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#soundtrack analysis
lilliths-httyd-blog · 11 months
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listening to Hiccup Confronts Drago and man i dunno anything about music so ill explain what i mean using allusions to playing a piano. drago's theme kicks in about one minute in when hiccup is trying to reason with him and if it was played on piano either hand would be playing a different tune (?? listen to it to get what i mean, there's like two melodies playing to make up the whole song. idk music.) and at this point the right hand would be taking the lead. there's softer, higher notes where drago is monologuing about his past and hiccup still has hope to change his mind. as the song/scene progresses the left hand with the darker, deeper notes starts to drown out the right hand and take the lead as we realise holy shit this is not working this is very bad. the deep notes continue to build up and drown out the high notes until the high notes are literally just fucking gone. we're fucked.
and then that leitmotif from The Downed Dragon kicks in
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holdfastperseus · 4 months
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So “Goodbyes” which is played during the Hug Scene in 1x06 has almost the exact same sound as “Complex and Many” which is played during Lokius goodbye in 2x06?
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And the part where Loki hugged him has the exact same melody as when loki gripped mobius’ hand
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ineffableigh · 3 months
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Ahh fuck there's more music crossover between Crowley and the Metatron
... it's fucking Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, y'all.
S1 episode where Aziraphale calls the Metatron S2 Before the Beginning
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hollyrogerbay · 8 months
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anyone else notice how Deltarune seems to be getting more advanced each chapter, diegetically?
chapter 2 introduces the Recruits system, and updates save points to show all 3 slots in-game. chapter 1 was not retroactively updated to include the feature - it's an in-universe change. (although i believe chapter 1 npcs are automatically recruited once the system is introduced.)
and is it just me, or does it almost sound like the soundtrack is getting more advanced, too?
chapter 1's soundtrack was almost all soundfonts, chiptune, more retro synths, etc. - and the same goes for chapter 2, mostly. (mostly except for Susie, notably. her and her maybe-synth, maybe-live distorted guitars.)
we don't have much to work with, so this may not be anything worth mentioning, but the three songs for chapter 3-5 we've gotten sound noticeably more "real," i'd say?
"Hometown Day" is definitely the least notable of the three in terms of this, but still sounds relatively "realistic"/live
"My Funky Town" was what gave me this thought in the first place. the more live-sounding guitar in the left ear, something about the drums i can't quite describe accurately, the electric piano being played/recorded live. of course, it's not entirely "live" sounding, notably the saxophone being straight from the Touhou soundfont. but still much more than anything in chapter 1 and most in chapter 2.
"Green Room" is an odd case in general, considering it's pretty much just a remix of "Hip Shop," unlike any other song i can recall. but, yet again, it does sound a lot less "digital," would you agree? more effects on pretty much everything, the spacey drums and electirc pianos, everything.
this may not go anywhere, but i figured it was worth noting. the idea of chapters becoming more and more advanced as each one is added could also definitely be theory-crafting material methinks
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hadesisqueer · 1 year
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I think Yang probably went on a few unimportant dates and had small crushes when she was younger, before going to Beacon. And I don't think that was her first kiss. However, even if I think she's had crushes before or gone on dates, Blake is clearly different, because this is not just a silly crush. Blake is her partner and best friend, and Yang is simply hopelessly in love with her. It took her a while to figure that out, and Yang was clearly terrified of fucking up because she's never felt that way before, and as we know, she has some self-worth issues; everyone she loves eventually leaves her one way or another. What if Blake doesn't want her that way? What if Yang messes their friendship up by telling her she loves her? Is she even worthy of being loved by Blake?
And Blake? She had been in love before, with someone cruel, manipulative. And then, she meets Yang, who is warm, and funny, and caring, and brave, and selfless, just an extraordinary person, like she said. How could Blake not fall in love with someone like that? And she probably knew Yang felt the same. But for a good while, Blake thought she only brought harm to others. She thought that because her feelings, Yang got hurt. She didn't believe she deserved her team. She hoped Yang hated her. After all, how could someone like her be worthy of someone like Yang?
Luckily, Blake healed, thanks to her family and friends supporting her. And thanks to Yang, of course. She realized she was allowed to love Yang, and that she was allowed to let Yang love her back. She just had to wait until Yang was ready, until she worked herself out, because she wouldn't push her. And now they're finally together.
Anyway, that's it. I do believe Worthy is both Yang and Blake's POV.
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themanwhomadeamonster · 3 months
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The 1999 combat theme and its foreshadowing because the autism got to me and I spent too long trying to figure out this soundtrack
Jumping off from @brokenjardaantech's WITW music analysis post here - go check it out, it's very insightful and lays the foundations for what I'm about to talk about! And thanks to @theterribletenno for the burst of inspiration by giving me a massive oh shit realisation in the most chilling way possible LOL
Spoilers under the read-more; TL;DR at the end :'^D
To preface, the soundtrack is structured in an ABC structure with bridges between A and B, as well as another between B and C that borrows from A. The key starts in Cm, briefly modulating to Gm in section B then back to Cm during the second bridge, and settling on Em for section C. In-game for WITW you most likely will only hear up to the first bridge since the Technocyte fight only goes for around a minute long
Sections A, the bridges and partially C feature genre similarities to grunge rock with fuzzy guitar chugging, whammy bar, and palm muting, while the drums are notably sharp snares (except for the first bridge, which are clean bass kicks that gradually distort transitioning into section B's style). Musically, it sounds like a typical fighting soundtrack meant to hype you up - the melody is confident and likes to push and pull its rhythm. But in section C it notably become emptier in its layering while keeping the distorted drums, placing emphasis on the lyrics (which I'll get to below lol). Heavier syncopation and polyrhythms are also introduced.
Section B however is the main outlier. This section is where it most strongly resembles industrial rock: rhythmic synth layers begin to accompany the melody (a pedal point line that plays every semiquaver/sixteenth note), synth drums replace acoustics and the guitars drop the fuzz that is characteristic of grunge and steadily strum every quaver/eighth note. Compared to the push and pull rhythm of section A, this section is steadier, less chaotic than the other sections, it wants you to focus on this section.
Notably, the lead guitar introduces a familiar leitmotif: This is What You Are (which @brokenjardaantech goes more in depth regarding its use in WITW). Here, though, its second chord becomes flattened (Dm -> D♭m) and introduces a diminished, dissonant sound. To me this was the first hint that the song may actually be about Arthur's downfall. This is What You Are is a musical leitmotif that recurs in moments of vulnerability, especially when someone is at risk of losing their sense of self, their identity and what they are. It plays during The Second Dream when we discover the Operator, during the New War when Eidolon!Lotus just lost herself to Ballas and can't recognise the Tenno, and in WITW during the Vessel "fight" when the Tenno is forced out of their Warframe.
I was prompted to actually dig more into the lyrics because I saw @theterribletenno bring up something really interesting
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In this specific song, the leitmotif is diminished, it's corrupted. "Surrender to the corruption" - this is what Arthur is afraid of. I brought up earlier that section B had a genre shift. The contrast of the music is important, it's highlighting something, and together with the musicality of the leitmotif, it's making a sense of urgency and danger. The leitmotif is a warning to Arthur.
