Mixtape Lyric Analyses
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The Power of Storytelling | “4419” by Stray Kids
Mixtape is a whiplash of tones and vibes. “Hellevator” – upbeat, intense. “BEWARE” – angry, loud. “Spread My Wings” – lyrical, a bit slower. “YAYAYA” – rock, instense. “GLOW” – melancholic, lyrical. “School Life” – bright, bouncy. And “4419” comes back down to mellow and contemplative. This is the last of three unit songs in
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Ah, Ssaem | “School Life” by Stray Kids
“School Life” has a very different sound from the other songs on Mixtape. It’s a lot closer to bubblegum pop, bright and fun. But it still has some of the rebelliousness baked into the lyrics that makes it a Stray Kids song. Just like “GLOW” this song was performed as part of the second mission
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Shining Brighter Because of the Darkness | “GLOW” by Stray Kids
Backstory first, I think: This song, like all of the songs on Mixtape, was performed for the first time on their “survival show.” After the first mission – writing, choreographing, and performing “Hellevator” – JYP determined that three members were at risk of elimination – Lee Know, I.N, and Hyunjin. For their second mission, they
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Back to the Future | “YAYAYA” by Stray Kids
If there is one pre-debut/early SKZ song I wish they would perform now, it would be this one. There’s just something about it that scratches my brain in the same way “CHEESE” or “GET LIT” do. It’s loud, a little chaotic, and filled with so much determination bordering on desperation to prove themselves that was
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Coming of Age: A Double-Edged Sward | “Spread My Wings” by Stray Kids
Once again, here I am relating to a song about becoming an adult when I am well into adulthood. And it’s not just because I know what it was like when I was a teenager. I still absolutely feel like this a full blown, 27-year-old. Anyway, this is the other new song performed during the
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Teenage Angst in Eight Part Harmony | “BEWARE (Grrr Law of Total Madness)” by Stray Kids
I absolutely love music. That should not come as a surprise. And one small part of the reason why is that even a song that is written by teenagers for teenagers about the experience of being a teenager can still apply to me, a 28 year old who is a good 15 years past puberty
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Back to the Beginning | “Hellevator” by Stray Kids
Again, I have found deeply personal meaning in this song in ways I didn’t expect. This really is just therapy for me at this point. The backstory: Hellevator was the first music officially released for Stray Kids before they were even Stray Kids officially. The music video dropped a couple of weeks before their “survival