#tbf i might be biased because i listened to it when i was in my crisis of faith in hs

[deancoded-deangirl]

here’s why hum hallelujah is fall out boy’s best song, no contest or competition.

under the cut because it’s long.

hum hallelujah comes from infinity on high, which is one of fall out boy’s best albums-- commercially speaking, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, compared to FUTCT’s peaking at number nine, and FAD at number eight. IOH charted top five worldwide, even making the list for that year’s top 50 albums.

Fall out boy is well known for two things: patrick stump’s incomprehensible vocals, and pete wentz’s iconic and nuanced lyrics. it’s no secret that TTTYG and FUTCT (et al) were filled with both of those things, but I don’t think that anything hit quite as hard as infinity on high, and more to the point, Hum Hallelujah. 

see, hum hallelujah does something that all of their songs do: it takes metaphors, analogies, common phrases, and twists them. it makes them into something new with so many layers that the english major in me spins. there’s no right or wrong answer about interpreting the lyrics, because so many layers are built into it, a truly multifaceted song. But it adds something else. Hum Hallelujah adds religion into it, as a core part of the song.

during this dissection, i’m going to be treating the “I” in the song as a narrator, and “you” as the listener/audience, although you can substitute the “you” to mean a separate third person, and that the audience is merely privy to the story.

we start hum hallelujah off with:

“It's all a game of this or that, now versus then Better off against worse for wear“

listeners have probably heard someone being asked or told that it is a choice between this or that. that’s the common phrase we all know. fob adds now versus then, and follows it up with “better off against worse for wear”. so now the choice is not this or that-- it’s “do you want to be better off or worse for wear?” and those are the two options that the narrator sees happening. Their common theme? The narrator and listener are separated. When someone leaves, you are either better off or worse for wear, but it’s not until they’re gone that you’ll know.

“And you're someone who knows someone Who knows someone I once knew I just want to be a part of this“

we’ve all heard that before. “i knew someone who knew someone” etc. fob adds to it. the stretch between the narrator and whoever it is is a gossamer thin thread, but they want to be part of it so badly, they are desperate. another common phrase flipped and made new.

“The road outside my house Is paved with good intentions“

The common adage “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is here. The listener is well aware of what the implication is. The narrator’s house is hell, without even needing to be told. This is the first instance-- but by no means the last-- of Hum Hallelujah’s religious inspiration.

“Hired a construction crew 'Cause it's hell on the engine“

and they complete the above phrase, but with a choose your own adventure of what it could mean. Is the narrator trying to fix up hell? Is the narrator hiring a construction crew because he’s trying to get out of hell and his car can’t make it? Is it simply another play on the phrase?

The first, but by no means the last.

“And you are the dreamer and we are the dream I could write it better than you ever felt it“

they take a step back from the religion. now we go back to futct’s fundamental lyrics, about being lonely and disconnected from love. You would think that the dreamer would know the feeling better than the dream. After all, how can a dream know the feelings of the dreamer? And yet there is this smug phrasing that implies that the narrator is just that good.

and though this is the first mention of lyrics that will tie into hum hallelujah’s ultimate theme of desperate love, not a single line outside of that scope feels out of place in the song. 

“So hum hallelujah Just off the key of reason“

when someone hums, obviously they’re going to be in a key, if not the key of the song, and the narrator says just off the key of reason. Does he want the listener to be reasonable? Or is the narrator saying that the reader is not reasonable? You could say he’s telling the listener to hum it, and therefore saying that the listener shouldn’t be reasonable, but the point is there’s so many dimensions to these lyrics. There’s so many different dimensions, and no necessarily wrong way, but the rest of the song leads the listener into one specific viewpoint.

“I thought I loved you, it was just how you looked in the light“

a common trope in love stories is that how someone looked in a particular lighting made someone else think of them differently. it also could refer to new information, something shines a new light on them. it could be a trick of the light. the narrator thought he loved the person, but it was fleeting, it was fair-weathered, it was temporary.

“A teenage vow in a parking lot 'Til tonight do us part“

These lyrics strengthen the argument that the last two lines were about temporary love. A teenage vow-- teenage love is always shifting, always evolving. A parking lot is no place to vow permanence. And then they will part after tonight. it’s a play on wedding vows, making a mockery of the permanence of those.

