BTS-N.O.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good house, a good car, will these things bring happiness?

In Seoul to the SKY, will parents really be happy?

 

Dreams disappeared, there was no time to rest

It’s a cycle of school, home or an Internet cafe

Everyone lives the same life

Students who are pressured to be number one live in between dreams and reality

 

Who is the one who made us into studying machines?

They classify us to either being number one or dropping out

They trap us in borders, the adults

There’s no choice but to consent

Even if we think simply, it’s the survival of the fittest

Who do you think is the one who makes us step on even our close friends to climb up? What?

 

Adults tell me that hardships are only momentary

To endure a little more, to do it later

 

Everybody say NO!

It can’t be any later

Don’t be trapped in someone else’s dream

We roll (We roll) We roll (We roll) We roll

 

Everybody say NO!

It has to be now or never

We still haven’t done anything

We roll (We roll) We roll (We roll) We roll

Everybody say NO!

 

A good house, a good car, will these things bring happiness?

In Seoul to the SKY, will parents really be happy?

 

I want to play and eat, I want to tear my uniform

Make money, good money, but they already view me crookedly

My obscure bank account, my unhappiness is past its limit

A factory of sighs while studying, a continuous cycle

 

The grown-ups confess that we have it so easy

They say that we are happier than our portion

Then how do you explain my unhappiness?

There’s no conversation topics beside studying

Outside, there are so many kids like me, living the life of a puppet

Who will take responsibility?

 

Adults tell me that hardships are only momentary

To endure a little more, to do it later

 

Everybody say NO!

It can’t be any later

Don’t be trapped in someone else’s dream

We roll (We roll) We roll (We roll) We roll

 

Everybody say NO!

It has to be now or never

We still haven’t done anything

We roll (We roll) We roll (We roll) We roll

Everybody say NO!

 

Everybody say NO!

Everybody say NO!

Everybody say NO!

 

Everybody say NO!

 

 

 

Today in class, we were discussing how schools have gradually evolved to cover up students' creativity, and I was reminded of this song.  The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory: the school system, along with parents affected by it, has caused students to lose individuality and character.   

 

Creativity is now hard for students, and when teachers give them a project and ask them to have fun with it and be creative, they draw blank stares.  I know I for one have difficulty with those projects, because I feel like it gives us more pressure to impress the teacher.  But, that's not what creativity is all about.  Creativity is about letting go of your inhibitions--screw society's boundaries.   My best projects were created without a grade in mind, just the motivation to make my creation look aesthetically pleasing.  As long as I liked the results and was proud of it, nothing else mattered.  In the end, even if I didn't get a good grade for them, I still keep them in my red binder, filled with all of my sketches, drabbles of stories, and those projects.  

 

Though this song is mostly criticizing how the struggle of students to become the best of the best is because society forces them to, I think it also applies to the loss of a creative environment.  I know a lot of teachers are working to recover this type of environment in their classrooms, but overall, the school system represses children.  Why is this even necessary?  The whole agenda is now based on completing a certain curriculum, trying to prepare a child for college, and then getting into college.  But what about after that?  I feel like more and more students don't know what they want to major in because during their high school career, all they did was cram more AP classes into their schedules.  They didn't explore the different ROP classes, the clubs, the electives.  They never found out their true passions, and so they never found the direction they wanted their lives to take.  

 

But it doesn't have to stay that way.  As long as more people realize that the way we teach the new generation is flawed, we can fix it.  We have to start teaching the students to question everything around them, and figure out how to make the world a better place.