Today I want to highlight a song that, in my opinion, deserves far more attention. A quiet, heartbreaking ballad that fits winter perfectly.

Last week, Bora — formerly of Cherry Bullet — released the single “Muffler (목도리)”.

It’s a song about something very small and ordinary: a scarf, given by someone who is no longer there. But when the cold returns and she takes it out again, that scarf becomes a vessel for memories she can’t quite face.

Let’s look at these lines:

“두르지도 못하고 버리지도 못해 난

목을 감으면 참았던 눈물이 왈칵, 쏟아질까봐”

“I can’t wrap it around me, 

but I can’t throw it away either. 

If I wrap it around my neck, I

’m afraid the tears I’ve been holding back will suddenly spill out.”

—

🧣 두르지도 못하고 – “I can’t wrap it around me”

• 두르다 → to wrap (a scarf around the neck)

💡 Meaning:

Wearing the scarf would bring the past too close. Physical warmth would reopen emotional wounds. So she avoids it — not because it’s useless, but because it hurts too much.

—

🗑️ 버리지도 못해 – “I can’t throw it away either”

• 버리다 → to throw away

💡 Nuance:

Throwing it away would mean erasing something that mattered. The scarf still holds affection, history, and love — even if the relationship itself is gone.

—

😢 참았던 눈물이 – “The tears I’ve been holding back”

• 참다 → to endure, to hold back

💡 Emotion:

This tells us the sadness never disappeared. It was merely contained, carefully managed, waiting for the wrong moment to surface again.

—

💥 왈칵, 쏟아질까봐 – “I’m afraid they’ll burst out all at once”

• 왈칵 → suddenly, in a rush

• 쏟아지다 → to spill, to pour out

💡 Interpretation:

The fear isn’t crying — it’s losing control. One simple gesture could undo all the strength she’s built up over time.

—

✨ Why “Muffler” Hurts So Deeply

This song isn’t about the breakup itself. It’s about what lingers afterward.

Winter forces memory back into your hands. Cold air makes old gifts relevant again.

Bora sings with restraint, as if even her voice is careful not to tug too hard on something that still hurts.

“Muffler” understands that healing isn’t linear. Sometimes it stalls — because of the season, because of an object, because of love that never fully left.

💭 Is there something you’ve kept — not because you use it, but because letting it go would hurt even more?

Drop a 🧣 or ❄️ below.