#i am back folks with another song analysis

[athemarina]

writeblr comeback!! (for real this time!!)

hello (again), marina here! i am back from another long break, and this time i am determined to rejoin the writeblr community properly, because i really truly missed it here!

it's been a couple months since i've been here, and there have been a couple of changes in my life and to the way i want to run this blog, so i thought i'd give an update to anyone who might still remember me and maybe get to know some new writers! <3

who am i?

i am marina/mina, 27, from austria. i've been on writeblr for quite some time now, but had to take a break due to work and uni being really demanding, and also my personal life kinda falling apart lol. but i've realised once more that writing is one of the things that give my life meaning and stability, and i want and need to reconnect with it.

i work full-time and am still finishing up my degree, so i'm quite a busy bee. nevertheless, with uni summer break just around the corner, i want to spend more time writing and finding inspiration here!

some random interests of mine: philosophy, linguistics, the beauty of greece, musicals, folk songs and folklore, horses, and formula 1. what a list.

what do i write?

i have put all of my previous wip on hold because i had no time to work on them at all the last few months. right now i am in the worldbuilding phase of a new fantasy story (it takes some elements from children of the king but will go in quite a different direction! there's robots in it now!!) i want to take working on this new wip really really slow though. i've spent the last couple months feeling horribly burnt out and don't want to push myself around so much anymore. so while a proper intro post will have to wait for a bit, i'll still share some of the stuff that's floating around in my head and can't wait to get to know other people's wips again!!

i want to try my hand at writing poetry and flash fiction! it's not something i've dabbled with a lot in the past, but i really want to expand my horizons!

i have read quite a lot this year and would like to share some reviews / media analysis as well!

things i love to write and read....

all kinds of fantasy, anything that includes vampires, grief and healing and not-healing from it, characters who make all the wrong choices, questions of identity, queerness, and love.

if any of that vibes with you, let's be friends pls!!

i'd love to be part of the community again, and i love talking about reading / writing / just about anything so pls never hesitate to send me a message if you wanna chat <3 i also love to do tag and ask games, but it might take me a while to get to it!

thank you for reading, and thank you all for being such a lovely community here! i'm back babyyyy

[a-wild-things-rambles]

umm word vomit and crazed analysis of johnny cash’s american recordings and what the songs mean to me. cw: my major issues with my father and in the last paragraph mentions of alcoholism and a mention of not eating/being able to eat, also no spellcheck

im currently listening to my folk/country playlist, and i forgot how much i love singing along w johnny cash, its instant gender euphoria because i can sing so low, and i always forget how much i love singing, like not just mumbling along, but fully standing properly and breathing properly and belting out the songs, it reminds me that im skilled at things, and i love my singing voice, and how it says so much about the music i love,

ive been listening to his cover of wayfaring stranger on loop, it reminds me of traveling with my father to see my nana after my grandfathers death. it also makes me think of journys, of returning home, its a common folk song to cover, and i love every one, but the best version to me is the firepitcolective, authough johnys is my favrout to sing along to.

johnny cash is an important artis to me, cash- american recordings, is one of my most integral albums, to who i am today, i listeded to woddie guthrie when i was even younger, but i could remeber cash, even now.

the beast in me is my fathers song, and now mine. i loved it, and sung along, but as i grew it gaind a reverence, i dared not sing it aloud, dare not seek it out, for it was a reminder of an open wound, and the dark refection in the mirror i wanted to avoid become at all costs.

drive on,,, is the first song i can remeber learning when i sat down with my guitar, with my fathers 'the little black book of johnny cash' that i stole from him, the courus i can play with my eyes closed, but i leave them open when i scream out the lyrics. its the first one i play when i open it, it speaks of loss and things not matering, people not understanding, to just shrug things off and 'drive on'

oh bury me not (introduction: a cowboys prayer) this taught me god. i will always say that i think my issues with the church stemed from this being my main expernce with god and belief. this is what it should be. its a prayer i direct to no god, but to the forces that exist. its,, pure. hopeful, abashed not ashamed. this is the good god. the god hidden far from churches. the holy in each of us. oh buery me not.. it haunts me i am the boy i am the digger i am the lone prarie.

bird on a wire,, 'i have tried in my way to be free' 'i have torn everyone who reaches out for me' i dont know if i can put how i feel into words. im crying now, its asking for forgivenss, its trying to eb free, its lashing out but trying not to. i cannot sing this withough a tremble. 'ill make it all up to thee' is,,, fuck its so mutch

let the train blow the whistle is the song i want playing at my funeral. its bittersweet, nostalgia, coming to terms, its the calm of acseptance

like a soilder,,, recover, looking back, the third bit "thee are nights" too "spoils of victory is you" its a prayer, and a memory, a the truth od me

an interlude here, cash iften talks of a 'you' this could be god or a lover. i always imagended it as my best friend. someone who loves me. they are all that matters now, not the faces i wish to forget. but my best friedn is now another face i wish to forget. i cannot continue this thought. im sorry

redemtion is similar to a cowboys prayer. it has much god and i like it despite. its fire and brimstone. i whould love to sing it in a churh. but it holds nothing i can lable. just nebulus meanings, i feel i may have stripped it of meaning. i may have

thirteen. i have known id have to talk about this, but my bracing isent enough. it is insepertable from me sitting on the floor i slept on in my fathers house, listing to it on loop and weaping, an empty stomach clouding my thoughts, as my father drank himself away downstairs. it holds the tragedy of my youth. thirteen is probrably the song thet means the most. no thats not quite the right word. it holds the most meaning, associations and history. its painfull. if i listed issues i associated with it i whold never stop "never had me a name, they just gave me the number when i was young" alenation. and later transsnes. my disconect "born to bring toruble to wherever im at" i am a curse upon my family, upon my friends. the first tatoo i wanted was a number 13 tatooed on my neck. i still think of getting it. "long line of heartache i carry it well" i was always told i managed well "list of lives ive broken reach from here to hell" "i pray you dont look at me i pray i dont look back" i dont know what to write anymore. thank you for reading. im sorry.

[swimmingleo]

Changes: or to take the higher ground before it's too late

I'm going to be real here folks, I cry ugly tears to this song. Bad.

Changes is a song on Cam's album "The Otherside". It's country, it's folk and it's an album a bit influenced by changes in Cam's life (a change of label, personal life). She collaborated with Harry on the song Changes, as she opened for him on a venue and was already working with Tyler Johnson.

From what I gathered: Harry sent her the demo of the song, implying he made most of the writing on this one. What I'm basing this claim on is her interview for Rolling Stones (read it here):

I heard [the demo] and was just like, “Oh, this ache to outgrow something that you don’t want to outgrow!” It felt so good. I normally don’t take outside songs [...]

‼️DISCLAIMER‼️when analysing this song, I'm gonna go from the idea of it being written with a queer mindset (how surprising of me). Cam rendered the song beautifully and it is very much her own, but I believe Harry's input is consequential. After all that's his lil whistle and cute fishsona in the MV.

Sad queer analysis ahead.

Let's analyse the lyrics first:

There is a town

Somewhere down a country road

The speaker describes the town to us, from memory, from experience. "There it is, down the road, can you picture it ?"

I see it now

I take it everywhere I go

The speaker doesn't currently live in the town, they're on the move (nice throwback to the coutry road). But despite all the travelling, they realize the sedentary smalltown never leaves them. It's part of them. It left a mark on them.

The river sways, I can almost hear it now

As if to say, "You're not the only one who wants a way out"

The town is so real to the speaker they can sense it, eyes and ears. But it gets a bit dark: the river sways like it's trying to leave its bed. The river is envious of the speaker who managed to leave. The town is so toxic even nature wants to get away from it. Or the speaker resents the town so bad that they project their own resentment on the river.

So, I go

'Cause I don't wanna feel like I don't know you anymore

I memorize those roads

This is the call for the speaker to leave for good. Their motive doesn't seem to be ambitious or anything grand. They leave because they apprehend a feeling. Apprehending a feeling, something that may not even happen, is the way of an anxious person. Anxiety is the motive of their departure. However, they still memorize the roads leading to the town, just in case. Perhaps one day they'll come back.

Somewhere out in the big wild country

Someone's fallin' in love in a backseat

Givin' it away

Like their hearts won't ever break

Suddenly it's about love ! Young love, one that is lived in the small compartment of a car, somewhere hidden and safe in the big wild country. As if the countryside was unexplored and threatening.

God bless the young hearts sippin' cheap wine

Gettin' drunk with their friends for the first time

Thinkin' nothing's gonna change

'Til everything changes

The speaker looks at the youth with tenderness, wishing them the best. But once again, they're not in the town in the present time, they don't see the youngsters fooling around, they can only guess from first-hand experience. And it's very specific: falling in love, getting drunk with friends and thinking everything's gonna be easy like that forever until it's not and heartbreak ensues.

From there I hop in with the raw queer theme of those lyrics. It started by falling in love and it ended up in a heartbreak. In between, the speaker got drunk for the first time with their friends, people they trusted enough to let go a little, but in the end everything changed. Why ? Alcohol makes you forget about code of conduct, how you're supposed to behave. It makes you say or do things you might not have done sober.

We can interprete this chorus as the beginning of the end for the speaker. It's the only part of the song evocating the past, and it's fun and easy, but it's also where things started to get bad the way they are in the present. Something might have happened that first time the speaker got drunk and it marked the end of innocence and careless childhood, and it probably has to do with love as no other factor is provided apart from falling in love and heartbreak.

They never leave

They're all havin' babies now

Watchin' daytime TV

Livin' off the gossip of a cruel small town

They. With Harry, it's always You, Me, and They. They are having babies, all of them, like it's not a very difficult thing to do, it's just natural. They have the leisure of the day, not a thing to worry about, if not gossip. It's not implied anymore, the small town is downright cruel. Gossip fuels it, but on behalf of someone else, and that someone is most definitely the speaker who left and who describes its inhabitants in the most mundane way, perhaps with a hint of contempt. The speaker seems bitter.

So, I go

'Cause I don't wanna feel like you don't know me anymore

Don't recognize my face

Reprise of the pre-chorus except now, the speaker provides another reason for their departure. Not only they feared they wouldn't know the town anymore, they also feared being seen as a stranger. It's not like the speaker actually changed physically: but it might as well feel like it. Again, apprehension, anguish. As implied in the chorus, things changed to the point where the speaker feels they would seem like a whole another person to the rest of the town, a stranger, a threat to the integrity of the conservatives. So they leave before this shift in perception can happen.

There ain't nothing here for me anymore

They say they don't hear from me anymore

And I don't wanna hear it anymore

The town is not outwardly hostile. It's still the town that saw the speaker as a kid. The town doesn't understand why the speaker left, but the speaker won't give in and get in touch. They want to be as far away as possible, until they don't hear the questions, the river, everything. It's almost like the speaker doesn't carry the town in their heart at all. They want to forget it all, and it hurts everytime the town tries to lure them back in. The way Cam sings it is painful to me man

Somewhere out in the big wild country

I was fallin' in love in a backseat

Givin' it away

Like my heart won't ever break

Had such a young heart sippin' cheap wine

Gettin' drunk with my friends for the first time

Thinkin' nothing's gonna change

'Til everything changes

Yeah, just the confirmation of the chorus being the speaker's experience. I went ahead and assumed it was already lol but it's like a plot twist effect. It's dramatic. It's a personal song to someone.

TO MAKE IT SHORT to me this song is intense and very in touch with the queer experience. Though it describes a specific situation, it is surprisingly not that detailed or full of metaphors the way Harry often writes: this town could be literally any smalltown in the countryside. The backseat could be the one of any car, cheap wine is something any teen can afford. I like to think Harry wrote it for himself but is also aware so many people went through the same thing, and still will. I have to admit I'm heavily biased writing this, as the experience of a queer kid struggling to find their place in a well settled smalltown is familiar.

GETTING DRUNK AND QUEER IDENTITY is an analogy Harry already used in Fine Line when he sang "We'll get the drinks in so I'll get to thinking of her". To drink is to let go, to unveil the most subconscious aspects of yourself you might not want to deal with otherwise. You don't care about judgement and you get to explore those parts freely. In Changes, this is the last memory they recall before stating the changes and their departure. Perhaps getting drunk for the first time would be when they realized they're queer. Or acted upon it, causing their little world to shake. They chose to leave before it eventually wouldn't feel like a choice anymore. There is no life for people like them in a cruel smalltown.

SMALLTOWN BOY

This song reminds me an awful lot of Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat. The song is about a queer boy having to leave the smalltown where he grew up because of persecutions and no future prospects.

Mother will never understand why you had to leave, Smalltown Boy

They say they don't hear from me anymore, Changes

But the answers you seek will never be found at home, the love that you need will never be found at home

There is nothing here for me anymore

Other people not understanding why they leave. People who can't truly empathize even when they mean no harm. They would never understand the speaker's departure, because those people get to find love and have babies and live a peaceful life in the countryside.

You were the one that they'd talk about around town as they put you down

Livin' off the gossip of a cruel small town

Yeah yeah. I really struggle with just seeing this song as nostalgia when such harsh words are being used. I do believe there is a part of fondness for that town, that countryside setting and the early days. But it's not all tender memories.

CHANGES AND ERODA

Of couuuurse we all noticed the adorable purple fish with the pearl necklace. It represents Harry, no question, as it whistles Harry's part. And of couuuuurse we all made the link with the erodian fish, and some even noticed they formed the bluegreener pair when their colors are inverted.

It makes sense for those fishes to be connected with this interpretation of Changes. Both works are about a small town, lost in the nature, where the people are watching, aware of everything that isn't normal, that is peculiar. The early life of the peculiar boy is similar in every way to the early life of the speaker in Changes. The fish in Adore You grows too big for the island and has to leave, and though Eroda makes amends with the peculiar boy, he leaves as well because his future, his fulfilment, is somewhere else. So does the speaker in Changes.

IN CONCLUSION

The more I write posts like this, the more endeared I am by Harry's world. How Harry writes for himself, but also for other people with songs like this. How nature finds its way in all that he does. How grounded he is, how he doesn't seem to forget where he came from. It really is such a rare thing to see in a mainstream popstar's writing and art. How can someone say he sold his soul to LA is beyond me

[omar-rudeberg]

tag nine two people you want to know better

ta for the tags my lovelies (@zealousfansstuff @grizviser @ungaroyals @lovelierbitsoflife @royalwilmon @purplehoodiesimon @violapinkbaby @starsabovetheunderground @wilhelm-eriksson) 

i’m doing the original q’s as well as the new & improved tag at the same time so they both actually happen lol

favourite colour: favourite colours*

currently reading: currently up to harry potter & the order of the phoenix in my listening through the harry potter audio books for the first time. (it’s twenty-nine hours i’m struggling a little but we’re getting there!) also halfway through reading the published version of my favourite fanfiction of all time the fifth postulate: a sherlock holmes story by lt brady (don’t you dare @ me). also also i have a bookmark in trickster’s queen by tamora pierce which i have started and not finished so many times but one of these days i will i promise. also also also this is all around reading so many words of @ungaroyals works-in progress to help beta / co-write her brilliant world(s) (we’re not taking questions at this time *side eye emoji*)

last series: literally young royals - the whole thing in an evening after work a few nights ago I’m so done for with that goddamn show

last song: ... saying so would give away too much for the next (english version) so my lips are sealed hehe

last movie: pride & prejudice! comfort movie! kiera knightly supremacy! dario marianelli’s score deserves a universe of praise!

sweet, savoury or spicy: am a sweet tooth

currently working on: oh god so much. so so much. (irl work’s pretty stress-free generally, so not much there.) fandom-wise i have like four fics on the go + beta / co-writing stuff + another song in the works + analysis posts + i’ve started annoying the gc with video edits so you may see those soon too someone get me a colour-coded planner so i actually finish some of these projects please

favourite clothing item: scarves. wilhelm and i need to have a talk about scarves.

comfort food: mum’s lamb curry, roti & tomato chutney

favourite time of year: winter !! see aforementioned love of scarves. (aussie summers kick you in the gosh darn gut with their heat and oppressive evenings, no thanks no sir.)

favourite song of all time: (don’t make me. don’t. i can’t. i’ll take back this answer as soon as it’s posted i can tell.) i guess, okay, this one’s been under my skin for a while now - elmira by canadian folk trio the east pointers.

undefined

if you don’t yet know, you’ll soon learn my love language is alt-folk indie fiddle music a la the rest of this album.

do you collect anything: magnets! from places i’ve been, things i’ve seen, places loved ones have been, literally anything. it will surprise no one that they’re arranged colour-coded on my fridge.

favourite drink: dad’s home-made ginger chai

favourite fic: ooft. o o f t. i don’t know how to introduce the wide range of this answer that will out me in so many ways but i’m waving goodbye to my reputation and i’m just going to do it because i don’t think i’ve ever listed these out like this anywhere, so. if you understand where i’m coming from with any of these please let me know and kan vi snacka?

the someone like you series (glee | klaine) was my first love and the world-building and oc’s so marvellous i still go back to it all the time. a change in the weather & fan-sequel a drop in the ocean (glee | kurtbastian) come in #1 for my glee days though for SURE. wild and unruly (1d | larry) introduced me to the cathartic nature of emotional cow-births no i will not explain if you know you know. wrap me up in daisy chains & sequel rose garden dreams (1d | fem!larry - think the author’s taken them down now i can’t find a link) turned me gay so they make the list too.

my #1 though is the faithful compass series by keeliethompson1 (bbc sherlock | johnlock). the author’s taken down the fic version to publish the original story^ i’m reading but the fic’s just... better. i can’t even explain it it’s just the most insightful prequel / canon-weaving, dramatic but not overly so, narratively cohesive, well written story i’ve read maybe ever.

i’m still finding a yr fic to be the loml but we’ll get there, don’t worry. 

tagging @pineplaipptles & @quiet-mask-of-uncertainty​ who became my first friends when i dipped my toes back into tumblr four months ago (thank you)

[caguaydreams]

A thorough analysis on why Vah Medoh’s dungeon theme makes me want to cry

Yep, that’s an accurate title. Hi there! do you have a moment to hear about Breath of The Wild soundtrack? posting for yet a third time in hopes that tumblr won't hide it. I'm so tired

What started as a quick and harmless post, pretending to simply point out a couple of things, rolled downhill, out of my grasp and turned into a massive snowball of a short essay. How and why did this happen? Well, I assume a lot of people know about this song, and know what I’m talking about when I say that it makes me tear up and sob uncontrollably with every change in key as the seconds tick by and I spiral down into a dwell of misery from where I struggle to find the exit and to later recover.

