Are you new to the ARMY? Need to know everything about the boys and their musical journey? Here is the list of the complete discography (in chronological order) along with its meaning and the inspiration behind it.
The band released their first album back in June 2013. Since then, they have been consistently releasing music. It is admirable how each member of the band plays a significant role in the process of creating music, writing lyrics and even producing some of the tracks.
More About BTS
The Bangtan Boys (BTS) is currently the most popular boy band in the world. It is a part of the famous Korean pop or Kpop music genre. In fact, BTS was the reason Kpop became so popular. The Seoul-based pop band is the first Korean artist to make it to no.1 spot on the Hot 100. It is the only band to have reached number 1 three times.
Their single ‘Butter’ was the first single to be number one for more than 10 weeks since Roddy Rich’s ‘The Box’. ‘The Box’ was number one for 11 weeks straight. So far, only 40 songs have managed to do this in the history of Billboard.
One of the distinctive features of the band is that they do choreographed dance moves along with the songs. This was trendy back when Backstreet Boys and the NSYNC became popular in the mid-90s.
2 Cool For Skool
The band released their first album on June 12, 2013. It was called ‘2 Cool For Skool’. Its tracklist included the following.
- Intro: 2 Cool 4 Skool (feat. DJ Friz)
- We Are Bulletproof Pt.2
- Skit: Circle Room Talk
- No More Dream
- Interlude
- 좋아요 I Like It
- Outro: Circle Room Cypher
- Hidden Track: Skit: On The Start Line
- Hidden Track: 길 Road/Path
The group’s first single ‘No More Dream’ went on to become the band’s first single ever. It was written by band members J-Hope, Suga, and RM, along with the producers. The lyrics revolved around the theme of being forced to go to school to fulfill other people’s wishes.
O!RUL8,2?
‘O!RUL8,2?’ was their second album that was released on September 11, 2013. The tracklist of the album was as follows.
- Intro: O!RUL8,2?
- N.O
- We On
- Skit: R U Happy Now?
- If I Ruled The World
- Coffee
- BTS Cypher Pt.1
- 진격의 방탄 Attack on Bangtan
- 팔도강산 Paldo Gangsan/Satoori Rap
- OUTRO: Luv In Skool
‘N.O’ was the title track of their second album. It had a similar theme of students feeling pressurized and sacrificing their dreams and happiness.
Skool Luv Affair
Their third album was called ‘Skool Luv Affair’. It was released on February 12, 2014. Its tracklist included the following songs.
- Intro: Skool Luv Affair
- 상남자 Boy In Luv
- Skit: Soulmate
- 어디에서 왔는지 Where Did You Come From
- 하루만 Just One Day
- Tomorrow
- BTS Cypher Pt.2: Triptych
- 등골브레이커 Spine Breaker
- Jump
- Outro: Propose
The title song of the album was ‘Boy In Luv’. It talks about high school crushes and the confusion a boy has when he crushes over a girl.
Skool Luv Affair: Special Addition
The album was released on May 13, 2014. Its tracklist included the following bangers.
- Miss Right
- 좋아요 I Like It (Slow Jam Remix)
- Intro : Skool Luv Affair
- 상남자 Boy In Luv
- Skit: Soulmate
- 어디에서 왔는지 Where Did You Come From
- 하루만 Just One Day
- Tomorrow
- BTS Cypher Pt.2: Triptych
- 등골브레이커 Spine Breaker
- Jump
- Outro: Propose
No More Dream (Japanese Album)
The Japanese album was released shortly after on June 4, 2014. It included three songs mentioned below.
- No More Dream (Japanese Ver.)
- いいね! (I Like It!) (Japanese Ver.)
- 進撃の防弾 (The Rise of Bangtan) (Japanese Ver.)
The Japanese version of ‘No More Dream’ the band’s first-ever song that they redid in Japanese
Boys In Luv (Japanese Album)
This album followed in the steps of their previous album. It was released on July 16, 2014. The tracklist included three songs.
BOY IN LUV Tracklist:
- BOY IN LUV (Japanese Ver.)
- N.O (Japanese Ver.)
