About the song
“High School in Jakarta” revisits Indonesian singer-songwriter NIKI’s high school years. After revelling the challenge of maintaining a long-distance relationship and the end of this relationship in the videos of “Before” and “Oceans & Engines,” the video of the third and final single off NIKI’s sophomore album depicts how the young couple fell in love in high school.
As a prequel to the previous music videos, from a nostalgic lens, we see how NIKI and her ex-lover met in the drama club, how they fell in love, and how they came up with their couple handshake, which also appeared in the previous videos. The music video of the song stars NIKI as her teenage self and co-stars Peter Adrian Sudarso, who plays her ex-boyfriend throughout these videos.
Interestingly, NIKI’s 88rising labelmates Warren Hue, Rich Brian, Brian’s girlfriend Vanteyy, Warren Hue’s frequent collaborator Chasu and NIKI’s boyfriend Jacob Ray all make cameo appearances in the video in a yearbook photo shoot scene.
—Genius.com
Reading the lyrics of Niki’s ‘High School in Jakarta’ feels like reading Niki’s journal entry from her high school days. From the mention of some familiar names that we know are her friends in real life, the multiple goodbyes she experienced when her friends moved away, new hellos that led to budding friendships, as well as typical teenage dramas and emotional roller coaster that she (and I bet all of us) experienced in high school, the song feels very personal and once again gave me a nostalgic feeling to my own high school days. I think everybody who went (or goes) to some sort of international school, bilingual school, national plus school (or whatever names they are calling it these days) in Jakarta can probably relate to lyrics of this song (believe me, there are lots of familiar scenes here).
Some of my personal favorites:
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Now there's drama, found a club for that
Where I met ya, had a heart attack
Yadda, yadda
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I think these lines are funny and cleverly written. Drama is probably the main ingredient of all high school life all around the world.
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High school in Jakarta, sorta modern Sparta
Had no chance against the teenage suburban armadas
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“Here, NIKI is alluding to the strains of high school society on relationships as similar to a present-time Sparta. Relationships that start during high school rarely make it through the brutalities of “war” (drama, gossip, expectations), and those that do are admirable.
“Had no chance against the teenage suburban armadas”, illustrates again, the cruel and relentless fleet of 16-18/19 years old [in Indonesia, high school is 3 years instead of 4) constantly weighing in on the subjects' relationship.” —Genius.com
I mean, high school in Jakarta could be pretty brutal fo sho. When your whole life is centered around school and friends from school (which probably what 99% of Indonesians experienced during their high school days, or at least knowing about where Niki went to school when she was in Jakarta, I believe she probably did experience this) it can definitely equates to going to war and winning daily social battles with fellow teenagers who live mostly in suburbia. I think ‘modern Sparta’ and ‘teenage suburban armadas’ illustrate the experience perfectly.
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We were a sonata, thanks to tight-lipped fathers.
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“NIKI describes the subjects' love as a sonata, a musical composition whose form is careful and intricate, allowing a compilation of multiple unique movements in a related key. Meaning, the couple had to be wary of how they carried their relationship, especially around their fathers who were guarded and hard to read.”—Genius.com
A little nod to Asian dads (or maybe dads in general) who are usually more reserved and less open about emotions in front for their kids and usually protective towards their daughters.
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High school in Jakarta, sorta modern Sparta
High school in Jakarta, an elaborate saga
High school in Jakarta, a comedy drama
High school in Jakarta, American summer
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Also love how she comes up with these categories on different verses. High school days were definitely a war, a saga, a comedy drama, and after experiencing that all year long, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll end the school year with spending the long summer break in America (it’s a pretty popular common holiday destination for those with that privilege).
Watch the full MV below:
