“Meeting with the Devil at the Crossroads”
So today I wanted to talk about the significance of crossroads and why they are used a lot in concepts. Crossroads go back to the legend of Robert Johnson, a young man who supposedly went to the crossroads to make a deal with the devil in exchange for music skills.
According to legend, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Johnson had a tremendous desire to become a great blues musician. He was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the devil) who took the guitar and tuned it. The devil played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. This was a deal with the devil mirroring the
legend of Faust. In exchange for his soul, Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.
Johnson would often, write songs referencing to how how he made a pact with devil etc
“BTS AND CROSSROADS”
I’ve noticed a lot that bts love photoshoots/concepts involving members standing at a road, which I think references to having had made a deal
Especially with yoongi’s first love, which I think is very symbolic
So at first we see yoongi using a brick to smash the windows of the room with the piano. He then illegally forces himself in. The room being locked is symbolic. I think this represents how beforehand yoongi didn’t have access to music ( remember how his family was financially unstable and couldn’t afford to support his dream of being a musician? Then after entering he plays for a bit but stops midway...seeming rather broken. Then yoongi hears a whistle, which he follows. (There is a polish legend that whistling conquers demons) that is why there is a superstition that we shouldn’t whistle at night
The whistle leads him to a dark road ( crossroads) a “black” car ( remember Johnson’s met a “black” man aka the devil at the crossroads) charges towards him, but he is left unhurt, but then we see blood smeared on the road, there was theory that it’s jungkook’s blood. So does that mean yoongi made the deal, but in the end a blood sacrifice of one of the members will occur? Aka predictive programming?
Then we see a scene with a bathtub, remember how bathtubs represent rebaptism into the occult? Anyway yoongi runs away only to find the “black” car has smashed into the exact same room where he was playing the piano...but notice how the car made a bigger impact...all the windows have been smashed, so does that mean yoongi now has a larger access to music? Now that he has made the deal. Also notice how the piano is on fire, remember when yoongi made a deal in their fire MV, the black figure caught on fire?
Anyway the whistle begins again. The MV ends
And then look at the lyrics of their song
Road
Hidden Track #9, 길 (Road) Translation
It started with Eminem, Garion, Epik High
I exceed imitation, I write my own rap then carve them in
Now that I see, I've somehow gotten to Hongdae
All of my life savings at the time all the teacher
but we dunno , we dunno, we dunno the future
Allowed no time to breathe and tied me up while I was dreaming
The trap of an abandoned reality, Oh the trap of one's youth
My fiery heart lost to my cold head damn
While I had blind faith that my choice was the right one
something that I can't identify as an angel or devil says
“Wouldn't you like to rap properly
Yes or no, there is no time to hesitate”
I, who didn't want to make an even bigger idiot out of myself came to this place and 3 years have since passed
Remember bts love having double meanings in their songs that appear innocent to normal people but have a different meaning to you and me
Faust pact with the devil
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540).
Faust is an erudite who is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Faust legend has been the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works that have reinterpreted it through the ages. "Faust" and the adjective "Faustian" imply a situation in which an ambitious person surrenders moral integrity in order to achieve power and success for a delimited term