When I was re-reading the first book in my favorite fantasy series, I couldn’t help but think that these poor fictional people had no idea what they were getting themselves into. While most of us probably don’t experience the kind of action found in fantasy novels, the same thing can happen in our lives. Once you commit to something–a career, a relationship, or anything else–you’ll quickly become more and more invested. Eventually you’ll realize it’s not all fun and games. It will hurt sometimes. The real question is, what do you do from there? For Stray Kids, the answer is to keep on pushing.
The Korean boy group’s latest album, “Rock Star”, opens with “Megaverse”, a powerful song where Stray Kids essentially create their own world. If that isn’t commitment, I don’t know what is. In this world, the “Stray Kids Hot Megaverse”, the group is confident, doing their own thing and being their generally awesome selves, and the opinions of haters don’t matter at all. The song is as an invitation, electric and eccentric, and just slightly unsettling.
Having set up their world, the group lays down the ground rules for their megaverse in the title track, “Lalalala.” The English title might not be particularly creative or catchy, but the song itself certainly is. It begins with keyboard notes, soon joined by quick clap-like beats and a lightning-fast rap punctuated thoroughly with repetition of the word “rock”. The speed changes smoothly throughout the pre-chorus, which leads into an intense chorus telling listeners to “Just feel the rock.” The message behind the song is to put your worries aside and have fun, because joy is all that matters. At first it might seem like a naive message, but it’s worth looking at these lines in the first verse: “No more worries (Rock), hard nights (Rock)/Hanging in until it's over, after pain comes joy (Rock).” Stray Kids acknowledge the presence of unpleasant thoughts and feelings, and they choose to let them go. It’s this aspect that sets “Lalalala” apart.
The next track, “Blind Spot” dives deeper into what it takes to do something great. This includes how the group came to create their metaphorical megaverse and the struggles acknowledged in “Lalalala.” Evidently, choosing to let go of worries is not simply ignoring them. The bouncy pop song is an ode to all of the hard work that went unnoticed, every difficult night lost in the “blind spot” outside of the spotlight that they've finally reached. “Blind Spot” is both a celebration of the group's hard work in the past and where they are now, and a promise to those who are still struggling unnoticed: “ We’ll meet outside the blind spot.”
While “Blind Spot” is about the pain that nobody sees, “Comflex” is about what anyone can see–and what many dislike. Celebrities are in a unique position where pretty much anyone in the world has free reign to criticize anything about them. This can easily tear someone down and destroy their confidence, but Stray Kids doesn't let this happen. Instead, they choose to embrace their flaws: “Embracing all my scars and imperfections/Turn the tide, all my cons are my pros now/Flexing complexes just COMFLEX.” The song carries themes of not being what people expect, and the sound itself certainly reflects this idea; the tempo is ever-changing, the members quickly switching from singing to rapping to something in between the two and back again in less than a minute.
“Cover Me” is a complete mood switch after “Comflex.” The gentle song begins with a soft guitar melody. It tells the story of someone who feels lonely, hiding from the light of the moon during the night but eventually soaking up the sunlight when the day comes. Whether it's the potent imagery in the lyrics or the raw emotion in the vocals, “Cover Me” is a song that leaves a strong impact on its listeners. This song is about loneliness, an ongoing pain that doesn't come from only a single experience. Still, the band sees hope through the struggle, as the morning when the sun shines will come eventually.
“Leave” is another song about an ongoing struggle, the members singing about missing someone, and the conflict of emotions this causes. They first plead, “Don’t make me cry,” and then, “Don't you cry anymore.” The lyrics are about someone who confesses to holding onto love for another, even while admitting that leaving is what's best for both parties. “Leave” has a calming sound, with a similar feeling to walking in a park when it's just stopped raining, however, the happy ending of “Blind Spot”, “Comflex”, and “Cover Me” is noticeably absent. Instead, the ray of hope can be found in acceptance, as told through the line, “I'm afraid, I'm in pain, I'm ok.”
By now the album has thoroughly detailed the struggles mentioned in “Lalalala”, and we've reached the point in the story when we wonder if any of it was worth it. According to “Social Path”, it was. Though it seems a little silly to make a Korean version of a Japanese song that was mostly in English anyway (besides the first verse), the song certainly deserves its place in “Rock Star”. It's “Social Path” that expresses the desire to “rise up stronger”, and have confidence in a chosen path, even if that path can feel isolated and seem insane to others. “No regrets, I love this feeling/Down on this road/Call it the social path.” This song encourages listeners who feel like giving up to keep going and open up their own path.
The last track on the album is a second version of “Lalalala”, the “Rock Version”. Not only do the darker electric guitar chords sound epic and tie back to the album's title, but the song's placement at the end of the album bookends everything else with the same commitment to throwing troubles away and experiencing joy through the music. Even with everything else described–the hard work that went unseen, the criticism of others, loneliness, and even heartbreak–the group is still going to stay on their path, making their own megaverse a place of joy and rock. They close the album singing, “Rock and roll, we dance until we fall/No stopping here we go.”
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