Lights (BTS song)

Following the release of the band's sixth extended play Map of the Soul: Persona in April 2019, BTS announced that their tenth Japanese-language single "Lights" would be released alongside the Japanese versions of the band's previously released Korean-language singles "Idol" (2018) and "Boy with Luv" (2019). The record marked BTS's first original Japanese single in two years since "Crystal Snow" (2017). It was also the band's first Japanese single in four years to receive a music video, after "For You" (2015). "Lights" was written by Sunny Boy, Yohei and its producer UTA. The song was mixed by D.O.I, who also served as studio personnel. The track is further instrumented by guitar and synthesizer. Lyrically, the track is "uplifting" and deals with themes of love and self-acceptance. In "Lights", BTS refer to themselves and the listener as each other's light, and sing about motivating each other to face hardships in a positive way. ==Release and reception==

"Lights" was made available for digital download and streaming as a single in various countries on July 3, 2019, by Universal Music Japan, as the first single from BTS' fourth Japanese-language studio album, Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~. The song was released as a CD single in Japan on July 5, 2019, through the aforementioned record label, in three different limited editions; A, B and C. All three editions contain "Lights" and "Boy with Luv" as a double A-side, and a B-side track "Idol". In addition, edition A of the single includes a DVD containing the music videos for "Lights" and "Idol". Edition B also comes with a DVD that contains behind the scenes footage of the music video for "Lights" and the making of album jacket photos, while C contains a 36-page photobook. Chloe Gilke of Uproxx listed the track as one of the best pop songs of its release week and appreciated the transition from "rap verses to the soaring vocals" in the song's chorus, calling it "genuinely thrilling." At the 2020 Japan Gold Disc Awards, the single album "Lights / Boy with Luv" received the Best 5 Singles award, while the song "Lights" was awarded the Song of the Year by Download (Asia). ==Commercial performance==

's 1995 single "To Love You More". By doing so, BTS achieved the highest sales in a single day by a foreign artist in the country, surpassing the record set by their previous Japanese single album, "Fake Love / Airplane Pt. 2", of 327,342 copies. The band also recorded the highest sales figures in a week, surpassing another self record of 454,829 copies. During the tracking period of July 1–3, 2019, the single recorded 636,345 copies sold, achieving higher sales than "Fake Love / Airplane Pt. 2" by over 100,000 units. On July 3, 2019, pre-orders for the single crossed 1,000,000 copies, marking the first time a Korean artist achieved a million shipments for a single in Japan, and breaking a 24-year-old record previously held solely by Celine Dion, with her 1995 single "To Love You More". The single remained at number one on the daily chart for seven consecutive days, selling 637,000 physical copies in its first week. "Lights" peaked at number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for the chart issue dated July 1–7, 2019, and became the best-selling physical single of July 2019 in Japan, selling 769,454 copies. For the year end chart, it was the sixth best-selling single in the country. The following week, it rose up 80 places to number one on the chart. On August 8, 2019, "Lights" received a million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), denoting shipments of 1,000,000 copies, making BTS the first male foreign artist to achieve this. The band also became the first male act in 11 years to earn a million award in the country since Masafumi Akikawa's 2007 single, "A Thousand Winds"; it was the first time the band attained the certification since their debut. "Lights" debuted at number one on the US World Digital Songs chart on the issue date of July 20, 2019, becoming the band's 14th number one on the chart. Elsewhere, the song entered the record charts in Scotland at number 73 on the Scottish Singles Chart, and appeared at number 10 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart, an extension to the New Zealand Top 40 chart. ==Music video and promotion==

The music video for "Lights" was uploaded to Universal Music Japan's official YouTube channel on July 2, 2019; it was preceded by a teaser released via the same platform on June 20. The visual is almost five-minutes long and opens in an empty movie theatre, where the opening title credits of a film titled "Lights" begin rolling on screen. The visual is interspersed with scenes that show the band heading to an ATM, buying popcorn, discovering secret passageways, and running through a car park. In some of the scenes, the members are seen staring directly into the camera. At one point, the projector beam scatters into tiny particles of light that turn into glowing orbs reminiscent of stars. Lake Schatz of Consequence of Sound regarded the visual as "magical" and "dreamlike." Puah Ziwei from NME echoed similar sentiments, labeling the clip as "stunning" and "dreamy." ==Track listings==

Credits are adapted from Tidal. • BTS primary vocals • UTA producer, songwriter, guitar, keyboards, digital editing, synthesizer, studio personnel • D.O.I. mixing engineer, studio personnel • Sunny Boy songwriter • Yohei songwriter • Jungkook backing vocals • Jimin backing vocals • Pdogg recording engineer, vocal arrangement, studio personnel • Jung Woo Young recording engineer, studio personnel • Park Jin Se recording engineer, studio personnel • KM-Markit vocal arrangement • Masaya Wada vocal arrangement == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Certifications ==