KINGDOM REVIEW
In celebration of completing my finals for this year, I've decided to start reviewing some Kingdom performances! Without further ado, I'll get right into it!
Stray Kids' <I'll Be Your Man> (Cover: BTOB)
Originally, BTOB's 'I'll Be Your Man (Pray)', is a song about a man who remembers his lover, begging her to return to him again.
In Stray Kids' rendition of the track, they express the sorrowful misery and belated regret that comes alongside losing somebody you love; family, friends, a partner - anyone.
The performance starts off with a black stage and a blue spotlight pointed towards Seungmin, who is seen to be kneeing on the floor with white flowers. These flowers are perhaps symbolic of his mourning, which is later demonstrated as he moves towards a grave sheltered underneath the green spotlight of a tree. He then proceeds to place the flowers in the hands of the grave stone which is shaped like a boy. Han, who emerges from the shadow of the stage, proceeds to move towards the boy, hands seen trembling as he reaches out towards the stone boy.
At this moment he sings: 'I can't live without you, please come back into my arms, baby, I pray'. From this, we can assume that the boy is representative of younger brother (this could perhaps allude to the overall innocence of the boy, who despite their innocence and youth, has died). This is further hinted as the stone boy wears a necklace containing a ring that all members of the group are seen to wear.
From here, the camera transition to Changbin who is surrounded by people that appear to angels of a sort. The angels wear white - a stark contrast to Changbin who wears black alongside the other members of Stray Kids. Once more, this could be representative of somebody who has been left corrupted the world, which could possibly be hinting towards that fact that Stray Kids would have seen the unfair death of somebody innocent by the hands of upper beings - angels.
Changbin is seen to be struggling to against the grip of the angels, climbing up a staircase representative of the stairs to heaven where a shadowy figure of the stone boy seems to be standing at the top. As he reaches the top of the staircase, the apparition of the boy disappears. In a distraught state ('I lost everything the night I lost you, do you hear my belated regret?'), Changbin throws himself off the stairs of heaven.
This is vital point in the storyline. Changbin, who was not able to persuade the angels to bring back the dead boy, throws himself off the the stairs of heaven (the 'just/right' path), in order to seek a more 'sinful/evil' path to bring back his dead brother.
Then, the camera transitions to I.N. who is seen physically falling down from the heavens, the sky. As he expresses desire to have 'one more chance', perhaps from the heavens or maybe to be reunited with his brother, a clock is seen flashing behind him, indicating that time has rewinded into the past.
Here, the screen turns black and white and Changbin is seen cupping the cheeks of the boy, who hands Changbin a tissue. As the flashback fades away, and the screen turns colourful once more, Changbin is left grasping the tissue, cast from heaven and stating: 'Don't go anywhere, stay where you are. Even if I die infront of you', which expresses his overwhelming desire and will to give life to the dead boy, no matter his own state of being.
As the chorus begins, the backdrop turns from a heavenly white to a cruel red, indicating to the audience that instead of heaven, Stray Kids are in hell, following an punishable path to bring life to their dead brother. As the chorus ends, a massive door is seen behind Lee Know and Han. These could possibly be the False Doors (veil between the dead souls of the underworld and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology), which suggests that Stray Kids seek to remove the soul of the boy waiting to go to the afterlife from the underworld and bring the soul back to the body of the boy to bring him back to life.
(TW: Blood, Self-Harm, Knife)
After the chorus, the camera transitions to Felix, who is seen chained by the angels and being dragged. This suggests that the angels, who have realized Stray Kids' goal, want to stop them from bringing the dead boy back to life by following the 'crooked path'. Felix and the rest of the Stray Kids members are seen breaking from the chains that restrict them and moving towards an altar where Changbin holds a knife and Han pours his own blood into a sacrificial bowl. Here, Han states that his wails louder, so that his voice will 'reach the sky', symbolizing how little Stray Kids care about what the angels think of their actions, because of their desperation to bring back their loved one.
(TW: Over)
As Felix stands on the altar, a shadowed figure appears behind him. The figure states:
'The heavens retreat,
from the help you seek
A forbidden negotiation,
you risk everything
Two choices,
all you have to do is pick
Sacrifice your life,
with the abyss'
From these words, it is implied that Stray Kids are going to make a forbidden deal with the devil, going against heavens will to bring back their dead brother. But to do this, they need to sacrifice their own life by destroying the abyss. After these words are spoken by the 'devil', Felix is seen jumping from the altar and merging with Stray Kids who destroy the abyss and are left with a heart, their heart, which they plan on using to revive the boy.
The camera pans to Seungmin, who slowly moves towards the statue of the boy and then proceeds to hand over the heart to Chan. Chan places the heart inside of the stone boy's hand. This represents Stray Kids (who are represented by their leader, Chan), sacrificing their life for the boy. After this, a group shot of Stray Kids is seen from birds' eye view where the white surface of the stage turns red, illustrating the finalization of the sacrifice. At this point, the climax of the song arrives, where the chorus is sung for the final time.
As the desperate rap and powerful vocals end ('This desperate cry, which I am coughing up like blood, will it reach you?), the stage turns black and Stray Kids are seen collapsing onto the floor, dead. Behind Stray Kids, the stone boy is no longer seen.
In the final shot of the performance, Chan is on his knees, dead - but held in the arms of the boy he, Stray Kids, sacrificed themsevles for.
This stage is very much symbolic of Stray Kids' will to strive for something they love, regardless of outside circumstance and people (who may even be represented as 'good' to others) say. Overall, this performance is captivating, touching and perhaps the most emotional stage on Kingdom.
And with that, I conclude my review! Thank you for reading!
(PS: Sorry for any spelling mistakes, I wrote this quite quickly without having time to check!)
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