When NF launched “Depart Me Alone” in July 2019, he wasn’t asking politely.
Hey! Depart me alone (Depart me alone)
Painic-stricken, deal with enterprise, not a joke, yeah
Manners missin’, journey totally different, no management, yeah
The opening line units the boundary instantly, adopted by a verse that captures the frantic psychological state he’s been documenting all through The Search.
The video, co-directed by NF and Patrick Tohill, returns to that deserted carnival aesthetic, reportedly filmed on the shuttered Six Flags New Orleans, the place rust and empty rides mirror his inside world.
What makes the tune register in your thoughts is how concrete the imagery will get. These black balloons aren’t simply visible aptitude. They’re grounded symbols of doubt he’s been carrying, the identical ones he considers releasing.
The purchasing cart from earlier movies reappears. The wristband alludes to the actual fact he’s each affected person and warden of his personal thoughts.
All the pieces current reinforces the central theme: he is aware of what’s holding him again, however letting go isn’t easy.
The manufacturing retains issues claustrophobic on goal. The vocals sit dry within the combine, drums keep clipped and pressing.
There’s no room for escape within the sound itself, which matches the lyrical loop he’s describing: the rumination, the balloon-filling, the cycle that gained’t stop.
He additionally takes purpose at business strain in a method that feels particular to 2019’s social media calls for.
“We don’t put up sufficient on our socials
To maintain the thrill from fading
Yeah, that’s what the individuals are saying
I don’t know find out how to clarify it
However I suppose that’s leisure”
The verse about posting sufficient to take care of buzz reads like somebody exhausted by the efficiency necessities of contemporary music careers.
It’s not refined, but it surely’s sincere a couple of frustration most artists really feel however hardly ever identify instantly.
Why It’s Trending Once more
Six years later, “Depart Me Alone” retains resurfacing on YouTube. The HOPE Tour in 2024 introduced it again into rotation, sparking contemporary live performance footage.
Then there’s the wave of response content material: therapists analysing the psychological well being themes, faith-based channels connecting with the honesty, first-time listeners discovering NF’s catalogue. Followers clip the “quiet, quiet, quiet” hook and add it in all places.
YouTube’s shift away from its Trending web page in mid-2025 in all probability helps too. The platform now leans tougher on customized suggestions and short-form content material, which suggests a visually hanging video with quotable traces and symbolic imagery has extra pathways again into view.
The Credit and Context
Nathan Feuerstein wrote the observe with Tommee Profitt and Cole Walowac, who additionally dealt with manufacturing. It appeared on The Search, which debuted at primary on the Billboard 200. That industrial validation retains catalogue cuts in rotation years later.
How It Connects to Current NF Tracks
For those who’ve been following our protection, this tune slots in because the strain level earlier than the evolution. In our breakdown of “HOPE,” we talked about NF making an attempt to construct steadier patterns after years of chaos. In “HAPPY,” the main target was on wanting change whereas being afraid of it.
“Depart Me Alone” is the place that battle lives in 2019 kind. He’s naming the rumination, setting boundaries towards exterior noise, however nonetheless trapped within the fairground of his personal ideas.
The balloons he mentions releasing? He’s nonetheless holding them. The later songs present what occurs when he lastly lets go, even partially.
The visible language stays constant (carts, wristband, carnival particles) however the relationship to these symbols shifts as he strikes from resistance to tentative hope.
Begin right here to know the burden he was carrying in 2019. Transfer to HOPE and HAPPY to see what occurred when he stopped simply surviving the noise and began making an attempt to quiet it.
What Makes This Track Work
Right here’s the factor about “Depart Me Alone”: it catches you off guard with how direct it’s. You anticipate some type of metaphorical cushion across the ache, however NF simply names it.
The balloons weighing him down. The pretend smile painted on his face that he can’t absolutely wipe off. The nook the place he talks to himself in a language no person else speaks.
He mentions his awards gathering mud within the closet subsequent to his self-hatred, places his OCD on show with out softening it for public consumption.
There’s no creative distance right here, no intelligent wordplay to melt the blow. Simply the admission that holding it collectively requires a efficiency he’s exhausted from giving.
The video drives this dwelling tougher. Watch him hand these black balloons to somebody in white on the finish. Is it his spouse? Religion? Some model of hope he’s lastly prepared to belief?
The tune doesn’t spell it out. What registers is the gesture itself: the choice to cease carrying every part alone, even when he’s afraid of what occurs if he truly lets go.
That is the NF it’s essential perceive earlier than you get to HOPE and HAPPY. Again in 2019, he was nonetheless caught within the amusement park of his personal ideas, surrounded by folks in white who’d discovered one thing he hadn’t.
The later songs present what modified. However “Depart Me Alone” captures the precise second earlier than change turns into potential, when the burden will get too heavy to disregard and the boundaries lastly get set.
That’s why it nonetheless hits arduous. Not as a result of it’s polished or as a result of it has some excellent decision. It hits as a result of it’s true, and fact like that doesn’t age out.