- Just One Day (Japanese Ver.)
This album was separately released for their Japanese fans. The songs were Japanese versions of the original Korean songs.
Dark & Wild
This album was released on August 19, 2014. Dark & Wild was different than other albums. It focused on the less-talked about darker side of love where one person’s feelings might be stronger than the other.
The second song from the album ‘War Of Hormone’ faced criticism for objectifying women. The band released a statement that upon review they did agree that the lyrics could be misunderstood but it was not their intention.
Danger (Japanese Album)
The album was released on November 19, 2014. Like all previous Japanese versions, this album also had three songs. The tracklist was as follows.
- Danger (Japanese Ver.)
- 進撃の防弾 (The Rise of Bangtan – SONPUB REMIX) (Japanese Ver.)
- Miss Right (Japanese Ver.)
Their title song Danger also got a music video in Japanese. Although most of the scenes in the two videos were similar, there were a few different ones as well.
Wake Up (Japanese album)
Wake Up was released on December 24, 2014. There were over 13 songs on the album. They were as follows.
- INTRO
- THE STARS
- JUMP (Japanese Ver.)
- Danger (Japanese Ver.)
- BOY IN LUV (Japanese Ver.)
- Just One Day -Japanese Ver. Extended-
- いいね! (I Like It!) – Japanese Ver.-
- I Like It Pt.2 ~In That Place~ (いいね!Pt.2~あの場所で~” )
- No More Dream (Japanese Ver.)
- 進撃の防弾 (The Rise of Bangtan) (Japanese Ver.)
- N.O (Japanese Ver.)
- Wake Up
- OUTRO
This was the band’s first Japanese album that had songs that were not previously released in Korean. But none of the songs on this album got a music video. The title track of the album ‘Wake Up’ has similar themes of ‘No More Dream’ and even ‘N.O’.
‘화양연화 Pt. 1 (The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt.1)
The album was released on April 29, 2015. It had 9 songs in total.
- Intro: 화양연화 Blooming Youth
- I NEED U
- 잡아줘 Hold Me Tight
- Skit: Expectation!
- 쩔어 DOPE
- 흥탄소년단 Boyz With Fun
- Converse High
- 이사 Moving On
- Outro: Love is Not Over
This album introduced their fandom to a more pop-based sound in their music with the lead single ‘I NEED YOU’. The band explained that it is about love that you have to let go of and having to deal with the anxiety that comes with it. The music video DOPE was their first music video to cross 100 million views on YouTube.
For You (Japanese Album)
Two months later, the band came out with a Japanese album on June 17, 2015. Like most of the previous albums, it had three songs.
- FOR YOU
- ホルモン戦争 War of Hormone (Japanese Ver.) Lyrics
- Let Me Know (Japanese Ver.) Lyrics
‘FOR YOU’ was the band’s first original Japanese song to get a music video. The soft and romantic song is about missing one’s partner and longing to be with them.
화양연화 Pt 2 (The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt.2)
This album was released on November 30, 2015. It included 9 songs in total.
- INTRO: Never Mind
- RUN
- Butterfly
- Whalien 52
- Ma City
- 뱁새 Crow-Tit/Baepsae
- SKIT: One Night In A Strange City
- 고엽 Dead Leaves
- OUTRO: House Of Cards
Some of the band members like Suga, RM, JungKook, and J-Hope wrote lyrics for the song ‘Run’. Explaining the logic behind the song, BTS said “We didn’t want to just blankly say ‘cheer up’ or ‘be strong.’ We really wanted to comfort people our way, by producing the music and writing the lyrics ourselves. We poured our heart and soul into this amazing song.”
‘Baepsae’ is another fan favorite for years. It means ‘silver spoon’ and talks about trying to keep up with people in power and ruining yourself in the process.
I NEED YOU (Japanese Album)
This Japanese album was released on December 8, 2015. Like previous Japanese albums, it also had 3 songs.
- I NEED U (Japanese Ver.)
- DOPE -超ヤベー!- (Japanese Ver.)
- フンタン少年団 (Boyz With Fun) (Japanese Ver.)
