“Beautiful Monster” by STAYC
We have pointed out in the past that even when it comes to what are clearly their love songs, K-poppers are not inclined to directly refer to romance. And so it is with this track (“Beautiful Monster”). For instance, by the looks of things the music video doesn’t feature nary a dude. But at least within the lyrics, the addressee is referred to, in an ideological sort of way, as “a man”.
Or more accurately explained, the vocalist is telling him to man-up. And that’s because said addressee is in fact the titular “beautiful monster”. And the reason he is being labeled using such poetic yet less-than-flattering is because as presented he’s sort of a split-personality lover, i.e. the type who ‘hurts then heals’ the vocalist.
Furthermore, besides that, there’s a whole lot going on in this song. But perhaps the easiest way to explain the situation at hand, as inferred, is as the vocalist having found herself in love with someone who has character shortcomings, including seemingly maturity issues.
In the grand scheme of things, these are the kinds of sentiments that are commonly relayed by young female singers, in one way or another. And in this case the intended addressee is apparently someone who, in the eyes of the vocalist, seems more inclined to overthink than to take definitive action towards moving the both of them forward.
Who are STAYC?
STAYC is an all-girl K-pop act that is relatively new on the scene, having been around since 2020. The crew is six members’ deep, ranging in age from Yoon Shim, who is 18 years old, to Jang Yeeun, who’s 23. And those who come in between are, as of the release of this track on 19 July 2022 are:
- Seeun Yoon (19)
- Sieun Park (20)
- Isa Lee (20)
- Sumin Bae (21)
Stayc is a product of High Up Entertainment, which is also the label responsible for putting “Beautiful Monster” out. And it was also High Up who first announced this track’s forthcoming on the 30th of June, i.e. a couple of weeks before its release.
Who wrote “Beautiful Monster”?
This song was written by a composition duo known as Black Eyed Pilseung, alongside another South Korean musician, Leon Goon and an artist identified as Flyt. And that same trio of acts also produced “Beautiful Monster”.
Noteworthy Stuff:
This track is from the third EP in STAYC’s discography, a project titled “We Need Love”.
Their two previous extended plays, “Stereotype” (2021) and “Young-Luv.com” (2022), performed exceptionally well in South Korea and also charted in Japan. And it also looks like “Beautiful Monster” is on its way to being a success, as the song’s music video for instance surpassed 10,000,000 views in less than 24 hours upon release.
