aespa – Licorice Lyrics | Romanization & Meaning

By muziconDec 21, 2025

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Licorice

aespa (에스파)

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Album

Armageddon – The 1st Album

Release Date

May 27, 2024

Genre

Dance / Pop

Label

SM Entertainment

Composers / Lyricists

Daniel Davidsen, Peter Wallevik, Moa ‘Cazzi Opeia’ Carlebecker, Karen Poole, Kang Eun-jeong

Participating Members

Karina Giselle Winter Ningning

About the Song

《Licorice》 is a bold and playful B-side by aespa, featured as the fifth track on their first full-length album Armageddon, released in 2024 through SM Entertainment, where the group explores a dangerously addictive attraction likened to its namesake flavor, blending sweetness and bitterness into a sleek pop sound shaped by composers Daniel Davidsen, Peter Wallevik, Moa “Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, and Karen Poole, while its teasing tension and restless energy highlight aespa’s confident identity and playful edge, further amplified by a special performance video unveiled ahead of the album’s release.

[FULL LYRICS – ROMANIZATION & ENGLISH ONLY]

English Translation

neon jeong-mal
LICORICE
LICORICE
LICORICE
gye-sok maem-do-ra
like LICORICE

You’re seriously like licorice, licorice, licorice, I keep circling around you over and over, stuck to you just like licorice.

really not like that
really,
really not like that
i-geon mwo-ral-kka
jeong-mal nat-seon neu-kkim yah
neol bo-go i-sseo
tto SILLY
saeng-ga-gi na
no kidding
dae-che what?
gwaen-hi geu-nyang jja-jeung na

Really not like that, no really not like that, I don’t even know how to explain it, it feels so unfamiliar, when I look at you I get silly thoughts, no kidding, what is this, I get annoyed for no reason.

jeon-hyeo da-reun TYPE
jeo-ne eop-deon STUFF
ye-sang-do mot han
sa-go-cheo-reom CRUSH
(like like like)
dwi-reul do-ra-seon
geu sun-gan-bu-teo
hol-rin geot-cheo-reom
da-si do-ra-seo

You’re a completely different type, something I’ve never seen before, an unexpected crash like an accident, from the moment I turned around I’ve been hooked, going back again like I’m possessed.

it tastes so
SWEET BUT SOUR
oh SUGAR AND SPICE
cheo-eu-mi-ya i-reon
nae gam-jeong-ui pok
neon jeong-mal
LICORICE
LICORICE
LICORICE
(ah ah ah ah)

It tastes sweet but sour, sugar and spice all at once, I’ve never felt emotions explode like this before, you’re seriously licorice, licorice, licorice.

i wanna
SCREAM AND SHOUT
jom i-sang-han mam
sil-ta-ga-do jo-a
neol mot no-ke-sseo
neon jeong-mal
LICORICE
LICORICE
LICORICE
ja-kku so-ni ga
like LICORICE

I want to scream and shout, my heart feels strange, I hate it but I love it, I can’t let you go, you’re seriously licorice, licorice, licorice, my hands keep reaching out like licorice.

it’s the bomb like that
it’s the,
it’s the bomb like that
han beon teo-ji-myeon
STICKY STICKY
oh my god
bang-sim-han teum nan
HOOKED
deo-che geol-ryeo-deu-reo
ALL SHOOK
nae meo-rit-so-gen no
but say let’s go,
let’s go go

It’s the bomb like that, once it explodes it gets sticky, oh my god, the moment I let my guard down I’m hooked, completely shaken, my head says no but my mouth says let’s go.

so-reum dot-neun THRILL
mwon-ga saek-dal-la
da-reun geon jae-mi-eop-seo
si-si-hae
(like like like)
ma-bi-doen deu-tae
mo-deun gam-gak-do
eo-tteon ja-geuk-do
o-ji an-neun geol

The thrill gives me goosebumps, everything else feels boring and dull, like I’m paralyzed, none of my senses respond to any other stimulation anymore.

it tastes so
SWEET BUT SOUR
oh SUGAR AND SPICE
cheo-eu-mi-ya i-reon
nae gam-jeong-ui pok
neon jeong-mal
LICORICE
LICORICE
LICORICE
(ah ah ah ah)

It tastes sweet but sour, sugar and spice again, this rush of emotions is something new, you’re seriously licorice, licorice, licorice.

i-reon nae mo-seup
i-reon nae ma-mi
na-do i-hae-ga an doe-ji
pi-hal su eop-seo
i-geon GRAVITY
a-jjil-han
DYNAMITE
al-ji-man
mot cha-ma
eo-din-ga eo-din-ga
go-jang na-sseo
deo keu-ge deo keu-ge
beon-jyeo-ga

This version of me, this heart of mine, even I don’t understand it, I can’t escape, it’s gravity, a sharp dynamite feeling, I know it but I can’t stop, it’s breaking down and spreading wider and wider.

i wanna
SCREAM AND SHOUT
wae-in-jin mol-la
mi-myo-han deut jo-a
ttak bu-teo-i-sseo
neon jeong-mal
LICORICE
LICORICE
LICORICE
ja-kku tteo-ol-la
like LICORICE

I want to scream and shout, I don’t know why but I like this subtle feeling, I’m completely stuck, you’re seriously licorice, licorice, licorice, you keep coming back to my mind like licorice.

SCREAM AND SHOUT
huk kkeul-li-neun mam
wi-heom-hae-do jo-a
neol mot no-ke-sseo
neon jeong-mal
LICORICE
LICORICE
LICORICE
ja-kku so-ni ga
like LICORICE

Scream and shout, my heart is dangerously drawn to you, even if it’s risky I like it, I can’t let you go, you’re seriously licorice, licorice, licorice, my hands keep reaching out like licorice.

Copy Romanized View Full Korean Lyrics

🗣️ Practice Korean Words

맴돌아 (maemdora)

circles around

💡 Note: to linger persistently in one’s thoughts

홀린 (hollin)

bewitched

💡 Note: being captivated as if under a spell

덫 (deot)

trap

💡 Note: a situation that ensnares someone unexpectedly

소름 (soreum)

goosebumps

💡 Note: a physical reaction to intense thrill or unease

🎵 Song Meaning & Interpretation

The lyrics describe an attraction that feels confusing and irresistible at the same time, comparing the other person to licorice—sweet yet bitter, familiar yet strange. Even while sensing danger and discomfort, the speaker keeps getting pulled back, caught between instinct and emotion, unable to let go of a feeling that spreads deeper the more they resist it.