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#song analysis
dearreader · 1 year
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evermore is the perfect christmas album because it’s more about the holiday experience rather then “MERRY CHRISTMAS”! like it’s miserable, it’s nostalgic, it’s heartbreaking, it’s hopeful, it’s restoring. it’s everything that comes about once a year when all roads lead to your home town. when everyone goes back home and must relive the part of them they wish they could bury but can’t. they relive the pain the once thought would be evermore but realize it’s not evermore
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caffeineshitposts · 2 months
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Song Anaylsis: Looser
Okay. Here we go. This is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE songs. It’s just a good song. It shows how well these two communicate. But before I get into that I’ll start at the beginning.
Husk starts by basically lulling Angel into what he would expect to hear and probably has heard from Charlie. A lot of the “don’t say that about yourself” or the “you shouldn’t talk about yourself like that” and that shits hard if you’re not in the place to hear it. So he meets Angel where he’s at. And in the same vein surprises Angel and gets him to open up.
The song starts slow, but you can see Husk’s little smirk letting you know he’s about to get Angel hook line and sinker. It’s a gentle tune that slowly plays into Angel’s feelings right before it picks up the pace. The whole time he’s verbally dancing between revealing pieces of himself while slowly moving the tune a little more upbeat.
He knows what he needs to say to get Angel to open up to him. Once Angel opens up to him with the “A coked up dick sucking ho” the song almost completely changes.
The “Baby that’s fine by me” has Angel smiling and then the song goes from just Husk singing to the song turning into a beautifully productive conversation.
This song is beautiful to me because you have Husk starting this song. He sets the tone, the tune, and steps to the song. Angel follows in his footsteps for a moment before taking his own pieces of the song and making them fit his style without rewriting the building blocks Husk has laid down. He’s not bulldozing over what Husk layed there, but unlike Pentious in Sorry Angel is making the song his own.
He’s dancing on his own. He’s not following Husk’s lead, they’re doing this together. Husk is also not all that vulnerable with the others so I think Husk dropping his guard for a moment in the beginning absolutely helped draw Angel out. And when you have these two dancing it’s clear Husk is leading because Angel is still nervous which then rolls easily into both of them having their own little styles when they’re talking about themselves that mesh so well together when they return to the more duet style.
I adore jazz and swing because of the silent communication happening in these songs. This feels exactly the same. You even have them switching up who rhymes with who on certain lines which I don’t know if this is just me reading too far into it, but that seems to be a really good tell of who’s leading the song. Because these two are switching it up it’s a really good way to show they’re taking turns.
Another really obvious spot that I found when I was relistening to it for this analysis is when you have the:
“I got an appetite for gamblin” to Angel’s “I got an appetite for samplin” 
Not only is Angel following Husk’s rhyme, but also his beat. And then it switches to not only Husk being extremely encouraging, but the 
“I go no holes left to deflower” to Husk’s “I sold my soul to save my power”
Where not only is Husk rhyming with Angel he gave up control of the song. He’s following the tune that Angel is setting. Angel’s lines are a little bit longer than Husk’s once you get to this point in the song and I think it’s interesting that Husk took a step back and followed Angel’s lead on how many beats he should be putting in a measure. 
And he responds beautifully to Angel slowing the song down to something gentle. He stays with him. He doesn’t try to push him into something faster or overpower him. He slows down and the two of them are so sweet and gentle. 
All in all I do really love that this song shows just how well these two can communicate. Sure it’s just one little time that they open up to each other and I’m sure there will be a thousand communication errors down the road. But this song is just so good at showing exactly what I love about swing and it is seriously my favorite song in the show so far.
Also just an interesting side note. The “lose your self-loathing, excuse yourself let hope in” from. Husk is so interesting because it shows that on some level he doesn't think Charlie is wrong. He believes at least on some level that you shouldn't punish yourself and even if Heaven doesn't forgive you maybe you can forgive yourself. (Even if I personally think he's the type of person to direct that energy and thought process at everyone but himself).
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lifedeathtimespace · 8 months
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My favourite thing about That Unwanted Animal is how fucking obvious the narrator makes it that it's all going to end badly for them. The scratching at the door, which her lover can't hear. The Holofernes joke, which they just don't get. "What's the time Mr. Wolf?" when they're blind and bleating. The priest that they ignored. Every sign points towards the inevitable end. But all those signs? All those ignored warnings? They aren't a warning that the lover is in trouble. They're warning that the narrator is the one who's going to get hurt. The door shatters, letting the creature in whilst the lover grips her like an animal about to be speared, an open offering for the creature's attack. The lover is blind and bleating whilst bearing their claws for attack. Unable to see, who will they hit? The narrator, bound in their embrace and an easy target. Easy why? Because she is the God-child falling from the sky, an Icarus who ignored all the warnings that she herself gave. And knowing all this she begs, she pleads, "be good to me." And we all know how that ends.
No, not I.
