#you know i listened to this album a lot in 2014

[joanofarc]

memoria, mariposa (2013).

i try to remember i’m far away but i’m still here

#mariposa #madeline johnston #experimental folk #lo-fi #field recordings #slowcore #drone #ambient #ambient americana #new mexico #holy ghost #bridgetown records #folk #you know i listened to this album a lot in 2014 #i thought it was gone from the internet forever #good that it isn't

[camellia-salazar]

Hearing "Stand clear of the closing doors, please." when I was watching Annie (2014) got my AJR loving ass to get all hyped up all because I heard the same damn voice saying the same damn thing from their "Making of Bang" video.

#thoughts #annie 2014 #ajr #i was pointing it out to my sister Terra like its a reference to them #but i should know that people probably hear that voice every time they were on the subway #also after watching it i searched for songs from the movie and i shouldve figured that there's an overture #you know who else has overtures within 3 of their albums? #AJR does #i love overtures #they're like crossovers of every song #but they're mostly used in the beginning to show listeners a bit of taste of all the songs displayed #i used to think of them as a great finale but the more i think about it the more i can see them as a beginning thing #especially after watching annie 2014 (it wasn't even my first time watching it i just love music a lot more now than i did then) #sorry im ranting i just love music #especially AJR and Annie songs are really great too #thanks for reading if you did 👍✨ #rant

[louisupdates]

By Marcelo Fernández Bitar [translated from Spanish]

In just over 24 hours, Louis Tomlinson passed through Buenos Aires and caused a commotion, with hundreds of fans crowding at the door of his hotel singing and shouting his name, and also occupying almost the entire block where there is a FM radio station where he went to give an interview.

The fanaticism generated with his solo career by the former singer of One Direction in Argentina is so great that in fact he will give a recital in the same stadium where he was in 2014 with the mega-boy band. It will be on May 18 in Vélez Sarsfield.

Louis Tomlinson already has two solo albums and is touring the world presenting the most recent, Faith in the Future. It came out in November 2022 and surprised with his most rocky sound, close to the Brit-pop of his beloved Oasis, and less pop. It was number one in England and three singles came out, Bigger Than Me, Out of My System and Silver Tongues.

Hurricane Louis

The visit was really fleeting with the purpose of promoting his show next month, the old-fashioned way, when the artists toured the countries to advertise albums or tours, something they currently do on Zoom or with posts on their official accounts.

Louis arrived on Friday night and spent Saturday fulfilling an intense schedule of activities, to leave early the next day.

First he went to the Vélez football field for a television interview which will be televised later by TN, and then he went to the radio station Los 40 Principales, where his fans filled the entire Gorriti street, between Ravignani and Arévalo, to witness an interview where eight listeners joined to ask him a question each.

He finally arrived at 4 p.m. at the Four Seasons hotel, where hundreds of other fans were screaming for him. There he gave a series of reports and chatted with Clarín in a room equipped as a small television set, with lights and a set with his name and the cover of the disc.

"Never, not for a second, did I think I would be going through some of the same experiences," he said, "that I was lucky enough to live in the band. I thought that was something unique. So being able to come here and feel the level of love and the incredible reaction on today's radio station, means a lot to me. When I imagined what my solo career would be like, I really didn't know what to expect.

Re-filling stadiums

At 32-years-old, Louis Tomlinson has the experience of having been part of one of the greatest pop phenomena of the last 20 years, with sales records and sold-out shows in stadiums around the world. And now he is repeating the fury alone, just as it happened just a little earlier with his ex-bandmate Harry Styles.

In Louis’ case, he first sold out the closed Movistar Arena stadium in 2022 and now he goes through a huge soccer field like Vélez.

Q: Did you think that being a soloist you had to start from below and sing in smaller places?

Louis: Yes, exactly. But it turns out that I can still play in big places, so it's great.

Q: Can we really talk about a mania of a "louistomlinson-mania"? Does it happen everywhere or is it special in Latin America?

Louis: I think that in terms of the level of similar intensity, and seeing what happened a moment ago on the radio station, that certainly doesn't happen to me everywhere. Let me put it this way: it's incredible to be so far from home and feel that level of love. I'm very excited to think about what the show will be like here.

Q: It's incredible that almost exactly ten years have passed since the last time you filled Vélez. How do you feel when you return to the same stadium?

Louis: I feel very lucky to be able to play in those places again on my own. I also feel very, very proud of myself and my fans. I feel like we have created something that is quite special and we did it together. With them as listeners, but also as facilitators. That really helped my confidence and made me feel good on stage. It's a lovely relationship and I'm very proud of it.

Q: This tour started almost a year ago, how did it evolve with respect to the first shows?

Louis: I definitely feel in a good place right now with the show. Anyway, in advance I was excited about this tour because this album was designed for the live show. So I was excited to see how the songs would work. And the energy is great. I am very excited to show Faith in the Future to Latin America.

Q: How did the idea of making a live cover of Arctic Monkeys come about?

Louis: Arctic Monkeys grew up about 20 minutes from where I live. It was something very close, very fresh in the mind and obviously huge. I was growing up and I'm also a big fan. I usually do the song 505 because it's very pretty.

Often, with the versions, I probably think more about what I would like to sing than about what I imagine that everyone else would like to hear, which may be misjudged, but I'm enjoying it.

Q: When you were a teenager you sang Oasis songs and now you have a rock band that sounds very Brit-pop, almost closing a circle.

Louis: Thank you. I am very, very fortunate to have the band I have, but they also perform sonically and visually, everything that is really important to me. They sound absolutely incredible. I don't think I would be able to do this without my band.

Q: Live you also perform songs from One Direction. Did you feel that kind of shadow at the beginning of your solo career and now you are more comfortable looking back?

Louis: I think a bit about both things. I think that at the beginning of my career I would have been a little more worried about putting too many One Direction songs in the repertoire. What I wanted most was to spread my wings and show who I was. But I think that as time went by, the nostalgic moments are really charming. So it's like a beautiful mixture of nostalgia and it's very nice to do it.

Ping-pong

Q: This is the third time you have visited our country. If you had to describe your Argentine fans in three words, which one would you choose?

Louis: Passionate. Loyal. Affectionate. That’s okay, isn't it?

Q: The soccer player Kun Agüero said that there is a lot of talk to you through Instagram or Twitter. Have you ever met him in person?

Louis: Actually, we have never seen each other in person. Over the years we've talked a little here and there, but I never found time. I have a kind of crazy hope that he can come to the show.

Q: If you had to choose one of your songs, either from Walls or Faith in the Future, that reflects how you feel right now in your life, what would it be?

Louis: I would say that the name of the album (Faith in the future) represents where I am right now, but I think that in the future I would like to always be optimistic.

Q: And if all the One Direction discography was deleted and a song had to be saved. Which one would you save?

Louis: It's interesting... I would probably say Story Of My Life. That seemed like a real milestone. I would say it's a little more serious. And I also think it's a bit of a crazy song.

Q: You are a big soccer fan, do you have any preference for an Argentine club?

