There's something so beautiful about Bicycle by RM. For a moment, forget what it's titled, who it's by, and what's it for. Just close your eyes and listen to the melody, listen to his voice. Let your mind play that little reel in your head, where you're the main character of every story. You will find yourself Namjooning. That's the beauty of his work.
The song will remind you of traveling solo, or with a bunch of strangers. Exploring new places and meeting new people. You will find yourself to be ‘foreign’ in those surroundings, inquisitive about everything like a child, interested in everything like a tourist. You will find yourself admiring the smallest and seemingly simple things. The sun rises every day. But this would feel different. Sunsets would seem worth your while. The shape of a tiny leaf you never noticed before, will feel like it's worth tracing your fingers along. Enjoying and appreciating the marvels in mundane and monotony.
The song makes you travel, through landscapes in your head, through memories it keeps safe. Humming, snapping your fingers, hands using any and every given object to make beats, the melody of a ukulele, or the way the strings of a guitar tie you down to just smiling subtly at that moment.
Maybe Bicycle is just his metaphor, for setting yourself free, from everything that holds us back on a daily. Because the moment you hit the road, destinations seem like something for later. For now, at that moment, you just want the wind to take it all away, everything and every thought that occupies your mind otherwise.
Everything after this is from an old thread of mine from when Bicycle was released. You may or may not choose to read ahead.
If the beauty of autumn could be captured in a song, Bicycle will remind you of Fall trips down abandoned bridges, parks, and alleyways…when all seems to be falling apart, perhaps some things fall perfectly in place. The lyrics paint your thoughts in the colors of autumn, reminding you that wilting and withering away is a phase bound to be experienced. And though it is set to be followed by the harsh cold winters, each falls in place to welcome spring day. What you may be enduring must be heavy on the heart and there may be a lot more to come. But nothing lasts forever. Even if the stay of each season varies, each is bound to come. And though your mind will focus on what’s hitting the ground, think of the beautiful array it creates. Smell the autumn scent, let the sound of crunching leaves sink in your mind. Focus on harmony even in sheer chaos. The colors that surround you would never be there if Fall hadn’t come. Though some things in life may feel hard to cope up with, on the broader canvas they add colors to who we are. Bicycle will make you want to fall in love again, with everything unusual and usually gone unnoticed. So pull out your bicycle and hit play, let the song of life overwhelm your senses a little…till your mind settles on things it’s forgotten to focus upon, the little things that make each tick of the clock worth it.
It’s been years since I’ve been able to ride through the streets on my bicycle. But to someone who has experienced the beauty in this ‘me time’, Bicycle manages to encapsulate that experience and every feeling it evokes into an audio, and I don’t know how to explain that any better. Wind blowing through your hair, letting your thoughts unwind, mind focused on the smallest of things in view, a beautiful distraction from everything you leave behind for a moment, the growing feeling of being alive again, the soft smiles, and the desire to burst out singing…I could go on and on. Bicycle embodies the feeling of Namjooning. Maybe you’re not at your happiest or even the thoughts that sink in add a slight melancholy. But this feeling rises that you’re in control of the wheel. That today, maybe today you really can promise yourself something new. Maybe today you’re finally ready to see the same place from a different lens, not crowded out by anyone else and their thoughts. Bicycle will make you want to grab your bike and go out, explore the world, your mind, yourself…stop next to places you find fascinating, capture them through your lens or on your diary, scribble to your heart's content, just breathe the fresh air and the scent of being free from everything, even if for just a fragment in time. Kick pebbles out of the way, touch a flower/leaf, smile to yourself…just live in the moment and hold onto it as long as you can, embracing this bit of time as your own… No matter how your heart feels in this moment, this moment will still only be yours. Whether the skies shine like the galaxies in your eyes or shed tears along with yours…this moment in time will still only be YOURS. That’s Bicycle.
Bicycle is an interesting metaphor for escapism. To take a stroll in the fresh air when the heart feels heavy is undeniably relatable to too many. But placing your feet on the pedals makes the world a blur. And down empty streets at a steady pace, you will feel your eyes close for just a moment or more, to let this feeling of being free sink in. It doesn’t and yet it’ll feel like your bicycle has wings… Yet time to time you pause your thoughts to focus on the scenery around. Bicycle is also a metaphor for the wheel of life, stuck to a point yet going round and round. So maybe if we can never truly escape the realities, time changes where they take us on which step of the way. It’s not possible to detach yourself, yet somehow things do go on. Bike rides will remind you of times you’ve long forgotten or you wished you could. And both would leave a subtle melancholic feel in the air. But as your feet move and your eyes blink to flash new views and memories the same thing will encourage you to keep going. Peddling faster or too slow would both make you miss out on a lot, and possibly hurt you more. But that steady pace that you, your heart, mind, soul… and your bike adopt on the way, will keep you just afloat. Enough to flow through things with ease… even if nothing is easy on its own…
Bicycle makes you feel you’re bike riding with Namjoon. and maybe it started rough on a rocky road but he grasps the handlebars for you till your feet learn to be steady on the pedals…and when he lets go it’s like you’ve learned to let go of everything holding you back. The journey that started off on a tough note is finally picking up pace. And he’s smiling seeing you getting a grip on it. and letting the road take you down new paths to explore.
Listening to Bicycle feels like a journey started before sunrise and by the time the song ends, the sun is up in the sky and you’re cycling past a row of sunflowers, briefly turning to face it. The circle below your feet reminding you of the wheel of life, how things go round, and maybe good days don’t have to symbolize better times, and good moments don’t have to fall back into good days. Maybe it’s just this bright morning that’s worth enjoying at this moment. So let it be, let yourself be. Let your feet take you to places unknown.
The song embodies a certain kind of warmth, a subtle effort to encourage someone dear to give themselves another chance. Bicycle felt like the audio version of what Jungkook presented in GCF in Helsinki. and the feeling it evoked, the way the colors warmed up when Namjoon smiled.
If Mono. felt like he sat beside you in the moonlight and heard you talk your heart out…Bicycle felt like as the hours slipped by, he wrapped his fingers around your wrist & pulled you out to take a ride up the hill, then settled down with you to watch the sunrise.
It feels like a conversation with an old friend who knows you all too well but right now the heart feels a bit disconnected. As the song fades to silence, it feels a little lighter. That old friend could be someone else, or just a long-forgotten part of yourself.
Bicycle by RM for Festa 2021
This analytical piece is a subjective interpretation of the actual work (bound to have a one-dimensional perspective) and claims to reflect nothing directly or indirectly mentioned in the original lyrics.
Credits to @doolsetbangtan for lyric translations, for this and all previous posts too.
