Blood Sweat & Tears (song)

Following the conclusion of their three-part narrative "Youth" series, which presented the theme of the beauty of youth and its uncertainties, BTS announced the release of their second Korean-language studio album Wings in 2016. "Blood Sweat & Tears" was confirmed to be included on Wings when the band shared the track-listing of the album. On October 7, 2016, the song was announced as the lead single from the album. The song was written by "Hitman" Bang, Kim Do-hoon, RM, Suga, J-Hope, and its producer Pdogg. The track was engineered by the producer, while mixing was handled by James F. Reynolds at Schmuzik Studios. A Japanese version of the song was recorded, and issued digitally for purchase on May 10, 2017 by Universal Music Japan as the band's seventh Japanese-language single album, together with the Japanese versions of previously released 2017 Korean singles, "Spring Day" and "Not Today". The single album was also released as a four-version CD single in Japan on the same day, with a regular edition and three different limited editions; A, B and C. All four editions contain Japanese versions of "Blood, Sweat & Tears" as the A-side and "Not Today" as B-side track, while the Japanese version of "Spring Day" is included exclusively on the regular edition. In addition, edition A includes a DVD that contains the music videos for both the Korean and Japanese versions of "Blood, Sweat & Tears". It was subsequently included as the third track on BTS' third Japanese-language studio album Face Yourself (2018). == Music and lyrics ==

As opposed to BTS' signature hip hop sound, "Blood Sweat & Tears" was described as a hybrid of moombahton, trap, and tropical house. The song takes influence from dancehall and reggaeton. It is composed in the key of C minor, with a moderate tempo of 93 beats per minute, and runs for 3:37. Instrumentally, the song relies on keyboards, synthesizer, and Caribbean drums. The song employs a "layered" production that consists of "spacey chill-house beats," "airy synths," "echoing sirens" and "rhythmic claps." Suga added that "the song conveys an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we encounter temptations in life." The lyrics address the themes of "temptation" and "carnal willingness" to sacrifice everything, through lines like: "Kiss me, I don't care if it hurts/ Hurry up and choke me/ So I can't get hurt any more." An editor from Billboard wrote that the song "embraces the sense of desperation that the septet had featured on previous singles, like 'I Need U' and 'Save Me'." == Critical reception ==

"Blood Sweat & Tears" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Jeff Benjamin of Fuse praised the track's sound and the band's vocal delivery, writing that the "wholly accessible dance single" is "perfect for today's pop soundscape." Tamar Herman, in a separate Billboard review, labelled the song as "game-changing" and called it "sonically" complex. She praised the "ethereal vocals" and "high notes," adding that the song "maintains BTS' bombastic style even while shifting away from hip-hop and toward a more mainstream, Major Lazer-esque sound." Jacques Peterson of Idolator wrote that the track "wouldn't sound out of place on Justin Bieber's Purpose." Hyun-su Yim from The Korea Herald praised the song for its "minimalist" chorus and "synth-based" production. Reviewing for Vulture, T.K. Park and Youngdae Kim felt that the song evolved the band's sound and musical direction in a way "that represents a turning point in [BTS'] career." They elaborated writing: "Despite being influenced by dancehall, reggaeton, and moombahton, the number eschews the partylike atmosphere of its influences, electing instead for a baroque mysticism." Taylor Glasby of Dazed lauded the song's production and the band's vocal delivery, writing that "BTS are able to marry the lyrics' intimate, bloodied brokenness to an opposing state of leviathan pop with such effortlessness that it dominates all that stands before it." For Tamara Fuentes of Seventeen, the song "ushers in the new era in a beautiful way." Accolades Billboard and Dazed selected "Blood Sweat & Tears" as one of the 20 best K-pop songs of 2016. The former ranked it at number 7 and 16 on their lists of the 100 best K-pop songs of 2010s and 100 greatest boy band songs of all time, respectively. GQ placed the song on their decade-end list of the best K-pop songs of the 2010s and picked it as the highlight of 2016. On behalf of the magazine, Glasby called the song BTS' "magnum opus." It also achieved two consecutive Melon Weekly Popularity Awards due to being a substantial success on digital platforms. ==Commercial performance==

