Jamais Vu
by BTS

Album: Map of the Soul: Persona (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • The French saying "Jamais Vu" translates to "never seen." It describes the eerie phenomenon of feeling you're experiencing something for the first time despite the fact you've done it before - basically, the opposite of déjà vu.
  • A sub-unit BTS song comprising singers Jin and Jungkook, and rapper J-Hope, this introspective track finds the trio talking about our tendency to repeat the same blunders over and over again. In the chorus the two singers beg for someone to "please give me a remedy."

    BTS leader RM explained during a global press conference: "The song talks about how there might be unintentional mistakes and setbacks but we will keep getting up and keep on running."
  • English musician Marcus McCoan wrote this song with the British dance production duo Arcades, producer Bad Milk, James F. Reynolds, BigHit Music CEO Hitman Bang, RM and J-Hope.
  • McCoan told the BBC that Reynolds, a contact of his who had worked with BTS, gave him an unexpected call on New Year's Eve 2018. The K-Pop group's team had given him a 48-hour deadline to come up with as many song and production ideas as possible.

    McCoan rang his friend and close collaborator, Bad Milk, who'd also received the brief. They met in London, stayed up for two entire days, and penned about 10 songs with some remote help from Arcades and a lot of coffee.

    They submitted the songs, and to McCoan's surprise, Big Hit chose "Jamais Vu."

    "They picked the one I thought was the weakest, even though I still really like it," he said. "I guess I couldn't hear what was good or bad anymore after no sleep. It was the one we did last, at the end of our 48-hour stint we did it in about two hours and we almost didn't send it."
  • McCoan and Arcades also co-penned the Map of the Soul: Persona track "Mikrokosmos."

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