#maybe I should do a lyric analysis of this for fun

[ramblinguitar]

This has to be one of my favorite songs Chris sang on

“And when it’s my time

To throw the next stone

I’ll call you beautiful

If I call at all…”

Like, that bit of lyric right there? Man. Is that deep.

[dysfunctionalupsidedown]

An Analysis Of "STurn": My Turn

Hello, everyone! This is my first real post/analysis of anything Stranger Things related, so please keep that in mind while reading. I'm sure there are quite a few analyses about this playlist already (I'm definitely late to the party,) but I still wanted to add my two cents.

Feel free to let me know if any information I've provided is incorrect. My main source is Genius.com, which isn't at all the most reliable; even still, it'll help to give a clearer picture of each track's meaning and how the general public (which includes Finn) interprets them. I'm attempting to go by what I think Finn's intentions were.

Also, don't forget that this analysis was done under the assumption that the "STurn" playlist is a somewhat play-by-play outline of how specifically Mike Wheeler's S5 arcs might happen. The playlist could be entirely unrelated to ST5. It could be related to all the characters and arcs in ST5. It could be out of order, or based on vibes -- We really have no way of knowing until the full season comes out.

Finally, I tried my best to keep the analysis somewhat objective and reasonable, and I hope I've at least partly succeeded. This is all in good fun, in the end. Now that I've finished housekeeping, please enjoy my thoughts and feel free to chime in with your ideas in the comments! I'm always open to changing my perspective.

1. Ballad of the Texas King

Let's begin! This song starts with the lyrics, "No one saw / Nothing at all, no law was there to fight / All dressed down / Walkin' out in the California night". I believe this is a more surface-level vibe-setting song, considering where Mike ended in S4. It may also imply that the start of S5 begins where S4 left off. A lot of car imagery is also present throughout, which was a big part of Mike's S4 journey.

There are ideas of being separated as well, with lyrics like "My heart won't beat / 'Til we meet again together". This may allude to Mike's feelings towards the end of S4, having been separated from Hawkins/his family.

2. What You're Doing - Remastered 2009

Genius.com claims this song was written about Paul McCartney's then-rocky relationship at the time. The lyrics make this very clear, so there's really no alternate angle from which I can read. Let me know in the comments if you interpreted it differently.

In specific, the lyrics "You got me running / And there's no fun in it / Why should it be so much to ask of you / What you're doing to me?", "Please stop your lying / You got me crying, girl", and "I've been waiting here for you / Wondering what you're gonna do / And should you need a love that's true / It's me" really intrigue me. This could refer to Mike's relationship.

The song suggests that the partner may be withdrawing in multiple ways, with the singer grieving over it and attempting to prove their love. El may be starting to distance herself, and Mike could be struggling with it. At the end of S4, El was understandably focused on her failure, to the point where she hadn't really spoken to Mike in the days following it.

I don't think it would be surprising if everything was too much and she ends up pushing herself away from him. I wouldn't say it's implying a break-up, but maybe distancing issues.

3. After The Earthquake

Again, it's pretty surface-level in the beginning. There was a devastating earthquake in-universe, which supports the theory that "STurn" connects to ST5 in some way. The song tells a story, though, and I recommend looking up it's inspiration.

Despite the choice seeming surface-level at first, After The Earthquake may be implying more for Mike in ST5. Genius.com's contributors interpret the song's narrative as, "[Molly Rankin applying the] concept of post-catastrophe clarity to a couple that got into a major disagreement before one of them falls into a coma from a car crash... In a metaphorical sense, [the song] could describe a more mild situation in which Rankin must put their conflict on hold because something more important turns up." I don't think it's too far-fetched to say that Finn picked up on this. The idea of a disagreeing couple and coma is also prevalent in ST, but like I said in the beginning, I'm going to try to connect these songs to Mike Wheeler specifically.

Although this may be me reading too deeply into it, the metaphorical meaning of the track pairs pretty well with the implications of What You're Doing. It also fits in well narratively, considering that more important things are happening aside from the drama -- the earthquake being one of them. Mike could be putting all of his current issues (internal-conflict-related, relationship, or otherwise) on hold for the moment. He continues to struggle with suppressing his problems later on in the playlist, as well.

4. Promises I've Made

This song is about mourning a lost or ex-lover. The opening lyrics, "Ever since you have gone, the days don't seem so bright / And I wish I could forget you but I can't / Ever since you have gone, I haven't felt quite right / And I promised I'd forget all that you meant" address this quite directly.

At this point, it's possible that Mike has either been broken up with or the pair have gone their separate ways for some reason. It wouldn't be too crazy to say something like that will occur and he'll grieve it, keeping in mind that one of Mike's main fears is losing El. I just don't know why they'd continue to make it the subject of conflict in S5 (unless it hasn't been fully resolved yet.)

Physical distance between the two also makes sense when considering that Mike is, supposedly, teaming up with other characters next season. Personally, I'm leaning slightly more towards a break-up because of what the previous songs have set up, but, ultimately, it's up to interpretation. It's possible they've just been physically distanced while in a bad spot.

5. Angst In My Pants

This song is about a person attempting to be someone they're not, suppressing who they really are, and it ultimately leading to dissatisfaction. The lyrics, "You can dress nautical / Learn to tie knots / Take lots of Dramamine / Out on your yacht" describe a faux lifestyle one lives that only serves to hurt them in the end: The idea of putting on a self-harming persona. This could be what Mike is going through in S5, and his teased wardrobe change from S4 supports this.

The lyrics, "I hope it doesn't show / It'll go away / It's just a passing phase / It'll go away" and, "I hope it doesn't show / It'll go 'way / Give it a hundred years / It won't go 'way" are particularly fascinating and can have multiple interpretations.

For one, it could be Mike trying to hide his real personality following Eddie's death and the collective panic by acting out a more "normal" and "idealized" life -- painfully repressing his true self in the process. This is supported by the lyrics I first discussed. Hiding and embracing differences is a theme in Stranger Things, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is where they take Mike in S5.

Another interpretation involves the previous lyrics, as well as, "But when you think you made it disappear / It comes again, 'Hello, I'm here'". This sounds more like someone trying and failing to suppress a thought. Coupled with "It's just a passing phase", it appears to be a feeling or belief instead of someone's true personality, although I do believe that's a big part of it, too.

Whatever it may be, Mike is definitely struggling with something at this point. He's pushing it down, hiding it, and hoping "..it doesn't show" and that "It'll go away".

6. The Better Side - Audiotree Live Version

Half way through! This one gave me more of a challenge because there aren't any written lyrics to analyze. From what I can gather, the track is about a person yearning for someone who is a better fit(?) The lyrics that best support this interpretation are, "You're on the better side / You're always the better one for me" and "Don't make me do the falling when I'm drinking of you". Again, if you have any alternate interpretations, please let me know. I'd like to take all ideas into account.

The final lyrics are interesting, "And you're all that I need / I'm not gonna miss you anymore". This can be read as the narrator longing to accept a person into their life and bring them closer. I'm especially interested in the final line because it implies there was something to miss, as if an emotional rift or gap was there.

Mike has come to a realization about something, as shown in Angst In My Pants, and it might partly be about a new thought he's trying to push down, "It'll go away". It's possible the "thought" is about newly developing feelings he isn't ready to accept(?) I don't want to say for certain, though. Nonetheless, it seems like he recognizes this person's importance and "better fit" for him, despite trying to repress it. A fairly surface-level read, but it's the only conclusion I'm able to come to.

Alternatively, it might be about El. The distance apart could be what gets him to solidify how he feels about her. However, Angst In My Pants and multiple songs establishing a separation precede The Better Side. The track is about a better option, as well. Those facts alone make me think of this interpretation as unlikely, so it's not one I personally hold.

7. Don't Ask Me to Explain

Don't Ask Me to Explain is about two people who are afraid to confess their true feelings to one another, so instead they hide them; with one of the two seemingly more uncertain. It's also, from what I've researched, supposedly about two people of the same gender. There's a possibility that this is irrelevant to the track's purpose in the playlist, but I kept it in mind considering the other songs and my personal interpretation. It's also important to note that these "true feelings" could be about a multitude of things.

The lyrics, "How will I ever know you enough to love you / If you're hiding who you are?", "How am I supposed to let it show / When I don't even know?", and, "Besides, I don't want to be the one who's coming out first / I'd really like to but I'm just too shy" support this reading.

I interpreted the last line, "It's so easy to laugh to myself / And pretend that I could love you but I can't" in two different ways. Either it's the narrator doubting their feelings for someone else, or it's the narrator recognizing that they can't let themselves embrace their love for someone, for one reason or another.

As for Mike, his progression makes the most sense to me in the following interpretation. There are multiple and, again, please let me know your ideas in the comments. I narrowed it down to just the one so I don't start nit-picking.

Mike went from a realization, "It's just a passing phase / It'll go away" (Angst In My Pants) to a sort of acceptance, "You're always the better one for me" (The Better Side) to struggling to admit it out loud, "How am I supposed to let it show / When I don't even know?"

An LGBTQ+ or "new love interest" interpretation is what I'm able to gather from this. It could describe Mike falling for 'someone' and not knowing how to be open about it due to fear and doubt; with the other person feeling the same way. It may be a surface-level reading, and I'm sure there are several other ways to interpret the track, but that's what I've been able to conclude thus far.

8. What Do You Want Me To Do?

This one might be the most difficult for me to figure out, but I'm going to try.

The song and the lyrics, "You walked out, took your chance / You turned your back on our romance / You said you found somebody new / You said the change'd do you good" and "You never even gave me a thought / You figured that would be all right / I nevеr had a chance to persuade you / You nеver let me put up a fight" remind me a lot of What You're Doing.

One way to look at it is that it might have the same purpose as What You're Doing -- adding a sort of angsty frustration vibe. I don't know if it would be used to set up a "come crawling back" moment because I don't think that would make sense (especially in Stranger Things), but it's a random possibility I'm throwing out there.

Alternatively, the 'person' that Mike has feelings for could have rejected him for someone else(?) Again, I don't think this would make much narrative sense in Stranger Things, but we don't know what the next season's going to look like.

I'm personally reading it as the former because there are other songs in the playlist used to set the tone. Keeping What You're Doing and Promises I've Made in mind, an additional break-up song is on theme. There's still the possibility of another conflict, though. If anyone else has different thoughts on what the song could be implying, I'd appreciate the input.

9. Substitute - Live

This track is about an idealized version of someone being put in place of their true self. The narrator describes a scenario in which their partner sees a version of them, "I'm a substitute for another guy / I look pretty tall but my heels are high / The simple things you see are all complicated / I look bloody young, but I'm just back-dated, yeah", that is unrealistic and put on, as seen in the lyrics "Substitute your lies for fact / I see right through your plastic mac / I look all white, but my dad was black / My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack" The couple also seem to be having issues with this, or in general, that they're not addressing, "It's a genuine problem, you won't try / To work it out at all, just pass it by, pass it by"

The concept of a guise applies well to Mike, as referenced in Angst In My Pants. A recurring theme of hiding oneself really makes me think Mike is going to completely abandon his interests for a different lifestyle. I believe Finn has also mentioned that Mike wants to be as "normal" as possible, so I can't wait to see where they take that idea. It could also be him realizing how he's been acting, and admitting that this "romanticized" version isn't true to him. I have hope that Mike will eventually learn to embrace his differences and what he enjoys.

