0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)

Hi everyone,

I’m taking a quick break from the Love Yourself albums to write about this song. How could I not? It is so beautiful, I have so much to say, and it fits so perfectly with my theory and storyline.

For those who don’t know, TXT released this song 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) on the 31st of May. What makes it so special is that our Joon wrote the lyrics.

Per all the press including this article, PD Bang was having problems writing a love song. Thus, he asked Joon for help and Joon thankfully said he would be glad to help.

So here we are, blessed with a wonderful beautiful song that beautifully ties all of my song analyses together.

Let’s go!

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Assumed Knowledge & Assumptions

I have written this post assuming you have at minimum, the knowledge of all the things discussed in:

• Trivia 承: Love (Part 1)
• Serendipity
• DNA (Part 1)
• “I Love You”, “I Know” (Part 1 and Part 2)
• I NEED U (Part 1 and Part 2)
• The SEAcret “whole new” side of Namjoon and Tonight
• Always
• I’m Fine

This is because this song has many references to them.

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New Readers

Hello there and welcome to my blog! I’m sorry to say that if you haven’t read any of the above posts… this analysis will not make much sense and is unfortunately likely to mean nothing to you.

This is because unfortunately, you do not yet understand the backstory, logic and significance of many references.

BTS told us that the Love Yourself albums contain a narrative. In other words, all of the songs are connected to tell a story.

In my blog, I reveal this narrative by simply reading the song lyrics in the correct order from the author’s perspective, just like a book.

One of the subplots of the narrative is about Namjoon’s love story, and this song has deep, meaningful and intricate connections to it.

Thus, if you’re wondering where to start, please start here.

Please also note the assumptions I apply when I analyse songs.

Enjoy! 😊

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1. The title 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)

I choked on my tea when I read the title. Where do I even begin.

Let’s discuss this bit by bit.

1a. 0X1

1ai. 0X1 as a mathematical formula

First, let’s discuss what zero times one (0x1) can be interpreted as:

1. With reference to the lyrics “the only (one) shining gold… the only (one) rule of this world… the only (one) shining glow,” Namjoon tells us that his lover is the only 1 source of light, law and order (i.e. rule) in Namjoon’s dark, chaotic and meaningless (0) world;
   
   In other words, “in this world of zero(es) (0)…[Namjoon’s lover is] my 1 and on1y.”
   
   Therefore 0 x 1 = 0. In this world of 0, because you’re the 1, there is no one (0) else and I, Joon, have nothing (0) else.
   
2. Since 0 x 1 = there is no one and nothing (i.e. 0) else I can love but you, this song is clearly going to be a love song.

Therefore 0 x 1= (a) LOVESONG

1aii. 0X1 as letters and alphabets

It can be easily observed that the “X” can be interpreted as the alphabet “X”.

0 can also easily be interpreted as the alphabet “O” and 1, especially when handwritten, can be easily confused with the alphabet “I”.

Trivia 承: Love as we know, is all about straight lines (I or 1) morphing into curved lines and circles (0 or O).

Linking this concept to Trivia 承: Love is not unreasonable either because we see an example of this happening in the music video where curved lines and straight lines replaced each other: LOSER = LOVER. In fact, I prophesied about it before the music video came out.

You may remember from my Trivia 承: Love analysis that:

1. there is a line that goes “I crossed (X) all the letters and I reached you” ;
2. Joon and his lover’s name are one alphabet difference. Joon has an “O” in his name and his Lover has an “I” in “Her” name.

In other words, OXI can be interpreted as: “I, Joon (symbolised by the letter O), crossed (X) all the letters and reached you (his lover is symbolised by the letter I).

Or even just: I, Joon, crossed (X) all the letters and reached yOu.

Thus, OXI equals a LOVESONG, because this song is a love song like Trivia 承: Love.

1b. LOVESONG

Building on what we have learnt above, it is important to remember that Joon thinks in dichotomies. Black vs White. Angel vs Demon. Good vs Bad. Fine vs Not fine. Love vs Hate. Joy vs Suffering.

Thus, though the title states “LOVESONG”, it is clear from the lyrics (which we will soon explore) and from the photo above that “LOVE” can also stand for “LOSE”.

As we will soon see, 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) is all about the possibility of losing someone you love.

Thus, 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) can actually be interpreted as
0X1=LOSESONG (I Know I Love You).

Building on this concept, “X” has connotations of crossing something out, failing, or cancelling/losing something or someone.