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bigsurlor · 7 months
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cowboy like me by taylor swift, my interpretation and analysis
And the tennis court was covered up with some tent-like thing
Beginning with "and", it is important to note that we start our story in medias res, or in the middle of the narrative. Also that it begins in past tense, giving the audience the story of how our narrator got to the present, why they're "never gonna love again".
On expensive properties, the tennis courts are often located near or next to the gardens which makes a lovely venue, for both parties and weddings, once a marquee is placed on top. Given the "tent-like thing" covering the tennis courts and our narrator's habits of swindling rich people, both a party or wedding is the likely setting.
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This opening line not only helps to set the scene of this event, but gives the listener the first insight into the character of the narrator. Of course this swindler would not know the name of this "tent-like thing", nor do they care to find out. They are there for one thing: conning old rich people.
It is also important to note that the narrator is seemingly uninterested and generally less than impressed.
And you asked me to dance, but I said, "dancing is a dangerous game"
This line paired with the last not only helps to set the scene of this event but also invokes imagery as well. Dancing typically requires a dance floor, so it is reinforced that our narrator likely is at a wedding (interesting note for later) or party.
I think dancing in this sense is to be taken both literally and metaphorically. Dancing as in becoming closer with another, the forming of a new relationship. So, this other person wants to become closer or more intimate, but our narrator knows and recognizes that doing so breaks into precarious territory, it becomes a "dangerous game". We'll come back to that.
Dancing with a partner is an activity that requires closeness, vulnerability, and an intimacy of sorts. It is moving in a way that is almost co-dependent. Every single thing you do will affect your partner in such a visceral physical and emotional way. Which makes it all the more interesting our narrator chooses to describe dancing as a dangerous game. We all know, games are a type of play or sport often between two people, a back and forth, using both skill and intelligence… which is kind of the opposite of the mindset to be in while dancing and outlook to have on it. Dancing is a partnership.
I believe this line is also an allusion to the short story, The Most Dangerous Game. Spoilers if you haven't read, but it is a story of the hunted and the hunter, one in which the hunter's barbaric game was twisted and turned against himself. The ultimate twist of fate, and the joke was inevitably on him. The "most dangerous game" occurs from the human ability to reason, it was a test of the mind. It was the protagonist's ability to ultimately stop running, to halt his prey behavior, and instead strategize, to outsmart his hunter that led to his safety. We know hunters for Taylor represent the public ("they are the hunters, we are the foxes", I Know Places) ("these hunters with cell phones", the lakes), so I would keep that in mind. For this person to dance with our narrator, it would put them both in a dangerous game, perhaps the most dangerous one.
Oh, I thought, 'this is gonna be one of those things'
To me, this is a double meaning lyric. "One of those things," being just another fling. Someone who comes and passes you by all the same, over before it really even started. But also, "one of those things," such as in reference to a bad or unfortunate event that could happen to anyone (ex: I missed my train, so I had to catch the next one. It was just one of those things, I guess.)
Now I know I'm never gonna love again
Note: alternating between past to present tense
At this point in the song, it is unclear in which way the narrator means this. Are they never going to love again out of the sheer heartbreak from meeting their match and someone who was able to deceive them in the ways they've deceived so many others, or because they will never find another and will love this one lover forever? Let's continue.
I've got some tricks up my sleeves
To have a trick up your sleeve is to have a secret plan, idea, or advantage that one keeps and can utilize when the time is right.
This line adds further characterization to the narrator. They aren't necessarily upfront or honest, they may use certain things to their own advantage. They are a swindler and bandit, after all.
This line also draws certain imagery to mind, like a magician doings tricks, pulling things from their sleeve to fool people. This imagery is important to keep in mind.
Parallels So It Goes...: "See you in the dark / All eyes on you, my magician / All eyes on us" and "All eyes on me, your illusionist / All eyes on us"
Takes one to know one
This phrase is an idiom meaning that it takes one specific type of person to be able to recognize that same type of person elsewhere. It is usually used to describe a trait so central to their personality that it sticks out very clearly to others with the same traits.
I believe this line functions as a double meaning. It gives some insight into the other person, letting us know that this person too is a con artist. They are a swindler like our narrator. But also, this line of thinking can also easily translate to a queerness "gaydar", or the queer community's ability to sense and pick up on subtle signs that another person is queer themselves.
You're a cowboy like me
This line tells the listener so much, but especially in regards to giving more insight into the characters of our narrator and their love interest. Cowboys are symbols of independence, isolation, and often lawlessness. They may always come into town, but they'll always leave it as well. They're hustlers, sometimes cheats, can be the best con artists, but ultimately, they're just trying to survive.
Cowboys have also long been a symbol for the queer community. Often preferring a "buddy" over a wife, building a closeness, homoerotic admiration, and level of intimacy much like with romantic relationships, historians do consider many cowboys to have been gay. Hollywood has even taken to this, with movies such as Brokeback Mountain (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger). Make a mental note of that movie for later.