“I sing the blues and you swallow them too“

now, i’ve read dissections that say this refers to Pete’s drug use, and that fits in so I won’t talk about it here, but also because I’m speaking to the song as a whole. So far, this narrator has referred to themselves as fickle, temporary, and now blue. And the listener swallows the blues. The listener is eating up the sad emotions that the narrator provides. The use of the word “too” adds another level to this line. An implication is that it is an active choice of the listener to swallow them. The narrator is adding that as a statement of fact, not suggesting that the listener swallow his blues, but saying that the listener already does. 

“My words are my faith, to hell with our good name“

here we go back to the religious symbolism. similar to the first pre-chorus, the narrator is talking about hell. He sings the blues, he gave a teenage vow, but his words are his faith. It seems almost as though the narrator doesn’t believe anything good could come out of his words. They’re his faith, and -> to hell with their good name, because of that. A tie-in to the “the road outside my house is paved with good intentions”. The narrator lives in hell. To hell with their good name.

“Remix of your guts, your insides x-rayed“

the narrator is dissecting the listener now, and nothing is hidden. everything is exposed. A remix is more commonly used in music terminology, and so the narrator seems to be saying that the song he is singing is what is exposing the listener.

“And one day we'll get nostalgic for disaster We're a bull, your ears are just a china shop“

A bull in a china shop-- another well known phrase. Naming that they are the bull and your ears are a china shop (which is where my belief that “you” refers to the listener/audience instead of a separate third person comes from), right after saying they’ll get nostalgic for disaster. One day they’ll get nostalgic for the current disaster. Because the narrator is singing the blues-- and therefore the person swallowing them is listening-- the implication is that the current disaster is the relationship between the narrator and listener. the implication is also that, to the narrator, the relationship is parasitic: the narrator provides nothing but destruction.

Not only that, but you can only get nostalgic for things you have left behind. The narrator is telling the listener that he will leave.

“I love you in the same way There's chapel in a hospital“

In what way is there a chapel in a hospital? The narrator brings us back to the religious theme, and gives us two lines rife with nuance. The narrator loves the listener in the same way there’s a chapel in a hospital, and so you have to think: who is the chapel in a hospital for? why do people go? when do people go?

I’ll give you a hint. A chapel in a hospital is for desperate people. Someone they love is in the hospital and they are appealing to a higher power. Now, you could tell me that someone who is religious would go to a chapel right off the bat anyway, but given the nature of this song-- how it is taking religious symbolism and turning it on its head to indicate that the narrator isn’t good-- I believe that the narrator is referring to the people who go to chapels because they’re desperate. The people who are appealing to someone they might not even believe in because it’s their last hope.

And then we go back to the desperate love feeling from the chorus. Loving someone in the same way there’s a chapel in a hospital is not permanent, and it’s not a good foundation. It’s built out of the wrong emotions. Further to the point, once the loved one is better, a person who doesn’t believe isn’t going to go to that chapel again. It’s temporary.

“One foot in your bedroom And one foot out the door“

Ties right back into the temporary. Having one foot out the door is indicative of someone about to run. Someone who loves the way someone prays in a chapel in a hospital. Someone who will get nostalgic for disaster.

“Sometimes we take chances, sometimes we take pills I could write it better than you ever felt it“

The first line of this harkens back to the “I sing the blues and you swallow them too” line. Both are zeugmas. And the way this is phrased indicates that the narrator believes it is one or the other. 

It’s all a game of this or that.

When someone takes pills, it is to feel (or not feel) something. The narrator saying “I could write it better than you ever felt it” shortly after singing about how sometimes they take pills throws a bit of... almost as if the actual feelings don’t matter, because the narrator can fake it better. There’s almost a sense of smug superiority in this song, about how the disconnect of actual permanent love doesn’t mean the narrator can’t understand. If anything, he understands better than the listener.

After this, the rest of the song is a repeat of lines I’ve discussed before, but there is a bridge where the narrator is singing the lines to “hallelujah”. Singing, not humming.

The narrator is telling the listener to hum hallelujah-- off the key of reason-- but the narrator himself is singing hallelujah, and on key. Throughout the song there has been this disconnect between the listener and the narrator. With the listener being held on a pedestal, while the narrator degrades himself, but now the narrator is the one perfectly hitting his cues.

anyway, i am by no means saying that hum hallelujah is the only one of their songs covered with this much nuance, nor am i trashing their other songs, but something about hum hallelujah hits entirely different from their other songs on infinity on high-- and in general-- making it an entirely different experience, and making it worthy of the best song title.

