bts’ “don’t leave me” is sadder than you think

it sounds like they’re trying to stop someone from committing suicide.

Taehyung: 君の言葉にはいくつもの意味が

あるように聞こえるからWhat’s what

English translation: “Your words contain so many different meanings, I can’t understand what’s what.” Maybe perhaps this person tries to make excuses for the way they feel, as is common in those who suffer from depression, as they don’t want to be seen as weak.

Namjoon: 謎の足跡見つけたら Follow

飲み込まれる My Shadow

光の裏側に潜めた

English translation: “Mysterious footprints, if you find them, follow - choking back my words, my shadow had to have been lurking at the light at the end of the tunnel.” Highley this was hard to translate. The translations online are similar but lack depth. 飲み込む means to gulp something or take something back quickly, but also can mean to choke back words. If you are choking back words, you’re obviously upset. Maybe because he can’t explain to whoever how much they mean, or maybe he can’t explain to someone how he feels. 光 means light, 裏側 means the reverse of something, and 潜めた is the abrupt imperative past tense form of the verb 潜める which means to lurk, or to be in the dark (waiting) or something. (潜めた this this conjugated form I understood as “was having to lurk”) If his shadow HAD to have been there and if it was at the end of the tunnel (this was more of a metaphorical translation) then he was preventing someone from dying. Right?

Hoseok: 会えない君だけが知る My Answer

途切れる前に I wanna know everything

English translation: “I can’t see you, but only you know my answer. Before it all ends, I wanna know everything.” Who can’t he see? 途切れる means “to cut off,” “to be interrupted,” “to be abruptly stopped.” So, before what ends? The inevitable? A suicide?

Jungkook: 時が流れるほど深まる君の

過去と未来の間にいる僕は今

English translation: “Time flows and becomes more intricate, and now there exists a space between your past and my distant future.” If someone were to kill themselves, they wouldn’t be in anyone’s distant future, and it usually happens because of stuff in the past.

Jimin: I Don’t Leave Me

Now Believe 走り出す

No Ending 君は僕の鼓動

English translation: “Don’t leave me now, believe, I begin to run. No ending, you are my heartbeat.” This is the part that gets me. 出す means to turn something in, to give something, etc. but when paired with the ます stem of a verb, it means “to start.” Is he running to save someone? This will correspond wiu Jungkook/Jin’s part later. Saying “you are my heartbeat” at the end may be saying how important the person is. Does “no ending” mean “I don’t want you to go”?

Jungkook: 例えどんな雨に打たれても

例えどんな闇に消されても

English translation: “No matter if a storm hits, no matter if the dark disappears…” If you want to stop someone from doing something stupid, you’d run through a storm, right? Also, the second line was interesting with the usage of 闇. The lyrics could have easily just used 暗い which also means dark, but 闇 is a kanji also found in the words “gloomy” and “disorder” which would explain a LOT about this theory, confirming some sort of mood disorder. This translation is paired with Jin’s lines, so it’s the same coherent thought split among two members:

Jin: 救い出すよ必ず

君は一人じゃない

English translation: “I will come save you without a second thought, you aren’t alone.” See how it’s paired with JK’s “I’ll run thru a storm for you” type of mentality. The second line actually says “You aren’t just one person,” but means alone in context. Many people feel alone when they kill themselves.

Note: 君 is a term of endearment, which means he/they would have to be close to the person they are trying to save.