"Blood Sweat & Tears" was a commercial success in South Korea. It debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart for the chart issue dated October 9–15, 2016, becoming BTS' first domestic number one. The song also peaked at number one on the component Download Chart, selling 198,987 digital units in its first week of release. "Blood Sweat & Tears" was the sixth best-performing song in October 2016 on the Gaon Monthly Digital Chart, based on digital sales, streaming, and background music (instrumental track) downloads. The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard World Digital Songs chart for the week of October 29, 2016, the band's second chart topper, following on from "Fire" (2016). In Canada, the song led to BTS becoming the third Korean act to chart on the Canadian Hot 100 by peaking at number 86, a new best for a K-pop group. Following the release of "Blood Sweat & Tears" as a single album in Japan, the single album topped the Oricon Daily Singles Chart on its first day of release, selling 141,243 copies. "Blood Sweat & Tears" peaked at number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for the chart issue dated May 8–14, 2017, becoming BTS' second number one single on the chart. The single album sold 238,795 copies in its first week, making BTS the fastest foreign artist to surpass 200,000 copies in a week. In May 2017, the single sold 273,000 copies, achieving higher sales than the band's previous Japanese single album "Run" (2016). For the year end chart, the former ranked as the 22nd best-selling single of 2017 in Japan. It also became the second-highest charting single by a Korean artist in the country, the first being BTS' eighth Japanese single, "Mic Drop/ DNA / Crystal Snow" (2017) at number 13. "Blood Sweat & Tears" additionally charted at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the issue dated May 22, 2017, selling 310,276 copies. In February 2018, "Blood Sweat & Tears" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), denoting shipments of 250,000 copies in Japan. ==Music videos==

An accompanying music video was released to Big Hit's YouTube channel on October 10, 2016; it was preceded by a teaser, which was released via the same platform on October 6. The video was directed by YongSeok Choi of Lumpens, with Edie YooJeong Ko serving as the assistant director. It was choreographed by Keone Madrid and Quick Style Crew, under the supervision of Sungdeuk Son. HyunWoo Nam of GDW received credit as the director of photography, while GyeungSeok Kim and MoonYoung Lee served as the gaffer and art director, respectively. and classical imagery is featured throughout the entire music video. These serve as visual representations of emotions, including fear or danger, temptation and chaos. A scene featuring V jumping off a balcony in front of a painting of the fallen Icarus bears testimony to this. The video was awarded the Best Music Video at the 2017 Seoul Music Awards. It earned nominations for Best Music Video at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards and Fuse Music Video of the Year at the 2017 Annual Soompi Awards. The music video was an instant success on YouTube, surpassing 6.3 million views in 24 hours. Within 42 hours, it garnered over 10 million views on the platform and became the fastest music video by a K-pop group to do so. The visual was the most-viewed K-pop music video of October 2016 in the US. As of October 2025, the video has over 1 billion views. A music video for the Japanese version of "Blood Sweat & Tears" was uploaded to Universal Japan's YouTube channel on May 9, 2017. While it is centered around art like the Korean version's video, the visual is more intense and includes references to the story-lines of those of "I Need U" and "Run". Portrayed in neon and psychedelic colours, the music video features a dark alternate dimension and multiple realities, in which the band members fight and try to kill each other. ==Live performances==

, V and Jungkook performing "Blood, Sweat & Tears" at the 2016 Melon Music Awards. To promote "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and Wings, BTS made several appearances on South Korean music programs around October and November 2016. They performed the song for the first time for Mnet's M! Countdown on October 13, 2016 as part of their comeback stage. The following three days, the band appeared on Music Bank, Show! Music Core, and Inkigayo, where they also performed "Am I Wrong" and "21st Century Girl". BTS performed the song at the 2016 Melon Music Awards alongside "Fire" on November 19, 2016. On December 2 of that year, the band performed the former live at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards. As a prelude to the performance, Jungkook was suspended above the stage, while RM recited a passage from Demian. This was followed by a choreography to a rendition of "Boy Meets Evil" and "Lie" performed by J-Hope and Jimin, with the latter dancing to it blindfolded. They were then joined by the rest of the bandmates who appeared as "fallen angels." "Blood, Sweat & Tears" was also included on the setlist of BTS' The Wings Tour (2017). == Track listings ==

Credits are adapted from the CD liner notes of You Never Walk Alone. • BTS primary vocals • "Hitman" Bang songwriting • RM songwriting • Suga songwriting • J-Hope songwriting • Kim Doohyon songwriting • Pdogg songwriting, production, synthesizer, keyboard, vocal arrangement, rap arrangement, record engineering • KM-MARKIT songwriting (Japanese version) • Jungkook chorus • Jimin chorus • James F. Reynolds mix engineering == Charts ==

Weekly charts Monthly charts Year-end charts == Certifications and sales ==