While this part is a bit nit-picky, I feel it's fun to mention that the song was inspired by a lyric in The Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson; the lyric being, "Although she may be cute / She's just a substitute". The line following this (which is also referenced in Substitute's Genius.com entry) is, "Because you're the permanent one". Funnily enough, these lyrics also fit into the narrative the playlist is laying out. They remind me a lot of what The Better Side represents.

Out of context, the lines from The Tracks of My Tears may imply that someone is either using another person as a substitute for an ex, or that someone is realizing they've been using their previous partner as a substitute for someone better. Both routes have the potential to happen in ST5. Although, I don't know if the idea of a literal substitute fits with what The Who was going for. The Tracks of My Tears is also not on "STurn", so take this part as a fun fact with a grain of salt on the side.

At the end of the day, we don't know Finn's motivation for adding Substitute, so this is what we'll have to go off of for now. I feel as though the former interpretation, a less literal "substitute," holds the most merit considering the theme of personas.

10. The Rebel Kind

Like The Better Side, I couldn't find any lyrics, so I'm doing it by ear. Though, I'm happy to say that this song is about a desire to embrace differences and rebellion. "We'll be free to run with the rebel kind" and "It's not easy, but I don't mind / I just want to run with the rebel kind" establish that. The track appears to tie into Mike's insecurity struggles throughout the playlist.

The lyric "They call us the rebel kind" hints to the panic brewing at the end of S4. Mike might start to embrace and stand behind his true self at whatever point this is in the season. The line following, "But they don't understand / The things a man must do to prove that he's a man", can be taken in different ways depending on how the lyrics are read.

It could be the narrator's struggle to keep up with societal norms before finally giving in to their truth instead of trying to conform, read as "they call us rebels but don't get how hard it is to for us to keep up." On the other hand, it could be the narrator commenting on how society doesn't understand people like them, and, by embracing their true self, it proves more about who they are than conforming ever would; read as, "you think we're the rebellious ones, but you don't understand that we're more self-secure and strong than you'll ever be."

I can see both of these interpretations working for Mike and his connection to the Party. The progression of insecurity in Angst In My Pants and potential realization of this guise in Substitute is wrapped up by Mike's self-acceptance here. I really hope this is how it plays out in S5.

11. Block Rockin' Beats

There's not much to analyze because this track has one repeated line of lyrics, but it's definitely here to set a tone. The song may have a similar vibe-setting purpose as What Do You Want Me To Do? and Ballad of the Texas King. That's just my theory, though. (A ST5 theoryyy!)

Perhaps this is a climax of sorts where the cast fight the "big bad." The music's tone is intense and sort of aggressive. It's definitely a fun addition to the playlist, whatever the song's purpose in it may be.

12. Just What I Needed

Finally, we have Just What I Needed. I read this song in two different ways.

The first way I interpreted it was as a love song about the narrator not caring about who this person is, and realizing they need them in spite of it all. The lyrics, "It's not the perfume that you wear / It's not the ribbons in your hair / And I don't mind you comin' here / And wastin' all my time", "Cause when you're standin' oh so near / I kinda lose my mind, yeah", and "I needed someone to bleed / Yeah, yeah, so bleed me" support this.

The second possible reading is that the narrator realizes they were/are in a codependent relationship and they still love the person. The lyrics, "I guess you're just what I needed / I needed someone to feed / I guess you're just what I needed / I needed someone to bleed" and "I don't mind you hangin' out / And talkin' in your sleep / It doesn't matter where you've been / As long as it was deep, yeah", could be read as more of a "you're what I needed at the time, but I still love you and want you in my life." With this reading, it's unclear whether or not the love is romantic or platonic. Maybe I'm looking too far into it, but this is what some Genius.com contributors brought up, and it would feel wrong to not include this understanding of the song.

I'm just assuming, since The Rebel Kind seemed to tie up Mike's self-security problem, that this track is supposed to imply a resolution with his romantic issues. Under that impression, there are a few ways we can look at it.

It could be an acceptance for who he has feelings for. He went from mourning a loss in Promises I've Made, noticing something and hoping it goes away in Angst In My Pants, potentially coming to terms with the fact that this person is his "better" choice in The Better Side, wanting to admit a truth but feeling doubtful in Don't Ask Me to Explain, comprehending that he's able to embrace his authentic self in The Rebel Kind, to now admitting, possibly out loud, that this person was "just what [he] needed". That could be far-fetched, but it's just what I picked up on throughout the playlist.

However, it may also pertain to his self-identity struggle that's hinted at throughout (can you tell that I love this part of Mike?) while also tying into his romance issues. He went through a difficult separation with someone in What You're Doing and Promises I've Made, put on a persona and suppressed his true self in Angst In My Pants, realized he couldn't keep it going and needed to address it in Substitute, embraced himself in The Rebel Kind, and now recognizes that the relationship may have been codependent and holding him back from fully dropping the facade: "I guess you're just what I needed" -- in the moment. I don't know if that's too in-depth of a read, but it's a possibility.

While not relevant to the playlist in it's context, it's fun to bring up the fact that Just What I Needed was apparently also the final track listed on the 'official' "Will's Castle Byers Classics" playlist created by Spotify. It's not available anymore, so I can't really say it as a fact. Although, recreations of the playlist have been made long before "STurn" was a thing, and the song was added as the last track as far back as 2018. I suppose that's proof enough that it was at least on the playlist.

Finn listing it as the final track may be a reference to "Will's Castle Byers Classics", but it's also likely that there's no association. That's why I gave the song an equal amount of analysis instead of writing it off as a reference. As to how canon those playlists are, I don't think it particularly matters. It's true that Finn could've seen Just What I Needed in the Will playlist and put it on "STurn", thinking of it as a fun easter egg. There could or could not be implications for that and I'd be remiss to ignore it. I don't know if this rings true for any of the other songs on "STurn" as well -- if they're connected to any other character playlists. Feel free to let me know if they are!

TL;DR

This was really hefty post, and I apologize for that, so here's a summary/recap of what I think S5 may have in store for Mike Wheeler.

Summary:

The season likely starts off at the end of S4, with us seeing Mike react to everything that's happened in Hawkins and reuniting with his family. Tension or unresolved conflicts may be arising in his relationship(s) as well, but he puts it aside to focus on the more important tasks at hand. Either his relationship is put aside with this, or there's an eventual separation that occurs, and he mourns it. After, he tries to maintain normalcy and puts on a guise to appease others. During this time, he may start to have a realization about something that he attempts to repress. He eventually comes to terms with it, though, recognizing that there's someone (maybe something?) better for him. He wants to admit to these true feelings, but he'll struggle with hiding, doubting, and fearing them; thinking he can't allow himself to fully love this person or, at least, admit to whatever feelings or "truth" he possesses. Mike will most likely continue to struggle with mixed feelings and hiding his true personality after this, eventually admitting to not being fully authentic. He'll then accept his true self for what it is. This will lead into a climax, where the main conflict of the show will be resolved. Finally, he'll accept and admit his true feelings, realizing that all he needed to do in the end was be entirely honest with (and about) himself.

In Conclusion

I really want this to be where they take Mike in ST5. It would be such a satisfying thing to watch, especially with how he's acted the past two seasons. I think he deserves to have a self-love/acceptance arc because the show has made it clear he's insecure and inauthentic.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know your thoughts and interpretations in the comments, as well as if there's anything you think I should add/fix. I'd love to hear what others have to say about "STurn" and it's connections to ST :)!

[racing-stripes]

all of you are wrong the mirrorball is not miles it's alex's "prize" for being famous & The Car, with all its introspection and self-reflection, functions as a goodbye album even if it isn't the arctic monkey's final one.

so basically. most if not all of the car is by alex TO alex (with notable exceptions). alex has never had a chance in his life to Not be famous- i mean, whatever people say i am was the fastest selling debut album in british history, and the bands' fame has only skyrocketed from there.

so alex, who has never not been famous, doesn’t know what his "prize" should be for going through all of it, he doesn't know what he should aspire to anymore. the mirrorball is some sort of consolation prize for going through so much. some vague thing he can Win once and for all, to say he deserved it.

for specific lyric analysis:

"don't get emotional, that aint like you"

an expectation of him imposed by an audience. more later.

"yesterday still leaking through the roof / but that's nothing new"

this sets up this album's theme of self-reflection. alex is acutely aware of his past and how he's changed. again, more later.

"i know i promised this is what i wouldn't do / but somehow giving it the old romantic fool / seems to better suit the mood"

i think this song, if not all of this album, is reflecting specificially on the audience's expectations of him around AM era (& after with tbhc, how he defied those expectations). he was a sex symbol, a "golden boy," the epitome of a romantic writer. after AM, he didn't want to do that anymore-- the "promise"-- but he's still an "old romantic fool."

"so if you wanna walk me to the car / you ought to know i'll have a heavy heart"

the car in this album comes up a lot (obviously, lol). i think the car is not a person. it's his escape from fame that he's after, his way out. but the fame is all he's ever known, and he's come to appreciate it, hence the heavy heart.

"so can we please be absolutely sure / that there's a mirrorball?"

the mirrorball is phrased like his reward for escaping that he'll get once he reaches the car. and i don't understand much beyond that, but i think it's nebulous on purpose. the mirrorball is what will make him feel okay, heal his "heavy heart." maybe it's a person, sure, but i think the important part is how he's itching to escape his fame.

"and how's that insatiable appetite / for the moment when you look them in the eyes / and say 'baby, it's been nice?'"

i've been stuck on this lyric for a while because of its romantic undertone with the "baby" and how it reads like the ending of a romantic partnership. but in context of him wanting an escape from the expectations and perceptions of an audience, i think it makes sense as the fantasy of saying goodbye to an audience once and for all. and this is def a fallacy although i'm not sure which one-- but doesn't he enjoy calling his audience at shows "baby?"

other rant which is probably incorrect or problematic in other ways because of how much intent it's attributing:

in the context of his alter egos, wouldn't it be fun to picture a mirrorball as the parts of his "fractured identity" making up a whole?

all the tiny pieces of mirror, all fracturing light slightly differently, making up one whole collective but fractured identity..,

[barrenclan]

I was about to say ‘maybe Malmo would suit Barrenclan’ but uh Rainhaze isn’t looking too hot and youch

ANYWAYS I think the song Malmo by Moon might suit Barrenclan as I mentioned before, specifically the popular part (it’s always the popular part)

Three of us sleep next to three others

(Not sure who it’d match)

It's hot and we rot in this oven

(referring to Barrenclan’s environment)

Now there's something about the language

(followed by next part, but maybe Rainhaze about the welcoming of death or injury in Defiance)

Something about these people

(Pinepaw with the new scar or maybe Corm or maybe Rain. I think they could all decently match??)

That look an awful lot like me

(Same as before, Pinepaw with the new scar or maybe Corm or maybe Rain. maybe even talking about Slug right now too)

I'm surprisingly accepting of this discomfort

(Why I said Rain is at this point (right before death but close enough) is because he didn’t seem to mind it anymore)

But I'm not trying to be much of a person right now

(don’t know)

I'm just trying to get some sleep

(Pine with the nightmares and now grief. also with the shock.)

Not sure if these actually match but they seem close enough and I’m very tired anyways OH MY RAIN HOLY BDDBXBBBDB

Wow, Paul Dano is in this band? That's cool. I like your analysis of the lyrics!

Why it's an absolute classic! In terms of characters I think it fits Deepdark a bit better than Rainhaze, though.

Do I even need the lyrics for I Can't Decide?

ANOTHER classic! I like this one sort of swapping off between Slugpelt and Rainhaze, where he's trying to get her to come back to him in their youth, but now it's flipped the other way.