The music video was ‘I NEED YOU’ was filmed differently than the song’s Korean version. Previously, most of the Japanese songs that got music videos had similar themes of the Korean versions to the songs.
RUN (Japanese Album)
The boyband came out with another Japanese album on March 15, 2016. It featured three songs.
- RUN (Japanese Ver.)
- Butterfly (Japanese Ver.)
- Good Day
The song RUN got a music video, although it was similar to the Korean version of the song. However, it did feature some original scenes and locations.
‘화양연화 The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever
The band came out with another version of The Most Beautiful Moment in Life called Young Forever. It had over 23 songs, many of which were different versions of the same song.
- Intro: 화양연화 Blooming Youth
- I NEED U
- 잡아줘 Hold Me Tight
- Butterfly (Prologue Mix)
- Ma City
- 뱁새 Crow-Tit/Baepsae
- 쩔어 DOPE
- 불타오르네 FIRE
- Save Me
- EPILOGUE: Young Forever
- Converse High
- 이사 Moving On
- Whalien 52
- Butterfly
- House Of Cards (Full-Length Edition)
- Love Is Not Over (Full-Length Edition)
- I NEED U (Urban Mix)
- I NEED U (Remix)
- RUN (Ballad Mix)
- RUN (Alternative Mix)
- Butterfly (Alternative Mix)
The song FIRE has similar vibes to their previous song ‘RUN’. Both share the theme of making mistakes although the sounds of the songs are different. This album featured electronic pop, group chanting, raps and so much more.
Although ‘Save Me’ was released first, it is now often performed with another song from Love Yourself: Answer, ‘I am Fine’. A lot of people don’t know that they are ambigrams, which means that the words can still be read when they are flipped over. When you flip over ‘Save me’, it reads as ‘I Am Fine’ and vice versa.
‘Save Me’ seems to be about someone who is depressed and calling out for help. In the song ‘I Am Fine’, the lyrics show that the person recovered and is thanking someone for helping them fight through it.
Youth (Japanese Album)
This album was released on September 7, 2016. Unlike other Japanese versions, it had over 13 songs including the Epilogue.
- Introduction: Youth
- FIRE (Japanese Ver.)
- RUN (Japanese Ver.)
- DOPE -超ヤベー!- (Japanese Ver.)
- Good Day
- Save Me (Japanese Ver.)
- フンタン少年団 Boyz With Fun (Japanese Ver.)
- ペップセ Baepsae (Japanese Ver.)
- Wishing On a Star
- Butterfly (Japanese Ver.)
- FOR YOU
- I NEED U (Japanese Ver.)
- EPILOGUE: Young Forever (Japanese Ver.)
Unfortunately, the Japanese fans did not get any exclusive music videos for this album.
Wings
Wings was released on October 10, 2016. It had over 15 songs.
- Intro: Boy Meets Evil
- Blood Sweat & Tears
- Begin
- Lie
- Stigma
- First Love
- Reflection
- MAMA
- Awake
- Lost
- BTS Cypher 4
- Am I Wrong
- 21st Century Girl 21세기 소녀
- Two! Three! (Hoping for Better Days) 둘! 셋! (그래도 좋은 날이 더 많기를)
- Interlude: Wings
The song ‘Blood & Tears’ was inspired by the book Demian by author Hermann Hesse. Band member RM explained the meaning of it “The harder a temptation is to resist, the more you think about it and vacillate. That uncertainty is part of the process of growing. [Blood Sweat & Tears] is a song that shows how one thinks, chooses, and grows.”
Suga also chimed in and said, “The song relays an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we are met with temptations in life.”
Lyrics like ‘21st-century girl’ and ‘You are worth it, you perfect, deserve it just work it’ is meant to help boost women’s confidence in themselves.
You Never Walk Alone
Yet another album in BTS’s kitty, YNWA was released on February 13, 2017. It had over 18 songs.
