whatmitskisongarethey

[whatmitskisongarethey]

next up is homura and madoka! usually I wouldn’t do two characters in one post but this song is so painfully them.

I’ve assigned them Two Slow Dancers.

Keep in mind, I’ve only watched the show! I haven’t seen any of the movies or anything - this analysis is based off what I know from PMMM. As always, heavy spoilers for this media!!!

The song itself sounds devastating and kind of reminds me of the buildup in the show. It starts off with that (synthetic piano?) instrument with a simple pattern and mitski’s singing. but after the first part, that violin-like synth comes in, and oh, there are the tears!!! the sound of this synth reminds me so much of the later episodes when everything feels spacy, otherworldly… and oddly terrifying as we learn more and more about kyubeys goals, and what becoming a magical girl really means. There’s this dreadfully beautiful wining synth noise that gets loudest around 3:10, and combined with all the other aspects of the song, it just reminds me of the show so much. additionally, the songs diverse sounds remind me a lot of the varying artstyles in madoka.

ANYWAYS.. That was a bit of a ramble. onto lyrical analysis!!

The first five lines “does it smell like a school gymnasium in here / It’s funny how they’re all the same / It’s funny how you always remember / And we’ve done it all a hundred times before / it’s funny how I still forgot”

This is LITERALLY homura using her powers to rewind the timelines and try to save madoka. and madokas like… ‘you’ve done this a hundred times. we’re back in the school. it’s funny how you always remember me and I always forget you.’

It’s funny how they’re all the same. how every timeline has the same ending no matter what homura does. She’ll try and try forever and ever until the end of time and it’ll ALWAYS be the same, madoka will always end up making that deal with kyubey. LOL!!

“It would be a hundred times easier / If we were young again” The repetition of “a hundred times” again being a callback to the inevitability of madokas ending, but also

“If we were young again” if we hadn’t made that life-altering deal at fourteen. If we got to be young, to have normal childhoods.

“We’re two slow dancers, last ones out” they are, quite literally, the last ones out. the last ones to die / become witches.

“To think that we could stay the same”

It’s kind of inevitable that they couldn’t stay the same people. either homura stayed in that constant rewinding-time-loop, loosing herself, or madoka makes her wish and becomes a god. either way, they don’t know eachother fully anymore. homura starts to doubt if madoka ever really existed, and in the timelines madoka forgets homura every new meeting. they can’t stay the same.

My second and third choices for these two:

this was a hard one because I wanted to do them justice - hopefully I did alright! reminder that my asks are always open if you want to request a character!

also just as a side note, apologies if there are any grammar or spelling errors I’m sick rn and I’m kinda out of it lol

[whatmitskisongarethey]

Next up is Bluestar!

I’ve assigned her When Memories Snow. This song starts right away- no buildup, no nonsense. The song itself is almost industrial in a way. The way mitski sings to the melody is haunting, but somehow calming? It very much reminds me of Bluestar. The piano reveals her sensite and clever mind as a leader, while the later drums and trumpet represent her inevitable spiral.

Now into lyrical analysis! Spoiler warning for Warrior Cats! You have been warned!

I interpret the first four lines (‘When memories snow - and cover up the driveway - I shovel all those memories - clear the path to walk to the store’) as Bluestar trying to ignore her past with Oakheart and the kits, and focus on being a leader. She shoves the painful memories away and clears the path so she can lead her clan properly.

But even as she tries to lead her clan, the memories remain. The next four lines (‘And when memories melt - I hear them on the drainpipe - Dripping through the downspout - As I lie awake in the dark’) The memories haunt her at gatherings every few moons, in the dripping leaves after rain, lying alone in the dark. She can become a great leader, but she can never truly forget what she had to sacrifice to get there.

This half of the song, to me, represents Bluestar’s mental health beginning to falter. I interpreted the next line (‘And if I break, could I go on break?’) as Bluestar hoping that if she passes Starclan’s cruel tests (Tigerclaw betraying her, all the chaos he brought) she might finally get a break from the stress of being a leader.