Another correlation I considered between cowboys and queerness is the lawlessness cowboys are often known for and the struggle for the legality of queerness.
Quick note: who remembers when WMagazine released their "Cowboy Karlie" photoshoot on July 2, 2018 and then eight days later Harpers Bazaar released their photoshoot of Taylor in which she's wearing the same dress from Givenchy's Fall 2018 collection?
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Never wanted love, just a fancy car
Love and affection were never the ambitions or priorities of this narrator. It was success, money, all the fancy cars that drove them. Their focus has always been on hustling, which is what makes this next verse even more compelling. Look at the dichotomy of who this hard cowboy once was compared to who their love has transformed them into in this next line.
(For more reference of this dichotomy, we can view the parallels this has with King of My Heart: "Cause all the boys and their expensive cars / With their Range Rovers and Jaguars / Never took me quite where you do", "The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury", and "Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff".)
Now I'm waiting by the phone like I'm sitting in an airport bar
Our narrator using sitting in the airport bar as a simile for waiting by the phone fits so much into the characterization already previously established. Airports are a place where no one really stays or lingers too long, every person is just traveling through, stopping for a moment, but going onto their next destination much like a cowboy passing and traveling through towns.
While waiting at an airport bar, one is typically dealing with a lot of big emotions: feeling nervous about the flight ahead, having all types of thoughts swirling in your head while you anxiously await your drink. This is how our narrator feels while waiting to hear back from this person. Their hard exterior has broken down, priorities are starting to shift: they're beginning to realize they may have found love.
You had some tricks up your sleeves
Takes one to know one
You're a cowboy like me
Notice: past tense on "had". You had some tricks up your sleeves. You used to. This person is a cowboy, a bandit, a magician like our narrator (recall So It Goes...), but the tricks to take advantage of another are all past tense now that they are with their match, they are no more. Keep in mind as we move forward: our narrator has repeatedly expressed that these two are one in the same.
And now let's take a look at the "Kowboy Karlie" campaign Karlie did for Tamara Mellon in July of 2014:
Perched in the dark
Taylor's use of diction is so important and the word choice here, perched, draws such specific imagery and feelings within. Being perched on an object is to sit high above and is most often used and associated with birds.
This is yet another lyric I think has a double meaning. In a sense, it is metaphorical like an owl sitting high up and waiting for the perfect moment to swoop down to strike and kill, or looking for people to gain from or take advantage of. Yet also, its literal meaning can be taken as well. The narrator feels they are sitting high above everyone, hidden away in the dark as opposed to living in the daylight that is truthfulness and love. I could imagine it would feel such a way to be both a celebrity and closeted.
This lyric also brings to mind lines from tracks off reputation ("See you in the dark" ; "Gold cage, hostage to my feelings", So It Goes...) and folklore ("Living in a gold age, sneaking into my bird cage", Cardigan original lyrics).
telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear, like it could be love
Like and could are the keys word here. It is like it could be love, they could love this person, it could be a possibility. Not a certainty.
This lyric aligns with our current understanding and characterization of the narrator: a swindler. It gives us more information though, and makes it likely to assume this was our narrator's intent at the party/wedding they met their true love at.
Being one line with, "perched in the dark', a metaphor for closeting, this reads as bearding and PR contracts.
I could be the way forward, only if they pay for it
They could be the rich folks way forward, what propels them, what benefits them, their answer, but only if they pay for it.
Given the money-seeking bandit we know our narrator to be, I interpret this instance of paying for it to be literally, to be physically paying in cash or some sort of monetary/status exchange. This brings to mind business exchanges/deals in regards to love: setting up relationships, potentially fake ones.
Being hidden in the dark high above, lying to rich folks about potentially being able to be someone's love and their way forward in life (because of who they are), but only if they will pay for it, paints the image yet again of a celebrity that is closeted and making contracts for both PR relationships and bearding. 
What's also interesting is how often we have been reminded that the narrator's love is just like our narrator, which poses the questions: Are they lying to old rich people as well? Faking love to them as well? It's likely, so keep that in mind.
You're a bandit like me
There is strong diction with this lyric again, it invokes quite a bit of imagery as well. The word bandit sticks out, it's one that you hold onto.
This line, like many others, is giving further characterization and yet again reiterating that these two are the same.
A bandit is a robber, an outlaw, echoing what it means to be a cowboy.
eyes full of stars
Stars often serve as symbols of both hope and destiny throughout literature. Think Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars." The meaning of Shakespeare's phrase, in short, is that the fault was not with fate (or in their stars) but in their actions as humans.
It is so interesting to see the ways in which our narrator has changed over the course of this song, this line being one of the main displays. This cowboy never thought they could settle down, just traveling town to town, building no true connections, only swindling, Now they're starting to feel hopeful, starting to see a future and a life they likely never could see before. They are no longer the disinterested, apathetic person we met in the opening line.
Hustling for the good life, never thought I'd meet you here
Hustling in this context means to obtain by illicit action, swindling, cheating, but also working hard and doing so by focusing only on success.