……No?…..At the VERY LEAST it makes you a little uncomfortable. And I state this with much certainty, because after reading hundreds of comments everywhere online where this song is present, I picked up on a vast majority of people who expressed to feel the same way I did when it came down to our current music subject. See, statistics don’t lie… normally. So, naturally, my intrigue got the best of me. I wanted to find out exactly why this soundtrack was mercilessly stirring up everyone’s emotions, so I caved in and we ended up with this.

Buckle in, fellas.

Out of all Divine Beasts’ dungeon themes, Vah Medoh’s is the one that I can’t sit through. Not without growing antsy and wanting to turn it off as soon as possible. I find it genuinely difficult to listen to, and it’s not only because Revali is my favorite character and the song is just, plainly put, depressing, mind you.

We’ll start from 0 terminals activated.

It opens up similar to the other three dungeon themes; the pace is slow but eerie, gives off the impression that it sounds broken somehow. Something is off here, and it’s easy to figure out what that is from the get go: you’re basically entering a majestic, ancient, mechanical mausoleum, where everything went terribly wrong a century ago. Someone is gone, someone you knew, someone who was probably close to you, but it’s impossible to be sure. You don’t remember a thing, and this entire ordeal is confusing at best, and terrifying at worst. It’s your duty to make things right again.

It’s the same for all four Divine Beasts upon entering, save for the obvious little differences that separates them from each other and make them unique. Ruta’s is played on a major key, adhering to a sense of hopefulness. Naboris’s begins with a startling smashing of the piano keys, much like thunder of a sudden lighting strike. And Rudania’s theme starts threatening, dangerous, like scalding lava.

But now, back to Vah Medoh. The tone here is… alienating. The dissonant chords are all over the place, and feel disconnected, cold. It’s almost as if someone doesn’t want us to be here, or just like the elusive key, our presence is unexpected. Fitting, for a Divine Beast that’s high above the land, impossible for most to reach, yet we somehow made it. Apart from the piano, we have the occasional hint to rito culture, in the shape of a short, synthetic version of the rolled chords at the very beginning of Rito Village. A quiet reminder of where we come from. There is also, of course, the morse code distress signal, but we’ll talk more about that later.

As soon as this formal introduction is over, we finally get to the more, say, intimate stuff. Oh, and wouldn’t you know, it’s just tragic.

One terminal activated.

There’s no better short way I can describe this passage, other than anxiety-inducing. Especially when the strings come into play, and there’s two reasons I can think of why I feel this is an important thing to point out:

1- Characters and Symbolism.

I tend to associate stringed instruments, all of those which compose the violin family, with rito culture. And Revali, most specifically. In Creating a Champion we can see the early concept art and designs for all or most major characters in the game, and Revali’s highlighted rough design might be the one that changed the most throughout proper development of the character, out of all champions. He looks quite different from our usual depiction of him, it’s fascinating. What truly catches my eye, however, is the design of his bow.

You thought bird puns were bad? Oh boy, how do you feel about Revali having a bow that looks like a violin/cello/viola??? And do you need a bow to play it also??? Like, is it even an instrument or it’s nothing more than a mere fashion statement?-

Anyway. I believe this was originally going to be a not-so-subtle wink to rito culture, being heavily musically inclined as we can see and conclude for ourselves. Perhaps Revali was going to be a musician as well, now how cool it that!

Needless to say, the idea was eventually scrapped. But one detail I am CERTAIN carried over to the character we know and love today(okay not all of us love him but seriously if you dislike him why are you still here lol): strings. The association between bows(weapon) and stringed instruments, aside from being a quite clever and creative one, goes beyond the concept art and remains strong as part of Revali’s character, settling for having a presence via score. After all, Revali is a master of archery, so in that way it makes sense to keep strings as symbolism to reinforce the idea and drive it home.

But can you guess what other thing Revali excels at? That’s right: flying. He’s the only rito we know of who successfully managed to take advantage of wind currents and bend them to his will. And do you know what musical instruments are often used to evoke the feeling of flight and gale? If you thought of bowed strings, you’re correct! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much support on this topic online, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I am most certain that this is fact, although not something worth discussing on the Internet, by the looks of it.

Anyhow, violins/cellos/etc are ever-present whenever we’re close to Rito Village or dealing with a rito related mission. Attack on Vah Medoh, for example, features a sequence of strings that is meant to evoke the strong winds we’re fighting against in that particular moment(*). Another great example is The Final Trial, the song that plays at the shrine of resurrection nearing the end of the Champions’ Ballad. Preceding the activation of each terminal, you’ll notice that a new instrumental element joins the crowd: the first one corresponds to the tambourines, related to the zora and Mipha; the second one are strings, referencing the rito and Revali, etc. I tell you, the moment I heard this during the trial I almost started crying like a baby. And, although strings have a lot to do with Rito culture in general, they tie most strongly to Revali, since he was the champion of his people, and his legacy carried over throughout the years. His accomplishments became material of folk tale, a legend, a source of pride and inspiration for the village. And let’s not forget that, at the end of the day, Revali is the crucial and foremost connection Link has to this place. Other than appeasing Vah Medoh, Link’s responsibility here is to free his past fellow champion’s spirit from Ganon’s malice. The soundtrack is referencing Revali first, and by extension his devotion to his home.

With all that in mind, let’s move on to our next point:

2- Nowhere to Go.

You shoot the canons, land on top of the Divine Beast, do what you gotta do, activate the first terminal and the soundtrack goes off unannounced. Like some sort of surprise anxiety bomb. The rhythm turns fast, the melody erratic, incredibly desperate in its execution. There’s this sheer despair, fear, this feeling of suffocation almost, which are so well achieved in this particular piece.

And that is, partially, because a quite familiar resource is used here as well; one that we’ve heard before in songs such as Rito Village or Revali’s theme. You could even think of it as a motif: two notes are played in an semitone interval, repeatedly and in quick succession. For the sake of later convenience, we’ll call this the Flight Motif, now let me explain why. In Breath of The Wild, this semitone loop is often followed up by some form of resolution. In Rito Village, formerly known as Dragon Roost Island(**), that resolution consists of a graceful descent of the melody, from a high that was built up previously during the motif. On the other hand, if you listen to Revali’s theme, you’ll notice that the interval repeats itself for a couple of times as thought charging up, to then rise fast and determined into a triumphal reprise of Revali’s distinctive assigned melody. This juxtaposition supposes the difference that lays between common rito flight and Revali’s trademark ability; both musical sequences are speaking of flight, albeit in two different languages depending on the way to achieve it. While the rito traditionally use their wings to glide and let themselves get swayed by the air currents Buzz Lightyear style, Revali takes full advantage of his flying capabilities to somehow create an updraft of his own, rising meters above the ground whenever he likes or needs to.

So, now that I layed out my base of thought when focusing on the strings, this’ll be much easier to explain. We’ve settled what the instruments themselves are a symbolic representation of Revali, in this scenario specifically. He was the only one inside Vah Medoh, and the score is, in a way, a retelling of what we can vaguely assume went down here during the Great Calamity, as much as it is what sets the tone and ambience for Link’s mission. But what are we hearing exactly? What we talked about, the Flight Motif, is being repeated nonstop. And that’s the thing, remember how I mentioned that this sequence usually finds resolution at the end? Well. Inside Vah Medoh,… it never does. The melody picks up in numerous occasions, but it’s not nearly as graceful, or calculated, as we’ve grown used to by now. It gets tangled and lost, and then inevitably falls to the ground in disarray. The pattern repeats itself, reaching higher after a handful of failed attempts, but no matter how much it tries, the cycle never ends. What used to tell us about flying and freedom in the skies, has morphed into an almost sinister musical incarnation of a tornado, and there is no way out of this trap. What do you think it must feel like to mindlessly flap your wings against wind currents so strong and violent, that it is impossible to get anywhere nearby, let alone take off every time you lose your balance. Or every time you’re shot down. On top of that, trying to aim and fight back in whatever short breaks and opportunities you get, at an enemy that’s much more powerful and relentless, who’s using your own element as a weapon to destroy you… it’s a risk Revali surely had to take in order to put up a fight. Even knowing full well that the odds were not in his favour, that he was most likely going to lose this battle, that he was going to die. Let that sink in. I’ll skip the activation of the second terminal, since there’s barely any change registered in the theme in general. So-

Three terminals activated.

I know this post is supposed to be a breakdown of the song purely, but that doesn’t mean there’s no place for a little theorising, and the following scrutiny is also quite relevant for our discussion. Bear with me for a bit. I’ve read almost everywhere about people’s most common interpretations on the Divine Beasts SOS signals, and how everyone thinks that Revali’s coming in last (a few seconds later than the other champions) has to do with him holding on for longer. Or, also, overconfident as he was, it means that the idea of calling out for additional support didn’t cross his mind until it was too late, and that’s why the beeping sounds more frantic and panicked than the others’ when it does appear. After giving it some thought myself, I’m betting on the latter option holding more ground, and that’s not all. I want to touch upon a detail of the piece that I never acknowledged was there until very recently(after seeing myself obliged to listen to this song fully and a handful of times, suffering every minute of it for the sole purpose of this analysis. It’s okay I didn’t need my heart anyway). Soon after activating the third terminal, the SOS signal disappears, or grows distant and faint enough that we can’t make it out from the background anymore. In its place, we’re confronted by this… shrill, piercing and painfully slow tune. It sounds synthetic, artificial, devoid of life. And it’s funny, because you know what it reminds me of? I’ll tell you:

A heartbeat flatline sound.

And I want to highlight that this doesn’t happen in any of the other Divine Beasts themes. All their SOS signals carry on, but Medoh’s is no more. This abrupt stop, followed by this bone-chilling tune…. makes me believe that Revali was the first of the champions to fall. A few days ago I came across SuperZeldaGirl’s video on a similar topic, theorising that this could very much be the case. There is not much evidence to support this claim other than some visual cues that could be suggesting to it, but after I found this in the soundtrack, and if we’re to rely on it for anything, I believe Revali was either the first champion to be ambushed by Ganon, or well…. the first to be killed. It is plausible, because short after Calamity Ganon unleashes his power, Revali parts from the group and flies directly to Vah Medoh, and he very well could’ve been the first pilot to arrive.

On this note…. we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves, when Age of Calamity provides long-awaited answers to many of our questions.

Four terminals activated.

An interesting melody is being played on what, for me, would qualify as a glockenspiel or a celesta, which are keyboard based instruments that produce a sound similar to that of a music box(***). If you want to pay more attention to it, I suggest listening to Vetrom’s Instrumental Mix Cover of the theme, where they practically zoom in on this part of the song (keep in mind that it uses the All Terminals’ time signature so it’s being played faster). For some reason, this particular addition makes me feel profound empathy. The sound of this instrument could be described as cute or childlike, magical, even. It is more often than not used to represent innocence, but I highly doubt that’s specifically the intention here. Much like the leading strings’ melody, the melodic contour of this one is trapped in a loop of going up and down constantly, but the difference is that this time around it sounds more under control. And much more uniform too. It doesn’t lose focus or takes risky, fruitless leaps, but rather chooses to stay on a path of waves that consistently rises and falls without taking detours. Like a determined battle strategy, giving it your all. You fall, but get back up again, and try again, and again. It reminds me of Revali’s approach to training, being persistent to the point of overworking himself. He had discipline nailed down to a tee, which I also think served him well in combat. It’s not just about being hard on yourself, either, but being confident and having complete faith in your abilities; believing that you’ll make it.  For this to appear now, that the SOS signal is almost completely gone, is significant because it means that by this point, being so close to success on Link’s behalf, the music is sparing genuine encouragement for once, in spite of the tragic outcome of the past and the danger of the current situation. But, in all honesty, this is probably just me reading too much into it. Perhaps the composer just thought this addition sounded pretty bitching and there’s not much else to it, which is completely fine. Although, intentional or not, sometimes coincidences do happen, and at the end of the day, interpretations like this are a form of appreciation for an artist’s work and for what they can unknowingly accomplish.

All terminals activated.

This is the moment when the song finally lightens up. Notice how the strings abandon the wave pattern for a more even contour. The beat quickens, the melody stabilizes. At first I thought, coming from our flight analogy, that this meant a cease in movement entirely, and it was partly one of the reasons why the song in general makes me anxious. But thinking about it now, …there is something different going on here. The strings are playing on a steady rhythm. It resembles a march, it’s like a pounding heart. It’s a lively, hopeful statement. And what’s interesting is that, up until this point, there was so much fear and helplessness present in the score, even going as far as to reach a dead end when we activate the third terminal. But that’s it, isn’t it? the music just keeps going further. 

It’s saying: this isn’t over yet. Even after complete and utter defeat, there’s still hope and an underlying wish to overcome this predicament, and we started to hear this as soon as a fourth terminal is activated. The melody we previously talked about? it’s here as well, and its beat is much more daring and confident.

And I just want to say… this is so powerful. Because this sentiment is deeply tied to the game’s story and Revali’s character arc. You see, he is introduced as someone who resents Link for being the manifestation of his failure, in a way, because Revali has trained arduously his whole life to be where he is, to be recognised. And yet… this hylian gets chosen by a magic sword and some tale of divine destiny and, apparently, that’s all it takes for him to be deemed the hero that will save the land. In Revali’s eyes, Link has done nothing to prove his worth before him, so it is easy to see why he despises the silent knight so much; he is yet another individual that was born into their destiny. Meanwhile, Revali has had to build his reputation from the ground up, earning him a place among the greatest warriors of Hyrule, and even then he finds himself surrounded by people who grew up praised for being born gifted.  We can see how Revali is the odd one out, and can map out the reason for him acting so antagonistic towards Link.

But once we’re on Medoh, things start to change. When Link enters the Divine Beast, Revali greets him with disdain, as per usual. Of course, Link has no recollection of whatever happened a hundred years ago, other than a small glimpse of the rito champion talking down to him, a memory that came and went in a flash. So as Link, we more than expect Revali to act cold and mocking, which he does. He provides us with as little help as needed in order to free Medoh, reluctantly, shielding his wounded pride over having to wait for Link, of all people, to come to their rescue. But you can hear him starting to open up bit by bit(I wish I could translate his dialogue directly from Japanese but I’ll make do with a couple of dubs and other numerous sources from translators online). With each little step Link takes towards success, activating the terminals, the perception Revali has of him shifts from one of resentment to one of genuine admiration and respect. By the end of it all, he is willing to not only cheer on Link during the boss battle, but to trust him with his life’s worth achievement. And once left alone, he admits defeat and lets go of his bitterness, realising that he was wrong to underestimate Link, and later wishes he could’ve had a chance to measured up to him. To take all of this into consideration and work with it in the soundtrack I think it’s genuinely splendid. And for once, I am grateful that it ends in somewhat of a positive note that puts my soul to rest. I still have a hard time listening to the first two thirds of the entire thing, but now I can look forward to a hopeful and earnestly heartening conclusion for all the pain that this composition puts me in. I must admit that it’s beautifully and brilliantly crafted, and that I am enamoured of it regardless.

That is why I wrote roughly 4k words about it! I hate myself!

If you’re as crazy as me about the soundtrack of this game, I recommend you read the published cd interview with the composers themselves! if you haven’t already. I just found it yesterday(unbelievable but it’s true) and… after writing all of this and checking it out, I felt validated. It sure is a one of a kind feeling. 

Alright folks, we’ve made it to the end. Congratulations for sticking around and thanks being interested in my nonsensical rambling! 

