BTS No. 29 explained: Why the Arirang track is silent (and no, your phone isn’t broken)

Admit it, you played No 29. You thought something was wrong with your phone. You turned up the volume, but you couldn't hear much.

Was it a glitch?

Well, after the loud bell, there’s silence and just a quiet echo. Maybe, it sounded like waves in the silence. So, what really happened, if the tech was fine?

Well, welcome to Track No. 29 from BTS's Arirang.

While the silence feels like a glitch, it is actually an intentional homage to Korean heritage. The track features the resonant tolling of the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, an artifact cast in 771 AD and officially designated as South Korea’s National Treasure No. 29.

This was later confirmed this during a track-by-track commentary, explaining that the track is purely the "resonant tolling" of the bell. There are no hidden vocals, no beat drops, just the fading vibrations of history. And as RM explained, it's 1:37 minutes long, because that's how long it takes for the sound of the bell to fade out, and it signals a transition from more hype to a quiet, and mellow tone.

Before the official explanation dropped, the ARMY fandom did what it does best: speculated with a side of humour. The theories ranged from scientific to hilarious:

• The age test: "Is this a sound only people under 29 can hear?"

• The zen break: "Is this a meditation break between the chaos?"

• The Palace vibes: "It sounds like a gong from a royal palace."

Perhaps, in a world where we feels overstimulated by so much noise, No. 29, acts as a sonic palate cleanser. After the wild rush of the preceding tracks, the bell offers a moment of profound stasis. As one fan aptly put it, "I actually needed a moment to breathe."

The album dropped today, the first album in what seems like an eternity to ARMY, who have been waiting for this moment since 2022. Filled with 14 tracks, fans are busy decoding the meaning behind each and every song. "Everyone sounds so different in each track," one fan noted. The boys also hosted a BTS live, where RM revealed how grateful he was, that they all were reunited. "I think all of us gathering together is like a miracle. It is really emotional for me. I think it's very precious to me that all grown up men in 30s are still wanting to gather up and move towards a single goal."

He also explained that he would not be able to perform to his full capabilities tomorrow at the much-awaited comeback stage, which would be their first performance as OT7 since Busan, 2022.