Thus OXI=LOSESONG can also be interpreted as:

JOOn losing (X) his lover (symbolised by the letter I).

1c. I Know I Love You

I discussed in my blogs why logically I believe the song “I Love You”, is connected to “I Know”, the song Namjoon wrote.

I stated that “I Know” is simply a response to “I Love You”.

I’ve also demonstrated in my blog many times how Joon loves to work in mirrors and in reverse.

We saw examples of him doing this in SAVE ME vs I’m Fine, and Serendipity vs Singularity, DNA vs Fake Love, 보조개 (Dimple) vs 전하지 못한 진심 (The Truth Untold), etc.

Thus, 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) is quite simply, the “black mirror” of those two songs:

I love you. I know | I know I love you

Remembering that “I love you” and “I know” are two songs that went read together, are about finding love and each other again, it is hence elegant and fitting that 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) is the complete opposite.

[“I love you” + “I know”] is the antithesis of “I know I love you”.

[“I love you” + “I know”] is about finding and having a second chance at love with the person you love.

However, (0X1=LOVESONG) “I know I love you” is about losing the person you love.

1d. 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)

There is one more interpretation that we can now discuss after learning about the different ways to interpret the title.

0 and 1 are binary numbers. There is literally no other numbers but 1 or 0.

Thus, the outcome of this song will either be a LOVESONG or a LOSESONG.

As Namjoon says in the lyrics, it is either:

All or Nothing.
(1 or 0)

Binary.

2. Namjoon’s world

Alright, let’s get started with the lyrics.

I refer to the following lyrics:

In this world of zero(es)*
I know you’re my 1 and on1y
In this endless darkness like
Oh my god, so holy
From the tip of my fingers
Everything runs far away
My life before you was a mess
Couldn’t win one round of this chess
Oh we

From this bottomless abyss
You’re the only (one) shining gold
Now I can’t stop thinking ’bout you
When I’m sinking alone
Angel who one day appeared to me
Take me away to your hometown
I know it’s real, I can feel it

… I’m not going to make it
I won’t be able to get into heaven
I don’t belong there
No place for me in heaven…

*Remember, there is no real way to tell plurality in Korean. Thus, this could be zero, or zeroes.

2a. A world of zeroes

Namjoon describes his world to be full of zero(es). This can be interpreted as:

• it has nothing or is filled with nothing (meaningful or important);
• it is cold (i.e. 0 degrees); and
• it is filled with losses (i.e. I got zero points on my test, I got zero interviews, I got zero friends, etc).

Interestingly Namjoon phonetically spells out the English word “zero” in Hangul: 제로의 (jei-ro).

The Korean word for “zero” is either 영 (yong) or 공 (gong), and the decision to use 영 and 공 is dependent on the situation. 영 is used to count things (e.g. there are zero people) while 공 is used for phone numbers or code and can also mean/is pronounced the same as the Chinese word 空, which means emptiness.

Thus, since “zero” has been phonetically spelt, it is open to interpretation. So choose your poison.

2b. The Abyss

Namjoon describes his metaphysical world as one of “endless darkness” below the ground, “from this bottomless abyss.” The description of his world is consistent with our knowledge that Joon consistently characterises himself as a demon or a devil, or a monster… beings who stereotypically live underground in darkness.

Due to his belief that he is a demon, devil or a monster of some sort, Namjoon believes that “I’m not going to make it, I won’t be able to get into heaven, I don’t belong there, no place for me in heaven.”

This is juxtaposed against his lover who is “oh my god, so holy.. shining,” and is a literal “Angel.” This is again consistent with our knowledge that Joon consistently characterises his lover as an Angel and someone who is the complete opposite of him.

The point of this is that this is entirely consistent with what we have learnt from analysing the Love Yourself album songs, for example, Serendipity, DNA and 보조개 (Dimple).

Namjoon is talking about the same person and is writing lyrics based on the same relationship.

After all, he can’t be writing about another relationship. His lover is the one and only.

Another interesting thing to observe is that Namjoon is not the only one in the abyss.

His lover is also in the abyss with him, “oh we from this bottomless abyss, you’re the only (one) shining gold.”

However, unlike Namjoon, the abyss isn’t his lover’s home. His lover’s “hometown” is heaven because his lover is an Angel.

The takeaway from this is that the lyrics indicate that the metaphysical space of the Abyss is of common significance to both Namjoon and his lover.

2c. 유1하

Before we move on, there is a brilliant wordplay that I must share with you. This wordplay was explained by @BTStranslation.