I also hope that you, like me, will now be unable to listen to bowed strings without being reminded of Revali. Good luck!

————– Annotations/Sidenotes/Whatever

(*)The Flight Motif(in point number 2) is also present in this track. We can hear it in the background right after the Rito leitmotif, as per usual. It starts with a clarinet, I think, before the strings take the lead. (**) Note that the Flight Motif only comes into play in the Breath of The Wild rendition of the song. (***)I strongly associate this instrument with Mipha, given that it is used in her theme, in every “response” to the initial melody. It can be heard in Attack On Vah Ruta, as well, it enters the scene when the notes Mi(E) and Fa(F) are played. The initial tune, Si and Do(B and C) are played on a clarinet or oboe, wind instruments just like the flute that leads Sidon’s respective theme. The celesta can also be heard inside Vah Ruta, activating the first terminal…. when the song really takes a turn just like Medoh’s. Mipha has nothing to do with the song of this analysis, however. We must understand that instruments, although they are attached to characters/various story elements in some cases, can always be used outside of that context, for that is the nature of an orchestral soundtrack. If you have this many tools at your disposal, you will make good use of them.

[folklorianwitch]

Folklore Analysis

The 1 really was an great album opener for Folklore.

Like the first line ( I am doing good I am on some new shit) gives us information on Taylor and Folklore. How Folklore is new and she is happy.

It also starts the process of transition from pop to indie/folk. The song is something in between. And it prepares the listener for the rest of the album.

It is such a nostalgic song. There is not a story going on the song but more of a feeling. It is more like an intro for the whole album. The 1 sets the tone.

Folklore is full of doomed relationship that just didn't work out: Exile, my tears ricochet, august, illicit affairs, this is me trying.

Ambiguous endings: Cardigan, Betty, Peace

Stories from the past: TLGAD, Seven

Invisible String is the complete opposite of The 1. The song implies soulmates that are tied to each other. While the 1 was a lost shot. It is meaningful Invisible strings is about Taylor's present relationship.

Yes peace is also about that. But peace is very connected to the Cornelia Street on Lover ( The Archer too) . Taylor fears this relationship will end like many other. She says she will never love again if this happens in Cornelia Street. On archer she asks (Who could stay? You could stay). And in Peace she asks ( Would it be enough If I could never give you peace?). The songs are mingled with drops of optimism. Maybe things will turn out alright.

Or maybe this is another The 1 situation.

Peace is on the line between The 1 and Invisible String. Taylor doesn't quite know which way it will go herself. And I think she desperately wants it to be the later.

On the topic of mirrorball, while the circus was called of and disco was burned down she is still on that tightrope.

The mirrorball might not be talking about a romantic relationship but these lines depict a situation of where everyone has moved on but she is still in the same mental place. This is a very familiar feeling on the album.

The 1 also has a hero that is stuck in the past and is trying to resist the temptation to ask what if.

It has way more straight forward lyrics than mirrorball and rest of the album while trying articulate this thought. Because once again The 1 is the intro and other songs solidify this feeling with their own stories and fancy allegories.

I won't comment on mad woman and epiphany because they are more about real word events than a reaching narrative. Feminism and Covid-19 respectively. But I have to applaude Taylor for making these songs fit the aesthetic of the album so well.

What about Hoax?

To my interpretation hoax is a deeply personal song for Taylor but also for all the characters she created. If the 1 sets the tone Hoax patches everything and gives a one final picture.

Taylor talked about how hoax didn't have one particular meaning on Long Ponds Studio sessions. And how it was a new experience for her.

Hoax has the voices of many people in the narrative.

"This has broken me down" is lyrics we all can feel in this hard times.

"You faithless love is the only hoax i believe in" is tremendously true for many of her song's heroes.

Hoax is about doomed relationships (My winless fight) , being stuck in the past (this has frozen my ground), hopelessness (Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason") and Taylor's own personal troubles (You knew it still hurts underneath my scars

From when they pulled me apart).

"And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes, too" the protagonist of My Tears Ricochet says.

And one of the voices in the hoax says:

"My barren land

I am ash from your fire"

This signals a new beginning and hope for seemingly such a hopeless song.

The bridge looks back into the past and remembers all the pain and blood that has passed between the years.

"My only one

My kingdom come undone"

are interesting word choices. My only one is the anti thesis of The 1. And from what I read my kingdom come undone is connected to a bible line which is suppose to symbolize eternity.

"Don't want no other shade of blue but you

No other sadness in the world would do"

Taylor explained this line best on Long ponds with the following sentences:

{I think the part that sounds like love to me is, “Don’t want no other shade of blue but you, no other sadness in the world would do.” It sounds like–to me, that sounds like what love really is. Like, “Who would you be sad with? And who would you deal with when they were sad?” And, like, “Gray skies, every day, for months. Would you still stay?}

For all its hopeless theme Hoax has a optimistic message at its heart. About persistentence, patience and love that is built.

Taylor explains it more simply in Paper rings with: I am with you even if it makes me blue.

But there is still that fear of 'would you still stay' tied around it.

Hoax takes us through a forest filled with pain, hopelessness and mysterious creatures in the dark but there might just be light behind the branches at the end of the road. ( But in evermore you can feel it)

Hoax tells the story of the whole album and is deeply connected to Taylor's other works too. It is a great end to this album.

TLDR: Folklore is truly a masterpiece.

[mcmactictac]

Always Gold by Radical Face is a c! crime boys song please let me elaborate.

First of all, Welcome home son by radical face is a c! Tommy and c! Techno song. So as an sbi enthusiast I think it’s fun to give them songs by the same artist who have very similar vibes. Radical face has a wonderful job of calmly showing intense emotion. When you listen to the words in a lot of their songs it’s very emotional, but you can also tune out and just listen to the music. I’m working my way through their discography but they just radiate fanon sbi vibes. Same energy as a piece of fanart I saw a long time ago with Tommy sleeping on Wilburs lap as techno leans against them. Just that calm and relaxed sense of love and belonging.

Anyways analysis time woo let’s crank out some lyrics. Honestly the lyrics are so perfect throughout I’m basically going to include most of the song oops.

“We were tight knit boys, Brothers in more than name. You would kill for me And knew that I'd do the same”

Already off to a good start. I mean the tight knit part is obvious, like they’re both incredibly close with each other, especially at the beginning. Brothers in more than name?? Canonically Wilbur and Tommy aren’t siblings but they still SHARE that brotherly bond they still think of each other of family after everything. “You would kill for me and knew that I’d do the same” at the start? When they’re protecting their country together?? Yeah because they’re FAMILY they care about each other so much.

“And it cut me sharp, Hearing you'd gone away. But everything goes away, Yeah everything goes away”

Do I need to explain this one. I’m taking gone away as a reference to death here, like he’s up and left Tommy, and suddenly he’s just. Gone. Also the everything goes away is a great way to show the beginning of c! Tommys trauma, how he always feels like good things are going to be taken away from him. No matter what he has, his friends, his country, his discs, it’s all going to be gone eventually. Good things never seem to last for him.

“But I'm going to be here until I'm nothing but bones in the ground. And I was there, when you grew restless”

Wilbur talking about lmanberg as “here”. He knows he’s never going to leave it, the country he built. He lived there and that’s where he’ll die. The captain always goes down with his ship. The restless line reminds me of pogtopia, like Tommy watching as Wilbur started to lose it, started to grow more and more unstable. He was there for everything, the good and the bad even as he watched his brother descend into this downwards spiral and not being able to help him.

“Left in the dead of night. And I was there, when three months later. You were standing in the door all beat and tired and I stepped aside”

Now there’s two ways we could take this one. We could take a brief tour to sbi land and make this about Tommys exile, like he left exile at night after dream blew it all up, and he ended up at technos. And when Techno finally found him there it’s still that same kid he knew before who is just tired and needing someone, and so he lets him in. OR we could make this in reference to Wilburs revival. The three months later would be a reference to the time passed before Wilbur was revived. Now I could make this soft or I could make this angsty so I provide multiple options. 1. Tommy steps aside so Wilbur can see the sunrise, see the works that he’s missed and truly enjoy it again (not canon but shh) 2. I stepped aside but it’s Tommy moving away from Wilbur. Going no, you hurt me and I’m sorry that you’re suffering but I can’t be here for you anymore. 3. Or we got that nice metaphorical door of Tommys life and tommy seeing the brother he lost and choosing to let him “inside”, back into his life despite everything.

“We were opposites at birth I was steady as a hammer, No one worried cause they knew just where I'd be. And they said you were the crooked kind, And that you'd never have no worth But you were always gold to me”

Tommy is steady! Tommy wants the same things, he wants to protect his country, his friends and his discs. Everyone always knew what Tommy wanted and he was very open about what he cared about so everyone knew what was going on with him. Referring to Wilbur as the crooked one, the one who causes problems by creating a drug van, starting a war, blowing up his country. He had no worth because he thought so little of himself that he had to replace his personality with his actions. But tommy still sees him for who he is and up to Pogtopia that’s his big brother. That’s the man he would follow anywhere and trusts his whole world with. Wilbur was always special to tommy, even when he wasn’t to others.

“And back when we were kids, We swore we knew the future. And our words would take us half way 'round the world. But I never left this town and you never saw New York”

My main focus here is on the “but I never left this town” Wilbur always stayed in L’manberg, till the very end. He could never go anywhere else, and he didn’t. This also relates back to another song on my crimeboys list, two birds by Regina Spektor. Wilbur is never going to let go of L’manberg. It’s a part of who he is and he’s never going to be able to “leave” it. The you never saw New York line could be tommy because who knows Tommys plans before l’manberg. Then he got so wrapped up in this country he built that it became his everything, and he never got a chance to do anything else because of the effect it had on him. (I know this is stretching canon bear with me I like angst)

“And we ain't ever cross the sea. But I am fine with where I am now, This home is home, and all that I need. But for you, this place is shame. But you can blame me when there's no one left to blame. Oh I don't mind”

So many thoughts I don’t even know if I can make this coherent. For you this place is shame for Wilbur ESPECIALLY. It’s a reminder of the explosion he created, the hurt he caused the people who’s lives he ruined. He wants it to stand for all it was before, but he has to think about how it’s a source of hurt for so many people and how he sees that as his fault. I don’t think I can form coherent thoughts on the rest of this, enjoy

“All my life i’ve never known where you've been. There were holes in you, The kind that I could not mend. And I heard you say Right when you left that day, Does everything go away? Yeah, everything goes away. But I'm going to be here till forever, So just call when you're around.”

Final paragraph folks!! Ive never known where you’ve been! Tommy can never get a read on Wilbur and his emotions because he internalizes and hides them! He’s never going to be able to know and understand because Wilbur won’t let him! Holes in you the kind that I could not mend? YES. Wilbur is mentally ill and tommy cannot fix that, and he shouldn’t have to be the one responsible for helping Wilbur. Right when you left that day, the 16th, the day he left for the last time. Another reminder to tommy that everything leaves, nothing is guaranteed. L’manberg is gone and so is Wilbur. If we look at this pre revival, I’m gonna be here til forever could be Wilbur at L’manberg. He died there, and that’s where he’s always going to stay. He might be gone, and L’manberg might be gone but they’ll still always be there in spirit (get it spirit. Ghost. Ghostbur building L’manberg? Anyways...)

Mhm that was longer than I meant it to be I am working on multiple more dsmp playlists and I will share once I’m done and maybe do some more of these cause I find them fun. I also did not edit this at all so sorry if this is incoherent

[whatiwillsay]

The Duality of Lover

Hi! It’s me, the Cruel Summer anon, back with some more hot takes! Is this probably clownery? Yes, but it sure is fun! So take this analysis with a grain of salt. 

In light of the new Kaylor timeline, I have had some thoughts about Lover as an album. I think there are definitely a lot of songs about Joe (or Lily, or whoever you think was Taylor’s muse for the album), but I also think there are a large collection of songs about Karlie. In terms of the timeline, I think these songs describe the “Messy Summer of Mess,” or the summer of 2016 and subsequent end of the Kaylor romantic relationship, as described by @swiftiesleuth’s new Kaylor timeline. 

For a quick breakdown, here are the songs I think are about Kaylor:

Cruel Summer

Cornelia Street

Death By A Thousand Cuts

False God

So let’s get into it!

First off, we have “Cruel Summer,” which, in addition to being my favorite on the album and possibly my favorite Taylor song of all time, sets the tone for the entire chapter. If you’ve read my previous analysis, you know that I do not think this song is optimistic in any way, shape or form. Genius says that this song “narrates the fragility and uncertainty at the beginning of Taylor’s relationship with Joe Alwyn,” and I really just have to side-eye that description. Why? Well, as per my last analysis:

it’s cool, that’s what I tell ‘em/no rules in breakable heaven

they say that we’ll just screw it up/in these trying times, we’re not trying

I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone

if I bleed, you’ll be the last to know

said “I’m fine” but it wasn’t true/I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you

This ain’t the beginning of a communicative, healthy relationship, folks. That’s all I have to say on the matter. (You can read my other post for more.)

Next we have “Cornelia Street,” which I also think is a Karlie song because of the following lyrics:

I’d never walk Cornelia Street again

baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name

back when we were card sharks, playing games/I thought you were leading me on

you hold my hand on the street/walk me back to my apartment/years ago, we were just inside

barefoot in the kitchen/sacred new beginnings

First of all, the obvious: in this song, Taylor links her lover very specifically to Cornelia Street and NYC as a whole. New York City definitely does not scream Joe’s name. But, as many before me have pointed out, it’s pretty inextricably linked to Karlie. I mean, Taylor literally has a song called “London Boy,” which makes it clear to me which city Taylor associates him with. London = Joe, NYC = Karlie.

A lot of arguments linking “Cornelia Street” to Joe are because the song appears to depict the beginning of a relationship–and obviously, in the traditional Kaylor narrative, Kaylor would have been together for a long time at this point. However, I think this song makes a lot of sense with the new Kaylor timeline. I could see it taking place sometime in late summer/fall 2016, in a time when Kaylor reunited and Taylor thought she and Karlie might actually work things out. Taylor’s word choices in this song support the idea that this is the beginning of another “on” period in an on-and-off relationship. 

In the bridge, Taylor contrasts the true beginning of this relationship (which was “years ago”–a lyric that definitely does not fit Joe) with the present. The notable difference between then and now is how public the relationship is; their relationship is not “just inside,” as it was years ago. Now, her partner can “hold [her] hand on the street.” If you buy the Kaylor timeline, this song takes place in the fall immediately after the “Cruel Summer” from that song–perhaps Taylor thought Karlie might choose her over Josh once and for all, so they would not need the same level of secrecy as they once did. (I don’t think this lyric is about bearding–Kaylor were always publicly affectionate–but if you buy my analysis of “Cruel Summer,” the relationship may have been kept secret from Josh.)

She also calls the present a “sacred new beginning,” which would be redundant unless this is not the first beginning this relationship has had. The lyrics back when we were card sharks, playing games/I thought you were leading me on also allude to a shared history–and the idea that this might be their chance to make a relationship really work, when Taylor felt led on by her lover in the past. 

While “Cornelia Street” is definitely a romantic song, it’s sad and desperate in the same vein as “Cruel Summer”–it focuses on the strong possibility that this relationship will end, unlike a song like “Lover,” which very clearly foreshadows commitment. 

Next song! “Death By A Thousand Cuts,” which is overtly a breakup song. Taylor says this was inspired by the movie “Someone Great” on Netflix. Maybe it was, but we’re all mad here, right? So I'mma do some wild speculation and say that I think it could have some personal inspiration as well. 

Notable lyrics:

I see you everywhere, the only thing we share is this small town

but if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?

quiet my fears with the touch of your hand/paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans

gave you so much, but it wasn’t enough

Is NYC a small town? Nah, but I do think it’s still notable that this song ties Tay’s lover to a geographical location just like in “Cornelia Street” and “False God,” both of which I think are about Karlie. The lyric also has similar vibes to “I get mystified by how this city screams your name." 

I also think the "still writing pages” lyric is telling–the relationship with Karlie is long over, but Taylor still feels compelled to tell the story even if it hurts her (“paper cut stings”). The “paper cut stings” and “paper-thin plans” lyrics form a direct contrast to the song “Paper Rings.” (Might do a more in-depth analysis of this later, but I’m just saying it’s interesting for now.)

And finally… “False God,” because:

we were crazy to think/crazy to think that this would work

I’m New York City/I still do it for you, babe

the altar is my hips

you’re the West Village/you still do it for me, babe

even if it’s a false god/we’d still worship this love

Is it a sexy song? Yeah, but it’s also very fatalistic; it’s basically a song about having an argument with a lover and then patching it up through sex. And knowing the relationship might still be ill-fated even if you resolved this particular argument with some wine and ~sexy times~, which is why I do not think it is about Joe. 

First of all, we have the obvious geographic connection; NYC is very much a Kaylor thing, not a Joe/Taylor thing. I have no idea how you’d even argue that the “West Village” line refers to Joe–it just makes so much more sense for it to be referring to Karlie. 

