First of all for any new army who haven't heard it – Sea is a Hidden track on LY: Her and has long been a fan favourite, as it's tragically beautiful. So please check it out if you haven't!

Listening to SWIM, I had a niggling feeling the title track reminded me of other songs, but couldn't put my finger on what. After I finished the album, I really wanted to listen to Sea and SWIM together.

Sonically, I think they flow really well together. If anything, I would recommend it for playlisting (if we had Sea officially on spotify that is). I'd loveee to hear a mash up of the two or concert remix (a girl can dream for Sea irl). The repetition in the choruses and vibes work well together imo. I'm not great with musical analysis so if anyone is please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!

The names are obviously both thematically similar with allusions to the ocean, but it has been a while since I read the lyrics. Here is Doolset's translation of the lyrics for reference. Thematically, I can see some parallels between the two. Sea talks a lot about overcoming hardship and feeling overwhelmed by pressure and desperation to succeed. The sea is synonymous with hope and their goal is to reach the sea through their own effort – blood, sweat and tears, escaping the desert. But hope and despair are two sides of the same coin and coexist as part of their journey.

Then we have SWIM. BTS coming back with SWIM as part of a more mature Bangtan. The lyrics are definitely less personal compared to Sea and open to interpretation. At this point in their career, they've reached success, but they still have strong yearning. The repetition of 'swim' reminds me of the themes in Sea in that you have to keep going despite all the hardship. They've had time away and the world is still a mad/bad place. The obvious interpretation is that it's about a relationship, wanting to dive in an give everything to that relationship. This could be a romantic relationship or also about wanting to comeback and be there for army. They're ready for the pressure and want to run/dive in completely.

Like the boys were saying, I think SWIM is definitely one of those songs that grows on you with each listen. A different kind of title track from what we're used to, but one you won't get sick of. I can't wait to see how they perform it live and what artist choices they make for it based off their comments on the live.

I'm still processing the album and my thoughts so this might change. I was thinking of sitting on this post for a few days and flesh things out better, but I wanted to share my thoughts here and while everything was still fresh in mind. Anyway, happy listening!!