Words: Anna Marie

This morning, at 5 am UK time, the biggest and best band in the world BTS released their new single ‘Permission To Dance’, as part of the release for the physical version of ‘Butter’. Their third English-language song, it’s full of hope and charm and feels like a big sigh of relief for ARMY.

The significance of the release date does not go unnoticed either, today is ARMY’s birthday! On 9th July 2013, BTS chose ARMY (or 아미) as the official name for their fandom, and they have celebrated their fans at every opportunity since. It wasn’t even the only gift ARMY received on their eighth birthday, BTS also released ‘ARMY Playlist’, a ten-minute clip of mini music videos to some fan-favourite solo songs.

The song is pop perfection and ticks every box for a guaranteed hit. It also continues BTS’ newfound tradition of referencing artists in all their English-language songs – Michael Jackson in ‘Dynamite’, Usher in ‘Butter’, and now Elton John in ‘Permission To Dance’. The song was written by Jenna Andrews, who also wrote ‘Butter’, Johnny McDaid, Steve Mac (if you’re a fan of the artists we love here at That Fangirl Life, you may know him from co-writing tracks by the likes of Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, One Direction and Little Mix) and of course, the one and only Ed Sheeran, who BTS have previously worked with on ‘Make It Right’. Pretty much anything BTS or Ed touch turns to gold, so the combination of their talents is deadly.

The dance-pop track is described in a press release as being ‘dedicated to anyone who is having a bad day or is discouraged in the face of reality’ because ‘you don’t need permission to dance to your heart’s content’. The significance of these messages after a year and a half of the whole world holding our breath tightly (and we weren’t exactly relaxed to begin with) brings such comfort, joy, and hope to listeners.

In many ways, the song feels like a continuation of the 2020 hit ‘Life Goes On’, from the self-directed album Be, created entirely during the pandemic. ‘Life Goes On’ has messages of accepting the situation we found ourselves in, doing the best under the circumstances, and was meant to give healing and comfort to ARMYs amid our ‘new normality’. Now, ‘Permission To Dance’ is filled with hope, encouragement and ‘energy to get up on your feet and dance again’. Also, considering ‘Life Goes On’ still made it to Billboard Hot 100 number one despite pretty much no radio play due to it being mostly in Korean, maybe the industry will listen to the message this time around…

Speaking of dancing, the choreography is arguably some of their most simple to date, but like everything BTS do, that choice is deliberate. The whole purpose of the song is to get ARMYs on their feet, and so it’s designed so that ‘anyone can effortlessly dance along’. Having said that, it still looks way too complicated for us. *cries*

The most significant part of the choreography though (apart from centre Jin. Joking… maybe.) is the incorporation of sign language. Universal joy is such a huge part of this song both lyrically and visually, and so they use the signs for ‘happy’, ‘dance’, and ‘peace’ throughout the music video. We stan inclusive Kings!

There is a huge supporting cast in this video, representing ARMY with diversity in age, gender, social class and race. It also has meaning in the context of the pandemic – it features essential workers, the elderly and children who have had their lives turned upside down as a result of COVID-19, all finding happiness and celebrating themselves in the midst of their work. A waitress serving butter pancakes, school children, office workers, a couple waiting at the bus stop, a postal worker, a school janitor, all-dancing, carefree and radiating joy. The cast all begin wearing masks, but ceremoniously take them off towards the end of the song, representing the light at the end of the tunnel and our hopes that the world will soon recover.

All of BTS’ music videos are filled with references and easter eggs, and despite its light-hearted nature, ‘Permission To Dance’ is the same. At a few points throughout, J-Hope dances next to signposts featuring different cities, including Seoul, London and San Francisco. Could this be the sign we’re all desperately craving that we’ll get new and rescheduled tour dates soon? Combine it with ‘2022: THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA’ as the headline on the newspaper Suga reads at the beginning, ARMY are all getting their hopes up. Pretty please!

Also seen throughout the music video are purple balloons – and we all know purple is the colour that represents BTS and ARMY. In fact, V even commented on a fan’s weverse post last year saying ‘I left a purple balloon in your dream look it up 💜’. Honestly, the whole video is a gift for ARMY from start to finish, especially at a runtime of five minutes, which isn’t ideal for view counts and includes almost a full minute outtake of them dancing with their crew.

One of the most meaningful lyrics in the whole song is ‘we don’t need to worry, ‘cus when we fall we know how to land’. This acceptance of the good and the bad, of finding joy and success in between failures, is reminiscent of things member Suga has talked about previously. In their Dicon cover story last year, his message to ARMY was “I’m encouraged because we’re flying together. I’m afraid of falling but I’m not afraid of landing. Thank you for being together with us.” On TV show You Quiz On The Block back in March, he also said, ‘I hope to continue to perform on stage until the very end. I think that is the best way to come down from the spotlight. Even if the audience reduces from 50,000 to 2,000 people, it is our way of landing gracefully by performing for those people’. Suga is one of the most thoughtful artists around, and his articulation of the difference between falling and landing is both inspiring and reassuring.

Another interesting interpretation of the song is BTS stating they don’t need permission to be themselves and create the art that they want to. Especially with their exponentially-growing success in western markets, BTS has faced a lack of acceptance from a lot of the music and popular culture industries. From the severely xenophobic to the less serious but still annoying comments about their dancing and visuals being distractions from their lack of talent (as if those things aren’t also talents? anyway…). ‘Permission To Dance’ could represent their refusal to work within the boundaries others try to set for them, be it language barriers, genre labels, or even whether they are singers, rappers, artists, or idols.

Furthermore, BTS often incorporate tongue-in-cheek references to the hate or criticism they face. Recently, especially after the release of ‘Butter’ and ‘Dynamite, some people criticized BTS for being too westernised (or more specifically, Americanized). They really said oh we’re too western? Ok bet, now we’re cowboys.

Like its English-language predecessors, ‘Permission To Dance’ serves as part three to what ARMY calls the BTS Trojan Horse. At first glance, it may seem to new listeners like BTS just make fun, light-hearted, summery bops, which they do, but then you discover an often profound and richly diverse Korean (and Japanese) discography and all of a sudden we have an influx of new baby ARMY. Welcome!

Even in the most literal interpretations, ‘Permission To Dance’ is still inspiring. In today’s society, we often feel guilty for relaxing or taking time out, especially in the midst of the current chaos. ARMY all over the world can take this song as a reminder that fear, sadness, hope, and joy are all feelings that can and do coexist within us – It’s about finding the light within the dark.

‘Permission To Dance’ is one of their best singles yet, and we can’t wait to see it achieve the success it deserves. ‘Butter’ is still sitting pretty atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the sixth consecutive week. If it remains there another week, then we can do as Suga said and pass the baton to ‘Permission To Dance’. US ARMYs get streaming and buying, what Yoongi wants, Yoongi gets!