Second, the lyrics are very queer-coded. The lyric “the altar is my hips” seems very much like a reference to going down on a woman. Which is by no means an exclusively lesbian thing, but you get the point. The song also connects back to the religious imagery that Taylor uses in “Don’t Blame Me” (oh, Lord, save me and baby, for you I would fall from grace/just to touch your face). Subversion of religion is just a very gay thing, which makes sense because lots of people very literally think gay love is a sin. If you don’t believe me, see: “Holy” by King Princess, “religion (u can lay your hands on me)” by Shura, “Animal” by Troye Sivan, “God In Jeans” by Ryan Beatty, the music video for “Take Me To Church” by Hozier. Taylor and Joe’s love is not a fall from grace–but love between two women would qualify.

Anyway, all this is a long way of saying that I think Lover is at least partially inspired by the Kaylor breakup; songs like “Cruel Summer,” “Cornelia Street,” and “False God” aren’t as happy as they initially seem. I also think “Afterglow” and “The Archer” could have hints of the Kaylor narrative, but this is WAY too long already, so I’m gonna end it here.

And lastly: thanks, Cam, for posting these! I’d submit them to a Kaylor blog, but yours is my favorite gaylor blog, and also, uh… babygate. Obviously I do not believe the girls are together still, so I think the strong Kaylors would not appreciate my hot takes at the moment. 

SUBMISSION⬆️⬆️⬆️

amazing stuff!  tysm for writing this stuff up and submitting, i bet if you do end up starting a blog you’ll get lots of followers who would love more great content like this!

[hyperfixation-stations]

So I’m more active on the Glee Reddit fandom, but tumblr is full of Quinn stans so I thought you all might enjoy this analysis on Quinn’s prom arc in season 2. It’s a little bit lengthy but I think you should enjoy it!

Hello folks it is one of your resident Quinn Fabray stans and poster of long analysis and I am back again with another meta-analysis on Quinn's character journey. Today we are here to look at Quinn's season 2 B arc and her obsession with Prom Queen and how it was deeper then Quinn's desire to be popular.

So at this point in Glee seasons storylines have revolved around her pregnancy and her relationship with Sam, but her arc that is in season 2 B is the first that's truly just about her and isn't tied to another character. This storyline starts in Original Song when we hear of Quinn's desire to win Prom Queen so she gets closer with Rachel so that way she can keep Rachel with Finn, who if he gets back together with her will mess up her perceived chances at winning Prom Queen. It is in this episode that we get a small glimpse into what Quinn actually believes her future will look like and what is actually attainable. This is the episode where we get the scene between Rachel and Quinn where Quinn says that she and Finn will get married and start a family and staying in Ohio, while although Rachel gets heart broken will get out of Lime and go on to do bigger and better things. She even says to Rachel that she knows that she is better then Lima and she can't hate Quinn for helping her get out. I do think that Quinn does genuinely believe that Rachel is capable of more than what is being offered in Ohio and in some weird twisted way she is helping her reach those dreams by keeping Finn out of the picture. Then she says an interesting thing to Rachel before she leaves, she says "that's why you can't write a good song Rachel. You live in this perfect school girl fantasy and you are always searching for a happy ending and that you are never going to find one if you keep searching." (that was some slight paraphrasing but you get the idea). This little rant or statement that she goes on is indicative of what Quinn has been through and her new outlook on the world. She used to live in a world of fantasy and believing that the world was a much better place then it ended up being. Then after all of the events in season 1 her view on the world and what she can achieve is more realistic to her, she already knows what it feels like to have some kind of dream crushed because at this point she still believes that she is unable to get out of Lima and that she isn't deserving of that either. We also get the iconic voice over at the beginning of the episode when she is talking about her desires to be Prom Queen and an interesting thing we see is that in her house there is a case of tiaras which is most likely alluding to her mother and sister's former wins and awards they won having to do with Prom Queen and maybe other things like homecoming and stuff like that, more on this later.

The next episode is Night of Neglect which Quinn doesn't have a storyline in, so we move onto Born This Way which is where we learn a very important part of Quinn's character, her past. This is where we learn, at least I think, about why Quinn is the way that she is. So her storyline starts with her confronting Lauren Zieses who is also running for Prom Queen and how Quinn thinks that she'll get made fun of and laughed at because she isn't the typical prom queen candidate. Lauren gets mad, and rightfully so, so she enlists Puck and they dig into Quinn's past to try and find some dirt on her and they do. The next day in school Lauren confronts Quinn and calls her Lucy, her birth name, which gets a reaction out of Quinn and then she finds out that Lauren printed out a picture of her as Lucy and put it on posters for the whole school to see which upsets Quinn a lot. We learn that Quinn was not always this beautiful, skinny girl who had it all together, instead she was nerdy and overweight, she wore thick wire classes and had acne and was ruthlessley bullied at her old school. Suddenly a lot of things about Quinn start to fall into place, we learn that Quinn moved to Lima right before freshman year which means that she essentially gets to reinvent herself how ever she wants because no one knows who she is. If Quinn was bullied for long or bad enough during her formative years it is realistic to believe that she would turn to bullying and status to make friends because that was how everyone who made fun of her seemed to make friends. Its unfortunate, but it is very common for children who were formally bullied in middle or elementary school to become bullies themselves because no matter how illogical that is that is how they believe they will gain status and friends. We also learn that to change from "Lucy" to "Quinn" that she got a nose job, went on a "crazy" diet and started doing sports. Some of these things raise some concerns about Quinn's mental health and the people around her, parents letting a 13/14 year old get a nose job for cosmetic reasons is not good parenting and going on a crazy diet as Quinn says, once again alludes to Quinn's potential problems with food (something she mentions to Mercedes in season 1). The interesting thing is at this point while she doesn't say she regret what she did and she did it because she loved herself, she does recognize that maybe there was something unhealthy about how she viewed herself and went about that change.

Next episode is Rumors which isn't really related to this part of the storyline but we're going to go through it any way just to make sure we cover all of our season 2 bases. So her plot in rumors revolves around Finn's belief that she is cheating on him with Sam and while Quinn denies the allegations she never gives a concrete answer (until the end of the episode) as to why. Clearly in the climax of the episode we find out that Sam has been homeless and Quinn has been helping him babysit his siblings and she found out because they go to church together and Quinn (and Kurt who was also helping) agreed to not say anything out of respect of Sam's privacy. There are also the ongoing issues with Finn and his relationship with Rachel and the inappropriateness of Rachel singing Go Your Own Away insinuating that Quinn and Finn should break up. Quinn gives him an ultimatum because she is frustrated that he is mad at her for believing in cheating when he is being a hypocrite and sneaking around with Rachel (we love an unhealthy relationship). The episode ends happily and everyone is supporting Sam. One of the interesting things I think about this episode is Quinn's loyalty to Sam even though her own relationship is being threatened. Whether she understands what Sam's going through to a degree because she was also homeless briefly or is just sympathetic to his situation, rather then throw Sam under the base and expose him to save her relationship she gets his secret and allows her relationship to suffer because she doesn't want to break Sam's trust. We know that too a degree at this point Quinn is with Finn because they bring each other status and make sense together and she believes that she needs to be in a relationship with him for that, however when all that comes to a head and she almost loses her relationship with Finn she doesn't try to save that because she believes that keeping Sam's secret is more important. This is something that I don't think that season 1 Quinn would do and shows a shift in her personality and values since then.

Now we have the climax of this season's arc, which the Prom Queen episode. The episodes starts off and we find that Quinn and Finn are at this point front runners to be Prom Queen and King which clearly makes Quinn happy because we know that this means a lot to her and something she has been working towards for the past several episodes. Interestingly after one scene in the choir room when she talks about the importance of prom (at least in her opinion) we don't actually see Quinn until Finn comes to pick her up at her house in which she shares a sweet scene with Finn and he calls her the most beautiful girl in the world which Quinn seems to be touched by and seems properly swooned when thinks that Finn got the corsage to match her eyes (though as we all know it was Rachel). Then at Bread Sticks they run into Mercedes, Sam, Rachel and Jesse and Finn of course confronts Jesse because he dislikes him for some valid and some invalid reasons and I think that's where we see Quinn's first flash of concern that maybe things are not as good as the seem. Mercedes pretty much asks them to leave I imagine because she knows Finn and Jesse will try to fight each other. The next time we see Quinn she and Finn are slow dancing at Prom and Rachel is clearly singing at Finn during Jar of Hearts and we see a flash of doubt in his eyes and he is unsure if he thinks that he is with the right person and Quinn seems to be oblivious to this. Next up we have the big fight scene when Finn confronts Jesse because he isn't "keeping things PG with Rachel" and the two start to fight. Both Quinn and Rachel try to separate them and through all the music and shoving you can hear Quinn say "stop you're ruining everything". Then Sue comes in and kicks Finn and Jesse out and we see that Quinn is clearly emotional about how this effecting her chances at winning Prom Queen (and we get the return of her fun Prom theme which is where be little side bar thing comes from). Now we have the climax, her loss of Prom Queen to Kurt, interestingly she's the only character who's reaction we don't see we his name is announced.

Now we have the most important scene in the episode for Quinn and maybe one of her most in the entire season or series, her bathroom confrontation with Rachel. Quinn misguidedly blames Rachel for her loss because at this point in the night she feels humiliated and to my theory may be digging up some old feelings from when she was Lucy. Quinn believes in the sanctity of the Prom royalty voting process and believes that it should be taken seriously, so when her fellow students use it to humiliate Kurt she in turn also feels humiliated because she feels like they are not only making a mockery of the process but also her. Then she slaps Rachel and clearly immediately feels remorseful and apologizes. Then we get the parallels between her, Santana and Kurt who all fell humiliated for a variety of different reasons and when Quinn says she's not going back in there or back to this school she claims she's going to transfer. I think this is once again alluding to her issues she had as Lucy, she believes that this event is going to send everything that she worked so hard to build down the toliet and that she is going to be back to sad, nerdy little girl who was picked on and made fun of in middle school. Then she admits something important and deeply personal. She says to Rachel: "I know you think its hard being you but, at least you don't have to be so terrified all the time." and what Rachel asks what she's afraid of Quinn responds with "the future....all of this being gone." Quinn's self-value and perception is based so heavily on her popularity status and what other people think of her and the events of the previous year and when she was Lucy have validated those thoughts for her. When she becomes pregnant she loses what appears to be a lot of her friends, her parents (and even though her mother comes back we are acting under the assumption that she never see's her dad again), her body and her status and when she rejoins cheerios and moves back home and is essentially back where she was pre-pregnancy she believes that she has to maintain this status and persona because that is the only reason people like her. When Rachel tells her that while she is pretty and beuatiful she is so much more than that Quinn almost seems to not believe it and gets very emotional, it is very possible that Quinn at this point her life as had someone say something like that too her. I mean outside of Sam her boyfriends suck, her parents were clearly very status and appearance based, and when she becomes pregnant Sue calls her a disgrace. The episode ends and Quinn has returned to the gym and is happy and smiling and dancing around with her friends and at this point maybe has some renewed belief in herself.

While that is hypothetically the end of the Prom Queen arc I think it is important to touch upon what happens in The Funeral And New York because they are important to Quinn's arc and are partially resulted in some fallout from this episode. The next episode as I mentioned is the funeral and Quinn's only plot in that does come at the end of the actual funeral but it's important none the less. So during the Funeral, Finn realizes that he is essentially living a lie with Quinn and his true feelings are for Rachel. So after the Funeral when Quinn starts talking about how proud she is of him and how will he did with organizing the whole thing and when she asks why he's crying and he admits that its because he's about to break up with her things start to crumble quickly. This is essentially Quinn's worst nightmare coming true, because this is once again validating her fears that people don't actually like her and that she isn't worth it. When she asks if its because he still loves Rachel, this entire scene Quinn appears to be expecting this but also blind sided, like she believed this day would come but also doesn't believe its happening or even why its happening. Finn goes onto give probably the worst break up speech on the face of the earth and in the worst possible setting. Quinn knows that this all falling apart face so she turns to denial, she believes that if she tries hard enough she can convince Finn to stay with her and that's she worth it and they'll stay together and next year they'll win prom queen and king (a direct throw back to the previous episode). Then Finn does maybe one of the worst things he can do there be reminding her that this is real life and asking her if she even feels anything anymore. Interestingly this is I think another implication about how Quinn was raised. Last year when her parents threw her out Quinn comments about her family does not talk about things much and they just pretend like things aren't happening and live in this perfect bubble (and ironically Finn was there for that conversation), I think that this is another instance that adds to why Quinn was so appearance and popularity focused. It is also very possible based on the hints we have about her home life that Quinn didn't grow up learning how to process and deal with her emotions properly because her life has been a series of extreme's, she went from being bullied to being the most popular, she went from having her parents love and support to not having any at all. Her emotional journey at this point has been such a roller coaster that Quinn I don't think knows what to feel, how to process them and in some capacity how to even act. Then Finn does an equally bad thing when Quinn starts crying and he says that he still loves her and to not go. Quinn freaks out and tells him not to touch her and promptly gets out of the car. Interestingly when she starts crying she says "are you happy now, is this me feeling enough for you." Quinn over the course of the show has been told several times that's she's too cold or doesn't care about people enough so she reacts in a capacity that is based on she thinks others believe she should act in that situation. Side not I did always wonder how Quinn got home from that funeral because like clearly Finn drove her, like did she have to call her mom, did she get a ride home with someone else, did she end up having to go home with him and it was just awkward, I just have so many questions. She does mention she has big plans for NY but as we learn in the next episode that storyline is never actually followed through with.

Then we have the final episode in season 2 New York, once again she really only has one important scene in this episode to cover so this should be short but I make no promises because well its me and we all know I have ability to be a little long winded. Quinn's important scene in this episode comes from her break down scene in the hotel room with Santana and Brittany. The scene starts off innocently enough, Quinn is taking too long in the bathroom and Santana wants to get in to fix her make up. Then when Santana mentions that they have to hurry up because everyone is waiting for them in the next room, Quinn asks if Mr. Schue is going to be there because she wants to tell him that Kurt and Rachel keep sneaking off. Brittany and Santana get considered because they know that means Schue would have to suspend them and that would mean they couldn't compete at Nationals which upsets the two of them but not Quinn. This sets Santana off and tells Quinn that's she is doing this because she's pissed that Finn dumped her and that she needs to get over it and while this is probably true I don't necessarily agree that Quinn has to get over but we'll get into that momentarily. Then we have Quinn's rebuttal which is "I don't want to get over it! and Santana tells her that she's only sabotaging herself and Quinn admits that she doesn't really care about the competition. Santana rightfully tells her that she should because it is the one place they can be themselves and actually enjoy what they are doing (something indicative about both of their personalities and how most of there day to day personalities at school isn't actually the real them, but that's for a different post). This is kind of what truly sends Quinn over the edge and she questions why if they are the popular girls why can't they have their dreams come true. Then she gives one of the most heartbreaking confessions that someone can give which is "I just want somebody to love me". I think this is something that has been building for Quinn for a long time. Quinn has never really had consistent love and affection for anyone, her parents threw her out at the first mistake she made and her mom didn't even invite her back until she found out her husband was cheating on her and from what we seem to be shown is that Quinn ends up never seeing her father again (which has to be difficult emotionally, especially when she seemed to have a close relationship with him and he meant a lot to her), Finn and Puck both were pursuing other girls when she was in a relationship with them and in her mind even though she cheated on Sam she choose him in the end and he left her. Then you have the bullying issues from her child and the drastic social fallout and bullying and shaming that came from her pregnancy. I think for the past two seasons and maybe her entire life Quinn is searching to find someone to love for her for who she is flaws and all because it always that people's love towards her always has a caveat or has a limit or line that can't be crossed and may not even feel like someone's first choice to date or hang out with (we don't often see Quinn hanging around or even talking to others and she's mostly by herself), Quinn has no one that loves her unconditionally and I think that she is grappling with that issue for the first time in her life. I actually think you could argue that this whole thing this set off the chain reaction for the beginning of season 3, aka Skank and baby stealing Quinn (which I personally think relates to why she tried to steal Beth, i.e. Beth was the only person who could love her unconditionally and didn't have any preconceived notions of her or things that she'd done).

I hope you all enjoyed, I'm sorry it was a little long but I don't exactly know how to get things short and to the point. But yeah let me know your thoughts.

[hazzabeeforlou]

Fine Line Masterpost:

A breakdown, musically and lyrically 

In Fine Line, ‘raw honesty’ doesn’t really mean delving into the details of who Harry Styles is sleeping with, but rather it’s a glimpse into the world of a 25-year-old who is both deeply in love and who fucks up a lot; he’s given to sugary supplications, is plagued by jealousy, pouts at consequences, and struggles with understanding an inner self that keeps prodding him towards exploration of his identity.  

