#FUCK do i love Suburbia Overture though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dappydaffer]

This rant I'm about to go on will probably not even get noticed, but, I genuinely do not care.

I just want to take a solid few minutes to really praise Will Wood and how...intellectual and meaningful his lyrics are. I know that's probably obvious to a lot of other WW fans already, but his music has been causing me actual brainrot and I can't stop putting his albums on repeat, ESPECIALLY The Normal Album, and I can't and won't shut up about it.

(Heads up, this is simply a take of mine on The Normal Album that I've been really wanting to talk about. I am by no means disclosing that what I am about to say is objective and/or true. You may politely correct me or respectfully counter it with your own opinions/thoughts, but kindly remember, this is just me mindlessly blabbering about how much the album means to me, how the little details make up my theory for the album's theme/point, and just me fangirling over the thought he put into his music.)

Alright I'm gonna go out on a limb here and essentially just explain my Normal Album theory I compiled by making the most logical connections and assumptions based off the album's lyrics and certain song's context(s) from the album.

To me, The Normal Album is an ironic, satirical juxtaposition testing "normal" people's reactions to "hush hush" topics of conversation, or things we don't typically think/talk about that aren't considered "normal" at all. Not only that, but also how the little bits and pieces from different songs and lyrics from the album make up said theme, is just so astounding to me. It truly shows that he put a lot of thought into his work and you can tell some of the songs are hitting just as close to home for him as it does with a lot of fans who look really into it.

To further emphasize, notice how the first song of The Normal Album, "Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally," the first name and part(?) of the song is literally starting with "Suburbia?" Suburbia is often known as a neighborhood that appeals as a peaceful, cookie cutter place to live or the collective standard people envision as to what "normal" people should act like or how if you really are "normal," this is how you should live your life; a shiny, happy family, white pickett fences, perfectly cut grass, etc. Suburbia also (stereotypically) expresses resentment anyone that does not fit their standard of "normal," and I think that's Will's entire point, not only expressed in this song in particular, but the entire album. He is testing the waters by presenting this as an exaggeratedly normal album on the surface, but the further you get into it and/or dive into the lyrics, it becomes evident this is not normal at all. Just like how modern, suburbian culture (that he very explicitly expresses that he despises (e.g, "fuck your culture," "culture is not your friend")) presents itself as normal, even though behind closed doors, we know there is most likely something that is not okay, or something going on that contradicts the suburbia's own self-established standard of normal.

Hell, even the album cover is Will wearing "normal" suburbia-esque attire, waving out a window with a smile on his face, presenting as the normal he very much opposes with this album's music. This enhances the theme because of how much its trying to look normal on the cover; only ironically portraying Suburbia as too good to be true even more. And this is only the first of many symbolic details found within the album. With the ironic title, plus this sense of imagery, who wouldn't think it wasn't normal? (but if you know Will Wood and/or look at the titles, then you know damn well this album is far from it.)

By showing us something normal on the cover and starting off the album with a song who's title's first word is "Suburbia," it unveils itself to be ironic yet symbolic, reflecting suburbian attitude and showing how these kinds, and plenty of other people, treat what should be considered important topics (identity, death, morality, mental health, etc.) as things to be swept under the rug because it was not integrated into their "normal" ideals, through its music and words.

For example, to help even further prove my point, just look at some of the lyrics/song titles:

·"It's only culture, and its more afraid of you than you are of it." - That right there, that right there is his entire thesis that sums up his point of the album, along with my theory. Anything different opposing "normal" culture, the same culture grows a fear of it, often times trying to silence it out of fear of losing control of or entirely losing the "normal" haven/standard that has been created and set. Will bringing up the topics he does within the album does this very thing, destroying the "normal" feeling that had been set at the beginning, along with revealing the album's lack of hesitancy to discuss tough topics, the undertones of its true nature, and shining a light on how the album is ironically not normal at all.

