Introduction
We have reached the true b-sides. No music videos. No behind the scenes. A handful of live performances (maybe). So we are truly looking at just the lyrics paired with the little bit of information we got in the album intro video.
I really look forward to a recording booth behind the scenes, if we get one. I think getting a glimpse of the recording of this song – and of Changbin directing the recording – would be really cool.
Anyway, let’s take a look at the lyrics.
Couple disclaimers: I don’t speak Korean. I am using my limited SKZ knowledge and the English translations from Genius. These are my own thoughts based on those translations and not meant to be a definitive interpretation.
Here is the song itself to listen to as you read.:
Background
“I Do” was written and composed by Changbin. He is the only member of 3RACHA on the credits. And the first thing anyone says about this song in the album intro video is Hyunjin exclaiming “The song just goes ‘I’m Seo Changbin.’” Now, I’ve only covered a couple other songs written primarily or only by Changbin. But even from those few, I wholeheartedly agree.
It feels like his writing style. But it also just feels like him as a person, which we will get into.
And all of the members love it. Hyunjin says he loved it the first time he heard it. Felix says it feels like it was pulled from the 2000s and compares it to “All Star” by Smash Mouth. Chan admits that he’s not usually greedy for parts but really, really wanted the intro. And it really suits him!
They also compare this song to “In My Head” a lot. Chan calls it an extension but says that where “In My Head” is more laid back or come what may, “I Do” is more hopeful and full of energy. And I do absolutely see that. “In My Head” is comforting, but in a very different way. It’s like “We’re all messed up in the head! I see you. It sucks. We’re all in this together.” And in the way Chan says – laid back, acceptance, it is what it is.
“I Do” is pretty much the same message – I feel what you feel, we’re in this together – while having a more hopeful feel. Not just “it is what it is” but “we’re going to get out of this.”
Changbin does say that he wanted it to be a sing-along song like “In My Head” was, but more booming, more powerful and bright. And in the intro video, he and Felix both say it would be very cool to sing one right after the other in a concert. And that happened! The Run It Tour setlist has included them singing “In My Head” followed by “I Do.”
And the Run It Seoul shows were actually the first time anyone heard “I Do.” Those shows were before This & That was released, and “I Do” and “After You” were performed as teasers ahead of the album release. Like I said in my lyric annotations, this song was meant for the stage. It is a song-along song, and those live performances are really something. The members are obviously enjoying themselves.
Lyrics & Themes
Now, like I said, we only have the two minutes they talk about this song in the intro video, a handful of live performances, and the lyrics to go off of for an analysis of this song! Thankfully, the lyrics say a lot!
I want to look at the verses on their own.
[Verse 1: Han, Changbin]
Everyone has at least one thing like this
Something lodged deep in their heart that won’t come out
You can’t say it, so you hide it by yourself
Even while pretending you’re okay
Even if you try to erase it, it only spreads more
Even if you’re smiling, you’re falling apart inside
You thought you had to hold it on your own
But I feel it too
So beautifully simple and relatable. And this is something I’ve said in so many of my posts so far: Stray Kids are really good at boiling down a feeling, putting it into words, and making it feel relatable.
Most of their pre-debut Mixtape songs are about being trainees, about wishing to become idols. There’s a pretty small percentage of their fans that know that feeling specifically. But the way they write about those dreams – the longing, the hard work, the pain and the pleasure – resonates with anyone who has dreamed of achieving something that feels impossible.
This song isn’t about a specific experience, but we know that they live very different lives from us. They haven’t literally felt everyone’s pain, and there are some experiences they will never have. But they do know what it feels like to have “something lodged deep in [your] heart that won’t come out…while pretending you’re okay.” That’s a pretty universal experience put into very simple, maybe even obvious, words.
And that’s what makes it beautiful.
In the Do It album intro, they talk about some of the lines Changbin wrote in “Photobook.”
[Photobook, Pre-Chorus: Felix, Hyunjin]
I know the past will never return
I also know that I have to leave you behind for a while[Photobook, Pre-Chorus: Seungmin, Han]
The past won’t return, but it will stay forever
There are still so many moments to fill this back page
They give him a hard time for taking something “obvious” and making it into lyrics. And these are obvious lines. And the first verse of “I Do” are obvious lines. A lot of “Still Here,” the song he wrote for Seungmin, is obvious. But it works! It’s the kind of obvious that hits you over the head.
You put them in a poem and set them to music and it’s like a revelation.
This is one of Changbin’s tells in his writing style. He tells it like it is. It’s simple but powerful.