The album is constructed to be consumed by various factions of the fandom. There’s no getting away from the surface dedication of HS2 as an ode to a blonde supermodel with a delicious French accent whose new boyfriend’s father owns a gallery, a girl who has golden hair and blue eyes. I won’t be arguing that away, because it’s intentional, it’s meant to be the surface layer. 

The mantle is not the crust, though. Taken individually, each song can be seen as speaking to the queer experience in varied and complex ways, and I’ve seen some truly beautiful explorations of this angle. Especially with TPWK and FL, the anthemic solidarity with queer experience is astounding and gorgeous. I think it’s no accident that this broad take holds true as we zoom in and look at the complex details; Harry has written songs that speak both to this meaning and also hold incredibly personal and intimate significance between him and a partner (in this post we’ll call them Subject). 

I will be focusing on the album as a cohesive narrative in the context of it’s chronological, linear progression. Fine Line details an incredibly personal struggle; it’s a love letter, an at times embarrassing, self-loathing reflection on a love gone wrong, a love struggling, an emerging self, and a hope redeemed. 

Please feel free to ask questions if any of the technical stuff is confusing, but please also remember that these are my opinions, coupled with my analysis as a professional musician (meaning, hopefully I’m remembering those torturous years of theory dictation correctly!) 

Side A 

All four songs share an off-kilter-ness, a restless, unsettled, frantic feeling, as if Harry is balancing, undecided between throwing himself at the feet of the one he loves or pulling away. This is no illusion; the tonic base is missing from each song save WS (but even here the tonic is sabotaged in our ear, as we’ll discuss). We’re on a journey to side B; we start with a hope that sweet memories and lust can salvage love, and we end with Harry going his own way.

Golden: There are only two chords in this song, DM and CM7, the V and IV7 of the implied tonic, G Major. We never get to tonic though. We never touch that home base. The songs “da da da’s” give it a happier, peppier illusion than the text reveals. 

Harry is already broken, already reflecting and hopeless as the song begins. His intended listener, Subject - the sun, the golden one - waits for him in the sky, and is all he’s ever known. Subject has always browned his skin just right, but now, Harry reflects, perhaps has been too bright for him. (Is some aspect of Harry buried in the brilliance of Subject’s light?) This golden Subject is scared, though, scared Harry is so open. Harry doesn’t want to be alone, but he also needs to peel back edges of himself previously unexplored. Stepping into and away from light is a major theme for Harry, and this opening song sets that precedent. Subject is scared because “hearts get broken,” but Harry’s heart is already broken, so perhaps this refers not to interpersonal heartbreak, but situational. Harry recognizes he’s “out of his head...” BUT, he counters, “Loving you’s the antidote!” He naively gushes out poetry while Subject remains unconvinced. We establish an impasse. 

Watermelon Sugar: The Dm - Cm - Am6 - GM chord progression is an odd one; my best guess is that the song is in D minor, so the progression is: 

i, VII, v, IV

 That’s not typical in a minor key. Usually the leading tone note (in this case a C) is raised (so C#) making the five chord Major (V) not minor (v) and the seven chord diminished (viio) not Major (VII). also the Major IV ignores the B flat in the key signature of D minor and instead uses B natural. So all this to say that the tonic base STILL doesn’t feel like a tonic home, because the normalcy around the key signature is erased. Everything still feels unsettled, unresolved. 

Much has been made of the oral sex interpretation, so, ya. This is a song about remembering the best of times, a prayer to Subject, a plea for summertime and bellies and strawberries, and a feeling Harry is desperate to get back. 

Adore You: The three chords in this song, Cm - BbM - AbM, imply an E flat Major key, so vi, V, IV, respectively. The tonic, Eb (I), is (once again) never used, and instead vi, V, IV circle without ever coming to rest. 

Subject, “Honey,” creates a rainbow paradise. This is another love letter to Subject, let me adore you, I’ll walk through fire for you, you don’t have to say anything just listen to me, you don’t have to say you love me too, just please, please... you’ve been on my mind. Let me adore you like it’s the only thing I’ll ever do. By this wording, Harry admits that adoring Subject is not the only thing he ever does, yet he wishes Subject to remember, or imagine, this false reality. 

Lights Up: We’re in C Major here, with the chords Am - GM - FM, creating the same exact chord progression as Adore You, vi, V, IV. We (yet again!) never reach the tonic of C Major. It’s a constant tease of resolution, but there’s no solid home base. We’re suspended in limbo. 

Subject is “sorry, btw.” What does that mean, Harry asks? Sorry we’re here in this place, that this is happing? This song is Harry’s declaration: he’s not staying, he’s not coming back down. It would be sweet if things stayed the same, but no, I’m stepping into the light. “All the lights couldn’t put out the dark”... even all the golden sun of Subject couldn’t heal the void in Harry’s soul?  Harry asks subject, do you know who you are? implying that he’s determined to answer this for himself. I’m reminded of the crab in Moana, singing “Shiny.” There’s a certain bravado here, a reckless glittery happiness, a flaunting, an exuberance in discovery. 

Side B 

Tonics are all over the place. Harry is certainly certain about heartbreak. No ambiguity here. 

Cherry: GM - Em - CM, or  I, vi, IV. We’re in G Major and we know it. Repetitive “cou-cos’s” pepper the track like hanging fruit (let’s imagine from cherry trees). 

The song is a simple one, simple in its jealousy. Harry has let Subject go, and now Subject is at their best... and Harry hates it. He doesn't want his former pet term of endearment used on another, even though he has no claim on Subject’s actions anymore. Harry keeps finding bits of Subject in how he dresses. They’re not talking lately, and Harry perhaps is most upset that this separation isn’t going how he planned... Subject is at their best without him. 

The gallery line is inserted as a bridge, a unique line of music rather separate from the rest, an intentional narrative. But what’s most fascinating is the end of the song. The previous repetitive chord progression changes. Now we have 

GM - AM7 (an added C#) - Am7 (4/2 inversion) - GM

or I, II7, ii7, I

The “cou-cou” lands during the AM7 (the II7) and it lands EXACTLY on the note of B, extending the 7th chord to a ninth chord, before, on its second syllable, dropping to the A and holding there (a kind of suspension) while the chord progression resolves to the Am7 (ii7), making the A a chord tone. This is deliberate. Unless the whole piece was harmonically built around Camille’s random use of a B to A in a voicemail (also randomly in the perfect key for Harry’s voice) this was purposely recorded for aesthetic effect. I for one really love it, I could listen to breathy french girls mutter about beaches endlessly...

Falling: A straightforward progression. In the key of E Major,

 EM - C#m - BM - AM or I, vi, V, IV

With Falling, the only ballade on the album, we see Harry shift from jealousy to self destructive behavior. I don’t believe the ‘wandering hands’ line is about cheating (he and Subject were already apart) but rather, Harry seeking to wound Subject by turning to others. Communication is back open, because Subject says they care, they miss him too, but now Harry’s gone and fucked it all up. What have I become? What if Subject never needs me again? I can’t unpack the baggage they left. I just want Subject AROUND! Harry isn’t even begging for a romantic connection, he’s simply begging for Subject’s presence. He was so sure he could discover himself in LU, and now he keeps asking, what am I now? Who has he become on his own? He’s falling, and there’s no one to catch him. 

To Be So Lonely: This song waffles between two keys, just as Harry waffles between defending himself to Subject and finally, finally admitting (in just one small line) that he is, in fact, sorry. The song seems to start out in C Major, with CM and Am chords (I, iv) but then at the chorus the Am chord elides from a iv to a i, revealing the key is really A minor. The chorus goes on to be:

Am - GM - Em - FM 

or i, VII (lowered leading tone in minor), v (lowered leading tone in minor), VI

A fluttering mandolin mimics a fluttering heartbeat, and a folk music lilt gives the song a certain feel of heartbreak. 

Harry asks for Subject to not blame the drunk caller, likely himself. Harry was away. He missed Subject. He was just a little boy when he fell, and presumably Subject caught him that time. Subject is trying to be friends, they mean well, perhaps have taken pity on him, but Harry cannot stand to be called baby now, not when that name doesn’t mean what it used to, not when it’s a hollow word. Harry’s ‘home’ is suddenly a lonely place, but Subject has his reasons for how he’s acted, presumably good ones, and finally Harry gives his mea culpa, “this is it, so I’m sorry.” 

Interestingly, only after admitting that he’s made mistakes too, that he’s not perfect, that he shares the blame, does Harry confront and open himself to the realization contained in the next song, the heart of the album and the crux of what Harry’s been dancing around up until this point. 

She: In E minor, both verse and chorus use the same progression:

Em - DM - CM - Am - (Bm, a quick lead-in to) - Em 

 or i, II, VI, iv, v (no raised leading tone), i 

This Bowie-esc sounding song is the first to have characters. In addition to the Subject (perennially addressed as ‘You’) there is The Man and She. I would argue The Man and She are both Harry, a duality. The man drops his kids off at school, the man is thinking of You, like all of us do (everyone thinks of their SO perhaps). The Man goes through mundane daily tasks, but is he faking it? Does he really know what to do? He’s playing pretend, so pretend. 

Now Harry introduces She. (When speaking of She, Harry sings in a high falsetto.) She lives in daydreams, she is the first one he sees, and Harry doesn’t know who She is. A Woman just in his head, who sleeps in his (a jump up to the falsetto for just this one word in the verse) bed while he plays pretend. Much has been said about the gender/fluidity discovery in this song, and by better than me. It’s clear what Harry is saying, it’s clear what he’s going through and wrestling with. He’s thinking of Subject, but also haunted by She, in his head, in his mind’s eye, in his daydreams. She is a part of Harry, and Harry wants to know who She is. 

Side C

Uncomplicated tonics! All Major! A shift into happiness perhaps? 

Sunflower: F Major. BbM - FM - CM, or IV, I, V.  The bridge is fancy:

iii, IV, V, vi, I, V vi, V (vi?) V 

Some trippie hippie song from the 60s! Two lines of thought are apparent from the get go; Harry says he wants to get to know Subject, but then says “before I got to know you.” It’s as if this is a new beginning, like he and Subject are starting over. Much is made of the ‘seed’ thing, a metaphor for new life and rebirth, “plant new seeds in the melody.” Harry is trying hard not to talk to Subject, to not seem eager, not act a fool. He was just tongue tied, then he’s still tongue tied, implying he’s done this whole dance before. He implores Subject to hold their sweet memories: domestic times, kitchens, kids. In Golden, Subject was the sun. Now Subject is a sunflower, hung up high in the gallery, out of the shade, in the light a sunflower needs to thrive, into the light, step into the light. Little gasps from Harry interject throughout; is he surfacing from water (LU music video?), is he breathing between kisses, is he suddenly gifted new life like Gandalf atop Isengard? The end of the piece devolves into calls of unbridled, nonsensical joy, like birds song, like mating calls amongst brilliant plumage. 

Canyon Moon: D Major. DM - GM - AM - DM (I, IV, V, I)

 Bridge DM - (Em transit?) - AM - DM (I, (ii), V, I) 

Chorus DM - AM - DM - GM (I, V6, I6, IV) 

Perhaps the most straightforward tonic bound song of the album. Harry is missing Subject, but it’s a happy nostalgia now, a hopeful one, a “two weeks and I’ll be home.” Home is no longer a lonely place, like in TBSL. The world is happy waiting (there’s no rush? No need to have everything figured out?). “Doors yellow, broken, blue.” You can’t bribe the door on the way to the sky a sky where Harry’s Golden sun awaits him, and now the sky door is broken, busted through, that blue door to a blue sky that never looked so blue. 

We get another glimpse of She here; Subject remains You, Harry remains Harry, but there’s also a She who plays old hippies’ love songs and pretends to know the words; perhaps this is another Camille reference for narrative purposes, but I lean more towards this being another reference to She as Harry, exploring odd new music he’s never heard, trying not to be so pretentious about it but failing. (He’s such an Aquarius.) Most charmingly of all, the single whistler becomes two by the end of the song. 

Treat People With Kindness: F Major. This is the most interesting piece in terms of text painting. 

We start with CM6 - FM, then FM6/4 - BbM, then back to CM6 - FM, then we hold on the Am chord, and then repeat the whole thing. So analyzed in F Major this would be V6, I, I6/4, IV, V6, I, iii. 

But. By using the I6 to IV, Harry plays with the idea of a V of IV, where you take the IV chord of the key and pretend it has its own dominant (V) and use the V of IV not as the I chord normally is used, but as a Leading Tone chord to IV. 

ALL THAT TO SAY. He’s illustrating the lyrics. During “Maybe we can find a place” the chords are playing with dual resolutions. Where is the actual tonic? Is it F Major or B Flat Major? It’s ambiguous! We don’t know! We haven’t found our place yet! 

But then! The bridge. “And if we’re here long enough” and look where we land, on a CM chord, then BbM, then FM, a solid V, IV, I progression. And THEN (bless this boy) on the word belong we get the same A minor chord (the iii) but we get a 7th added to the chord, a G, and Harry holds this G in the melody (plant new seeds in the melody), a note that VERY MUCH DOES NOT BELONG because in no universe does a iii chord in Major have a 7th added! And Harry not only ADDS but draws attention to this note, this note that doesn’t belong!!! Then this iii7 chord resolves to C Major (V), making the G note a chord tone, making it BELONG, making it fit perfectly. 

GOD. Weep with me. 

This is Over the Rainbow. This is Hair, this is Age of Aquarius. Somewhere there’s a place we can belong and feel good and people will celebrate and rejoice in us, someday a new age will dawn. 

Harry is plunging into the deep end, dreaming, caught up in his good feelings and his euphoria in being “given second chances.” He’s tentative about admitting reckless hope to Subject; instead he says, “Maybe we can find a place to feel good?” Harry says he doesn’t need all the answers. He said in LU “do you know who you are” then in Falling “What am I now?” then in She “I don't know who she is” and now he’s at peace. He feels good in his skin, and he will keep on dancing. 

Most personally, I think the sudden somber turn of the line “If our friends all pass away” is in reference to grief. He’s speaking to Subject, but also to himself. It will be okay, okay, okay. Harry can’t control his life, he doesn’t have everything figured out, but he’s come to accept that. 

Side D

Fine Line: D Major. We come full circle, returning to the use of only three chords like at the start of the album. This time, though, Harry resolves to tonic in a repetitive pattern used for both the verses and chorus: 

Bm, GM7, DM6/4, or vi, IV7, I

FL is the summation of the album, the thesis statement, the conclusion of the journey. Harry has endured tests of patience, and accepted that there are things he’ll never know. He’s trying to shake off trepidation (of plunging in the deep end? Of hoping?). He says “My hand’s at risk, I fold.” The poker analogy is an interesting one; Subject (presumably) has gotten past Harry’s poker face, has sussed out his fronts and acts and strategies, and Harry is left bare and exposed, vulnerable before them. He’s been brought to this point, but willingly he folds. He laments that “spreading you open is the only way of knowing you.” We should open up before it’s all too much. Harry is done fighting. He’s also done sleeping in the dirt. For the first time he’s not sugar-coating his words, avoiding their problems via sex and pretense and flowery language. He’s matured enough to admit, “Man, I hate you sometimes.”

Again we have the reappearance of She. Harry says to Subject, “We’ll get the drinks in, so I’ll get to thinking of her.” This She is something between them, within them now, another facet of his and Subject’s relationship. Harry is going to spend time thinking of Her. She, I believe, is a part of him. 

A fine line is a balancing act, a tightrope, a suspension between extremes. But Harry calls out into the echo of the music, “We’ll be alright.” A declaration, a hope, a promise. Brass, strings, and a building crescendo, a cacophony of movie-credit-worthy emotion, sweeps us towards closure. Ethereal voices fade out, moving from dominant to tonic, but then a solitary piano plinks on a V chord, twice, hanging in the air, a question, an invitation, a hope. 

[jcs-study]

In my last post, I mentioned that there were two more iterations of "The Temple" to consider, as long as I was doing a song-by-song deep dive.

To refresh your memory, Tim Rice was never proud of his lyrics for this one, so he seized every opportunity to touch them up a bit, and the 1973 film was one such chance, hence its inclusion here.

(Also, you're welcome for the G.O.A.T., Ted Neeley, serving as a post-Paul Nicholas palate cleanser.)

Lyrical Differences

It was presumably Norman Jewison who requested new lyrics, the aim possibly being to cut down on repetition. Andrew Lloyd Webber's memoir makes it clear that at one point Tim was fairly frustrated with furnishing rewrites to order at the behest of various directors, but given his ambivalence about his original lyrics, maybe he didn't mind doing it for this particular number.