Louis: I'm very afraid to say something wrong... I'd better say that I love you all. (laughs)

Photos

Links

#louis press #louis tomlinson #fitfwt24: buenos aires #6.4.2024 #clarin

[tiktaalic]

tortured poets review. by song

fortnight: fine. sounds like a song. one of the lana drag ones. the actual lyrical content is nothing special. i would not have made this track one. 6/10

tortured poets department: kind of exactly what you would expect from a taylor swift album called tortured poets department. it's silly. it's got references. it makes you go. girl? already less distinct musically. 3/10

my boy only breaks his favorite toys: the consequence of doing lana drag is that you listen to songs and go this would be a lot better if lana got her chords on it. fundamentally not a song that i can enjoy from taylor allison swift. a song i would respect in lana of video games fame catalogue once she strips it down. not like head turningly strange like tpd just plain and simple middle of the road. 4/10

down bad: this one is unlistenable for me. cant explain why. probably the chorus of down bad. i think it's tooooooo silly too silly by far when taylor swift does how do you do fellow teens vocabulary. 2/10

so long london: i can see the place that this takes on my spotify wrapped. lyrics are fine. good even. this + backing + doing something even the littlest bit different from soft monotone talk singing makes it one of the most memorable on this album by miles. probably not near the top of most memorable in her hundreds deep bench though. can't think of anything to dock it for but it's no belter. 8/10.

but daddy i love him: yeah okay. i love when she does a silly one. i think the instrumentals are nice. i'm having his baby. no i'm not! but you should see your face. easily i would listen to an album that was full of songs to this theme / musicality. points docked because i dont think she knows it's as silly as it is. 7/10.

fresh out the slammer: bored. i just looked at the lyrics and they're passable but they're performed in the most boring possible manner. stupidest name imaginable. i actually might bump it a point or two if the name was different. 4/10

florida: makes me go yaaaaaay florence every time i hear it. taylor's part halsey 2014 core. could have been worse! if i was in charge of cutting tracks i would keep this one. 6/10

guilty as sin: started it went oh i'm docking this one for boring. read the first quarter of lyrics and went oh this is fine? got to second half and went oh i don't care for this. can imagine a world where it's a better song with different backing and emphasis. 5/10

whose afraid of little old me: i dont think it's good necessarily but i love every song where shes like im craaaazy im insane. i think for the concept it's going for it could have been put together differently. 6/10

i can fix him: i like the way it sounds. but could use more oomph. it's so nice to hear guitars though. don't care for the subject matter. 5/10

loml: snooze. boring lyrics. boring performance. 4/10

i can do it with a broken heart: BAFFLING. easily the me / karma of the album. the tonal mismatch is the point but . well. it is what it is. i would like this more if it WAS a barbie soundtrack release i think. then it would have an extra layer of silly. i think this might make my wrapped. unfortunately. 5/10.

smallest man who ever lived: who gives a shit about matty healy. 4/10

the alchemy: head in my hands. head in my hands. football song. it's so over. and we are never going to be so back. 3/10

clara bow: i like the intro. i can't see myself ever doing more than half humming this. lyrics are whatever. fine, passable. 6/10

the black dog: yeah it's fine. no complaints. guitar 👍. 6/10

getyouback: why would you EVER tee yourself up perfectly to be compared to a better song. 3/10

albatross: oh i liked this one on first listen. 7/10.

chloe sam sophia marcus: outing song ‼️‼️‼️divorce music‼️‼️‼️. nothing too exciting or groundbreaking musically. 5.5?

how did it end: um. it gets points for being #real but not much else. 5/10.

so high school: i think i would like it if it was even a TOUCH less heterosexual. i would cut 3 lines that would turn it into a 6. i can see this song in someone else's hands dominating the radio and me loving that. in taylor's hands i'm giving it a 5/10.

i hate it here: not interesting. next. 4/10

thank you aimee: out of respect for taylor swift's struggles i will withhold comment and rating. -_-

look in people's windows: lyrics aren't bad but it's another one that's not really. doing anything. 4/10

the prophecy: yeah i'll give this one a 7/10. i would have one (1) greige complaint if this was on folkevermore but that's pretty damn solid.

cassandra: passing it and moving on. that's as much as it deserves. 5/10

peter: lyrics get a thumbs up. another 5.5? i could be talked into a six.

the bolter: yes girl commitment issues. 6/10. actually. 7/10.

robin: jesus god this album is too long. i have listened to too much taylor swift tpd to give this any kind of rating.

the manuscript: 5/10. like if woulda coulda shoulda had no beat

thank you for sharing this journey. with me and also taylor swift

#etxt #t swift

[joesalw]

https://www.tumblr.com/joesalw/748214371308748800/everything-was-a-scam-everything-relates-back-to

i havent listened to a lot of the songs yet but im confused about this ask where you mentioned taylor had been in love with ratty since 2014. which song is that mentioned in?? i don't want to go through the entire album for that lol

If you didn't know Taylor and Matty had a brief fling in 2014 and in this album she talks about finding that old flame love which was always meant to be. So they got back together in 2022/2023. This is why she was preaching "my life finally makes sense" in her tour. It wasn’t some petty act to get a reaction out of Joe. she was being fr...there’s a whole ass timeline of them from maylor shippers. I suggest you not to go through it if you are a former jaylor admirer lmao

#anti taylor swift #ex swiftie rants

[sleepanonymous]

Hi! I hope you don't mind, but I would like to ask your input on something, since you post a lot of "lost media" stuff. Do you know what the general etiquette for talking about members' past bands/projects in public spaces?

Here's the thing: I only discovered Sleep Token a few months ago, and when I first listened, I was shocked to recognize Vessel's voice immediately. Apparently I've actually been listening to one of his old projects for like 8 years now 😭 It's lovely to know he's still making music and it's wonderful to see how he's progressed with his skills (his voice!! Oh my god, he's grown so much), but I can't help but feel a little sad because I'm worried I'll be shunned if I mention his old works around ST fans. What has your experience been with this sort of thing? I just don't want to start a fuss on accident.

Hi, Anon 🖤 I don't mind at all, thanks for the question. With the anonymity of Sleep Token, it's very tricky to talk about any of the band's past projects in fan spaces. Basic etiquette is to not mention them at all because of the names and faces associated with the projects. For that reason, the rest of this answer is going below a "keep reading" cut.

If you are a Sleep Token fan, and don't want to see past project names, do not click on "Keep Reading."

First off: Anon, I'm so jealous of you! Lol, I'm surprised you found Blacklit Canopy first, that's such a rarity in this fandom! You have no idea how many times I'm like "Where was I in 2012?! Why didn't I find this in 2014?!"

Secondly, my whole experience with this particular corner of the fandom has been lovely tbh. But I think I get away with posting "lost media" because I make sure to keep names/YouTube/anything identifying detached from the posts. I only ever refer to him as Ves (and not his full stage name) and I don't mention Sleep Token (or if I do I abbreviate to ST). I think the closest I ever got to mentioning Ves's past project actually was in this lost media post.

