notadndguy - Tumblr blog

notadndguy · 3 months ago

Text

LONG BLOCK OF TEXT AHEAD: BE ADVISED

Wow! This is a WAY more informed, realistic, and generally just better theory on the story than what I came up with myself. Like, you really outdid yourself here.

Honestly just posting my original idea on what's happening in the album because I like the bullshit I came up with.

So the whole thing with 'Phantom Love’ stays pretty much the same. Juanita is manipulating and abusing him into lashing out for song ideas, then leaves him to rot.

Then ‘Francity’ comes along and it's more of the same. People are spreading rumors and misinformation and either the stress of it or the relationship itself leads to Zach turning to drugs.

Next is ‘She don't know’ which is where I get on my bullshit. Some of the lines in the later songs had me come back and reexamine one line that repeats a lot: “My heart's beatin’ out my chest”. Now, the heart is often used as a metaphor for the soul or the self. So I somehow reached the conclusion that this line meant that his heart was literally separating itself from his body, thus creating a new and separate self (instead of the obvious meaning of drugs and adrenaline making his heart beat at dangerous speeds). The whole idea of him spiraling into a drug and depression induced episode is the same though.

Then 'Christie only knows’ is where we REALLY diverge. The biggest of these being that I interpreted Christie as an actual person. Whether or not she was his actual sister or just somebody he's known all his life I never thought too much about. But what you really want to hear about is the whole soul separation thing. Basically, I made up the idea of Zach's heart and body becoming two separate existences. Basically, his heart separates out into a more “pure” (or less damaged by Juanita's machinations) version that continues living Zach's life. Not necessarily happy, but less jaded and willing to give up (initially) than our main POV. The body that was left behind becomes our main POV and I always imagined him looking older, or at least more tired and gaunt. The body is found by Christie, who sees it as an easy way to manipulate and gain access to Zach's massive fame and fortune. For the rest of the story, they do stuff as a unit. Maybe Christie was already trying to manipulate Zach and that's why we get that line in ‘Showtime’. The main sticking point is that the final line is:

“And my shadow, he's holding the gun

With those hands that I once possessed”

Basically foreshadowing that Body Zach (Who is literally those hands (and body) that he once possessed being piloted by a shadow of his soul) will kill him.

‘Nightmare’ is mostly the same except for some noticeably different interpretations of the parts where the mirror symbolism comes up. Basically, this song is Body Zach talking about Heart Zach, who again is the one actually facing and being watched by the public. He is (obviously) suffering severely. There might also still be some kind of mental link between them (nothing concrete but enough to see flashing hallucinations of each other). The final lines I interpreted as a confrontation between Body and Heart before the big moment.

‘Second Thoughts’ is exactly that. The moment right before Body Zach pulls the trigger to kill Heart Zach. I came up with the idea that Christie wants to kill Heart Zach for any of a multitude of reasons. Life insurance, a boost in her fame for being related to such a high profile suicide, being written into his will, replacing him with the easily manipulable Body Zach, or a mixture of any/all of them. Body Zach is doing it out of some twisted sense of self-love (maybe even a…..Phantom Love). He sees how much Heart Zach is suffering, he’s suffering too after all, and wants to free him from it. Maybe he even thinks that since they're linked it'll end him too. A nice little cherry on top to make it all come together (one might even call it……picture-perfect). But, he looks into his eyes and hesitates, but his “dear sister” Christie urges him on and he takes the shot.

Now a little interlude (heh heh) bit I need to talk about song order. I know that ‘Curtain Call’ came out before ‘Showtime’, but I need to put it after chronologically for this story to work. I literally have them switch positions in my playlist for this reason. I know it doesn't make sense, but just work with me here okay?

So ‘Showtime’ is right after second thoughts. Body Zach took the shot and immediately regretted it. He has this moment of clarity of the sheer wrongness of his actions and comes to a conclusion: the only way this ends with him having any sort of closure is if he actually faces the problem, Juanita. Christie is obviously trying desperately to reclaim her pawn, but he's on the warpath (he he). He even sees Christie's manipulations for what they were when he says

“You choked him out of his own goddamn mind!”

She made his life so much worse to the point that he literally separated into two different beings to cope.

He also comes to the realization that he and Heart Zach need each other. They are parts of the same whole and if they are to face Juanita, they must do it as one. So he says in the final line, not to Christie or the audience, but to Heart Zach’s cooling corpse;

“The show's ‘bout to start, don’t be late.”

A peculiar call to action to give to a dead body, ain't it?

