There are many polarizing opinions about the very experimental song that is “토끼와 거북이 (The Tortoise and the Hare).” But when Stray Kids’ are doing something, you can be sure they approach it thoughtfully and with meaning. In this song, Stray Kids are wondering which pace is better for them, fast or slow? But the real question is does it really matter? Can’t they live as they want?

The lyrics to the song were written by Stray Kids’ producing team 3RACHA (Bang Chan, Changbin, HAN). They composed it together with American songwriters Amanda ‘MNDR’ Warner and Peter Wade. When 3RACHA introduced this experimental song to the rest of Stray Kids they asked “Is this what we can expect from K-pop? Can idol groups pull this off?”, but they quickly concluded that even if it’s so original, they are Stray Kids and Stray Kids surely can do it.

“토끼와 거북이 (The Tortoise and the Hare)” is the full version of the intro “GO生 (GO LIVE)”, from the album GO生 (GO LIVE) and was put in as an intro on the repackage album IN生 (IN LIFE). For the purpose of this Song Highlight, the English translation of the song was used.

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“GO, GO, GO LIVE”!

“토끼와 거북이 (The Tortoise and the Hare)” starts with a melody that pulls you in with curiosity, a small hint of mystery. After this short intro, you can’t be sure what to expect and what kind of song is waiting for you.

However, after the strong “Go, go, go live!” chant, Hyunjin and Changbin start their fast rap to the trap beat:

There’s no need to go fast, just take it slow,
Even if time wants to fly by I don’t care, so what?
My time and my tempo are more valuable than gold
I won’t follow time, you can just follow me

They quickly present what is “토끼와 거북이 (The Tortoise and the Hare).” Time is running out, but they don’t care, because they know what pace and tempo are the most valuable for them.

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“To the end of this struggle I go”

Stray Kids play with the word “生” in this song. 生, pronounced as “saeng”, means life, live, or raw. GO生 (“gosaeng”) therefore translates into “go live”. The Korean word “고생”, pronounced as “gosaeng”, means hardship or struggles. Through this wordplay, they want to tell that after overcoming the struggles, you can finally go live the life you want.

To the end of this struggle I go
I know, you know, we know, we know

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Aesop’s fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare”

The tortoise said “Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster!”
The hare said “Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow
Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow
Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow
Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow
Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow
Too slow, too slow, too slow, too slow
You’re just too slow, you’re driving me crazy”…

The title of the song is from the famous Aesop fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. In the story, the hare is making fun of the slow-moving tortoise, so the tortoise challenges him to race together. Hare, being confident that he is going to win, takes a nap in the middle of the race. When he wakes up, he realizes that the tortoise, who crawls slowly, but steadily throughout the whole race has won the competition.

“I’m out of breath, I should take a break…”
And because of that the tortoise won in the end!

Stray Kids incorporated the tale in their lyrics. While looking for their own pace, they are inspired by the tortoise. They don’t have to be fast like the hare is, because they know their determination and hard work can bring them wherever they want to go.

In a very creative way, Stray Kids illustrate the tale in the song. “The tortoise said ‘Faster! Faster!’” sang by I.N is representing the tortoise – said in a very slow tempo to characterize the slow-moving character that encourages himself to go faster, to win the race.

Then comes the hare, portrayed by HAN and his fast tempo, “Too slow, too slow, you’re just too slow, you’re driving me crazy”. Through this fusion of fast and slow-paced words, lyrics, and tempo, they perfectly show the frustration of the hare, who just can’t stand how slow the tortoise is.

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Heungbu and Nolbu

Inspired time by the Korean folktale, Heungbu and Nolbu (흥부와 놀부), which was written in the late Joseon Dynasty, today it’s a popular bedtime story for children.

The story is about two brothers, older Nolbu and younger Heungbu. After the death of their father, they were supposed to split the fortune evenly, but the older brother took the whole fortune for himself, leaving Heungbu and his family with nothing. While living in poverty and misery, the younger brother treated everyone with kindness and respect. One day he rescued a swallow and healed its leg. The swallow came back with a pumpkin seed that helped Heungbu gain fortune and wealth. When Nolbu found out about it, he broke the swallow’s leg himself in order to heal it, but the swallow brought him misery and destruction for his greed.

