3 Of Our Favorite Lyrics From Each Song On ROSÉ’s rosie Album

We’ve been eager to hear a full ROSÉ album ever since we heard ‘Gone’ for the first time on BLACKPINK’s THE SHOW concert livestream, and years later, we’ve finally gotten it! rosie is absolutely everything we hoped it would be, giving us 12 (or 13, if you got the ‘vampirehollie’ deluxe) mesmerizing tracks that touch on heartbreak, self-image, and how to dance through our worst pains. You can tell Rosé poured her entire heart into it and then some, and there’s not a single moment that doesn’t absolutely take our breath away. 

To make things even more amazing, Rosé co-wrote and executive produced the whole album, giving us a deeper look into her heart and creative vision than ever before. And it’s clearly resonating with fans all over the world. In addition to scoring her several all-kills on the South Korean song charts, rosie debuted at #3 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, earning Rosé the highest US album debut from any Korean female soloist! The numbers don’t lie and we know the rosie era will bring us so many more iconic moments.

To celebrate ROSÉ’s solo success and rosie reaching #3 on the Billboard 200, we’ll be highlighting three of our favorite lyrics from each track on the album, and doing a little breakdown on one of those three! Let’s dive into this incredible record together.

‘number one girl’

• “Tell me I’m a little angel, sweetheart of your city…”
• “Tell me that I got a big heart, then back it up with evidence…”
• “Even through all the phases, tell me you accept me…”

Right from the start, we get a glimpse into Rosé’s headspace on rosie with the first track, ‘number one girl,’ which really shows how she can convey emotions so powerfully through her vocals. We love that it not only ties into the storyline of the unhealthy relationship on the rest of the album, but also how growing up in the spotlight may have impacted her mindset. It’s a vulnerable introduction that sets the scene for a record full of raw confessions and self-exploration.  

The repetition of “tell me” in various lyrics shows how Rosé is so desperately craving reassurance and puts you right into that headspace with her as she pleads for it. One line that especially stands out to us is “tell me that I got a big heart, then back it up with evidence.” When you’re in that state of anxiety about how others view you, it can be hard to believe someone close to you telling you that you’re special since you want some kind of solid proof that they’re not just saying it. 

‘3am’

• “I just saw a red flag, gonna pretend I didn’t see that. ‘Cause is it really, really that bad? I need you really, really that bad…”
• “The world can roll their eyes but there’s no use, I just want it to be you”
• “Even when you’re putting me through hell, you’re not like anyone else”

It’s kind of serendipitous that rosie hit #3 when the only digit in a song title is on ‘3am.’ This became one of our all-time favorite BLACKPINK solo songs from the moment that earworm “eh-eh, eh-eh, eh-eh” rang out for the first time. Ignoring red flags never sounded so good! The song takes place towards the beginning or middle of the relationship ROSÉ explores on the album, as those first problems are starting to pop up and part of her knows it’s not good to let them go on. 

It might be a little on-the-nose, but we just had to choose the opening line to analyze: “I just saw a red flag, gonna pretend I didn’t see that. ‘Cause is it really, really that bad? I need you really, really that bad.” Making this the first lyric of the song was genius and suggests that these red flags popped up right out the gate, which made the relationship’s inevitable downfall even harder since Rosé knew she was ignoring some signs from the start. And following up from the themes of ‘number one girl,’ she really thought she found someone who would make her feel special and adored, so she didn’t want to admit that this person wasn’t her true love. 

‘two years’

• “You were right here before in my arms, now you’re invisible, but the heartbreak’s physical…”
• “Two years since you’ve been in my bed, even had a funeral for you in my head…”
• “Another night, another vice, even try with someone new, someone nice…”

This was one of the hardest songs to narrow down our lyric choices from… seriously, ‘two years’ is absolutely beautiful and perfectly captures what it’s like trying to move on from someone you loved so deeply. The titular lyric, “it’s been two years but you’re still not gone,” even calls back to one of ROSÉ’s first solo songs, ‘Gone,’ which makes the whole thing even more moving for us. It’s so haunting and matches the emotions of that situation so well. 

One of our favorite lines from this song is “two years since you’ve been in my bed, even had a funeral for you in my head” since it touches on the physical and emotional grieving processes and how they intertwine. Not only did Rosé lose this person in the physical world, as in the time they spent together, but she also lost who she thought they were and the hope she held for a future together. She doesn’t even get “real” closure like someone might at a funeral, so she has to come to terms with her pain in her own internal world while trying to move forward.

‘toxic till the end’

• “Even when I said it was over, you heard, ‘Baby, can you pull me in closer?’”
• “His favorite game is chess, who would ever guess? Playing with the pieces in my chest…”
• “I can’t forgive you for one thing, my dear, you wasted my prettiest years!”