Another reason I think a lot of fans would consider it improper to mention Ves's old project is because the relationship he was in with the other half of Blacklit Canopy technically changes 70-80% of Sleep Token's songs. The intricate lore that fans have created is suddenly lost, and we're left with roughly three albums about "the girl that got away" and how Ves coped with it. That isn't inherently a bad thing, but I understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea. Since you're new to Sleep Token, I'm going to assume you haven't seen these interviews: about why the member's identities "don't matter" and what Sleep Token's goal is as a band.

I have seen people make posts about Blacklit Canopy here on Tumblr before without receiving backlash (at least outwardly), but that's only because it was in a similar manner to this post (the majority of it was under a "read more" cut), they kept the band names separate in the tags i.e. they didn't tag Sleep Token, and didn't mention Ves's name at all. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I've seen posts literally stating "It is disrespectful to listen to Ves's old music," which I don't agree with. One: there's an entire other person involved. Two: if Ves didn't want his fans to know, why are the Blacklit Canopy YouTube channel and Twitter accounts still up? And three: they literally released a deluxe EP on Spotify at the beginning of the year which Ves is 100% aware of and signed off on, if it wasn't him who published it in the first place. I'm not here to tell fans what they're feeling is wrong— on either end of the spectrum— because I understand where they are coming from and why they might feel that way.

All of the above said, there are safe fan spaces where it's perfectly acceptable to mention both Sleep Token and Blacklit Canopy in the same sentence; even identities. That goes for all Sleep Token members, past and present, and their other projects. So if you were wanting to keep them a mystery, then I'm sadly out of suggestions aside from DMs maybe. There are more people on this site Who Know™️ than you might think.

On Reddit you have both r/BlacklitCanopy and r/SleepTokenTheory

On Facebook you have the Blacklit Canopy Fans page

On Discord there's discord.gg/blacklitcanopy

I'm not so active on Reddit, and I don't have Facebook, so I'm very biased toward option three I'm also an admin there.

#anon asks #sleepanon answers #i'm actually terrified and might delete this post later

[northerncazket]

Soo it’s 5 am and I have some miscellaneous thoughts on brendon ending panic! 

Panic has been a shambling corpse since like 2014

I’m glad that brendon isn’t gonna be walking around wearing the shield of Ryan’s teenage accomplishments.

I have trouble defining panic at the disco!, I feel like a lot of people do. Obviously Fever and pretty. Odd are “true panic!” and here are my opinions on the other albums

to get it out of the way, I consider vices and virtues “real panic!” Primarily because a lot of it was made by dallon weekes. I hear so much dallon in v&v, to me at least he has such a particular style. It leans so heavy into that 1920s orchestral baroque pop rock.

listening to a lot of the brobecks you can kind of tell what he brought to v&v cause it’s present in his other music. Think of a track like visitation of the ghost. It just reminds me quite a bit of ballad of Mona Lisa. Old timey feeling Haunting intro with soft spoken verses and explosive choruses.

I also think it’s important to acknowledge the way that dallon was treated during his time in panic! And that many ideas and songs were stolen and changed by brendon even in later albums so, keep that in mind.

I still think that v&v is an awesome mind child from one artist I really love and one I at least used to love. I suggest that anyone that likes v&v check out dallons other work. if you wanna get into a band that isn’t like from the 2000s but still has that nostalgic dallon weekes feel absolutely listen to IDKHOW. And if you want a indie feeling vices and virtues, go listen to violent things.

After v&v is where things get fuzzy. My opinion on too weird to live too rare to die is positive. I used to dislike/not listen to this album until pretty recently, But this comes back around to the stealing thing. The song that originally changed my opinion on TWTLTRTD was far too young to die. as some may know, that’s dallons song and you could and should go listen to his demo, it’s so good. songs like girls/girls/boys and all the boys(not on the album) we’re also taken and changed from dallon in some form.

So yeah, obviously they’re good songs, brendon didn’t really make them, which is something I find I say over and over again when talking about panic!

As for death of a bachelor. It’s definitely not a bad album. it was one of my favorites in my tweens. But looking back on it, it’s very… brendon. I believe that at some point brendon himself made decent/good music. And that point is death of a bachelor. It’s him. It sounds like a solo project it sounds like just his musical influence, and it’s good. Not amazing. But they’re good songs. Maybe I’ve just listened to them so so so many times but they’re not all that remarkable anymore.

Now into the decline. When pray for the wicked came Out embarrassingly enough i really liked it. I was 14. Listening to it now I think it’s alright. Very mediocre album, a far cry from real panic!

I do think it has some interesting sounds like, i don’t mind the intro to roaring 20s. And old fashioned isn’t bad, but it sounds like a Taylor swift song, I swear. Just imagine her vocals instead. Which isn’t a bad thing I love Taylor but it’s definitely not panic!

An important note about pray for the wicked is the start of Brendon’s vocal deterioration. From what I’ve heard brendon doesn’t take care of his voice, he’s also a smoker which definitely doesn’t help. This takes us right into…. Viva las vengeance.

I’ll save you the savage take down of this album that has already been torn to shreds. It’s just bad. It’s so insanely bad. It not just bad, it’s lifeless. Like a dead wet fish being smacked against the ground. His voice bothers me like nothing else.

Brendon was always praised for his voice, and specifically, his high notes. And if you know the guy, you know he loves attention. So he kept busting out high notes, kept throwing them in live during songs that didn’t call for them. At first it was cool, I remember being so impressed with his dream on cover.

But it’s just not cool anymore. He seems to have damaged his voice into locking in a high register. He almost never uses his lower register anymore.

I don’t have to spell out why that is so unfortunate. being all high notes isn’t impressive or healthy . It’s only cool when it’s special. I remember how people used to talk about victorious and how vocally impressive it was. Now it’s all he can do.

The actual music in viva las vengeance is bad too. I don’t know a lot of music theory but I do know it just sounds hollow. Middle of a breakup sounds like generic kids YouTube Chanel backing track and don’t let the lights go out is just empty and off putting.

And. Local. God.

At first, The fact that he even opened his mouth about Ryan after all these years felt confusing and infuriating. Its hard to even explain what brendon is trying to do. It’s not a diss track. But taking a second to relax and actually listen, It seems like a lament? a lament of a time long Gone. To me he maybe is thinking back on what he could have done differently. Should he have been like Ryan? Should he have let the music speak for itself instead of selling out and single-handedly running this once great band into a wall. I hear so much regret in the way he takes about ryan. I can tell he still admires him.

My final opinion is, As bad as the song is, it’s still closure to me. He finally actually made a song about how he feels about Ryan Ross and early panic. It’s almost validating to know he really has been holding onto this for so many years. it wasn’t just us looking way too into things. We all had a feeling he still thought about early panic even when he denied it. A lot of the things that felt like they were about Ryan probably were. So excuse me while I high five my younger self.

All in all, I’m glad panic can finally die. As someone who’s been invested in this band and the fraught relationship between these two men for the better half of my life, the circle feels completed. Ryan said his piece with lonely moonlight, brendon with local god. Ryan got what he wanted, to never sell out even if it means fading away. And brendon rode his superstardom straight into the ground. It all makes sense. I feel like I can lay it all to rest.