I want to just mess around like Nolbu,
(…) I want to be excited and mess around

Maybe that is the tempo Stray Kids are looking for? The slow, but greedy pace of the lazy older brother Nolbu. Maybe, but it wouldn’t be Stray Kids without another wordplay. The first line is straightforward, “I want to mess around like Nolbu” (being greedy and mean and do not care about anyone), but in the second part they sing: “I want to be excited and mess around”. 흥부 (Heungbu) is the name of the younger brother, and “흥부자” (heungbuja) refers to “an excited person.” Therefore, this line shows that you can play and mess around while being a diligent and good person, just as Heungbu was.

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“I know, you know, we know, Lee Know”

In the middle of this rollercoaster of a song, there’s a small easter egg that Bang Chan came up with on a recording day of the song. He changed the lyrics by replacing one “we know” with “Lee Know” and then Lee Know (vocalist, rapper, and main dancer of the group), gladly executed and sang this part.

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Back and forth lyrics

Back to Stray Kids’ journey to finding the perfect pace for themselves, they consider every option. Lyrics are going from fast-paced HAN’s rap “we said to hurry, hurry up, why are you still sitting around?” to lazy rap performed by Bang Chan: “slow it down, everyone slow it down (…) I know you honestly think it’s all tiresome, just take it slow”

Run all the way there, if you’re even 10 seconds, 1 second late…
Well, I don’t know what will happen, but being quicker is better!
Yeah, you can go ahead and take a plane
I’m going to take the Mugunghwa and travel by train

In these back-and-forth lyrics that are going throughout the whole song, they are looking for the right pace, and the correct tempo they want to use. They consider everything and even compare their journey to the journey by the Mugunghwa train which is the regional railway that stops at many stations and is the cheapest class of train in South Korea. They are telling others that sure, they can go at a speed of a plane, but they can also use the slowest train in the whole country.

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Changbin’s outro

Take it easy, take it easy, they say the world is round
Even if we rush we’ll end up right back in the same place
Blue, blue, the sky is clear blue
We take our time looking up to the blue sky and spread our music

Song ends with a demo recording that 3RACHA made two years before they released “토끼와 거북이 (The Tortoise and the Hare).” Performed by Changbin, the outro features clapping, and Chan’s laugh in the background basically leaving the demo as it is because they knew they wouldn’t be able to replicate the original feelings. Thanks to this raw recording, they created the perfect ending to this experimental song.

On top of that, the melody of this part is inspired by a famous Korean nursery rhyme that is called “Round and Round.” Via the lyrics, Stray Kids finally make a conclusion, that no matter what pace they go at, they will still end up in the same place. So, they would like to slow down, look at the blue sky, and share their music at their own pace.

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“토끼와 거북이 (The Tortoise and the Hare)” is like a rollercoaster ride or an advent calendar. You can definitely expect something, but can’t be sure about what to expect. The trap beat that carries throughout the whole song is embraced by tons of wordplays and references. And those lyrics are embraced by top lines. A risky song that is so genius that it can take a while and good research to understand it fully and to what Stray Kids wanted to tell.

Stray Kids is a group that is doing their own thing and even if they could be misunderstood, they know there will be someone who will understand what they are trying to say and who will have fun with their music, lyrics, and experimental songs. As always Stray Kids also use their music to encourage their listeners and this time to create your own pace. Because in the end, it won’t matter how long it took you to get to your summit since the view will be marvelous regardless.

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If you wish to slow down in your own fast-paced life, take a look at these helpful meditation resources provided by the SHARP lab at the University of Connecticut. Or take a look at these guides by Psycom founded by world-renowned psychiatrist and clinical psychopharmacologist Ivan K. Goldberg.

cc: @genius-korea @genius-editorial-board @genius-internationals @pop-genius @music

Always nice to see references to traditional Korean elements in K-pop; even nicer to see one of the members of the Genius Korea community explaining it! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this article. I personally found the explanation about Stray Kids' album very interesting—I’m kinda a sucker for wordplays. :D