- Intro: Boy Meets Evil
- Blood Sweat & Tears
- Begin
- Lie
- Stigma
- First Love
- REFLECTION
- MAMA
- Awake
- Lost
- BTS Cypher 4
- Am I Wrong
- 21st Century Girls 21세기 소녀
- Two! Three! (Hoping for Better Days) 둘! 셋! (그래도 좋은 날이 더 많기를)
- 봄날 Spring Day
- Not Today
- Outro: WINGS
- A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone
The song ‘Spring Day’ was written by band members Suga and RM. It was about the time they missed someone close to them. They used the metaphor of changing seasons to show how things get better, just like how spring comes around after winter.
The song is also inspired by the famous novel The One Who Walked Away, it is even referenced in the music video. Although fans believed that the song was about the tragedy of the MV Sewol, which unfortunately sank, the band did not confirm or deny it.
The song ‘Not Today’ was co-written by RM. It revisits the band’s prior theme of anti-establishment. The band of boys can be seen fighting off masked assassins in the video.
血、汗、涙 Blood Sweat & Tears (Japanese Album)
This album was released on May 10, 2017, and maintained the theme of having three songs.
- 血、汗、涙 (Japanese Ver.)
- Not Today (Japanese Ver.)
- Spring Day (Japanese Ver.)
The music video for this album had mostly new themes, although it maintained the familiarity of the Korean versions. The members of the group can be seen facing temptations and figuring out how to stay away from them.
Love Yourself: 承 Her
A couple of months after the last album, the band came out with a new one on September 18, 2017.
- Intro: Serendipity
- DNA
- Best Of Me
- 보조개 Dimple
- Pied Piper
- Skit: Billboard Music Awards Speech
- MIC Drop
- 고민보다 Go/Go Go
- Outro: Her
- Skit: 망설임과 두려움 Hesitation and Fear
- 바다 Sea
The song ‘Serendipity’ was initially released as an introduction track. However, later on, it was released as a full track on another album Love Yourself: 結 Answer. RM also helped write this song.
Explaining the meaning of the song, RM said “When I wrote the lyrics, melodies, and the first themes of “Serendipity,” I tried to come up with some rare things you find in life, something very special, like the calico, three-striped cat; things that have extraordinary meanings in people’s lives. I wanted to share this moment”.
Another song from the band called DNA was monumental as it helped pave the way into Western music for them. The band debuted at the American Music Awards 2017 with a mesmerizing performance of ‘DNA’. Talking about ‘DNA’, RM said that it is about the “is about the expression of young, passionate love.
‘MIC DROP / DNA / CRYSTAL SNOW’ (Japanese album)
About three months later, the band came out with another Japanese album, which had three songs.
- MIC DROP (Japanese Ver.)
- DNA (Japanese Ver.)
- CRYSTAL SNOW
The band did come out with a music video for ‘MIC DROP’. The themes of the video were similar to the Korean version of the song.
Face Yourself (Japanese album)
The band followed the previous Japanese album with another one. It was released on April 4, 2018. The album had over 12 songs.
- INTRO: Ringwanderung
- Best of Me (Japanese Ver.)
- 血、汗、淚 (Blood, Sweat & Tears) (Japanese Ver.)
- DNA (Japanese Ver.)
- Not Today (Japanese Ver.)
- MIC Drop (Japanese Version)
- Don’t Leave Me
- Go Go (Japanese Ver.)
- Crystal Snow
- Spring Day (Japanese Ver.)
- Let Go
- OUTRO: Crack
The song ‘Don’t Leave Me’ went on to become very popular. It was even used as the theme song for a Japanese TV series called Signal. However, it did not get a music video.
Love Yourself:轉 Tear
Just one month later, the band was back with another album. It released on May 18, 2018, and featured over 11 songs.
- Intro: Singularity
- Fake Love
- 전하지 못한 진심 The Truth Untold
- 134340
- 낙원 Paradise
- Love Maze
- Magic Shop
- Airplane Pt. 2
- Anpanman
- So What
- Outro: Tear
The song ‘Singularity’ was earlier released on Love Yourself:轉 Tear as an intro song. But it got re-released as a full song on this album. The song is about losing yourself for someone else. It has poetic vibes in general and is complemented by V’s soulful voice and R&B feel.
Another song from the album was ‘Fake Love’. It is said to be one of the hardest songs to work on by the band. On the album’s preview V Live, the band said that they had to work over and over again to get the melody right.