Section B sings these lyrics:
Break it, break it, Break it open!
Compared to the desperation in the other lines, these two lines are sung mockingly. The Infested are trying to break Arthur, and are succeeding. Their voice is becoming his. But there are actually two vocal lines in this section - you can also hear muted backing vocals in a much less aggressive and lethargic tone warning that "Disillusion". Arthur is trying so hard to keep his own voice and stay clear-minded but it's being drowned out and he's nearing his breaking point, and Albrecht, based on the Codex Fragments you find, is well aware of this.
In section C, while the layering is less intense it's noticeably more heavily syncopated and polyrhythmic, and introduces new (accompanying) echoing and dissonant synth layers reflecting the confusion and disorientation that Arthur begins to feel (these synth layers are actually introduced in the second bridge, but are more easily heard in section C). Section B and C also keep the synth/distorted drums that section A and both bridges lack (at most it's a reverb in those sections); the industrial sound of the song becoming associated with the increasing influence of the Infested over his humanity.
So I tried deciphering more lyrics for each section; I haven't figured all of it out and most of it could very well be wrong because of how heavily clipped the vocal line intentionally is so I don't want to make anymore assumptions than I need to, but I can understand enough of it to realise that the song is foreshadowing Arthur's corruption to the Infested. In green are the lyrics I'm confident are correct:
A:
Sting it, sting it, sting it! Sting it, sting it, sting it in the flesh!
Bridge:
I don't understand! It brings more disease!
B:
Break it, break it, Break it open! (Disillusion)
Bridge:
Sting it, sting it! Sting it in the flesh!
C:
Who's dreaming? Who's the [???] It's a vision[?]!
TL;DR: the grunge/industrial genre hybrid represents Arthur's humanity/Infested respectively, and the song becomes increasingly industrial as the song progresses, most noticeably through the increasing distortion of the drum sound. Section A sets the stage, section B serves as a warning to Arthur that he's losing his sense of identity as the Infestation drowns out his "voice" while a dissonant version of This is What You Are plays, and section C is him experiencing confusion and disorientation as the Infestation continues to corrupt him.
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hephaestuscrew · 8 months
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"Minkowski's been talking about Sondheim again…": Minkowski's love of musical theatre and what it reveals about her characterisation and her relationships
TL;DR: Renée Minkowski's love of musicals, while it might seem just like a mundane character detail, is used to give depth to her character because it contrasts with expectations of her from both the listening audience and the other characters. Her willingness or unwillingness to share this interest in different circumstances reveals her relationships with other characters at various points. Since this is a long one, if you'd rather read it as a document, you can view it here: Google Doc version.
"She actually really cares about these talent shows": Episode 8 (Box 953)
In the early episodes of Season 1, Minkowski is presented (largely through Eiffel's unreliable perspective) purely as a strict no-nonsense authority figure without much emotional depth, the kind of person who only likes things that are useful, purposeful, or mandated by Command. In contrast, musical theatre is a creative pursuit that has nothing to do with the mission of the Hephaestus and is viewed by many people as fairly frivolous or silly. The gradual exploration of Minkowski's passion for musicals is one of the many ways that the show expands and challenges our understanding of her as a character. 
The first indication that we get of her interest in musicals is through her entry into the infamous talent show, something that is required as part of the mission. Minkowski really cares about 'crew morale' activities in general, even when they actually have a negative effect on morale and even before she's friends with any of her crew (for example, the Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners in the earlier stage of the mission), perhaps partly because doing things in the "right way" is important to her. 
But Eiffel senses that the talent shows aren't just about rules for her: "it’s bad enough when she makes us do something just because it’s military protocol, but I think that she actually really cares about these talent shows". This might be the first indication that we get of Minkowski caring deeply about anything that isn't inherently part of her role as a Commander. Moments like this are part of the gradual process of giving us insight into her character beyond the Commander archetype that she tries to embody. And yet, she only indulges her theatrical passion because something mandatory gives her permission, or an excuse, to let another part of herself out.
Of course, to satisfy the needs of a talent show, she'd only need to provide a performance of a few minutes. But Eiffel mentions "the second act of the play" - which along with Hera's comment that "Isabel isn't the biggest role in the play" - implies that Minkowski was intending to put on the whole of Pirates of Penzance as her talent show act, rather than a few of the songs or some kind of medley. (I suppose that Eiffel could be exaggerating or Minkowski might have been planning to do extracts from different parts of the play, but I prefer the interpretation in which Minkowski gets to be more ridiculous.) 
Even though no one else would be willing to be in her production of Pirates of Penzance, Minkowski casts Hera as Isabel, a role with two lines and no solo singing. I found some audition notes for this play which said "The traditional staging gives [Isabel] more prominence than the solo opportunities of the part suggest, so she must be a good actress" which does make me sad in relation to Hera's inability to have a more significant role by being physically present on stage. 
It’s sweet that Hera still wants to take part though. She tells Eiffel "Pirates of Penzance is a classic of 19th century comic opera", so either she’s absorbed what Minkowski has told her about the show, or she’s done her own research and formed her own opinions. I enjoy the fact that Hera is the one Hephaestus crew member who shows potential to share Minkowski's musical theatre appreciation; I like to think that this is something they could explore together post-canon.
Anyway, I'm obsessed with the idea that Minkowski was planning to play every character except one in Pirates of Penzance, a show which is designed to have 10 principal characters and a chorus of 14 men. It seems that her contribution to the talent show was supposed to be an entire two-hour two-act musical, with costumes and props, in which she would play almost all of the parts. This is very funny to me as the perhaps predictable consequence of giving an ambitious and frustrated grown-up theatre kid a position of authority and asking them to arrange a talent show. Minkowski knows that the audience will be made up of her subordinates who are theoretically obliged by the chain of command to watch and listen, so she absolutely tries to make the most of that opportunity. There's probably also a degree to which she limits other people's involvement in her musical because - as with her other endeavors - she wants the outcome to be almost entirely within her control (something that is usually pretty much impossible in as collaborative a medium as musical theatre).
Of course, Minkowski's behaviour in most of the talent show episode is affected by her being drugged by Hilbert. This creates an exaggerated situation which is the first real opportunity for Minkowski to be something other than the strict sensible authoritarian Commander and the foil to Eiffel's jokey laid-back attitude. I don't agree with ideas that being intoxicated brings out anyone's true self (especially in the absence of consent for the intoxication), but it seems pretty clear that being under the influence of whatever was in Hilbert's concoction caused Minkowski to fully commit to a level of manic enthusiasm for her musical production that might have otherwise been obscured by her professionalism. It's a particular kind of person who belts showtunes when drunk, and Minkowski is that kind of person, even if that's not how she wants to present herself. (As a sidenote, I seem to remember that they took Emma Sherr-Ziarko's script off her to help her sound more drunk. It's an excellent performance.)
Minkowski wants interval ice cream. She wants "pirate costumes" (and she'll threaten to shoot a man to get them). She wants "swashes and buckles". She wants whatever props she can get her hands on (including a real cannon). This show is important to her, even though only three other people will witness it and two of them actively don't want to be there. It’s important to her for its own sake.