To me, The life and death of panic! at the disco is a tale of creative integrity, and just what it means to be a real musician. This band birthed the yin and Yang of selling out. The shining example of someone who refused to let his music be warped and hollowed by fame. And someone who only knows how to take and change for the sake of it.

The band is gone, The legacy lives on only through us now. Thanks for reading this long ass post. Stay real out there panic! Fans.

#panic! at the disco #ryan ross #p!atd #brendon urie

[angstics]

the foundations of decay (2022) x vampires will never hurt you (2002)

FIRST SINGLE

Gerard Way: ["Vampires Will Never Hurt You"] will always be my favorite recording of the band, because it was the first. Having little money, or for that matter the songs, to complete a full-length album, we hopped in a van and headed to Nada Studios.

(may death never stop you booklet, march 2014)

["Vampires Will Never Hurt You"]'s recording was so passionate that, despite being intended as a demo, My Chemical Romance decided that they should use it on the album. It would go on to become the central cog of the record they were about to make, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. It would be the album that launched their career.

(not the life it seems, sept 2014)

[Under the /audio tab on mychemicalromance.com, there is a table of titles and downloadablable mp3s. At this time, there is only one audio file listed for "Vampires Will Never Hurt You". Below the table, it reads: "From our forthcoming full length album on Eyeball Recordings, due out this summer. This is a rough mix of the song. The final mix will appear on a summer sampler and the full length. Recorded March 3rd, 2002 at Nada Studios in upstate NY."]

(mychemicalromance.com, arch. june 2002)

[Alex Saavedra] gives a lot of the credit to the influential local DJ and scene stalwart the late Mario Comesanas. He used his Under the Stars slot on the South Orange, New Jersey college-radio station WSOU to air "Vampires" for the first time. Comesanas, who was also first to play Thursday on the radio, remembered the response was overwhelming. ‘The reaction was ridiculous – I knew that there was something special here,’ he said. ‘When we counted the requests, there was so much more for them than there was for any other band at that time.’

(not the life it seems, sept 2014)

Frank Iero: I think the first time we really recognized the power of social media was right around the time Thursday was being signed, Midtown was signed. Basically, all our friends from Jersey and Long Island were getting record deals. And My Chem had really just started. We recorded one song because that’s all we had the money for at that point. And we put it up on Myspace immediately and were like, “Hey listen, we’re gonna do a record soon once we get the money. But this is like a sneak preview kind of thing,” and once we put that up, there were literally major label A&Rs calling the practice studio. How they got the number for the practice studio, I have no idea.

(stereogum.com, march 2020)

Frank Iero: This is just something we figured out like... last week when I was hanging out with everybody. The first song we ever wrote and put out on the internet, like, our first single was a song called "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" and it was a song we wrote at the practice studio and recorded and put it out. And we were like, "If people like it, then... they'll let us know through this song and we'll get enough money that we can record," right? So that's what we did. That song was six minutes long. And the last song we put out ["The Foundations of Decay"] is six minutes long. Kinda crazy.

(two minutes to late night, august 2022)

Frank Iero: No one has bigger balls than us right now… I pulled out songs that like… Can you rip a song like a song that we did in 2001 and never released? […] You feel like a badass when you can do that. You feel like a musician then. Like the musicianship and the artistry, that can’t be fucked with."

(one life, one chance, oct 2022)

"favorite" / "couldn't be happier"

(mikey way and frank iero on instagram, may 2022)

STORM

Gerard Way, about recording "Vampires": We started moving the drums out to the van and I was surprised to see what it looked like outside. The sky had become dark blue and jet black and the wind was so strong we thought Mikey was going to blow away. Trees were whipping around and a huge storm was rolling in, but it was strangely warm and felt very comforting. Then I knew my vocals were going to come out just the way I wanted, I could feel this weird excitement.

(mychemicalromance.com, arch. may 2002)

(foundations of decay, may 2022)

SWARM

What's all this nonsense about bats??? The band likes bats. Who doesn't? If you've seen the band live you might have heard Gerard mention something about turning into one or unleashing some sort of swarm of them. "Unleash the fucking bats" is something they say to each other seconds before starting the set to get themselves pumped up. This all started back in Jan '02 when the band finally came together and started playing together with an intensity none of them had ever known. That fateful night they rocked together so hard that a "rock portal" opened up and out flew a swarm of giant bats. No shit.

(mychemicalromance.com, arch. may 2002)

Some rumours I have heard is that you guys like Bats, what's the fascination with them, is it the Will Haven song BATS, or you just like the species? Gerard Way: Haha...the whole bat thing came about at an early practice when Mikey joined and we finally gelled. Our energy just came together and a giant heavy metal vortex opened up and out flew a swarm of bats. We all saw it. It was like an awakening. After that we accepted bats into our lives. It was also while we were playing "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" so it probably had alot to do with that.

(anemicmagazine.com, 2002)

So, the whole vampires, bats, bloody stuff. Where did that all come from? Gerard Way: I probably haven’t ever said this in an interview, but the whole “unleash the bats” thing came from a Birthday Party song called “Release The Bats.” [...] The whole vampire thing [came up when I thought], “Man, nobody writes songs about vampires. How cool would it be?” I thought it was kind of risky or ballsy to play a rock song or a hardcore song that was about vampires.

(starsandscars.com, april 2004)

(foundations of decay, may 2022)

#my chemical romance #mcr #mcr: 2022 #tho ive had this idea for a week but i constructed all the quotes and photos and Realizations last night #i didnt plan to color code her. but. well #mcr: research

[rhapsodynew]

The Beatles

Great Essence (part 2)

#book "Balloon. Aeronauts and artifacts - Boris Grebenshchikov"

For the rest of their lives, each of them gave the impression of a man who flew too close to the stars and returned to earth burned – but saw something that people had never seen.

And we all listened to them from afar, in different parts of the World – as if we were looking at the receding lights of a flying saucer.

We felt that someone was saying goodbye to us. How they sang themselves (most likely, having no idea why such words were chosen):

"Once upon a time there was a way to return home..."

The end has come.

And at the end of the very last song they recorded for their most recent album, they summed it up:

And in the end, the Love you accept is equal to the love you create.

That's such a fairy tale. But this tale is not sad at all.

This has become part of the genetic code of humanity and remains with us. Their music has changed life on earth. And since then, the doors have been reopened, and to enter them, you only need to want to.

And – "I do not know why you say goodbye, I say hello."

Beatles after the Beatles.

When the Beatles ceased to exist as a united front in 1969, the nations held their breath, waiting to see what the artists would do now, left alone. Yes, the Beatles were significantly more than the sum of the parts, and – being the voice of nature and time – they promptly left. They left together with the magic ray that shed its light on Great Britain in the 60s. As Philip Larkin said

(Philip Arthur Larkin (1922-1985) – British poet, writer and jazz critic.)

"When you get to the top, there's nowhere to go from there except down. But the Beatles couldn't go down."

The magical long-haired kings of the Golden Age became four ordinary people. But the magic of their music has not disappeared.