·"I/Me/Myself" - A song that plays into the themes of not only identity, but the same themes of normality and conformity by discussing how both cis and trans people have their idea of normal towards labels and how one should act according to theirs and are both capable of projecting it in a toxic manner that tries to push down anything that defies it. Will Wood LITERALLY wrote and explained how this song is talking about his experiences as someone who used to be a genderqueer person, how both people on each side of the gender spectrum tried telling him that he can't do xyz because he's a cis man/genderqueer person (or in general), his frustrations with said standards, and that he only wore his gender identity as something to serve a purpose. Just because your behavior, interests, or whatever, contradicts your birth gender, it does not mean you have to conform to labels on either side, even if its not "normal" to everyone telling you otherwise. This very thing also exemplifies how this aforementioned culture is "not your friend" and that it can and will very much push down its standard of normality down your throat, no matter how good it seems or what side its on.

·"Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, but I Need You to Leave" - Like "I/Me/Myself," this song also presents two (most likely extremist) sides that have their own standard of "normal," but this time, it discusses mental wellness instead. Regarding the fact this song revolves around themes of mental health and the balance of how it should be treated, we are given two (or possibly several more) perspectives on the subject matter that could each be considered normal, depending on the evironment/generation. (E.g., we hear a side throughout the song that seems to oppose professional/medical help in this regard or leans away from heavy reliance on such things (e.g., "Back in my day we didn't need no feel good pills and no psychiatrists, we just drank ourselves to death/bled out in our bath," "A little identity never hurt nobody, but lately you've been focusing too much on yourself," etc). And then, we also hear a side that is also consistent throughout the song, seemingly the polar opposite (e.g., "Better safe than sorry, and we both know the danger," "And a little conformity never hurt nobody, but lately I've been worried that you're losing yourself," etc.) (This one is kinda loosely tied, but I still thought it played into themes similar to I/Me/Myself in terms of normality, sorry if it doesnt make too much sense)

·"Well this disease is defined by its treatment, you people make me sick!" - This bit from Outliars and Hypocrates helps emphasize the album's theme further due to the song itself (theoretically) being about human behavior and this lyric also showing how these "normal" people may treat anything different negatively, creating issues within the person who appears as different and making them think something is wrong with them, potentially forcing the person to conform in order to avoid being ostracized (further creating and pushing the established "normal" expectations). Thus, creating a "disease" that is not at all a disease, and merely just behavior that is only treated as such because it does not fit the metaphorical and literal suburbia's standard or ideals of "normal."

I could go on and on, but I have been typing for way too long at this point (my hands and brain are actually hurting, help- VHKDFJ). There are plenty of other lyrics and songs I want(ed) to integrate in this post, but as I just said, I'm very tired from writing all this, and besides, I think I've made my point/theory clear. Whether I'm correct (partially or fully) or not, this was still fun to talk about, and trust me I have so much more praise for this man and his work and I got plenty of more speculations as to what some of his other songs could mean. Maybe I'll make more posts on it sometime in the future, but who knows?

And again, I cannot stress this enough, please do not harrass me for this and if you do believe otherwise, please reply respectfully. I know some, if not most people are nonchalant at the least about this kinda stuff, but I do NOT wanna deal with any comments or replies I know I could possibly get that'll be going "Erm, Actually-" or getting pissed at me for having an opinion. I am in no way claiming my postulation is definitivelty correct, these are just MY theories and MY thoughts. If you have anything different to say or your own theories about The Normal Album, or just any of WW's music in general, I would love to hear them in a respectful manner and/or your reasons for why you think xyz about the album(s).

I just had to rant about how truly incredible Wood's choice of words and music were for the album. The theme is truly very astounding, but just the pieces in the words and titles that make up the puzzle, is what it makes it even better. It is just so well thought out and amazing to me. Will Wood is one of the most lyrically intlligent, and seemingly passionate artist's that I've ever seen. If you dont like his music or have never even heard of him, at least read more analytical posts like this just so you can get a taste, and/or at the least, appreciate how absolutely profound Will is with his lyrics. My compliments and explainations for his work do not do it justice. It is just something you have to listen to for yourself. His content just cannot be put into a box by words.