Eiffel says Minkowski wants "a second pair of eyes to tell her if the prop sabre for her Major-General costume was a bit much…"  While I certainly wouldn't put it past Goddard Futuristics to have a prop sabre on the station for no apparent reason, it feels more likely that she might have made it or adapted some existing item. Which suggests that maybe she was that passionate about the props even before Hilbert drugged her. 
Even so, it does feel significant that Minkowski's love of musicals is only revealed in the episode in which she is drugged, exhibiting lowered inhibitions, exaggerated behaviour, and an "impaired euphoric effect". Her love of musical theatre is initially revealed through a professional structure that provides permission, and then further emphasised by a forced intoxication that exaggerates some impulses that perhaps she already had.
"Some hobbies other than making trains run on time": Episode 17 (Bach to the Future)
After Eiffel tells to find Minkowski to find something else to do while her work duties have quietened down, they have the following exchange:
EIFFEL: You must have some hobbies other than making trains run on time. Something to do with friends? Boyfriends? MINKOWSKI: Of course I do, but, well, there aren't really a lot of opportunities for rock climbing or trail hiking in the immediate vicinity. 
Even though this quote doesn't mention musicals, I've included it here for two reasons. Firstly, it's very funny to me that, even after the talent show debacle, Eiffel acts like he's never had any evidence of Minkowski's hobbies. She tried to perform a whole play almost single-handedly and it didn't occur to him that this might indicate an interest of hers outside of work. I think this reflects the fairly two-dimensional view that Eiffel has previously had of Minkowski, which her interest in musical theatre didn't fit into. 
Secondly, it feels notable that Minkowski doesn't mention musical theatre here. She wants to show that she has non-work interests, but without undermining her own authoritative image. Her interest in rock climbing and trail hiking - while it may be genuine - fits with how she wants to be seen as a Commander. These are hobbies which portray her as physically capable, with a high degree of stamina and a willingness to adapt to perhaps less hospitable surroundings. Of course, Minkowski does have these traits and they serve her well on the Hephaestus. But there's not really anything particularly surprising about her expressing these interests. The surprise in this scene comes from the reveal that she has a husband, a character detail which - like her love of musicals - isn't something we'd necessarily expect from the archetype-based view of her we are initially presented with. 
Her interest in rock climbing and trail hiking never come up again, because these details don't really deepen her characterisation (or at least, they aren't really used to deepen her characterisation beyond proving that she isn't entirely all-work-and-no-play). In contrast, Minkowski's love of musicals is brought up over and over because it shows another side of her that she struggles to reveal on the Hephaestus, and that allows more interesting things to be done with her characterisation.
"You wanted to write showtunes": Episode 35 (Need to Know)
Alongside the more high stakes discoveries prompted by the leak from Kepler's files, we also learn that Minkowski applied to - and was rejected from - the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program.
Up until this point, we've only had evidence that Minkowski enjoys performing in musicals. But here we learn that Minkowski doesn't just love watching or performing in musicals - she wanted to write them too. This suggests a creative side to her that we never see her fully express.
The course
The Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program claims to be the only course of its kind in the world and it accepts just 30 students each year. The current application process requires applicants to: upload play scripts or recordings of songs they've written; answer a large number of extended response questions about their creative process and views on musical theatre; write a 'statement of purpose' which has to talk about why they are applying and include 3 original ideas for musicals; provide a professional resume and a digital portfolio; complete an exercise of writing in response to a prompt; and undergo an interview. The process might have changed somewhat since Minkowski would have been applying (which, if it was soon after she finished college, might have been around the early 2000s) or it might be different in Wolf 359's alternate universe, but I think we can safely assume that applying to this course was a serious undertaking that required an intense amount of commitment and work. 
Applying to a course like that isn't something you do half-heartedly or on a whim. You couldn't apply to this course if you hadn't done a fair amount of musical theatre writing already. (The course requires applicants to choose to apply as bookwriters, lyricists, or composers, but I'm not going to make a guess here as to which of these Minkowski went for.) The fact that Minkowski wanted to study this course suggests that she was seriously considering trying to make a career out of musical theatre writing. In Once In A Lifetime, she tells Cutter that commanding a space station has always been her dream job, but we've got evidence here that it wasn't her only dream job. There's something kind of funny and kind of sad about the idea that writing musicals was her back-up / fall-back career path. She does not like to make life easy for herself.
The revelation 
This information is revealed against Minkowski's will. It's not something she wanted people to find out, and she isn't happy about them knowing:
JACOBI: "Dear Renée, thank you for your interest in the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program..." MINKOWSKI: Oh, come on!  JACOBI: (pressing on) "We are sorry to say, we will not be able to offer you a spot in this year's blah blah blah." Oh this is too good. You wanted to write showtunes?  MINKOWSKI: Number one? Shut up. Number two, why are my personal records on there?! [...] How is it in any way relevant?! JACOBI: Oh, I think it's very relevant. I mean, if you're sending someone to pilot ships in deep space, you want to make sure that they can, you know... paint with all the colors of the wind.  Jacobi CRACKS UP - and, although to a lesser degree, so does Lovelace. Minkowski looks at her: really?  LOVELACE: Sorry, Minkowski. It's... it's a little funny.  MINKOWKSI: No, it isn't!
Minkowski seems defensive and embarrassed here. She obviously doesn't trust everyone there with this revelation (Jacobi, Maxwell, Lovelace, and Hera are all present). She considers this information to be "personal" and irrelevant and not even "a little funny". She's used to reactions like Jacobi's (and to a lesser extent Lovelace's); in Ep41 Memoria, she says "most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals" (see below for more thoughts about this quote). But the fact that these mocking reactions are expected doesn't mean that they don't bother her. She wants so badly to be taken seriously and, in this scene, her interest in musical theatre seems to be incompatible with that. Jacobi reacts the way that he does because of the idea that I've already expressed, that a passion for musical theatre does not fit with the serious authoritative image that Minkowski has often presented. It's not the typical hobby of a soldier, especially not a Commander.
To me, the way Lovelace laughs suggests that she might not have previously known about Minkowski's love of musicals, or at least perhaps not the full extent of it. At any rate, it's definitely news to Jacobi. And Minkowski clearly hasn't talked about it enough for it not to feel like a big reveal for her.
The rejection 
It's notable that this reveal is not just that she wanted to write for the stage, but also that she failed to get into a course that might have helped her work towards that goal. This of course compounds Minkowski's discomfort at having this information revealed. Not only did she want to write showtunes, but she encountered rejection in her attempts to do so. This detail implies that perhaps it wasn't just the appeal of her spacefaring dream that stopped her going down a theatrical career path. 
I'm about to move more into headcanon territory rather than just straightforward analysis, but I personally believe that, while Minkowski auditioned for a lot of musicals (particularly as a child / young person), she was never cast as the main role. She seems embarrassed about her interest in musical theatre in a way that (at least judging by people I've encountered) people who were always the lead in their school / college productions don't tend to be. 