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles, come down Won't you get up off, get up off the roof? You're scaring us and all of us, some of us love you

The self is not so weightless, nor whole and unbroken Remember the pact of our youth Where you go, I'm going, so jump and I'm jumping Since there is no me without you

This one's been suggested a couple times, but I still really like it with Slugpelt, so here it is again.

I don't this it has! Ah, I recognize it from IncuriousCat, of course. They're very popular on this blog it seems. Rainhaze is a good character for song about making bad deals.

I'ma make a deal with the bad wolf So the bad wolf don't bite no more

My enemy is a friend of mine in a friendly place to be seen, hey You know I'll run away for a couple years just to prove I've never been free

Has Ride the Cyclone has a re-emergence? I feel like I've seen it a lot lately. It's nice to have a song with old BarrenClan anyways, before all the tragedy and drama.

What the world needs Is people like me To keep it all spinning around I'm the mover, I'm the shaker, I'm the headline-maker

He put it into words, and it's plain to see We need a little less of them A little more of me!

Yeah, I think you could chuck this in a Rainhazeward direction!

All this time, I've felt like my time to go would arrive That it can't last forever; I've been decaying Moldy scaffolding, ritual strangling No matter what I try, I seem to stay alive

My body should be cold The eyes of maggots gazing through to my soul I left so long ago Behind me are the tears I couldn't control

HOORAY! I'm a big Pink Floyd fan. It'd be so cool to see a "Trial" scene with him as Pink and all the other characters as the other roles.

Day after day, the love turns gray Like the skin of a dying man And night after night, we pretend it's all right But I have grown older, and you have grown colder And nothing is very much fun any more

Oooh, Bauhaus! Also a big fan of them. That's a good alternate voice claim for Deepdark, too.

Thank you, it is! I'm always taking more song asks, of which I have got quite a few. I'm glad you like the comic!

May you die wide awake With a look of great surprise May your eyes be taken just Before you can weep As you see what you stole stolen from you <- yuuuup rainhaze

Aww, that makes me sad. But it does fit well with them.

I dreamt I found you hanging I didn't know what it meant Your eyes would follow me through Everywhere I went

The window on the fifth floor Shattered as you wept What am I witnessing? What stories have you kept?

Damn ran outta links, I thought I got it this time

[aurae-rori]

MESMERIZER ANALYSIS!

Hi guys, Aurae is back at it again at Krispy Kreme, this time with a voacloid song analysis (woah!). So, before we get into this, here's my usual disclaimer! I have been researching psychology for a WHILE and I plan to go into it professionally (:O). HOWEVER, that said, I am NOT a professional, so understand that everything I come to conclusions about has been analyzed with some personal judgement, personal interpretations, and this is just what I have concluded.

This also contains a lot of personal projecting onto this song as art is aways up to interpretations, and I see a lot of my childhood in this song. I will be touching on topics that are implied through lyrics, and you may not see this song the same way that I do, and that is perfectly okay! This is my take on deconstructing some of the messages that this song has.

A TW FOR THIS ANALYSIS INCLUDES: hypnotism, escapism, unhealthy coping mechanisms, suicide, self-harm, depictions of abusive environments (as that is how I interpret this song), manipulation, gaslighting, dehumanization, neon colours.

So, now let's get into the confetti and fun wonderland of MESMERIZER!

I'll be splitting this into three parts: The part where I talk about the song lyrics, the part where I talk about the animation itself, and then I'll explain a few theories I've seen, as well as my own, adding onto the story that I think it is telling.

PART 1: SONG LYRICS ANALYSIS

“No thinking about real feelings

Are you pretending to not notice?

The absolute truths and your own heart

That's how the safe zone is shrinking

Prostituting your wounds

You give a feeble cry, such shameful conduct”

Although the song itself is quite catchy, cheerful, and jubilant, the lyrics are far from those things. We immediately start off with the idea of disregarding one’s own feelings, Miku talking about how people pretend not to not notice their own feelings and the ‘truths’ of their own hearts. However, this is hard to avoid forever, and their ‘safe zones’ (escapism places) are shrinking as reality creeps up on them, so they ‘showcase’ their sorrow to others. I think this is definitely a metaphor for how some people overshare to others and tell others all about the ways that they’ve hurt, which can be used against them, as this gives others easy access to material that could be used to manipulate them. However, there are also undertones of self-shame (which comes with trauma), calling their cries for help ‘shameful’. It should also be noted that some abuse survivors, while being abused, have relatively clear cries for help through their actions that nobody else seems to pick up on, which is also a theme in this song as nobody answers Teto’s cries for help. 

“I’ve got a recommendation for you, the ultimate escape

Eventually, you will be saved from being lured into sweet traps

Now that you can no longer live sanely in this world anymore

Perhaps pretending to know nothing

And surrendering yourself is the optimal solution”

This ‘ultimate escape’ that the song talks about is escapism, or imagination. Reality is too hard to deal with, so children turn to their own minds as a way to stop the pain from taking over. It’s much easier to live in a dreamworld rather than a reality where you’re being hurt, right? They say that ‘ignorance is bliss’, and they’re taking it to the next level here by repressing, ignoring, and denying their own true feelings in order to feel happiness. They escape to that ‘safe zone’ mentioned earlier within their minds. However, there is an irony in the second line where they talk about ‘sweet traps’, as it can be interpreted as the imaginary world being ‘sweet traps’, or maybe the harshness and certainty of reality can be considered a ‘sweet trap’ as well, depending on how you look at it. 

“If a bunch of flowers dressed up with words

Can steal one's heart, are they real?

To an event where everything will be tainted

I give you an invitation”

This runs even further with the idea of imagination and escapism, because flowers cannot literally dress up and speak in the real world. This is talking about how maybe the characters feel like they can no longer distinguish fiction from reality, talking about how fictional things can make you feel things, so they must be real, too. It’s basically saying that because fiction has such an effect on us, then can fiction and imagination be considered to be another form of reality, as well? However, it is mentioned that the event will be ‘tainted’, possibly referencing the idea of fiction completely overtaking reality. 

“Farewell

You're tailor-made for this era

With an appearance of vulnerability

Fooled by this truthful acting

Your heart beats so very loudly

Your extra lives are quickly being lost

Your durability worn away

Dodging matters right in front of you

You got your hands full just living”

This is where we go back to the idea of manipulation, and maybe even conditioning. ‘Tailor-made for this era’ implies that something turned these people into the kinds of people that would be easily manipulated. It is also implied that the two are hurting and explicitly stated that they’re vulnerable and easy to take advantage of. I would consider the theme of hypnosis and brainwashing to tie into this as well. They are more vulnerable to the idea of being manipulated and taken control of due to the fact that they are hurting and want to escape to another reality, and will believe anybody that says that they will make things better because they are hurt too much. They are fooled by the acting of the people that pretend to love them, who are really here to just control them. This is talking about the urge that people have to run away from reality, because just getting up and existing can be such a challenge. 

“You’re getting sleepy, a shallow hypnosis

Your head, your body are becoming muddled

No way, so many tricks?

Swinging a coin before your eyes

You'll become completely still

"This is fine," even you can be coaxed into shut down”

This is Miku’s part, and the part where she is completely hypnotized and taken control of. She ‘shuts down’, completely rejecting reality and going into the ‘imagination world’. She does not want to feel pain any longer and takes the opportunity to run from it, turning into a puppet for others to control and manipulate. 

“You're getting sleepy, a shallow hypnosis

Your head, your body are becoming muddled

No way, so many tricks?

Swinging a coin before your eyes

You'll become completely still

(coercion cancellation)” 

Teto’s part however, in the middle of it, fades out, as she does not completely listen to what the people have to say. She resists the manipulation, and it’s explicitly stated with the part where it goes ‘coercion cancellation’. She is actively fighting the urge to run away into escapism, and resisting the manipulation of whatever is trying to do so to them. 

“However you survive today, it's unrewarding everyday

You're already in a bot-like cycle

Continuing from the moment of inertia

If you have no luck, no hope, it's all the more pointless

If you haven't got it then give up

Playing with the leftovers is your fate”

This is just more stuff about giving up on the real world. Inertia means “the inherent property of a body that makes it oppose any force that would cause a change in its motion”, aka: refusing to move, even when force is put upon something. I would say ‘inertia’ is a synonym for birth or consciousness, because it’s talking about how even from the moment that you are born that you are stuck in a cycle of endless pain in reality. This part is basically talking about why you should give up on reality entirely and simply live in the worlds of your own creation, running away into escapism and disregarding the real world in favor of not feeling pain. 

“You’re tailor-made for this era

With an appearance of vulnerability

Fooled by this truthful acting

Your heart beats so very loudly

Exaltation has already lost its meaning

A fake charisma

If you stare directly at reality, you’ll end up going blind

So do it in moderation”

Once again, talks about being perfect subjects of manipulation. However, Teto speaks of the fact that the rush of joy that you usually get after originally going into the escapism world has already been lost, and that it is fake. However, she also mentions that if you keep on living in the real world the entire time, it will not do you any good, so she advises everyone else to live in your imagination only sometimes, but to keep an eye on the real world. 

PART 2: THE ANIMATION 

This is just a lot of things that I have noticed other people saying, but some tidbits about the animation include: 

This is a screenshot from the very start, showing how there are themes of hypnosis from the beginning. 

I believe it is also mentioned that the 13-pointed star that is shown a lot represents immortality. 

Also, can I mention that their outfits seem almost childish in nature? I believe that this is meant to represent that they are ‘vulnerable’, intensifying the idea that they are easily taken advantage of. However, these also look like worker outfits in the way, with the yellow rectangles almost looking like name tags. It almost seems like they’re workers for a children’s amusement park? Which would make the horror aspect of this even worse… 

Miku’s shoes are rollerblades, which can be interpreted of her being more carefree and more willing to run away, because wheels are faster, and can also be interpreted of her being less connected to the ground/reality. It can also be shown in the idea that she is the more ‘childish’ of the two of them, being easier to manipulate, which is why she falls to hypnosis first. 

In contrast, Teto’s shoes look rather normal. Probably a representation of her being more grounded? 

I’ve seen people interpret Miku’s cuffs as like places for strings to hold onto during her later animations, which can tie into her being more of a puppet rather than a human? 

Star pupils at the start for both of them when Teto talks about an escape. They are clearly both looking for one. 

However, Teto pretty early on also does the ASL sign for “HELP”.

Also, Teto blinks in morse code for “SOS” during the first chorus. 

The first letter of all of these spell out “help”, while the fourth letters spell out “SOS”. 

“phosphoribosylaminoimidazole succinic carboxamide” is something that helps with energy metabolism, as well as DNA synthesis. I believe this can be a reference to the fact that many abuse survivors go through dehumanization, or it could be a reference to the idea that neither of them feel “real” or “human”. 

Also, at the end here, Teto makes another nonverbal sign for help with her hands. 

Miku is hypnotized pretty easily, swaying from side to side like following the motions of a coin. 

However...

Teto resists hypnosis for ten days, if you count the amount of times the sun rises and sets in this scene. Although, at the end…

Even she falls into hypnosis.

Also, their entire background is green here. Teto looks a little shocked, while Miku finds nothing wrong with this. This may be a green screen, which further emphasizes that the world that they are in is not real, and is only a product of escapism and/or imagination. 

Miku has never done this pose before, until after she was hypnotized. 

Also, it’s a good time to say that Miku’s movements here look robotic, or like she’s being puppeteered, with how jarring they are. 