We got the dance-worthy breakup bop we always wanted from Rosé with ‘toxic till the end,’ and pretty much every lyric is perfect to scream along to after you’ve gotten your heart broken! For this lyric breakdown, we wanted to look at a standout line from the bridge: “I can’t forgive you for one thing, my dear, you wasted my prettiest years.”

Not only has Rosé been looking especially pretty these past few years, but we think it also ties into the amazing memories she’s made with BLACKPINK. She told Apple Music that she had a big fight with her ex during their 2019 tour and reflected, “I looked so good considering how heartbroken I was.” The pain she was experiencing probably made it harder to fully appreciate the dreams she was making come true at the time.

And for the fellow Swiftie Number Ones out there, doesn’t it have the same energy as the “I’m p*ssed off you let me give you all that youth for free” line from Taylor’s ‘So Long, London?’ We can’t get enough!

‘drinks or coffee’

• “Kinda weird how my night changes, is it just me starting to see you in a different light?”
• “Feeling so good at a bad party…”
• “Just call me, yeah…”

Do you think ‘drinks or coffee’ is a bop or a jam? Either way, you’d be right! After the heaviness of the past songs, this track sees ROSÉ realizing her feelings for someone at a party and playfully inviting them to get drinks or coffee with her. There’s a fun contrast between drinks, which would imply losing control or inhibition, and coffee, something you usually drink when you’re trying to wake up. That contrast ties into how she’s not sure how to feel about these feelings or whether something could come out of them, questioning whether we should give in or “wake up” and get over it. She asks, “Is it so wrong I’ve been thinkin’ ’bout you all day?”

For this song’s lyric breakdown, we wanted to discuss the closing line, “just call me, yeah.” On the surface, it’s her playing it cool and leaving the ball in her crush’s court. But in the context of rosie and the story she’s telling, it has a pretty sad connotation. Songs like ‘toxic till the end’ talk about how her ex had the upper hand and manipulated her. Now, she’s hoping her crush will call her as if she can’t be the one to call them, which strikes us since it’s like she’s gotten used to not having control after her past relationship. 

‘APT.’

• “Come give me something I can feel…”
• “Don’t you need me like I need you now?”
• “So now you know the game…” 

Before we get into some lyric analysis, let’s reflect on how ‘APT.’ took over the world! The lead single of rosie (and Rosé’s first release under Atlantic Records and The Black Label) skyrocketed to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and made Rosé the first female Korean solo artist to make it to the chart’s top 10. It’s spent eight weeks on top of the Billboard Global 200 chart, hit #1 on South Korea’s main music charts within a day of its release (its first of over 40 real-time all-kills), and gained over two billion streams from fans all over the world. It also earned Bruno Mars oppa his first-ever Korean music show win, which is pretty iconic if you ask us.

In a lot of ways, ‘APT.’ feels like a complete 180 from the main storyline of rosie, which largely centers on heartbreak. It’s the only song title that’s not in lower case, the only feature on the album, and has a much more upbeat sound than most of the album. It also flips on some of the very ideas on the heavier songs on the album, and that’s why we wanted to talk about the “so now you know the game” lyric from the bridge! While it’s talking about the APT. drinking game, of course, you could also take it as understanding the game of love – it’s a direct contrast to the “his favorite game is chess” line on ‘toxic till the end,’ which describes how a partner knows how to play with Rosé’s heart. She knows better now and she’s looking for someone who knows better as well. 

‘gameboy’

• “If crying was fun, I’d be having the time of my life. If loving you was a jump, yeah, I probably died a 110 times…”
• “You got a little too good at acting like a good guy…”
• “You took my love for granted and it took me two years to understand it…”

On ‘gameboy,’ ROSÉ is done playing around and wants to move forward from the games her ex played with her head. Now that she’s sat with the hurt from having her heart broken, she’s ready to start processing the worse parts of the relationship and how she wasn’t in a healthy enough mindset to see it for what it was. That’s definitely one of the trickiest parts of a breakup, and this track captures it so well, intertwining a more free outlook with some anger and frustration that’s still lingering. She told Zane Lowe that this was the last song she recorded for rosie, which makes sense and shows how much she grew and healed throughout the creative process.

One of the key lyrics on this song is “you took my love for granted and it took me two years to understand it,” and that of course ties into the song ‘two years’ as well. Where ‘two years’ saw Rosé reflecting on how she’s missed this person for two years, ‘gameboy’ is a shift in how she views the relationship. She recognizes her worth now and knows she deserved such better treatment. We love that growth for her! 

‘stay a little longer’

• “Take a little longer to pack up your bags, you’re moving too fast…”
• “Build us a castle then leave me in silence…”
• “I’m fragile, I’m speechless. Don’t leave me in pieces, already having enough trouble breathing…”

Pretty much every line on ‘stay a little longer’ ripped our hearts out of our chests and stomped them into little tiny pieces, so you could imagine how difficult it was to pick just three favorites! This song captures the pure sadness of losing someone you deeply love as Rosé begs for just a little more time with them. It strips back the anger of the situation, admitting her ex makes her “wanna hate [them] so [she] don’t have to miss [them],” and focuses on the grief of it as she tries to process it all.

