Lights (BTS song)

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"Lights" / "Boy with Luv"
Transparent bubbles floating against a yellow and light blue background
Digital and regular edition cover
Single by BTS
from the album Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~
B-side"Idol"
ReleasedJuly 7, 2019
GenreElectropop
Length4:52
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Sunny Boy
  • UTA
  • Yohei
Producer(s)
  • UTA
BTS singles chronology
"Heartbeat"
(2019)
"Lights" / "Boy with Luv"
(2019)
"Make It Right"
(2019)
BTS Japanese singles chronology
"Fake Love" / "Airplane Pt. 2"
(2018)
"Lights" / "Boy with Luv"
(2019)
"Stay Gold"
(2020)
Music video
"Lights" on
YouTube

"Lights" is a song recorded by South Korean

power ballad in the style of dance music, featuring a bassline and piano-driven chord progression
. An uplifting song, the lyrics describe BTS and the listener as each other's light.

Upon release, the song received generally favourable reviews from

single album was later awarded as one of the top five singles of the year at the 2020 Japan Gold Disc Awards
.

An accompanying music video was uploaded to YouTube on July 2, 2019, and depicts the band interacting with each other inside a movie theatre. The song was BTS' first Japanese single in four years to receive the music video treatment since "For You" (2015). The band performed "Lights" live as a part of their fifth Japanese fan-meeting concerts in Chiba and Osaka in 2019.

Background and composition

Following the release of the band's sixth extended play Map of the Soul: Persona in April 2019, BTS announced that their tenth Japanese-language single "Lights" would be released alongside the Japanese versions of the band's previously released Korean-language singles "Idol" (2018) and "Boy with Luv" (2019).[1] The record marked BTS's first original Japanese single in two years since "Crystal Snow" (2017).[2] It was also the band's first Japanese single in four years to receive a music video, after "For You" (2015).[3] "Lights" was written by Sunny Boy, Yohei and its producer UTA. The song was mixed by D.O.I, who also served as studio personnel.[4]

"Lights" is an

power ballad in the style of dance music, that features a heavy bassline and "clear" piano-driven chord progression in its composition.[2][5][6] The track is further instrumented by guitar and synthesizer.[4] In terms of musical notation, the song is composed in the key of F major with a tempo of 99 beats per minute, and is four minutes and 52 seconds long.[7] Lyrically, the track is "uplifting" and deals with themes of love and self-acceptance.[5][8] In "Lights", BTS refer to themselves and the listener as each other's light, and sing about motivating each other to face hardships in a positive way.[5]

Release and reception

"Lights" was made available for

DVD containing the music videos for "Lights" and "Idol". Edition B also comes with a DVD that contains behind the scenes footage of the music video for "Lights" and the making of album jacket photos, while C contains a 36-page photobook.[1][2]

"Lights" was met with generally favourable reviews from

single album "Lights / Boy with Luv" received the Best 5 Singles award, while the song "Lights" was awarded the Song of the Year by Download (Asia).[13]

Commercial performance

Celine Dion holding a microphone against a black background
"Lights" surpassed one million pre-orders in Japan and broke the 24-year-old record of Celine Dion's 1995 single "To Love You More".[14]

"Lights" was a commercial success in Japan. The single topped the Oricon Daily Singles Chart on its first day of release, selling 467,107 copies.[15] By doing so, BTS achieved the highest sales in a single day by a foreign artist in the country, surpassing the record set by their previous Japanese single album, "Fake Love / Airplane Pt. 2", of 327,342 copies.[16] The band also recorded the highest sales figures in a week, surpassing another self record of 454,829 copies.[17] During the tracking period of July 1–3, 2019, the single recorded 636,345 copies sold, achieving higher sales than "Fake Love / Airplane Pt. 2" by over 100,000 units.[18] On July 3, 2019, pre-orders for the single crossed 1,000,000 copies, marking the first time a Korean artist achieved a million shipments for a single in Japan, and breaking a 24-year-old record previously held solely by Celine Dion, with her 1995 single "To Love You More".[14][19] The single remained at number one on the daily chart for seven consecutive days, selling 637,000 physical copies in its first week.[20] "Lights" peaked at number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for the chart issue dated July 1–7, 2019, and became the best-selling physical single of July 2019 in Japan, selling 769,454 copies.[21][22][23] For the year end chart, it was the sixth best-selling single in the country.[24]

