Its movement from the death of a small pet to the larger idea of human mortality is a clear example of Shin’s narrative songwriting.
Listen for
Listen to how the restrained opening grows in scale and how the vocal changes when he calls Yalli’s name.
What else to know
It remains one of the N.EX.T songs most frequently associated with Shin across generations in Korea.
Behind the song
Written and composed by Shin for N.EX.T’s 1994 album The Return of N.EX.T Part 1: The Being, the song remembers the death of his childhood chick, Yalli.
WHY KOREA LOVES THEM
Shin’s work goes beyond hit songs: it traces how Korean youth culture changed from the late 1980s into the 2000s. With the MBC College Musicians Festival active again in 2026 and its final scheduled in Busan on Oct. 31, revisiting an artist whose career began on that stage gives the archive a clear present-day connection.
