BTS member Jungkook has finally released his first solo album, Golden, giving fans a much-awaited glimpse of his individual musical color.
The album’s release came with a full-length music video for the title track, “Standing Next To You.” ARMYs were already excited over the video since the teasers came out, as both the high-quality visuals and the director’s extensive resume had raised expectations considerably. And it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the music video exceeded them all by large margins.
The music video for “Standing Next to You” by Jung Kook is directed by Ukranian director Tanu Muiño. Some of her popular work includes the MVs for Harry Styles’ As it Was and Lil Nas X’s Montero. Attached is a list of more of her projects. pic.twitter.com/tY1nCAtexl
— army film club (@0613frames) November 1, 2023
The song itself, combined with the captivating choreography and cinematography, left fans impressed beyond words. Many are even coming up with various theories regarding the story. One recurring theory among those is that the music video paid homage to some iconic BTS songs through both the lyrics and visuals.
In case you missed out on any, here’s a list of all the BTS references made in the “Standing Next To You” music video:
1. “Fire”
Some ARMYs caught a possible reference to BTS’s 2016 hit, “Fire.” The chorus part of the song has a line where Jungkook sings, “Standing in the fire next to you,” but what convinced viewers about it being a reference to the song is the dance move that followed. The choreography showed all dancers, including Jungkook, strike a pose with their fists in front of their shoulders, identical to the beginning of the dance break in “Fire.”
2. “Run”
The music video kicks off with the protagonists walking inside a tunnel. Even though the shot was glamorous on its own, many ARMYs felt it referenced BTS’s “Run” music video, especially in one particular image with ” car in the frame.
Wait wait wait…. pic.twitter.com/uH4WsjA5Cc
— 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐀||슈가𓆪 (@blckflxg) November 1, 2023
3. “Black Swan”
One of the most glaring BTS-related easter eggs in the music video is in specific frames where Jungkook is seen with a pair of wings that immediately reminded ARMYs of the concept photos of Map of the Soul: 7.
A more direct reference to “Black Swan,” the title track of the album, was in the choreography, where the dancers flick their wrists up in the air, identical to a signature move from the 2020 track.
4. “DNA”
This one was hard to miss for anyone with even surface-level knowledge of the boy group’s discography. Jungkook doesn’t only sing the word “DNA” in the chorus but also accompanies it with the signature move.
“When it’s deep like DNA” and Jungkook does the freaking hand motion like in the DNA choreo
pic.twitter.com/sU70xcInWv
— Audrie⁷ ♡ (@AudrieOT7) November 3, 2023
5. “Dynamite”
Given that many reviewers felt that “Standing Next To You” was reminiscent of the pop icon Michael Jackson, it is no surprise that many fans were also reminded of “Dynamite,” which was also heavily inspired by the same artist. However, in one part of the music video, there is an obvious nod to the 2020 global hit track where Jungkook can be seen hitting the same moves as the beginning of the “Dynamite” chorus.
Based on these tangible references, many ARMYs have started to speculate that the song, in its entirety, could be alluding to BTS and the timelessness of their legacy and bond.
the amount of BTS choreo references throughout the mv im about to bawl my eyes out pic.twitter.com/GGs4wpPvD2
— au⁷ (@Ohoebee) November 3, 2023
“deep like DNA” “standing in the FIRE next to you” “deeper than the RAIN”
THIS SONG IS ABOUT BTS!! THE MV TAKING VIBES FROM BTS PRODUCTIONS AND THE WINGS AND SONG REFERENCES THIS SONG SOUNDS SM LIKE A PROMISE TO BTS WITHSTANDING TEST OF TIME AND PAIN OH MY GOD pic.twitter.com/oeOU4gOAls— kiki⁷ (@jkjimins) November 3, 2023
That’s quite a lot of bts references in a song supposedly about a woman pic.twitter.com/1jkcAJudHg
— ✿Moon Rose Cafe✿ (@Moonrosecafejo) November 3, 2023
What do you think?
