Here’s Every Stray Kids Reference Made In ‘Stray Kids’

Stray Kids’ releases always have a lasting impact, and we’re not only talking about their title tracks. Every b-side has always been extra special and absolutely timeless, and it’s no different for the masterpieces in ATE. And while there have always been music videos for some of these b-sides, there’s one particular one we cannot stop thinking about: the self-titled song, ‘Stray Kids.’

This song is an ode to their hard work and them as a team. Released right after announcing their contract renewal as eight, ‘Stray Kids‘ hits so hard with all the references and throwbacks to the past seven years of their career. And in case you missed some of those references, we’re here to tell you all about the things you may have missed and our theories.

The Lyrics

Before we dive into the music video, ‘Stray Kids’ already hits us with references all throughout the lyrics. Here are the ones we found.

All translations were taken out of the official translation in the music video.

“Stray Kids still gonna rock“

Chorus

This line refers to Stray Kids’ album ROCK-STAR and, more specifically, its title track: ‘LALALALA.’ The Korean title for the song is 락, pronounced as “rak” and meaning “pleasure.” All throughout the song, they make a play on words with “rock” and its Korean meaning, “pleasure.” The main chorus line goes: “Just feel the rock, we let it rock.”

“On the Hellevator, yeah, we head to the top“

Chorus

‘Hellevator’ was Stray Kids’ first-ever song, released in their pre-debut project, Mixtape. To this day, it is one of their most iconic and meaningful songs, as ‘Hellevator’ is all about resilience, their ambition to debut, and to mark the world with their music. ‘Hellevator’ was the beginning of Stray Kids, leading them further than anyone could’ve imagined.

Here’s where we might be reaching here. But whenever “top” is mentioned, we can’t forget about Stray Kids’ absolutely iconic OST for Tower of Gods in 2020, ‘TOP.’ And the chanting of their name after the line reminds us of some of their best title tracks like ‘Double Knot’ and, of course, the one and only ‘MIROH.’

“Do whatever we want, yeah, we don’t give a what“

Chorus

This line in the chorus always reminds us of two songs that have become some of Stray Kids’ most special songs live: ‘Haven’ and ‘TOPLINE.’ The original lyric in the ‘Haven’ chorus goes “do whatever you want” and, of course, ‘TOPLINE’ includes the lyric “we don’t give a f***.” Both of these songs have become so emblematic of Stray Kids’ live performances. ‘Haven’ symbolizes the safe community they’ve created. Meanwhile, ‘TOPLINE‘ represents how far they’ve come, and every time they perform it, it’s one of the highlights of the night due to its energy. It makes sense that these songs would have their special moment in ‘Stray Kids.’

“Walking through the dark tunnel I drew our blueprint“

Verse 2

When looking at their early work, Stray Kids mentions a dark tunnel or darkness they go out of in several of their songs like ‘GLOW’ and ‘Behind The Light’ (also known as ‘Mixtape #2’). But of course, this lyric references more than anything the GO LIVE b-side, ‘Blueprint.’

“We still astray, we always stay on the Lonely Street“

Verse 2

This is, without a doubt, a call back to ‘Lonely St.’ out of their ODDINARY mini-album in 2022. One of the song’s most vulnerable and unforgettable moments is when they sing at the end of the chorus: “still astray.” That is the line that Changbin directly references in his verse.

Other References

Stray Kids references their songs, of course, but some of these references aren’t direct interpolations, and some of them are just part of the Stray Kids lore.

“We’re gonna go our way to places still unknown“

Verse 1

The opening line isn’t a direct reference, and while it applies to how Stray Kids have made their own unique path with music that has changed the industry, it reminds us of ‘Road Not Taken’ and the Clé 2: YELLOW WOOD special album.

“There ain’t no last step out“

Chorus

This one may be obvious for some, but in case you’re new here: “step out” references Stray Kids’ introduction whenever they greet people as a group. This line in the song references the fact that there won’t be a last introduction just because there will never be a goodbye.

“This path we’ve walked, we don’t leave, even if there’s no eternity, I believe“

Verse 2

Here is when we come up with our theories, but hear us out… One of Stray Kids’ most memorable moments was their first stop of their Maniac Tour in Seoul, especially the third night. They had previously had an in-person event for their fanmeeting that year, but due to the restrictions, Stays had to wear masks and couldn’t sing along. Some of those restrictions were lifted, and this was the first time Stray Kids saw and heard their fans live after several years of the pandemic, which, among so many things, also led to the cancellation of several legs of their first world tour. The Maniac Tour marked a new beginning, and it is a moment that no one could ever forget. This might be us still being attached to everything that happened, but in his end ment, Seungmin said a very specific line that has never left our brains: “I don’t believe in forever, but I want to believe in eternity with you.” So yeah… We’ll let you decide on this one.

The Music Video

The music video has even more references for us to dissect and interpret. Stray Kids collaborated with one of their recurrent music video directors, Novvkim, to put this song into image. Novvkim has been behind countless of their music videos, starting from ‘You can STAY’ and including the music videos for the NOEASY sub-units, ‘DLC,’ ‘Up All Night,’ ‘Winter Falls,’ ‘Easy,’ ‘Ex,’ ‘Your Eyes,’ ‘Lonely St.,’ among others. In other words, he’s been around for a while, turning Stray Kids’ music into images and giving us some of their best visuals. It feels right that he would be the one to take charge of such an important music video as this one.