We don't have much evidence about her actual level of singing/acting ability, given that she is inebriated during the only time we hear her sing in the podcast. However, it resonates with other aspects of her characterisation to imagine that Minkowski was generally good enough to get an ensemble part but never quite good enough to be cast as a main part. I think she might see only ever being cast as part of the ensemble, and failing to get into the Tisch Musical Theatre Writing programme, as slightly more down-to-earth examples of the same pattern as her repeated rejections from NASA. She is desperate to prove herself. She is "someone who very much wants to matter. To do something important." When she casts herself as almost every part in Pirates of Penzance, she is finally taking the opportunity to be a main character, an opportunity which I imagine had been denied to her over and over in both a literal and metaphorical sense.
"It's just from a play I saw once": Episode 41 (Memoria)
The next scene I want to talk about is from a memory of Hera's, which took place on Day 57 of the Hephaestus mission and in which Minkowski appears to be talking about the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George:
MINKOWSKI: Oh, it's just from a play I saw once. It doesn't matter. (BEAT) The guy who sings it is this famous French painter. And his entire life is kinda falling apart. But he can always turn what's happening around him into these beautiful paintings.  HERA: And? MINKOWSKI: And... That's, I don't know. Reassuring, maybe? (BEAT) I don't know why I'm going on about this. You don't care.  HERA: I think it's interesting.  MINKOWSKI: Yeah? Most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals.  HERA: I don't see what's funny about it.  MINKOWSKI: Well, thank you Hera, but you're not exactly... you know.  HERA: I'm not... what? 
There's a couple of different things I want to pick out from this exchange. Firstly, the line "Most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals" makes me sad. I don't think she's talking about people on the Hephaestus there. Judging by the quote I talked about from Bach to the Future, Eiffel definitely wouldn't have registered Minkowski's love of musicals at this stage, and I doubt Hilbert cares at all about the hobbies of his fellow crew members. So Minkowski is talking about experiences that she's had on Earth, of people mocking her interest in musicals and thinking it doesn't fit with who she is. You can hear the impact of those experiences in Minkowski's reluctance to elaborate, in the way she says that something she obviously cares about doesn't matter, in her assumption that Hera doesn't care.
Secondly, this scene is a complicated one for Minkowski and Hera's relationship. On the one hand, Minkowski freely talks to Hera about something she's passionate about, and Hera listens and expresses interest. Hera validates Minkowski's interest in musical theatre without making a thing of it being weird and Minkowski thanks her. Again, it’s shown as an interest they could could potentially share.
But on the other hand, it seems like part of the reason Minkowski feels able to open up to Hera is because at this point Minkowski doesn't see opening up to Hera as fully equivalent to opening up to a fellow human. She doesn't just accept Hera not making fun of her interest; instead it seems Minkowski is about to imply that this lack of judgment indicates Hera's difference from humans (although she does have the decency not to say it outright). Minkowski's expectation of judgment from others contributes to her saying something very hurtful to Hera here. (This kind of potential consequence of negative self-attitude is explored a lot with Eiffel, so it's interesting that Minkowski can sometimes have a similar issue.)
Minkowski and Hera's conversation is interrupted when:
The DOOR OPENS.  EIFFEL: Hey, Minkowski, we've - What are you guys talking about?  MINKOWSKI: We were just discussing how I'm going to take away your hot water privileges if you don't reset the long-range scan.
Eiffel can obviously tell that he's walked in on a conversation that is about something other than work, or he wouldn't have asked. But Minkowski actively chooses not to tell him that she was talking to Hera about musicals. Perhaps she doesn't know how to open up to a human subordinate about it. Perhaps she doesn't trust him not to make fun of her. Perhaps she just doesn't have any impulse to talk about her interests with him. Either way, if Minkowski's love of musicals is something which reflects a side of her personality outside of her Commander role, this is a moment where she chooses not to take an opportunity to share that side of herself with Eiffel. This reflects the emotional distance between them three months into the mission, which forms a nice contrast with the next couple of quotes I'm going to talk about.
"Composition. Balance. Harmony.": Episode 54 (The Watchtower)
When Eiffel comes directly face to face with alien life, he discovers that music is the human invention that fascinates the Dear Listeners:
EIFFEL: You haven't figured out music?  BOB: ORDER. DESIGN. TENSION. COMPOSITION. BALANCE. HARMONY.  EIFFEL: (low, to himself) Minkowski's been talking about Sondheim again…
I only learned in the course of writing this post that in this moment the Dear Listeners are almost exactly quoting a repeated phrase used throughout Sunday in the Park with George. The titular protagonist lists various combinations of these qualities in multiple songs in reference to his art. In the closing song, the lyrics are "Order. Design. Tension. Composition. Balance. Light. [...] Harmony." It's not only Eiffel's references that the Dear Listeners are incorporating into their speech - they've picked this one up from Minkowski. This also suggests that some element of her appreciation for musicals and the way she talks about them has fed into the Dear Listeners' understanding of the human phenomenon of music. The Dear Listeners aren't just parroting - they understood the quote enough that they left out the word "light", arguably the only quality in that phrase which isn't a big part of music as well as visual art. Eiffel likes music too, but I don't think that this is how he'd talk about his favourite songs.
This is a refrain about finding order and beauty out of the chaos and uncertainty of life, which was also the aspect of Sunday in the Park with George that Minkowski focused on when talking about it in Memoria. It suggests that art/music could be something governed by rules and principles, which is potentially something that appeals both to Minkowski and to the Dear Listeners.
Eiffel's response to this reference is one of those little hints that reminds us that Eiffel and Minkowski have spent a lot of time together and that not all of that time has involved them being at each others' throats or actively in a life-or-death situation. Some of it has just been Minkowski going on about a musical she loves and Eiffel (willingly or not) paying enough attention that he recognises this phrase as a Sondheim quote that Minkowski has talked about. I suppose that this quote might have been in Eiffel's pop-culture-brain anyway, but judging from Eiffel's general tastes and the fact that I don't think Sunday in the Park with George is one of the more commonly known Sondheim musicals among non-musical fans, it seems more likely that this quote is something he only knows because Minkowski has talked about it. 
Eiffel sounds exasperated at the mention, like he's heard Minkowski talk about Sondheim far too much. But I'd argue that this still says something positive about their relationship, when we contrast it with a couple of other moments I've already mentioned. Firstly, when her previous musical theatre ambitions are revealed to Jacobi, Maxwell, and Lovelace in Need to Know, Minkowski seems embarrassed and defensive. Secondly, in the memory from Memoria, she avoids telling Eiffel that she was talking about this same musical. Yet, by the time The Watchtower takes place, Eiffel is sick of hearing Minkowski talk about Sondheim. She doesn't have the same barriers up in sharing her interests with him, even though he doesn't have the same interests. I think this is a demonstration of how comfortable she feels with him. It's a hint at the kind of easy downtime that they've sometimes shared.
"One day more": Episode 61 (Brave New World)
Eiffel recognises another musical reference of Minkowski’s in the finale. As the crew are preparing for their final confrontation with Cutter and co., Minkowski quotes Les Misérables, mostly to herself - but Eiffel recognises the lyrics and joins in:
EIFFEL: Hey - chin up, soldier. We're almost through. Just one more day, and then we're done.  MINKOWSKI: Yeah, one more day. (more to herself) The time is now, the place is here - one day more.  EIFFEL: - one day more.  They both stop, dead in their tracks. MINKOWSKI: Did you just - ?  EIFFEL: Was that what I - ?  They look at each other: No way. And BURST INTO LAUGHTER.  EIFFEL: Man... this is really it, huh? The end of everything. 
