"Blood Sweat & Tears" (; Japanese: ; Hepburn: Chi, ase, namida) is a song recorded in two languages (Korean and Japanese) by South Korean boy band BTS. It was written by "Hitman" Bang, Kim Do-hoon, RM, Suga, J-Hope, and Pdogg, with the latter of the six solely handling production. The Korean version was released on October 10, 2016, as the lead single from the band's second studio album, Wings (2016), by Big Hit Entertainment. The Japanese version of the song was released on May 10, 2017, through Universal Music Japan, as a single album that included the B-side tracks "Not Today" and "Spring Day", both also in Japanese. It is a moombahton, trap, and tropical house song with influences of dancehall and reggaeton. The song's lyrics address the pain of addictive love.
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who were favourable towards its production, the refreshing sound, and BTS' vocal delivery. It was also likened to the musical styles of Major Lazer and Justin Bieber. It was nominated for the Song of the Year at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards and appeared on the decade-end lists of the best K-pop songs by Billboard and GQ. Commercially, the Korean version of the song debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, becoming the band's first number one on the chart. As of May 2019, the song has sold over 2.5 million copies in South Korea. The Japanese version peaked at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, becoming the 22nd best-selling single of 2017 in Japan. It received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 250,000 copies in the country.
Two music videos were filmed for "Blood Sweat & Tears", one for the Korean version and another for the Japanese version; the first video was directed by YongSeok Choi and premiered via Big Hit's YouTube channel on October 10, 2016. Inspired by Hermann Hesse's coming of age novel, Demian (1919), the symbolism-heavy video depicts BTS exploring a museum and performing choreography. The video was awarded the Best Music Video at the 2017 Seoul Music Awards. The second video, featuring psychedelic and neon colours, was uploaded to Universal Japan's YouTube channel on May 10, 2017. BTS promoted the song with televised live performances on various South Korean music programs, including M! Countdown, Music Bank, and Inkigayo. It was also included on the set list of their second worldwide concert tour, The Wings Tour (2017).
Background and release Following the conclusion of their three-part narrative "Youth" series, which presented the theme of the beauty of youth and its uncertainties, BTS announced the release of their second Korean-language studio album Wings in 2016. "Blood Sweat & Tears" was confirmed to be included on Wings when the band shared the track-listing of the album. On October 7, 2016, the song was announced as the lead single from the album. The song was written by "Hitman" Bang, Kim Do-hoon, RM, Suga, J-Hope, and its producer Pdogg. The track was engineered by the producer, while mixing was handled by James F. Reynolds at Schmuzik Studios.
"Blood Sweat & Tears" was released for digital download and streaming by Big Hit Entertainment on October 10, 2016, as the lead single from Wings.Citations regarding the digital release of "Blood Sweat & Tears" by BTS in various countries: A Japanese version of the song was recorded, and issued digitally for purchase on May 10, 2017 by Universal Music Japan as the band's seventh Japanese-language single album, together with the Japanese versions of previously released 2017 Korean singles, "Spring Day" and "Not Today". The single album was also released as a four-version CD single in Japan on the same day, with a regular edition and three different limited editions; A, B and C. All four editions contain Japanese versions of "Blood, Sweat & Tears" as the A-side and "Not Today" as B-side track, while the Japanese version of "Spring Day" is included exclusively on the regular edition. In addition, edition A includes a DVD that contains the music videos for both the Korean and Japanese versions of "Blood, Sweat & Tears". Edition B also comes with a DVD, which contains behind the scenes footage of the music video for the Japanese version of the song and the making of the album jacket photos, while C contains a 36-page photobook. The lyrics for the Japanese version were written by KM-MARKIT. It was subsequently included as the third track on BTS' third Japanese-language studio album Face Yourself (2018).
Music and lyrics
As opposed to BTS' signature hip hop sound, "Blood Sweat & Tears" was described as a hybrid of moombahton, trap, and tropical house. The song takes influence from dancehall and reggaeton. It is composed in the key of C minor, with a moderate tempo of 93 beats per minute, and runs for 3:37. Instrumentally, the song relies on keyboards, synthesizer, and Caribbean drums. The song employs a "layered" production that consists of "spacey chill-house beats," "airy synths," "echoing sirens" and "rhythmic claps." A reviewer from The Singles Jukebox noted similarities in the song's composition to the styles of Norwegian production duo Stargate.
The verses are driven by "pounding beats," and use an emotional and melancholic delivery. The vocal approaches are characterized by gentle, cascading chimes, as well as "sentimental crooning." The song features "feathery coos," "breathy" falsettos, "chopped vocal" hooks and at-times, "undulating" raps from the band. The chorus is "circuitous," in which they chant "My blood, sweat and tears, my last dance, take it all away." It leads to a smoky, electronic-dance-driven breakdown, which was compared to the "emotionally tinged" works of Major Lazer and Justin Bieber.
