BTS took over The Tonight Show last night, appearing as the musical guest and sitting down for a lengthy interview with host Jimmy Fallon. Instead of performing from the late-night show’s studio, BTS took over New York City’s Guggenheim Museum to showcase the track, which comes off their new LP, Arirang.
The performance marked the TV debut of “Swim,” a reflective number with a propulsive beat. The band members appeared in different levels of the Guggenheim before joining forces on a circular stage on the museum’s ground floor.
Ahead of the performance, BTS joined Fallon for a chat about their album, the meaning behind some of their songs, and what they missed about each other while the band was on hiatus. Fallon kicked things off by asking what it felt like when the seven members came back together. “Finally!” several of the singers said in unison.
“In the military, literally, time stops,” RM said. “And after it time just flows by. We can’t believe that it’s been nine months since we all were discharged.”
“I felt like I had reunited with family,” Jin added.
Arirang is BTS’ first full-length album since 2022. To make the album, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook all moved to Los Angeles where they lived together in a house for two months. It was the first time all seven of them had lived in the same place since 2019.
The album is named after a Korean folk songs. RM explained to Fallon, “I think it’s the song that represents Koreans the most. It includes lots of emotions in it. It could be joy. It could be sorrow, longings, sadness, whatever. Resistance. So we just hope that our new songs could be universal, like the ‘arirang,’ which is the Korean traditional song.”
Fallon asked the members of BTS to listen to several of their songs, including “Swim” and “2.0,” and to discuss the meanings behind them.
Speaking about “Swim,” J-Hope explained, “I think ‘Swim’ is about the message we got from what was in our heart. We feel that life has struggles that we overcome every day. People feel different weights and tides in life. But nevertheless we need to keep swimming and move forward. This is just about the love for life itself.”
Later the band responded to fan questions, including which songs they recommend to people who are just getting into BTS and whether the other musicians agree with Jin’s theory that people have two butts.
On March 21, BTS performed free concert at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square, which Netflix live-streamed. A documentary, BTS: The Return, will arrive on Netflix offering a behind-the-look at everything on March 27. Then on April 9, the group will embark on an 82-date world tour, slated to run through March of next year. Screenings of two concerts, officially titled BTS World Tour “Arirang” Live Viewing, will take place on April 11 (showing the septet’s Goyang, South Korea gig) and April 18 (Tokyo).
