Warning: Following article contains mild spoilers for the book “The Ones Who Walk Away From The Omelas by an American author and essayist Ursula K. Le Guin.
In the short story “The ones who walk away from the Omelas” Ursula K. Le Guin writes:
“Joyous! How is one to tell about joy? How describe the citizens of Omelas?”
Spring Day is the Queen of the BTS songs, no matter the release from the korean band, Spring Day always comes back to the charts with grace, despite being released in 2017, with highly acclaimed “You Never Walk Alone” album, which became extention of previous record, “Wings” adding singles “Spring Day” but also “You Never Walk Alone”, both becoming a sought after ballads with full and rich spectrum of emotions.
The song was loosely inspired by this exact story and its reference can be found in the music video directly but also through the lessons learned by the short fiction and song alike. It’s words and melody is so comforting, it became not only source of gentle love and reminder of better days but also a song of comfort for victims of ferry disaster which happened in South Korea, back in 2014 and costed more than 100 lives. Although direct inspiration was never confirmed by official sources the songs gentleness, hope and beauty became significant in it’s own way.
Following the quote mentioned above, the line in bridge of the Spring Day says:
“The morning will come again
No darkness, no season can’t last forever”
Both the short story and the short song have beautiful connotation between pain and calmness, desperation and hope, destructiveness and gentleness.
Le Guin writes“We have almost lost hold; we can no longer describe happy man, nor make any celebration of joy.”
While in Spring Day we hear the words in Namjoons verse:
“How much should my longings fall like snow
Before the days of spring return, friend?”
The feeling of pain, helplessness and loneliness present and represented often in cold grey skies of winter cut through our memories as we remeber, relive or live through hardships of our own, but as both stories continue the main and very strong message behind them both says, there will be Spring, blooming with hope, comfort and warm or memories that helps us feel happiness and hope, both in their own unique way. Le Guin teaches us the feeling, while Spring Day wraps listeners in a blanket of the flowers and warmness that melts the grey away with no regrets.
“One thing I know there is none of in Omelas is guilt.”
We can read further and looking into it more based on ohr of perspective to fight for what or who we love, we should feel no guilt or regret for. Just like in Jimin’s line, there is no guilt, despite there being pain:
“I miss you, honestly, but I’ll erase you
‘Cause it hurts less than to blame you”
But through pain, darkness and through many moments you learn, just like children in Omelas and just like the BTS fans understanding the gentle reminder and comfort within the notes od Sprin Day each time they come back to it:
Pass the end of winter’s cold
Until the spring day comes again
Until the flowers bloom again
Just as Le Guin ends the short story with lines
They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
There is hope, happiness and kindness to be found if one is willing to fight for it, wait for it and yes, long for it as well. Its a hard lesson wrapped in 5 pages as well as 4 and a half minute, but it’s one that is worth listening to, read and remember.
Spring Day is a masterful ballad produced by Pdogg with songwriting by RM and Suga which now reached more than 470M views on YouTube. Its gentle tone and melody is comforting one despite the urgency to tell the story from darkness into to hopefulness of blooming spring.
Source: Genius Lyrics
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