Speaking about the concept and the meaning of the song at a press conference, RM stated: "The harder a temptation is to resist, the more you think about it and vacillate. That uncertainty is part of the process of growing. 'Blood Sweat & Tears' is a song that shows how one thinks, chooses, and grows." Suga added that "the song conveys an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we encounter temptations in life." Lyrically, the song talks about the pain of addictive love. The lyrics address the themes of "temptation" and "carnal willingness" to sacrifice everything, through lines like: "Kiss me, I don't care if it hurts/ Hurry up and choke me/ So I can't get hurt any more." An editor from Billboard wrote that the song "embraces the sense of desperation that the septet had featured on previous singles, like 'I Need U' and 'Save Me'."
Critical reception "Blood Sweat & Tears" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Jeff Benjamin of Fuse praised the track's sound and the band's vocal delivery, writing that the "wholly accessible dance single" is "perfect for today's pop soundscape." Benjamin also wrote an article for Billboard where he cited it as BTS' best song and said, "the raps, the vocal deliveries and the visuals all feel specific and important to their developing story, while still being wholly accessible to audiences around the globe [...] and only continue to push their art deeper into the global music scene." Tamar Herman, in a separate Billboard review, labelled the song as "game-changing" and called it "sonically" complex. She praised the "ethereal vocals" and "high notes," adding that the song "maintains BTS' bombastic style even while shifting away from hip-hop and toward a more mainstream, Major Lazer-esque sound." In The Malaysia Star, Chester Chin commended the song for its "infectious EDM sounds." Jacques Peterson of Idolator wrote that the track "wouldn't sound out of place on Justin Bieber's Purpose." Hyun-su Yim from The Korea Herald praised the song for its "minimalist" chorus and "synth-based" production.
Reviewing for Vulture, T.K. Park and Youngdae Kim felt that the song evolved the band's sound and musical direction in a way "that represents a turning point in [BTS'] career." They elaborated writing: "Despite being influenced by dancehall, reggaeton, and moombahton, the number eschews the partylike atmosphere of its influences, electing instead for a baroque mysticism." Craig Jenkins, also of Vulture, deemed the track as "dark and existential." Taylor Glasby of Dazed lauded the song's production and the band's vocal delivery, writing that "BTS are able to marry the lyrics' intimate, bloodied brokenness to an opposing state of leviathan pop with such effortlessness that it dominates all that stands before it." IZMs Minhyung Hyun observed that "the theme of 'temptation' that was a new concept following 'school' and 'youth' [series], fitted with their lyrics" and displayed growth towards "a slightly intense identity" than that "shown through their previous works" with the song. He also praised the production and dubbed the song's chorus as "addictive," which captured "emotions." For Tamara Fuentes of Seventeen, the song "ushers in the new era in a beautiful way."
Accolades Billboard and Dazed selected "Blood Sweat & Tears" as one of the 20 best K-pop songs of 2016. The former ranked it at number 7 and 16 on their lists of the 100 best K-pop songs of 2010s and 100 greatest boy band songs of all time, respectively. GQ placed the song on their decade-end list of the best K-pop songs of the 2010s and picked it as the highlight of 2016. On behalf of the magazine, Glasby called the song BTS' "magnum opus." "Blood Sweat & Tears" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards. The song achieved the top spot on various South Korean weekly music programs, garnering a total of six awards, including two consecutive wins on Music Bank. It also achieved two consecutive Melon Weekly Popularity Awards due to being a substantial success on digital platforms.
+Awards for "Blood Sweat & Tears" Year Organization Award Result 201618th Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Dance Performance - Male Group HotelsCombined Song of the Year 2017 6th Gaon Chart Music Awards Song of the Year – October 12th Annual Soompi Awards Song of the Year
+Music program awards for "Blood Sweat & Tears" Program Date Show Champion October 19, 2016 M Countdown October 20, 2016 Music Bank October 21, 2016 October 28, 2016 Inkigayo October 23, 2016 The Show October 25, 2016
Commercial performance "Blood Sweat & Tears" was a commercial success in South Korea. It debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart for the chart issue dated October 9–15, 2016, becoming BTS' first domestic number one. The song also peaked at number one on the component Download Chart, selling 198,987 digital units in its first week of release. "Blood Sweat & Tears" was the sixth best-performing song in October 2016 on the Gaon Monthly Digital Chart, based on digital sales, streaming, and background music (instrumental track) downloads. As of May 2019, "Blood Sweat & Tears" has sold over 2.5 million digital copies in South Korea. The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard World Digital Songs chart for the week of October 29, 2016, the band's second chart topper, following on from "Fire" (2016). In Canada, the song led to BTS becoming the third Korean act to chart on the Canadian Hot 100 by peaking at number 86, a new best for a K-pop group.