RM shared the meaning of the song, “We’re saying that if you’re not true to yourself, your love won’t last forever. The love could be person to person, it could be between me and myself”.
Love Yourself: 結 Answer
Three months after working on one of the hardest songs and an album, the band was back with another one. It was released on August 24, 2018, and had over 26 songs.
CD A
- Euphoria
- Trivia 起: Just Dance
- Serendipity (Full Length Edition)
- DNA
- 보조개 Dimple
- Trivia 承: Love
- Her
- Singularity
- FAKE LOVE
- 전하지 못한 진심 The Truth Untold (Ft. Steve Aoki)
- Trivia 轉: Seesaw
- Tear
- Epiphany
- I’m Fine
- IDOL
- Answer: Love Myself
CD B
- Magic Shop
- Best of Me
- Airplane pt.2
- 고민보다 Go/Go Go
- Anpanman
- MIC Drop
- DNA (Pedal 2 LA Mix)
- FAKE LOVE (Rocking Vibe Mix)
- MIC Drop [Steve Aoki Remix] (Full Length Edition)
- IDOL (Remix) (Ft. Nicki Minaj)
‘IDOL’ is one song that brought together traditional Korea with modern Korea. This is fairly evident in the song and its music video.
RM talked about the meaning behind the song, he said, “You may not focus on the lyrics, but the lyrics are meaningful. This is what we want to say: You can call me artist. You can call me idol. No matter what you call me, I don’t care. It’s me”.
Not many people know this, but the song ‘MIC DROP’ was inspired by the former president of the USA, Barack Obama. Barack Obama had ‘dropped the mic’ after a speech of his, thus implying that he said what he said and was done with the conversation. BTS said that it was their way of saying expressing” swag, hopes, and confidence”.
The actual lyrics of ‘MIC DROP’ had an angry vibe to it. But J-Hope reworked the lyrics in a way that suited the band better.
FAKE LOVE/Airplane Pt.2 (Japanese Album)
The Japanese album was released on November 7 2018 and had four songs, which is one more than usual.
- FAKE LOVE (Japanese Ver.)
- Airplane Pt.2 (Japanese Ver.)
- IDOL (Stadium Remix)
- FAKE LOVE (Japanese Ver.) (Remix)
The song ‘Airplane Pt.2’ is a continuation of ‘Airplane’, which was featured on J-Hope’s mixtape. As the song was authentic to BTS, he continued working on it and came up with part 2. The second part of ‘Airplane’ got featured on Love Yourself: Tear. From there, the band decided to do a Japanese version of the song too, which was ultimately featured on this album.
Map of the Soul: Persona
This album got released on April 12, 2019. It had 7 songs including the intro.
- Intro: Persona
- 작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv) feat. Halsey
- 소우주 (Mikrokosmos)
- Make It Right
- HOME
- Jamais Vu
- Dionysus
Namjoon went on to explain the meaning behind persona with an example of himself. He said, “For me, persona is the social self. It represents our social mask. A mask could be either good or bad. It is what we present to the outside world as we lead our social and economic life. My persona would be RM then, right?”
RM also admitted that he was worried people would not dive deep into the meaning of the song. He also added how “It was really hard to write Korean lyrics to this melody.”
BTS World Original Soundtrack
The soundtrack was launched on 28th June 2019. It was a collection of four original songs for the band’s mobile game called BTS World.
- Dream Glow ft Charli XCX
- A Brand New Day ft Zara Larsson
- All Night ft Juice WRLD
- Heartbeat
Heartbeat was the only song on the soundtrack that had all the members of the band together.
Lights/Boy With Luv (Japanese album)
Yet another Japanese album was added to their portfolio with the release of this album on July 3, 2019.
- Lights
- Boy With Luv (Japanese Ver.)
- IDOL (Japanese Ver.)
‘Lights’ was an original Japanese song on the album while the other two songs were Japanese versions of pre-existing songs.
Map of the Soul: 7
This album was released on February 21, 2020. It had over 20 songs on it including collaborations. This band was more authentic and real, which can be seen through the lyrics and also the music videos.