The next two lines (‘Be back in my room, writing speeches in my head - Listening to the thousand hands that clap for me in the dark’) represent her eventual death. In her final moments she considers her own leadership- her speeches, her clan’s support. But it’s all ‘in the dark’, as she had sacrificed herself fighting for her clan.

My second and third choices for Bluestar:

Thank you for reading!! Let me know if you agree with my choice. And please, if you have a character you’d like to see as a mitski song, suggest one! Have a great day :]

[whatmitskisongarethey]

Next up is Arthur Morgan! Sorry in advance for the yap fest. Also, my asks should be open now!!! I didn’t realize I had them closed before lol. Feel free to send in characters!!!

I’ve assigned him Cop Car!

(Heavy Spoilers for Red Dead 2 below!!! Please play the game it’s great!! You have been warned!!)

This is one of Mitski’s songs that start out quiet but gradually ramp up until it’s loud. There’s something a bit different about this one that really makes me connect it to Arthur. Mitski makes use of a droning violin which, at least to me, creates an anxiety-inducing experience. Accompanied by the gradual chaos of the song and how it slowly gets louder, it really creates an interesting sound. The song is reminiscent of the downfall of the Van Der Linde gang, at least to me.

Things had started out simple for the gang, but small things began to snowball, much like the instruments do in the song. The same might be said for Arthur. He starts out a simple person, but through small experiences, he changes, for better or worse depending on your ending. The beauty of Red Dead, at least for me, is that with any character there isn’t really one “thing” that shows their change- rather, it is the culmination of all their actions and words that show it.

Anyway! Lyrical analysis!

Sighhhh. Mitski and her repetition! I would interpret the first two lines (“I get mean when I’m nervous, like a bad dog”) as being Arthur trying to justify his bad behavior. He’s nervous that the people he loves will end up hurt if he isn’t ‘mean’, so he has to go out and commit these crimes. The obvious connection with ‘like a bad dog’ is to the wolf imagery we see with the low honor ending. However, I raise you this: what are dogs most known for? Their loyalty. Who is Arthur loyal to? The gang. He’s loyal to Dutch to an absolute fault. Like a dog, he follows Dutch’s orders, even when Dutch abandons him. With this interpretation, Arthur getting ‘mean’ when he’s nervous could be him going against Dutch because he fears- and ultimately knows- that his plans won’t work out.

I interpret the next three lines (“I want to jump into blue water - And I miss riding horses, I miss running fast”) as Arthur missing when things were simpler. Before the Pinkertons, before Dutch’s plans. This could also be Arthur feeling that he misses his freedom out in the country, where there weren’t so many towns and lawmen.

The second to last line (“I was meant for running fast”) speaks to who Arthur feels he is. He was meant to be an outlaw. This is only exemplified by the next line (“I pretended you were mine, it made me calm babe”). This line speaks to his relationship with Mary Linton. He can pretend to be someone she can be with, but he isn’t. He can dream of a life with her, but he’d never be willing to leave his life behind, so those dreams can never become a reality.

The next two lines (“I am cruel, I am gentle, I can make you laugh”) is kind of a surface level look at Arthur’s character. He’s cruel. He does cruel things, no matter what honor level you have. But he also has the capacity to be gentle. He can make you laugh- he cracks jokes all the time and lightens up an otherwise semi-serious game. But is this all there is to Arthur?

I think not! The next line (“I’ve loved many boys, I’ve loved many girls”) not only cements my headcannon that Arthur is bisexual but also reveals to us that he cares about many people. That’s why he can be cruel. That’s why he cracks jokes. Because he’s a person who loves too much.

The next two lines (“I don’t think about the past, it’s always there anyway - Don’t think about the past, always there anyway”) are very foreboding. During the latter half of the high honor ending, Arthur is essentially trying to undo his past. He’s trying not to think about it and only focusing on what he can do now, not to redeem himself, but to try and do good by the people he’s hurt. This line also works for low honor, since he’s not thinking his past, because it’s ‘always there anyway’. It’s always been a part of him.