It feels really important that Minkowski and Eiffel share this moment of togetherness before she tries to send him back to Earth and before the rest of the action goes down. I think there’s some nice symbolism about them finding a way to communicate that they both understand. Making references is Eiffel's thing, and musicals are Minkowski's thing, so this is a synthesis of their two approaches. Again, there's a contrast with Minkowski's previous unwillingness to share her musical theatre passions with Eiffel (at least without the mitigating circumstances of a mandatory talent show and some kind of intoxicating substance).
I talked about the significance of the fact that they reference this particular musical in this post from ages ago. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler for Les Misérables to say that the revolution that the song One Day More is building up to does not end well for the revolutionaries. When Eiffel says "Just one more day, and then we're done", it encompasses both the possibility that the crew will escape to travel back to Earth and the possibility that they will all die. Minkowski's reference to a famously tragic musical suggests that it's the latter possibility that's at the forefront of her mind (right before she tries to send Eiffel away from the danger). But Les Misérables is also a story about people standing together in solidarity against powerful oppressive forces, which gives particular resonance to the way that this reference brings Eiffel and Minkowski together in a moment of being completely on the same wavelength as they prepare to fight Cutter and Pryce's plan.
When they laugh here, it's not about the 'hilariousness' of Minkowski's interest in musicals, it's about their unexpected unison - Eiffel's recognition of Minkowski's reference and Minkowski's surprise at the fact he joined in. It's a laugh of togetherness, of shared understanding, of friendship. It's a moment of lightness in dark times. And that moment is provided by Minkowski's pop culture interests, not Eiffel's. In spite of all they've been through, she's not lost that part of herself, and in fact, she's more open about it, at least to Eiffel.
I'll finish by highlighting what Eiffel says when he's trying to get into character to impersonate Minkowski so he can turn the Sol around:
EIFFEL: Umm... yes, this is Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski. I'm... uh... well I sure love schedules, and, uh, musicals. And that man, who I married…
I just think this is a nice example of Eiffel not defining Minkowski solely by her professional Commander role. Sure, she likes schedules (probably in a personal as well a professional capacity to be fair), but she also loves musicals, and her husband. It is a fairly reductive overview of her as a person, but it feels reductive in a fond way, like these things are part of Minkowski's brand to Eiffel in a way that he might affectionately tease her about. (Credit to @commsroom for this thought.) His view of Minkowski has come a long way from "our resident Statsi agent" or even just "you must have some hobbies other than making trains run on time." He doesn't see any contradiction or inherent humour in Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski's appreciation of musicals.
Conclusion
Minkowski's love of musical theatre is used to deepen her characterisation and is one of the ways in which we gradually begin to see her complexity beyond the strict Commander archetype. The degree to which she is prepared to share this interest at various points is used to illustrate the nature of her relationships with other characters: a general unwillingness to show a less serious side of herself; a complicated potential shared interest with Hera; and the growing understanding between her and Eiffel.
If you read this whole thing, well done / thank you 😄 It wasn't meant to be this long - it just happened… Feel free to share your thoughts!
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anzadosara · 3 months
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didn't we move on too fast from this?
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justarandombrit · 1 month
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Sure, a lot of Starship being a trans allegory comes from the fact it's just The Little Mermaid in space with bugs, but I think it is elevated in transness above TLM purely because that movie doesn't have the line "There's no choice involved in what you are given / One mind, one voice, one body to live in"
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aemiron-main · 1 year
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cannot believe that some people think that barb was straight and did not have a crush on nancy. did we both watch the same scene of “yellow ribbon” playing between them in the car. a song about someone who isn’t sure if their love is requited/is afraid of being rejected and is too afraid to look/see for themselves if it so they ask somebody else to? aka being afraid of rejection especially being queer??  also having thoughts about how yellow ribbons have been used as a symbol for suicide awareness AND as the original symbol of the aids crisis before the red ribbon was used in 1991 + how there’s definite ties to vecna preying on suicidal people but also a narrative tie to vecna and peoples’ disappearances as a representation of suicide when the supernatural elements are removed from the story.
and how barb felt rejected that night (just like the song, she was afraid of rejection) and how its only the first half of the song that we hear, NOT the half that talks about how the singer ISNT rejected. because barb IS rejected.  and the last line of the song (which we don’t hear in the show) is “i’m coming home” + the singer is ONLY coming home BECAUSE his love is requited, otherwise he says that he’d stay on the bus and not go home-> nancy tells barb to go home but she never does, because she dies. just like how we never hear that “i’m coming home” lyric of the song because barb is rejected and therefore, like what the singer said, she’s not going home. (going home = not rejected)  this also has implications for byler! in s2, mike tells will that he’s going to take him home, and he DOES, but he takes him to HIS house. will DOES make it ‘home’ in that scene, unlike barb, but he also technically makes it home during his disappearance, even though he vanishes after (and even if the whole house was a vecna vision and not the real house, visually, there’s still showing him going home).  and so if going home = not rejected/requited love, then byler is requited.  barb didn’t make it home, despite nancy telling her to go home. barb died in the upside-down. barb’s love was unrequited.  will made it home. will did not die in the upside-down. will’s love is requited.  like barb absolutely had feelings for nancy (and imo is definitely a lesbian) and yet i see so many people esp on twt denying it and saying that she’s just straight and jealous of nancy being with steve and that barb was in the wrong. when will the ga realize that queerness has been rooted in this show since the beginning and isn’t just something they can ignore when it suits them?? 
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peachworthy · 2 years
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Music and Sexuality in Our Flag Means Death
I, as well as so many of us on this hellsite have been forever changed by Our Flag Means Death.  I haven’t been able to suppress my love (nor should I) for these characters, this storyline, etc.
What struck me the most, aside from their GLARING, STUPID LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, was the music throughout. The soundtrack curators, the composers, all did a wonderful job bringing their love out from the screen and embracing us in a wholly encompassing way. 
I’m a classical musician, so I doubly appreciated the classical music peppered over the ten episodes. So I decided, for those of you who aren’t versed in the world of music, to create some sort of analysis. An analysis that, in its own way, will describe the juxtaposition between music and Stede and Ed’s relationship. I have also compiled the scenes in which the theme is present, for y’all to follow along. I’ll make note of each one. :) 
Before we jump in, I’d like to talk a little about the very theme that’s utilized in almost every scene. This piece is Gnossienne, no. 5 by French composer Erik Satie, of the ‘Gnossiennes’ cycle. I encourage you to listen to the rest of the set. They can be absorbed altogether, but they can also stand independently from one another, bringing about different beauties. 
Erik Satie was an eccentric and curious man, with notable aphoristic wit. He lived during a time where the avant-garde and surrealistic music styles were beginning to bud. The best way to describe surrealism and avant-garde styles is the ‘breaking away’ of rational thought, in order to transfigure human experience. Surrealism was something artists used to convey a more dreamlike world, almost like an alternate reality, while still maintaining visceral, tangible emotion.  One could say that surrealism is this liberation from musical rigidity, like the supposed musical styles that came before.  