I didn’t point this out before, but this happens earlier too – they point at the star, and tell you to “focus”, before “MESMERIZER” is spelt out really quickly in the star, at the very start, but not at the second time.  

As we start the next chorus, Miku’s face develops into this. It’s also noted that Teto stops bouncing for a few moments in pure shock. Also, I should mention that after you hang yourself, your tongue can protude from your mouth. There’s also a choker around her neck, and her skin seems to pale considerably, which points to the idea of a suicide. However, if she’s dead, what is puppeteering her? 

Also, the star at this point is swirling. It’s outright trying to hypnotize you. 

However, after this, Miku continues to dance, even after her part is over, and even goes off beat. The amount of confetti in this scene is increased considerably, as if whatever is trying to hypnotize them or control them is trying extra hard to make Teto give in. 

At the end, she does. 

PART 3: THEORIES 

So, what the hell does this all mean? 

Let’s recap– 

Teto & Miku are going to the unhealthy coping mechanism of escapism to deal with their lives, through one form or another, to run from reality. This much is clear. However, it gets to be too much for them and they are inevitably hypnotized by something or someone, taken control of, and while Teto asks for help, Miku gives in early, leading to the ending. This is all we can take from surface level. 

This is where I get into it with my theories. 

I like to mention the fact that these two feel immensely like they’re being conditioned by something, or someone, that they are supposed to trust. Maybe an adult figure in their lives. They clearly have faced hard shit during their lives, which explains the need for escapism. Teto is the more grounded one, and Miku just wants to escape from the pain. The first way that I interpret this is: 

Childhood abuse. Both of them are being manipulated and coerced by their own parents, and are finding solace in one another. Teto brings up escapism to Miku, and they do it together, creating worlds together and having fun at the start. Teto keeps on trying to ask for help to the people of the outside world in miniscule ways, but even when she directly asks for help dealing with her situation, she is still ignored and pushed aside. So, they then escape whenever they can because it gives them a feeling of control when in fact their own escapism mannerisms are a way to try and control their real lives but it doesn’t matter because it’s better this way. So all of her “SOS”s are for nothing. 

However, the longer the abuse goes on, the more they fall into it as their only method to be saved, and Miku eventually cannot handle reality, falling into the imagination world forever – that is, killing herself so that she will never have to deal with reality again, being pushed over by the expectations she had to fulfill in reality. Teto stays afterwards, however, trying to handle life, but is eventually manipulated into being something that she’s not, and kills herself as well due to the pressure. However, this could also be interpreted as a “loss of the self” as they either drown themselves both in the imagination world, or could be interpreted as the fact that they eventually simply turned into the people their parents wanted them to be. 

I can also interpret this in a completely opposite way – that the world that is full of colours and whimsy is actually a world that their parents have trapped them in. That they are being pressured to be happy all the time even though they don’t want to be, and that in front of everyone else they have to act like everything is fine even though it isn’t. Maybe they’re being coerced by their parents to never feel sadness, to leave all of those ridiculous things behind, to become perfect – almost like a Coraline situation. They’re pretending like everything is fine even though it isn’t. However, eventually, they get caught up in all of their lies and the fake reality they set up for themselves. They’d rather look at it rather than reality, but at the same time, they are being puppeteered by their surroundings in a harmful manner. 

Escapism. :) 

Second interpretation: they are working for some studio or something, which could be why there was a green screen at one point. They are promoting the idea of escapism to other people, but unwillingly. Miku falls into the ideals of their director and falls into the headspace entirely, agreeing with the ideals of others while they are forced to continue spreading this message in an almost dystopian manner. They are hypnotized by the person producing this message. 

Third: Maybe this is a story about them working in some sort of childhood theme park in order to escape their realities as well, and be children forever? This ties the two previous ideas together. They are overworking themselves to the point where reality and fiction are indistinguishable. Unable to deal with everything that she has to do, Miku dies, and Teto follows suit. 

Four: Literal hypnosis. Maybe some sort of horror story of becoming victims of some hypnosis monster? I like this one the most because it makes me think of a story where Mikuy and Teto were struggling, and perhaps made a deal with some eldritch being so that they can escape reality into their own fictional world. However, as more time goes on, the more the world that they’ve entered becomes twisted, and Miku falls to the being’s whims, turning into a mindless puppet in order to reject reality further. Teto, horrified at what has happened, tries to reach out to others, only to have nobody listen to her. She then gives up entirely and joins her friend. 

There’s a lot of ways to interpret this, but the general message is that people want to escape from their harsh realities. This is natural, especially if you’re a victim of manipulation or abuse, but this is also a reminder that you can’t go too far from it, and that there are still people waiting for you. 

TLDR: Escapism, slay! But don’t slay too hard, unless you want to end up like MESMERIZER Miku!! I love this song so much and I can and will elaborate on ideas. I’m really tired due to my exams so I am so sorry if something doesn’t sound coherent here, but thank you for reading!! <3 

[ohbaby-here-we-go-again]

Hello ! So I saw @kaddyssammlung do an analysis of ‘Granite’ and as it’s one of my favourite sleep token songs, particularly from a lyric perspective, I was inspired to do one of my own :]

General overview of lyric/story construction:

Ok so for me part of what makes this song so great is the story telling and use of double imagery. Conceptually it’s split between talking about a bad relationship (A imagery) and a car crash (B imagery), though the lines dedicated to B imagery can almost always be read as metaphors for the bad relationship. For me I also see it as a story split up into 3 different time slots: past (focuses just on vessel and the relationship), present (vessel in the car crash, and in moment leading up to the crash), and future (post crash where I think that vessel/his character has died). I generally see the first verse as future, the chorus as present and, the second verse as past.

Line by line analysis:

V1

“Sulfur on your breath”

For me I always associate Sulfur with Hell, specifically the concept of ‘fire and brimstone’ (brimstone is an old name for Sulfur) and the ‘lake of fire’ in the bible which burns with brimstone. From this line we learn a lot about the person vessel is singing about (I’ll refer to them as S).

Vessel uses Hell associated language to describe S, meaning he knows they aren’t a good person/aren’t good for him. Additionally, when sulfur burns it produces sulfur dioxide (SO2), which turns into (potentially deadly) sulfurous acid (H2SO3) when it comes in contact with water - something our moist lungs have a lot of. So for someone to have “sulfur on [their] breath,” and potentially in their lungs, alludes to the idea that this person is not only bad for for vessel, but also self-destructive to a dangerous degree.

Also fun fact: Sulfur burns blue and when you see it, particularly across large areas, it looks a lot like water. Which I just thought was neat considering sleep token’s love of using water imagery and the colour blue.

“Granite in my chest”

This is definitely some sweet sensory imagery from vessel to set you in the song’s mindset/emotion

But I also think within the context of the story, the granite he could be referring to is the little bits of decomposed granite they sometimes use in road base. if the car crashed and he ended up on the road with chest injuries, he could very well have got some of those little bits stuck in there.

“You won't ever have to talk about it // You'll never have to talk about it”

I feel like the ‘it’ he’s talking about here, is referring to both their relationship and the crash/his body. Like S never wants to talk about how toxic their relationship is with vessel, and when they crash the car, they run away from the site/ves’s body and don’t talk about it for legal reasons to not go to jail for manslaughter.

Also the reason I think ves (in this song) died in the crash is cos of the chorus phrasing - specifically the past tense and use of the word “body” to refer to himself.

“Fury too damn late”

I agree with the idea of seeing someone for what they really are/wishing he got angry sooner. Like, maybe if he did, and decided to leave, he wouldn’t have been in the car with them when it crashed (and hence wouldn’t have died).

“Reason dislocates”

Vessel at it again with the awesome imagery that ties songs together ! The word ‘dislocate’ definitely ties in with the car accident imagery. But using it to refer to ‘reason’ makes me think he’s using it to describe/explain his not leaving/bad judgement. Like if you run it on from the line above, he’s saying ‘I didn’t get mad and leave when I should have because I wasn’t seeing the relationship with sound reasoning’ (due to an injury aka ~past trauma~ baby).

CHORUS

“I was more than just a body in your passenger seat”

Here B imagery is being used. with now deceased vessel talking to S about how, because they didn’t value him, he’s just a body in their wrecked car.

Additionally this could be metaphorical for their relationship. Vessel feeling like S is very controlling, maybe specifically over him, maybe just over the type of relationship they had. Either way he didn’t feel like he had much agency in what was going on.

“and you were more than just somebody I was destined to meet”

Honestly I’m not super clear on the meaning of this line, but I think he’s talking about how his own trauma, and self destructive tendencies, lead him to a lot of toxic relationships (including S), but despite that he feels he really did love S.

Like, because he hasn’t healed from something in his past, he repeats these patterns when it comes to the people he gets with. This can be the result of something called ‘emotional addiction’ where you seek out things that trigger certain emotions in order to produce chemicals in the brain that mimic a ‘reward’ feeling (similar to drug use). Often this is the result of when you’ve had periods of your life (often in childhood) that were unstable and chaotic, so you brain has come to register ‘home’ - and by extension ‘safety’ - as something choatic, and will hence seek out people that provide those ‘emotional hits’ even if they’re not good for your physical and/or mental health.

So basically ves is saying ‘ yea, I got with you because the trauma cycle I’m in makes the traits you exhibit attractive…but then I loved you for who you are. Your soul meant more to me than the chemicals.’ …. which obviously isn’t a super healthy thought, but it is honestly heart breaking, and makes me want to give vessel a hug if that’s anywhere close to the truth.

“I see you go half-blind when you're looking at me”

Ok so i feel like this is talking about both ves feelin like S doesn’t see him for who he is in the relationship, but also if they’re in the car, potentially arguing, S turning to look at vessel while driving means they’re ‘half-blind’ to the road…which is obviously not good.

“But I am // Between the second hand smoke and the glass on the street”

This could be painting an image of both the car crash, ves’s body laying between the glass and smoke of the wreck, and earlier in the relationship, where vessel and S are hanging out and there is smashed glass (possible from alcoholic drinks) and smoke from cigarettes. Images which conjure a chaotic and self destructive atmosphere, playing off the themes we’ve seen in vessel and S so far.

“You gave me nothing whatsoever but a reason to leave”

this line is pretty straight forward. No matter what time slot we’re in S wasn’t treating him good.

“You say you want me, but you know I'm not what you need // But I am”

At first I was a little confused by this line because it sounded like it was contradicting itself. But what I think is happening is vessel is quoting S, saying they ‘wanted to be with him but on some level knew the relationship was toxic and not good for either of them,’ and then vessel is say ‘no I am what you need.’ It feels like this is another ‘vessel no!’ moment…. Like while this song does talk about S in a way that you can tell he understands that S and the relationship weren’t good (man’s is comparing it to a car crash were he dies, so there’s some self awareness) there are these softer moment like the ‘more than destined to meet’ line where he shows that despite all the bad shit, he really loves this person. To the degree where if the Big Thing (in this case the crash and death) hadn’t of happened, it sounds like he might have still pursued this relationship, or this ‘love’ he’s feeling. Which honestly is kinda a theme with ST songs.

Like if you look at some of the others you see this theme of vessel (or the character he’s created) being in these relationships that aren’t good for him because he is so desperate for someone to love him that he either ends up betraying himself - “I might break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody,” - he tries to take care of the person he’s with (which would make him needed and therefore loved) “I will be watching for your enemies //To let them know that they contend with me,” “give me all that you can give // All your darkest impulses” -or he’s like cool yea it’s ok if you fuck me up so long as for a moment I feel loved “a sacrifice in your name //But I know you've got a taste //So just take a bite of me,” “I know for the last time //You will not be mine //So give me the night.”