Yikes. If you’ve played the game I think you can guess where this is going!

These next few lines (“I will never die”) can be interpreted as Arthur being in denial of his incoming death, but I took it a different way. In the game, we see that Arthur is only afraid of death because he’s going to die without truly having believed in anything. He then realizes, through his last few actions, that his kindness will live on through others. Thus, he will never truly die.

I struggle with these last few lines (“I’ve preemptively blocked all the exits - So I will burn this movie theatre, hey”). I ultimately spun it as Arthur’s final stand, in a way. In the low honor ending, this is him letting his bad behavior consume him. Burning in the movie theatre. In the high honor ending, this is Arthur making sure that everyone in the gang gets out, but going down with the ship himself, blocking all the exits.

My second and third choices for Mr. Morgan:

Thank you for reading! Do y’all agree with my choice? Let me know! Have a great day and remember that I love you <3

[whatmitskisongarethey]

In honor of the book of bill, my first post will be bill cipher!

I’ve assigned him “Should’ve Been Me”. The song’s upbeat sound, the drums and bass paired with the… I think it’s a piano on some sort of synth setting? It all sounds very 80’s and reminds me a lot of Bill. It’s kind of chaotic if you really listen - sometimes the sounds meld together. Now, let’s get on to the lyrics! Mind you, I haven’t fully watched Gravity Falls in years. I was like 12 when it came out. So I’m still trying to remember everything about Bill’s character lol…

Bill is a very lonely triangle. Even though he had friends and family at one point, there’s nobody he can reeeally talk to (‘and I found I had no one to tell’). What is the strange serenity / overwhelming clean feeling that he can’t tell? I interpreted it as the power he gets especially during Weirdmageddon. The freedom? The chaos? Not sure.

These verses remind me so much of Bill and Stanford’s relationship in the book.

“You wanted me but couldn’t reach me” Ford referring to bill as his muse, once getting along with him (maybe a bit too much. what the hell happened on karaoke night?!) but now not being able to reach him. He is too far gone.

“So I went into your memory, relived all the ways you still want me” There’s a point in the book where Bill literally possesses Ford’s mind (‘went into your memory’) and makes him do crazy shit. Bill also speaks directly into his mind, making him think that he has nobody except him, (‘relived all the ways you still want me’ needed me!!) threatening him, typical crazy ex stuff.

I interpreted the girl as being Mabel. He directly says in the book that he relates to Mabel as she’s an agent of chaos. (‘When I saw the girl looked just like me’)

He however feels pity for Mabel and Dipper. Well, maybe not pity. I don’t know if he has the capacity for that. He at the very least acknowledges them being kids going through all these traumatic things. (‘trying to find their way out of a maze.’ the maze being the struggle to survive, as shown by all the timelines where they don’t live.)

These lyrics were harder. Who has power over Bill??

The axolotl! I interpreted the hand as being the axolotl placing Bill in therapy. (‘a labyrinth, where I’d be stuck a while’.)

Repetition is big in Mitski songs. We see that Bill kind of goes crazy, repeating “I’m fine”, (‘it should’ve been me’) almost as if to convince himself.

I interpreted these final lines as being his cry of jealously, in a way. It should’ve been me, my plan for the world. Me! ME!

Here are my second and third choices for Bill:

Thank you all for reading. Do you agree with my choice? Do you disagree? Let me know!

[whatmitskisongarethey]

Hi! Mostly made this blog for fun because I love mitski. If you want, send in some characters and I’ll assign them a mitski song to the best of my ability! My main blog is @noodleraptorr !

Thanks :3 here are the characters I’ve already done:

-Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

-Arthur Morgan (Red Redemption 2)

-Bluestar (Warrior Cats)

- Homura and Madoka (PMMM)