After the breakup of the band in 1969, all four of its members quickly released an album each. Most of all, George Harrison surprised critics – when he was a Beatles guitarist, he always remained a little in the shadows; Lennon and McCartney considered him to be the youngest, did not treat him very seriously and reluctantly put his songs on albums. Having become independent, George turned around with all his might and right in 1969 released as much as a triple album "All Things Must Pass". It has been three years since he became deeply immersed in Indian philosophy, and, being free from the Beatles, he suddenly bloomed like a rose on which the rays of the sun fell. And he began to broadcast this solar energy to all of us.

And his colleagues began to get what they lacked in terms of employment during their service in the long–suffering team.

John Lennon (who, in fact, once founded this band, and then broke it up) Back in 1968, at the London exhibition, he met the Japanese avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, and she taught him the mind. He suddenly realized that besides the Beatles, there are other values in the world, and another art, there is something else, and he went all out, because he never did anything by halves.

Having recorded together with Yoko several sound collages that were not too popular with the people, he assembled a virtual plastic ono Band and recorded a simple and strong album "John Lennon – Plastic Ono Tape".

The song is beautiful. But there are problems with There were a lot of John and Yoko, because the young couple was so desperate to make themselves known that there wasn't a week that they didn't get on the pages of the newspapers with some kind of prank. And very soon the British press hounded them so that they moved to New York. But even there they began to actively participate in all local guerrilla gatherings and were quickly taken under surveillance by local state security agencies. John was locked up in America – if he had left there even for a day, they would not have let him back in.

Well and Paul McCartney, accused by the world of all sins, including the collapse of the Beatles (although he was the one who tried his best to keep the band afloat), around the same time met the girl of his dreams – photographer Linda Eastman.

As opposed to He did not seek to arrange constant happenings with John and Yoko – on the contrary, he even grew a beard in order to walk the streets unnoticed. Linda did not strive for fame either, she offered her fragile shoulder to him and offered to go to the village.

The Maharishi and George

In the village, Paul, furnished with all the instruments (after all, at first he was the lead guitarist of the Beatles, Ringo always resented him for the fact that Paul taught him how to play the drums, he could play the piano since childhood, and as for playing the bass, Jimi Hendrix sincerely called him the best bass player in rock and roll), so: Paul single-handedly recorded an album with the original name "McCartney", praising what he always It was best to sing the praises of home warmth, peace and comfort.

We must give Paul his due: he has talent (as well as John) did not decrease. And although he undoubtedly became much more pop without the help of old friends, from time to time he managed to write masterpieces.

The continuation of the fairy tale follows.....

Part 1📌

#sold out #Beatlemania #book “Balloon. Aeronauts and artifacts - Boris Grebenshchikov” #the beatles #john lennon #paul mccartney #ringo starr #george harrison #liverpool #england #music story #history music #rock #pop #beat #psychedelia #music #my music #music love #musica #rock music #spotify #my spotify #rock photography #hustory photography #Part 1-2📌

[hierarchyproblem]

Big dumb album of the year post, here we fucking go:

Punk

A lot of the punk releases that crossed my radar this year were really hardcore-y hardcore or weak-ass "indie punk" shit, and that doesn't do a lot for me. And like, who cares if Rancid are still making music? Does Tim Armstrong even need any more money at this point?

This year I liked All Together Now from Cop/Out and All Riot from Angry Youth Elite. GEL's Only Constant sadly wasn't a patch on 2021's Violent Closure (though I did get to see them live and they put on a hell of a show), and I look forward to seeing Killing Daisies develop their sound following a pretty strong debut with Break the Silence. The HIRS Collective are at their best at their grindiest IMO, but I still liked lots of We're Still Here. Slutbomb's EP Commodified Identity is exactly what I want punk to sound like, but this year's winner is Dog Park Dissidents with their debut The Pink and Black Album.

I've talked before about my frustration with the state of queer punk at the minute, which largely seems to consist of didactic lyricism, indie-pop influences, and the basics of liberal feminism presented as radical politics. Not so with Dog Park Dissidents: their lyrics are frequently funny and occasionally surprisingly emotive, their political content is incisive, and while we're not talking face-melting blast-beats here, the songs are genuinely entertaining. Half of the songs on this album have more to say than the entire discographies of some punk bands, and are pretty catchy too.

Favourite tracks: Rainbow Drones, Host, Class Struggle

Grindcore

I haven't listened to much new grind this year; I don't know what releases have even happened. There must be some good stuff that passed me by - let me know what I missed!

The Full of Hell collaborations weren't really my thing, but Haggus' EP What's Your Excuse was great as ever. Sometimes trawling bandcamp you can strike gold such as Coming Apart from Tolerances Of The Human Face In Crash Impacts or Human Decay from Rancid Stench. There was only ever gonna be one winner this year, however, and it's Gridlink's Coronet Juniper.

What can I even say about this? Gridlink have done it again. Somehow, even after guitarist Takafumi Matsubara's stroke in 2014, they've managed another album that's almost as perfect as Longhena. Their "technical grindcore" sound is unique and electrifying; Gridlink are untouchable. Nobody sounds like them. I'm blown away.

Favourite tracks: Silk Ash Cascade, Anhalter Bahnhof, Octave Serpent

Black Metal

It's been a fucking good year for black metal.

Between Panopticon's The Rime of Memory, Underdark's Managed Decline, Blackbraid's Blackbraid II, and Trespasser's Αποκάλυψισ, there's been plenty of excellent releases to keep me busy (can you tell I got into this through RABM?). I thought the production felt a little thin on the final Dawn Ray'd album, To Know the Light - the lack of a bassist hurt here, more than on any prior release - but I had the good fortune to be at the album release show, and it was the best gig of my entire fucking life, so this album holds a special place for me. Sad to see these guys go.

Fadheit's EP Afterglow deserves a special shout-out for carrying the torch of Lifelover's brand of depressive black metal, a sound I'll never get enough of. Probably everyone's black metal album of the year is going to be Saturnian Bloodstorm by Lamp of Murmuur, and that's well-deserved. This is possibly the best Lamp release yet, and I'm very into the freezing Immortal-esque guitar tone on this one. I'll be going back to Saturnian Bloodstorm for a long time, but the album I've actually enjoyed the most this year is Immortal themselves, with War Against All.

It's a rare enough thing for a band to keep releasing quality music for thirty years - even Darkthrone have had their misses - but Immortal are still going strong. You could be forgiven for phoning it in at this point, but I don't get that impression: as much as black metal can be "fun," I feel like Demonaz is still having fun, and I had a lot of fun with this album too. If you like black metal, there's plenty to like here.

Favourite tracks: No Sun, Return to Cold, Wargod

Ska

Ska is going from strength to strength right now; the past few years have been some of the genre's best in a long long time. This year I was delighted to see Mustard Plug releasing music again with the excellent Where Did All My Friends Go? and I enjoyed a lot of Poindexter's upbeat ska-pop debut album Treats. I scratched my ska-punk itch with Public Serpent's caustic The Bully Puppet and HEY-SMITH's frantic Rest in Punk. Popes of Chillitown's latest Take a Picture has something for everyone, drawing from about a hundred genre influences.

Still, my favourite ska album of this year is Plastic Presidents' debut Good Times Can't Last.

