music-interpretation-review

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 3

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

American Pie propaganda by @atomicpizza64:

And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died

The song is about the feeling of losing touch with popular culture after the death of your personal heroes as you and the world scramble to fill in the gaps and how nothing can quite touch the level of quality and impact these figures had on you. Its especially striking if you have lost a creator that you found especially impactful on your live and creative ventures.

A Grave Mistake propaganda by @genisis1224:

No forgiveness, just farewell From the match made in Heaven You sent straight to Hell

Pretty much any time a heavy metal band writes a ballad, you know they're about to break your heart, and INK is no exception.

Written from the point of view of Eric Draven (the protagonist of the first "Crow" movie), "A Grave Mistake" is a beautiful track about lost love and the anger that comes with that.

(Fun fact: this song was what made me want to watch "The Crow" in the first place, and now it's my favorite horror movie!)

I chose the bridge because of the way the frontman's voice breaks during this part, as if he's now on the verge of tears himself. This hits much differently if you keep up with the storyline of the album it's on, where said frontman portrays a grieving man seeking revenge (much like Eric).

Also, using an idiom to further emphasize the sudden nature of Eric and his fiancée's deaths via a disconnect? Chef's kiss

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 2

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

The Gambler propaganda by @draconiclore:

And you turned, put your your hand And you asked me to dance I knew nothing of romance But it was love at second sight

this song fills me with so much warmth and joy and love for the concepts of family and love and homes

American Teenager propaganda by anon:

The neighbor's brother came home in a box But he wanted to go, so maybe it was his fault Another red heart taken by the American dream

i dont know how you listen to this song and just not become immediately depressed like the lyrics the americana nostalgia but in such a bleak way it leaves me longing for days gone by but for something i never really had... she put crack cocaine in this song that just makes me cry idk

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 3

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

The Dark I Know Well propaganda by anon:

(cw: child abuse, sexual abuse, incest)

You say all you want is just a kiss goodnight Then you hold me and you whisper “Child, the Lord won’t mind” It’s just you and me. Child, you’re a beauty

In the scene preceding the song, Martha tells her friends that her father beats her with a belt and, at one point, locked her out the house at night. She asks her friends not to tell anyone, for fear that her parents would “throw her out for good,” like what happened to Ilse. The song starts after the conversation between Martha and her friends.

“The Dark I Know Well” is a heartbreaking song about child sexual abuse and incest. In the song, Martha describes the part of her abuse that she cannot tell her friends about—the sexual abuse she has experienced at the hands of her father—, and Ilse eventually joins in and recounts her own experiences with CSA. Ilse and Martha’s feelings of anger and fear really show through vividly in both the lyrics and the actresses’ performances, and it’s absolutely devastating to watch/listen to.

Down With The Sickness propaganda by @in-sufficientdata (blog admin):

(cw: child abuse, mental illness)

Why did you have to hit me like that, Mommy? Don't do it, you're hurting me, ah-ah Why did you have to be such a bitch? Why don't you? Why don't you just fuck off and die?

Children are born with inherent trust in their parents, especially in their mothers. Research has shown that newborn babies show a preference for their mother's voice and will calm down in their mother's presence and at her touch. When raising a child, it's important to demonstrate kindness, affection, and patience, and to treat them not as a nuisance but a future adult who you're going to one day be on equal footing with. Hitting your child to punish them, particularly when you're too angry to explain what has set you off, is going to alienate your child from you and cause a lifelong rift that will never be overcome.

The first time I heard this cover of this song I was driving to an appointment and it came on on autoplay with a list of cover artists I like to listen to on Youtube. I'd never heard the vocal bridge before and hadn't been aware until then that the song is about being abused by your mother as a child. Something about it being delivered in a female voice (being AFAB myself) made it hit especially hard. I ended up driving down the interstate barely able to see because I was sobbing my eyes out.

[music-interpretation-review]

Summer 2025 Best Frozen Dessert Round 3

What is sherbet?

What is gelato?

[music-interpretation-review]

Independence Day Mini-Tournament

Beyonce performance (content blocked from being embedded directly)

[music-interpretation-review]

Human Cell Tournament Round 2

Propaganda!

Adipocytes, also known as lipocytes and fat cells, are the cells that primarily compose adipose tissue, specialized in storing energy as fat. Adipocytes are derived from mesenchymal stem cells which give rise to adipocytes through adipogenesis. In cell culture, adipocyte progenitors can also form osteoblasts, myocytes and other cell types. There are two types of adipose tissue, white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT), which are also known as white and brown fat, respectively, and comprise two types of fat cells.

