Left and Right (查理·普斯歌曲)

Jungkook's appreciation for Puth's music has been documented numerous times, going as far back as 2015.[1][2] He first released a solo cover of Puth's "We Don't Talk Anymore" in 2016, which caught the singer's attention. A history of subsequent communication between the two via Twitter,[1] and a second cover with bandmate Jimin in mid-2017, culminated in a joint performance of the song at the Genie Music Awards in 2018.[2][3]

Puth originally released "Left and Right" as a solo track in February 2022 on TikTok.[4] In April, he tweeted about a dream he had, of BTS featuring on the song, increasing speculation that a project between both parties was in the works.[5] He began teasing an upcoming collaboration with an unnamed artist through various hints in subsequent videos on the platform in June. During an interview at iHeartRadio's Wango Tango on the 5th of that month, Puth confirmed that he had collaborated with a K-pop artist, but did not know when the song would be released; the collaborator remained unnamed.[6] On the 17th, he simultaneously confirmed the collaboration's occurrence and that the contributing artist was Jungkook of BTS, with the release of the first official teaser through TikTok. In the clip, he video-calls the aforementioned, who is in a recording studio, and asks him to sing various lines from the song—the full snippet plays at the end—while standing to the left of the microphone, and then the right. Puth also announced that the single would be released on the 24th if it reached 500,000 pre-saves.[7][8] Two more teasers followed via his Instagram on the 23rd. In the first, Puth sings the lines "Memories follow me left and right/ I can feel you over here/ I can feel you over here/ You take up every corner of my mind". The second showed both singers "bob[bing] their heads while seated in an old sedan and beatbox[ing] along to the song's beat while using the click of the car door locks as an additional rhythm track". The single was released as promised the following week, at midnight.[4][9]

"Left and Right" is a "breezy, sentimental", "bubbly pop tune" with Puth "croon[ing] in his signature falsetto" and featured vocals from Jungkook of BTS. It was co-written by Puth and Jacob Kasher, with the former also responsible for production. The song's lyrics find both singers "pining over a past relationship" and "overwhelmed with thoughts of their respective exes" as they sing the lines "Memories follow me left and right/ I can feel you over here/ I can feel you over here/ You take up every corner of my mind".[9][10] The song's "minimalistic pop production accentuates the singers' mellow, dulcet vocalizations", meshing "fresh percussion-guitar sounds" with a "bright, rhythmic melody". The chorus and hook both utilize panning, with the audio moving from left to right, in a similar vein to "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.[3] According to Puth, the song should be listened to with headphones "to get the full effect" of the audio technique.[11]

"Left and Right" debuted at number 49 on the Week 26 issue of the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart as the highest-charting new entry for the period dated June 19–25.[12] It also entered the corresponding issue of the Download Chart at number five[13] and the Streaming Chart at number 181.[14] In Japan, it debuted at number two on Oricon's Daily Digital Single Chart dated June 24, with 6,236 downloads.[15] It entered the subsequent Weekly Digital Single Chart issue dated July 4 at number four, with 9,981 cumulative downloads for the period June 20–26.[16] The single debuted atop the Billboard Japan Hot Overseas chart issue dated June 29,[17] and at number 24 on the Japan Hot 100 with 2,575 digital points,[18] both for the same tracking period. It was the second most-downloaded song of the week, accumulating 9,907 sales with only three days of availability.[19]

Globally, "Left and Right" accumulated 76.5 million streams and debuted at number five on the Billboard Global 200, earning Puth and Jungkook their first top-10 entries on the chart. It also entered the Global Excl. US chart at number two—Puth's first top-10 in territories outside of the US and Jungkook's second after "Stay Alive".[20]

Puth shared a teaser clip from the music video a day prior to its release. The montage featured both singers dressed in "a series of outfits as they sing back-to-back and Jungkook tries to listen to a conversation on the other side of a wall using a glass and hangs on to a car hood for dear life as it speeds through town".[9]

Initially announced for a simultaneous debut alongside the single,[9] the music video premiered on YouTube an hour after the single went live on digital platforms on June 24.[21] Directed by Drew Kirsch,[10] the "colourful" visual opens with Puth visiting the office of an elderly male therapist identified as "The Love Doctor" in an attempt to fix his heartache.[22] He narrates his thoughts about his ex to the man through the song's lyrics. Jungkook appears next, in solo shots for his verse and joint scenes with Puth at the doctor's office, as the passenger in a car driven by the latter—at one point he is seen "playfully seated on the hood of the car" before sliding off the moving vehicle[3]—and singing back-to-back with Puth in a white room about their lovesickness.[11][21][23] A QR code and special phone number are later shown on-screen, encouraging fans to text it to receive bonus content from Puth. The video also contains product placement for Chime, a Gen Z-targeted financial company.[10]

Rolling Stone India's Divyansha Dongre wrote that the music video "captures the duo's mischievous, playful aura vividly."[3] Jason P. Frank of Vulture felt that "the idea behind this video is not super-clear. What is clear is that Jung Kook is overflowing with charisma and also that his lip ring is hot."[24]