When someone catches your eye, you start noticing the smallest shifts around them. But if that flutter is something you can’t share with anyone, you end up alone even after the happiest moments. 녹황색사회’s “Shout Baby” is a song about enduring while hiding a heart that has grown too big to keep inside. As you follow the voice as it stretches out coolly and clearly, you can hear just how many words have been swallowed along the way.
A heart that began by hiding its laughter
At first, the song introduces sensations of intimate proximity, like the scent of hair or a smile that slips out without thinking. Even while laughing because of that person, there is a slight frustration at realizing how easily one is moved. The image of burying one's face in a muffler holds both excitement and pride.
It is here that the habit of hiding emotions begins. Someone who once could not hold back tears has now grown accustomed to showing no signs at all. Because of this, it is difficult to simply call their calm exterior a sign of growth; after all, the song asks whether they have truly learned to manage their feelings or merely lost any place in which to express them.
The more I keep the secret, the smaller I become
Keeping the relationship a secret may initially feel like a special bond shared only between two people. However, as time passes, it can start to feel as though one's feelings are being treated as if they don't exist. One stays silent out of fear of losing even the slightest connection, yet that very silence deepens the loneliness.
That said, dismissing the other person as simply a bad one would miss the painful core of this song. Even while knowing that happiness is out of reach, it is impossible to erase the joy that person once brought. This is why the mind may understand, yet the heart refuses to follow.
Where the desire to change points
The chorus's intensity doesn't sound like a mere vow to win over the other person. It also carries a desire to break free from the present situation, where I have to keep hiding myself under the guise of liking them. As the song progresses, that longing to reach out deepens into a wish for self-acceptance.
It is also lovely that a lingering attachment remains to the very end; it does not claim to have become unshakeable overnight. When listening to the chorus again, try paying attention to the hesitation within the loud voice. The voice of someone who has not yet let go but does not want to stay as they are will likely sound even closer than before.
Listen along with the track details
Open the official video on YouTube
“Shout Baby” is the second single by Rokusui Shakai, released on CD on February 19, 2020. It was used as the ending theme for the culture festival episode of Season 4 of My Hero Academia. Set aside the context of growth within the story, and it still works well as a tale about someone enduring while keeping their emotions hidden.
Sony Music release information
If you liked this song
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — back number shares the feelings of unrequited love, waiting for a message from just one person even on their birthday.
다카네노 하나코상 — back number cheerfully presents a one-sided love that finds possibility in another person's small actions, only to hesitate on its own.