The narrator never thought they would meet their match, never thought there would or even could be someone just like them. Not only that, but there, at the exact same place, doing the exact same thing.
It could be love
No more like. With this person, it is not like it could be love. It just could be love. Despite being almost the same phrase, this one carries much different meaning. The narrator has met their match, they're dreaming of a future with them now, but they're still this cowboy, the same old con artist that we know. They were just anxiously waiting by the phone, they're still hesitant on accepting this person and letting them in, but they're beginning to recognize… this could be love… ("Is this the end of all the endings?", King of My Heart)
We could be the way forward and I know I'll pay for it
We! No you, no I, it is now we. You and I together, we could be the way forward.
Not the way forward as in before, not propelling someone else to get the means the narrator desires. No more hiding in the dark either.
Together, they could be this incredible change, this way forward. They could pave the way in the industry, help break the chains of fellow queer people, but this narrator will pay and suffer the consequences of it. They are surely to face the backlash that comes from paving a new way forward.
The key word here is still could. They could be the way forward. But will they?
And the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up
This lyric has a double meaning. The first being, their past sins build and compound with one another, making this relationship difficult to continue and carry on. They are both cowboys with a history of conning, after all. The second being, the evidence of their queerness with past lovers combined makes staying closeted and having this secret relationship together hard.
And the old men that I've swindled really did believe I was the one
This line is quite straightforward I believe, adding more characterization to our narrator and showing how truly skilled they are at deception. 
It also brings to mind a lyric from Don't Blame Me: "I've been breakin hearts a long time and toyin with them older guys, just playthings for me to use."
And the ladies lunching have their stories about when you passed through town
This other person is truly one in the same with our narrator, a cowboy just passing through town, causing ruckus, and leaving the ladies lunching with stories to tell of them.
but that was all before
 I locked it down
The way this line ("but that was all before") is written, it is connected to the previous lyric and simultaneously both connected and separated from the next. The swindling of old men, the stories from the ladies lunching happened, yes, "But that was all before", all before our narrator locked it down. Before they entered this relationship, before they kept it secure.
Note: Locked it down? Like "love locked down"...?
2014:
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2015:
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2016:
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Now you hang from my lips like the Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are known to have been an incredible feat of engineering and considered to have been an overwhelmingly beautiful place. People traveled far and wide to witness it in its glory. They are a part of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but yet no archeological evidence can be found to prove its existence.
This phrase also brings to mind the act of "hanging onto every word" a person says, which I would say is a similar process to a fan attempting to analyze the words and lyrics of the person they admire.
So, this person hangs from her lips–she speaks these beautiful words of them, love song after love song flows from her about them, they are a constant. In the same ways this lover hangs from her lips, others (perhaps those hunters, if you remember) hang onto the contents that flow from them, but despite this, they cannot find this love, may not even believe in it, for there is no evidence to prove its existence.
This parallels something Taylor said in the reputation prologue: "When this album comes out, gossip blogs will scour the lyrics for the men they can attribute to each song, as if the inspiration for music is as simple and basic as a paternity test. There will be slideshows of photos backing up each incorrect theory because it's 2017 and if you didn't see a picture of it, it couldn't have happened, right? Let me say it again, louder for those in the back… We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us. There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation."
With your boots beneath my bed, forever is the sweetest con
Boots being beneath the bed is yet another double meaning. The phrase 'boots under the bed' and its variants is slang to refer to a sexual relationship, though especially an adulterous one. And then there is the direct, literal meaning:
With their lover's boots beneath their bed, tucked in and fast asleep at night, out of all their trickery and deception, out of any con, their forever together is the sweetest con of them all.
How could this be? How could their forever be a con? Let's recall the prior line about the Gardens of Babylon and all the way from the beginning, The Most Dangerous Game. Think of the necessity that exists to outwit these hunters to survive once one decides to jump into the fishbowl with our narrator. And outwit them, our narrator and their love did. ("Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep", King of My Heart)
Side note 1: Taylor released the 'forever is the sweetest con' chapter on January 28, 2021: National Daisy Day.
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Side note 2: Karlie Kloss included multiple charms of cowboy boots and hats on the friendship bracelets she purchased for her Eras concert in Los Angeles on 8/9.
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I've had some tricks up my sleeves
Takes one to know one
You're a cowboy like me
Yet again our narrator is reminding us of the tricks they have had, maybe potentially even used on us as the listener (as hinted in the previous line). At this point in the song, our narrator is fully resigned. They know for a fact that they have met their match, their love is indeed just like them. They have found each other in the most unlikely world and through the most unlikely events, but found each other nonetheless.
Note: Remember that mental note of the gay cowboy movie, Brokeback Mountain? Bring it to the forefront now, because in June of 2019, Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner had their second wedding ceremony. And how did Derek Blasberg, Karlie's long-term best friend and chosen family, choose to describe the theme? As a crossover with Brokeback Mountain.