We eventually got a rewrite of the ensemble verses before the key change, here excerpted from the August 14, 1972 shooting script:

ENSEMBLE ROLL ON UP JERUSALEM COME ON IN JERUSALEM SUNDAY HERE WE GO AGAIN LIVE IN ME JERUSALEM

HERE YOU LIVE JERUSALEM HERE YOU BREATHE JERUSALEM WHILE YOUR TEMPLE STILL SURVIVES YOU AT LEAST ARE STILL ALIVE

I'VE GOT THINGS YOU WON'T BELIEVE NAME YOUR PLEASURE I WILL SELL I CAN FIX YOUR WILDEST NEEDS I'VE GOT HEAVEN I'VE GOT HELL

ROLL ON UP FOR MY PRICE IS DOWN COME ON IN FOR THE BEST IN TOWN TAKE YOUR PICK OF THE FINEST WINE LAY YOUR BETS ON THIS BIRD OF MINE

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET NO ONE'S BEEN DISAPPOINTED YET DON'T BE SCARED GIVE ME A TRY THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN'T BUY

NAME YOUR PRICE I GOT EVERYTHING HURRY IT'S ALL GOING FAST BORROW CASH ON THE FINEST TERMS HURRY NOW WHILE STOCKS STILL LAST

There is also one change unique to the 1973 film: the last line of the song, Jesus' despairing declaration to the lepers, changed from the frustrated "Heal yourselves!" to the more ambiguous, overwhelmed "Leave me alone!"

(As far back as the April 3, 1972 draft of the screenplay, there's a note suggesting the above change may be made, making it another of the -- likely -- earliest film-specific revisions.)

The Analysis

Believe it or not, this analysis is literally limited to "Leave me alone!" Because that's just how anal I am. While seemingly small, that one change has a big impact if one thinks about it for too long (a pastime the author has frequently indulged).

Most fundamentalist Christians who accuse JCS of blasphemy have singled out the original line as suggesting that Christ was powerless, the opposite of the figure in the Bible who turned none away and willingly healed all who came to him. This is, honestly, probably the reason it was altered.

However, the more intellectual folks decried this revision because they discerned a deeper meaning in the original line, interpreting it not as an exclamation by an overworked celeb but as an empowering declaration, adjuring those who seem to think they need something -- or someone -- external to fix themselves to look within for answers instead.

I don't know about all that, but I can see both sides of the issue.

The Impact of Revision

Now, the above changes, pardon the ill-fitting metaphor, didn't spring forth full-grown from the head of Zeus. A recent study of a portion of director Norman Jewison's papers donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, which contain among other items the 1973 film's production files, unexpectedly uncovered earlier versions of the revised lyrics to this song.

Among other things they bring to light, apparently Tim didn't just have fleshing out the scene with added color and steaminess on his mind. This earlier draft suggests he initially wished to better establish the conflicting dual nature of the Temple as both the one place the Jewish people could be themselves without Roman interference and also the market to buy and sell.

See for yourself, with the recognizable lyrics from the final version cut down to cue lines for the purposes of brevity:

ROLL ON UP JERUSALEM COME ON IN JERUSALEM IT'S SUNDAY -- HERE WE GO AGAIN* HERE WE ARE OURSELVES AGAIN

HERE YOU LIVE JERUSALEM HERE YOU DIE JERUSALEM HERE YOU BUY AND HERE YOU SELL HERE'S YOUR HEAVEN HERE'S YOUR HELL

HERE YOU ARE WHAT YOU SHOULD BE YOU ARE UNDISTURBED AND FREE HERE IS STILL JERUSALEM HERE IS REAL JERUSALEM

ROLL ON UP FOR MY PRICE IS DOWN... (etc.)

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET... (etc.)

NAME YOUR PRICE I GOT EVERYTHING... (etc.)

(* In a further draft, for better scansion no doubt, this line was polished to "Sunday night here we go again," the rest of the lyrics remaining otherwise the same.)

Personally, I find the final lyrics, not that this is terribly shocking to anyone, a more refined take on the same idea, while at the same time adding a pinch more excitement than the earlier draft.

Coming Up Next:

The revival version of "The Temple," tying up its contributions in a neat little bow. You might notice that for the movie, he didn't touch any of the leper sequences, which seemed to have given him the most trouble. Hang onto your hat!

[rosalies-rage]

folklore x Twilight: An Analysis

folklore's lyrics match Twilight uncannily well and here’s proof! 

my tears ricochet - Rosalie

We gather here, we line up, weepin' in a sunlit room And if I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes, too Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you 'Til my dying day I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet We gather stones, never knowing what they'll mean Some to throw, some to make a diamond ring You know I didn't want to have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene You wear the same jewels that I gave you As you bury me

And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones And I still talk to you (When I'm screaming at the sky) And when you can't sleep at night (You hear my stolen lullabies)

Rosalie would sing this to her murderer/fiancé at her funeral as he goes around being the ‘hero’ and ‘saving face’. She’s ‘screaming at the sky’ because he has stolen the one thing she really wanted from her ‘anywhere I want, just not home’. Even though she loved him ‘til [her] dying day’, she can never forgive and has no choice but to haunt him.

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exile - Edward in New Moon

I think I’ve seen this film before And I didn’t like the ending You’re not my homeland anymore So what am I defending now? You were my town, now I’m in exile seein’ you out We always walked a very thin line You didn’t even hear me out (You didn’t even hear me out) You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs) All this time I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind)

Edward leaves in New Moon because he believes he and his world are too dangerous for Bella, exiling himself indefinitely. They had ‘always walked a very thin line’ as he tried to be with her without harming her, and he literally ‘never learned to read [her] mind’. Now he’s left and can’t do what he wanted to do, i.e protect her (’what am I defending now?’).

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august - Jacob

Salt air, and the rust on your door I never needed anything more Whispers of “Are you sure?” “Never have I ever before”

Back when we were still changin' for the better Wanting was enough For me, it was enough To live for the hope of it all Canceled plans just in case you'd call And say, "Meet me behind the mall" So much for summer love and saying "us" 'Cause you weren't mine to lose You weren't mine to lose, no

Your back beneath the sun Wishin' I could write my name on it Will you call when you're back at school? I remember thinkin' I had you

Bella and Jacob start spending time together in the ‘salt air’ by La Push beach fixing beaten-up motorbikes (’rust’). Jacob knows Bella isn’t interested in him but lives in hope (’to live for the hope of it all’) and by the time the Cullens come back he’s convinced he could win Bella’s loyalties (’I remember thinkin’ I had you’). It doesn’t take place in summer, but it is a brief, intense fling that lifts Bella from her Edward-induced winter, and Bella calls Jacob her personal ‘sun’. In the end, though, Bella tells Jacob that there was never really a choice between him and Edward; it was always going to be Edward (’You weren’t mine to lose’). 

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invisible string - Alice & Jasper

And isn't it just so pretty to think All along there was some Invisible string Tying you to me?

Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire Chains around my demons Wool to brave the seasons One single thread of gold Tied me to you

Alice woke up as a vampire with no memory of her past - all she had was her psychic abilities, which were an ‘invisible string’ leading her directly to Jasper. On Jasper’s side, he was living a brutal life training newborn armies until Alice found him and ‘wrapped all of [his] past mistakes in barbed wire’, putting ‘chains around his demons’ and leading him to a better life. You could also interpret it as his journey to chaining his inner monster that wants to kill humans when he goes to live with the Cullens.

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epiphany - Carlisle

Something med school did not cover Someone's daughter, someone's mother Holds your hand through plastic now "Doc, I think she's crashing out" And some things you just can't speak about

Only twenty minutes to sleep But you dream of some epiphany Just one single glimpse of relief To make some sense of what you've seen

This song describes the experience of medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Carlisle was a doctor during the last major pandemic (Spanish Flu in 1918), which is where he turned Edward. A religious man, he searches for an ‘epiphany’ from God while he grapples with the decision to consign another person to a life of vampirism and tries to understand whether or not he still has a soul.

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mad woman - Rosalie

Do you see my face in the neighbor's lawn? Does she smile? Or does she mouth, "Fuck you forever"? And there's nothing like a mad woman What a shame she went mad No one likes a mad woman You made her like that And you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out And you find something to wrap your noose around

They say “move on” but you know I won’t

I'm taking my time, taking my time 'Cause you took everything from me

Rosalie is filled with anger and bitterness over her murder. She’s cast in a bad light particularly because she’s an angry, ‘mad woman’ but she explains that her murderers ‘made her like that’ when they ‘took everything from [her]’, and in return she ‘[took her] time’ when killing them to make sure they knew she was coming.

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cardigan - Bella on Jacob

And when I felt like I was an old cardigan, under someone’s bed  You put me on and said I was your favorite  You drew stars around my scars But now I’m bleedin’

Bella was destroyed after Edward left, feeling that he’d taken most of her with him and was just discarded like an unwanted toy (’I felt like I was an old cardigan, under someone’s bed’). Then she started hanging out with Jacob and his friendship (’I was your favorite’) started to heal - or at least disguise - the hole in her chest (’You drew stars around my scars’). But then he left, too, when the werewolf transformation happened, which left her ‘bleeding’. It turned out she wasn’t really healed, she’d just been papering over the gap with Jacob’s love.

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illicit affairs - Edward & Bella as tragic fated lovers

Tell yourself you can always stop What started in beautiful rooms  Ends in meetings in parking lots It’s born from just one single glance but it dies and it dies and it dies A million little times 

Leave no trace behind, like they don’t even exist

When Edward first becomes enamored with Bella and wants to get closer to her, he convinces himself he can always stop - but he can’t. The more time he spends with her, the more doomed he is. When Bella gets hurt because of him, first in Twilight and then in New Moon, he disappears in hopes of keeping her safe and hides all the presents he gave her (’leave no trace behind’). 

And you wanna scream Don't call me "kid," don't call me "baby" Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else Don't call me "kid," don't call me "baby" Look at this idiotic fool that you made me You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else

A dwindling mercurial high A drug that only worked the first few hundred times

And you know damn well For you, I would ruin myself A million little times

This part is Bella’s response. When he left, he took away this entire paranormal world he’d introduced her to (‘You taught me a secret language I can’t speak with anyone else’), leaving her to think she’s gone insane because not only has she lost the love of her life, all traces of an entire extra world have disappeared. She wants him to stop patronising her by saying she’ll move on like mortals do (’Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby, look at this godforsaken mess that you made me’). Desperate to get some sense that he’s still there, she starts doing risky stunts like motorbike racing and jumping off a cliff (’A dwindling mercurial high’). Like she told him in the meadow scene in the first book, she is willing to die for him, and we see in New Moon that he feels the same way (‘you know damn well / For you I would ruin myself, a million little times’). The only way for them to stay apart would’ve been to never meet in the first place.

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seven - Rosalie on her childhood friend Vera

Please picture me in the trees I hit my peak at seven Feet in the swing over the creek I was too scared to jump in But I, I was high in the sky With Pennsylvania under me Are there still beautiful things? Sweet tea in the summer Cross your heart, won't tell no other And though I can't recall your face I still got love for you Your braids like a pattern Love you to the Moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs The love lasts so long

Before I learned civility I used to scream ferociously Any time I wanted

Rosalie fondly recalls her human life and her best friend Vera, who had the normal life she never got. This ‘love lasts so long’ even though Vera is dead by now because Rosalie still remembers her, even if her human memories are fuzzy and she can’t necessarily ‘recall [her] face’. Also, Rosalie was always valued only for her beauty, but maybe she ‘hit [her] peak at seven’ because her beauty hadn’t yet started overshadowing her personhood and she was still able to ‘scream ferociously’ at that age instead of being the girl and young woman who had to learn ‘civility’ and be married off to a rich man.

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hoax - Bella in New Moon

My only one My smoking gun My eclipsed sun This has broken me down My twisted knife My sleepless night My winless fight This has frozen my ground Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason" Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in Don't want no other shade of blue but you No other sadness in the world would do  My best laid plan Your sleight of hand My barren land I am ash from your fire  You know I left a part of me back in New York You knew the hero died so what's the movie for? You knew it still hurts underneath my scars From when they pulled me apart

Bella’s ‘eclipsed sun’ has disappeared and left her ‘broken’, ‘sleepless’ and believing she has no way to win him back. She literally goes and stands on a ‘cliffside’ before jumping off just to see a hallucination of his face - Edward, a mythical creature, is the ‘only hoax she believes in’. Even though he’s hurt her and broken her heart, she ‘don’t want no other shade of blue but you’. He thinks he’s saving her from harm by leaving, but the scar from James still bothers her, i.e. his leaving cannot protect her as the damage has been done (’You know it still hurts underneath my scars’) and now Edward has just added emotional scars that ‘pulled [her] apart’ and left a gaping hole in her chest.

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peace - Edward & Bella in Breaking Dawn

I never had the courage of my convictions As long as danger is near And it’s just around the corner darlin Coz it lives in me No, I could never give you peace

Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

Throughout the series, Edward has been afraid to get too close to Bella for fear of hurting her (’danger is near’, ‘it lives in me’). Now he finally has to accept that she’s not going anywhere and value her choice. Even after he’s no longer a threat to her directly, their life is full of challenges like the Volturi. It’s impossible to guarantee her safety, and she doesn’t want him to - she wants to be in his world as an equal. He comes to terms with the fact that it’s okay if he can ‘never give [her] peace’.

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[jonismitchell]

hey arden. i was listening to maathp and i was looking for a post i liked a while back analyzing the song that i always meant to read but never did and couldn’t find it, so i was hoping you’d give your analysis of it when you can bc you’re one of the only people who will analyze one of her songs in a way that’s more in your own way and not the “this is what the song probably means to taylor” kind of way which i kinda hate that most swifties do 💖

Hello! I read this lying in bed and thought ‘hey, this is an awesome ask, but it’s 11pm so maybe I’ll answer in the morning,’ and then I got too swept up in thinking about Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. Now I’m up cranking out Taylor Swift analysis in the middle of the night, which is my preferred habit. (Thank you for your compliments on my specific style of analysis! I love looking critically at media and will aggressively take any opportunity to do so.)

The analysis is under the cut, because it is 1000+ words and I do not hate my mutuals. Hope you enjoy!

So, what is MAATHP about? In my opinion (a general disclaimer for this entire answer), this song is about political turmoil and an obsessive romance that anchors you through it. As a greater metaphor for the juvenile state of politics today, it’s set in a high school, which also links back to the idea of public perception being the most important thing and romantic love being all consuming. (Think Lorde’s ‘blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you, but we’re the greatest.’ That’s the vibe I get from this song.)

The first verse is as follows: You know I adore you / I’m crazier for you / Than I was at sixteen / Lost in a film scene / Waving homecoming queens / Marching band playing / I’m lost in the lights. She sets the stage for the song here: an obsessive love, a comparison to being a teenager, and specific allusions to typical American high schools. There’s a reminder of her early, Fearless-era work in the homecoming queens and marching bands, but the idea of being lost in public perception implies a darker edge than we’ve heard before.

* The ‘lights’ were formerly referenced as a context for public perception as ‘another name goes up in lights’ in The Lucky One. 

Swift continues with: American glory faded before me / Now I'm feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress / Running through rose thorns, I saw the scoreboard / And ran for my life  Quite a bit more to unpack here! The first obvious political association here is the idea of American glory fading (a reaction to the 2016 election, presumably). Our narrator destroys a standard symbol of ‘successful’ teenage years, the prom dress, in an extension on this theme. A conflict is introduced in these lines: a visual of escape, a view of the scoreboard (nice wordplay—could be a football game or a national election). 

Pre-chorus: No cameras catch my pageant smile / I counted days, I counted miles / To see you there, to see you there / It's been a long time coming, but We’re again looking at the idea of public perception with the pageant smile, which is associated with beauty pageants for young women but is in the song’s context an allusion to the very social nature of political campaigning. It’s reinforced with counting days and miles, as if on the campaign trail around the country, and sets up the complete clash of personal and political for the chorus.

It's you and me, that's my whole world / They whisper in the hallway, "She's a bad, bad girl" / The whole school is rolling fake dice The primary romance of the song—the idea that the world is such a disaster that this one person is your lifeline and your world throughout it. Despite the gossip typical to high school halls, the narrator holds onto the person they love and condemns the rest of the school as liars. (Fake dice to me means a presupposed set of outcomes that don’t actually exist, i.e. there are more choices than others appear to see. Could also be a reference to ‘fake news.’)

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes / It's you and me, there's nothing like this / Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince / We're so sad, we paint the town blue / Voted most likely to run away with you If you do something stupid, you have to accept the consequences for your actions = if you assume there are only a set number of outcomes, you force yourself into accepting the unpleasant result. (Maybe a bit too leftist for Swift’s intention, but this isn’t about her. Could also be ‘voting for Trump / not voting means you have to accept the consequences of his presidency.’) It’s in essence a condemnation of a narrow outlook. 

We’re drawn back to the romance that forms the backbone of this song; between someone so perfectly American (at least on the surface, conforming to the politically and socially acceptable views of the nations) that they are ‘Miss Americana’ and their lover, the ‘Heartbreak Prince’ here to ruin it all. Both of the lovers are disappointed with their society—unclear whether it’s the school or the country, probably deliberately—so they strike back for change (vote blue), but ultimately want to escape the world that has ostracized them and is actively burning down. 