….anyways psychoanalysis tangent over sorry haha

V2

“When you sit there acting like you know me //Acting like you only brought me here to get below me”

pretty self explanatory. Ves is feeling used, and S sees the relationship as something different than what he does.

“Never mind the death threats, parting at the door //We'd rather be six feet under than be lonely”

Giving you scope of the relationship, where they seem to have intense arguments that involve at least one of them threatening the other and then leaving…only to come back because obviously neither of them like to be alone with themselves so for long periods of time - making even the (potentially many) ‘bad days’ of the relationship ‘worth it’ in their eyes.

“And if you had a problem, then you should've told me //Before you started getting all aggressive and controlling”

Also pretty straight forward. vessel is expressing frustration at S’s lack of communication and emotional maturity

“You only drink the water when you think it's holy”

it sounds like S is very stubborn. Additionally, you need water to survive, and only drinking the water that you have decided is ok, based on some arbitrary reason, could be bad for your health if it’s not readily available (you need to hydrate!), and put a strain on relationships you have with people who just want what’s best for you. This could also allude to some religious friction within the relationship but obviously I can’t guess specifics.

“So keep an eye on the road or we will both be here forever”

back to B imagery related to pre car crash. Obviously literally S should be watching the road so they don’t crash the car and kill them both (which would mean they both stay there forever). But there’s also an element of hey if you keep acting the way you do this relationship will never get better and we’ll be stuck here emotionally forever (because again ves seems to really love and be invested in S and not want to leave the relationship).

After this the chorus just repeats.

End Notes:

Obviously I don’t know vessel or anything about his life so this is all speculation based on the vibes of the song haha (plus he might not even be writing from personal experience ya know?). Idk I just really like this song (ngl there are portions of it that give me spider man meme moments haha) and I wanted to share my thoughts with you guys :)

Also I love love love the way ST writes lyrics so if anyone thought this was interesting and wanted to hear my thoughts on other songs, I have many and am willing to share pfft

[divine-crows]

Grimoire/Bos Prompts or Research Topics for the Witch that Doesn’t Know What To Do Next

(Pt. 2/4) 

Another list with ideas, as always, these ideas and prompts by no means belong to me, and if you’d like, check out my first post for more prompt-type ideas (hopefully I’ll remember to link the first one before I post this.)

- What does each season mean to you and what are witchy activities, spells, and rituals you can do during these seasons? This one is pretty self-explanatory. A cool idea I had for it is dedicating a page to each season and including something from each season in it (like a pressed leaf for fall, pressed flower for spring, etc.) You can also include how plants or the weather usually looks during each season (An idea courtesy of Molly Roberts on YT). 

- If you like fantasy novels-- how their magic differs from real magic, things you wish fantasy authors would incorporate or do, and any phrases that speak to you on a magical level. You could also write a sort of self-analysis about why you like the genre and any possible magical ties. (Ex. maybe you like fantasy novels because you realized it’s the only way you really see magic in media, or maybe it’s indulging the inner child in you that still wants to shoot fire out of your hands). 

- Music, Art pieces, or general Artists that give you magical vibes. You can also put the lyrics, the art, or something pertaining to the artist in a page/use it to decorate empty space. This also can tie into pop magic. 

- If you play an instrument and have something like a string that can’t be used anymore, write about it and find ways you can magically incorporate it, and if you want, you can find a way to decorate the page with said object. This can be extra fun if you use the instrument for magical workings, and it can also apply to things like old art supplies. 

- Your heritage and how you can use it in your craft. This can range from a list of types of magical concepts that relate to your heritage, to whole practices and paths that were made that your far back ancestors would have used. You can list these types of magic and: 1) list the history of them 2) talk about how it’s connected to you [is it personal? Is it something you want to make personal?] 3) Are there factors about it that should be considered? [is it a part of a practice, did another group influence/use it?]. This can be useful because it gives you a way to connect further with your practice and to take a fun adventure where you can learn more about yourself. Always be aware of other cultural factors and don’t appropriate. 

- How you prefer leaving offerings. Most likely, you’ve at some point learned how to leave offerings (whether it’s working with deities, or with nature in general), and you’ve found a way to leave offerings that work for you. Maybe you prefer praying/speaking before or after leaving an offering, maybe you just leave an offering with a brief couple of words, or maybe you prefer leaving art you’ve made from paintings to poems. Further, maybe you prefer having an outside altar versus an inside one and vice versa, or any of those things might vary depending on what you’re communicating with. Write about it, and why you do it for future use. 

[sucantslay]

Meiyuu Deshi Kairou analysis. I'm losing my sanity...

Hello @hypn0sssss, just wanna let you know, I've been working off my ass to research this song like...more than 30 minutes but then in turn into a whole week long.

It was fun though ( I really need a rest but my brain said just do it! )

BUT, ANYWAY, here are some important information you should know before getting into this song analysis.

If you don't know, this is an event song, it connects with an event story about a VR game, yes, a VR game. It was introduced to Mika by Makoto and Sora. And later on, became the inspiration for Mika's song.

This is related to Mika's character, so if you know nothing about him, you can learn more from some sources out there or have a quick check at my post

3 . I'll mostly put the lyrics in word form. I really want to put all the translation pictures here but since Tumblr stop me from having more than 10 pics in a post...I can only put some.

4 . Most of this is my personal analysis. Pls tell me or put on the sources if you want to put it somewhere. Also, since it is a PERSONAL thing, the lyrics might not mean like that to you, but it is to me. You are free to have your own idea of this song however you like.

Alright! Let's get started!!!

For the theme of the song, Mika is using the VR game as his base, so it understandable that some words might be a little lead into the mechanical aspect.

The story for this song is about a mechanical god who ends the story/ the world abruptly. It very interesting when the song did not only successfully portray the theme of mechanical but also the theme and story of Valkyrie itself.

Oh my dear Mika, you are really something of an artist, aren't ya?! It the time when Mika finally step up and going his own art more then waiting for Shu order!

The name of the song "Meikyuu Deshi Kairou" which means "Labyrinth Electronic Corridor"

With some lines mention classic songs

(this line got repeated 2 times)

"Ode to Joy" or in other words "An die Freude"

You must have known it as Beethoven's most significant work, Symphony No.9, a choral symphony.

Since the name isn't being written in another name until you start digging deeper, you'll find something eles, lies in these words they had chosen.

It was origin from a poem written by a German named Friedrich Schiller and was used by Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony.

But the version that Beethoven used is the revision of the poem. Yet Friedrich himself didn't like that version at all, he viewed it as a failure.

Why? Because Friedrich made that poem for his dear beloved ( longtime friend and partner ) Christian Gottfried Körner, who inspired him to write the poem.

He stayed "of value maybe for us two, but not for the world, nor for the art of poetry"

I SWEAR TO GOD, WHEN I READED THOUGH WORD, NO THING APPEAR IN MY MIND AS FAST AS MIKA AND SHU DID.

His performance and his dear partner in art. Did I mention that Friedrich made a whole verse for Christian on his birthday.

( uhm, ok, that's enough! Let's move to the next one for now before I can't keep this mouth shut. )

Some lines in the poem go like this:

"Rescue from the chains of tyrants, Magnanimity to the villain too, Hope on the deathbed, Mercy in the high (law) court, Even the dead shall live! Brothers, drink and agree (with me) That all sinners shall be forgiven And hell shall be no more."

The "Ode to Joy" old name was "Ode to Freedom" / "An die Freiheit"

Then there came "Libera me" ( "Deliver me" )

Which also has an interesting background related to the Catholic Church. "Libera me" originated from a song named "Office of the Dead" which had been sung as a service prayer for the death.

The text asks God to have mercy upon the deceased person at the Last Judgment.

And it fits the theme of the song well! Because as I said before, the song is about a god who wants to destroy the world in sudden.

So "Ode to Joy", "Libera me" can be seen as the voices of humans who denying the god choice, the choice to turn the world back to dust.

( Note: The line in the song is not being sung by Mika or Shu, but by voices in the background. It becomes more noticeable when considering the fact that none other Valkyrie songs have these "background voices" at all )

The next two lines both sing an indirectly about the old Valkyrie.

"Ah, the melody sinks into overwritten myths"

The old Valkyrie had been sunk down to the deep by the play of Fine.

"Come, it is the time to open the floating corridor that full of electrons"

But it was the story from a long time ago, now, we taking a different path, to the new corridor, a new path to the future yet we're still unable to predict. Accidentally we lead ourselves to the door of destruction. ( It can also be seen as the god in this play had opened the door of doom, ending the world in sudden )

Ah, yes, once again this song mentions the use of the classic poem.

This "Song of the Bell" had nothing to do with song or symphony, which gives us more clues and confirms the truth about "Ode to Joy".

Surprisingly, "Song of the Bell" is also been written by Friedrich Schiller.

"Ode to Joy" was written in 1785, while "Song of the Bell" was written in 1798.

The poem talks about the bell, how was the bell made, by what, and with what tools and techniques they used to make it.

I have a belief that the "love and punishment" part of the song lyrics has other means than taking from the "Song of the Bell". Yes, the poem did mention "love" as a part of the story where a couple has known each other since they were kid.

Wedding bell and allocation of roles is the part when the bell acts as a wedding bell.

To later on, mention death: Death knell upon the decease of the woman where the bell has an earnest purpose and tolls in accompaniment to a funeral

But there is no mention of crime or punishment.

So go back to the lyrics where they sing: "Reflect the song"

Reflect...which means there is a connection but not really is about the poem. It was more about Valkyris, the love had turned its back on them. Their art, their joy, their peaceful life as 3 small people in an unpopular Unit was now a punishment, pulling them down to the ground.

Nazuna left, Valkyrie broke, Shu is no longer himself.

To Mika, if not a punishment then what could this horrifying scene had been?

We can also see this in the human's eyes. If "Ode to Joy", "Libera me" was all human ( in the theme ) talking about, then this line is the begging for the god to rethink his decision:

"Please, don't you see, this beautiful planet is our everything. Is our beginning and our ending. We may suffer, but we are happy, and that makes living a meaningful thing."

noticed how Mika uses "Each other" not just "Other" which points to both Shu and Mika.

In their era of being a "not so happy" unit since the war ended.

They have gone so far and now look back at themself. Such action of shame, the days when we are still nothing but a nameless Valkyrie.

You can also look at it in the MV theme way: ''I wish this world would disappear.'' As the god of mechanical no longer feels the need of humans exiting.

As the next lyrics go:

"Behind this veil of anonymity" (Shu line)

"The ghosts of the dead-" (Mika line)

"Are dancing in the underground till the end of the trial" (Shu line)

There are two things I need to point out in detail here:

Firstly: The meaning of these lines seems to me as if they're talking about their trauma. Behind this veil is the old time, the old ghosts, look, they are all here, never left until we start open up with them. Until we learn how to heal ourselves from the brutal injury of war did we be able to make them leave

Secondly: Mika once again mentions death. It was Mika's own thing, if you don't know, death kinda became a thing that fond with Mika's style. Lots of times, we can see Mika associated with death ( mostly in the old song. )

In his 'In the Shadow' outfit, which had a deep connection with butterflies.

Butterflies are a symbol of the representative soul of a deceased person. In that outfit, Mika is represented by a blue butterfly, what was the meaning of that symbol?

A symbol of the soul who passed is nearby!

So, by now you would be questioning: "Why are there so many signs about death from Mika?" Well, glad you asked.

This all came down to the fact that Mika was being a doll in Valkyrie. Nazuna was also a doll himself, but he break free and Mika didn't.

