Wiki
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Release Date
10 February 2022
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Length
1 track
"Stay Alive" is a song recorded by Jungkook of BTS as the original soundtrack for the collaborative webtoon 7Fates:Chakho, created by Hybe and Naver Webtoon. A dramatic, slow-tempo pop ballad, the song was produced by BTS-bandmate Suga, who co-wrote it with El Capitxn, Maria Marcus, Louise Frick Sveen, Gabriel Brandes, Matt Thomson and Max Lynedoch Graham of Arcades, and Shin Won Park. It was released as a stand-alone digital single on February 11, 2022.
The single charted at number one in Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, and in the top 10 in India, Japan, and New Zealand. It earned Jungkook his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a soloist, at number 95, and on the Global 200 at number 13. The song is the first Korean soundtrack in history to debut on the Official Singles Chart in the United Kingdom.
Musically, "Stay Alive" is a "dramatic" slow-tempo, "sweeping" pop ballad. Produced by Suga, the track's instrumentation features trademark elements of his production style, mixing "subtle guitar pluckings with a suave string section" for the intro, followed by "softly muted percussive elements" as the song's momentum builds, leading into a "slightly more explosive" though still subdued chorus.
During a live stream on V Live in March, Suga revealed that he had created the beat and melody for "Stay Alive" a long time ago. Unsure of when it would be released, he continuously worked on the song, editing and changing things. He also confirmed it was what he was seen working on during In the Soop. Production duo Arcades, composed of Matt Thomson and Max Lynedoch Graham, who previously worked on songs for BTS' Map of the Soul: Persona (2019) and Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) albums, contributed the topline melody for the song, together with Gabriel Brandes. According to an interview with Tatler, Big Hit Music sent across Suga's instrumental with "a very brief indication of what it was for but nothing set in stone". Having "the freedom to explore melodies", they "tried to play on the existing sense of melancholy and drama" Suga had created "to find something that would complement it." Big Hit then "took all the parts submitted…made a 'best of'" and added Jungkook's vocals to "to create what you hear now."
Suga began working on the lyrics for "Stay Alive" once a release date for the song was finalized. He came up with the lyrics during a flight to the United States—it was one of two songs he wrote while on the plane, the other being "Girl of My Dreams"—for BTS' Permission to Dance on Stage concerts in Los Angeles. Wanting to directly reference the webtoon, Suga read its synopsis and the first four chapters, reviewed some of the artwork sketches, and imagined the song as if it were a soundtrack for an animation while writing. The lyrics are a direct complement to the webtoon's storyline and the struggle of the main characters—seven boys—"as they try to survive in a vicious world" while having to "overcome numerous hardships and trials". The webtoon's central theme is fate, and the song's title is evocative of "the harsh fate the seven protagonists are destined to face and contains the message that the most important thing is to stay alive in this cruel world."
After returning to South Korea, following the end of BTS' concerts in LA, Jungkook recorded the vocal track on his own, utilizing "self-harmonies and airy transitions" to emphasize the song's "heart wrenching" lyrics. He sent the recording to Suga, who was still in the US at the time. Though initially concerned about the key of the song when he wrote it, and whether the chorus and verses would be too high or too low, the producer liked Jungkook's first take so much that he felt a second session was unnecessary and submitted it immediately after mixing. According to Suga, Jungkook's ability to sing so well meant there was very little difficulty during the recording process.
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