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 terms of track listing, but it was the first to be performed in the second mission in the survival show. Just like “GLOW” and “School Life,” this was a unit song based around one of the three members who were at risk of elimination after the first mission. This song’s unit was Hyunjin (at risk of elimination), Seungmin, and Chan.
Hyunjin’s main criticism from JYP was his diction, being able to be understood when singing and rapping. When preparing “4419,” the group decided to not include a choreography portion, to focus on singing, rapping, and expressions. Not only was that what Hyunjin needed to focus on and show improvement in, the track itself was slower, not as conducive to much or any choreography.
This was a hard thing for Hyunjin to give up. He wanted to prove himself as a dancer, and even though his dancing wasn’t called out by JYP during the first mission, he felt that he hadn’t shown everything he had. Letting go of dance was a sacrifice.
In the end, the performance in the survival show consisted of scenes on the LED screen, a set piece that looked like a bus, some chairs, and minimal movement around the stage. The focus was the lyrics, the story. So let’s look at the story.
Note: This is one of the songs that has never been rerecorded as OT8. As such, the lyric distributions do include SKZ’s former member.
Couple disclaimers: I’m a pretty new STAY, and 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’s the audio to listen to as you read the lyrics.
Seungmin very succinctly summed up the concept behind this song in the Stray Kids x Happiness Train VLIVE they did right before Mixtape was released: It’s about a friend you’re thankful for and reminiscing about them while riding a bus, specifically bus 4419.
All three unit members had stories about riding on the particular bus, as it stopped right outside the JYP building at the time. In the survival show, Seungmin didn’t give a specific memory. But Chan mentioned BamBam from Got7, a good friend of Chan’s who trained with him, and Hyunjin talked about taking the bus home every day after practice. And later, the rest of the members mentioned having stories from that bus, too.
Of course, 4419 would go on to have even more significance in Stray Kids lore. On April 4, 2019, they won their very first music show win on M Countdown with “MIROH.” The date has very special meaning to the members and STAY, and 04 04 has been incorporated into the numbers Stray Kids often wear on jerseys during certain concepts. Call it fate, call it coincidence, but either way, it’s very cool that this seemingly random bus number now holds a lot more weight.
Anyway, back to the backstory. So, this song is telling the story of sitting on bus 4419 and reminiscing about a friend. I can’t help but think that Chan drew from a lot of his memories with BamBam, specifically, when writing the lyrics. It’s clear they all have memories from this bus, and the lyrics are vague enough, of course. But some of them feel very personal, particularly the mentions of vocal rooms and wanting to “go the end” together and debuting and being in different places with the same dream.
Chan’s talked very openly about how hard it was to train for so long and see so many of his friends either leave the company or go on to debut without him. I kept thinking about this scene in episode nine of the survival show where BamBam surprises Chan while he’s working and takes him out to eat. They talk about when they were trainees and this chance that Chan finally has to debut.
We know that he and BamBam still talk. This isn’t a song about a friendship that’s completely died. But it is about a friendship that’s changed. And it feels deeply personal and broadly applicable at the same time.
It’s brilliant. I could just leave it at that. I even agree with JYP’s comment after the performance that, “It felt like I could enter your hearts a little.” It paints such a beautiful emotional story using this single frame of riding the 4419 bus. With just that, the lyrics portray this scene of bittersweet memories and hope for the future. And with just little changes, they show an arc.
We start with the chorus, which is interesting from the jump. A chorus states the theme of a song, and it’s always repeated exactly or almost exactly throughout. Rarely do I see a song start with the chorus. And it throws us right into the story. We’re sitting on the bus, missing someone. The seat is empty. We’re (metaphorically) asking how they’re doing and trying not to think of the good times because we will miss them more.
Verse 1 sums up how we got here. We met them a lot time ago and bonded and dreamed the same dream. Then this person left and achieved that dream. And we’re happy but feeling far away from them and that dream ourselves.
The chorus again. It has more meaning this time. We know some of those “unforgettable days” now and why we might not what to think about them but are missing this person so much.
Verse 2 is the contrast to verse 1. We’ve grown up. Things changed. We’ve met new people and gone new places. This is how we are now. The reality is that we are apart.
And the chorus hits even harder! We’ve put even more distance between the peak of this friendship and us. It’s even clearer why it’s painful to be sitting on this bus without them.
But then we get the bridge and the interlude. And it’s so sweet. Thanking this friend for all the memories. Saying we’ll never forget them. Still looking forward to the future. And wanting to stop time completely to relive these memories.
And the whole arc is solidified in the last chorus, where the last two lines are changed and a line is added:
Chorus 1, 2, & 3
I’m sitting at
The back of the bus, where we used to sit
Humming as I remember
The memories with youChorus 4
I’m sitting at
The back of the bus (Hey), where we used to sit (Sitting)
Deeply engraving our memories
In my heart
Thanks, my friend
We’re deeply engraving memories into our heart and thanking them again. Ugh. The brilliance! The storytelling! This could be a whole novel, a whole movie! It’s a crime they never did a music video for this, really.