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He went on to say via Twitter:
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And I'm never gonna love again
I'm never gonna love again
I'm never gonna love again
At the resolve of the song, we finally have our answer. We know how the pair met, we followed their story; we finally know why our narrator is never going to love again. Despite thinking that this would just be yet another soul-crushing fling that ended before it began, the narrator now knows that they have met their person, that they are one in the same, that they are able see a future for themselves for the first time, that they've experienced a true transformation ("I once was poison ivy but now I'm your daisy", Don't Blame Me), and because of this, they know that they will never love another person again. It was "the end of all the endings" (King of My Heart). They've already found the one, and in that, despite a lifetime of conning, together created their greatest trick of all. And together, the cowboys will continue in their tricks, but not to each other, no, instead with each other. This is no longer a road for the lone traveler, but one that it is nice to have a friend on.
I do think these last lines, though, also have a double meaning. After all, throughout the course of the song, we have followed two narratives: the story of our narrator and their love, and the one in which our narrator is conning rich business folk. I think that while the final line is a recognition that they will never love another person other than their lover, it is also a statement to these business deals and exchanges in regards to 'love': they're done with them. With forever as their sweetest con, our narrator is never going to love again, at least in the public eye, unless they decide with their love that together they will be the way forward.
Ending note: I love, support, and wish all the happiness in the world to these two cowboys, regardless of their choice. Whether they are the way forward, whether they continue in their cons, either way, I will be here and thankful that they have chosen to share with us what they have, as it is truly the century's most beautiful and captivating love story.
One last note: I LOOOVE the way Taylor uses assonance and consonance throughout the song, giving the illusion of rhyming which is much like the swindler's behavior in this story.
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worldenough-and-time · 2 months
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The thing about Fast Car is that it is a love song but it’s a love song about how sometimes the love is real enough to get you out but not real enough to last.
Like sometimes even after you get out of the bad place you started in, the person you love never learns how to stop leaving, but that’s okay, it’s okay because the love already did what it had to do. It gave you what you needed to get out. And maybe that was a fast car, or the assurance that you wouldn’t be alone, or the feeling that you could be someone. It didn’t last, but you got out. You became someone. That person you loved left you, but they also got you to a place where you could be someone.
That’s why the song feels tragic and hopeful at the same time. The love was real. It was real enough to get you out, just not real enough to last.
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jubileemon · 24 days
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Hazbin Hotel: Poison Song
The song became controversial due to the visuals that accompany it were seem as portraying the topic of sexual abuse in an insensitive and some sort of sick fetish, but not from Angel Dust's perspective. Let me explain:
Valentino's Obsession and Control
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Valentino's behavior towards Angel extends beyond professional boundaries, crossing into personal and sexual territory. His obsession with Angel Dust is evident in his relentless pursuit and control over him, which includes forcing himself upon Angel Dust and engaging in non-consensual acts. The series does not shy away from depicting the grim reality of such abusive relationships, challenging the audience to confront the severity of these issues.
Angel's inability to break free from Valentino's grip is symbolized by a contract that legally binds him to his abuser. The series hints at the possibility of escape, suggesting that the contract's dissolution could be the key to the sinner's liberation. However, the power to terminate this contract lies with Valentino, leaving Angel in a state of limbo and dependence.
Coping Mechanism and Self-Destruction
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Angel was bound by a contract to Valentino, faces a harrowing existence under his dominion. Valentino, who is both Angel Dust's employer in the adult film industry and his abuser, employs gaslighting tactics to keep Angel Dust in line. The series showcases the psychological impact of such abuse, with Angel Dust being subjected to poor mistreatment and threats that leave him feeling trapped and hopeless.
Angel Dust's coping strategy involves substance abuse and self-sabotage, hoping to become so broken that Valentino will lose interest in him. This tragic approach to dealing with trauma is a reflection of the harsh reality faced by many abuse victims, who sometimes resort to self-harm in an effort to become unappealing to their abusers.
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It is worth noting that Valentino is the one who should be freaking out in this scene, not Angel Dust, because actually managing to piss off Lucifer's daughter is like a mouse finally poking a lazy cat into action. But Charlie's demeanor is so unthreatening that even when she is clearly going to break Valentino like a twig for his behavior, Valentino isn't threatened and Angel actually stops Charlie from attacking him, seeing her as the one in danger. This is noted to be a favorite tactic of real-life abusers, in which they psychologically bind their victims so badly that they themselves will refuse help from people who would've saved them with little effort.
Angel's meltdown when Husk rejects him one too many times is both this and even more sadder, reminding us that Valentino's abuse has all but fully convinced Angel that his only worth is sex. As well as after Husk called him fake right before the meltdown, his eyes glow magenta and he gets up in Husk’s face.
The Music
The 'Poison' music video serves as a metaphorical exploration of Angel Dust's entrapment and addiction to the toxic relationship with Valentino. Visual elements such as pink smoke-like chains represent Valentino's control, while the ambiguous nature of their sexual encounters raises questions about consent. The video culminates in a scene that encapsulates the fear and distress Angel Dust experiences, highlighting the cyclical nature of abuse.