The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is composed of similar proteins in the various organisms. It is composed of three main components: microfilaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules, and these are all capable of rapid growth or disassembly depending on the cell's requirements.

[music-interpretation-review]

Mythology Olympics tournament round 1

Propaganda!

In Greek antiquity, Hermione (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμιόνη) was the daughter of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and his wife, Helen of Troy. Prior to the Trojan War, Hermione had been betrothed by Tyndareus, her grandfather, to her cousin Orestes, son of her uncle, Agamemnon. She was just nine years old when Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, arrived to abduct her mother, Helen. During the war, Menelaus promised her to Achilles' son, Neoptolemus. After the war ended, he sent Hermione away to the city of Phthia (the home of Peleus and Achilles), where Neoptolemus was staying. The two were married, yet, soon afterwards, Neoptolemus traveled to Delphi in order to exact vengeance against Apollo for having caused his father's death, only to be killed there. With Neoptolemus dead, Hermione was free to marry Orestes, with whom she had a son, Tisamenus.

Samsin Halmeoni (Korean: 삼신 할머니; Hanja: 삼神 할머니), also called Grandmother Samsin, is the goddess of childbirth and fate in Korean mythology. Sam means "pregnancy" in Korean, sin or shin means god(dess), halmeoni means grandmother, a title for a venerated ancestor goddess, embodied as a wise crone goddess. When addressed with the honorary title Samsin halmeoni or just Samsin, the pregnancy goddessess are also thought of as goddess of childbirth in Korean shamanism. Since the phonetic notation of Sam is 三(means three), it has also been interpreted in relation to the number 3. Samsin halmeoni would protect every child from birth until the seventh year of age, where the child would then be protected by the deity of Seven Stars, the Ursa Major bear. Every village and every house would have its own Samsin of childbirth.

[music-interpretation-review]

Human Cell Tournament Round 2

Propaganda!

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are nucleic acids. Alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), nucleic acids are one of the four major types of macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life.

The complement system, also known as complement cascade, is a part of the humoral, innate immune system and enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promote inflammation, and attack the pathogen's cell membrane.[1] Despite being part of the innate immune system, the complement system can be recruited and brought into action by antibodies generated by the adaptive immune system.

[music-interpretation-review]

Mythology Olympics tournament round 1

Propaganda!

Laima is a Baltic goddess of fate. She was associated with childbirth, marriage, and death; she was also the patron of pregnant women. In Latvian mythology, Laima and her sisters, Kārta and Dēkla, were a trinity of fate deities, similar to the Norse Norns or the Greek Moirai. Laima makes the final decision on individual's fate and is considerably more popular. While all three of them had similar functions, Laima is the Goddess of luck and is more related with mothers and childbirth, Dēkla is in charge of children, and Kārta holds power over the adult's life. In Lithuanian mythology, one of the most important duties of Laima is to prophesy how the life of a newborn will take place. Sometimes there was only one Laima, while in other cases three Laimas would give often contradictory predictions. The final pronouncement would be irrevocable and not even Laima herself could change it. [image credit]

In the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Mandos was the Doomsman of the Valar who pronounced judgement in matters of fate. He was the keeper of the slain in his Halls in the west of Valinor. He pronounced his judgements at the bidding of Manwë. However only Ilúvatar knew with full certainty what the full doom of Arda would be, and would not reveal it all, even to Mandos or Manwë. Mandos and Manwë were always allied since their entering into Eä, and together they understood most clearly the Vision of Ilúvatar more than any of the other Valar. Mandos is said to be the grimmest of the Valar. However, this in no way implies that Mandos is dark or evil. His grimness is wholly part of his nature, coming (one must assume) from that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came. Neither is Mandos willful or malevolent in declaring the fates of Arda.

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 2

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

The Gambler propaganda by @draconiclore:

And you turned, put your your hand And you asked me to dance I knew nothing of romance But it was love at second sight

this song fills me with so much warmth and joy and love for the concepts of family and love and homes

American Teenager propaganda by anon:

The neighbor's brother came home in a box But he wanted to go, so maybe it was his fault Another red heart taken by the American dream

i dont know how you listen to this song and just not become immediately depressed like the lyrics the americana nostalgia but in such a bleak way it leaves me longing for days gone by but for something i never really had... she put crack cocaine in this song that just makes me cry idk

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 2

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

You Want It Darker propaganda by anon:

A million candles burning for the help that never came You want it darker Hineni, hineni I'm ready, my Lord

Many may know Leonard Cohen for his song “Hallelujah,” which which was later covered by John Cale and featured in Shrek. You Want It Darker is the title song from Cohen’s final album (excluding the one released posthumously), which was released just 17 days before his death. At the time the song was written, Cohen had been battling terminal cancer. The song deals with themes of faith and mortality. It reads like a conversation with God, expressing a readiness for the narrator’s impending death. The song is profound, haunting, and dignified, evoking not a dramatic and devastating grief at the anticipation of death but a quiet, solemn acceptance of mortality.