Please, please, do yourself a favour and listen to that opening track. This is one hell of an attention-grabbing debut, without a single skip on the tracklist, covering dancey 2-tone-era ska-punk through to aggressive skacore. If this was the only album they ever released, they'd have earned a spot in my pantheon: I'll be following eagerly to see what they do next.

Favourite tracks: Chains, West Omaha is a Terrible Place and I'm Definitely Afraid to Die, Break Free

Other

This "category" is one hell of a grab bag, but I don't know where else to put Tomb Mold, one of the only death metal bands I unreservedly love. Their most recent release The Enduring Spirit is sure to end up on a lot of album of the year lists.

The Nearly Deads' We Are the Nearly Deads is pretty much what I want rock to be (that is, completely without trace of any fucking metalcore influences!). I have a soft spot for symphonic metal, and Chapter III - Downfall from Ad Infinitum hit that spot this year. Finally, while I preferred Brave Murder Day-era Katatonia, I still like the goth rock thing they've been doing basically ever since then, and Sky Void of Stars is one of their better albums in that vein.

My left-field pick for Album of the Year, however, is Shit Present's What Still Gets Me.

I usually can't stand the kind of thing that's just punk-adjacent enough for the algorithms to insist on trying to force it into my ears. I didn't expect to like this, either - but it's really, really good. Like, I should hate anything you can describe as "emo-pop," but I don't, here. I love it. The songs are so well-crafted, the vocals so perfectly-delivered; there's an energy and emotion to this album that's had me listening to it on repeat since May.

Check it out: it's the best album of 2023.

Favourite tracks: Voice in Your Head, More to Lose, Cram the Page

#aoty

[thekidsarentalright]

Hey, despite only being familiar with a handful of songs, I got the honor of seeing FOB yesterday at the Cuyahoga Falls concert. I went really impulsively because that's just how my dad plans things.

I was wondering about the importance of the song Hallelujah, and the source for that saving Pete's life? I'd also love a few good sources to getting to learn more about the boys, like a documentary or anything! I know that the day after a concert is a bit late to be getting invested in a band, but oops?? i love them though . i love them very much now and that was the most beautiful concert ever

hi there!!! ahh this is sooo wonderful and lovely to hear, anytime is a great time to get into fob and im so glad that it was such a good show for you and sparked you loving them!!! I don't wanna overwhelm you with too many links or anything to learn more about them/about the importance of hallelujah, but below the ‘keep reading’ (just so this isn't super long on the dash fksdjn) is the source about hallelujah, and then a few sources to learning more about the boys!! if u ever have anymore questions or want more sources, feel free to ask me!! <33

NME article where pete mentions listening to hallelujah while attempting to take his life / Genius annotations of fall out boy's song hum hallelujah where it (hallelujah) saving his life is specifically mentioned

Drunk history of fall out boy where their entire band history is very basically explained! br*ndon ur*e sucks But the video is entertaining and Does give a pretty good, brief synopsis of the band's history up until 2013

Honestly just all their music videos, they're all very enjoyable to watch especially for the first time and really showcases their evolution musically/creatively speaking and evolution as people so are Very important to watch, i think

Apple music interview with Pete and Patrick from earlier this year, it's a bit of a long watch (just over an hour!), but they talk about the band history and the newest album, so good place to get a lot of newer context/info straight from them!

Rock Sound best & worst interviews from 2014 (parts 1, 2, 3, 4), really just showcases their personalities and dynamics a lot, were The interviews that made me fall in love w the band as people and seek more out about them, some of my favorite interviews of all time still <3

hopefully these things help you!! it's kinda hard with them, because there Isn't really one specific documentary to point you towards, just a lot of little things to watch and take in that builds the whole story of fob! again, if u have any more questions or want any more recs on things to watch feel free to ask!!

#getting this ask made me soooo happy like i just love seeing people getting into them for the first time <33 #they're such a special band and i love people finding that and finding joy in them so!! hope all these sources gives u even more joy!!! #asks #anon

[taylortruther]

Yk with the added context of the Matty-Taylor relationship timeline, I was compelled to go back and reconsider certain songs from her discography and see them differently. Obviously we have The 1, Cardigan, Question..?, Glitch etc but what about the 1989 vault?

I have a strong belief that Taylor re-touches, if not fully edits the vault tracks before the album releases (as evidenced by the punchline lyric on ATW10MV).

Ofc, we don't know for sure, but in Now That We Don't Talk there's that line about the muse "growing his hair long" and Harry hadn't done that till late 2014 (atleast to a noticeable extent) so I felt that maybe that song was written later on.

Anyways, listening to TTPD got me thinking some thoughts. Like Taylor is very deliberate with her word usage on the songs. In Down Bad, the lyric "How dare you say that it's..." is supposed to be auto-filled with the word "over". This instantly made me think of Is It Over Now?

Was "Slut!" about Matty too? I mean if the rumours of a 1975 feature on that song were true, then obviously it has a connection to them? Also, I've always felt it was weird to have that song be about Harry for so many reasons, but whatever.

I mean ofc there's glaring references to Harry on the album, but by now we know that Taylor likes to merge her muses for a single song. She even liked a Tumblr post back in 2015 that related STYLE of all songs to Matty. Not a joke. Twitter recently rediscovered it and went nuts over it.

I feel like many songs we attributed to Harry over the years was just about Matty. I mean it always bothered me how much Taylor seemed to be affected by a 2 month situationship with an 18 year old all the way back in 2012. I mean she never brought up Kennedy or Lautner or Tom like she did with Harry in her later works....now we know that it was most likely Matty.

One part of me believes that So It Goes was also bout him. I mean "you did a number on me" means to mess someone up in a bad way, and I have no idea why she would put that lyric in there otherwise.

Also Ivy and Illicit Affairs were widely regarded to be about the Calvin-Tom-Joe situation...but in retrospect they might've been about Matty. These might sound like mindless rumours to most, but keep in mind that Guilty As Sin and Fresh Out The Slammer exist. Both Ivy and Illicit Affairs were fictional songs, but they expressed her inner feelings (swirled you into all my poems). Again, just theorizing here.

i guess he could be ~swirled~ into a few songs from 1989 tv (anything is possible! we didn't know the full story until the red vault! disclaimer!), but mostly i think what you are picking up on is that... taylor has a pattern in her relationships. and she has stories she tells herself about relationships, or herself, just like we all do, which create songs that share many themes.

like, obviously i don't know taylor, and i could be wrong about anything i write about her lyrics. but while ivy could be about matty (anything is possible!), i think it makes more sense that she has, on a few different occasions, left a dying relationships only after another person she liked came into her orbit. and this isn't even uncommon. lots of people only leave relationships when they have someone in the wings, or they've met someone who makes them realize the grass might be greener.