- Intro: Persona
- Boy With Luv (Feat. Halsey)
- Make It Right
- Jamais Vu
- Dionysus
- Interlude: Shadow
- Black Swan
- Filter
- My Time
- Louder than bombs
- ON
- UGH!
- 00:00 (Zero O’Clock)
- Inner Child
- Friends
- Moon
- Respect
- We are Bulletproof: the Eternal
- Outro: Ego
- ON (Feat. Sia)
Before the release of the album, they released a trailer for Interlude: Shadow. It featured rapper Suga and talked about “the responsibilities and fears that follow the success achieved as a member of BTS”.
Another trailer was released called the ‘Outro: Ego’. It featured the rapper J-Hope and talked about how their journey “hasn’t been easy, but nevertheless was chosen by fate and is willing to keep on that lane”. This music video took the viewer on the band’s journey 7 years back to when they started.
‘Black Swan’ was the first single off the album. It reflected what an artist went through if they lost their passion. The band can be seen facing this head-on in the music video.
Continuing with the theme, the song ‘ON’ showed the group members reflect on their mindset over the years. This song has over 300 million views and 12 million likes, showing how much the fans appreciated their authenticity.
Map Of The Soul 7: The Journey (Japanese Album)
The Japanese version of the album was released on July 14th, 2020. It featured over 13 songs.
- INTRO: Calling
- Stay Gold
- Boy With Luv (Japanese version)
- Make It Right (Japanese version)
- Dionysus (Japanese version)
- IDOL (Japanese version)
- Airplane pt.2 (Japanese version)
- FAKE LOVE (Japanese version)
- Black Swan (Japanese version)
- ON (Japanese version)
- Lights
- Your Eyes Tell
- OUTRO: The Journey
This album was the band’s most recent Japanese album. It had Japanese versions of some of their popular songs along with a couple of new originals. ‘Stay Gold’ was the single from the album that got released before the album.
Dynamite (Digital Single)
Dynamite is the song that introduced most of the western world to their music and shot them to a new level of success and fame. This is the first song by the band that is completely in English. They did not want to change the vibe of the original song.
‘Dynamite’ was released on August 20, 2020. Surprisingly, the group didn’t intend on releasing the song originally but they liked it so much that they decided to share it with the rest of the world.
BE
The deluxe version of the album was released on November 20th, 2020. There were 8 songs on the album.
- Life Goes On
- Fly To My Room
- Blue & Grey
- Skit
- Telepathy
- Dis-ease
- Stay
- Dynamite
In the album, the boys open up about themselves and the “fear and anxiety mingled with the determination to overcome all this.” The press release stated how the album showed the band’s “emotions and ruminations” that happened in the past year.
The title of the album also comes from the same experiences. It stands for ‘to be’ or ‘existence’ and does not abide by any form”.
The lead single of the album has an “alternative hip hop” tone along with the melodious acoustic guitar. The lyrics talk about how regardless of disruptions, life continues to move and go on.
Film Out (Japanese Digital Single)
The band came out with the digital single on April 2, 2021. It got used as the soundtrack of the Japanese movie called Signal The Movie.
Butter (Digital Single)
It was released on May 21, 2021. This was their second single in English after the massively successful ‘Dynamite’. ‘Butter’ became the theme song of summer 2021. It has a similar beat to ‘Dynamite’. Band member Suga also made a comeback with this song as he was on leave after surgery.
‘Butter’ quickly became the band’s most famous song with it getting 108.2 million plays and most views in a single day. They broke their own records, previously held by ‘Boy In Luv’ and ‘Dynamite’. Since the song was released, it has gotten over 600 million plays on Spotify alone.
Permission To Dance
The song was released on July 8, 2021. It was released alongside ‘Butter’ CD single, which featured only two songs and their instrumental versions. This song was co-written by Ed Sheeran and Steve Mac, a British producer.
BTS has had a spectacular run so far. Their popularity has continued to grow over the years. There is also a lot of honesty in their music, which makes young fans relate to their stories even more. It will be interesting to see how the band continues to perform and what musical route they choose to follow.