BTS' iconic You Never Walk Alone album and title track Spring Day turn 7: Exploring their record-breaking impact

BTS' iconic album You Never Walk Alone and its title track, Spring Day, has completed 7 years today since its release. Let's take a look at this era of BTS and what makes it timeless and iconic.

By Pratyusha Dash

Updated on Feb 13, 2024 | 05:54 PM IST | 188K

BTS (Image Credits- BIGHIT MUSIC)

In this Article

Spring Day: The true 'queen' of BTS' discography
You Never Walk Alone: One of the best eras of BTS

BTS' iconic album received a reissue titled You Never Walk Alone on February 13, 2017, extending the narrative of their previous album, Wings. The reissue featured three new songs, with Spring Day and Not Today as the lead singles. You Never Walk Alone delves deeper into themes of youth and growth that couldn't be fully explored in the original Wings album. As the album and its lead track, Spring Day, celebrate 7 years, let's reflect on its lasting impact on both BTS and their devoted fanbase, ARMY.

Spring Day: The true 'queen' of BTS' discography

Spring Day stands as one of BTS' most iconic and beloved tracks. Its mellow yet comforting tone draws listeners back time and again. With each new BTS release, Spring Day resurfaces on the charts, solidifying its status as the 'queen' of their discography. As we celebrate its 7th anniversary on February 13, 2024, the significance of the number 7 resonates deeply with BTS, given their seven members. In conversations about BTS' music and remarkable discography, Spring Day consistently emerges as a pivotal piece.

Spring Day is an alternative hip-hop and pop rock power ballad that features prominent rock instrumentation. Its lyrics explore themes of loss, longing, grief, and the journey toward moving on. The song garnered widespread acclaim from music critics, who lauded its production, heartfelt lyrics, and BTS' emotive vocal delivery. Spring Day earned numerous accolades, including Song of the Year at the 2017 Melon Music Awards, and secured a spot on Billboard's decade-end list of best K-pop songs. Rolling Stone even recognized it as one of the greatest boy band songs of all time.

With motifs of winter, spring, time, change, and the phrase "I miss you," this song delves into the bitter longing for past times and memories with a loved one. It juxtaposes these nostalgic sentiments with the present reality of separation and change over time as one endeavors to reconnect with the other. Drawing inspiration from various literary works and real-life incidents, such as Ursula K. Le Guin's novella The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (1973) and Bong Joon Ho's film Snowpiercer (2013), the song's music video explores themes of death, afterlife, and closure. Moreover, Spring Day is regarded as an ode to the 2014 Sewol Ferry Tragedy, one of South Korea's most devastating and heart-wrenching events.

The symbolism in Spring Day portrays winter as a period of separation and change, characterized by coldness, ice, and snow that have created a rift between the narrator and the person they miss. In contrast, spring symbolizes the thawing of this ice, heralding new beginnings as flowers bloom. The narrator expresses their hope that once spring arrives, they will soon reunite with the person they miss. They urge the person to remain where they are so they can be together again.

Spring Day has consistently garnered numerous achievements, solidifying its status as a long-time hit. It holds several records on the MelOn chart, including the longest-charting song in the top 100 across daily, weekly, and yearly categories. It has an impressive streak of 364 weeks, equivalent to 7 years. Additionally, it boasts the titles of the most-streamed and most-liked song on the platform, boasting over 557,000 likes on MelOn alone. Recently, Spring Day has achieved another milestone by becoming the song with the highest number of unique listeners on MelOn, surpassing 8.4 million unique listeners and breaking its tie with Cherry Blossom Ending, all in time for its seven-year anniversary! The song will always remain iconic.

Watch the iconic song here-

You Never Walk Alone: One of the best eras of BTS

You Never Walk Alone is widely regarded as one of BTS' greatest albums, boasting chart-topping hits like Blood Sweat & Tears, Not Today, and the iconic Spring Day. Serving as a continuation of their previous album, Wings, it delves into stories that were left untold in its predecessor. The album carries messages of hope and consolation aimed at comforting and healing the youth of the generation. Remarkably, You Never Walk Alone shattered records with over 700,000 physical copies pre-ordered, marking the highest pre-order record for the first half of 2017.

The album made a significant impact on the Billboard charts, debuting at No. 61 on the Billboard 200. This achievement extended BTS' record as the K-pop act with the most entries on the chart, marking their 6th entry at the time, a unique feat for a Korean artist. Moreover, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard World Albums chart, marking BTS' third chart-topping album on that ranking.

BTS distinguishes themselves in the realm of K-pop with their focus on lyricism, an aspect often considered the weakest link in the genre. Members RM and SUGA, who serve as the group's lyricists, exhibit a remarkable ability to craft lyrics rich in double meanings and layered references. Songs like Not Today, 2! 3!, and Lie delve into the harshness and challenges of reality while also providing comfort, showcasing BTS' versatility through their music.