At one point in the song Angel straight up says that he can only blame himself instead of pinning any of it on "the poisoner" for all the abuse he's being put through. A harrowing reminder of how too many a victim feels like they've brought their suffering upon themselves or, worse, believe they deserve it.
Throughout the sequence, Angel is trying to maintain his "mask" of super-confidence and semi-aggressive sexuality on camera... but the mask keeps slipping. His face flashes from resigned, to frightened, to just plain tired, before he has to fake enthusiasm again. Worse, Valentino appears to be deliberately throwing Angel off his stride whenever he successfully gets into character: for example, when during the dance sequence between Angel and Valentino, Angel's doing a good job of appearing graceful and seductive...until Valentino literally yanks Angel's soul-contract chain to bring him crashing to the ground, a move that clearly startles Angel.
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During the final dance sequence, the Angel we see "happily" dancing on stage is contrasted with his "real" self shown on screens surrounding him, going through the agonizing abuse that Valentino subjects him to. When Valentino arrives and drags Angel off to be raped again, it's flipped on its head — now the Angel on stage is fearful and upset while his screen counterpart "happily" continues the dance. "I disassociate, disappear" indeed...
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aimbutmiss · 3 months
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It's "always an angel, never a god" from Buggy's perspective, but it's "always a god, never an angel" from Shanks' because they always wanted what the other had.
Buggy, who yearned for the approval of others, for them to see he can be useful, powerful, not invisible. He wanted to be acknowledged for his existence and his strength, instead of living in the shadow of others (specifically shanks). Imagine working so hard all the time, but constantly being overshadowed by a bigger presence that you just can't compete with. Always an angel, never a god.
And Shanks, who never looked down on Buggy, but envied him. Buggy, who had that natural charm, that could convince anyone to follow him to the ends of the world. He inspired, and Shanks never believed he had that power (until Luffy proved him wrong). Because to Shanks, he would always be the writer, not the muse. Always a god, never an angel.
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gntlbrd · 1 month
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today i want to talk about the song “perfect day” by lou reed, which is the song that plays as ed rows away from the dock and stede decided to go home to his family (💔).
all of the song choices in this show are SO good but this one hits me hard when i listen to the full song and all the lyrics.
in the song he talks about having a “perfect day” with his lover, but (and this is just my interpretation) it sounds like the lover is leading him on. that they can have a perfect day together but after the day is over it doesn’t mean anything.
this is a lot of what ed is feeling in this moment. they /did/ have a perfect day (the kiss and the profession of love from both sides), but then stede doesn’t pull through on that profession. (this is revisited in the “i was all in, mate.” moment which also breaks my heart.)
but SPECIFICALLY in the song i want to talk about the lyric:
Just a perfect day, you made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else, someone good.
because this PERFECTLY ENCAPSULATES HOW ED IS FEELING DURING HIS MENTAL BREAKDOWN AFTER STEDE LEAVES.
when he shaves his beard and decides he wants to run away to china with the man he loves and who sees him for who he is, he finally for the first time in his life thinks ‘wow maybe i am a good person who deserves to be loved and can give love in return’.
but then. stede. leaves.
and ed thinks that the person he was when he was with stede was just someone else, someone good- and not the “true” blackbeard.
hope i worded this well. x
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padfootagain · 10 days
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Unreal Unearth analysis
This is the first part of my analysis for Unreal Unearth, part 2 is here because I couldn't make a longer post...
Through Me (The flood) will be dealt with in a separate document I will make for the new EP.
Enjoy! the analysis is under the cut! This part includes the presentation of Dante's Inferno, and all the songs till All Things End
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justrantingtbh · 7 months
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The song ‘Never love an anchor’ by the crane wives is (in my opinion) a song about a mother that has voluntarily given her child up for adoption, this idea is driven from the quote “On some level I think I always understood, that these hands of mine are clumsy not clever.” mothers are often quoted to have clever hands but her referencing her own as clumsy I believe is a reference to her belief that she couldn’t possibly have been a good mother to this child.
As the song continues she describes her own feelings as it’s stated “It's a secret I keep tucked inside my chest With this heart of mine that's guilty, not remorseful” . It’s clear from this segment that though the mother is guilty for having given up the child but feels no remorse for it, it could reference her knowledge that this child may have a better life than they could ever have with her. She references that “There is love that doesn't have a place to rest, But it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders” as though her love would have burdened this child and “buried them” which may in a way represent her love being a foil to the infants childhood if it is to be believe that they wouldn’t have been raised in a good environment.
Mid way through the song the mother quotes “on some level I think I always understood, that a ship could never really love an anchor” referring to herself as the anchor and her baby as the ship, as she lated states “So I did the only thing that I could and severed the rope that set you sailing from my harbor”. The idea of the mother being the ‘anchor’ I think is a reference to a situation where she just seems to be sinking, nothing is going up and the only thing that is above this ocean that she seems to be drowning in is her child, which she describes as letting them “sail from her harbor” another reference to giving up her baby to another family to give them the opportunity to not drown with her.