#i love hum hallelujah so much #tbf i might be biased because i listened to it when i was in my crisis of faith in hs #so hearing 'i love you in the same way there's a chapel in a hospital' actually fundamentally changed me #like that line sends me frothing at the mouth #anyway here's my promised hum hallelujah dissection! #fall out boy #fob #hum hallelujah #infinity on high #ioh #this is also dedicated to that fob song showdown

[quitealotofsodapop]

Tbh Shadow Play was more of a biased view than what happened between Shadowpeach on Macaque's side. Breen did say that that was what Macaque thinks happened. I guess in this AU it's more or less accurate.

I like Canon Macaque but I wouldn't excuse his actions before season 3.

Tbf I was referring to the canon shadowplay.

In the au since Shadowpeach are established; then the play's storyline is def altered to be of a more of a fair view.

If Wukong himself is present, then he would bust on in with his own verse describing his own view of the situation.

Something along the lines of the Sun having to account for so many planets and soldiers, and it's own destructive capabilities - less it destroy what joy it shared with the Moon.

I'm planning to have a scene in TMKATI where Wukong witnesses Macaque rehearse the canon "The Hero and the Warrior", and they have an arguement about the Mac's biased storytelling.

Wukong: "Cast into what shadow!? Do you forget that there was a war going on!? One where we were both fighting!?" Mac: "And yet at every opportunity you turned me away! You turned everyone away just to get more power! More immortal!" Wukong: "I just wanted the fighting over and done with! If I was strong enough, then we could be free! If I had let you follow through with your plan of just "waiting it out", then you would have joined me under that mountain!" Mac: "So why didn't you!?" Wukong, super-serious mode: "Because if the celestial realm had done anything to hurt you, the second I burst forth from that mountain I would have made it my mission to make the Heavens empty." Mac, just a little taken aback by his words: "You... you still threw your lot in with that... monk." Wukong, almost on his knees: "When I first came out of that mountain, I was damaged. I was the Hero in your story. But when I was with Master Tripitaka, I started to get better - feel better. I wanted to go home, yeah. But I wanted to come home a better man. If those years travelling on-foot with that damned circlet on my head made me even a fraction better; a better king, strategist, listener, friend, better for you - Then I would done it all over again if it meant we could... live happily ever after." Mac, in shock: "I... ok wow... I... I might have to... make some revisions..." Wukong, quietly mumbling: "Maybe... I liked the visuals though... See you at home, moon..."

It takes Mac a while to get around to actually saying "Sorry" for his unfair view of Wukong's choices throughout the war and the pilgrimage.

These monkeys aren't great at tackling "heavy" emotions. Macaque does say in the same shadowplay episode that he doesn't really "talk it out" much. He has his own temper problems on par with Wukong's past ones, he's just better at avoiding confronting it.

#the monkey king and the infant #the monkey king and the infant au #lmk character analysis #sun wukong #liu er mihou #six eared macaque #lmk tmkati au story events

[nono-bunny]

I was a bit worried about hearing Zack Tyler Eisen on the podcast because I read someone quote him on saying "it's all in your head buddy" about Zutara, which??? Doesn't sound great, and after how rude Bryke were I grew to be wary of Kataang shippers on the podcast, even though Janet does a great job or keeping them in check as much as possible and Dante is fantastic at easing the tension... I just don't like being condescended to like that, y'know?

But he was actually a great guest imo! He had a lot of unique experiences from the show by virtue of his age at the time, and in general sounds like a cool guy! I kinda thought he may have left acting after like having a bad experience on ATLA or something, but he sounds like he just really found a love for cinematography which is cool and good to hear! Like, he seems to still love engaging with the show every once in a while, and like, good for him!

Anyway this "all in your head" thing does seem to be like? Much more in jest than it may seem when reading it, he was kinda just messing around with Dante, and while I STILL disagree with him because Kataang is gross... He was much more chill about it than I thought, can't really blame him for preferring Kataang when he IS Aang lol

I am... Unhappy because when looking at future episodes to check out the guests I can look forward to (some real bangers, btw!) I saw that him and one of the Bryke duo are on Crossroads of Destiny which. Is kind of infuriating that there are two Kataangers on a Zutara episode, but honestly I'm? Kinda less mad about it than I was after listening to his episode, I feel like he might actually have some interesting things to say there since he said he liked the Guru Pathik stuff so! I guess I'll wait and see how I feel about it after reaching it lol. They better acknowledge that it's a Zutara episode though or istg...

