(Note: A collaboration in the music industry calls for a collaboration on Genius as well! This is an amalgam of Genius UK’s Music Video Spotlight and Genius Korea’s Song Highlight series)

In hopes of the Pandemic finally passing in 2022, we’re taking a look back at the 2021 Collaboration between Coldplay and BTS. In a year so focused on separation and isolation, “My Universe” offers a glance of what the future entails under a collaborative effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YqPKLZF_WU

Out of the nine planets of The Spheres, the Fictional Universe created by Coldplay to correspondingly represent each of the 9 tracks of their album “Music of the Spheres,”, three appear in this Music Video. Planet Floris, Planet Calypso, and Planet Supersolis.

A Map of the Spheres; from the left, Kaotica, echo, Aurora, Calypso, Kubik, Supersolis, Ultra, Floris, Epiphane, Infinity Station, Coloratura

The Epiphane planet represents this ninth track off of the album, and it is characterized by a harmonious blend of rather cool colors.

“My Universe” album cover featuring Epiphane

This video is once again directed by the renowned Music Video director Dave Meyers, who has worked on videos such as Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits,”, Saweetie ft. Doja Cat’s “Best Friend”, Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy”, Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello’s “Senõrita” and lots more.

Director Dave Meyers commented on the making of this video in the Official Behind the Scenes Video.

My Universe is really about the power of music to bring people together and inspire against all odds. The premise is quite simple, it’s really a performance video, different bands on different planets jamming. It just happens that it’s in outer space and [we’ve] got an Alien band called Supernova 7, We got Coldplay, BTS [on their] planet. The central theme behind this is one DJ’s effort to connect all the musicians on different planets and broadcast their signal to the world.

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The text

There are two bits of text that appear at the relative beginning of the video.

There’s a contradiction in the first line of the text. “Once upon a time,” as a traditional story opening, refers to a time that was in the past. While many years from now indicates that the events of the MV are happening in the future.

This can indicate that the events of the MV are timeless.

A bit later in the MV, Chris Martin is seen spray painting on an “Absolutely No Music” sign to say “Absolutely All Music” instead.

Set Design choices: Outerspace & the Broadcasting Ship

[This article is largely based upon the Case study written by François Audouy published here]

The set designs were designed and created in a collaborative effort between French-American Production Designer François Audouy, Concept Studio Artists and Art Director Shaddy Safadi under design studio One Pixel Brush, Welsh Art director Jon Blud, Set Decorator Joan Sebaté and a few other artists.

François Audouy explains that many of the set design choices find their origins in real life.

One of the most obvious references to life at the moment has to be the ship of the Silencers.

With COVID-19 dominating the news for months, I may have been subconsciously inspired by the shape of the Novel Coronavirus when designing the enemy ship.

For Coldplay fans, if the name “the Silencers” sounds familiar, it’s because it first appeared in the group’s Mylo Xyloto Era, where the album is set in a world where a supremacist government oppresses both color and sound.

Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto Album cover

DJ Lafrique’s Broadcasting ship also contains some obvious references. The heart-shaped glass at the front of the spaceship represents the spread of love through the transcending powers of music.

The inside view of the spaceship

According to François Audouy, it’s also a nod to the Love button that Chris gave him during the MV planning kickoff meeting.

The broadcasting ship is also decorated with neon-lit features, which may be reminiscent of music festivals, concerts, and clubs.

In this scene at the beginning, DJ Lafrique is seen connecting her ship to many other planets, which can be a reference to Coldplay’s and BTS’s International musical presence.

We also see her using a technology called “Holoband,” which is a reference to the user interface technology for VR experiences in the Battlestar Galactica franchise.

Set Design Choices: Planet Floris (Coldplay)

Coldplay inhibits Planet Floris in the Music Video, perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing planet out of the three.

In Coldplay’s album, this planet corresponds with the eight-song on the album “Biutyful”, which is a sweet little song about love.

Planet Floris as seen in Coldplay’s “Biutyful” Lyric Music Video

Planet Floris seems to be abundant with plants and even has a glowing ring of vegetation surrounding it in outer space.

However, despite Floris’s charming exterior, notice the debris and rundown quality of the environment, and the other two as well. This can be a representation of how COVID 19 and other global conflicts have wrecked the world this year, leaving us in the debris of global repercussions.

It might also be an indication of the dedication to the bands, them managing to find run-down locations on their individual planets just to enjoy music away from the Silencers.

Coldplay’s scenes on Planet Floris was filmed in an abandoned swimming pool in Barcelona

[Verse 1: Coldplay]

In the night, I lie and look up at you
When the morning comes, I watch you rise
There’s a paradise they couldn’t capture
That bright infinity inside your eyes

The site was also customized by Coldplay and included graffiti of specifically commissioned alien alphabets created by Argentinian Graphic Designer and Artist Pilar Zeta.

Concept Art of the MV set by François Audouy

[Pre-Chorus: Jung Kook, All, Jung Kook & Chris Martin]

매일 밤 네게 날아가 (가)
꿈이란 것도 잊은 채
나 웃으며 너를 만나 (나)
Never-ending forever, baby

Trans: I fly to you every night (Fly), forgetting that it’s just a dream. I meet you with a smile (Meet).

BTS’s hologram appears on Planet Floris, indicating how music can unite artists and audiences cross-country, or in this case, cross-planets.

These hologram appearances continue for the rest of the Music Video.

