"Scars" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band

Stray Kids Stray Kids (; often abbreviated as SKZ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 reality show of the same name. The group is composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin ...

. It was released on October 13, 2021, as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

Japanese second single together with the Japanese version of "

Thunderous "Thunderous" (, "Singer" (of ''Pansori'')) is a song recorded by South Korean boy band Stray Kids. It was released as the second track of their second studio album ''Noeasy'', and serves as its lead single on August 23, 2021, through JYP Enterta ...

", through

Epic Records Japan Epic Records Japan is a Japanese record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Its founder was Shigeo Maruyama. Between 1978 and 1988 the label operated as a wholly owned subsidiary: Epic/Sony Inc. () was established in August 1978

. Written by 3Racha, KM-Markit, and Armadillo, it shows the group's determination to continue to make deep and large scars to grasp a bigger dream even though they have a lot of them. The song peaked at number two on both

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

, and ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100, selling over 180,000 copies in the first week in Japan. The Korean version of "Scars" was released on December 23 as a lead single of their second compilation album ''

SKZ2021 ''SKZ2021'' is the second compilation album by South Korean boy band Stray Kids. It was released digitally on December 23, 2021, through JYP Entertainment. It consists of fourteen tracks that the group had released previously, but re-recorded vers ...

''.

Background and release

On July 30, 2021, Stray Kids announced the release of their second Japanese single on October 13, with five physical editions: three first press limited (A, B, C), regular, and FC. The group counted down to announce the single's title and details from September 3 to 8 with individual concept photos. They announce the title on September 9, called "Scars" and the Japanese version of "

", as a

single, with the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"Call", and the Japanese version of "My Pace" as a bonus track from the first press limited editions. "Scars" was pre-released to

digital music Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...

and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

platform on October 6. Stray Kids released the Korean version of "Scars" as a

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

of the compilation album ''

'' on December 21.

Composition and lyrics

"Scars" is described as an "energetic" and "touching" medium number (a ballad with a bit of more tempo) song, composed in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

, 80 beats per minute with a running time of 3 minutes and 21 seconds. 3Racha (Bang Chan, Changbin, Han) written and co-composed the song with Armadillo. The Japanese lyrics were written by KM-Markit. Bang Chan and Versachoi are in charge of arrangement. Lyrically, the song expresses Stray Kids' determination to continue making deep and large

scars A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natu ...

to grasp a bigger dream even though they already have a lot of them. It compares scars to the group's effort, tears and sweat. The B-side "Call" is a pop song about a still lingering feeling of love.

Commercial performance

In Japan's

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

charts, "Scars" landed at number 32 on the Combined Singles Chart dated October 18. before combined with "

" (Japanese ver.) and peaked at number two in next week. The double A-side single with the Japanese version of "Thunderous" debuted at number 2 on the

dated October 25, selling 119,963 copies in the first week, surpassing 37,157 copies of "

Top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...

" (Japanese ver.). For ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100, "Scars" entered at number 39 for the dated issue of October 13, before peaked at number 2 of October 20 due to the CD single release, behide only

Sakurazaka46 , formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was created on August 21, 2015, becoming Nogizaka46's first sister group under the Sakamichi Series. Following the resignation of group's center Yurina Hirate and ...

's "

Nagaredama "Nagaredama" (; "Stray bullet") is the third single by Japanese idol group Sakurazaka46 after their 2020 renaming. It was released on October 13, 2021. The title track features Hono Tamura as center. The music video was premiered on YouTube a mont ...

". The single was sold 182,405 CD copies (number two on the Top Singles Sales) in the first week, surpassing 49,329 copies of their first Japanese single, 1,402 download units (number 46 on the Download Songs), and earned 3,980,778 Japan streams (number 46 on the Streaming Songs) on the week. For international charts, "Scars" landed at number 7 on the ''Billboard''

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific s ...

in the week ending October 16, 2021, making Stray Kids' fifteenth top ten song on the chart, and entered 40th week of Hungary's Single Top 40 at number 11.

Music video

An accompanying music video of "Scars" was premiered on October 6, 2021. It depicts the group journey into a mysterious land, and they following a sparkle of fireflies. they lead the group towards a giant box of light. The music video also features scenes of the group's sleek and powerful choreography.

Live performance

Stray Kids made a debut performance of "Scars" on October 12 at NHK E's '' Numa ni Hamatte Kiite Mita'' as well as

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

's '' Music Blood'', alongside 2PM's " Again & Again"'s cover on October 15, and

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

's '' Love Music'' on October 24. The group performed "Scars" at the Japanese YouTube channel program ''

The First Take ''The First Take'' (stylized as ''THE F1RST TAKE'') is a Japanese YouTube channel that invites singers to perform a song recorded in one take. Concept Videos on ''The First Take'' are filmed in a studio, alternating between medium and close ...

'' on November 10, after performed " Mixtape: Oh" on October 29. The Korean version was performed for the first time at the group's second fan meeting 2nd #LoveStay 'SKZ's Chocolate Factory', which was held on February 12–13 at

Olympic Hall Olympic Hall is a music venue located within the Olympic Park, in Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. In 2011, the Olympic Hall was renovated as a concert hall by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion F ...

Track listing

;Notes: * In first press limited edition B, "Thunderous" (Japanese version) is switched to be the first track, and "Scars" to be the second track. * Signifies an additional lyricist * "Call" is stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from CD single liner notes. ;Locations * Published by Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc., JYP Publishing (

KOMCA The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) is a South Korean non-profit copyright collective for musical works, administering public performance and broadcasting rights, and mechanical recording and reproduction rights. Founded in 1964, it is ...

) * Recorded and mixed at JYPE Studios * Mastered at 821 Sound Mastering ;Personnel *

– lead vocals ** Bang Chan (3Racha) – lyrics, background vocals, composition, arrangement, computer programming, digital editing ** Changbin (3Racha) – lyrics, background vocals, composition ** Han (3Racha) – lyrics, background vocals, composition ** Felix – background vocals ** Seungmin – background vocals * KM-Markit – Japanese lyrics * Armadillo – composition * Versachoi – arrangement, computer programming * Choi Hye-jin – recording * Lee Tae-sub – mixing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering ;"Call" * Stray Kids – lead vocals ** Han (3Racha) – lyrics, background vocals, composition ** Bang Chan (3Racha) – lyrics, background vocals, composition, arrangement, computer programming, digital editing * KM-Markit – Japanese lyrics * Choi Hye-jin – recording * Lim Hong-jin – mixing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{Stray Kids 2021 singles 2021 songs Japanese-language songs JYP Entertainment singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Stray Kids songs