New Jeans, Ditto: the English lyrics & the meaning

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Ditto is a song released by the k-pop girl band New Jeans in December 2022. After the popular hits Attention and Cookie, the band is back with a new track that follows up on their pop mission: modern sounds, catchy melodies, and lighthearted lyrics about love and relationships. This song makes no exception: in this article, we will analyze its meaning, and you’ll also find the complete lyrics at the end.

You can watch the official video for New Jeans’ Ditto below.

NewJeans (뉴진스) 'Ditto' Official MV (side A)

Ditto: the English lyrics and their meaning

Ditto is a song about what we feel when we love someone and are not sure they’re returning our feelings. In the lyrics, New Jeans expose their feelings, using clear and explicit words, but they struggle to understand if the other part returns what they feel. “Ditto” is an expression that refers to something already said: it would be enough for them to hear that, to understand that they are loved as much as they do.

Their doubts are evident in the song’s first half: they already shared what they feel, and they ask the guy if he wants the same things.

Do you want somebody?
Like I want somebody?
You smiled at me but
Do you think about me now, yeah?
All the time, yeah, all the time

The feelings are strong, and while they sing this, their heart rush. It’s one of those typical situations where we have a vast need for certainties, but we need to control the expression of our feelings to avoid making things more complicated.

I had a long day
I miss you
Ra-ta-ta-ta echoes my heart (Ra-ta-ta-ta)

Therefore, their ask is obvious: I told you what I feel, what I need. Now say it back. Make me feel safe about the fact that you want me as well. Say something that really means that and dispels every doubt. Even a simple word like “ditto” would work.

Stay in the middle
Like you a little, don’t want no riddle
Say it, say it back, oh, say it ditto
Can’t wait ’til the morning, so say it, ditto

When you love someone, you definitely need to feel safe in that feeling. You need to know that they love you as much as you do. It’s a self-defense feeling that helps us avoid risky situations where we can get easily hurt. From this point of you, the lyrics in Ditto are aware that if their feelings are not returned, it could be better to find love elsewhere. But of course, emotions are not so easy to adjust, and they know it:

Not just anybody
I imagined you
With the feeling
That’s been always there I’ve been
Waiting all this time

This is, therefore, the real meaning inside the lyrics of Ditto: I want you, and I need to know that you want me as well. I cannot feel safe if I’m not sure about it, and I ask you to say a single word to confirm it. I need requited love, and I need to understand if you are the one who can give it to me. A situation everybody can relate to, expressed in a catchy, modern song, as New Jeans are already doing for a while.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The complete lyrics

Below you can find the complete English translation for the lyrics inside New Jeans’ Ditto.

Stay in the middle
Like you a little, don’t want no riddle
Say it, say it back, oh, say it ditto
Can’t wait ’til the morning, so say it, ditto

My feelings for you
Like the memories we share
Have grown so big
Summer’s already gone and it’s autumn
Been waiting all this time

Do you want somebody?
Like I want somebody?
You smiled at me but
Do you think about me now, yeah?
All the time, yeah, all the time

I got no time to lose
I had a long day
I miss you
Ra-ta-ta-ta echoes my heart (Ra-ta-ta-ta)
I got nothing to lose
I like you, ooh-woah, ooh-woah, ooh-woah
Ra-ta-ta-ta echoes my heart (Ra-ta-ta-ta)
But I don’t want to

Stay in the middle
Like you a little, don’t want no riddle
Say it, say it back, oh, say it ditto
Can’t wait ’til the morning, so say it, ditto

I don’t want to walk in this maze
Not that I know everything but
Just as I want it, say it, say it back
Oh, say it ditto
I want you so, want you, so say it ditto

Not just anybody
I imagined you
With the feeling
That’s been always there I’ve been
Waiting all this time

I got nothing to lose
I like you, ooh-woah, ooh-woah, ooh-woah
Ra-ta-ta-ta echoes my heart (Ra-ta-ta-ta)
But I don’t want to

Stay in the middle
Like you a little, don’t want no riddle
Say it, say it back, oh, say it ditto
Can’t wait ’til the morning, so say it, ditto

I don’t want to walk in this maze
Not that I know everything but
Just as I want it, say it, say it back
Oh say it ditto
I want you so, want you, so say it ditto