‘Stray Kids’ isn’t a reference to Stray Kids’ discography only because of its lyrics but also because of the way the music video references so many of their past music videos and their lore. Here’s an in-depth dive into every reference we found and some of our theories.

The Dressing Room Scene

The first scene of the music video has already many references to point out. ‘Stray Kids’ opens with I.N reaching for the mirror, and that can only remind us of the ‘Mirror’ performance video. In this same backstage room, we later see Felix as he makes his way out, and the members join him. In the dressing room and the hallway, there are multiple posters of their previous events: the Maniac Tour, the 5-STAR Dome Tour, and two of their meetings, Magic School in 2024 and Chocolate Factory in 2022.

The Elevator

Given that ‘Hellevator’ is one of the main references in the lyrics, it makes sense it would be one of the main references in the music video as well. Not only does the music video take us back to images from the original music video, but we also see Han in the same angels, in the same situation, and similar images during his verse. Later, all the members stand in an old-styled elevator like in ‘Hellevator,’ and we see a back-and-forth between shots of the original music video and now.

The old-styled elevator reminiscent of ‘Hellevator’ is not the only elevator; we also have a more modern one reminiscent of ‘MEGAVERSE‘ but also very reminiscent of the lore during the Clé era. It is similar to the one that allows them to travel in between stages in the trailer for both Clé 2: YELLOW WOOD and Clé: LEVANTER. In many ways, elevators have always been a symbol for Stray Kids of the different paths and ways they’ve taken.

From ‘Hellevator,’ Through I am, To Clé

We get many shots and scenes in the iconic bus featured initially in ‘District 9.’ This is the bus in which they changed from all-white clothes into their own clothes, breaking the mold, norms, and expectations from the center where they were imprisoned. We even see those white clothes in the bus seats as they’re left behind. ‘Stray Kids’ features many scenes of Stray Kids running, reminiscent of the same music video. But let us tell you, just like the elevator, Stray Kids have used the imagery of running quite many times.

‘Hellevator’ featured a running scene at the end when they finally reached the top, symbolizing their debut. In ‘District 9,’ they escaped the center and rejected who they were told to be, which led them to ‘My Pace.’ The whole concept of the song was embracing your own pace and not comparing yourself to others. In ‘My Pace,’ Stray Kids were trapped in a tunnel where they raced and questioned who they were, and they finally managed to leave the race behind when they found themselves in the ‘I am YOU’ stage.

But Stray Kids‘ path didn’t stop there when it came to the lore of their early music videos. ‘MIROH’ also features one of their most iconic lines: “It’s not hard, in this rough jungle, it was me who ran into it, I’m okay.” In the ‘Stray Kids’ music video, we also see images of ‘Side Effects,’ where they took the ‘Road Not Taken.’ Stray Kids only truly stopped running in ‘Levanter,’ where the two moons finally met. But putting the lore aside, Stray Kids have always used this imagery to represent their path, hard work, and struggles along the way.

Other Objects

There are several objects that call back to their past music videos. We have the key representing the entire Clé era (“key” in French) that we got to see in ‘Side Effects’ and ‘Double Knot,’ the same key that allowed them to use the elevator to ‘Levanter.’ From ‘Levanter,’ we also have the compass that is once again held by Felix. In Hyunjin‘s verse, we get a call back to ‘Mixtape: On Track‘ when he holds the camera. At the beginning of his verse, he also wears a blue blindfold, directly referring to ‘Blueprint’ where Lee Know originally used it.

The Wings

‘Blueprint’ is referenced through the blindfold and images from the music video, but especially with the blue wings drawn on the floor where Han and Felix lie. These wings aren’t just a reference to ‘Blueprint,’ but also to ‘Spread My Wings.’ And this one hits particularly hard. ‘Spread My Wings’ is a b-side in Mixtape that has always remained one of their most meaningful songs. ‘Stray Kids’ even shows the moment of the choreography from the song that makes it more special: when the kids give Bang Chan wings – imagery also used in ‘Double Knot.’

‘You can STAY’

Other music videos are shown directly. We get many images from ‘Lonely St.,’ especially during Changbin’s verse, where he directly references the lyrics. We also get ‘Mixtape: Time Out,’ a special song Stray Kids released for the fourth anniversary of Stay. Notably, it also features images of the ‘You can STAY’ music video, which showed footage of Stray Kids’ first-ever concert in November 2019. (Side note: this was also the first music video that Novvkim directed for Stray Kids.) We see the group sitting down at a cinema theater as they seemingly watch the footage, and it can only remind us of ‘B Me,’ but more particularly, SKZFlix.

The ‘MIROH’ Stage

Something very special about this music video is that we actually got to see Stray Kids back in the ‘MIROH’ set. ‘MIROH’ is one of the most special songs in their discography. Not only has it remained a fan favorite, brought them more popularity, and started to truly establish their sound, but ‘MIROH’ also earned them their first-ever win on April 4th, 2019.

The ‘Haven’ Stage

By the end of the music video, Stray Kids finally reach the top floor: the H floor. The “H” used to stand for ‘Hellevator,’ but as they reach the top floor, we see how the elevator showcases the word ‘Haven.’ And ‘Haven’ perfectly represents the community Stray Kids have created with their music. The last images of ‘Stray Kids’ show them picking up their microphones and getting on stage – seemingly their ‘Haven.’

What is your favorite lyric in ‘Stray Kids?’ What part of the music video made you the most emotional? Be sure to let us know by tweeting us at @thehoneypop or visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.

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