And if you’ve listened to the album, you now know exactly why I put ‘Curtain Call’ after ‘Showtime’. But before we get into that, let’s learn a little Italian! The opening line of ‘Curtain Call’ is a Bible verse. It reads:

“O Signore, per amor del tuo nome,

Perdonami la mia iniquità... Perciocchè ella è Grande”

This is the Italian version of Psalms 25:11 which reads:

“O lord, for the love of thy name, forgive me of my iniquity, for it is great”

Then, the ending line is also in Italian:

“E in quei giorni gli uomini

Cercheranno la morte, e non la troveranno; e

Desidereranno di morire, e la morte fuggirà da loro. Amen”

This, I believe, is the Italian translation of Revelations 9:6 which reads

“And in those days men

will seek death, and will not find it; and

they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. Amen”

Basically, I believe that this entire song is a prayer from Heart Zach to end his suffering. He constantly asks God to “Send [him] either way” or to “make it all go away”. He seeks absolution like a zealot seeks salvation and validation from their uncaring god. Yet, no matter how hard he prays, he is stuck in a “limbo”. This could symbolise the limbo he was stuck in during life, a famous and rich celebrity who is simultaneously loved and hated by the masses, or the literal limbo his soul is stuck in after his death, unable to move on since his body still draws breath. However, even though he may be different from the body that killed him, they are still the same person. They lived and loved the same way and came to the same conclusion: rage. The boiling, rolling, and raging storm of anger roaring in their heart. And this rage, especially after being called upon by the body, will not be held back even in death. The body may complete physical actions but it needs the guidance of the heart’s righteous fury to do them with purpose. And as Heart Zach says in the song “A concrete grave cannot contain [his] rage.” And in the final line before the end of the prayer, Heart Zach says this:

“So / Take my hand / Hold my shame / Take a bow / They won’t look away”

I interpreted this as not only Heart and Body Zach becoming one again (Take my hand), but them also deciding to take their fame and the detriments that come with it (hold my shame) and use the masses constant eyes on them to publicly out Juanita for what she did to them, finally ending this once and for all (take a bow / they won’t look away). And as a little cherry on top I can tie in those bible verses too. In the beginning (hehe), Zach asks God to forgive him for his iniquity (immoral or grossly unfair behavior). This can mean either all of the things that he’s done during and/or since his relationship with Juanita, or Body Zach’s killing of Heart Zach. He literally killed himself and suicide is a sin in Christianity. They are one and the same, so forgiveness for one is forgiveness for the other as is sins committed. The final prayer relates directly to the killing itself; Both Zachs deal with suicidal thoughts and Body Zach ends up killing Heart Zach to end his suffering and maybe even kill BZ as well. Neither happened. Then, in this very song, Heart Zach begs desperately for absolution, even if it means death, and he does not find it. Then, the final word is “Amen”, which ends prayers, primarily Christian ones. Amen literally translates to “so be it”, a declaration of determination to go through with a decision. In this case, Zach’s (the whole’s) decision to finally confront and call out Juanita for her actions.

And that callout happens in ‘War!’, which I (maybe disappointingly) interpreted almost exactly the same as OP did. As a fun little extra note, when I was memorizing this song and singing it out loud, I spent a REALLY long time practicing the part where Zach raps:

“The litmus of our difference

Is you going hitless

While my record’s spinning like a discus

Throwing shit fits

While I go the distance”

Another cool little note; the discus line is referencing the legend of Apollo and Hyacinthos, where Apollo accidentally kills his lover Hyacinthos with a discus that was blown off course by a jealous wind God. Apollo honored his lover by turning him into the first Hyacinth flower.

I know that my interpretation is significantly more outlandish but I am proud of myself for coming up with this level of bullshit anyways. Hope you enjoyed it!

What was “A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak” Really About?

What was Zach Callison’s A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak really about?

Hey all you people out there! How are you surviving quarantine? I had a bunch of spare time, and so I decided to write an essay that focuses on Zach Callison’s album, A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak. The album has been out for a while, but most people either only know Interlude IV or are really confused about the story it tells. I think I’ve finally got an answer, and I wanted to share it with you all.

If you’re only here to better understand Interlude IV, you can skip down there if you want, but you’ll still be pretty confused. Besides, you should listen to the rest of the album. The whole thing bops.

Personal favorite song is Phantom Love, but I’m pretty sure no one cares about that.

Anyways, on to the show! One song at a time, in order.

WARNING: REALLY, REALLY LONG POST UNDER THE CUT!!

Keep reading

#zach callison #a picture perfect hollywood heartbreak #picture perfect hollywood heartbreak #long post #theory post #pphh #pphh zach callison #zach callison's music #zach callion's album #juanita pphh #Personally I think War! is the best song in the album #War! is the best in terms of vocals and especially the instrumental tho #And Interlude IV is my fav of the four #street lights doesn't exist #i learned about pphh from an alex meyers video #stupid shit #stupid theory #stupid

678 notes · View notes