I am someone that greatly appreciates the music from this period in history, between the early to mid 20th century. The artistry that flourished, the cerebral growth of society and how they ingested surrealism is something I have benefitted from during my professional life. 
Satie’s music is indicative of the very freedom from musical intransigence. He lived a life outside the societal mold during that time, and was even deemed a charlatan by his musical contemporaries, for they weren’t able to fully comprehend his style and his wit. What strikes me about that, in particular, is this notion of living a life that is somehow not part of what everyone expects. 
Just like Stede and Edward. 
An upper crust nobleman that abandons his life of privilege to become a pirate?
A wholly revered pirate that wanted to break the monotony of his so called plundering and general swashbuckling, yearning for the days of high society and patrician pleasure?
These two men from the very beginning represent the rebellious ideal. They find the lives they lead aren’t enough, so the status quo must be changed. Then they meet each other. 
In the very first scene I’ve clipped (episode 4), Ed picks up a small piece of cashmere and brings it to his face, feeling its softness.  As he brings the cashmere to his face, the music begins. The introductory ‘love theme’, as it were. For the visual audience, here’s an excerpt of ‘Gnossienne’ no. 5: 
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(Here’s a lovely recording of this piece played in its entirety, if anyone wants to listen)
If you listen carefully, this is the part that’s played the most. In this transcription, you’ll note the piece is to be played ‘souple et expressif’, or ‘soft and expressive.’ Soft and expressive, indeed. Soft as the cashmere and as expressive as Stede’s eyes when Ed responds, “I think maybe I do.” You can see how enamored he is of Ed, even though he isn’t even yet aware it’s the inimitable Blackbeard.   
This scene is lovely because Stede manages to invite this perfect stranger in to see his secret walk in closet. And even more lovely is Ed’s immediate willingness. Affascinato…
Whenever there’s a new scene between the two of them, the emergence of their theme changes, based on the emotional life in the scene. This piece has a calm feel to it, idyllic emotionality. When I find out who curated the music for this series, they will get a sloppy kiss on the mouth from me ;_; 
The primary instrumentation used throughout their scenes together is strictly treble…piano, flutes and various strings. Lightly percussive, fluid instruments—it’s a wonder how anyone watching this show wouldn’t catch wind of these characters’ love for one another. 
Another aspect of this piece I want to bring to everyone’s attention is the key. It’s in the key of G Major. Throughout music history, different keys were chosen to represent different emotional characteristics.  It was a way to communicate what music was supposed to entail when it was listened to, composed and performed.  Christian Schubart, a German poet/composer/journalist from the 18th century published the ‘Ideen zu einer Äesthetik der Tonkunst’, or loosely translated ‘Ideas towards an aesthetic of music’.  This was a journal that described what each key ‘felt’ like emotionally. For G Major, translated from German, it reads:
“Everything rustic, idyllic and lyrical, every calm and satisfied passion, every tender gratitude for true friendship and faithful love,—in a word every gentle and peaceful emotion of the heart is correctly expressed by this key.”
Now if that’s not a vow, I don’t know what is. True friendship and faithful love.  That is not to say every song, symphony and sonata portrays this exact feeling, but this journal was created as a subjective analysis of music during that time. And I think it represents Stede and Ed perfectly. 
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In the next clip, the theme starts up again (in the same musical iteration as the prior scene) when Stede wakes up Ed and offers him marmalade. You’ll notice the ‘fast friends’ vibe from both of them. I like the notion of breaking bread. Stede offers some food to Ed, as a way of inviting him in even more. There’s this apparent informality to it, which I find heart warming. 
Ed’s verbal enjoyment of the marmalade prompts Stede to tell him how he acquired it. Ed looks back at him and echoes the self nominated title, “The Gentleman Pirate”…this scene is simple and yet otherwise wouldn’t hold any emotional weight without the Gnossienne in the background. 
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The next scene from Episode 5 is quite possibly my favorite Stede and Ed scene of the entire series, close second to the kiss scene. More on that later ;)
I thoroughly enjoyed the camera work in this scene. And the parallel between both Stede and Ed’s ‘flashback’ sequence is important, musically. When Ed thinks back to that moment with his mother, the mood of the music is in minor, with a dull sound from the harpsichord and slow strings as the instrumentation. You’ll notice the harpsichord emits a hollow, plunking sound, while the strings feel expansive, representing Ed’s recollection of that memory. 
The music fades out when Stede enters the shot. Flashback to reality.  Part of what makes this particular scene so special is the duration of silence. There’s this…weightless feeling underneath their feet, as they discuss what happened at the party. Everything Stede says is loaded. Reassuring Ed that he’s sophisticated. Consider the emotional state Ed is in leading up to this scene. He had his doubts about his sophistication and his place in high society, and the way the evening transpired surely justified those doubts. He was just ‘not those kinds of people’. But to hear Stede dismiss that entirely was beautiful.  Stede very well could have said “You are more sophisticated than everyone on that ship”. So when Stede asks for the handkerchief, at this point, we are almost expecting the music to play. It’s a nice way to color the scene, especially because we are aware that there may be some sort of seduction going on. 
The theme begins precisely at “Look at that”. This iteration of the theme is languid, as if each note is vying for the characters’ attention.  Paired with the moonlight reflecting off their skin, it makes for such an intensely human moment. The instrumentation is different for the first time since we’ve heard the theme in the other scenes. It’s just piano. If you close your eyes and listen to this scene, you can hear the piano playing in the higher octave, which could represent the notion of ‘love is in the air’.  It’s almost…effervescent. 
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I’m reminded of a stunningly crafted piano trio by Debussy. It’s also in GMajor, like the love theme. If anyone is interested, the link is here. Pay attention to the second ‘voice’ (cello). That’s the melody. It’s delicate, isn’t it? I hope this piece can give you some insight into what, in my opinion, love sounds like.
And if Stede acted this way towards me, I’d certainly move in to kiss him, like Ed does. I could talk forever about this scene *sigh*…but alas let’s move to the next bit!
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“Hey…I’m your friend.” 
It’s that consistent reassurance from Stede that allows Ed to open up. The theme starts at this point. Again, the instrumentation varies from the other iterations depending on the emotionality in the scene, this time with low strings and a guitar playing the melody of the Gnossienne. The guitar provides an interesting flair to this scene. The “moonlight scene” was accompanied by piano, which is percussive and could represent the heartbeat quickening; whereas this scene is accompanied by a guitar, strictly string instrument, not percussive, but simply a representation of expression, and in this case, the expression of vulnerability. Ed is the most vulnerable he’s been around Stede thus far and Stede makes an active and compassionate choice to tell him he’s in good hands.
It’s those moments where you are getting to know someone, perhaps on an intimate level, and experiences and circumstances help you to see them in a different light—that’s exactly how this theme feels as the series progresses. It’s fluid and without restraint. 
It’s also the first time you see Ed respond with physical touch, when he lays his head on Stede’s hand. You can see him breaking down the walls he’s had up for quite some time.
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OKAY. The penultimate scene is now upon us! In literature, this would be considered the climax, whereas the following scene would be the denouement (more or less).