My team is losing, battered and bruising / I see the high fives between the bad guys / Leave with my head hung, you are the only one / Who seems to care The second verse is pretty impressive to me from a lyrical standpoint. We can see the team as a high school’s home team or a political party, but either way they’re being fought against and beaten down. The opposition is fierce and cruel, the ‘bad guys’ who revel in their victory of cruelty. The narrator abandons this with a miserable look and her lover is the only one there to comfort her.

American stories burning before me / I'm feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed / Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? / Darling, I'm scared  The typical idea of America—good guys always win, a bootstraps / American dream narrative—is crashing before a narrator who’s held such a strong belief in it. Without the system, she doesn’t know what to do with herself, and sees this reflected in the people around her. The ‘damsels are depressed’ is a typical idea of the role women are meant to play changed by the mental health crisis. (I am extrapolating heavily, folks.) 

‘Boys will be boys’ is a play on locker room talk, the culture of misogyny and assault that plagues America beneath the veneer of glory, and Swift follows by writing ‘where are the wise men;’ a biblical allusion to the idea of singular people that can remedy the faults in the system. She finally reverts back to the lover to share her fear. 

No cameras catch my muffled cries / I counted days, I counted miles / To see you there, to see you there / And now the storm is coming, but We look again at the idea of public perception, a private love that outlasts the outcry in a similar way to Swift’s own ‘reputation.’ She discusses hiding from the ever-present storm (whether it be a debilitating political condition or a flurry of gossip within a high school) and holding onto that lover as a remedy for outward pain.

[Repeat of the chorus as above.]

And I don't want you to (Go) / I don't really wanna (Fight) / 'Cause nobody's gonna (Win), I think you should come home [repeated] And I'll never let you (Go) 'cause I know this is a (Fight) / That someday we're gonna (Win) This repetitive bridge, a play on a traditional cheerleader chant, highlights and contrasts the two settings in this song for a final time. The narrator displays brief hatred, reconciled to the idea of no change, and unwilling to lose her lover.  Soon after (in the typical fashion of young, passionate people), there is a minute belief in the idea that the battle (against another school or political party) can be won, that it is worth sticking your neck out for, and that the narrator becomes willing to sacrifice their lover for. 

It’s in this vein that the song ends with the ‘she’s a bad, bad girl’ line repeated; now symbolizing the willingness of the narrator to sacrifice themselves and their lover for a victory they fervently believe in. This 180, incidentally, is what makes the song less convincing for me—the desperation for escape turning to a preparation to be villainized—but I hope this analysis was interesting and helped you form some of your own conclusions.

[borisbubbles]

13. LATVIA

Samanta Tina - “Still breathing”

THOUGHT I’D NEVER GET UP?

THOUGHT I GONNA GIVE UP?

LOST IN MY WAYS

MANY TIMES BETWEEN

BUTT STEEL BREEDIN’

I’M STEEL BREEDIN’

NOTHIN’ TO REGRET

NEVER LOOKIN’ BACK

Song Analysis

Apparently 13th is the highest my conscience will let me rank “Still breathing” because LMFAO this song is AWFFFFULLLLL. 

Is this take a surprise? Let’s be honest. Samanta Tina does NOT do good quality music, babes. Samanta Tina does whatever the fuck Samanta Tina wants and we... well some of us love her for it I suppose, but I mostly just look at her works, ye mighty and despair. 

So of course when she showed up in Supernova, I was obviously extremely cautious because ‘Cutting the wire’ was so woeful it gave me fucking night terrors. But it looked like she was co-operating with Aminata, so maybe she could channel pure Aiste Pilvelyte and erupt in an outcry of I’M LIKE VVOOLF.

Except, SURPRISE  Aminata was merely the lyricist and Samanta composed the instrumentation herself: A literal chain of camel farts and klaxon noises that served as an amplifier for Samanta Polakova, Feminist Extra-Ordinaire PATHOLOGICAL NARCISSIST SAMANTA DEMON. 😍😍😍😍😍 Lmfao at the entire “female empowerment angle” btw. “Still Breathing” empowers exactly one woman, and that’s Samanta herself . The song’s actual purpose is to give a subtle middle finger to the country that spat her out at least seven times, but she obviously can’t say that out loud so she quickly created some pseudofeminist narrative to cover it up <3

Then 2020′s signature Freak Factor struck and  she won Supernova when her international fans hijacked the internet vote. It totally caught me off-guard, like, Samanta is going to Eurovision? “Do I actually have to... rank this piece of shit song and analyze her chances in earnest?” 🙄 “At least she’s amusingly shit, I guess”

As we all know, most ironic love eventually becomes unironic. I can’t exactly pinpoint when it clicked for me, so I’ll just post the lot of them. SAMANTA GIFS INCOMING:

THE KRUMPING

THE POSTURING

THE WHATEVER THIS IS.

MARVEL UPON HER CRAZY-EYED DESPERATION

BECAUSE SHE’S GONNA BLOOOOOOOOOOOW

LOOKING FOR THE STARS CUZ YOU KNOW I’M GETTING CLOSER LIFE IS MUSIC ~I aM a CoMpOsUr~

Samanta Tina may be famewhore deluxe, but by Daði she does not give A SINGLE FLYING FUCK what people think about her, as long as she gets to do whatever it is she wants to do, and gets to do it in front of as many people as possible. <3 She’s the type of narcista who pursues attention not because she thinks she’s better than everyone else, but because she wants to be an inspiration in the lives of as many people as possible. 💫 

In sum, I love Samanta for her fucking Samantaness, and since “Steel breeding” is the most evocative of her signature components (defeaning loudness, palpable egocentrism, pretentious locomotion, insane asylum energy), I am obliged to love it too by default. 😍

Europe had better be ready because A BLOOD MOON WILL BE RISING and... omg 😍 I cannot wait to get to ranking that, somewhere near the end of April 2022. (lol I realize this post will go online AFTER ‘The moon is rising’ has been released but can’t be bothered changing it, chickens!!)

NF CORNER

Supernova 2020 really feels like an EXTREMELY distant memory that I only have vague recollections on, so I suppose I’ll cover the three entries I can remember liking?

MADARA - “Maras Zeme”

EPIC HIPPIE QUEEN <3333333 I had completely forgotten that 2020 had a few CRAZY ASS environmental fundie anthems, channelling pure Greta Thunberg from every orfice. “Maras Zeme” is less insane than some of the other green garbo ahead of us (“Pich” 😍  “La-Ley-La” 😍), but Madara suddenly swerving into English, lecturing us on how MOTHER HAS CARED FOR US is a fucking wig-snatching moment that should have earned her a spot in the finale line-up WTF!!!

Katrina Dimanta  - “Heart beats”

The cute chubby member of Aarzemnieki showing up in a folk version of Emiliana Torrini’s “Jungle drum” 😍 and of course Katrina effortlessly won the Latvian-exclusive televote because Latvia were *never* picking Samanta without her crazed stans hijacking the app vote. 😍

ANNNA - “Polyester”

Samanta almost completely passed me by in Supernova because I was (and still am!) a committed member of #TeamPolyester. Socially-conscieous Dutch queen with an anti-sweatshop anthem. 😍  And despite the obvious gimmick subject, surprisingly competent too as a standalone indie song? Let the Annna gifs commence:

SO PRETTY! NO PITY!

TEE SHIRTS IN ALL THE COLOURS NEED MORE WHAT WILL I WEAR NEXT SUMMER?

NEED MORE, FANTASIZE,  HEY NEXT SEASON TIME TO BUY

FREAKY! FRIDAY! FACTOR!

The ‘Samanta Tina Tale of Many NF Fails’ is something I would LOVE to recap now, but given that another Samanta write-up is inbound for April, I’d rather wait until then, lol. However, I do love how Samanta’s 37 participations in Supernova, Dziesma and Eurovizijos Atranka, made her enough of a cult fave to win a Supernova which was not only set up for her to win, but she would have LOST had it not been for the internet vote. 😍 Add in the inherent Samantaness of her being, and you have a serve of High Adrenaleen:

Score: 5 Senhits out of five. 

[fwoopersongs]

何必诗债换酒钱 - Notes

Clean version here and thoughts under the cut.

I saw the song translation notes made by @shelterfromrain​ a while back and thought, wow! what a fantastic idea it is to share the results of the rabbit holing (that you inevitably end up engaging in when doing this) and leave a record for your future self while at it too! Currently some of the song and poetry translations on fwoopersongs do have little notes, but those were casually written on the fly and after so long, the thought process behind certain choices often get forgotten, which is such a waste... Long story short - I’m doing it this way from now on!

This song was requested by @peerlesssqq on twitter - which may or may not have bumped it up by like a year on my list (yes, I’ve been sitting on it since 2018 and you’ll see why) - and I had WAY more fun than expected, so 谢啦 ~ It was a delight to receive your DM request. I was happy for days!

Some background: 《何必诗债换酒钱》 is the theme song of 【文定乾坤】- a collection of musical works that feature notable contributors to Chinese literature in ancient times, poets and the like. Oh, and I did notice that the MV on bilibili looks like it could be a promo for a webtoon or game. Who knows? I’ll be checking out the rest of the songs, that’s for sure!

The following part of this post will be my thoughts for first the title, then each section - the intro, verse 1 & 2 and the chorus, ending off with some final comments.

Disclaimer first though (otherwise later you read already then feel like beating me up): Everything in this post is only my interpretation of the song. I have quite limited familiarity with mainland literature and culture, so of course don’t expect much xD Here you’ll only find a story-loving banana who jiak-ed kantang too much in her youth and now regrets it a whole lot. 说好了哈 I’m pants at analysis, worse at Chinese, and am not at all good with words ok?

Title

So《何必诗债换酒钱》, let’s start off with the word here that’s unfamiliar to most of us:

诗债 | shī zhài or a debt of poems/poetry debt is a legit thing! - All you authors and artists out there might be familiar with it - It’s what you call the resulting debt when a poet promises to write something for another person but hasn’t done it yet. Procrastination has apparently always been the curse of content creators.

In fact, in the Bai Juyi’s poem that came up on the 诗债 baidu page《晚春欲携酒寻沉四著作先以六韵寄之》- possibly addressed to a friend he owes - he was complaining of illness, old age and writer’s block. But then oh, he goes on and then I passed by a party where they had drinks, and was quite up to my gills & totally out of it for some time, and THAT’S why I’ve done you dirty and owe you ever so many poems. I don’t really understand the last two lines but apparently he then offers to bring a drink for this person he’s talking to, mentions a wish to meet a winter goddess (????? pretty girl? or the snow? idk which), and starts reminiscing the times that were like a precious string of pearls they had singing at Yang Pass. Most likely farewells, but without context I just don’t get it. Anyway bribery and misdirection huh? I see what you did there bro, and I’m sure the person you attempted to distract saw it coming too...

何必 | hé bì, is a rhetorical question of Must you really? In the case of this word, 何 functions as roughly ‘is it that’ and 必 as ‘it must be so’.

换酒钱 | huàn jiǔ qián is of course, exchange for money to purchase wine.

‘Must you really promise poems in exchange for money to buy wine?’ then is the literal translation of 何必诗债换酒钱.

So here is the question: Is alcohol worth a poetry debt? Onwards to the answer!

Intro

生就诗骨 算来三百篇  Born and already a poet to the bones, (with) three hundred works counting up to now. 

浪掷秦淮长安 风流李杜王白  Spending lavishly in Qinhuai and Chang’an, free/unrestrained as Li and Du, Wang and Bai;

余下十分 便随意肩上担  whatever left is divided in ten parts, casually thrown over a shoulder

权作金玉铜板 相谢好人间  and taken for jade, gold and coin, a big thank you to this good world!

I interpreted the 生 in the first line as 天生 i.e. innate, natural born talent, so this first line describes someone born with a gift for poetry with ‘three hundred’ works to their name. Although... that three hundred should not be taken too literally, it’s more likely to be an allusion to collected works like the 16th century anthology of poems, Three Hundred Tang Poems. After all, Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei and Bai Juyi are the most famous Tang Dynasty poets… and they were all name-dropped in the next line!

浪掷 | làng zhì was a new phrase for me, and means something like spending freely and lavishly or willfully wasted. Of course Chang’an was the capital during the Tang Dynasty and it was the world's most populous city at the time. One can only imagine how prosperous it must have been… and what fun things were there to spend your money on! The banks of Qinhuai river and that general area was once a gathering place for noble/wealthy families, scholars looking for a good time (and some say, the red light district xD). Though by Sui/Tang, that area was no longer doing as well due to political shifts. So the mental image I got from 浪掷秦淮长安 is of someone gallivanting through places of interest, from the bustling and prosperous to the dilapidated.

风流 | fēng liú is as always, hard to translate with no full equivalent in english. The feel it gives me ranges from, ‘cool, dashing bloke on a galloping horse with their cloak/robes/hair flowing elegantly in the wind’ to ‘pleasure seeking dandy who totally knows how to enjoy life, all the courtesans know him by courtesy name!’.

The third line started with 余下十分, which will not make any sense - why leftover? Divide what by ten? - until its put in context with the following:

Three hundred poems 算来三百篇 + 权作金玉铜板 pretend they are gold/jade/money (权作 | quán zuò just means to take one thing for another temporarily.)

The load thrown over the shoulder 肩上担

Spendthrift behaviour on tour 浪掷秦淮长安

The TITLE: bro so u wanna promise poetry in exchange for money to drink? why.

Let’s take those precious poems that can be exchanged for gold - a whole bagful of scrolls, and now I’m so rich I can scatter my money down the streets of entertainment districts and the capital! The very image of a 风流 poet, reckless and free spirited.

// Folks, please learn from this silly girl and do not read songs (or poems) line by line. They need to be appreciated at a distance, not one inch from your eyeballs.

Verse 1

两分与月 劳烦身前打点 Two parts to the moon, (may I) trouble you to take care of me while I’m alive.

哪处巍峨峰峦 当借我悬来观 Wherever there are majestic peaks and ranges, do lend me (your light) to hang and see by.

三分典高楼 好与长风赴宴 Three parts pawned for the tall building, good for attending the banquet alongside the wind,

遍寻可爱星子 唾手一把玩 searching for charming little stars, easily caught to play with.

Now we get to see how the poet is spending his ‘wealth’. This verse is a lot more literal as compared to the introduction, so there’s not much to say.

打点 used here is so interesting! Because it’s what you call bribing someone in a superior position to smoothen your path ahead (so to speak). Thanks to a childhood of tvb drama, I vaguely associate the type of people who would 打点 with rich merchant or minor noble fathers who want to give their sons an easier time at court. Either that or lower ranked officials with less moral scruples. Anyway, what’s being said in the song is something like: here is 20% dear moon, I’ll have to trouble you to bless me for the rest of this lifetime, and also please lend me your light to see by when I have need of it at scenic spots *for art*. The moon is a muse for many poets in all its forms after all… 明月, 圆月, 孤月, 残月, 冷月, 江月, 秋月 and so on.

Actually that whole sentence 劳烦身前打点 is so playful and fun that I put it in quotation marks to emphasize it. We’ve only just begun. Is the speaker already drunk?

And with the third line, 30% has been spent. Just noting here that 典 | diǎn can be read as pawn or mortgage. Another interesting thing to note would be that this imagery of ascending a tall building 高楼 and reaching out for stars 星子 in the last two lines of Verse 1 brings to mind one particular poem, famously attributed to Li Bai. Following translation by yours truly.

《夜宿山寺》- Overnight at the Mountain Temple 危楼高百尺 | dangerously towering a hundred feet high 手可摘星辰 | the stars are within reach 不敢高声语 | one dares not raise their voice 恐惊天上人 | for fear of disturbing the deities

Though the two probably have nothing to do with each other, doesn’t the reverence in the tone of this one bring out the playful irreverence of the other? So. Much. Fun. I adore the whole feel of 遍寻可爱星子 唾手一把玩 SO MUCH.

Verse 2

两分与桥 歇脚南北行船 Two parts to the bridge where travellers on foot and by boat from the north and south can rest,

欣然八方风物 闲话半日茶碗 delighted by the scenery all around, idly chatting half the day away over bowls of tea.

三分典流水 润色枯瘦石山 Three parts for the running water, moistening the gaunt stone mountains

又将天地一展 伸手 试浓淡 and again spreading heaven and earth wide, reaching out to test the viscosity (of the water).

It took a few listens, but in the end I really enjoyed the aesthetics here. And again, this verse is quite straight to the point albeit with two things I cannot understand.

The first point of confusion for me is why the lyricist chose to use 桥 | qiáo, a bridge as the place for people to rest on their journeys. I assumed here that this in reference to a pier or dock, assumed also that he is donating funds for this structure to be built or repaired. However, if that were the case 坞 | wù would have been enough - 船坞 was supposedly invented only in the Song Dynasty though, so maybe that’s why another word was chosen. But it’s not like there is any incidence of 桥 being used to mean ‘dock’ either!

The second thing that confuses me is the use of 典 for 流水. In verse one, that 典 was referring to the poetry works sold to reserve the venue for a banquet. That usage was apt. Here I suspect it might be for parallel structure, because there is no alternative reading for 典 that might allow one to use their 30% 三分 to do anything to flowing water 流水. That’s the literal reading, of course.

