Black Swan (BTS)

Digital Cover

Artist

BTS

Digital Single

Black Swan

Released

2020.01.17

Tracklist

1. Black Swan

Information

Black Swan is a digital single released by BTS. It peaked at #7 on the Gaon Digital Charts. It also managed to chart in several countries aside from South Korea, reaching #46 in the United Kingdom and #57 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Two music videos were released to promote the song, both inspired by the 2010 movie Black Swan. It was awarded the Melon Popularity Award for five consecutive weeks.

Originally released in Korean, a Japanese version was released six months later on their Japanese album MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 ~THE JOURNEY~.

Live Performances

• [2020.01.28] The Late Late Show with James Corden
• [2020.02.27] M! Countdown
• [2020.02.28] Music Bank
• [2020.03.01] Inkigayo
• [2020.07.18] NHK SONGS
• [2020.09.27] Lotte Duty Free Family Concert
• [2020.09.30] The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Song Information

Lyrics

Pdogg, RM, August Rigo, Vince Nantes, Clyde Kelly

Music

Pdogg, RM, August Rigo, Vince Nantes, Clyde Kelly

Vocals

Jungkook, SUGA, RM, V, Jimin, Jin, J-HOPE

Other Information

Arrangement: Pdogg

Keyboards: Pdogg

Synthesizer: Pdogg

Chorus: Jungkook, J-HOPE

Producer: Pdogg

Music Video

"Art Film" Shot

Music Video Shot

The first full promotional video released was an "Art Film" version, released on the same day as the single. Also inspired by the 2010 Black Swan movie, it's an artistic interpretation of the lyrics by the dancing troupe.

The video features an interpretative dance performed by MN Dance Company, a Slovenian modern dance group. The opening quote, "A dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is more painful", resonates through the performance and with the lyrics. The video then fades to an abandoned mall where seven dancers, in a straight line, walk into the frame. The following scene shows one shirtless lead dancer standing apart from the rest, who are dressed in over-sized suits. A "dance battle" starts between the two: at first the shirtless man is trying to run from the others but by the end of the performance he rises up with their help.

The official music video was released more than a month later, on March 4th, without any previous announcements. It was filmed entirely in the Los Angeles Theatre.

The video starts with all the members dancing in white in a dark environment. It starts centering on each member, every one of them interacting with their shadows: Suga's shadows breaks free from himself, Jin is haunted by his reflection,... In-between shots of intricate choreography on the empty stage are used. Their outfits change from white to black, as references to good and evil; at the end of the video, their outfits remain black.

The video draws influences from Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake

The choreography was created by Sergio Reis, a Brazilian dancer. It was first performed on BTS's appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, on January 28th.

Credits:

Official Music Video

• Director: YongSeok Choi (Lumpens)
• Co-Director: Guzza (Lumpens)
• Assistant Director: Jihye Yoon (Lumpens)
• Executive Producer / Producer: Tiffany Suh

• Director of Photography: Hyunwoo Nam (GDW)
• Focus Puller: Sangwoo Yoon
• B Cam: Eumko
• 2nd AC: Eunki Kim
• Camera Crew: Robin Kim, Isue shin, Alec Echaverria, Matt Maio

• JIB Operator: YoungJoong Kim, Hyun In Kim

• Co-production company: FREENJOY
• Executive Producer: Nathan Scherrer
• Production Supervisor: Sina Pars, Joe Keenan
• Production Coordinator: Matt Kovacs
• Client Liaison: Ran Ro

• 1st AD: Joe Suarez
• 2nd AD Liaison: Joseph Kim
• Location Manager: Laura Dominguez

• Gaffer: Kyle Bryson
• Key Grip: Wadsworth Peters

• Color: Company 3
• Colorist: Charles Bunnag
• Senior Producer: Gabriel Wakeman
• Associate Producer: Bianca Yi

• Visual Creative: Nu Kim, Sabinne Cheon, Lee Sun Kyoung, Kim Ga Eun
• Performance Directing: Son Sung Deuk, Lee Ga Hun, Lee Byung Eun
• Artist Management: Kim Shin Gyu, Kim Su Bin, Park Jun Tae, An Da Sol, Ahn Jong Hun, Lee Jung Min

Art Film performed by MN Dance Company

• Director: YongSeok Choi (Lumpens)
• Assistant Director: Jihye Yoon, Guzza (Lumpens)
• Director of Photography: Hyunwoo Nam (GDW)
• Focus Puller: Sangwoo Yun
• 2nd AC: Eunki Kim

• Gaffer: Kyle Bryson
• Key Grip: Wadsworth Peters
• Lasers: Concept Pixels

• Co-Production Company: Freenjoy
• Executive Producer: Nathan Scherrer
• Executive Producer / Producer: Tiffany Suh
• Production Manager: Sina Pars
• Production Coordinator: Linda Nhem
• 1st AD: Chad Nicholson
• Camera PA: Robin Kim

• Choreography: MN Dance Company

• Visual Creative: Nu Kim, Sabinne Cheon, Lee Sun Kyoung, Kim Ga Eun

• Produced by Pdogg (Pdogg, RM, August Rigo, Vince Nantes, Clyde Kelly)

• Re-arrangement: Myungsoo Shin
• Recording & Sound Design: KRAFT MUSIC

Charts

Gaon Digital Chart

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10
Position	13	7	10	11	15	10	13	17	22	26
	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Week 19	Week 20
Position	31	35	38	36	46	48	52	55	63	65
	Week 21	Week 22	Week 23	Week 24	Week 25	Week 26	Week 27	Week 28	Week 29	Week 30
Position	68	70	73	69	73	87	94	94	99	100
	Week 31	Week 32	Week 33	Week 34	Week 35	Week 36	Week 37	Week 38	Week 39	Week 40
Position	96	81	84	90	84	90	92	92	90	106
	Week 41	Week 42	Week 43	Week 44
Position	134	159	170	181

Year	Month	Rank
2020	January	24
	February	11
	March	19
	April	35
	May	50
	June	67
	July	82
	August	95
	September	83
	October	100

Oricon Digital Single Chart

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Week Rank
				7	4	x	x

United World Charts

Week	Rank	Sales
05 / 2020	30	102,000
06 / 2020	34	83,000

Disambiguation

Black Swan

Found on the MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 album as track #7. This is the standard version of the song.

Black Swan -Japanese ver.-

Found on the MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 ~THE JOURNEY~ album as track #9. This is the Japanese version of the original song.

External Links

• Big Hit YouTube Channel: 'Black Swan' Official MV | 'Black Swan' Art Film
• BANGTAN TV YouTube Channel: 'Black Swan' Dance Practice | 'Black Swan -Japanese ver.-'
• Listen on Spotify: 'Black Swan' | 'Black Swan -Japanese ver.-