#rant post #rant #will wood and the tapeworms #will wood #holy shit im not typing anything for the next month 💀 #that took way too long (ADHD be damed) and my hands are now in agony (it was worth it tho) #just a theory #just a thought i had #im proud of this one #just my thoughts #i am so ill for ww and his music 😭 #please read (only if you want to)

[badcountryofficial]

honestly at this point it’s listen to Suburbia Overture and LIKE IT or you’re dead to me y’know. 

#/J /J /J /J LMAO #FUCK do i love Suburbia Overture though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #kin song...but not #edit: AY FUCK YOUR CUUUULTURE! I AINT GOT NO CUUUUULTURE #yes... #i aint got no cuuuuuuulture...i love that part #lord looked down and said hey...yr only mortal...could Cry

[nacrelyses]

normal album analysis as a musical: the child

first a disclaimer: i know this interpretation was not will wood’s intention in making the album, this is just how the music resonates with me and i hope it helps other people as well.

now following up on my last post about the normal album potentially being interpreted as the life of a queer child in a conservative family (tw internalized and external queerphobia, gaslighting, mental illness). 

let’s call this ..hmm.

a normal musical: the child.

suburbia overture: the aforementioned overture, the establishment of the musical setting as your typical white picket fence upper middle class suburb nuclear family. traditional values, traditional lifestyle, traditional children, with the vampire culture segment foreshadowing the way that imposing conservative values and self-loathing on a closeted queer child “sucks” the life out of them.

2econd-2ight-2eer: when the child starts questioning, the very act of questioning defies the moral compass their family has set out for them. possibly reflecting the way that questioning and exploring one’s identity, in addition to being rife with internalized queerphobia, is also fraught with the self-gaslighting that comes as a result of the internalized queerphobia, which might make the child believe they’re simply “losing it” or that whatever they’re experiencing is a mental illness. also the first stanza: “my grip on my secrets slipping while i’m speaking in tongues, screaming at the top of my lungs in the confession booth” religious trauma much?

laplace’s angel: the child has begun to come to terms with the fact that they are most likely queer, and the complete deterioration of their family’s imposed conservative values. this is the phase where the internalized queerphobia still makes them feel as though they’ve become a bad or evil person, thus laplace’s angel being them internally pleading for the world and for society to see them as they really are rather than a villain deviating from the norm. that if others were in their shoes, they’d walk the “same damn miles”, the same damn crises, the same damn emotional turmoil, that the child is currently going through .

i/me/myself: gender cannonball...need i say more? maybe the child believes, as a product of internalized transphobia, that it would be easier if they were their assigned gender - or perhaps, depending on the individual, maybe the child is wishing to be able to exist as their true gender. in either scenario, this song encapsulates the desperation that comes with exploring identity. the freedom that arrives with a revelation and the immediate restriction that comes with realizing that that revelation can never be truly realized in a queerphobic family. or even the bitterness at knowing their family makes such a huge deal about queerness, that queerness is somehow a gigantic roadblock their family will never be able to cross. both realizing your identity and still grappling with the idea that if you were born into the “norm”, you wouldn’t need to go through all this pain to try and figure out who you really are. it’s the turmoil of being genuine in a society that would actively oppress you for doing so and putting up a facade that somewhat lessens the aforementioned pain, but at the cost of further internal suffering. 

also, to my fellow genderqueer and gender nonconforming will wood fans (and let’s face it, which one of us isn’t?): i see you. i see your spotify listening activity. i see the loop button. i would ask if you’re okay but i know we’re not

...well, better than the alternative: parenting angst here, maybe alluding to the parents themselves perpetuating toxic cycles that they never had the opportunities to realize or heal from. the child is born amid these toxic cycles, and although this toxicity (the queerphobia, for example) is the norm in this suburban family, deep down the parents don’t want their child to turn out the way they do. meanwhile, on the other end, the child is feeling as though “everybody’s up in my goddamn business” - maybe the parents are starting to suspect that their child is less than cishet (or maybe the child has come out to them), and within their denial of their child not turning out the way they want them to, maybe they unconsciously realize that it’s their own toxic parenting styles that have made their child so afraid and secretive about who they really are. if this is the scenario that the child has come out to their parents, they have decided that even if they are existing in a conservative family, they will be existing as themselves. or if it is a closet scenario, the child has decided that they will continue to hide themselves from their family for their own safety. in either situation, the child believes that the decision they made is “better than the alternative” 