I was originally SO mad when I found out about the Crossroads of Destiny guests being anti-Zutara that I typed out a huge rage post which I obviously shelved because it was completely out of proportion and written when I was barely coherent because I was extremely sleepy, it was all kinda funny tbh I was near on delirious writing it but tbf not all of my points there were completely wrong so? This post and a possible follow up in the future will exist in its stead lol

Also!! I do kinda just wanna throw this out there: I hate Aang and Bryke, but I have never had any issue with Zack for voicing him- he did a remarkable job voicing Aang! It's just unfortunate what Bryke did to his character development, and it's interesting to me that he seems to like the Guru Pathik stuff but? If anything I'm actually really interested in his pov, probably much more than I am in hearing Bryke's extremely biased one (they lied SO much over the years about the development process, wtf!! They've proven to be so unreliable, and alongside their shit takes I truly despise hearing them talk on the podcast lol)

#avatar the last airbender #atla #zutara #anti kataang #anti bryke #braving the elements

[motorized-clown-show]

Okay first of all!!! Esc!!!! Which other songs are your all time faves? 💙 Also thank you for tagging me in that tag game 💙✨💙✨💙✨ (I'm Lancestrolls that's my inactive main dhhdjsjsjs sorry for the randomness)

Don't worry about it, my whole life is random (almost made an informatics reference there, whoopsie) and you're welcome for tagging you! <3 I was honestly a bit worried if I should do it because we've never interacted before and I didn't want you to think I'm weird...

Now, ESC. You don't know what you just got yourself into.

Tbh, there are many songs I love every year but there always are some that I love more than others. To prevent this post from becoming a complete mess, I will do this chronologically, starting with the 2020 songs I love.

My clear number one this year must be Répondez-moi by Gjon's Tears (Switzerland) (which is the song I made GIFs for before Lie To Me). Straight up 12/10, I sometimes (okay most of the times) I shed a tear (or more like a waterfall lol) when I listen to it, even though my French sucks and don't understand everything.

I also love Violent Thing by Ben Dolic (Germany) but TBF, I might be a bit biased because I'm German and I already loved Ben when he participated in The Voice of Germany. But for me, Violent Thing is a really good song and I'm really disappointed that we won't get a live performance of this on the ESC stage.

Another one of my favourites is the Danish song from this year, Yes by Ben & Tan. It's just a song that makes me super happy and I love their voices. I know many people think this is cheesy but I don't think so even though I can see their point.

Chains On You by Athena Manoukian (Armenia) is just a bop and has the third best music video, and that's all I'll say about this. Because otherwise I probably couldn't stop anymore.

The last 2020 entry I absolutely love is Grow by Jeangu Macrooy (The Netherlands). I've seen some people claim that this was just an attempt to copy Arcade, but no, it's not imo. Just because both of the songs are ballads it doesn't mean one tried to copy the other. Also, this is the second best music video (best one is Switzerland).

Alrighty, let's continue with 2019, and disclaimer: just because I like a country's song it doesn't mean that I support that country/the politics of that country.

Even though my Spotify top 100 from 2019 might try to tell you otherwise, I was really happy when Arcade by Duncan Laurence (The Netherlands) won last year, it's seriously in every playlist of mine. His live performance was stunning and I still think about it very often.

The song Spotify tries to tell you is my favourite from last year, is another one I really love (but who would have guessed that). Sometimes my mind just goes *clap clap* and I think back to that performance of Soldi by Mahmood (Italy) and then I have to think of the time when I went to his concert last October...

Okay and now we get to the song that I decided to write that disclaimer for. Scream by Sergey Lazarev (Russia). Drama 10/10, staging 10/10, lyrics 10/10 and vocals 10/10. In the beginning I admittedly didn't really like it but it grew on me quickly.

Yay, another Danish entry: Love Is Forever by Leonora. It's such a sweet song and has a really important message (imo). Alright, the staging with the giant chair is a bit weird but also oddly fitting? Also, Leonora has performed in the Eurovision Home Concerts and her performance was just. So. Good. Oh and the use of the four languages is just amazing.