And on top of the overall storytelling amazingness, a lot of the lyrics reminded me of “Still Here” by Seungmin and “The Little Things” by I.N, both SKZ-RECORDs that have come out in the last six months.
“Still Here” matches the tone very well. As I talked about in my post, it’s all about memories and going around in circles and not being able to let go of this person/relationship/thing. I pointed out the line “I try pushing back the unforgettable days” in my annotations for this reason. It’s a theme that shows up in “Still Here” a lot: “I don’t want to remember, because it hurts. But I don’t want to forget, because I don’t want to lose it.” This sort of paradoxical, two things can be true at once theme is also a hallmark of Stray Kids’ songs that I particularly enjoy.
And the format is familiar, too. I pointed out starting with the chorus in this song. This also means that the chorus is repeated four times, which isn’t uncommon or unheard of, of course. But to put it in perspective, of all of the songs on Mixtape, only “YAYAYA” repeats the chorus four times. The other only repeat their chorus three times. “Still Here” also has some format anomalies. It only has one verse and then it goes pre-chorus, chorus, pre-chorus, chorus, post-chorus, and outro. And the effect is a reflection of the theme – going in circles, always coming back to the same spot or person or thing over and over.
“The Little Things” shows more in the lyric choices. Han portrayed an ordinary day, an ordinary life, through the little things. Waking up next to someone in the morning. Holding hands. Going on walks. Resting your head on their shoulder. Naming clouds. Talking about meaningless things. These are all mundane activities. Obvious things. But as I talked about in my post about “The Little Things” and my post about “Photobook,” turning obvious things into lyrics and a concept that hits really is a talent and a skill.
In both posts, I brought up a conversation 3RACHA has in the Intro video for DO IT. They’re talking about this line in “Photobook” that says “The past won’t return, but it will stay forever.” And Chan and Han give Changbin a bit of a hard time for writing something obvious and making it a lyric. But like I said, I think that’s a skill. There have been so many times in my life where I’ve read a book or a poem or watched a movie or listened to a song or even read a post on social media, and someone has put into words something that I feel but haven’t ever been able to articulate. And it’s a…relief almost?
And both verses of “4419” do this. Verse 1 is a summary of the friendship, right? And how many little things stand out to you as quintessential friendship things? Comparing heights and ages. Making plans and dreaming of the future. Fighting but also comforting and helping. Verse 2 does some of the same, pointing out things that make it clear time has passed. Getting to know a lot of people. Adjusting to a new place. Being afraid of going to school alone back then and having to go with this friend and now going to Seoul and buying your own clothes.
All of these are small things that happen in friendships that you might not even think about. But put it into this song about memories and how things have changed and more metaphorical language about seasons and dreams, and it feels revolutionary.
And it’s yet another example of Stray Kids taking something very specific – like riding the bus and reminiscing on memories with a former trainee friend dreaming of debuting as a K-Pop idol – and make it feel more universal. It’s specific but vague. Detailed but in a way that can apply to any friendship.
In this way, it fits the theme of the whole album as well. Growing up. Moving on. Reminiscing. Bitter and sweet. Hell and paradise. Struggle and reward.
I came into Mixtape not really thinking these songs were going to fit together well, because they were written for the survival show. The unit songs, specifically, were written for the unit mission. Of course, 3RACHA is credited on all three songs, but they weren’t necessarily written to fit a theme. Or maybe they were! Because that’s what it feels like!
Maybe they had the theme picked out, and even mission specific songs kept that in mind. Maybe they just wrote what it felt like for them at the time – on the cusp of adulthood, on the cusp of debut, still in the grit of training and looking toward the light, just leaving childhood and staring down adulthood. Missing training? Missing childhood? Wanting debut so badly? Wanting to be see as adults?
All of the messed up, weird things you feel as a teenager turned adult. All seven songs are so different and yet…so on theme that it feels both intentional and like the best stroke of luck ever. Whatever magic it was, they still have it now. I saw it in DO IT. And I can’t wait to see it their first official releases post-debut.
Sources:
“4419” Survival Show Performance
“Stray Kids” Survival Show, specifically eps. 3, 4 and 9
Stray Kids x Happiness Train VLIVE
Stray Kids first music show win on M Countdown
You can find my posts on the other Mixtape songs here:
Back to the Beginning | “Hellevator” by Stray Kids
Teenage Angst in Eight Part Harmony | “BEWARE (Grrr Law of Total Madness)” by Stray Kids
Coming of Age: A Double-Edged Sward | “Spread My Wings” by Stray Kids
Back to the Future | “YAYAYA” by Stray Kids
Shining Brighter Because of the Darkness | “GLOW” by Stray Kids
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