I kept seeing people call the KPOP boy group Ateez “performance monsters.” As someone who enjoys the spectacle of theatrical productions, grand choreos, and fierce songs, it was a group I had to check out. Most of their discography slapped hard, so I dived deeper into the members’ solo work.
I came across Yunho’s “Be Alright,” which, along with Yunho’s writing credits, is written, composed, and produced by the group’s leader, Hongjoong (in case you enjoyed reading my analysis of his solo).
Instead of simply telling you why Yunho’s “Be Alright” wrecked and rebuilt me, I hope you can spare a few minutes and just listen.
In a nutshell, it touches on mental health struggles and the anticipation of things getting better. The lyrics are about fearing the tomorrow because things are so dark and lonely, and it seems like there’s no way out.
Translations can’t do it justice, as the emotional delivery and fire rhyme scheme play a big role in how the song touches you, so again, I highly recommend listening to it yourself. But, here are a few sections to give you an idea:
It comes flooding in
I try to shake it off and push it away but it seeps through
The lyrics talk about feeling trapped in a dark room alone with no way out. About trying to get out and failing endlessly until you feel like there’s no hope anymore.
While most of us can relate to the struggle, the part that actually broke me is the optimistic end:
I’m getting out
An inch at a time
I’m finding them again
All the things I had forgotten
If the light that went out in my heart can reignite
I hope I won’t fear tomorrow anymore
Imagine standing on the other side of the pain, looking back at your suffering and seeing how you got through it, even when you felt it was impossible, like the suffering would never end.
When you hit rock bottom and people tell you things will get better, it feels fake. A platitude to avoid uncomfortable conversations, to mask the powerlessness we feel when nothing seems to help.
It makes us angry and dismissive when someone says they’ve been there and it really doesn’t last forever, that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s one of the most frustrating things you can hear when everything around you seems to be falling apart and you start feeling like this life thing is just not for you.
It’s only when you actually cross over, when you see the light with your own eyes, that you start believing.
The level of joy, love, and beauty I get to experience today felt impossible to even imagine back then. I used to think this type of stuff only happens to others, to the lucky and blessed ones. Not me. There are no good things in the world for me.
Going from that mindset to this wonderful life today—that’s filled with happiness, passion, and a heartfelt appreciation of art and the magic of life—seems like I’m a whole new person living a completely different life, perhaps somebody else’s.
It’s like I’ve entered another dimension or a parallel reality where I have access to the most beautiful experiences of life that simply didn’t exist previously, not even in my wildest dreams.
If you told me this was possible back then, I would have slapped you so hard, you’d spin around thrice. Today, it is my reality.
Yunho’s “Be Alright” made me reflect on that journey. When he says, “I’m finding them again, all the things I had forgotten,” it reminds me of how I reconnected with the things I’m most passionate about.
It wasn’t that fun things weren’t available to me back then. It’s just that I was so disconnected from everything that made life feel worth living.
Eventually, I started easing myself into joy, into things that made me feel alive. That’s how I got out, as the lyrics say, one inch at a time.
The line that crumpled my heart and thrashed it around, but also lit it up with gratitude: “If the light that went out in my heart can reignite. I hope I won’t fear tomorrow anymore.”
No words can sufficiently describe the feeling of going from never wanting to wake up again to not wanting to go to sleep because you’re enjoying life so much. To feel a glimpse of happiness, the first laughter in what seems like ages, when you finally believe there’s something to look forward to.
The feeling of watching your cold, dead heart catch the slightest of sparks, to feel the tiniest glimmer of hope. To feel, anything at all, after getting used to never-ending numbness. When suddenly, one day, you go from fearing tomorrow to anticipating it.
Perhaps this is something you have to experience for yourself. To bask in the awe of what’s possible, to be astonished by how drastically life can turn around. How warm your heart can get, how beautiful life can seem, and how much you actually enjoy living.
That’s why I believe art is the greatest gift for humans.
Someone in a foreign country wrote in a language I don’t speak, and it made me relive the worst and the best moments of my life in a couple of minutes. It inspired me to write, to feel grateful for life, and to continue what I call the cycle of creativity.
You come across something that touches you and changes your life fundamentally, so you create beautiful art reflecting that. It inspires someone else and the creative cycle goes on.
At first, this was titled, “The KPOP Song That Emotionally Destroyed Me.” But as I finished on such a thankful, artistic note, I renamed it to reflect the beauty of life it showed me.
If you’ve made it this far and enjoyed my work, consider supporting me to make more of it! It helps keep the creative cycle going.
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