(this song also makes me remember hospitals a lot so there’s that)

outliars and hyppocrates: we start off with some more religious (trauma) imagery. maybe the metaphor of the apple is trying to indicate to the parents, through the conservative lens of seeing queerness as something bad, that the child was not “brainwashed” or “taught” to be this way. that they simply are. the rest of the song grapples with that internalized queerphobia, maybe the child feeling that they are less than human because of their queerness but who’d want to be human, be the norm, anyway? if the child is made to feel Other, then they ought to embrace and wear and own that Otherness - out of defiance, out of desperation, but ultimately out of a need for survival. 

blackboxwarrior: i want to focus on the chorus here. the child’s mental struggles are exacerbated by the lack of acceptance they receive from their immediate environment, but the chorus acts as sort of a defiance against their internalized queerphobia. so what if their parents’ values portray queerness as an illness, something that will kill you? if it was going to kill the child, it would have by now; and it hasn’t, so surely the child is heading in a right direction to be exploring and reclaiming their identity. and then the bridge - “growing up, how was your relationship with the fundamentals of conscious existence?” ties back to i/me/myself’s grappling with the idea of self and existence in one’s body. growing up, how was the child’s relationship with the environment that dictated how they ought to exist and be perceived? and “what, you think ideas spread because they're good? / no, they spread because people like them” can be pointing to the conservative ideas that are perpetuated by the child’s family. these ideas do not spread because they’re good. they spread because the family wants an excuse from some higher power to discriminate against those they feel are outliers from the norm. “so here we are once again, holding, as it were, a mirror up to your mirror / i guess it's just something people do” can be pointing to how the way the child is trying to come to terms with their identity is by overcoming the toxic ways of thought that their parents taught them, and which their parents are still bound by. if the parents are to find out that their child is queer, their reaction will be to ask, “why? we don’t understand you?” but they are really only talking to the mirror, to the reflection they have constructed that they believe their child to be. their child is not that reflection, and they are going in circles, but that’s just what people do, i guess.

finally, the bridge being formatted sort of like one’s first session with a therapist or psychiatrist leads into marsha, thankk you for the dialectics.

marsha, thankk you for the dialectics: a heavily psychiatry-based song. marsha thankk is about the intertwining of the self with the illness and i value that meaning a lot. i can’t think of another way, nor do i particularly want to think of another way, to embed this song’s meaning into the child. it has grown obvious by this point that the child has their own mental illnesses to grapple with - whether they arose as a need to cope within their toxic home environment, or out of other factors, is not particularly important to be clarified. i would say that the meaning of this song in this musical is just what it was originally intended to be - the child, on their path to recovery, slowly separating those toxic coping mechanisms from themselves in order to really realize their identity. 

love, me normally: i wrote a long ass post about this at 12am this morning. 

memento mori: the musical’s closure. this song embodies a lot of nihilism about one’s existence and one’s meaning in existence, and i would like to think that this song being the musical’s closure is not closure in the sense that it gives you a “where are they now” glimpse, or that it gives you the final direction that the child has decided to head in. rather, memento mori exists in this musical as the child’s innermost thoughts about their own existence as somebody who seemingly defies the (supposed cishet) order of the universe. it is the child’s darkest, most shadowed and hidden ruminations about their life and what their death may bring, if anything at all. throughout the child’s life, throughout the musical, these thoughts have only been hidden, obscured and glimpsed in passing when the lyrical puzzles of the normal album’s previous songs unfurl (think, “if it was gonna kill you boy, it would have by now” and “am i pretty enough to fucking die” and “good news for the purists, they’ve discovered a cure for the symptoms of being alive / it’s a painless procedure with a low rate of failure, but very few patients survive”, etc). but as the musical’s finale, memento mori brings these thoughts into their very antithesis - into the light. it illuminates the rawness of the child’s pain in learning to accept and love themselves. it brings these thoughts into tangible and articulated reality for two reasons: 

for the audience, as both a warning of the results of such a toxic and intolerant family/environment and an articulation of the thoughts perhaps many of us, ourselves, have to contend with at some point in our lives.