[gotasenseivebeenbetrayed]

TTPD Thoughts

It's just wild to me how Taylor clearly meant for "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" to be about Matty and people listen to that song and then have the audacity to think "Yup, these other songs and all her previous songs were about him". She literally said "I don't miss what we had" and "I'll forget you". And you think "love/loss of my life" is for that same man? 🤨

Also the fact remains Harry is the only muse she has ever given a full on album to, the only muse she ever said, with no hesitation, that he was the one who'd float in and out of her life, be the one who you'd always wonder "what if", etc. and they think all her pining songs about a long lost love is not that muse and is instead Matty?! 💀

I still will die on the hill she, in general, has woven multiple muses into songs and the biggest reason for that is Harry. 1989 was the one album she was very obvious with who her muse was and he was in every song. Then everything hit the fan and she became more private and went into hiding. Then comes back with Reputation. And that's where the woven muses happened. Realistically she had very little time with Joe while Rep was being done. Yes, a few songs were 100% Joe but, a lot don't fit and some that "kind of" fit him seem to also fit Harry. I think she started them off about Harry and then maybe wrote Joe into the finish of them. She did it with Lover and now TTPD. Folklore/Evermore were the only ones she mostly used full muses because it was "fictional" and so she had a reason to be more open about the muses.

Also just want to mention in Smallest Man she implies, pretty heavily, he was bad in bed lmao. Yet you want me to believe they "dated" way back when, during his heavy drug use (when it's harder for men to get/keep it up - hell even Halsey had a song that mentions this), hooked up and then kept hooking up over the years and she was pining for a man who she later says was awful in bed? That is not the same muse she has spent over a decade pining for and writing other songs where they hook up - be for real please. 😭 Ain't no one pining for a man who is terrible in bed for a decade.

And I know some people think Guilt As Sin is Harry and it could be a Harry/Matty merge as I think most TTPD songs are, I think it's a bait and switch and she weaves a bit of Matty into the songs to throw off people from Harry. Anyways that song reads two ways for me A) from a Harry stand point she was saying she was pining for him while with Joe and she felt guilty even though nothing happened between them and B) from Matty stand point, I think when they were working together on Midnights her and Joe were in a very bad place and he might've helped talk her into leaving him finally, I believe Matty 100% love bombed the hell outta Taylor and probably "sold her a quick love scheme". He probably mentioned how he'd had a crush on her for years, he'd treat her better/she deserved better blah blah and she maybe started thinking of that and felt guilty because she'd never actually been with Matty previously so how could she be guilty and that's including from the rumors from back in 2014. To me it read she never had slept with the muse at the time and it was all in her head but she was feeling guilty for it and maybe even accused of it. That then makes sense with her calling him bad in bed in Smallest man. She hadn't slept with him previously, then she did last year and was like "Yikes". Again, if that's the case then he can't be the muse she's pined after and had secret affairs with.

#haylor

[souryogurt64]

Yeah I agree- liveblogging is trash.

But as a bandom ancient (2008ish-current) I feel like the reason why bandom was they way it was + it's appeal as well as simultaneously unappealing trait was that us fans didn't have a lot of info about the members of these bands we were fans of. Sure, we knew the songs and the albums and all that shit, but we didn't know very much about the people making these songs beyond very limited and super polished and edited (usually) professional interviews. We couldn't hop onto a livestream at any time to watch band guy #179412 play video games and talk about whatever stupid shit was coming to his dumbass mind. Sure, they tweeted, but it was more like "new single out! Go listen" and "new album dropping 3/29!" Not much personality.

Which has pros and cons. Now if a band member is genuinely awful (racist, homophobic, abusive, etc) they will be exposed. However, I don't want to know every dumbass thought that every person ever has had.

Also, a LOT of bandom was just straight up thirsting over these musicians and having erotic fantasies about them, which I know people have a lot of Opinions on. I, personally think it's perfectly fine and natural. However, it's hard to fantasize (through fanfic or art or just gossiping with friends like I did) when you can easily recall that stupid thing he said on a livestream or whatever.

Basically, band people used to be like blank canvases for fans to project their fantasies onto.

Liveblogging - I like 100% get the need and importance of people to post videos, talk about the setlist, and talk about the show, etc. That stuff is fun and cool and normal. But I don't understand why this entire website needs to become completely unusable for 2.5 hrs 6 nights a week to watch a grainy stream of a show thats full of like. People screaming. And people are so emotionally dependent on it and invested in it. Like it just does not make sense to me?? And like I wonder if this has to do with the high cost of concerts now meaning lots of people can't go at all??? Like I just don't get it why is this critical

2. Seeing the bands' personalities-- I honestly disagree in terms of emo bands now. I would say this is 100% true for fandoms that are like SWMRS sized and that SWMRS being on social media and livestreaming constantly negatively affected their image in a drastic way. I would also say Brendon's Periscoping negatively affected Panic drastically-- however that stopped completely in like 2018-2019. But FOB and MCR do like a very tiny fraction of the press that they did in 2013-2017 because They Old. They are also using social media way, way less.

3. I do agree there is less thirsting. I feel like there's a thirst renaissance because the like extreme beyond XXXX NC17 rated confession blogs were a STAPLE in any fandom pre-2015 and then there was like a purge. But I would say like sex RP blogs were a third of bandom in like 2014. I do feel like even though these spaces are coming back, there is a general hostility towards women's sexuality or the idea of women having sex with these band guys in them that did not used to be there. I do think people still have Opinions on it too though lol.

Also writing the last essay I read probably thousands of LJ comments from 2008, and I would say in the comments of every single LJ post there were always like capital H Hoes lusting fervently and openly and shamelessly and being egged on by "Anonymous" contributors (lol) and it felt very innocent in a way whereas now I would say all of bandom is like. Highly intricate and detailed alternate universes in which like Patrick is a cow that lays eggs and women don't exist

[likeadevils]

Do you know if the 150 vault tracks for 1989 was true? I’ve always assumed it to be false/exaggerated but it’s something I’ve seen being talked about on TikTok constantly so i’m doubting myself

as far as i've seen, that particular number comes from a secret sessioner. there probably some truth to it-- there's this aside from her New York Magazine article (which she gave on September 22, 2013) "While on the Red tour, she’d been writing songs and stockpiling ideas: reams of lyrics, thousands of voice memos in her iPhone," and she also mentioned in a video (i think in the grammy listening session when she's talking about ryan tedder?) that she tried to bring 3-5 ideas to a producer before they got in the studio so they could choose what they wanted to work on. which is like, an insane amount of backlogged song ideas when it comes to taylor, so it makes sense.

that being said, i don't think they were full songs (at least the vast majority of them). based on the voice memos and the interviews i've read, it seems like taylor would have a verse/verse melody and a chorus, and then once a producer chose a song she would flesh it out more. there are some exceptions, but by in large, most of the voice memos she brought to producers were varying degrees of unfinished. furthermore, the stuff that didn't get chosen by a producer was likely not recorded in any real way, and therefore not legitimately considered for the album.

here is a list of all the vault songs we know about

she was in the studio in early october 2012

jacknifee lee implied her and harry wrote a couple songs together that fall

she's tweets about being in the studio in february 2013

she's photographed entering one in early march

she posts on instagram implying she's writing a song in late march

in november of 2013 she says a couple times that she has seven or eight songs that she knows she wants on the album. by that, taylor had likely recorded 10 songs that went on to make 1989, 7 that had been made since taylor and jack had a big conversation about 80s music in may, and 5 of which that were likely recorded in the past two months. so, depending on how taylor was judging "songs she knew she wanted on the album", that leaves room for about two or three songs from late 2013 that almost made the album but didn't.

she writes one with diane warren in january 2014

she's photographed entering a recording studio in march 2014.

by may 2014, she had likely wrapped recording and done the album photoshoot. so being generous, that's roughly a dozen mostly complete, unreleased songs. there's always the possibility of more, but i would still say that would bring the total up to 15, tops. furthermore, only 5 of those songs that we know about were written after taylor and jack had had their conversation about 80s music (x, x, there's so much more pick like any piece of press jack does about 1989) and taylor starts building the album around it (x, x).

so like, despite having a lot of rough drafts, taylor likely had a fairly small amount of songs she legitimately considered for 1989 but cut. which is what the vault songs are-- not a complete record of every song she halfway made while writing for the album, but a collection of killed darlings.