Another ESC bop: Dirty Dancing by Luca Hänni (Switzerland). In the beginning I hated it but then he performed in the final and I was like "okay I guess it's actually alright but still not my favourite" and well, now I love it but I don't know why. Like it's a great song but I didn't realize my mind changed from hate to live in a month or so.

Unpopular opinion: Home by Kobi Marimi (Israel) was an amazing song. Of course it wasn't another 'Toy' but still a great successor. The emotions in it and also the lyrics are just *chefs kiss*

Okay so because this post would never end, I decided not to add comments to the songs anymore.

Lie To Me by Mikolas Josef (Czech Republic 2018)

Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente by Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro (Italy)

Stones by Zibbz (Switzerland)

(okay you may laugh at me) Our Choice by Ari Olafsson (Iceland)

You Let Me Walk Alone by Michael Schulte (Germany)

Story Of My Life by Naviband (Belarus 2017)

Occidentali's Karma by Francesco Gabbani (Italy)

Requiem by Alma (France)

Grab The Moment by Jowst (Norway)

LoveWave by Iveta Mukuchyan (Armenia 2016)

What's The Pressure by Laura Tesoro (Belgium)

J'ai cherché by Amir (France)

Ghost by Jamie-Lee Kriewitz (Germany)

Hear Them Calling by Greta Salome (Iceland)

Made Of Stars by Hovi Star (Israel)

You Are The Only One by Sergey Lazarev (Russia) (yes he's the same dude from 2019)

If I Were Sorry by Frans (Sweden)

Rhythm Inside by Loïc Nottet (Belgium 2015)

Love Injected by Aminata (Latvia)

A Monster Like Me by Mørland & Debrah Scarlett (Norway)

A Million Voices by Polina Gagarina (Russia)

Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden)

This is where I will stop, but if you want to talk about Eurovision or comment on my weird music taste, just send a DM, I don't bite.

Please enjoy my favourite dumb pictures of ESC 2019.

#answered #eurovision song contest #eurovision #esc #you just discovered my obsession with esc #all time favourite esc songs by evannsssss #long post #read more

[arasokanbina]

My order of favourites:

(based only on audio as performance is not ready yet)

🌟S

WJSN - AURA / HYOLYN - Waka Boom (My Way) Ft Lee Young Ji / LOONA - POSE

✨A+

KEP1ER - THE GIRLS / BRAVE GIRLS - Whistle

💫A

VIVIZ - Red Sun!

Prediction of my favorite stage perfomances -

Aura, Pose, Waka Boom, The Girls, Whistle, Red Sun!

Ramblings below.

Honestly all of these songs are amazing and I'm so happy for Queendom 2 so that these exist! This is of course only my opinions based on first listen impressions and not seeing the stage.

As usual I'm extra and can't just do A B C tiers haha! But it's my list and this is the right way it feels to me. I'm also not being biased which is kinda painful haha because I don't wanna seem like I am not supporting my girls (tbf I am a multi fan), but that's also just unimportant online pressures from delusional 'fans' and brainwashing from kpop companies so I don't need to over explain myself so I won't ha!

Honestly each group are S tier for their own sound, it's really impressive and I loved each one! So it was actually quite difficult to tier without making everyone S but I'm trying to be concise which I find extremely difficult because I have an urge to explain why I came to my opinions lol this is why I need to make a youtube channel.... One day when I have a laptop or pc haha.

Only slight issues I have is Red Sun by VIVIZ being same name as Brave Girls as they just finally got something with the same name for their song even though its not a big deal but it could cause some issues or confusion and wjsn starting with saying orbit because I worry about dummies potentially saying they copied Loona when you know how dumb that is especially because WJSN is all about space as COSMIC GIRLS lol.

Speaking of fandom names it was smart of Brave Girls to put FEARLESS as the first lyric as its their fandom name and towards their FANtastic win. It was also smart of Loona saying Loona in the lyrics and for Kep1er calling their song THE GIRLS using repeating 'girls' in their lyrics, it's like a knock back for them covering the boys in FANtastic which is really fun!

🗒Notes: As usual I might add more later and there is probably some spelling and grammar mistakes.

*Update: I got up to VIVIZ before the performance part in the finale and I see now it was a previous unused song from Gfriend and it had the name already, so I've changed my opinion and its completely fine and understandable. It was only a very small issue I thought about anyway.

#my comment #album opinions #song opinions #Queendom 2 #Spotify