Mika is dying from the inside, becoming the soulless, as he loses what support to belong to him. He sells it away, sacrifice it for the wish of making Valkyrie great again.

"Surrounded by faceless choirs, there's stand the lonely soloist So, let's sing out loud to those who have no place to go, here's the truth."

Sung by both Mika and Shu.

In my belief, these lines are dedicated to them, the Valkyrie that got injured after the war. They got no hope, not thing to relied on.

Shu got a bad representation, lost his mind.

Mika also had to suffer from the event but he's trying his very best not to become a burden to Shu after Nazuna left.

That was the moment when Mika became more doll-like than how he was before.

We stood together, yet loneliness filled inside our souls. Becoming the "soloist" singer without notice.

"Sing to those who have no place"

They're telling themself, their pitiful past self that the daunting world is now no more.

We now have a place to stay, a home to be in, we've got our back.

Ok, ok, here it comes, MY FAVORITE LINE!

LIKE, THERE ARE SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT, I CAN'TTTTT

Ok, I can actually do that now ( since this analysis is already long as hell )

This line makes a connection to another line, which is:

"Here's the truth" - "Audience, please come"

"To the New World"

Isn't simply just about the god and the humans, it carries two meanings.

One is the literal, a sore thumb that sticks out the most to me: IT ABOUT THE VALKYRIE NEW ERAAAAA.

They maybe not yet healed, not yet prepared themself for the world outside, but they're now more happy than ever.

Shu is trying his best to understand Mika.

Mika is trying his best to become something of his own, escape from the realm of a soulless doll.

"Dancing with full bloom"

Like, uhm *raises eyebrows*, full bloom, full bloom you said?

The last time ( the first time Shu appeared in the game main story ), Shu said: "I am counting the days until we bring our blossoms together to make "Valkyrie" the most beautiful bouquet in the world."

And now ya said that you're FULL BLOOM? That can only mean one thing, they have finally found their meaning of art.

They may not "bloom" to the world but "bloom" to themself. Becoming different. They changing, they learning, and they are growing.

"where 0 and 1 dancing"

Yeh, you already know what I'm going to say. 0 and 1 are binary code or we usually call it "computer language" / bits.

0 and 1, is what this theme song is about. The mechanical god, the new world of mechanics. "0 and 1 dancing" is "The god is speaking".

Like, 0 1 then 1 0, 0 1 then 1 0, where 0 and 1 will change their place to make a byte, a string of bits, representing the god language.

And, it is just me or do I get the feeling that this goddess who wants to destroy a world in rust has his reason, he has a feeling that leaving the world like this, isn't a good idea.

Even if the humans are begging him to stop, he did not listen.

Because, in some of the next lines, we got this:

"A play that crueler than dream" (Shu line)

"With everyone's prayers" (Mika line)

"Everyone will remember it" (Shu line).

"Above the Surface world that full of selfishness and egoism" (Mika line)

The god see human as this selfish and only care for what they want most then how others feel.

"This lost child of the era, is confused by the fragile waves" (Mika line)

"So let's come and come into a new world trapped in 0 and 1" (Shu & Mika line)

Is about Valkyrie, IT ABOUT VALKYRIE. *Gone crazy at this point*

If you didn't know, Valkyris wasn't that used to the new system after the war. The DreamFes system made by Eichi, yeah, that one.

They skip school and most of the time do their show outside of school until Eichi himself steps in and threatens them to rejoin the school and accept the DreamFess system.

They were lost. Lost of the modern world, and still stay in the old era. Shu never wants to go back and join the DreamFes for once because how much he hated Eichi, and how much the war hurted him, yet, they return, make a change that not even Eichi can imagine of.

"Lost in their own tears, and still..." (Shu line)

"Falling away..." (Mika line)

They did, however, losing against Fine, and still...this was not the end.

THIS WAS A MARK FOR THE NEW BEGINNING.

That they're now known to DreamFes, open their mind and continue their journey.

That why the next line of the song came with a stronger beat. Bam! We are now reborn, we are now continue to blooming up on this world of hidden beauty. We'll find it and make art out of it!

"Scrutinize, lament, and let your own foolish schemes drive you crazy" (Shu line, it kinda fit Shu too)

"And now, ask yourself here and now." (Mika line)

"Is there an omnipotent being to be ruled?" (Both)

"And do you believe it?" (Shu line)

"Do you believe it?" (Mika line)

"Do you believe it?" (Both)

I think these lines are pointing to Shu and how he've been since the end of the war.

Scrutinize mean: examine or inspect closely and thoroughly.

While lament mean: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

After the war, Shu was cave for perfection even more than he was before, he wish to not made all that mistake again or else he might lose Mika too.

He drive himself crazy, then look back what happened, he started to ask questions.

He was so into perfection, he loses the meaning of art it self. He put himself into a jail, said that, this was all for the work of art, but it wasn't.

People are being harm for his actions, Mika wasn't getting any better if he keeps acting like this. Reckless and madness drive him away from the actual beauty in art that the old Shu was fond of.

So, he ask himself. If art is freedom, why so gaol...

"Is there an omnipotent being to be ruled?"

And realizing that, will he continue to be like this. Do you believe in such form of art that not bring happiness and joy?

For the bloom of Valkyrie, must we sacrifice our little life for the victory Shu wanted.

Also important element needed to be mention: Last Lament.

Meiyuu Deshi Kairou was released in 2023, and Last Lament which is also a Valkyrie song was released in 2017.

And in the song, there was this line: "It fine if we reach the brink of our dreams and rot forgotten."

"We'll use the flames of passion on us, to show them that we can melt even despair."

But, but! In their newest song ( from the Trip albums)

Shukufuku no Library

We can see, Shu is now accepting the future and wish for joy to Valkyrie then only to successfully reach their dream as soon as possible:

"Is it only success stories that are now illuminated by the love that shines down from the heavens?"

"No! An unfinished adventure stories is also a foolish memoir that's also precious."

"Come on, let's play the lovely poems of our lives and gently store them in the library of blessings."

Return, return, let's us get to the next line:

Ok, Ok, I love that they put both Friedrich Schiller work into one line!

"A play that's crueler than a dream" (Mika line)

"Everyone inside this veil wishing for something" (Shu line)

The god talk about everyone wishes, seeing their foolish little small wishes yet never to be turn into reality because the god already had their own plan for them.

It also Shu, talking to himself that even if life is cruel, everyone has their little dream.

"In the face of the myth of the Perfect world" (Shu line)

But Shu dream was too far from reality, can that Perfection he wished for really have a way to get?

From here on, the line repeat itself:

"confused by the fragile waves" (Shu line)

"This lost child of the era" (Mika line)

"So let's come and come into a new world trapped in 0 and 1" (Shu & Mika line)

But this time, Shu has become different, Valkyrie has changed! The lost child had found their way out of that jail!

"The labyrinth corridor, love is a Perfect world" (The back choir?)

And yes, he did be able to found out, love is the best way to a world he's wish for, no more madness from now on, only love and joy.

And maybe, just maybe, the goddess in this song also did.

Thank you for your time! Reading this.

It late now, and my ears...oh god...it had been listen to Meiyuu Deshi Kairou non-stop ( I remember like 8/10 of the goddam lyrics *cry and laughed at the same time* )

Also, one last thing...

In the 3D MV, noticed how Mika move, yes, he still keep that flexibility of him, but that not just a represent for a doll, Mika now turning it in to his own style of dance.

While Shu do art in a perfect and nicely organizing way.

Mika go for a chaos way that both resemble the old him and use it to make the new him.

In the last moment of the MV, Mika...I don't know if he forget or that is simply how the MV plays out, but there was a moment like this:

Mika when: Look at my Oshi-san!!!

Shu: Mika! Back up! You're supposed to be standing next to me.

Mika: Can i?

Shu: Yes. Yes you can. You're no longer a doll, but a human, a partner who place is staying next to me and performing art together.

Mika: Oh...I'm not fulling understand that, but ok! I'll try to stay next to you from now on!

( this is me, writing that out of thin air, the conversation may not be real, but the meaning are. Mika may be a little confused for suddenly got set free from being a soulless doll, he need his little time )

Thank...for reading...my dear ValkyrieP... I need a rest and a cup of coffee I guess *die*

[bthump]

Griffith is described as a complex character that is difficult to understand. Is it because he has the feelings of a feminine? I've noticed that his songs tend to be sung by women expressing him feelings. List songs 中島美嘉 『Wish』, 南條愛乃feat.やなぎなぎ I want you to try these songs.

Hm, there may be some translation issues here because I'm not entirely sure I understand the question, but are you essentially asking whether Griffith is a trans woman or genderqueer?

Because I don't feel equipped to go into an in-depth analysis of gender in the context in which Berserk was written and published, but essentially while Miura emphasized his androgyny on purpose and may consider it relevant psychologically when it comes to his subtextual attraction to Guts - he has once said that androgynous characters should have male and female love interests, eg (though he may have specifically meant intersex characters since he was discussing Duranki rather than Berserk) - I don't think Griffith is purposefully written to be understood as anything but a man in any tangible way.

I could be wrong, because again I have very little context in terms of like, trans stereotypes, trans representation, trans coding, the line between gender nonconformity and transgender identity, etc, in Japanese media. But imo Griffith is pretty masculine in Berserk aside from his androgynous appearance, and arguably his feelings for Guts. (Of course a man's desire for another man isn't intrinsically feminine, but it's plausible that Miura may have considered it feminine. It's only relatively recently that gay desire and gender identity have stopped being automatically connected in North American culture, after all, and I know Berserk is in part inspired by Go Nagai who definitely equated gay desire with gender fuckery lol.)

And wrt the female singers, idk! Again, I don't have the context to know if including songs with female singers and lyrics reminiscent of a male character in the credits is unusual or not. My instinct is to say it's probably a coincidence, but idk, maybe it is something that doesn't happen often.

ANYWAY lol all that said, if people describing Griffith as complex and hard to understand has anything to do with his "femininity," I think it's just that they refuse to acknowledge the homoerotisicm and so fail to realize that everything that confuses them can be easily explained by Griffith's intense feelings for Guts.

I mean I do think Griffith is fairly complex in that he's well written and has a lot of interesting layers that can be difficult and fun to suss out and speculate on, but imo he's not hard to understand when it comes to the important things: the core of his character is that he's torn between his feelings for Guts and his desire for a kingdom, and the manga (and ovas) make that very clear imo. Throw in guilt, the sunk cost fallacy, and emotional repression and you got Griffith in a nutshell.

Anyway yeah, sorry I couldn't properly answer your question, it's a little beyond my scope. Thanks for asking though, and recommending the songs to listen to!