This verse makes me feel seen. And it’s not because it’s a flowery metaphor (though I do love metaphors, and we’ll talk about that in verse 2). It’s because it’s simple. It’s because it’s something I’ve felt a lot in my life. It’s because it really does feel like Changbin looking me straight in the eye and saying “I know what this feels like. You’re not alone.”
There’s no questioning what he’s trying to get across here.
Verse 2 is powerful in different ways.
[Verse 2: Felix, Felix & Changbin, Hyunjin & Changbin, Hyunjin, (Changbin)]
Like a sandcastle in the rising tide
All the dreams we tried so hard to hide
Even if it looks like you’ve fallen apart
Even if it looks like you’re about to disappear
We’re gonna find a way to rise (Alright)
Sometimes, the night feels way too long
Like a tunnel with no end in sight
But a reward for all the time you’ve endured
Right now, this long night is coming to an end
Here, Changbin uses a lot more metaphors. And I really love the sandcastle metaphor.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I have anxiety. And this image of “a sandcastle in a rising tide” is very accurate to how my anxiety feels a lot of the time. Sandcastles aren’t very structurally sound, so you’re already worried their going to crumble at any moment. And a rising tide is an imminent threat. You can’t just lift up the castle and move it away. The water will either knock it over or slowly erode it.
And I feel that. My mental state is unsteady on a good day, built on a sandy foundation. And there’s always this worry in the back of my mind that there’s SOMETHING coming that I can’t stop. It’s a danger, a threat, and I’m not prepared. And it’s all going to crumble and wash out to sea.
So, it’s very comforting to then read that even if it looks like I’ve already fallen apart, even if it looks like I’m going to disappear, it’s not the end of the world. “We’re gonna find a way to rise” even above a dangerous tide, even above a sandy foundation, even if we have to rebuild completely.
And the second metaphor is just as visual – an endless tunnel. This isn’t the first time they’ve used this imagery. “Hellevator” and “Star, Light (STAY)” come to mind. Again, I can feel this. The slog and hopelessness of walking through a tunnel “with no end in sight.” How disheartening that is. How much you want to give up.
But it’s coming to and end. You’re not alone.
And this – well, the whole song – is why it feels like Changbin as a person. He is very straightforward, and he cares. How many times have we heard stories from the member in 2 Kids Room episodes or vlogs about Changbin being there in big moments?
The one that comes to mind is Hyunjin and Seungmin’s 2 Kids Room, when they’re talking about how they’d drifted apart a little and eventually Hyunjin ends up breaking down and admitting to Seungmin how much he missed him. And Hyunjin mentions that Changbin was there and helped sort of smooth things over.
And in this year’s STAYWeek SKZLOG, he spoke the most about matching everyone’s pace and being really realistic about what their careers look like going forward – to military enlistment and past that.
He really feels like their rock, someone that they go to for advice and support a lot. So, it’s not surprising that he wrote this loud, insistent, straightforward song about not being alone and always having someone to fall back on.
Music
The music shows that, too. The track is very simple, but it’s powerful. There are a lot of drums and guitar, a few little beats in the background during verses. It really highlights the lyrics, the message, and the vocal performances.
And it’s vocal heavy! Not that Changbin has never wrote a ballad or ballad-adjacent song. But he is more known for rapid-fire rap. Of course, it does make sense for a sing-along song, wanting there to be more parts to easily sing along to. And not many of us can rap as fast as Seo Changbin.
The other things that I really love are the harmonies. In verse two, there are a few lines sung by two members, and in the last chorus, we have all of them singing together. It really hammers home that “all in this together” theme.
And I just love when they all sing together, harmonize together. It’s beautiful.
Conclusion
This is how a lot of us feel about Stray Kids. We find comfort in the consistency of their content and lives and FANS posts and Bubble messages. We find relatability in their lyrics. We get relief from their songs – loud and soft.
They are real people, and even though they live very different lives – sometimes on the other side of the world – it does feel like they know what it’s like to be us. They feel what we feel, at least to a degree. It feels like the burden is being lifted. That’s powerful.
You can find posts for the other songs on this album here:
Ambition & Victory | “Run It” by Stray Kids
“It’s Grand” | “Run It” by Stray Kids Part 2
An Advertisement of Services | “This & That” by Stray Kids
“How Can I Breathe The Same?” | “After You” by Stray Kids
Will They Ever Be Satisfied? | “FARMING” by Stray Kids
Sources:
“This & That” Album Intro
“I Do” by Stray Kids
“In My Head” by Stray Kids
“Do It” Album Intro
Hyunjin x Seungmin 2KR
2026 STAYWeek SKZLOG
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