Near the end of the song, it's stated “You are someone I have loved but never known.” Most mothers whilst their children are in the womb build such unfathomable amounts of love and care for their child despite not actually knowing them. “And you’ll never see the reasons I had, For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you” depending on what happens when they grow up and what kind of family they are raised with this kid may never actually know who their biological mother is and what the reasons were for her having given them up. She also references her ‘Claws’ which could possibly be referencing herself as the problem implying that she may have caused harm the child if she was to have raised it or it could just be the overwhelming amount guilt she feels for having given her child up kicking in and making her believe that what she has done is for the best.
Alright I’m doing this entire paragraph because it’s my favorite segment of the song. “I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel,I am all the things they might have said to you.” points to the mothers views of herself, a selfish, broken and cruel woman and assumes others would think the same of her (specifically the families raising her child possibly). The very final part of the song really drives home the fact she is going to be missing the part of being a mother to her child. “Do you ever think of me and my two hands? And wonder why they never soothed your fevers? And wonder why they never tied your shoes? And wonder why they never held you gently?
And wonder why they never had the chance to lose you?” All of these are some kind of reference to what mothers do for their children soothing fevers, tying shoes, and gently holding them. Even the mention of getting ‘the chance to lose you’ can be brought back to the fact that the mother will never have the chance to ever lose her baby as she has already given them up.
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cult-of-the-eye · 3 months
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Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart by Mitski as a jmart song:
"there's nobody better than you/it just took me a while til I knew"
Fuck it's so Jon talking to Martin. He sees Martin as a better person than him, both morally and literally in terms of humanity and it fits his whole S1 ew martin to S4 oh martin arc so well
"but you knew from the start it was us, didn't you/it just took me a while til I knew"
Yep yep yep that's Martin. He loved Jon from the start. Of course Jon's admitting that. And of course he's doing it in such a self deprecating way.
Read more cause this is long
"now I lay as I study a blank wall/would you spare me your voice if I call?"
Ok so we're in Martin's Peter Lukas era right now, Jon is fully pining he's completely checked out and dissociating and he needs Martin to ground him, to be his anchor and he's reaching out in a way that puts the focus on Martin's next move as opposed to him calling which is SO HIM
"Cause you waited and watered my heart 'til it grew/you just grew a little smarter, too"
Fuck he's like you treated me so well, you waited so long for me to like you back but then you realised it was futile and stopped, but obviously you would do that because you're an angel and blameless
"So, I don't blame you/If you want to bury me in your memory/I'm not the girl I ought to be, but/Maybe when you tell your friends/You can tell them what you saw in me/And not how I turned out to be"
Jon's love is just so self deprecating I feel like, he's so acts of service, he's like it's ok that you don't want me, I get it, I'm not loveable but at least I seemed loveable for you to have crushed on me for that long
And and cause Martin's separated from jon, the only thing he has left is his memory of him, the one that lives in his head
"There's some kind of burning inside me/It's kept me from falling apart"
Oh yeah this is so them like Jon's had this drive within him, this incessant need to keep going, to keep finding things out, to keep burrowing deeper into the problem and it's kept him alive cause it's kept him ambitious and it's kept him from being stagnant but it's also been destroying him from the inside cause he can't stop
"And I'm sure that you've seen what it's done to my heart/But it's kept me from falling apart"
But Martin sees this, Martin knows who Jon is and it's almost a plea to try and accept that what's driving him isn't a good thing
"Now here I lay as I wonder about you/would you just tell me what I'm meant to do?"
Jon's like how do I get Martin to come back, how do I get him to be near me, ive tried everything, just tell me and I'll do it
"Cause I've waited and watered my heart 'til it grew/you can see how it's blossomed for you"
Its like a look, you waited for me, now I'll wait for you, I'll take care of myself in your absence to show you how much I care about what you've done for me, I do love you, finally, thank you for waiting all this time
"And I don't mean to make your heart blue/But could we be what we're meant to be?/I'm just about to beg you, please"
God I'm so feral for this last bit
Jon's like I know me begging you to come back is hurting you but I'm finally giving into what you want, you need to come back so we can be together like we're meant to, he's at the end of his tether, he's pleading while threatening to plead
"And then, when you tell your friends/You can tell them what you saw in me/And not the way I used to be"
I'll be better for you, I promise vibes.
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dearreader · 2 months
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thinking about how in tim mcgraw taylor says “someday i hope you turn the radio on and it takes you back to that place” and in midnight rain she says “and he never thinks of me, except when i’m on tv”
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caffeineshitposts · 2 months
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Song Analysis: Stayed Gone
So with this song it starts so fast. There’s barely a beat you can follow as far as Vox’s singing goes. He’s rambling. He’s clearly trying to get a word in before Al can start. Which is a really great way to portray how news reporters function, but more than that it’s a huge hint to how scared of Al he is.
