‘Breathe’ is a song in LeeHi’s second studio album ‘Seoulite’ (2016), released when the artist was under the major Korean entertainment company YG Entertainment.
Although the lyrics and melody express great sadness on their own, the song has another layer of emotions because it was written by the late Shinee member and singer-songwriter Jonghyun. In December of 2017, the K-pop idol was found dead in his apartment in an apparent suicide – when he was only 27.
The young, multi-talented artist was already writing lyrics for Shinee as early as 2009, gradually becoming a full-fledged songwriter for his group as well as other performers over the years.
Songs like ‘Breathe’ are, among other things, a reminder of Jonghyun’s talent and the impact of his work in K-pop.
Translation Note: The below is based on my own interpretation of the lyrics and is not an official English translation of the song provided by the artist or the artist’s label.
Translated lyrics to “Breathe” (한숨) by LeeHi (이하이)
Try taking a deep breath
Until the sides of your chest ache
Until they even start to hurt a little
Try breathing out more
Until you feel like
There’s nothing left inside you
It’s alright if you feel like you can’t breathe
No one is here to blame you
It’s fine to make mistakes sometimes
Everyone has made them
Saying ‘it’s alright’
May be empty words but…
Someone’s sigh
That heavy breath
How could I possibly appreciate it
Your sigh
I can’t understand the extent of it but
It’s alright
I’ll can hold you
It’s alright if you feel like you can’t breathe
No one is here to blame you
It’s fine to make mistakes sometimes
Everyone has made them
Saying ‘it’s alright’
May be empty words but…
Someone’s sigh
That heavy breath
How could I possibly appreciate it
Your sigh
I can’t understand the extent of it but
It’s alright
I’ll can hold you
To other people it might
Seem like a hopeless sigh
But I know
That you had a day so tough
To breathe out even a small sigh
Don’t think other thoughts now
Try taking a deep breath
And just let it all out
Someone’s sigh
That heavy breath
How could I possibly appreciate it
Your sigh
I can’t understand the extent of it but
It’s alright
I’ll can hold you
You did really well
Related links
- Korean lyrics to the song
- LeeHi on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram
