We'll Be Fine - Gracie Ranan ft Army
Image source: @dailyhoping
By
Shinara Hussain
This year on 9th July 2018 BTS A.R.M.Y recently celebrated their 5th anniversary; on that day a little song called "We'll be fine" was released by Gracie Ranan ft ARMY - a Global ARMY song for BTS.
With its heartfelt lyrics and soothing melody, it's a song that is full of emotion and touches the soul. Spanning over 17 countries and languages it involved Army's from around the world; talking of the bond between ARMY's and BTS it speaks to you, telling you that no matter the fights or disagreements, as long as we have each other and BTS "We'll be fine". I took the opportunity to interview the composer and ask them how the song came to fruition and the difficulties in organising a global project such as this.
I would like to take this opportunity to first say thank you for speaking to us, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do; are you a full time musician or a student?
My name is Gracie, I'm an 18 year old high school student in Taiwan.
I've been writing songs since I was 13-14 just to express how
I feel sometimes and I have always loved music, it is my passion. My dream is
to write songs that comfort people in the future.
The song is beautiful, how did it come about, what was the
thought behind it, why did you do it?
"We'll be fine" came about 2 years ago during the
time when the fandom was under a lot of heat from anti's.
This was during the time when BTS won the MMA's in 2016 and
anti's claimed that the award count was wrong, and accused Melon of corruption.
I wrote the song initially for myself; admitting 'Yeah the
fandom fights sometimes, but no matter what happens if I have BTS and Army,
I'll be fine.
I did this because I wanted to show our unity as Army. Our family faces a lot of challenges and we somehow always get through them. So through the song I wanted to show our love and unity for BTS; because even though we don't always see eye to eye on everything, when it comes to Bangtan we are always united. There isn't too much burden to carry as long as I have BTS and Army; that's all I need'.
In 2017 I wrote the international Army song called FLY that was sponsored by a BTS fan base in the UAE. I helped them in the capacity of a composer. That song received much love and I didn't expect people to actually like my songs.
I did this because I wanted to show our unity as Army. Our family faces a lot of challenges and we somehow always get through them. So through the song I wanted to show our love and unity for BTS; because even though we don't always see eye to eye on everything, when it comes to Bangtan we are always united. There isn't too much burden to carry as long as I have BTS and Army; that's all I need'.
In 2017 I wrote the international Army song called FLY that was sponsored by a BTS fan base in the UAE. I helped them in the capacity of a composer. That song received much love and I didn't expect people to actually like my songs.
Since then starting on the 1st September 2017 I started to
write songs for each members birthday and what I wanted to say to them. I
started from Jungkook (9/1) to Namjoon (9/12) to Jimin all the way to Yoongi
(3/9).
Then when
the 5th anniversary came up I decided that I wanted to do something special,
and the fandom had grown so much.
I had
actually planned to write a new song when I found "We'll be fine" in
an old file.
You can view the MV on Gracie's official YouTube channel here: @dailyhoping
Opening with a clip of Namjoon speaking at their final Wings Tour concert, it moves onto snippets from BTS' past including clips of them from AHL asking people on the street to come to their show for free, their 1st music show win with I Need U, through to present day and their performance at the 2018 BBMA's. The MV then starts in earnest with the song being sung in various languages by Army's from across 17 countries. All the lyrics intermingled with scenes of BTS are sure to tug at the heartstrings and make Army's emotional. And near the end we get to see all the Army's who took part in the song performance; end with a quote from Gracie herself. "Whether it be Desert or Sea, I'll accept it because it's a part of me" - Gracie, A.R.M.Y
Tell us
about the process and inspiration behind writing the song?
Inspiration?
Hmmmm.
I write
the melody and lyrics at the same time. I always bring my guitar and just write
my emotions at the same time. Sometimes when I write songs I find myself
crying. As for "We'll be fine", it was more of a reminder as to what
A.R.M.Y stands for; why I'm an Army in the first place, it's because BTS healed
me and that meant a lot to me.
As for
the process of the project; I posted about an international project and I held
auditions last April. There were approximately 100 emails that I received and
over 70 entries for the auditions regarding the project. It was hard because I
had to go over the audition myself, but I had the help of my friend who is an
angel.
After that process I sent them a sample demo of the song. I
also gathered people who were willing to be translators; they translated my
English lyrics to their native language. The song was then sent to the singers
to study and learn; I tried to pick a line for each language that sounded the
smoothest.
My friend Astra and I worked on the instrumental, I did the
guitar and she did the mixing and producing with piano and strings. I came up
with the concept of the video and with the help of Astra and my team, we edited
the MV.