and for the child themselves, so that they can fully realize these thoughts. so that they can parse them, articulate them, unlearn them, and begin to heal.

memento mori in this musical is, paradoxically, a song about death that encourages life to heal.

anyways that’s what i’ve got so far now i have homework i should...do....oh god-

#will wood #will wood and the tapeworms #the normal album #suburbia overture #2econd 2ight 2eer #laplace's angel #i/me/myself #well better than the alternative #outliars and hyppocrates #blackboxwarrior #marsha thankk you for the dialectics #love me normally #memento mori #the normal album analysis #will wood analysis

[eroticlizardfiction]

Im curious what you'll think about will wood and the tapeworms? for the music thingy!

Do I know them? yes | no I have listened to his most recent album after another music ask game though!!

First song youtube took me to: Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally

First Impression: This is the ideal genre you may not like it but this is what peak music sounds like

Do I like it?: fuck yeah!!

Would I listen to more from them? already added their music to my spotify

Rate (from what I heard): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Send me a song, album, or band

#answered #ask game #realizing i casually know a lot of bands #do i mark it yes or no?? #i'm saying no because i don't know enough to answer the yes questions #but hmmm

[adhdo5]

OKAY final thoughts + song ratings 

(summary: loved this one but Mr Wood calm down and also fuck I/Me/Myself)

Suburbia Overture: Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally - Fucks tremendously. 9.5/10 

2econd 2ight 2eer (that was fun, goodbye.) - INCREDIBLY fun great to listen to great for daydream potential just bopping as hell is a musical evolution of some of the strongest aspects of his previous albums. Love this one. 10/10

Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) - Edgy in the best ways, peak O5core, good to just go crazy go stupid to. Essentially a solid mix of what I’m looking for in this man’s discography. MAN NO MORE THAN ANIMAL MADE OF MORAL CH 10/10

I/Me/Myself - This song could have been great, Will. Disgrace to the rest of this album and to itself. I’m giving it one point in memory of what could have been. 1/10 

...well, better than the alternative. - Skirts boredom but does not get there, ending MORE than makes up for it, gets shit back for being peak daydream potential and for the emotional value that’s what we’re looking for. A rollercoaster because it was originally a 6/10, made up lost ground to a 8/10, and then got two points for extra credit, landing it at 10/10 

Outliars and Hyppocrates: A Fun Fact about Apples - THIS ONE IS SO FUN and not only that but is also good daydream material. Musically it basically expands on everything I liked about 2econd 2ight 2eer, which itself is an expansion on previous good stuff so. Transcendence well earned. 11/10 

Black Box Warrior / OKULTRA - I loved this song’s proto versions and waited for the album version with bated breath. When it came I worried it would fail to live up to what I expected in this period, or worse, that it would be expected but in a way that proved that expectation mediocre. My fears were allayed. The album version of Black Box Warrior is literally everything I hoped for and it is SO good I posted about it in character on my 1.3K follower blog (I say as if I have standards for what I fucking put on o5ver) and just overall I AM SO. SO FUCKING HAPPY WITH THIS THANK YOU MR WOOD 12/10  

Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, But I Need You to Leave - Much like well, better than the alternative, but in a different direction; the proto version was strong for being a more delicate piece. The album version definitely provides, though, though in a different direction; it’s very solid and honestly a lot of the core feeling is still there, but also some of the listed meaning has kind of gotten Worse from the proto version. The cold takes here do not destroy the song like they do in I/Me/Myself though so like. STILL HITS... 8/10 

Love, Me Normally - Honestly there’s no way to make this song sound bad. Good in SPITE of the production, 9.25/10 

Memento Mori - Much like BBW, is basically the ideal iteration of itself and successfully achieved apotheosis and god I just fucking loved this one. Existential comfort ANTHEM and achieved everything musically very well and almost, almost, makes up for the mediocre to bad takes in I/Me/Myself and Marsha Thankk You. 12/10 