[clockworkdrop]

analyzing some costumes that were definitely only meant to be a fun recognizable character with little substance

note: it's been a while since I watched sailor moon so please correct me if I get something wrong

first, because I see this misunderstood a lot, damara is not a member of the lost weaboos. she's originally from the eastern provinces, and lives in the forest next to them. I've seen analysis on the peter pan themes that she's tinkerbell in the story, and similarly tinkerbell is not a lost boy, she just lives near them

because of that, I don't think damara has a particular interest in anime like rufioh. she doesn't dislike it or anything, but it's not a big deal to her. but early pre-game she'd go along with what he wants. which means rufioh would've been the one to pick these costumes, so analysis would be more about how he sees the relationship or what he wants it to be like

so... sailor moon was designed for an audience of young/adolescent girls. however, within pop culture especially in america the sailor scouts were seen as sex objects a lot of the time. they are not meant to be depicted that way in the show at all, but there was a section of teenage boys watching only because there were a bunch of pretty girls in short skirts

(lyrics from One Week by Barenaked Ladies)

there's a weird combination of infantilization and sexualization happening with damara within the text and I feel like some of that could apply. someone more knowledge than me should be the one to speak on it though

usagi and mamoru have struggles but at the end of the day they're destined to be together. they literally meet their daughter from the future at the start of season 2 they know they have to end up together. and that's probably comforting to rufioh, that even though there's all these struggles things will still magically work themselves out.

usagi is very childish, which makes sense since she's 14 but that's very much a major trait she has. she's lazy and impulsive and gets jealous easily.

mamoru is tuxedo mask, and the main thing about him is that his goal is to help sailor moon. rufioh was the leader of the lost boys but didn't see himself as some big hero. so he'd maybe like to see himself as some guy who wasn't the lead and took more of a backseat in the story, only showing up when needed to help the heroes.

there also something about the fact that usagi looks up to tuxedo mask because he seems like he knows everything compared to damara putting rufioh on a pedestal vs usagi thinking mamoru is a jerk and annoying compared to damara being tired with rufioh being childish and dishonest

there's also the fact that usagi and mamoru have an age gap. in the begining of the manga, usagi is 14 and mamoru is 16. in the anime, usagi is 14 and mamoru is 17, but he's also in a grade level that is usually for 18 year olds. I'm not mentioning this to bring in sailor moon discourse though. I'm mentioning it because of the fact that rufioh hit on aradiabot who is 13.

I don't really have a conclusion on this, but I do think there's something interesting going on with all this. maybe someone else can add more thoughts at some point lol

[bettyshoweduptotheparty]

I'm making a playlist of songs that I think Taylor wrote about Karlie and always get caught up in the sadness storm in Folklore/Evermore. I find both pretty hard to listen to, especially if the lens is that Karlie broke Taylor's heart and/or vice versa. My sad parasocial heart can't come from the romantic highs of Reputation and Lover and then think that the two had a huge, heartbreaking fallout. LOL That said, I pretty much treat your lyrical analyses as gospel, so I was wondering if you had a list of the FolkEvermore songs that you think are about Karlie. I think maybe I can eventually listen to the albums in full when I know that the sadness isn't just about Karlie seemingly betraying Taylor and Taylor's heart smashing into pieces. (I do know that the albums are also heavily influenced by the Masters Heist, staying in the closet, and maybe even some of the demons TS has with her dad. I'm sure the pandemic also played a part in all the sadness.)

So yeah, I'm a weird consumer of music. Sad songs make me sob, and I don't love that feeling, haha. So I'm the rare fan who gets too depressed listening to those albums.

Hello 👋🏼 and ok, this is kinda long so let me go bit by bit.

If you want, I can give you some of my suggestions of which folklore/evermore songs should go on a kaylor playlist, but that's only based on my interpretation. Will do at the end.

Thanks for the compliment on my lyrical analysis, I love doing these, but please don't take them as gospel.

A lot of people mistake the acoustic/low production nature of folklore and evermore as sadness, and don't get me wrong, some of these songs are gut wrenchingly sad, but just because a song is slow and acoustic doesn't automatically make it sad. Cardigan is very much a happy end song, TLGAD is super fun (imo), so is No Body, No Crime, and Invisible String. But yes, some of these songs are pretty devastating. Reputation definitely got the 'honeymoon phase' love songs, but Lover had False God and Afterglow on it (and the Archer!), so I'd say that already showed the reality of long-term relationships pretty well, and they're just not all sunshine and rainbows forever.

I don't think a single song on these albums suggests that Karlie broke Taylor's heart...? If anything, Taylor always paints herself as the guilty one/the coward when it comes to that relationship. I think there were definitely insecurities and rough patches that show up in some songs, but the real pain is in working through the 2019 stuff, which is mostly about losing your life's work and someone who was like a father figure.

And you're not weird for consuming music with emotion, good art is supposed to make you feel things :)

OK, so, here's my additions for a kaylor playlist from folkmore (songs that I associate with them): cardigan, illicit affairs, invisible string, betty, peace, the lakes, willow, champagne problems, ivy, cowboy like me, and gold rush.

[angeygirl]

Vaguely incomprehensible thoughts from listening to Self-ish for the first time (mostly written in real time)

(and also I try an analysis at the end despite not understanding the words)

Self: Huh, that was a very chill intro song. Probably setting up motifs or smth I'll look it up later

2012: For a guy having a breakdown this is really funky. Noticing a theme here.

Cotard's Solution:

This... this intro is the end of Dr. Sunshine. Motifs! That's cool :D but alI can hear for the rest is "*Rabid screaming* Murder look like a suicide *Zombie sounds*" I've heard not to trust people who like this song so I'm assuming it has to do with the lyrics but these instruments are fire

Mr. Capgras:

What are these rhythms and why do I love them? Not sure what the vibe is but it feels, like... an old carnival or something? Let me guess, more identity problems? HOLY CRAP THAT'S THE DROP IN DR. SUNSHINE! (looked it up afterward while trying to make this post make sense, Capgras Syndrome is a disorder where a person believes someone important in their life has been replaced by an imposter, but in this case the imposter is imposter syndrome [I think])

The Song With Five Names:

Why does the song have five names anyway? Maybe it'll make sense when I actually can read along and figure out what's happening "Gotta get to the bottom of this"??? This guy keeps reusing things and it makes me so happy. That guitar though...

Hand Me My Shovel:

YES!!!

Fun fact "Hand Me My Shovel" was my first Will Wood song. Found it on a Wilson Higgsbury playlist (I think) and it actually scared me with all the screaming. Funny how it's a favorite of mine now that I associate it with Michael Afton. And it was on a William Afton playlist, ironically enough.

Dr. Sunshine:

Yeah... as far as I'm concerned this song is my traumatized OCs having a dance battle in some spooky bar in the south west or something while yelling at each other for no reason, all just dealing with their own problems by dancing and yelling and stuff.

"Who should I be then if I'll never be the same?" is the opposite of what "Self-" was saying. All that stuff about identity and it ends with "I'm no one now, there's no one now to be." No wonder it sounds so melancholy there. Plus the clock ticking... The title of the album makes so much sense actually

So "Self" was really calm but "-Ish" sounds angry and pained. the songs didn't really amp up linearly (as far as the music goes it's pretty high energy the whole time), but the story is still there.

Someone assured in his identity (Self) loses a large chunk of his memories (2012) and rapidly downward spirals into losing more and more pieces of himself (going to need to lump the other songs together since I couldn't actually figure out what they individually were about). In trying to reinvent himself, he feels he's replacing whatever he had before (Mr. Capgras) and goes digging deeper into himself to look for answers (Hand Me My Shovel). By the time he really does hit the bottom, he's panicking and grabbing at straws for stability, not really one thing or another; not stable but not unstable, not good but not evil, not sure but not lost. Not sunshine but not moonlight. (Dr. Sunshine) In the end he has more questions then answers. All the confidence is gone and he forces himself to just be. (-Ish)

Considering I have a hard time understanding lyrics the first time I hear a song I definitely missed something, but even with what I could make out the story was there. I've heard Will Wood wrote a lot from his experiences and I can feel that in this album.

[cabin10diaries]

so anyway. burnt out by leanna firestone is so leo in caleo

longer fun silly lyric analysis below cut <3

* just for fun + lots of personal interpretations

- i want to start this by saying i personally do not think calypso is unlovable. thats just the song. i believe that her habit of flaking on leo is due to abandonment issues (’leave before they can’ sort of situation), her berating him is just needing to be a better person.

"I've never felt this warm as I did / When you touched me, gave me / Goosebumps from head to toe"

so this is when leo and calypso meet. leos never felt any romantic love, whether it was forced or not. hell he's barely felt Any sort of love. he was loved by piper and jason, but it always felt like he was the extra, so it never felt right. unlike when he meets calypso, who can focus all her love on him whether she wants to or not. and when leo realizes shes fallen in love with him, the first one to Ever, he feels like he's never felt before. loved

"But a love made of matches / Was destined to burn out / And end up in ashes and smoke"

'matches' meaning forced/fake - the curse on calypso's island played with her feelings. she accidentally fell in love out of convenience. they cant last bc neither planned to be in this relationship, neither discussed what they want out of life, and because of their differing wants, they cant last.

"Still ambers remained / And I tried to re-ignite them / Ended up playing with fire again / You pushed me away / And I fought and I stayed"

calypso constantly flakes out on leo. she wants a life outside of him, but he so desperately wants to stay in hers. he keeps trying to be in her life, but she doesnt let him

"But maybe I should have listened / Because you're right, I couldn't fix you / You're right, I shouldn't have tried to"

'fix you' is so leo. he is a mechanic at heart. the way he understands people is thinking about them in more mechanical terms, and calypsos 'broken', so he wants to be the hero and 'fix' her by showing her the love that always left her. calypso doesnt want to love leo, or for him to love you. you see that as she constantly berates and leaves him, over and over and over. and leo finally realizes shes right, he should just stop. hes tired, burnt out

"Your pride, is what you're concerned about? / Is "you're right" really all you wanna hear right now?"

personal calypso interpretation, but she hasnt been faced by any opposition for years. she literally only talked to a guy every few centuries. shes a little stuck up, although not on purpose. she thinks shes more right than currently alive mortals simply because shes been alive longer ('older = wiser') even if she hasnt contacted civilizations in years

"Well, you're right, I should've walked away faster / I should've known / You'd only break my heart after I was already in love / You're right, you aren't good enough"

leo stayed with calypso for far too long, after she started taking every chance she could to insult and avoid him. and hes too tired to be kind; calypso was right. she isnt good enough to love, just like odysseus and percy made her think. leos hopping on the bandwagon of her past lovers, making calypsos worst dream come true. she truly is unloveable (of course, she isnt, but thats what the song interpretation is making it out to be)

"I kissed your scars even after you hurt me / And I held your hand even when you fucking burned me"

even after calypso insults leo, berates him, leaves him, he still loved her. he still make time for her and found ways to show her his love. she never did the same. she cut him out of her life as best she could. leo kept her in his, trying to show that he still loved her, and always would, no matter what she did to him

"Do you know how embarrassing that was? / To stay with sombody who hates you because / You hope things get better / You hope that love can / Turn a monster into a man / But it doesn't and it won't / Because you're beyond repair"

leos done with calypso. he loved her, and all he got was disdain in return. ‘beyond repair’ - another mechanic leo thing. he treats people like cars, like inventions, thats how he understands them, and he’s starting to think calypso’s too broken. she cant be fixed.

“But there are still someone for me somewhere / Who will treat me so nice, you'll wish that you did / For someone so smart, you're so fucking stupid / To think that I'm really that dumb / I love you, but I'm done / Pretending this was gonna work / Pretending loving you didn't hurt / Pretending that it doesn't burn / When you think you're always right”

he still loves calypso. no longer romantically (if he ever did love her romantically) but he cant put up with the lack of love or even acknowledgement from her. hes confident enough now (bc of the love from jo, emmie, etc waystation) to know SOMEONE will love him. he will be loved someday. its just that the someday isnt today, and the someone isnt calypso.

“'Cause you're still stuck on your past / You hate 'em so much but / You're just like your dad”

atlas left her. he never went to calypso’s island for her. neither did percy, or odysseus. they all abandoned her. and what was she doing now? abandoning leo, just like atlas, like percy, like odysseus. shes copying their habits, and shes just like them

“You smothered every right that I've ever had / By holding on too tight / And it's suffocating / And I'm longing to breathe again / And in the middle of it all / I ended up losing who I am”

while calypso was barely around, the mental hold she had on leo was there daily for him. her comments- insults- roamed in his head. he barely knew who he was without calypso anymore, because he based himself and his self-worth on her.

