#fun fact i have a whole brain amv for the song the lyrics are from for this guy. oops

[artuurle]

I find I'm still stuck in place after so long.

[megamuscle885-blog]

TW: Suicide mention. Worm Spoilers.

Reprising my Neil Cicierega post from before about how "Mullet with Butterfly Wings" is a skitter/scurry/chitter song.

Crocodile Chop is a Gold Morning song. The lyrics are all very slurred and drunken. She's lurching around. Amy's hands on her as she "Wake(s) up!". "Why'd you leave the keys on the table?" Who's just leaving Amy alone with Taylor. They had to know she was going to do something drastic. Lisa should've, and that's the tragedy isn't it? "Here you go and create another fable." The myth, making Taylor into a weapon. Maybe I'm reading a little too much into it, but this is supposed to be a fun little post anyway, it's not too serious.

Except "I don't think you trust in my self-righteous suicide." is just a dead on, straight between the eyes, punch to the forehead shining example of Taylor Hebert's character in this moment.

The scream for Fathers feels a little bit like Taylor's frustrations with Danny, and maybe a little bit of QA (who is currently in the driver's seat) might be feeling a little forsaken by her father Scion herself in this moment? "Father into your hands I commend my spirit." and the whole section there, is SOAD directly lifting words from Jesus' crucifixion. This one's not a particularly deep take from me, but you can see Jesus' crucifixion as a kind of self-righteous suicide, huh? And Taylor is also putting herself on the line, as usual, and sacrificing any other kind of future she may have had for herself in favor of the greater good, and the unity of humanity. It's a consistent, doomed worldview she's held ever since "Cut Ties, I'm Sorry." entered the picture. She put the Undersiders aside. She spent more time with the Chicago Wards than them, and her time with them wasn't even worth mentioning in the text. She sets them aside too. She trains Golem because they have a shared enemy, but there's nothing else there. There can be nothing else there when she has to go die on the cross, unknowingly, but still. The Simurgh, Contessa and Dinah all conspiring to put her in the right place at the right time.

My read of SOAD's lyrics seem focused on the 'right to die', about how nobody truly deserves to die, but we all will die, but there are some people who are condemned regardless of their circumstances for the method of their death. Serj Tankian brings up his potential for dying in a drug overdose as his example of someone dying in a shameful way, and therefore 'deserving' to die. (This is just me paraphrasing the wikipedia entry I'm not uncovering new ground here lol). There's also the very literal Angel-like being hovering over the battlefield to consider.

Choosing how you go out is more than some people get. Except Taylor doesn't get to choose how she goes out in the end, does she? Taylor doesn't really have a choice here. The Simurgh chooses. Dinah chooses. Contessa chooses. That little static burst as the song fades out to "Transmission" (a little bit where a numbers radio is played interspersed with the introductory rift from David Bowie's Space Oddity) sounds like her turning her head to see Contessa sitting there with her gun in her hand.

All of this is set to Elton John's Crocodile Rock, which I haven't really listened to enough to have thoughts on it. I don't really have any deep takes on his side of the mashup, other than the fact that the piano and Serj's "Die" is pitch shifted to Elton's "laa, la-la-la-la-laa" making it very unsettling.

I've been listening to too much of Neil's music while driving to work and it's starting to mix together with all of the other brain worms, creating intricate mental AMVs, and it shows.

[togansweep]

Vi, I've been meaning to ask - what would be ur top 5 songs that you'd like to edit Tomgreg to? (Nothing that you've already done - but would like to do maybe?)

oooh good question! okay so I have this really long playlist with songs I wanna use for amvs, but this is my top 5 for tomgreg right now. (I also have some ideas for tom in general & tomshiv). mostly oldies because it's so much fun editing tomgreg to songs tom would listen to himself, like I can picture him listening to these and being like "greg...🥲" (and the same with some songs & shiv but we're talking about tomgreg now)

1. don't you want me - the human league

I was listening to my 80s playlist last week and this song came up and I was like OH TOMGREG. SAFE ROOM SCENE. AAAH. I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around / turned you into someone new is VERY tomgreg. but the whole song is honestly. I already kind of planned it out in my head, probably gonna make & upload it somewhere this week. (also the fact that it's a duet so I can have tom parts & greg parts is great, really excited for this one)

2. cloudbusting - kate bush

I LOVE kate bush and this song is so dramatic and the lyrics are so very tom: you're like my yo-yo / that glowed in the dark / what made it special / made it dangerous so I bury it / and forget; hello repression hours. and you looked too small / in their big black car / to be a threat to the men in power is literally greg aaaaaaah

3. handle with care - traveling wilburys

again, the lyrics are very much tom: been stuck in airports, terrorized / sent to meetings, hypnotized / overexposed, commercialized / handle me with care and I feel like this is something tom would listen to and be like "this song is just like me fr"

4. cruel to be kind - nick lowe

something from greg's pov for a change, whaaaat (I usually make amvs from tom's pov because he lives in my brain rent free so it's easier to connect songs to him, I also understand him better and he's unhinged which is more fun to edit lol). I feel like this song captures greg's confusion about tom's mood swings very well: though you say you're my friend / I'm at my wits' end / you say your love is bonafide / but that don't coincide with the the things you do / and when I ask you to be nice / you say you've gotta be cruel to be kind / in the right measure

5. funny little frog - belle and sebastian

the PINING. unrequited tomgreg is something I'm kinda obsessed with, I mean yes I'd love to see them be evil together but I also love tragedy & drama & tbh I enjoy seeing tom sad. basically the singer of this song sings this whole dramatic love confession (you're my fashion tip, a living museum / I'd pay to visit you on rainy sundays etc.) and then at the end he's like I'll maybe tell you all about it someday...

there's a lot more + all the great suggestions my followers sent me + half of lana del rey's discography.

I also have a bunch of songs for tom in general: running on ice by billy joel, grace kelly by mika, charmless man by blur, the man by the killers... and I'm goin' down by bruce springsteen, the dangling conversation by simon & garfunkel, losing my religion by R.E.M. & our perfect disease by the wombats for tomshiv (tomshiv makes me sad as fuck though which is why I don't edit them that often, I really have to be in the mood for it)

so yeah I'm not nearly out of inspiration haha. actually I realized that tom is basically my muse because he inspires pretty much all of my edits and I haven't been in such a huge creative flow in years haha.

(be warned: if anyone steals any of my ideas I'll break their legs. but first we'll have a sleepover.)