Unpacking Blood, Sweat, and Tears MV: Bruegel, Abraxas, and Vestal Virgins

Happy 6th birthday to the Blood, Sweat and Tears (2016). Join Lia and our favorite International Correspondent, Lexi, in unpacking the symbolism and Easter eggs found in BTS's iconic music video. Do people in your life ever dismiss your BTS love as supporting "some stupid boy band?" First, ew. You get to enjoy and celebrate WHATEVER brings you joy, friend. But secondly, while we love a surface-level banger like Butter...when the guys go deep, they tunnel into the depths of human duality and draw on influences from folks like Nobel-Prize winner Herman Hesse and the gnostic mystical concept of Abraxas. So if you ever want to "well, actually," a BTS naysayer, tune in and bulk up your argument.

Show notes:

The Music Videos

BTS (방탄소년단) '피 땀 눈물 (Blood Sweat & Tears)' Official MV

BTS (防弾少年団) '血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.-' Official MV

BTS (방탄소년단) 'ON' Official MV

BTS (방탄소년단) 'ON' Kinetic Manifesto Film : Come Prima

BTS (방탄소년단) 'IDOL' Official MV

BTS (방탄소년단) 'Butter' Official MV

Agust D '대취타' MV (Daechwita)

The Art:

The Fall of the Rebel Angels

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1562)

Hieronymus Bosch

The Lament for Icarus

Herbert James Draper (1898)

Pietà

Michelangelo (1498-1499)

A veiled Vestal Virgin

Raffaelle Monti (1846-1847)

The books:

Demian (Hermann Hesse) - Mere Mortals Book Review

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Nietzsche 

The Music:

Bach’s Mass in B Minor

Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D Minor

The Mythology:

Michael (Archangel)

Apollo

Abraxas

Icarus

Hyakinthos (Hyacinthus)

Zephyr (Zephyros)

The Miscellaneous:

[ENG] 161012 [BANGTAN BOMB] 'Blood Sweat & Tears' MV Reaction by BTS

BTS - Blood Sweat and Tears - Parody

Lia's husband's audio she didn't recognize