A Song That Held On for 17 Weeks — the Record BTS's 'SWIM' Set

In three lines

• BTS's 'SWIM' has spent 17 consecutive weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100.
• That matches the 17-week mark set by 'My Universe'.
• 'SWIM' is the title track of the fifth studio album 'ARIRANG'.

Start with the numbers

BTS's 'SWIM' stayed on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 17 straight weeks. On the most recent tally (dated July 25) it sat at #100. (TenAsia, Sports Kyunghyang)

That number, 17, is the point. It matches the 17-week mark BTS set with Coldplay on 'My Universe'. It's not a story about staying at the top a long time — it's a story about not disappearing from the chart for a long time.

'SWIM' entered the Hot 100 at #1 in its debut week. That's the group's seventh #1 and sixth #1 debut — the most among any group or duo. (Billboard)

Which album it's from

'SWIM' is the title track of the fifth studio album 'ARIRANG'. 'ARIRANG' is the first studio album filled with new songs since 2020, and it entered the Billboard 200 at #1. In this year's first-half domestic album sales tally it was #1 as well (over 4.22 million copies). (Newsis, Kyunghyang Shinmun)

Member RM took part in writing the song. It was made together with several overseas songwriters.

A #1 and a long run are different muscles

There are two kinds of songs on a chart. Ones that burst big in the first week and drop fast, and ones that stay a long time even at low ranks. 'SWIM' did both. It burst big at #1 in its debut week, then, coming down slowly, held on for 17 weeks.

Widen the view to the half-year tally and it's the same. Over that span 'ARIRANG' was #1 in domestic album sales, while on the digital and streaming side a song like HANRORO's 'Landing in Love' stayed a long time. Selling big and being heard for a long time were two axes turning separately in the first half. 'SWIM' is one of the rare cases that took both sales and longevity.

On staying a long time

A #1 is one week's record. But 17 straight weeks is a different kind of record. Bursting big once and being heard for a long time take different strength.

That's the last of the numbers. Now, the music.

'SWIM' opens with a single boat out at sea. It's an image like a voyage with no set destination. That a song that held on so long happens to be a song about swimming suits it, looking back. It's a song closer to not sinking and keeping on than to arriving fast.