OVERALL: Unfortunately, this shitstain of a version of I/Me/Myself exists, but Black Box Warrior and Memento Mori are so fucking good and the rest of this album so solid that I can’t be mad. 9.5/10 Mr Wood calm down 

#put back “I wish I could be a girl and that way/You’d wish you could kick my fucking teeth in” you coward #also the pop producer did Nothing for LMN but that's been said

[vanillasakura]

Doing (some) these even though nobody asked because I’m procrastinating on homework 

📱 Show your phone lock screen and/or home screen

On my computer and am too lazy to switch to my phone, but my home screen is all pastel Evangelion themed and it’s really cute, although I kinda wanna change it, not sure 

Lock screen is Walter White as I don’t know what else to set it as

💕 Your two top fave fictional characters

Uhhhh probably Abigail Roberts and Ritsuko Akagi, but I can’t pick just two, I also love Sean MacGuire, Marie Antoinette (Fate), Ophelia Phamrsalone, Atticus Finch, Maddie Brodatt, Romani Archiman, and more I’m forgetting at the moment

🕹 Video game you are currently playing

Red Dead Redemption II, I was playing Persona 4 Golden but that game is so hard for no reason in the beginning I kinda just abandoned it, which sucks because I love the cast. I’m also playing Persona 5 Strikers but don’t have my playstation with me at the moment, so that’s on hiatus

🌡 Fave season

No clue, I just moved to a place with snow and as I didn’t grow up with snow I’m tempted to say winter just because I’m excited for it, but I feel like I will live to regret those words

🏫 Are you in school, what grade

Graduated top of my class from funny school 

🎒 Are you in college, major area of study

Okay for real yeah I’m in university, without giving specifics at the moment I’m studying an interdisciplinary field that draws mainly from sociology, history, and languages 

🏢 Your job (You don’t have to be specific) or dream job if you don’t work

I still want to be an actress, dreams haven’t changed since I was like eleven </3

📷 Post the 12th photo from your phone’s gallery

Once again on PC but it’s a screenshot of a conversation with some friends

📅 Your birthday

In the winter

🎂 How old are you

An adult, 18-22

📏 How tall are you

Short, 5′3 

🔑 Key to your heart

Be a woman something like Abigail Roberts, Ritsuko Akagi, Franziska von Karma, basically a woman who’s smart and isn’t afraid to show it but also has like a soft spot for one or two people because that is adorable

📖 Fave book

Code Name Verity

📝 Fave quote

“As long as the moon, the sun, and the Earth still exist, everything will be alright.”

🌐 Languages you can speak and/or are learning. Which are you fluent in

English and French! I’m not fluent in the latter yet but I can write, read, and speak with pretty much no problem. I know some Japanese that I’ve picked up from a friend and from years of watching anime but I don’t speak it, although I’d love to learn

💻 Desktop/Laptop/iPad/other

Laptop and phone

📔 Do you keep a traditional diary

Sort of, I don’t write in it a lot anymore though

☠ Something that angers you

TikTok

🐷 Junk food you can never get enough of

Cheesecake

🌼 Fave flower

Whatever doesn’t fuck up my allergies, so anything but Lilies and Lavender and any form of Ragweed 

📺 Fave anime

Evangelion, although Stein’s;Gate is also really good

🎥 Fave film

Aimee and Jaguar 

📻 Fave song currently

Suburbia Overture maybe??

🎙 Can you sing

Yeah, I was in choir/theatre for years

🎁 Best gift you ever received and why

Probably my AirPods because I use them daily and they’re a lot more convenient for me than wired earbuds 

👾 Do you believe in aliens

Yeah

👻 Do you believe in ghosts

Yeah

⛪ What is your religion

Not sure, I’d classify myself as an Omnist (There’s some merit to every religious belief)

🌎 What country do you live in

America, although I want to move to France or Belgium one day. Ireland would be cool too

📸 Post a selfie

#lettie braindumps