A Chronological List of BTS Referencing Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
a very Namjoon-filled list. first compiled June 23 2022, all lyric translations from Doolset
This was one reference I had never noticed! This is a skit from BTS' episode of the variety show Star Show 360, where each member acted as a teacher and finds the camera in a number of (corny, yet cute) Y/N-esque situations. Namjoon, the English teacher, wrote a quote from Le Petit Prince on the chalkboard as Y/N fights off boredom: "If, for example, you came at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances."
Both the lyrics and music video for Jimin's Serendipity appear to be similar to Le Petit Prince. The theory linked above explores the two "characters" Jimin plays in the music video, the Sun and Moon. The Sun represents the rose, and the Moon the little prince. The lyrics ""I became your flower/As if we have been waiting,/we bloom painfully beautifully/Perhaps it is the providence of the universe/It just had to be like this" remind me of the relationship between the prince and the rose in the book.
While this is another instance of the reference not being specifically mentioned, the evidence is just too strong! The main graphic depicts alternating planes of space and sand, with roses in the foreground. The significance of roses and space in the context of Le Petit Prince are obvious, but the sand relates too: "The desert is beautiful," the little prince added. And that was true. I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams... 'What makes the desert beautiful,' said the little prince, 'is that somewhere it hides a well...'". There is also an image of a plane that makes you think of the narrator's airplane. In the Instagram posts that went with the 2020 Festa announcement, the captions all say "Here is my secret." This very likely alludes to the famous quote from the book, "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
Kkul FM is a bit of a Festa tradition, especially during the first few years of celebration. Yoongi brought it back in 2020, hosting the radio show on Vlive each week leading up to the Dynamite single announcement. Each member guest starred per week, and Jungkook was the final guest. One of the segments of the show was voice acting (since the livestream was voice-only), and in this episode Yoongi and Jungkook read Le Petit Prince. JK played the prince, and Yoongi the other characters.
This performance is from the Map Of The Soul: ON:E virtual concert. Like Serendipity, both the lyrics and the visuals (the stage in this case) are similar to Le Petit Prince. Seokjin's stage is a clear reference to the book with the background dancers wearing fox masks, the solar system backdrop, and the roses onstage. The lyric "I didn’t even have a name/before I met you/You gave me your love/and became my reason now" reminds me a lot of the book, when the fox says "But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world."
The global fanclub membership box for 2020 was fairy tale themed, with each member portraying a different character in the photoshoots. Seokjin was The Little Prince, and talks about the character in an interview for the membership. Also, in Namjoon's interview he says "The Little Prince was the best among the fairy tales I've read recently".
Before ending his livestream, Namjoon says "You came at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy", quoting Le Petit Prince once again: "“It would have been better to come back at the same hour,” said the fox. “If, for example, you came at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o’clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you . . . One must observe the proper rite.". For context, Namjoon had posted on Weverse ahead of time his plans to go live the next night.
The line "진짜 소중한 건 눈에 보이지 않아 Things that are truly precious are not to be seen with eyes" is very likely another reference to the famous Le Petit Prince quote "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.". The song is intended to feel very atmospheric and introspective, and I think this quote does a lovely job of depicting that emotion.
"I think I just have to keep on following my own path. It’s the one thing I know for sure. I think I’ll just have to keep on drawing to find out if what I’m drawing is an elephant or not. It’s the one thing I know, and I don’t know anything else.". This is definitely a reference to the famous scene from the beginning of Le Petit Prince, depicted above. I feel like this could be alluding to the difficulty of walking the line between childhood and adulthood, as well as the inner child.
Hoseok commented on a picture of Jin, saying "The Little Prince 🤴".