ARIRANG (아리랑)
What does ARIRANG mean???
For Apple Music Users: https://music.apple.com/us/song/armyrang/1868862607
BTS recorded a little message for ARMY in English.
RM: Here we are!
BTS: BTS!
RM: We're so excited to share our new album, ARIRANG
Jin: This album reflects the culmination of our journey to date as BTS
SUGA: and it also defines us on our own terms.
j-hope: We've been waiting for this moment for a long time
Jimin: and we prepared this album thinking of our fans
V: Every track has a unique story and vibe so we hope you'll enjoy all of them
Jung Kook: Thank you for always being by our side. You're our biggest inspiration. Thank you.
What is arirang?
TL;DR - arirang is a Korean folk song rooted in han.
What is arirang to my parents?
Mom (furrowed brow, contemplative sigh, leans back in her office chair, cups her mug of tea in both hands): SIGHHH...where to begin.. it's our heart.. it's our temperament.. why?
Dad (blink blink): Han. ... . .. . ...why?
I asked both my parents, separately, "when you hear '아리랑' what do you feel? what does it remind you of? does it make you think of anything specifically?"
I asked them separately because I didn't want one's answer to influence or pare down the other.
*More on my family shenanigans at the end...
Arirang Medley (The Bangtan Bomb Behind-the-scenes from this moment)
Classic Melody
아리랑 (ARIRANG) "Base" Lyrics
아리랑, 아리랑, 아라리요
Arirang, arirang, arariyo
아리랑 고개로 넘어간다
Arirang gogaero neomeoganda
(I will go over the Arirang hill)
나를 버리고 가시는 님은
Nareul beorigo gassineun nimeun
[To] the one who throws me away/leaves me/abandons me
십리도 못 가서 발병난다
Simnido mot gaseo balbyeongnanda
Before you're able to walk even 10리 (about 4km, ~2.5mi), you'll get foot pain/foot illness/foot disease/your feet will hurt
--
This "base" usually doesn't change too much. Beyond this, many regions add their own verses citing specific regional episodes and/or metaphors over generations. The melody is also flexible but has a core structure as can be heard in the very first version sung by BTS in the YouTube clip above. More variations below.
What do these lyrics mean?
"Arirang" is not a word so it doesn't have its own precise definition. There are many theories floating around as to its origin - but as far as I know, none that is ubiquitously accepted/perpetuated to be 'correct' re: the average Korean household. All to say, these theories, are not likely to be foundational to BTS' creative process around the concept of Arirang.
"Arirang, arirang, arariyo" has no set meaning.
It's a phonetic vessel. Any Korean can pour their own life and heartache into its sound.
Roughly, these 4 lines translate to something like this:
Arirang, arirang, arariyo
[You] will go over the Arirang hill
[To] the one who throws me away/leaves me/abandons me
Before you're able to walk even 10리 (about 4km, ~2.5mi), you'll get foot pain/foot illness/foot disease/your feet will hurt
*리 (ri)=archaic unit of measuring distance (1리=~392.72 meters) - this phased out with Korea's adoption of the metric system
At first glance - you may think "....LITERALLY .....wth???"
It could sound like 'if you leave me, you'll be effed. ✌🏻'
But what undergirds these lyrics is the story~
I've endured so much for your sake that even if it is you who chooses to leave me, you'll feel the full weight of the consequence of that choice so viscerally/fully/devastatingly, that the pain will stop you in your tracks before you hit *2.5miles.
*Walking 2.5 miles may feel inconsequential to some readers and dreadful to some others. But in context, when this song was created (precise date of origin unknown but ~Joseon Dynasty) people were walking a LOT.
A quick simple search will yield that, on average, people of average health were walking at LEAST 12-13miles per day through daily life.
This is not to provide an exact number of average miles walked but to put in context that ~10ri (~2.5miles, ~3.9km) was not considered a great distance. It was considered a meager few steps before you were utterly THROTTLED by your dumb choices.
This is a song of anticipated reckoning as much as it is a song of heartfelt loss and longing.
What is the significance of this folk song to Korean culture?
It has deep roots in 한 (han).
Han is the uniquely Korean connection based in collective endurance, sorrow, desperate longing, and resilience. Han carries the accumulated weight of historical trauma suspended in the gravity of Korean grit.
Han is rooted not in passive defeat but suffering born of tremendous effort to overcome.
Han is a unique point of deep connection for North and South Koreans - evoking, at once, feelings grounded in deep pain and fierce resilience.