I’m sure my musician friends will agree with me, but I immediately sensed a shift in emotion by the time we got to this scene. Consider for a moment, our German journalist friend, Schubart—the reiteration of the ‘love theme’ is fused together with Schumann’s Träumerei.  This piece is traditionally played in F Major, and the love theme has been transposed down from G Major to follow suit. 
Schubart wrote that F Major represents “complaisance and calm”.
As I mentioned earlier in this analysis, there’s a parallel between the flashback sequences. Stede looks back on his life and you’ll notice that the music is sad, disconnected and in a minor key, as is with every moment he looks back on his old life. As soon as Ed enters the shot, the chord in the instrumentation resolves. It’s almost as if that chapter in Stede’s life has ended and Ed is perhaps a new chapter. The theme now becomes a bearing of the soul, as you can hear when Ed is about to tell Stede that he makes him happy.
Stede and Ed’s theme represents opportunity as much as it does love. In this kiss scene, the music appears in three instances— when Ed tells Stede how happy he’s made him, when they kiss, and when they think aloud their plans to run away together and start a new life. Opportunity. When they both realize that this is in the realm of possibility for them, the theme starts up again. 
In the original Gnossienne, Satie keeps the piece in one key, with chromatic shifts here and there, but towards the end of this scene, there’s modulation, rising as Stede and Ed entertain the excitement of what’s to come. It’s the variation’s way of saying “Let’s go. Let’s do this. I’m ready to take this step, and never look back.” There’s this lovely urgency. 
Schumann’s Träumerei was the 7th selection in his song cycle, Kinderszenen, or “Scenes from Childhood.” He composed this cycle of 13 songs in 1838. When his wife, Clara asked him why he named the cycle in this way, he recalled a comment made by her saying he sometimes acted ‘like a child’. This is always a lighthearted anecdote.  If you listen to the rest of the cycle, you can hear Schumann honing in on the innocence of a child. That’s how I’d describe Stede and Ed’s love. Innocent. But pure and entirely compelling. 
Träumerei translates to ‘dreaming’, but I think it’s a wonderful juxtaposition between what’s going through their heads/hearts versus what’s going on in real time. 
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My favorite part of this scene? When their lips touch, the music feels like home. It’s also the last time you hear the love theme, so you truly get this sense of grounding and resolution. It feels serious and important.  
Though the theme isn’t present in this scene, I wanted to spend some time talking about it. Stede’s relationship with Mary peaks and plateaus in this same scene, which I find interesting simply for the fact that his marriage to Mary was one of convenience, not love. There was never anything for Stede to hold onto (I mean, his children are two examples of tangible things, but LOL). 
Because Stede is in the scene with Mary, the music needed to be different. The piece you hear in the backdrop is Debussy’s “Rêverie”. Like Schumann’s piece, Rêverie quite literally translates to ‘daydream’. What I like about this scene in particular is when Stede reminisces about his time spent with Ed, this piece plays in the background. So you see, there’s this shift from sad recollection when he was thinking about Mary, to this uplifting, dreamlike wonder when he thinks about Ed.  It’s a small shift, but I think it's an important one.
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 Mary asks Stede “What’s her name?” And when Stede answers “Ed. His name is Ed.”, the music resolves. Solidity. Solid as the realization that Stede loves Ed.  It’s not this grandiose revelation. It’s Stede calmly confirming what he’s been feeling the last few months at sea. And he’s grateful, in that moment, to come to this realization because now, his mind is free from the emotional shackles placed on him during his time with Mary. Additionally, his mind is free from the shackles of false sexuality.
His happiness and love for Ed may have been a bit of a surprise, but when Mary hugs him, he’s relieved. 
Now hear me out—I included the part of the scene where Ed is feeling this potential loss after Stede left. Like Stede’s reminiscing, Ed’s perspective is filled with the same part of the music. Which leads me to be hopeful, if this show is renewed for a second season (IT WILL BE MARK MY WORDS), because the final chord of Rêverie is a rolling F Major chord.  Completion. Finale. We weren’t able to hear the last of this piece, because the story of Stede and Ed hasn’t been written yet. So, have no fear, friends.
One last thing I want to bring your attention to is that flashback parallel. Each man thinks back on their life in moments of stress or sadness and each has their own musical properties. I think these selections were composed for the series, so I am unable to cite them properly, but if you listen carefully, each piece is in G Minor, and it is known as the ‘parallel key’ to G Major, the love theme. It’s full circle. And it blows my mind. To connect things even more, Schubart wrote about G Minor:
“Discontent, uneasiness, worry about a failed scheme; bad-tempered gnashing of teeth; in a word: resentment and dislike.”
Uneasiness, discontent, resentment, are all perfectly indicated in these flashbacks. And what a treat to know that it’s the exact parallel to Stede and Ed’s love theme. When I pieced everything together, my music brain nearly imploded. 
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What I love so much about the curated music throughout this series is how big a role it plays in the characters’ inner thoughts and inner emotion. Music has a unique way of building a life for whatever it may accompany, and one could say the story arch for Stede and Ed is similar to musical form. Specifically, I’m referring to the musical structure known as ‘sonata form’. Sonatas are comprised of three distinct structural parts: Exposition, Development and Recapitulation.  
I could easily parallel Stede and Ed’s relationship to sonata form. The exposition is the very first scene where they engage with one another. The development is their fast companionship and the recapitulation is an altered repeat of the exposition, only this time, they use a kiss as an introduction to something new and scary, but exciting and wonderful. This is all under the umbrella of Satie’s Gnossienne. It’s truly remarkable. And furthermore makes the case that music is rooted in love and vice versa. 
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I hope I haven’t bored you all to death. But then again, I’m not Jeff the accountant. @edwardbonnets
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i find this shit sooooooooo fucking annoying and frankly unworthy of respect… obviously advertising and branding are powerful and that’s why companies invest in them but i genuinely have no fucking patience for grown ass adults acting like corporations are standing their holding a gun to their heads and forcing them to spend money on their stuff. it’s genuinely pathetic to me. grow the actual fuck up please
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chatterkat · 8 months
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Saw you in a dream
Are you who you seem?
Was it always in the cards for me to be aimless?
No direction
Nothing pulling me down from the sky
It seems like I always get too high
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Ruby in a bit of shock from the vision she got from her mother, questions who she really was. She lied, she wasn’t perfect. Ruby’s been idealizing her mother her whole life , and been trying to be just like her, but Ruby has also struggled with what that means for a long time as well. She thought she needed to be like her mom, but how she doesn’t know what to think.
Oh, the air is cold
I don't know how to breathe
I'm begging, can you
Guide my way out
Of this place?
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Ruby wants answers, but she isn’t going to get them from the person she most wants them from.
Red like roses fills my dreams
Calling back to the previous red like roses, we know that this refers to Ruby’s nightmares of her mother’s bloody demise. However it’s also again just representing the nightmare that is Ruby’s struggle with her own identity.
Open wide
You were born to hypnotize them all
They said their prayers
(Can you, can you)
Can you hear me up there?
Now this is interesting! It sounds like a response from Summer. Much like how she responses in Red like Roses II. In that song it’s unclear whether it’s a Summer from elsewhere feeling those regrets (I think there is surely a good chance she had become like the hound) or if it was an imagined response by Ruby. It was almost ghostly, like the dead trying to answer the living but unable to actually communicate with each other.
