Soyeon drops debut solo album '끝내주는 인생' with title track '퇴사할게여'

Soyeon's first solo full-length is out — and it's already charting

Soyeon released her debut solo regular album 끝내주는 인생 on September 7. The title track 퇴사할게여 — written and composed by Soyeon herself — entered Melon TOP100 immediately. Every other track on the album landed on Melon HOT100.

Broadcaster Gi An-84 (기안84) narrated 퇴사할게여, layering in extra texture to what is, fundamentally, a workplace fantasy anyone could relate to.

What the song is actually about

Soyeon explained the concept in a Q&A on the 7th: "I think it's a story that not just office workers but all people can relate to. I wanted to say that while a stable future is important, I hope people are happy in this moment."

The song daydreams about quitting — traveling, becoming a novelist — then pulls back. A content editor credited to the track clarified on SNS on September 9th that escapism isn't the ending. The narrator eventually recognizes those fantasies as naive. "To summarize," the editor wrote, "it's saying that today was so difficult and she has endured so much that she thought about quitting."

That same editor also addressed pushback on the track, noting that Soyeon "probably has difficulties as an office worker too" and that listeners should "think of it as her doing her own song" rather than a statement on behalf of all workers.

(A K-pop idol writing a sincere quitting fantasy is exactly the kind of trend-bucking move that lands when the execution is there. The chart numbers suggest it was.)