During the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), Koreans were not allowed to sing patriotic songs. Arirang became an anthem of resistance - sung or hummed by fleeing refugees, soldiers on battlefields, torn families signaling strength despite hardship.
Like its people, it holds grief with hope; it laments and consoles; it acknowledges the individual experience and tethers it to the collective story.
It holds space to recognize that while the pain of living persists - so does the spirit that endures. This song is often played/sung to unify gatherings of Koreans - especially during moments of national grief or pride.
Fun fact: UNESCO inscribed Arirang on its UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2012.
What might this mean re: BTS?
FIRST! This is my opinion. I don't work for/with HYBE. These are my thoughts. Please do not come for me with nonsense. Thank you.
All the members of BTS have always embodied and demonstrated intentional growth. Given everything they've uniquely experienced as individuals, woven into the collective Bangtan Sonyeondan experience, incorporated further into the tapestry of the Korean human experience, they have grown a lot.
Echoing the themes of the individual and collective resilience, longing, and strength of Arirang and han - I believe they'll be sharing their stories of growth.
They've always shown up. Ready, exhausted, excited, anxious, confident, nervous - honest. I think this is what we most ache to witness.
With so much editing, curating, algorithm-riding 'content' SATURATING our every digital space..spilling out into real life as disconnect, comparison, and numbness - so many of us are hungry for artistry that dares to be sincere (and thereby vulnerable).
This is all I can claim to know for sure. Yup, you probably also knew as much! For anyone that may ask me 'but what about this symbol? what about this other lyric? what about this shape in that one photo in the corner from that time??' type questions, while I sincerely appreciate your curiosity - I do not know.
And for me, I'm SO HAPPY not to know [yet]. I want to be blown away. I want to be surprised. As a planner, chronic over-thinker, Korean eldest daughter - VERY few [non-terrible] things catch me off guard. I want to be delighted. I don't want to try to figure it out beforehand. If you find that enjoyable, cheers to you-truly. I know nothing! No spoilers. 💜🫰🏻
Interesting Variations
This song has evolved throughout generations and regions for hundreds of years to include all variations of grit - instantly evoking connection to something greater. Among the many beautiful renditions, these are a few noteworthy variations in my opinion.
For translated lyrics painting a fuller picture
For a modern take, sung in crystal tones
For a very traditional take sung by some in North Korea
What this has meant for me...
As some of you may know, I started translating BTS lyrics in an attempt to reconnect with my own Korean roots. Being conversationally fluent as a Korean-American... but with hardly anyone to speak Korean with, ZERO reasons to have to write/read Korean baked into my daily life - I felt this side of my identity starting to rust and feel ...obsolete.
As of starting these efforts to translate, my conversations with my parents have broadened and deepened. My parents are basically the only two people that regularly speak Korean in my life. Even all my Korean-American friends default to English... with Konglish sprinkles.
Asking my parents these questions opened new spaces for me to connect with them. They're filled with SO many stories! But these stories remain quietly tucked behind roles. Parents don't burden their kids with their heartaches - especially old ones. Parents don't share episodes of weakness. If it's not going to help my kids be productive, why would I even mention it?
So it starts with an explanation of 'arirang' as best as they understand it - they're not historians or writers or academics. But they're Korean and this song has meant different things at different times in their history.
This spins off into the episode when this song brought my mom to tears... to the time it brought my dad piercing hope.. to laughing over the time that one person sang it so poorly at that one thing... to the ..'but why do you want to know about arirang all of a sudden?' and being able to share my answer, what this new album means for a lot of people, why their (my parents') stories matter to me, why having these conversations with them grounds me in important ways I didn't know I needed...
Hours after our conversation, my mom dropped off printed notes she wanted to share with me, after she and my dad debriefed a bit LOLL... she jot down the thoughts before she'd forget and as she left she said "I'm so excited that you're curious about this stuff!" Friends, I would never have imagined they would be as delighted as I was. In my feels as per usual.
I am so grateful to you all for reading! Again, I do not take your curiosity or attention for granted. Thank you for sharing in this little moment with me, with ARMY, with BTS!
Have a beautiful day!
"2026- the year of BTS & ARMY, LET'S FCKNG GO!" - RM
P.S. If you've enjoyed the read, please consider sharing the link/screenshots/quotes/etc. on your feeds! My hope is to reach ARMY that are searching for reliable translations - all help counts! Thank you again.