“And I know that you tried / Gave it all that you had / And being a monster / Doesn't necessarily make you bad”

maybe this is leo trying to reassure himself, maybe it’s the truth. maybe calypso did try as hard, maybe she didnt. but leo knows that, regardless, this relationship doesnt make up who she is as a person. she is still someone outside of how she treated leo. even if she doesnt know who she is, either, leo knows she isnt defined by the actions towards him

“But even if we could stable it back together now / We both know that you can't / Light a fire that's already burnt out”

they can be friends. they can be family. leo would even settle for acquaintances. but both know they cant be in love again, if they ever once were

[xluxsolarisx]

Air Traffic Controller <- new musics ^^👍

yay new musics!!! i am like a tiger that found a new meat pumpkin to roll around in my enclosure :3 anyway i only listened to a few of their top songs on spotify bc i'm lazy but i liked them more than i thought i would!!

i think this one is my favorite actually! i like the creepy vibe and the way the singer doesn't really stop or change the tempo except for the chorus, gives it like a droning rambling kind of losing it vibe, very nice ^^

god what a fucking mood. yeah i can relate to this one, i like the way it's sung very frantically and rushed in relation with the lyrics. you gotta slow down and appreciate what you got unless you wanna spend your life in search of something you'll never find :/

this one i really liked too!! i should listen to the full album sometime all the songs i've listened to so far are super good, hopefully it's a pattern c: this one makes me feel badass listening to it. like if i were a cool buff werewolf and honestly i'm into it >:3

aside from those three, i also listened to some other new music!!! also only three songs but c'est la vie

this one gives me paper idol vibes kinda, sweet :3 y'know i genuinely did not know this was about drugs until i got on genius to look at the lyric analysis. like i genuinely thought this was about either being a Cool Badass or like the general feeling a sugar high gave you. twelfth grade english teacher i'm so sorry....i don't deserve the a i got both semesters if this is how i'm using it 😔

i understand this is super super dark but have you considered: the vocals are very nice. i'm so obsessed with the singer's VOICE.... it reminds me of like a 50s and more ranged kate bush, very nice :) but not just that!!! the TONAL CONTROL, the TEMPO, the KEY SWITCHES....all genuinely genius. i wish there was more stuff from the band, the last album was in 2012 and i'm not sure if they're just on a long hiatus or broke up entirely but i hope it's the former, i really liked this song :(

i've been getting into will wood lately and i think his voice is so goofy and fun. i like how he distracts you with it and the trumpets but the lyrics are super deep and clever if you think about it. he does that for all his songs and i don't think i could pick a favorite out of his songs honestly. like if i HAD to i would choose memento mori i guess. MAYBE the vampire culture part of suburbia overture but only for the growling, i'm a sucker for when singers growl. especially when women do it but will wood gets a pass too. because i am an egalitarian. you're welcome.

thanks for the recommendation!! i had a lot of fun listening to new music, it was nice to branch out. i probably wouldn't have listened to air traffic controller if you didn't suggest it and i'm glad you did <3

[whoa-where-did-the-pancakes-go]

your ask got lost to the void for some reason but give me the fob song rec list boy 🤲

Yayyy :) it's kinda a long list cause I have. A lot of thoughts about this band.

Hum Hallelujah - very good lyrically, there's a really interesting analysis somewhere that I might be able to find

Young Volcanoes - I have no reason for adding this one other than that I can play it on guitar

Fake Out - high notessss

Folie á Deux is my favorite album and I would say all the songs are good, but I think you should try She's My Winona and America's Suitehearts. Maybe Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown, too. If you're going to listen to the full album I think it'd be fair to warn you that there are some Brendon vocals on 20 Dollar Nosebleed and a bit on What A Catch, Donnie.

"The Take Over, The Breaks Over" - It's just fun idk

Dance, Dance - a classic. The basssss <3

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Coming To Shows) - screaming :3

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy - I have no valid reason for putting this on the list. I just like it.

The Patron Saint Of Liar And Fakes - yet again no particular reason

Pavlove (demo) - THIS FUCKING SONG. HGDSGFHFJHFXH

Fourth Of July - makes me feel ill but in a good way. "May the bridges I have burned light my way back home" is one of my favorite lyrics ever I think.

Yeah. No pressure to listen!! And I'd love to hear your thoughts whenever

[paperlovesadness]

Something to rely on - Miles Kane song analysis

// From Coup De Grace - 2018 //

Okay - I need to start releasing my draft-posts into the world. I've had this sitting there for a while but wasn't convinced it's ready. I think I should just stop overanalyzing though so here goes.

We're here - another silly little subjective analysis of a Miles Kane song (geared towards how it could possibly maybe be about Alex? question mark question mark ??)

I was gonna do Adios Ta-Ra Ta-Ra first, but then I was listening to this album and this one just got stuck in my head and didn't wanna leave. So here we are (will do others too of course though).

Big disclaimer is: this is just one little personal interpretation done for fun and please don't take it too seriously.

Even I personally have more than one idea in my head about a lot of these lyrics and songs and what they could mean. I just choose one - the one most convincing to myself, one that sticks out to me the most and write it down for what it is in that moment in time.

I like sharing these because I'm curious if anyone else in the world finds some of my thoughts convincing - and if not - what they think these things mean instead! Honestly the thing I want most from these is feedback and potential conversations - be it in tag, reblog, reply, or message form. I love trying to figure songs out together! So please share your thoughts!

[Verse 1]

Crescent moon, left in my drive

All too soon, you made your point

Keeping off the radar, how does that make you feel?

The moon seems like a thing in the whole Miles/Alex "lore"

-> We've got that interview, where Alex jokes around about them missing each other while on tour, looking at the moon, wondering what the other's doing.

-> There's the "He moves the moon that kid" quote from Alex when introcuding Miles during an AM gig.

-> "I'm Alex from the lash shadow puppets and I play the awhooo [interviewer Cat - so you're a wolf. Cool] // And I'm Miles from the Last Shadow Puppets and I play the midnight moon".

-> The moon is also ofc associated with Alex himself due to TBHC and the fact he 's stated that he's intereted in space overall

other things maybe worth noting?

* "Kiss me underneath the moon's sideboob" [AM - TBH+C]

* The Ultracheese. The whole song. The title being a cheesy [hehe] metaphor for the moon

* "Crawling through like midnight panthers

Growling at the moon" [ MK - First of my kind]

* Paraselene woman, I'm your man in the moon [Alex Turner, Glass in the Park]

All that to say... We've got another moon here and maybe that's done on purpose.

This one is crescent - seems like a sad metaphor. Crescent moons can symbolize either the beginning or the end of something. "Left in my drive" is giving me very much breakup vibes. Something left behind on the way out of your home/life.

There's nothing much left of the moon that they perhaps shared as "their thing".

Keeping off the radar - a thing that Alex very much does - not one for social media or a public presence at all if he can help it. Here - maybe also direct ghosting is invloved after a breakup or fight - whataver went on.

[Chorus 1]

Something to rely on

Something to get high on

Miles has had enough of the push-and-pull of the relationship. He wants something he can actually rely on. Something that'll bring him the pure joy love is supposed to bring - a high.

Miles also references a high/getting high together in other songs - like in "Wrong side of life" (the song he says is about the person who he broke up with/the one he's wrote most of the CDG album about + incidentally a song he apparently dedicated to Alex during a gig he was at) he writes about wanting to get high with you.

So i feel like we have a doube meaning - the high of love/and actually getting high.

(something - let's be honest - that is obvious Miles and Alex did once or twice during the EYCTE era)

I don't want to beg or steal, I don't want to borrow hearts

Another clue to the fact that the relationship was an on-and-off / push-and-pull / hot-and-cold thing. Maybe even an affair. Maybe just open or perhaps simply casual - but Miles doesn't want it to be just that.

He doesn't want to beg for the persons love and full attention.

Doesn't want to share them with anyone - have to steal them away from the person they officially "belong" to.

He doesn't want to have them sometimes - a heart borrowed for the day' when it's convenient. He wants to own the person's heart and in return be theirs fully too.

I just want to make it real

Something to rely on

Confirmation for the theory above. He wants it to be a real full-on relationship, not whatever it has been and has obviously not been enough for him.

The making of a mystery, wishing on a falling star

I don't want to let this sadness rule my heart

He knows he can't take it anymore - his heart is at stake and it's hurting. Whatever the relationship is offering isn't satisfying him and the sadness that brings is taking over his life. He has to put an end to it for his own good - but he still loves the person. He'd like to be able to rely on them. He wants to wish on a falling star for this to work out. (more space related things?)

[Verse 2]

Keeping it clean, through all the things you wanted me to be

Out of touch, with all the rumors I keep hearing of you

Keeping off the radar, how does that make you feel?

Keeping it clean is a confusing metaphor - It brings to mind images of staying clean - so drugs/alcohol. But that doesn't personally makes sense to me in this context.

I'd go towards keeping their image clean. This relationship - whatever it was - was a secret. That seems like something mostly the other person wanted - not ready to fully commit. They wanted Miles to be a secret / a friend with benefits maybe / something without a label perhaps, when Miles was all in and ready for the real deal with them.

He needs to seperate himself (be out of touch) from the rumours about this person who broke his heart // perhaps the rumours inevitably make their way towards him, because this person is a well-known public figure, often gossiped about. And associated with Miles closely - so he keeps hearing about them even though he'd like not to know what goes on in his life post their fall out. <- that's assuming the lyrics are from the "now" perspective; post-heartbreak.

But it can also mean that they had an actual relationship - but it was kept secret - something initiated by the other person, not Miles.

Miles kept the rules - kept their image clean, kept it all a secret. But that meant having to deal with rumours about the other person being with other people.

In this context "Keeping off the radar, how does that make you feel?" can also refer to the relationship. He's asking the person - keeping us secret - how does that make you feel?

[chorus 2 / ending]

The making of a mystery, wishing on a falling star

I don't want to let this sadness rule my heart

Your actions from the start

In spite of me insightfully inviting me to fall apart

This person was doing more-than-friend things with Miles and suggesting a possible something-more from the very start - when they first met. Their actions clearly invited him to fall for them and then in turn fall apart from the heartache that it caused in the end.

Miles may have known it's a bad idea (in spite of me) but coudn't keep himself from falling anyway. The person was super close to him, understood him well (insightfully inviting me) - which made falling all the more easy.

[Bridge]

All aboard the guilt train

Last call before we leave

First off - makes me recall the "All aboard the Kane train" thing Alex once said during a TLSP gig. May be a coincidence - may not be.

Secondly - Miles seems to feel guilty for the way things went - but he believes both sides should take the blame.

Last call before we learn to love

The last before we leave

(And here we collectively fall apart)

"Last call before we learn to love" seems to me to imply that it's the time to take accountability for their mistakes in this relationship so that they can move on and form other ones ina healthy way? [maybe] BUT-

if so, I still believe this is Miles being freshly hurt by the hearbreak. There are contradictory statements about this love he's lost on the album (and I believe some more on the next one). It doesn't really seem like he's given up on them and their bond.

Even here

You're all that I wanted

All that I need

You're all that I wanted

You're all that I need

at the end of the song we get "wanted" in past tense but "need" in the present.

So doesn't truly seem like giving up on the person and their true shared feelings.