ‘Still Life’ talking about flowers in frames blooming again, all the pieces start to connect. However, this concept is best illustrated through the lyrics and music video of ‘Wildflower’.
The Korean title of the song is ‘뜰꽃놀이’ (ddeulkkeotnori, wildflowers), which is phonetically similar to the word for ‘playing with fireworks’ (불꽃놀이, bulkkeotnori), and RM uses this to create a clever dichotomy between the two things. Just like flowers, fireworks bloom, and just like flowers, the embers of their light also wilt.
Throughout the song, RM uses the fireworks imagery to represent his life as an idol: the rise of the fireworks parallels their rise to fame, and the burst of light symbolizes them shining bright as superstars. However, he also talks about the burden of being so famous and having to meet the expectations of others in lines such as “when all this fame turned into shackles”, and even prays “please let me be myself”. As he laments over his life until now, he realizes his future isn’t necessarily predetermined, thus asking himself “where’s my end finally gonna be?” And this is where the comparison between fireworks and wildflowers begins.
The wildflowers allude to his true nature as Kim Namjoon - a simpler, freer side of himself. He admits that though he’s lived till now to become a firework, the high life isn’t what he wants anymore: “I don’t care much for being tossed into the air, [rather] grounded on my own two feet, amongst the flowers without names”. Planting his feet on the ground likely symbolizes planting his roots, and the nameless flowers stand in for the ‘everyday person’, showing his desire to be just another person in a crowd.
This all comes to a head in the bridge, where he clearly states “fireworks to flowerworks”, showing how though he’s lived as a star until now, moving forward he’d like to ‘wilt like a flower’, which is echoed beautifully by the reprise of the chorus as featuring artists Youjeen sings “gonna scatter across that sky, light a flower, flowerwork.”
Like most things concerning this album, the MV is a visual masterpiece and ultimately tells the same story, opening with firework imagery, but ultimately closing with Kim Namjoon lying happily amongst a bed of wildflowers. Though the lyrics don’t quite reach a conclusion, his choice, for now, is clear. For the time being, he wants to explore his identity as Kim Namjoon, something he’s hinted at time and time again since BTS’s notice that they’d be pulling back on group activities, however, he did also make sure to include a clear promise to his fans: “I’ll return someday.”
As stated in the introduction, all that’s been said here today is still only scratching the surface of the stories, messages, and emotions captured in this beautiful album. Each song has its own purpose and points to a moment in both RM’s history and his present, however, each song has a unique style and will hold a different meaning to each listener, and you may interpret something differently upon your own listening.
Though RM told the story of himself through this album, in the words of the artist himself, “the moment I released this album, the music belongs to the listener.” These songs, these emotions, their various meanings - this album is now yours, so use it.
“Use it while taking a walk, a show, drive, coffee-break, work, dance, read a book, when the flowers bloom or fall.”
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Writer: Han (O.L)
Editor: Han (O.L)