It’s possible it is Ruby still in this lyric since the can you hear me up there part, might make sense from Ruby having fallen down though the world talking back up towards Remnant. However the other lyrics in this section don’t make sense as much sense then. I think it could easily be Summer again speaking from wherever she is dead or alive? Perhaps she is part of the tree and that is what she means by up there.
Open wide might be a reference to Sky is Falling(as it may be a song for the hound) as the opposite of what the song there says which is to “close your eyes my friend” (and the hound is a SEW so…)
Anyway the usage of the word hypnotize is interesting. It’s not just their silver eyes that hypnotize, it’s their whole self. They may hypnotize their enemies(“they said their prayers”), but also If it’s indeed Summer talking about Ruby, then she has certainly hypnotized the world with her message given what we see in Vacuo. Ruby has that spark that charisma that gets people to follow her. It works too if it were a Ruby to Summer lyric in the sense it could represent Ruby’s idealization of Summer, but again it makes more sense IMO to be from Summer to Ruby.
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Alternatively it’s Ruby talking about herself trying to hype herself up. She could be saying “can you hear me up there” as a threat to the cat or to Salem, that’s she’s gonna get them, but it seems too early in the song for that confident conclusion about herself
What survives
After all the dust is gone?
Were you there 'til the end?
(The end)
Were you at least called a friend?
These seem to directly call back to the volume 7 song Until the End which seems to be about Ruby(either from her POV or Summer’s) declaring she would be there until the end. It seems to refer to Ruby giving up briefly this volume with the tea. Would she be called a friend by others after giving up?
Or it could be Ruby questioning if her mom was there until the end, if she was a good person a friend in the end?
Otherside,
Did you mean to make me half or whole?
Will I ever be
(complete?)
When will I become all of me?
This is obviously back to Ruby’s perspective, as she questions whether she can ever truly be herself or always in her mother’s shadow. Ruby questions “otherside” and I’m unclear if that mean the otherside where her mother is or if otherside refers to the Ever After. Where the Ever After has both broken her and pushed her to become something new.
Guide my way out
Of this place
I can't define
Would it even be enough
To change my mind?
Your memory everlasting
At war with my foolish pride
What is left?
I know it's you and I
When I look inside
I'll be who you were
And I'll be even more
Ruby looks into herself and now realizes her idolization of her mother doesn’t gel with reality and her “foolish pride” of trying to live up to a standard that more illusion than reality. Interestingly she realizes she still carries this will or memory of her mother, but she no longer wants to be just like her, but rather both her and something greater…herself. She chooses herself.
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A moment of quiet is all it takes
To reclaim a life and a promise made
I am the reflection of who prevails
I'm what inspired the fairytale
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The emblem symbolizes the promise made, which Ruby never said what it was when she traded it away, but I have the feeling she thought it was a promise to come back, but in reality it was “I love you, just the way you are” Ruby reclaims the promise, hearing that echoed again from her mom is what let her finally be able to to choose herself. So Ruby also reclaims the emblem when she returns from the tree. I also think it symbolizes that part where she is who her mom was but more. Summer surrenders the emblem, and Ruby is truly defining it as hers now.
A moment of quiet is all it takes
To reclaim a life and a promise made
I am the reflection of who prevails
I'm what inspired the fairytale
(I'm what inspired the fairytale)
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I think what is meant by this like is that Ruby is now being the one that would inspire a fairytale, she is being who she wants to be finally, and defining her own story her own fairytale instead of just living through others(her Moms, Alex’s)
Guide my way out
(I'll be free)
Of this place
(I'll escape it, I will guide my way out)
Guide my way out
Of this place
In the end Ruby will guide herself out, with this new understanding of herself and her mother. Her mother still helped guide her in the end with her promise and her truth that broke Ruby’s image of her, but now Ruby is breaking away from that and doing it her way.
If you got his far thanks for reading my analysis. Let me know what you think! I’ll be doing a rewatch soon if the series and hopefully more song analysis so stay tuned!
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ineffableigh · 3 months
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Further Parallels between Elspeth/Crowley and Morag/Aziraphale (respectively)
Alright fellow brainrot sufferers. I want to talk more about music today. And this one's a doozy - though I'm SURE it's been talked about already. Probably. But here we go anyway!
I started trying to listen for recurring musical themes, leitmotifs, that kind of thing, and noticed TWO recurring themes from The Resurrectionists episode that return at the end of episode 6, bookending the Final Fifteen.
A lullaby theme: We first hear it when Crowley and Aziraphale meet Wee Morag, very subtly in the background. I want to focus on the scene we next hear it - Wee Morag's death. I'll get to why afterward.
This theme returns at the end of S02 E06 when Crowley is tidying up the bookshop during The Chinwag. It's not exactly the same, but you can really hear it calling back to the above theme. I feel it's very deliberately drawing a parallel between Aziraphale/Morag and Crowley/Elspeth.
I wasn't sold on this connection until I noticed the cello is the leading voice in both cases - the cello seems to consistently be Crowley's instrument, when he's being emotionally vulnerable/honest. You get the electric guitar in scenes of bluster/passion/anger, yes, but when his guard is down, you have cello at the forefront. Conversely, Aziraphale's is the violin (see themes immediately after The Kiss, which I'll get to in another post).
In Morag's death scene, this theme transitions into a cycling melody of strings playing climbing triplets, and I knew I'd heard it somewhere before... it plays at the end of the credits for episode 6.
However, where Morag's death theme remains morose, final, and resolves immediately, with a brief callback to their lullaby theme in Elspeth's cello, the version in the credits of episode 6 have a notably greater tempo, continue to climb, and most importantly DON'T resolve at the end. The melody DOES NOT sound like it's ended. It's not over yet.
I think we're supposed to draw these parallels, to hear Aziraphale leaving for Heaven being equated with Morag's death. Morag just wanted to help Elspeth, and paid the ultimate price due to Heaven's unfairness, much like Aziraphale is likely paying a high price to keep Crowley safe.
TLDR: David Arnold is a master composer and also a monster (affectionate), there is SO MUCH HERE to analyse.
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quietbreeze97 · 6 days
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It's taken me 2+ years to realise it, but 'Bloodlines will Burn' from HOTD soundtrack sounded familiar to me towards the end, and now I realise it's because Ramin Djawadi used the same theme as he did when Daenerys lost her first dragon in s7 of GoT, in the track, 'Against All Odds'.
He re-used the Targaryen mourning theme for House of the Dragon, which means it's likely to come up again in s2.
And now, I'm crying. What a genius composer.
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marzeatsplanets · 9 months
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thinking about how in the soundtrack showfall is generally represented through synths and electronics and thats why its so stark at the end of The Button as it turns to piano.
The Hero was represented through a synth esque piano but here he's completely free of it. it really shows how just for that moment ranboo was free. he had that one moment of not being influenced by showfall and it showed through the music, as all we'd heard was electronic before.
which rubs in the ending even more as you hear a synth version of the heros theme laced into Live Or Die. it devastates me to think about the implications. he's showfall's, been apart of the show since the start. he was never truly free and was never going to be.
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