It didn’t seem like an ordinary song. There was something oddly rough about the album cover and teaser image, the first an eyepatch-wearing punk bear against an all-black background, the second one of the members wearing a shaggy balaclava with bear ears. The title, “Teddy Bear,” suggested a song full of bright synths that would feel at home in a teen movie, but I thought it might not be so soft and fuzzy as it seemed. And I was right. Released after their 2022 EP WE NEED LOVE and the Japanese single “POPPY,” the song “Teddy Bear” has a twist.

The single album’s description makes the song out to be about “cheering and standing by them who were so pure without saying anything.” They also use reassuring labels like “my own self-esteem protector” and “my own hero.” Black Eyed Pilseung and FLYT have written the musical equivalent of a bag full of sweet, colorful gummy bears, echoing the soundtracks of 2000s teen movies with its funky bass line, electric synth riffs and clear melody with clever variations.

On a cursory listen, “Teddy Bear” sounds like an ode to the sturdy life of childhood when Teddy was always there on your bed keeping watch over you. But the more you peel back the layers of the song, the more bitter in tone it becomes. The teddy bear in STAYC’s song isn’t a dependable object bringing comfort—it’s something that shuts up complainers with their endless doubts and nitpicking, and also a symbolic warning sent to anyone who judges others.

“Stay still … Don’t talk nonsense, stay still. Keep the useless words to yourself!” When Seeun says this in a behind-the-scenes video for “Teddy Bear,” she’s revealing how edgy the song can be. From the introduction, when ISA sings, “Their words excite me / From back and forth, they make a fool / The way I see it, it’s not true / But they think they act so cool,” you can feel the pain the character in the song is experiencing by taking a different path than what the world wants her to. With Yoon and Seeun singing lines like, “We’re all living life for the first time,” and, “There isn’t one right answer / Stop expecting one, you’ll get disappointed,” the song sounds less like confident youth and more like pushing back against endless meddling. STAYC dives deep into the inner psyche, switching on airplane mode and blocking out all unwanted communication. They criticize those people with a bad attitude, singing, “What’s your mode exactly? / Are you worried or nosy?” It caps off the idea of knowing that they’re the ones doing the right thing, not those other people.

It’s interesting how the message in “Teddy Bear” is camouflaged rather than brought to the fore. In terms of the vocal, the song is a notable departure from previous STAYC songs. J, with her charismatic husky voice, plays less of a role here, and whereas she used to do most of the rapping, Sieun puts her refreshing spin on more than half of it in the new song. While Yoon typically sings choruses, here she sings the highlight on the bridge instead; ISA and Sieun fill the song up with whisper-like vocals as opposed to their usual strong stuff. The result is a bright, lovely song that conceals its cynical undertone unless you’re paying careful attention. This was previously heard on “POPPY,” where the hard-hitting vocals that start off the song give way completely after the drop to a soft repetition of “poppy poppy” for a uniquely catchy sound.

Once you understand the underlying meaning of the song, check out the upbeat music video for an even more explicit take on the theme. In it, the members of STAYC look like characters out of Cartoon Network’s popular series The Powerpuff Girls as they deal with the frustrations of everyday life, like the nerve-racking competition to buy tickets, stifling libraries, trying to buy limited-edition snacks and packed city busses. There’s a notable part where they sit around their room full of teddy bears and perform a kind of mystical ritual, locking away the souls of people who constantly complain, make assumptions and perpetuate stereotypes. It’s a sharp warning against people who simply sit still or cast the wrong glance their way.

The song ends up being a cute and pretty way to of saying “shut up.” Interestingly, this attitude has been the core of STAYC’s career since they debuted in 2020. What makes them so appealing is how they take straightforward electropop and add to it a trust in the moment that disregards what others might think of them, and they put the pedal to the metal and race with the idea. Their debut song, “SO BAD,” was all about being completely open about feelings of love that can’t be contained (“Even though people say I’m immature, it’s okay / I like it that way”) set to a breakneck drum and bass beat. The song “ASAP” is about hurrying to find someone who can be quick about expressing their feelings in an increasingly busy world—the desire to skip the whole part of getting to know someone’s likes and interests and wanting someone right away who suits someone so complicated and cool. It’s the same in “STEREOTYPE”: a caution against judging someone who can be spontaneous and reckless but also has their own worries and a respectful rejection of people who project their ideas onto others and push their preconceived notions. In “RUN2U,” they display an almost shocking amount of conviction, asking the person she loves not to question her decision to love, saying that she won’t blame them for going too far, causing pain or making mistakes. The mini album YOUNG-LUV.COM and the single album WE NEED LOVE both explore this vision of love in a whole spectrum of different ways.

Modern K-pop girl groups are strong. Armed with a philosophy espousing freedom and rebellion, they stand tall and unwavering, their confidence strong enough to call themselves narcissistic and making their songs what they are. Songs about love are no longer simple shows of emotion but lyrics that analyze all the different aspects of it from a variety of perspectives using unique metaphors and a sense of independence—and people love them.

The world STAYC has built is unique even among all that. They found an open space for the young constructed through their cheerful performances and simple-hearted vocals and have established a place where reckless conviction and a lack of expectations can coexist—a fantastical theme park full of heart-poundingly thrilling rides, all thanks to Black Eyed Pilseung’s clever songwriting and the STAYC members’ ability to take to any concept thrown at them. It’s that brief prick of conscience you feel after playing about with abandon. It’s fun.