The lyrics “you’re the only (one) shining gold… the only (one) rule of this world… you’re the only (one) shining glow in Korean is 넌 유1하게 빛나던 gold, 세계의 유1한 법칙 and 넌 유1하게 빛나던 glow.

유일하다 (yu-il-hada) = to be the only

The number 1 in hangul is 일 (il)

Thus, the wordplay is replacing the 일 (il), meaning 1, from the verb 유일하다 (yu-il-hada) with the number 1 to make 유1하다 (yu-1(il)-hada) meaning ‘only one’.

3. Take me to your hometown

I refer to the following lyrics

When I’m sinking alone
Angel who one day appeared to me
Take me away to your hometown
I know it’s real, I can feel it

I’m full of problems, love sick
No way to go
I was fine to die
I’m a loser* in this game
The only (one) rule of this world
Save me
Take my hand
Please use me like a drug (I know I love you)

*As discussed earlier in my blog, this can be also read as I’m a lover in this game. So choose your favourite interpretation!

As per The SEAcret “whole new” side of Namjoon and Tonight and Always, we have come to learn that when Namjoon is depressed, he is thinking about the sea and his desire to die. We can see this same thought process and yearning in the above lyrics “when I’m sinking alone… I’m full of problems… No way to go… I was fine to die.”

Thus, when Namjoon is saying to his Angel “take me away to your hometown,” he is asking to be taken out of this hell hole of an abyss and brought to heaven.

The lyrics “I’m full of problems, love sick, no way to go” chillingly echo the various interpretations of the lyrics “I’ve lost my all ways” we discussed in Always.

Further, the lyrics of “I was fine to die ” is consistent with my interpretation of I’m Fine where I stated:

Contrary to the upbeat tune and positive title, I’m Fine is actually a heartbreakingly sad song from Namjoon’s perspective.

Namjoon in I’m Fine is actually not fine at all.

You may also remember from I’m Fine that Namjoon just woke up on the beach.

And, you may remember from Always that before he woke up in I’m Fine, he was about to sink into the abyss alone because he was “full of problems” and was utterly “love sick” because he had broken up with his lover.

Further, since I’m Fine and SAVE ME are deeply connected, Namjoon of course ensures this deep connection endures in the song:

“I was fine to die… Save me”

And, since 0X1=LOVESONG (I KNOW I LOVE YOU) is about the end* of the relationship, Namjoon appears to have used a chiastic structure (i.e. what he did with I’m Fine and SAVE ME) to come full circle and link it back to the song that describes the start of the relationship: Serendipity.

*Luckily, we know from hindsight that Namjoon was given a second chance at the relationship.

In Serendipity, Namjoon said to his lover:

You’re my penicillin
Saving me
Don’t be nervous, hold my hand

This is reversed in 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You):

Save me
Take my hand
Please use me like a drug (I know I love you)

4. The last plead: I NEED YOU

Namjoon makes one final plead to his lover:

I’m not going to make it
I won’t be able to get into heaven
I don’t belong there
No place for me in heaven
At the tips of my feet
Everything turned pitch black
My life before you was trash
Could never even light a single match
Oh we

The hole in my soul begins to mend
Frigid air starts to thaw
In this world of zero
I found warmth that’s you
Take all of me
Girl, I need you…

…Say you love me, say you love me
Till the end of the world (I love you)
All or nothing, I want all of you
I know I love you
Say you love me, say you love me
Till the end of the world (Till the end of the world)
All or nothing, I give all of you
I know I love you

Namjoon reveals to us that his lover brought warmth and light into his pitch-black world. Due to “Her” angelic and healing presence, “the hole in my soul begins to mend, frigid air starts to thaw… (and) I found warmth that’s you.”

The repetition of the lyrics “till the end of the world” also echoes Namjoon’s sentiment in DNA whereby he believes their love can transcend death and continue till the end of the world. As I stated in my post:

And, because of the prophecy embedded in their DNA and their metaphorical immortality (through their association with the Angel and Devil);

Namjoon believes that he and his lover will always end up finding each other even after death, meaning that their love transcends time and space, and is forever eternal.

DNA – Part 1

Now that Namjoon knows what warmth feels like because of “Her”, Namjoon doesn’t want to give this up. If “She” left, Namjoon would be back to where he started: A broken cold soul with a life that was “trash.”

Thus, Namjoon desperately pleads with her “Girl, I need you, say you love me… [because] I know I love you.“

The lyrics “Girl, I need you” is a reference to the lyrics “I need you girl” from I NEED U.

