“Let’s live on in a new world,” BTS Gives Powerful Speech at the 75th UN General Assembly Session

“Let’s live on in a new world,” BTS gives a powerful speech at the 75th UN General Assembly Session on Wednesday.

The International K-pop sensation boy band’s speech was aimed at encouraging people to break free from despair and support one another in warm solidarity.

Opening up about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected BTS, as their world tour and other plans were canceled, and owing to lockdown members of the boyband were limited to their rooms. “I looked up and couldn’t see the stars at night,” said RM.

“I felt hopeless,” said Jimin. “Everything fell apart. I could only look outside my window.”

Sharing about how he went from performing for fans around the globe to his world shrinking to only his room. Jimin added, “And then, my friends took my hand. We comforted each other and talked about what we could do together.”

Read More: BTS to address the 75th UN General Assembly Session

Then Suga described how his life had become simple for the first time since making his debut with BTS Suga calls it an unwanted but precious time.

Suga went on to add that he is used to the world shrinking in an instant, telling that“When I’m on tour, I stand in the bright lights amid the fans’ loud cheers, but at night back in my room, my world becomes only a few paces wide. The room itself was small, but my world and our world reached far and wide. In this world, we had our instruments, our phones, and our fans.”

In continuation of the speech, V added, “But this time felt different. It felt lonelier and smaller.” He realized it was maybe because the act of imagining became harder.

“I was frustrated and depressed, but I took notes, wrote songs, and thought about who I was,” V said. “I thought, ‘If I give up here, then I’m not the star of my life. This is what an awesome person would do.’”

J-Hope joining in his part of the speech said that the group had embraced those emotions and the seven of them began to make music together.

“This is where the music came from, and this made us honest,” J-Hope said. “Our lives are unpredictable. We don’t know all the answers. I knew where I wanted to go, but not how I could get there. All I did to get here was trust ourselves, do my best, and love what I do.”

The BTS member, Jin added that “I found again the people I love. The other members, my family, my friends. I found the music I love, and I found myself. Thinking about the future and trying hard are all important, but cherishing yourself, encouraging yourself, and keeping yourself happy are the most important things.”

Jin also stressed the importance to cherish the value of “me,” “you,” and “us,” noting that this is also the message of BTS’s “Love Myself” campaign with UNICEF as well as the latest single “Dynamite.”

Jungkook contributing to BTS address added that “One night we were working together. RM said he couldn’t see the stars anymore, but I saw my face reflected in the window. I saw all of our faces. Our songs became the stories we wanted to tell each other. We live in uncertainty, but really, nothing’s changed. If there’s something I can do, if our voices can give strength to people, then that’s what we want and that’s what we’ll keep doing.”

Moving towards concluding the speech, RM said, “When I start feeling lost, I remember my face in the window, like Jungkook said. I remember the words I spoke here two years ago. ‘Love yourself, speak yourself.’ Now, more than ever, we must try to remember who we are and face who we are. We must try to love ourselves and imagine the future.”

“BTS will be there with you,” RM added. “Our tomorrow may be dark, painful, difficult, and we might stumble or fall down. But the stars shine brightest when the night is darkest. And if the stars are hidden, we’ll let moonlight guide us. If even the moon is dark, let our faces be the light that helps us find our way.”

“Let’s reimagine our world,” RM continued. “We’re huddled together tired, but let’s dream again. Let’s dream about a future when our worlds can break out of our small rooms again. It might feel like it’s always night and we’ll always be alone, but the night is always the darkest before the first light of dawn.”

The BTS members ended the virtual address saying, “Life goes on. Let’s live on.”

This was BTS’s second address at the United Nations General Assembly.

Back in 2018, BTS gave an address at the launch ceremony of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited at the 73rd UN General Assembly in 2018.

Since 2017, BTS has been working with UNICEF to end violence against youth on the campaign named “Love Myself”.