Talking to my Angel propaganda by @defeatthedarkness:

I sold my soul for freedom, it's lonely but it's sweet

Melissa Etheridge is, to borrow a phrase from the kids, PEAK YURI. Her 1993 album, "Yes I Am," is her official coming out: "Yes I am, in fact, gay." Unlike the soft and gentle implications of 1989's "Brave and Crazy" and 1995's confident and insanely horny "Your Little Secret," this album is Etheridge in between those states, a tortured woman, grappling with her religious upbringing, her childhood trauma, her queerness, the bits of love she's found along the way, etc., while leaving absolutely no stone unturned. After a rambunctious ride through her personal struggles over 9 songs, the final track, "Talking to my Angel," establishes that she's made peace with her past and is ready to embrace who she truly is and take that bravely into an unknown future. The track ends with a 2-minute instrumental for the listener to complicate their own life journey before (in those days) the CD would loop back to the beginning. Listening to it heals me. If she handled all of that, pressed it onto a CD, and found a happy existence 30 years ago, shit, I can do anything.

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 2

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

Cherry Wine propaganda by anon:

(cw: domestic abuse)

The way she shows me I'm hers and she is mine Open hand or closed fist would be fine The blood is rare, and sweet as cherry wine

genuinely, this is the most heartbreaking and realistic song about abusive relationships that i have ever listened to.

King Of Anything propaganda by @in-sufficientdata (blog admin):

All my life I've tried To make everybody happy while I Just hurt and hide Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide

When I was a teenager, I was a very shy and timid person. I was afraid to take the music ed scholarship I'd earned via audition because I didn't think I'd be good at being a music teacher. I thought university would see me in over my head. My boyfriend, though, was super religious and convinced me to convert with him to a cult that he had been proselytized into. I didn't truly believe the stuff it taught, but it was an easier path in life for me and who I was at the time.

Fast forward twenty years and I'm so tired of being in an evangelical cult where I'm supposed to obey his every command, only wear skirts, never cut my hair, and pop out babies. I left the cult, but it was a hard row to hoe. I still had no prospects and no way to separate from him - I had no education and no work experience.

The first time I heard this song I bawled. It was like Sara Bareilles had decided to write my life story up in song.

[music-interpretation-review]

Feeling Emotions Song Tournament Round 2

Sometimes a song just hits you right in the heart and might even find you falling to the floor in tears. Or the joy it brings you is so palpable you can't help but dance. Submitters were asked to include propaganda to make their case for why their choice was the most emotional song and now you get to vote!

Rain Wedding propaganda by anon:

The storms can no longer drive me insane Though my heart's soaked, your love heals the pain I love you, forget the storms, let's just dance in the rain With you, every day feels like a wedding again

ok so a lot of the emotions come from the context of the song. the song is part of the soundtrack for the film "Paradise of Thorns" which is about a gay couple living in Thailand before marriage equality passed (just did this year) and one of them suddenly dying, but since their farm was in the name of the one who died, all these legal troubles arise from it because the couple could never be legally married, even if the laws changed after the fact (on account of one of them being dead).

So then the lyrics really hit cause like the guy he's talking about has died and they were never technically married but every day feels like they're getting married and they can forget the pain because they're together but they're not anymore!!!!! idk man it just hits. Like the wedding that the whole song is referencing never had legal recognition but it was real to them!!! and they were so in love but then one of them died and now what? I don't know at which stage of their relationship (ie before or after the death) that this song takes place but either way it's super emotional. like if the lyrics are supposed to be before the death there's a dramatic irony and tragedy to it because you know it will all come crashing down soon. if it's after the death then the song is about mourning everything that has been lost but still loving so hard and longing for them.

Time to Say Goodbye propaganda by @assistant-honcho:

In my verse I sought your company It seems in yours you left me all alone

My mom and I listened to this song when I moved out to college and it made us both cry. I’ve never heard a song that better talks about breaking up or coming apart on good terms and how that almost makes it sadder.

[music-interpretation-review]

Independence Day Mini-Tournament

[music-interpretation-review]

Independence Day Mini-Tournament

Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin, & Dr. John performance (content blocked from being embedded directly)

[music-interpretation-review]

Summer 2025 Best Frozen Dessert Round 3

Moose Tracks

[music-interpretation-review]

Independence Day Mini-Tournament

Beyonce performance (content blocked from being embedded directly)