J-Hope of BTS released the new single “Sweet Dreams,” featuring Miguel, on Friday. Like an increasing number of K-pop songs, it was released at midnight in the eastern US to match the start of the week for the US Billboard Hot 100 Charts. The song is R&B and pop, with a memorable chorus and hook. It is also a love song. And unlike most of BTS’ discography, the love is directed at one person and not to the BTS fandom Army.
However, what was most notable for me were the parallels to his 2018 solo single, “Daydream.” J-Hope is known to be meticulous, so these similarities are likely intentional.
“Sweet Dreams” and “Daydream” both express the wish to escape the confines of celebrity.
First, the music videos for both songs clock in at exactly 3:48. They both begin with J-Hope asleep in a small bedroom. In “Daydream,” he is wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt. In “Sweet Dreams,” his blanket is in the same blue-and-white striped pattern. A red cutout in “Daydream” is repeated with the red hoodie he wears in “Sweet Dreams,” as well.
In the new video, his room is in a house flying above a nondescript American suburban town. The walls in this house move just as those in “Daydream.” In the prior video, he peeks through the white blinds, but we cannot tell if he sees anything. His room becomes a fishbowl in which he is trapped.
In the new song, he also peeks through white blinds, but we see him floating above the town. Later, we’ll see that the J-Hope in the floating house sees the alternate J-Hope on the ground.
The lyrics for “Daydream” fantasize about a life other than as an idol where he is allowed to act freely. He sings:
So what, I get drunk/ Until I go crazy/ So what, I go out/ Don’t think about work/ Let’s just feel the youth/ Young, wild and free/ Wild and free/ Let me give it a try.
In “Daydream,” J-Hope sits on a bed floating in outer space. The song references “Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter” and “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
“Sweet Dreams” later shows J-Hope in a flying car. I do not know why there is a dust mop in the car with him. Perhaps this is from the construction crew working on his crumbling house. Does this represent either his fear of or hope for the loss of fame?
He wears Fendi slippers in the old video, but Louis Vuitton slippers in the new one, but after all he is now a global brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton. I also think they both symbolize the shackles of his celebrity life. Finally, both songs end with him back in the bedroom that he appears in at the beginning of the music videos.
In “Sweet Dreams,” the alternate J-Hope who lives in the town below meets his girlfriend. The J-Hope in “Daydream” only talks about falling in love. However, it is implied that the J-Hope in “Sweet Dreams” has experienced a relationship, as a construction worker finds a photo of him and his girlfriend and we see evidence of two iced coffees. The apartment is also full of pairs of items. Still, the J-Hope in both music videos sleeps in a single bed at both the beginning and end of the music videos.
The new song is completely in English and the lyrics are those of a typical love song. For example, the refrain goes:
Sweet dreams come after hours/ Nothin’ that’s not allowed/ you should never sleep alone/ Cuz I’ll always take you home/ When there’s nothing left but diamond necklace on you, girl.
The hook is basically J-Hope saying he will love her and that she will love him back. There is no suggestion of heartbreak.
To promote this song, J-Hope has appeared nonstop on Korean television, including hit shows “I Live Alone” and “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator.”
In the US, he is scheduled to appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
He also recently held concerts in Seoul, and on Thursday he will begin the US segment of his tour. Moreover, he filmed a 12-hour Weverse Live on Friday that attracted 26.9 million views. This is an all-time record, besting bandmate Jungkook’s record of 20 million views on a five-hour broadcast on the platform.
Regarding the two songs, one happy interpretation is that J-Hope in 2025 has at last experienced romantic love. The new music video shows him flying above an American town and expresses his desire to dominate the US market.
The older song is in Korean and English, while the new song is entirely in English. Otherwise, there is remarkable continuity between the old and new J-Hope, and that will keep fans like me happy.
Grace Kao
Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.