[Chorus: Chris Martin, All]

You (You), you are (You are) my universe
And I (I) just want (Just want) to put you first
And you (You), you are (You are) my universe
And you make my world light up inside

Set Design Choices: Planet Calypso (BTS)

[Verse 2: V, RM, RM & Chris Martin, RM & Jimin]
어둠이 내겐 더 편했었지
길어진 그림자 속에서 (Eyes)
And they said that we can’t be together
Because, because we come from different sides

Trans: I was more at ease in the dark, in the shadows that grew long.

Planet Calypso is an alien planet described as being a “crumbling alien shipping port, with giant rusting structures disappearing into an ominous sky.” Calypso corresponds to the melancholy duet sang by Chris and Selena Gomez, “Let someone go.”

Planet Calypso in the “Let Someone Go” Lyric Music Video

In reality, BTS’s MV scenes were filmed in a green screen studio in South Korea.

According to François Audouy, their planet consists of a crumbling alien shipping port, inspired by the abandoned shipping ports of port Dudinka in Russia.

Port Dudinka, Russia

Concept Art by One Pixel Brush

As seen by the Concept Art and the Music video itself, the planet seems to be covered in an eternal state of a blue tint, which can be seen as a reference to Calypso’s fate in Greek mythology.

Calypso was a daughter of the Titans, the old deities before the Greek gods took over, who is punished by the gods to remain for eternity on an imaginary island, falling in love with whichever heroine washes up on her shore.

Calypso’s Isle as painted by Hebert James Draper

She makes an appearance in Homer’s The Odyssey, where, despite her best efforts, she eventually has to let her lover Odysseus go. The abandoned ship port, the deep blue skies all relate back to her being forever lost at sea. This also relates back to Chris and Gomez’s corresponding song.

Unlike the separation in “Let someone go” though, BTS and Coldplay are seen jamming together in the video, through the help of a little hologram technology.

[Bridge: j-hope, SUGA]

나를 밝혀주는 건
너란 사랑으로 수 놓아진 별
내 우주의 넌
또 다른 세상을 만들어 주는 걸

너는 내 별이자 나의 우주니까
지금 이 시련도 결국엔 잠시니까
너는 언제까지나 지금처럼 밝게만 빛나줘
우리는 너를 따라 이 긴 밤을 수놓을 거야

Trans: What lights me up are stars adorned with love made of you. In my universe, you make another world for me.

Because you are my stars and my universe. These hardships are just temporary. Just shine as bright as you shine now. We will follow you to adorn this long night

Set Design Choices: Planet Supersolis (Supernova 7)

Planet Supersolis is inhibited by the Alien Band Supernova 7, which is ironic given the title of its corresponding track off of the album, “Human Heart.” (Which is the album’s 6th track)

Top: Supersolis hologram on DJ Lafrique’s Broadcasting Ship Bottom: BTS unites with Supernova 7 on Supersolis

[Chorus: Chris Martin, All]

You (You), you are (You are) my universe
And I (I) just want (Just want) to put you first
And you (You), you are (You are) my universe
And you make my world light up inside

[Post-Chorus: All, Jin]

My universe (Do-do, do-do)
My universe (Do-do, do-do)
My universe (Do-do, do-do)
(You make my world)
You make my world light up inside
Make my world light up inside

Supersolis’s environment was modeled after an abandoned cement factory “Cementera Sant Feliu Ubicación.”

Like the two other sets used by Coldplay and BTS, this one was also scouted with the intention of looking run-down and naturalistic.

First design of Supersolis as done by the One pixel brush team

On the topic of design, there are a few characters in the Alien Band Supernova 7 that deserves some introduction.

Column 1: Blaze, Angel MoonColumn 2: Kasio Mars, Dorean Delorean, Eko, Loop & Switch

Each character was designed by concept artist Aaron Sims and his team with a position in the band in mind.

Blaze is the groovy alien that plays the Maracas.

Angel Moon is the floating alien that plays a modern-looking wind instrument (and the one caught flirting with J-HOPE on HD film).

BTS’s J-HOPE flirts with Supernova 7's Angel Moon

Kasio Mars is the frontman who both sings and plays the guitar, sporting long, icy blue hair.

Dorean Delorean plays the drums. He’s designed as a robot and has been compared to Biltzcrank from League of Legends for their similarities.

Eko plays the keyboard-like instrument in the band and upholds her goth and edgy image through her piercings and metal accessories.

Loop & Switch are two little duck-like creatures that come in pairs. They play a shared instrument, “a multi-tiered chime system.”

An easy-to-miss detail about the band is their unique instruments and that “the concept for the props should be that the band recycled alien weapons to use as musical instruments.”

Kasio Mars’s gutair made out of a nerf gun

The Ending

The Silencers tries to absorb the boardcasting ship

When it seems like the Silencers have succeeded in shutting down the efforts of the bands for good, DJ Lafrique reveals a red button that zooms her ship away, while the bands continue to jam away, undermining the authority of the Silencers.

Lafrique’s red button

Supernova 7’s Dorean Delorean drums away during the Outro

In the very last moments of the MV, the words “We are all one in the universe” appear, highlighting the theme of the music video again.

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Read the lyrics to Coldplay and BTS’s song “My Universe”here.

Find the English translation of the song here.

Cc: @genius-uk @genius-korea @pop-genius @genius-editorial-board @genius-moderation @rock-genius

Brilliant thread @ANC613 :)) I didn’t realise Coldplay lore went so deep! I remember reading the Mylo Xyloto comics when I was about 10 years old so it was pretty cool to see the silencers return for this video.

Well said @ANC613 !!