#asks* #timeline*

[amalgamate-exe]

TW: Spoilers for The Outsiders By S.E.Hinton, Talking about death, Alcohol and Suicide 

If you're familiar with S.E. Hinton's classic novel "The Outsiders," then you probably know all about Dallas “Dally” Winston, the quintessential bad boy of Tulsa who's always causing trouble and ending up in the cooler (jail). He's a complex character pivotal to the book's plot development. Recently, while listening to music and contemplating the parallels between Dallas Winston and to the songs I was listening to, I noticed a striking correlation. Specifically, McCafferty's songs "Trees," "Bottom," and "Beachboy" encapsulate the essence of Dallas Winston's character archetype This observation compelled me to write this essay, which delves into the thematic connections between McCafferty's music and the portrayal of Dallas Winston in "The Outsiders." 

The First song I will be covering is the song ‘Beachboy’ Which is track 6 off of the 2014 Album Beachboy This song was the song that made me initially link Dallas Winston to the band. This song could be confusing and have a lot of different meanings but the interpretation I am going with is put best by the authors at Songtell “is about accepting change and making the best of the situation. It speaks to the idea of growing up and taking on responsibilities, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable to do so.” (Songtell) Overall the song has the vibe of an angst-filled teenager who you gave access to a guitar and a music editing software, but a few parts of the song stuck out to me in particular when I heard the song with the idea of it representing Dallas. The first quote that represents Dallas Winston is “She says, ‘Your lips tasted like they did way back in July’/ Headaches and overdose I Hope that we never die”. While it's never fully stated where Dallas lives. Lots - if not all of fan theories and fan fiction - believe that he lives at Buck Merrill's Barin a spare bedroom when he isn't crashing on Curtis’s couch. Buck, is stated to be a shifty character “Buck Merril was Dally's rodeo partner…and made most of his money on fixed races and a little bootlegging” (Hinton 52) Buck along with earning money dishonestly was a troublemaker similar to Dallas, stated in the same paragraph “he used to be bucktoothed before he had the front two knocked out in a fight.” Buck Merril was also known for throwing parties and all around not being a safe individual so much so that The main character of the book Ponyboy was instructed by both of his older brothers to not be caught WIthin the proximity of his Barand he was happy to abide “I was under strict orders from both Darry and Soda not to get caught within ten miles of his place, which was dandy with me”(Hinton 52). Ponyboy notes that some of the events at Buck's parties leaned to the more adult sides of things “I was remembering what usually went on in the bedrooms at Buck's parties…” (Hinton 52). It should also be stated that in Pre-Book events Dallas had a girlfriend named Sylvia. Sylvia was Dallas's girlfriend but while Dallas was in Jail for one of many reasons she cheated on him. Dallas says this Himself to Steve on page 13 of the book “‘You break up with Sylvia again?" ‘Yeah, and this time it's for good. That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail.’”(Hinton 13) Knowing where Dallas stays his past relations with Sylvia and potential future relations with Cherry Valance and any other girl that Dallas will flirt with You can assume that he has taken at least Sylvia to Buck's place to party, this relates to the song Beachboy By McCafferty because the second paragraph has the line “She says, ‘Your lips tasted like they did way back in July’/ Headaches and overdose I Hope that we never die” The ‘She’ in this scenario could be Sylvia because Dallas has been thrown in jail so many times one could infer that they go long periods without seeing each other which explains why she cheated on him and could explain the line “Like they did way back in July” following up with that, knowing buck is a shady character known throwing parties you could also make the argument that “headaches and overdose” could be hangovers and poor decisions being made while hanging out with Buck and Sylvia.

The next set of lines off of Beach Boy that describe Dallas are the lines “And I know that you think that I don't care / About all the friends I left behind” which would make sense,If there is two words to describe Dallas winston it would be Cold and callous, Ponyboy makes that Exceptionally clear when describing him even if not those word exactly anytime Dallas is described in the book it is always made clear about his bitterness and hatred towards the world one example being “His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world.” (Hinton 10) and then in the same paragraph “the warfare is between the social classes… Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter.”(Hinton 10) with descriptions like that anyone would assume Dallas Winston is some Unbridaled hate machine, another example being “One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger, too” (Hinton 22) Dallas is willing to hit a *STRANGER* so hard it knocks a tooth out However, it's stated that Dallas has a soft spot for Johnny Cade over any of the other members of the gang this is made clear after Johnny Scolded Dallas for harassing Cherry Valance and Marcia At the drive in “Dallas scowled for a second. If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment's hesitation. You just didn't tell Dally Winston what to do … But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally's pet, too.”(Hinton 22) All of this is to say that Dallas reminds me of this set of lines because Dallas goes even further to protect his friends than just not hitting them, Dallas is seen as a hardened criminal by the group, due to his time spent in the “Wild side of New York'' and his character all around, after Johnny Kills Bob the Soc Johnny and Ponyboy Run to Bucks bar to go to Dallas for help and without a second thought he helps them, Giving them a loaded gun and 50$ cash to buy groceries, on page 53 “Dally appeared after a minute. He carefully shut the door. "Here"--- he handed us a gun and a roll of bills--- "the gun's loaded. For Pete's sake, Johnny, don't point the thing at me. Here's fifty bucks. That's all I could get out of Merril tonight He's blowin' his loot from that last race."(Hinton 53) This is Major enough Dallas also gives Johnny and Ponyboy the location of an old church to hide out in Windrixville and on top of all of this Dallas lies to the police on their behalf to keep the cops from looking for them In Tulsa, or Windrixville Oklahoma “‘The fuzz won't be lookin' for you around here," Dally said, lighting up. "They think you've lit out for Texas…”(69) Now Dallas has had his fair run share of run-ins with the police before, and Johnny didn't Just pull some small-time thievery he killed a man, Dallas knew how much trouble he could get in for helping Johnny and Ponyboy out here, He was now an accessory to a crime but he still did it for them because he cared about them. While Dallas may have left the rest of the gang behind, literally when he killed himself via cop shoot-out at the end of the book he died caring for them he died because Johnny was the only thing keeping him afloat, he is also shown caring up until the end with his last words being “Ponyboy” He Died angry at the world yet in the same vein he died caring about his friends until his last moments. (1/3)

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