When he’s singing alone in his own tower without the eyes on him he’s so much more intimidating. It’s like watching a kid who doesn’t know how to play with kids playing in their room by themselves.
And then the minute he actually starts properly singing is about the same time we see Alastor. That’s also the same time you hear the actual beat. You hear what style of music the song is going to follow and it’s awfully similar to the jazzy beats we hear from Al in the pilot.
Another thing I personally find absolutely fascinating is how once Alastor starts singing Vox’s lines where he interjects with Al follow the rhyme Alastor is setting up. It feels like not only is Vox trying to get ahead of Alastor when this song starts he actually falls behind. He’s rushing to even keep up.
My wife also pointed out that Vox’s lines are a lot harder to understand. His words are blurring and slurring together like he can’t get them out fast enough. While Alastor’s diction is superb. Alastor was made for this type of conflict. He knows how to parse words with demons who have been in Hell longer than most and not be so outdated in his usage of slang that he can’t keep up with whatever nonsense Vox is throwing at the wall. 
I also love that Alastor was totally willing to just let the Vee’s do their thing. Vox was the one who took the fight to him and lost. If he had kept his mouth shut and had the patience to wait for an opportunity to strike instead of rushing in he would have been fine.
Instead he rushed in, tried to catch Alastor off guard. Then ended up flailing and being forced to fall in line with the tone and pace that Al was setting so he wasn’t left behind. 
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lifedeathtimespace · 5 months
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A list of the Entities in TAD songs and their aesthetics:
(Except not the ones Madeleine or Joey say they are because there are way too many of those)
The King - crumbling walls, secrets lurking in cobwebbed corners, crashing waves in a storm. Being protected, forgotten, isolated, smothered.
The Creature - scratching, clawing, screaming. Torn curtains and bloodied nails, you have to get out, you have to get out, YOU HAVE TO GET OUT, YOU HAVE TO GE-
The Old Man - broken promises, hair so tangled it brings tears to your eyes when you brush it. A too-tight corset. Being sent to bed without supper. Wondering what you did wrong, why won't they love you?
The Fox - screaming at your own reflection in a cracked mirror, branches whipping at your face as you run through the forest. It doesn't matter how fast you run, the truth will always find you, always be waiting for you.
The Trees - tall branches and taller tales. Climbing through branches that could crack under your weight, but knowing they won't, that their support will lift you higher, ever higher. Watching the earth fall away beneath you. Wondering if you'll ever feel the ground beneath your feet again, and if you even want to.
The Hollow Folk - watching, whispering, waiting. Shadows flicking through the corners of your vision, devils and guardian angels and everything in between. They hold no secrets in their hearts because there is nothing there to hide, nothing even to see. Empty shells of former people, observing and oh-so-patient. They will get what they want, in the end.
The Saint - staring your mistakes in the face and knowing you'll never change. Burning your past and dancing in the ashes as you suffocate in the smoke that coils itself around you. You can never escape the flaws that reside deep in the furthest recesses of your soul. You will never get it right because you dont even know what right looks like anymore.
Good Man Grace - tough love that won't take no for an answer. Empty promises to be there for you that crumble to dust as soon as you ask for help. You could be better than you are if only someone would tell you how, but nobody will. You'll never be on your own, but you're always alone.
Old Witch Sleep - comforting, cajoling, calamitous decisions masked behind gentle persuasions. Burying your head in the sand, only to choke on the grains that fill your eyes and cling to your tongue. You can rest now. You don't need to worry about anything. You never will again.
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kotorjedi · 8 months
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Art by @burnt-squid
I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed (she wants to be just Gwen and fulfill her responsibility as Spider-Woman)
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat, look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close, it's dark inside (Both Miles and Gwen are afraid to let people close, Gwen more-so and Miles more now he’s been through the wringer)
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
They say it's what you make (Gwen’s mindset at the end of Across)
I say it's up to fate (her mindset when she went to see him and when they went to the base)
It's woven in my soul (“In every other universe…”)
I need to let you go (She came to see him once more before burying Gwen Stacy and becoming Spider-Woman full-time)
Your eyes, they shine so bright
I wanna save that light (She wants to protect his innocence and belief that Spider-Man can do no wrong)
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how (They need each other to help defy the multiverse’s plan for them as Spiders and specifically as Gwen Stacy, a chronically fridged woman)
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harrytheehottie · 11 months
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the stomper representing harry and how he’s constantly moving and traveling and trying to find a moment to like. take it all in and share it with someone and he keeps chasing this person from the past just like in the as it was video where he keeps reaching out for someone and ultimately continuing to end up alone and in the end of the late night talking video where he’s surrounded by all these men and women and when he tries to ‘officiate’ something between a couple a dark cloud looms above them and instantly takes harry away and like in the sushi video where the inability to use his voice haunts him and his career. sorry ill stop now. 
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