A lyric we think really summarizes the song well is “build us a castle then leave me in silence” since it touches on how surreal the relationship felt to her. In the moment, it was like a fairytale full of love and passion. But as it slipped away, so did that fairytale and the magic she thought it possessed. The idea of building a castle then ghosting also highlights how her ex seemingly went from putting in a lot of effort to none at all.

‘not the same’

• “Tell me lies like ‘we’re okay,’ promise ’til your face turns purple…” 
• “We had only and nothing but time, but some things just change overnight…”
• “We had good days and light on our side, but you f*cked up and you know that I’m right…”

‘not the same’ is a huge moment for ROSÉ as she faces the truth that her partner isn’t the same person he was at the start of their relationship. It’s a sad reflection, but also a scathing, cathartic callout while she confronts him for stringing her along. Productionwise, the higher guitar line almost feels like it’s trying to burst away from the lower ones, like how Rosé is trying to break away from him and the manipulation of the relationship.

With the song’s catharsis in mind, we had to spotlight “we had good days and light on our side, but you f*cked up and you know that I’m right” as our standout lyric! It takes a lot of strength to not only come to terms with being mistreated, but to stand strong in that knowledge and to bring it up to the other person. An honorary mention goes to a brave, jaw-dropping question she asks: “Did letting me down get tiring?” 

‘call it the end’

• “Part of me lost hope, but part of me just can’t let go”
• “Do I call you my ex or do I call you my boyfriend? Call you a lover, do I call you a friend? Call you the one or the one that got away? Someone I’ll just have to forget?”
• “We were a moment and you were my only true oasis, now all those oceans are falling down our faces”

There are a lot of sad moments on rosie, but ‘call it the end’ probably takes the cake for the most devastating song. It shows off Rosé’s confusion as something that once felt so magical slips away from her and she’s left to wonder what to make of it. She thinks about all the unanswered questions and the number of questions in the lyrics reflects just how lost she feels, letting us into her headspace and the fear clouding her mind.

One of the most clever lyrics on the track, and on the album as a whole, is “we were a moment and you were my only true oasis. Now all these oceans are falling down our faces.” An oasis is an uncommon space in a desert where there’s water, while the “water” (i.e. the love or comfort in their relationship) eventually turns into tears that pour out. Something that was once a safe place of refuge for her has turned into something she needs that refuge from. 

‘too bad for us’

• “Was it all just sleight of hand? Another trick that fate has played on us again?”
• “I’m dancing on my own, but the music’s not as good when you’re alone…”
• “If love burns too bright, it burns out in a minute… at least that’s what I tell myself.”

As we shuffle through the stages of grief, ‘too bad for us’ is a moment of acceptance as ROSÉ officially lets go of the hope she had for things to get better with her ex. “Can’t go forward, can’t go back again,” she admits to feeling stuck while also knowing she shouldn’t go back to such an unstable situation. The music itself mirrors that feeling of acceptance and realization – an electric guitar kicks in with heavier drums on the second chorus as she processes the relationship and its downfall more. 

One of the lyrics that jumps out to us most on this song is “if love burns too bright, it burns out in a minute… at least that’s what I tell myself.” Rosé has come to terms with the relationship’s bitter end while still admitting there’s some sadness there. And while she won’t go back to him again, she courageously acknowledges how much love she had for him and knows she did the best she could with those feelings at the time.

‘dance all night’

• “Asked me if there’s anything I would change, and I didn’t know what to say…”
• “I would dance all night, not care about the heartache in my life…”
• “Dance all night, I’ll be there for you tomorrow. You can dry your eyes, we’ll laugh away the sorrow. When the morning comes, just promise me you’ll stay forever young…” 

Finally, we’ve reached the last song on the standard rosie album! ‘dance all night’ is the perfect ending to the project, offering the perfect mix of reflection on the past and optimism for the future. ROSÉ thinks back on the relationship she describes on the album and how it’s made her scared to open up again, but also thinks about how she’s ready to start properly living life again. 

The last lyric we’ll be breaking down is actually kind of the entire bridge… oops. But you’ll get why once we get into it! The bridge in question is “Dance all night, I’ll be there for you tomorrow. You can dry your eyes, we’ll laugh away the sorrow. When the morning comes, just promise me you’ll stay forever young.” Where the first verse sees Rosé talking to herself, and the second verse seemingly sees her apologizing to someone she dated after her ex, we think this bridge is her message to Number Ones and Blinks! She’s promising that her music will always be there for us and hopes that we can find our own joy in life, with a cute reference to BLACKPINK’s ‘Forever Young’ for the fans who have been around since that era. 

What are your favorite lyrics on ROSÉ’s rosie album? Do you agree with our analysis? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

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