“Depend On You” is a song recorded by TWICE. It was released on October 26, 2020, as the 11th track from their second full-length album Eyes Wide Open. Exclusively written by Nayeon, “Depends On You” is a comforting song about finding support and strength during tough times. She also dedicated this song to ONCE as well as pandemic frontline heroes to keep on fighting. After the success of TWICE’s third mini album, there had been circulating rumors about their new album. On September 30, 2020, JYP Entertainment confirmed that TWICE would be making a comeback in late October 2020. On October 10th, 2020, the tracklist for Eyes Wide Open was revealed which included the song “Depend On You.” At the same time, the title track “Can’t Stop Me” was also revealed. Later, on October 11th, 2020, teaser images alongside the digital album cover were officially released by JYP. In the week of TWICE’s fifth anniversary (October 26, 2020), “Depend on You” and all other songs on the album were finally released to the public by means of digital music streaming platforms. Around early 2021, TWICE performed this song live for the first time on Time Magazine’s online show Time Talks 100. The song was composed and arranged by Candace Sosa, Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young, Sean R Mullen, James K Miller, and OranJi. Musically, “Depends on You” was heavily characterized by its acoustic-style instrumentals combined with a simple beat drop and soothing vocals by the members. Like the song “Bring It Back” and “Hell in Heaven,” TWICE’s members also contributed to the making of this song. In this case, the lyrics of “Depend on You” were written by Nayeon. The song talks about offering strength and support in the middle of darkness. This particular theme of the song was suitable to be sung as a message of encouragement to the pandemic heroes and fighters. In the album commentary video, Nayeon mentioned that “Depend on You” is inspired by and is personally dedicated to ONCE, TWICE’s fans. “I got the inspiration for this song after chatting with our fans. They all have a lot of worries, but they find strength in our songs,” Nayeon explained. She also admitted that she wrote “Depend on You” as a love letter to ONCE and uses this song as a medium to express how TWICE’s members view them as their fans.
There is no official music video for “Depend on You.” However, on October 26, 2020, the official audio for “Depend on You” was uploaded to YouTube through JYP Entertainment’s official channel. As of July 2021, the “Depend on You” official audio video has gained over 1.5 million views. TWICE performed this song on Time Magazine’s TIME 100 Talks, a series of live events that bring on leaders and public figures from various fields to highlight solutions to pressing global problems and encourage interdisciplinary actions. The performance was performed in Seoul and marked TWICE’s first live performance of the song since its release. The stage set was decorated with flowers. All of the members were dressed in pastel colors and florals. Only eight members were present during the performance as Jeongyeon was absent due to health reasons. The performance did not feature any elaborate choreography like previous TWICE performances. However, the rendition-style performance of “Depend on You” successfully highlights the soothing voices of the members.
The song has ranked on South Korean digital music platform weekly charts such as Bugs and GAON as well as the Chinese music chart QQ Music Kpop Chart. Since “Depend on You” was not a lead single nor a title track, the song hasn’t made it to the mainstream music charts. As of now, “Depend on You” also has not yet received any award nominations.
“Depend on You” Weekly Charts
This song was Dahyun’s favorite track on the album, as she mentioned in the album commentary video. Also, in the album commentary video, Sana cried after hearing the recording of “Depend on You.”