As for the purple backdrop, Emma, my friend who is a graphic
designer helped with the album cover and she did an amazing job. And the project was
done! I honestly did not expect this much attention for the song, because there was
no fan base that backed me up, and so I thought that it wont reach a lot of
Army's; but it did the opposite! So that to me is so amazing and I'm still on
cloud 9 that I don't know how to react.
I guess with it being such a big project and with many nationalities represented I thought it would be great for fan bases to know their country is represented as well; but I'm glad that things turned out well even though there were bumpy times during the project.
How did
the people you used for the song send their contribution in? Did they choose a
section they wanted to sing or did they record the whole song and you picked
the best part?
I let
them choose a line which they thought fit best in the original melody. Each
melody line had a specific amount of syllables needed, and I let them choose a
line. They only had to sing 1 or 2 lines.
The lyrics to the song are available here in Korean:
And in English:
How
difficult was it to co-ordinate this yourself as a global project?
It was
difficult yes, but I wasn't alone. I had my friend Segen who is really my rock,
she helped me keep things updated and organised. I also had Astra, my production partner,
she did an amazing job producing the song. She is such a professional, she
helped me clean up the vocals and also made sure the song came out as smooth as
possible.
What do you think about how successful the project has been?
Success to me was when I read a comment from an Army saying that the song had really touched her; because it was everything she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words to do so. When I read the comments about how the song had touched people's hearts.
I think that each Army shares the same emotions while singing the song, which is why it's so united.
The song has had a lot of positive feedback, and has been seen and reacted to by many big YouTube reactors; have you seen the reactions and how do you feel about all of this?
Success to me was when I read a comment from an Army saying that the song had really touched her; because it was everything she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words to do so. When I read the comments about how the song had touched people's hearts.
I think that each Army shares the same emotions while singing the song, which is why it's so united.
The song has had a lot of positive feedback, and has been seen and reacted to by many big YouTube reactors; have you seen the reactions and how do you feel about all of this?
First of all I want to thank everyone who loved the song, your support means the world to me and your love for BTS is what makes us shine the most.
I feel very overwhelmed because YouTubers are reacting to my song; it's a different feeling, and also somehow I ask myself if I truly deserve the hype and everything. But I want to take it as encouragement and strive to work harder in the future.
Are there
any other projects in the pipeline?
Spotify and Apple Music Release! We're trying to release "We'll be fine" officially on music platforms so that Army's can stream it; if they wish to.
Are you
and will you continue writing songs, is this what you want to do as a
profession?
Music has been my passion since I was a kid, I will continue to write and hope my music will touch others, not just Army's, but people all around the world.
As for making it a profession... if it's what God wants me to do, then I will work hard towards that goal.
Finally do you have any message to everyone who has supported you?
Lastly to every Army that reads this, Thank you for being Army. I know that seems a shallow statement, but it's a powerful one. Without you, a family like ours would probably cease to exist. So, Thank You. I Purple You All.
Finally do you have any message to everyone who has supported you?
Lastly to every Army that reads this, Thank you for being Army. I know that seems a shallow statement, but it's a powerful one. Without you, a family like ours would probably cease to exist. So, Thank You. I Purple You All.
Thank you Gracie for taking the time to talk about "We'll be fine" and answering my questions. Through your hard work, beautiful lyrics, gorgeous production and artwork by you and your team, you have created a beautiful and emotional song that connects each Army's feelings. And I look forward to being able to hear your songs on Spotify and Apple iTunes, good luck and best wishes with that.
*Since the interview the song is officially available for streaming on Spotify. You can find the song on the following Spotify link:
And the English version has also been uploaded on YouTube.
You can follow Gracie on Twitter and YouTube if you want to see her other MV's:
Twitter: @dailyhoping
YouTube:Daily Hoping
Twitter: @BTSRadioUK
Facebook: BTS Radio UK
YouTube: BTS Radio UK
Or you can email us at btsradiouk@gmail.com
*All images of Gracie and the Global ARMY Song for BTS used with permission.
Here are some links to the reaction videos:
Cameron Philip:
I hope you have enjoyed reading this interview. Meanwhile if you have anything you'd like to add or have any ideas, or know someone who you think is deserving of being interviewed, why not contact us. Leave a comment below or alternatively we can be found on:
Here are some links to the reaction videos:
Cameron Philip:
Jose Ochoa:
xCeleste:
Couple Reacts:
I hope you have enjoyed reading this interview. Meanwhile if you have anything you'd like to add or have any ideas, or know someone who you think is deserving of being interviewed, why not contact us. Leave a comment below or alternatively we can be found on:
Twitter: @BTSRadioUK
Facebook: BTS Radio UK
YouTube: BTS Radio UK
Or you can email us at btsradiouk@gmail.com
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