We can be confident that I NEED U is related to this song because as said above, Namjoon only has/had one lover and he has stated multiple times that he writes lyrics based on this true-life story.

In any case, Namjoon told us that I NEED U is about a failing relationship and a desperate heart that is longing for the love or youth (i.e. life) that is about to end. We can see that I NEED U’s story is the same with this song.

Thus, if we put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we can pinpoint the song’s timeline.

0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) is set sometime late 2014 to late 2015, before the cover of the song I Love You (난 너를 사랑해) was released.

Keeping the timeline in mind, we also know that I NEED U:

• is the first song that contains the line “I love you”; and
• as at the time I NEED U was written and released, Namjoon’s lover had not really said, “I love you” to Namjoon. His lover preferred to say “I like you” instead.

Thus, the high level dialogue between I NEED U, I Love You, I Know and 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) can be graphically represented as follow:

It also makes sense why 0X1=LOVESONG is in capitals like I NEED U.

The capital letters enhance and convey Namjoon’s desperation and fear of losing “Her”.

This now takes me to my last point: I said at the start of my blog that this song was either going to be a LOVESONG or a LOSESONG.

If you read the lyrics of 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) in isolation without any knowledge of what we’ve discussed, it is not possible to tell what Namjoon’s lover response was.

Luckily for us, we have hindsight!

I’ve demonstrated in my blog why I believe that thankfully, Namjoon and his lover were able to overcome the break up and have a second chance at love. Thus, with this hindsight, we can actually see that it is consistent with the binary outcome of the song title:

The final official title of the song isn’t 0X1=LOSESONG (I Know I Love You).

It is 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You).

Thus, the outcome of the story is that love prevailed.
It is a love song.

5. Golden clues

I have demonstrated in my blog why objectively and logically, I believe Namjoon’s lover is Jin by piecing bits of evidence together. For anyone that disagree, that is fine, I’m not here with any ship agenda (please read my disclaimer below and my about me section) and I’m not here to convince you Namjin is real. At the core, my theory and blog is based on the premise that Namjoon has/had a lover. Simple as that.

In this section, I’m going to cover some clues Namjoon may have left us based on the assumption that Jin is his lover. Thus, if you don’t like Namjin, you may wish to skip this section 🙂. I promise I won’t take any offence.

Okay, let’s get started!

5a. Gold

Please thank @ReJendnamjin for bringing this to my attention.

I refer to the following lyrics:

You’re the only (one) shining gold
넌 유1하게 빛나던 gold
(Neon yuilhage binnadeon gold)

We have seen examples in my blog where Namjoon executes a trilingual wordplay between Korean, English and Chinese.

This is what I believe has occurred here, gold in Chinese is 金, which is pronounced…

You guessed it, Jin.

You’re the one and only shining Jin.

5b. Real

We have seen this wordplay a few times in my blog.

I refer to the following lyrics:

I know it’s real, I can feel it

Real in Korean is… 진(짜).

I know (my one and only everlasting love) is Jin, I can feel it.

5c. Shining and glowing

Namjoon describes his lover’s existence as “oh my god, so holy… shining gold… shining glow.”

There is one BTS member that Namjoon consistently praises to be glowing, shining, dazzling, etc.

This person, is Jin. In the latest FESTA poster, Namjoon wrote to Jin:
“Your face in its own existence is so dazzling. The crime/sin of blinding ARMY’s eyes. You’re the best prize”

Namjoon’s lover sounds similar to 金 indeed! 😉

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Author’s Thoughts

Woot! I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Please give TXT and this song lots of love and please remember to share and retweet my blog post if you enjoy it!

Until next time!

💜 G

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Lyric sources:

Per the English captions in the official MV and Genius lyrics for the original Korean lyrics

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Disclaimer:

As per my first author’s note, please, no hate!

I do not have a shipping or individual bias, I love all seven members equally and I do not write my blogs because of a particular personal desire for one of them. I reached my conclusion on Joon and Jin being together based on the lyrics, logic and patterns as I have discussed in all my posts (i.e. I did not ship Namjin first, and then started trying to find things to prove my point). I genuinely enjoy all ships because I enjoy watching the different chemistries between the boys.

It does not matter one bit to me if they are straight, gay, intersex, a skrull, a mutant or if they could lay eggs. I love them wholeheartedly (as a sister who would love her younger brothers) for their individual selves.

This theory of 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) is based on my interpretations of its lyrics. Please enjoy.