The story behind the name ARIRANG: the album that carries Korea's soul

When BTS announced their comeback album would be called ARIRANG, the meaning of the title was immediately clear to Korean audiences. For many outside Korea, it raised a whole different question: what does Arirang actually mean, and why did BTS pick that particular word for the album bringing all seven members back together?

Arirang isn't just one old folk song. It's an entire tradition of Korean folk songs, passed down orally across generations and developed differently in various regions of Korea. Countless versions exist, with different lyrics and melodies, but the most recognizable part remains the refrain, "Arirang, arirang, arariyo." The songs deal with parting and reunion, sorrow, joy, love, and longing, which is why Arirang became, over time, much more than just a melody.

Its place in Korean culture is hard to compare to an ordinary popular song. Arirang is performed at celebrations and major public events, but also in everyday life, and throughout history it's become a symbol of shared identity and experience. In 2012, UNESCO added South Korea's Arirang tradition to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and North Korea's Arirang tradition was added to the same list two years later.

Given all that, choosing this title for BTS's first joint album after a years-long break carries special weight. ARIRANG speaks to the seven members' return, while also pointing back to where they started. After years of becoming one of the biggest music groups in the world, they didn't choose an English word aimed at the global market for the album's name, they chose one of the most recognizable words in Korean cultural heritage instead.

The connection doesn't stop at the album's name, either. The melody of the traditional Arirang appears in the song Body to Body, woven into thoroughly contemporary production. That combination explains the whole idea well: BTS isn't trying to go back to the past or make an album of traditional Korean music, they're carrying part of their own cultural heritage into the music they make today.

It's also interesting that Arirang itself is often specifically about leaving, longing, and reunion. Those themes take on extra meaning when the title belongs to the first BTS album released after a period when the members couldn't act as a group together. That's why the name ARIRANG can be read on several levels at once, as a connection to Korea, as a reminder of their beginnings, and as a fitting symbol of coming back together.

One word ties together a lot of what this album represents, then. BTS came back after almost four years without a new group album, but for their return they didn't try to invent a new identity. They chose a name that had existed in Korea for generations before them, and gave it its place in BTS's story.