"Lights" debuted at number 81 on the Billboard

Japan Hot 100 for the chart issue date of July 8, 2019.[25] The following week, it rose up 80 places to number one on the chart.[26] The single remained in the top five of the chart at number two, on the issue date of July 22, 2019.[27] On August 8, 2019, "Lights" received a million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), denoting shipments of 1,000,000 copies, making BTS the first male foreign artist to achieve this.[28][29][30] The band also became the first male act in 11 years to earn a million award in the country since Masafumi Akikawa's 2007 single, "A Thousand Winds"; it was the first time the band attained the certification since their debut.[28][31] "Lights" debuted at number one on the US World Digital Songs chart on the issue date of July 20, 2019, becoming the band's 14th number one on the chart.[32] Elsewhere, the song entered the record charts in Scotland at number 73 on the Scottish Singles Chart, and appeared at number 10 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart, an extension to the New Zealand Top 40 chart.[33][34]

Music video and promotion

The music video for "Lights" was uploaded to Universal Music Japan's official

Consequence of Sound regarded the visual as "magical" and "dreamlike."[42] Puah Ziwei from NME echoed similar sentiments, labeling the clip as "stunning" and "dreamy."[39]

On November 23 and 24, 2019, BTS performed "Lights" live for the first time as part of their fifth Japanese fan-meeting concert- Magicshop, at the Zozo Marine Stadium, Chiba, Japan. The band again performed the song on December 14 and 15 of the same year, at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.[43][44][45]

Track listings

CD and digital download
Suga
  • Emily Weisband
  • J-Hope
  • Ashley Frangipane
  • Pdogg3:51
    3."Idol"
    • "Hitman" Bang
    • Roman Campolo
    • Pdogg
    • RM
    • Supreme Boi
    • Ali Tamposi
    Pdogg3:42
    Total length:12:26
    Limited Edition A (CD + DVD)[47]
    No.TitleLength
    1."Lights"4:53
    2."Boy with Luv"3:51
    3."Idol"3:42
    4."Lights" (music video) 
    5."Idol" (music video) 
    Limited Edition B (CD + DVD)[48]
    No.TitleLength
    1."Lights"4:53
    2."Boy with Luv"3:51
    3."Idol"3:42
    4."Lights" (making of music video) 
    5."Lights" (making of jacket photos) 
    Limited Edition C (CD + Booklet)[49]
    No.TitleLength
    1."Lights"4:53
    2."Boy with Luv"3:51
    3."Idol"3:42

    Credits and personnel

    Credits are adapted from Tidal.[4]

    • BTS – primary vocals
    • UTA – producer, songwriter, guitar, keyboards, digital editing, synthesizer, studio personnel
    • D.O.I. – mixing engineer, studio personnel
    • Sunny Boy – songwriter
    • Yohei – songwriter
    • Jungkook – backing vocals
    • Jimin – backing vocals
    • Pdogg – recording engineer, vocal arrangement, studio personnel
    • Jung Woo Young – recording engineer, studio personnel
    • Park Jin Se – recording engineer, studio personnel
    • KM-Markit
       – vocal arrangement
    • Masaya Wada – vocal arrangement

    Charts

    Certifications

    Certifications and sales for "Lights / Boy with Luv"
    Region Certification Certified units/sales
    Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[57] Platinum 40,000
    Japan (RIAJ)[58] Million 1,000,000^
    Poland (ZPAV)[59] 2× Diamond 500,000
    South Korea 4,333[60]
    Streaming
    Japan (RIAJ)[61] Platinum 100,000,000

    ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
    Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
    Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

    Release history

    Release dates and formats for "Lights / Boy with Luv"
    Country Date Format(s) Edition Label Ref.
    Various July 3, 2019 Regular Edition Universal
    Japan July 5, 2019 CD single
    CD + DVD
    Limited Edition A
    Limited Edition B
    CD + Booklet Limited Edition C

    See also

    References

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