“Smeraldo Garden Marching Band,” the pre-release single for BTS Jimin‘s upcoming second solo album, MUSE, is finally here!
Though “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” takes inspiration from The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, “Smeraldo” is deeply tied to BTS’s own lore.
Jimin holding The Beatles‘ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album
The Beatles‘ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album
BTS have created many mysteries over the years, both real and fictional. One of the biggest ones was the legend of the smeraldo flower.
This imaginary flower was introduced in 2017, just before BTS released LOVE YOURSELF: Her, the first album in their LOVE YOURSELF series.
Smeraldo pic.twitter.com/JjALUEBg3L
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) August 9, 2017
Since then, this flower has appeared as a motif in BTS’s music and videos, including “The Truth Untold.” The flower is said to represent a truth that cannot be told or sincerity that cannot be delivered.
“The blue flower your hand was picking
I want to hold it”
— “The Truth Untold” English lyrics
There is also a mysterious Naver blog, Smeraldo Flower Shop, that was periodically active until 2020.
[플라워 스메랄도] 블로그 포스팅 제5편https://t.co/34Tw2RQ9hc#스메랄도 #smeraldo #florist #플로리스트 #PlayingCard #플레잉카드
— ::FlowerSmeraldo:: (@FlowerSmeraldo) August 7, 2020
The blog would drop clues about BTS’s comebacks, the ongoing BTS Universe story, and the smeraldo flower’s lore. For instance, each time the shop reopened, the date coincided with a BTS release.
Smeraldo blogs
170710: I’m planning to open a flower shop in mid September
17/9/18: DNA
180710: I’m planning to open a flower shop in end of August
18/8/24: Idol
200710: I’m planning to open a flower shop in end of August
2020 End of August: @BTS_twt COMEBACK? 🤯🤯
— BTS Updating⁷ (@afbtsf) July 10, 2020
One particularly important blog post, entitled the “Ninth Story,” revealed the “backstory that has not been recorded in the Smeraldo legend.”
The blog’s author, Testesso, revealed that the man who first grew the smeraldo flowers burned down his castle in Italy and all the flowers growing in the gardens there.
Jin in the “BTS Universe Story” game trailer
“The flames grew large enough to devour the castle, but the man did not run away, and he remained in the flower garden until the end, watching the last Smeraldo burn out.”
— Flower Smeraldo
As villagers scrambled to extinguish the flames, which had spread to their homes, the man disappeared, never to be seen again. “A man who burned all the flowers with his hands and left an indelible scar on his face.”
Jin in BTS’s “Blood, Sweat & Tears” MV
Jin in BTS’s “Blood, Sweat & Tears” MV
“Where was the man leaving town to go to? Was there a purpose? Why was he making an unknown expression?” The blog posed these questions for fans to answer.
In addition to the blog, an X (formerly Twitter) account was created in 2019 called Smeraldo Books.
<스메랄도북스>는 ‘전하지 못한 진심’이라는 꽃말을 가진, 스메랄도에서 따왔습니다.
<스메랄도북스>가 만드는 책은 진심을 전할 수 있도록 최선을 다하겠습니다.
감사합니다. pic.twitter.com/XgMOsrncXO
— SMERALDO BOOKS (@Smeraldo_Books) January 7, 2019
“< Smeraldo Books > is named after Smeraldo, whose flower language means ‘unspoken sincerity.’ < Smeraldo Books > will do its best to convey the sincerity of the books it produces. thank you”
— @Smeraldo_Books
The account, which was active from 2019-2020, teased excerpts from BTS’s webtoon Save Me and The Notes, companion novels that explore BTS’s fictional universe in more depth.
#화양연화 #TheNote1 #SMERALDOBOOKS
▶ KOR: https://t.co/F2ZOFI1HBZ
▶ INT’L: https://t.co/3I3D5tihEO pic.twitter.com/qS7N6TwwLg
— SMERALDO BOOKS (@Smeraldo_Books) January 21, 2019
Now that the smeraldo flower is blooming again, fans are diving back into the BTS Universe. What are your theories about “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band”?