If we’re taking this a little less literally, it can be interpreted as borrowing the scenery (figuratively, since the place would not belong to anyone in the way you might own a property) to admire. It also expands on the second line’s mention of the surrounding view 欣然八方风物; there is running water which completes 润色 and brings the appearance of the gaunt and rocky mountains 枯瘦石山 closer to perfection.

润色 | rùn sè means to polish, to bring to greater heights. When you say something has been 润色 it is made more brilliant and closer to perfection by that addition. It can also mean moisten.

We always hear ‘rivers and mountains like a painting’ 江山如画 - originating from Su Dongpo’s《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》- used when the scenery is wonderful, because how often is real life as ideal as what we can imagine and depict? And that is exactly what is described here. The feeling out if the ‘water’ is concentrated or diluted 试浓淡 is used in answer to 一展 unfurling. 浓淡 of ink to 一展 of painting scroll. The land and sky seem like an ink wash painting, so beautiful that the viewer cannot help but reach out to run their hand through the water.

Chorus

Chorus Part 1

若趁游兴直到酣 If we take advantage of our wanderlust and go roaming till it is sated,

千字文章不值钱 classics and essays shan’t be worth a coin.

诗换花 词换雪 A poem for a flower! A song for snow!

再作檄文斗天官 Another denunciation for those heavenly officials!

Starting off with three new terms for me: 游兴 | yóu xìng means enthusiasm for travel. 酣 | hān can mean having a great time drinking, or being very satisfied and satiated. 檄文 | xí wén is a type of official document written for important announcements, declaration of war, or denunciation and condemnation of certain people or actions.

While I still feel this need to go out to see the world, I shall keep on the road until I am satisfied. Who cares about writing, who cares for study, it’s all worthless to me. I do what I want. And what I want is to write a little poem in exchange for a flower, some lyrics for a flake of snow. I’ll even write a denunciation against those officials in heaven (immortals). Fight me!!!!

I point again at Verse 1 with climbing the tower to play with stars. It’s no longer just playing nearby, now he wants a go at the gods.

Among the four parts of the chorus, this one is the simplest for sure. The lines mean exactly what is said. It also feels the most chaotic and mischievous. Is the speaker drunk? Is he high on something? One thing’s for sure. He’s out of money.

Chorus Part 2

何愁不得一样我 Why feel troubled that (I) cannot have another just like me?

知交尽向话中添 for one who understands you and is understood, look entirely towards stories to fill that place

唐解元 嵇中散 people like Tang Bohu (first in provincial examinations) and proud, upright and stubborn Ji Kang

且驰大梦任疯癫 Just chase that great dream, allow yourself to go mad.

I feel like the first two lines are quite straightforward, though they might not appear so on first reading: How could there be a need to feel sad or troubled that I have no like-minded equal. To find a true friend who understands you without need for words, and whom you understand in return, all you need to do is turn to those tales and stories 话中 for people to fill 添 that place.

唐解元 - People like Tang Yin, courtesy name: Bohu 唐寅, 字伯虎 (1470–1524 AD), noted painter, calligrapher and poet of the Ming Dynasty. Tang Yin led a life full of ups and downs that really cannot be covered in a paragraph’s worth of song translation notes. You can check out his wiki page if you’re curious though! There’s a little more on him where I cover the last line of this section. He is addressed as 解元 | jiè yuán here which is the term for the top scorer of the provincial examinations (second stage in the Imperial examination ladder). It is also an honorific for scholars. Tang Bohu is both.

嵇中散 - People like Ji Kang, courtesy name: Shuye 嵇康, 字叔夜, (223–262 AD), one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove - a group of friends who wisely kept themselves aloof from the dangerous politics of the Court, and devoted themselves to art, refinement and debate, of the Three Kingdoms period. He was a Daoist philosopher, musician, writer and poet.  

An accomplished musician, the qin composition 廣凌散 | guǎnglíng sàn is attributed to Ji Kang, though some versions of the story claim he learned it from a ghost while stopping at a pavillion on his way home. 嵇中散 was one of the names he was known by because of his appointment to the position of Attendant Counsellor, 中散大夫 | zhōng sàn dàfū, a civil official unspecified duties in the court of Cao Wei.

When Ji Kang was sentenced to death for his attempt to testify for a wrongly accused friend, three thousand scholars petitioned for his pardon to no avail. It’s said that at the execution ground, while they waited for the appointed hour, he had his favourite qin brought out and played a brilliant interpretation of Guanglin San that is now forever lost.

Do go read about them both if you have the time!

I would like to point out for the last line that 任 is to allow, to indulge, and it’s just such a heady sensation to say 任疯癫 - indulge in the madness! throw yourself in and don’t look back!

There is an easter egg here too. A nod to a poem by Tang Yin which can be read as his stance on his lifestyle choice after the alleged accusations of bribery in the final step of the Imperial examinations left him disgraced, and unable to pursue a civil career. Thematically the line does not call back to the poem at all, similarities end with the choice of words: chasing the dream 驰大梦 and indulging madness 任疯癫.  I leave an excerpt below. Translation again by me.

《桃花庵歌》- Song of a Plum Blossom Cottage // 若将花酒比车马 | if tawdriness and wine were compared against fine carriage and steed 他得驱驰我得闲 | he would have to drive and work hard for speed whilst I have my idle rest 别人笑我太疯癫 | others mock me for my madness 我笑他人看不穿 | i am amused for they do not perceive 不见五陵豪杰墓 | can’t you see that at the Emperors’ mausoleums and heroes’ graves 无花无酒锄做田 | there are no flowers, no wine, only land ploughed for farming

The second part of the chorus isn’t related to the first, but it has the same theme of showcasing the untamable (unhinged xD) spirit of the speaker. This time, the people he admires ‘intellectual equals’ and kindred spirits are featured, the 任性 feeling here has been pushed to greater heights.

Chorus Part 3

敢夸洒落何须酒 If one dares to boast of carefreeness, why, they hardly need wine.

不煮黄粱也称仙 Even without brewing millet they would still be called Immortal.

镜湖桌 白梅盏 The tables in the mirror-like lake, white plum blossoms in the cups,

等来春风恰开宴 await the spring breeze which arrives just in time for the feast to start!

Li Bai is regarded as both the god of poetry 诗仙 and god of drunkards wine 酒仙 because he wrote some of his greatest poems while drinking. The first two lines seem to be gently poking fun at that. Like hey, if you dare to claim to be all groovy, surely you have no need for alcohol? Just like how an immortal would still be an immortal without wine, your writing talent should not need any stimulants. This would be the time to mention that 黄粱 | huáng liáng is also known as millet, a type of grain that can be used to brew wine.

���落 | sǎ luò has a few meanings, like shower down or blame, but the relevant one here would be 洒脱 generous, uninhibited and open. For me it feels similar to 风流 in that there is that ‘free, and exhilaratingly unrestrained’ element. 洒落 is in the most positive sense, being always open to having a good time, but without that dissolute or vaguely whirlwind-romance like connotation of 风流.

It feels like the intensity is letting up a little here - this is a light-hearted and frivolous song all the way through, but the words 洒落, 称仙 and imagery of a clear lake, white plum blossoms and the crisp spring breeze are grounding and sweet. Spirited in a different way from before.

Chorus Part 4

四角天地也醺然 The four corners and heaven and earth are also tipsy,

醉极自有桃李搀 when I’ve overindulged, my students will be there to help.

快意只 笔下讨 Gratification can only be claimed from beneath the brush;

何必诗债换酒钱 is falling into poetry debt worth that money for drink?

New words: 醺然 | xūn rán just means drunk. A new word for me though! 桃李 | táo lǐ is literally peach 桃 and plum 李 (李花, also known as 玉梅) flowers, and is a metaphor for students. The term originates from a story in 《韩诗外传》which was set in the Wei Kingdom of the Spring and Autumn period (771 to 476 BCE). There was once a highly ranked official who was sacked from his post and left for the north. He met another gentleman and remarked that the people he helped before did not lift a finger when he was in need. This person replied that, if someone were to plant peach and plum trees in spring, he could relax under their shade in the Summer and taste their fruit in the Autumn. But if that person were to plant weeds, nothing can be done with their leaves in Spring and there would only be burrs to hurt himself on in Autumn. Clearly the people the unfortunate gentlemen had helped before were not worth his effort. Students ought to be carefully selected and carefully cultivated as one would a tree.

Reading the four corners and heaven and earth 四角天地 are also tipsy 也醺然, I imagine the world sort of spinning around the speaker because he is drunk. But that’s okay, because his students (or the trees xD) will be there to support him.

快意 | kuài yì is the feeling of sudden relaxation, and then lightheartedness and joy. In this line, I felt like the intention would be closer to 畅快，爽快 and so chose gratification, because really writing is like scratching an itch isn’t it? Pleasure from satisfaction of a desire. Phrasing it as 笔下讨 is so very fitting though, because 讨 can be interpreted - somewhat contradicting - as either to demand or to beg. What could be more gratifying than having squeezed out the perfect sentence or word under your figurative pen?

So so so after all that, 何必诗债换酒钱? What do you think, is alcohol worth the poetry debt? Is Mr. Poet actually drunk and about to dig himself a deeper hole of owed poems to get even MORE drunk, or has he just been thinking about it all along? :)

Thoughts

This has been such a fun adventure following our madcap big spender from the shining Chang’an to the inviting Qinhuai, shadow of great poets in tow and all. We’ve done everything from talking to the moon and seeing the sights by her light, to boating down a river, dragging fingers through the water. It was sort of like being on a backpacking tour, except with with someone contemplating opening (or perhaps regretting opening this can of worms?) poetry commissions instead of singing in the streets?

Dear reader, if you’ve reached this point of my post, thank you. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do now!

[amwritesitall]

Sarah Paulson AHS Characters as Hozier Songs

Masterlist

The gif is from the From Eden video

And yes you read the title correctly. This is a shit post because I’ve been listening to A LOT of Hozier as I write this week. I’m posting this as a second post for the day because I thought a lot of people wouldn’t like this so... 

If I was feeling particularly inspired some characters got multiple songs. Not favoritism just my brain grooving. I vibed so hard with this post, but some of my reasoning is most likely very off because I’m definitely writing this from 1 am to 3:45 am. Probably will do another one similar to this with another artist though

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Billie Dean Howard

“Work Song”

There's nothin' sweeter than my baby I'd never want once from the cherry tree 'Cause my baby's sweet as can be She give me toothaches just from kissin' me

When, my, time comes around Lay me gently in the cold dark earth No grave can hold my body down I'll crawl home to her 

Lady killer Billie Dean. This makes me think of how Billie would be in a relationship, loving intensely. You know no grave could keep Billie Dean from her lover.

“Talk”

I won't deny I've got in my mind now  All the things I would do So I try to talk refined for fear that you find out  How I'm imaginin' you

I'd be the last shred of truth In the lost myth of true love  I'd be the sweet feeling of release Mankind now dreams of 

I might be crazy, but this song feels sexual with the “I won’t deny I’ve got in my mind now all the things I would do.” Billie is a lady killer. She’s got many of these thoughts going through her head. I don’t know. This song just gave me Billie vibes.

Lana Winters

“Take Me to Church”

My church offers no absolutes She tells me "Worship in the bedroom" The only Heaven I'll be sent to Is when I'm alone with you I was born sick, but I love it Command me to be well

Probably a cliche, but if the shoe fits. I stand by my decision. This also fits perfectly into the setting of the season. Prime repressed homosexuality in the 60s. Lana Winters grew up in with an environment, inside and outside of the church, that told her the love she felt was wrong. No wonder the woman isn’t religious.

“No Plan”

My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand It's how I know now that you understand

There's no plan, there's no race to be run The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun There's no plan, there's no kingdom to come I'll be your man if you got love to get done Sit in and watch the sunlight fade Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late There's no plan, there's no hand on the rein As Mack explained, there will be darkness again

My reasoning for “Take Me to Church” applies to this song as well. Lana isn’t a religious person. She probably doesn’t believe in any sort of after life, so she would want to make the most out of the love she has now. She will love hard while she can.

Cordelia Goode

“From Eden”

Babe There's something tragic about you Something so magic about you Don't you agree?

Honey, you're familiar, like my mirror years ago Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on his sword Innocence died screaming; honey, ask me, I should know I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door

I feel like this song represents Coven Cordelia. This is Cordelia before she’s found her confidence. She’s struggling with finding herself, but she’s still drawing whoever the significant other in. Cordelia is an alluring, complex woman.

“NFWMB”

If I was born as a blackthorn tree I'd wanna be felled by you Held by you Fuel the pyre of your enemies

Nothing fucks with my baby Nothing can get a look in on my baby Nothing fucks with my baby

This has mad Apocalypse Cordelia vibes. I will fight anyone who disagrees. Cordelia is a bad ass bitch. The narrator would be the one describing Cordelia. Apocalypse Cordelia is intense as hell. No one can fuck with her. I wish I had a more in depth analysis for you, but it’s hard for me to explain it.

Bette and Dot Tattler 

“Like Real People Do”

I will not ask you where you came from I will not ask and neither should you Honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips We should just kiss like real people do 

These gals just want a love “like real people.” They have been outcasts their whole life, so they want a love one day that is just like the love everyone else has.

Sally McKenna

“Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene”

Freshly disowned in some frozen devotion No more alone or myself could I be Lurched like a stray to the arms that were open No shortage of sordid, no protest from me

With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene

This could also be seen as a stereotype, but there’s a deeper meaning to this selection. Sally herself at times can be addictive like the drugs she was addicted to. She draws people in. 

“Sedated”

Any way To distract and sedate Adding shadows To the walls of the cave

You and I, nursing on a Poison that never stung Our teeth and lungs are lined With the scum of it

Another cliche pick since this one also involves drugs. However, I can elaborate further. Sally is dead. Sally wants to feel something and distract from her monotonous life in the Cortez. Drugs were an outlet before she was dead and before she got into social media, it was still an outlet even when she was dead.

“It Will Come Back”

Don't let it in with no intention to keep it Jesus Christ, don't be kind to it Honey, don't feed it, it will come back You know better, babe, you know better, babe Than to smile at me, smile at me like that You know better babe, you know better babe Than to hold me just, hold me just like that I know who I am when I'm alone I'm something else when I see you You don't understand, you should never know How easy you are to need

This one isn’t about drugs! To me, this song seems to describe how Sally loves. Once Sally loves you, you better not try to pull away. We’ve seen how she can be a possessive and intense and this song portrays that.

Audrey Tindall

“Would That I”

True that I saw her hair like the branch of a tree A willow dancing on air before covering me Under cotton and calicoes Over canopy dappled long ago True that love in withdrawal was the weepin' of me

With the roar of the fire, my heart rose to its feet Like the ashes of ash, I saw rise in the heat Settled soft and as pure as snow I fell in love with the fire long ago

For some reason this song just makes me think of Audrey? It was hard to find songs to fit her, but this one felt like it fit her vibe. I also feel like Audrey hasn’t always had smooth sailing with her love life. No matter how intense the love has been, it seems that it doesn’t stick.

“Shrike”

I'd no idea on what ground I was founded All of that goodness is going with you now Then when I met you, my virtues uncounted All of my goodness is going with you now

This song fits the reason why I picked the other song for Audrey. It’s about love that wasn’t fully appreciated until it was gone. This could definitely fit with her losing Rory so soon into their marriage and like I said earlier, I feel like Audrey has had a troublesome love life that has left her self conscious of herself in relationships, especially when it comes to her age.

Ally Mayfair-Richards

“To Be Alone”

Never feel too good in crowds With folks around, when they're playing The anthems of rape culture loud Crude and proud, creatures baying All I've ever done is hide From our times, when you're near me Honey, when you kill the lights and kiss my eyes I feel like a person for a moment of my life

This gives me big post-Ivy vibes for Ally. Like end of the season baddie Ally. This is Ally once she has found someone to love again, shown in the last four lines. She’s changed to a more confident woman, but it’s helpful to have someone there to support her. She is finally loved fully. I also feel like the first four lines fit her personality and beliefs as well.

Wilhemina Venable

“Wasteland, Baby!”

Wasteland, baby I'm in love, I'm in love with you And I love too, that love soon might end Be known in its aching Shown in the shaking Lately of my wasteland, baby Be still, my indelible friend, you are unbreaking Though quaking, though crazy That's just wasteland, baby

I’m not picking this one solely because it’s about a wasteland like the setting of season eight. I also feels like this could describe Mina’s insecurity with love as well and how she’s worried her significant other would leave. Love is scary for her and in my head this kind of describes it.

“Cherry Wine”

Her fight and fury is fiery Oh, but she loves Like sleep to the freezing Sweet and right and merciful, I'm all but washed In the tide of her breathing

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

I feel like this song describes Mina’s tough exterior, but the intensity of her love. I think she would be a bit hot and cold with a lover at first and I feel that this song captures that. At first I pictured this song for Billie Dean until I read the lyrics and they screamed Venable.

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