BTS unveiled the music video for Merry Go Round from their fifth full-length album ARIRANG on June 19, 2026. According to BTS and the official description, the song explores the repetitive cycles of life and draws from the members’ military service experiences. The black-and-white video depicts the members moving through different rooms within a carousel before reuniting.
Towards the end, it is revealed that the setting is a giant carousel floating in outer space, directly tying into the song’s central metaphor. This video has sparked significant discussion among fans, who have noticed connections to BTS’ previous works, such as Spring Day, Film Out, Fake Love, Blood Sweat & Tears, Wings, and the The Most Beautiful Moment in Life storyline.
7 symbolic details in BTS’ Merry Go Round MV – From horses and hallways to shadows and storms
Beyond obvious references, viewers have identified various symbolic elements throughout the video. Interpretations often link the story to military service, while others focus on themes of memory, emotional burdens, reunion, and BTS’ broader narrative universe.
Fans have pointed out recurring motifs such as doors, labyrinth-like hallways, newspapers, horses, and the Big Dipper constellation. Some noticed visual parallels to Film Out, while others linked specific scenes to Spring Day and HYYH.
Here are seven details from the music video that you might have missed:
1) RM’s bed resembles a coffin and reflects isolation
In one scene, RM delivers his rap lines “My bed is my coffin” while standing near a bed described by many viewers as coffin-like. This imagery is interpreted as representing emotional exhaustion and the relentless cycle of repetitive thoughts that keep one awake.
Others see it as symbolizing RM’s temporary absence during military service before his return. This imagery aligns with his comments about insomnia struggles during service.
In the final scene, when the carousel appears in outer space, only one room remains brightly lit, which some interpret as depicting sleepless nights and constant overthinking. While other members are in darker settings, RM seems caught in a cycle of sleeplessness.
2) SUGA’s newspaper storm may symbolize pressure and intrusive thoughts
SUGA’s room in the video features one of its most chaotic sequences, with papers swirling violently and dark clouds gathering overhead, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Some viewers associate this imagery with the intense media scrutiny SUGA faced after his electric scooter incident in August 2024. The swirling newspaper clippings are seen as a metaphor for excessive media attention and criticism. The lightning flashes resemble camera flashes, reinforcing perceptions of public pressure and distorted identity.
The scene has been compared to the themes in his solo track Amygdala, dealing with trauma, anxiety, and mental health. The storm imagery evokes thoughts spiraling out of control, with the black cloud suggesting inescapable emotional burdens, creating a sense of mental overload and turbulence.
3) The black substance following Jin could represent emotional burdens
From the beginning of BTS’s Merry Go Round music video, a mysterious black liquid-like substance appears in Jin’s scenes and later reappears above SUGA. Many viewers believe it symbolizes fears, loneliness, uncertainty, grief, guilt, or personal anxieties rather than a physical threat.
Some compare it to the Jungian concept of the “shadow,” representing hidden emotions. The substance follows Jin through hallways but disappears once he reunites with the other members, interpreted by some fans as a representation of finding comfort and healing through reunion.
4) The carousel’s representation of life’s endless cycles and its connection with the Big Dipper
The carousel in the Merry Go Round music video serves as its most significant symbol. Many fans and BTS members liken it to the repetitive routines of military service and the cycles of adulthood, work, and personal challenges. SUGA’s lyric, “A carousel in the same daily routine/It’s just like a hamster on a wheel,” reinforces this theme.
However, another interpretation arises by the video’s end. After spending most of the video isolated in separate rooms, the members eventually reunite within the carousel. For some fans, this suggests the cycle continues, but the members choose to move forward together instead of escaping it.
The Big Dipper constellation further supports this interpretation. The constellation holds special significance for BTS and has appeared in various forms throughout their history.
Some fans see it as a symbol of the group’s complete reunion after military service. The final image implies the carousel keeps moving, indicating the cycle is unbroken, yet the members are no longer facing it alone.
5) j-hope’s horses may symbolize freedom that remains out of reach
Like the carousel, horses appear throughout the music video. Traditionally, horses symbolize freedom, movement, strength, and independence. Many viewers also link them to 2026, the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac, coinciding with BTS’s reunion and group comeback.
j-hope’s room in the music video includes several horse images. However, they create the illusion of movement without actually going anywhere. Many viewers interpret the horses as representing freedom just beyond reach, appearing free but trapped in the same cycle.
Another theory links the horses to Jin. As the first member discharged from military service, he symbolizes freedom from the perspective of those still serving.
A scene shows Jin and Jimin standing on opposite sides of a screen with a horse’s image. Some viewers suggest Jimin looking at the horse symbolizes looking toward the member who has crossed the barrier, waiting for others to return.
6) The doors may connect directly to Film Out and BTS’ larger storyline
Doors appear repeatedly throughout the Merry Go Round music video. Many fans draw parallels to BTS’s 2021 Film Out music video, where the members passed through various doors while a house slowly destructed.
Some theories suggest Film Out, released before the members’ military enlistment, was centered around their eventual service entry and return. In Merry Go Round, released post-discharge, the members pass through doors before gathering together.
Viewers also interpret the doors as representing memories, timelines, eras, major life transitions, or new chapters. This motif appears in earlier BTS projects such as The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Wings, Love Yourself, Map of the Soul, and Proof.
7) Jimin’s carousel scene echoes Spring Day and the fear of losing memories
Jimin’s scenes draw comparisons to the carousel featured in Spring Day and its You Never Walk Alone era imagery. While the 2017 music video carousel was associated with waiting, loss, and longing, Merry Go Round revisits the symbol through separation and reunion.
In the new music video, Jimin follows a miniature version of the carousel. Some viewers interpret this pursuit as reflecting a longing for moments BTS once shared. Amid the isolation and routine of military service, the scene evokes memories of youth, friendship, freedom, music, and togetherness the group experienced.
BTS’s Merry Go Round music video is now streaming exclusively via Spotify’s K-Pop ON! Hub.
Edited by Adrija Chakraborty
