#it’s just that the instrumental part perfectly captures the emotion and story

[theexhaustedqueer]

Hot take: the instrumental part of God Games is the best part of the song

[spacetime-storytime]

im so. Normal about yesterwynde.

is it too early to say or is the back-to-back line up of children of ata, something whispered follow me and spider silk my favourite three songs in the album? floor absolutely shines in that part of the album like !!!!!! and the instrumentals and the key changes and riffs are all absolutely perfectly placed and theyre just amazing songs!! something whispered follow me, on first listen, i thought was the most "pop" sounding song on the album. and then i listened to it again and turns out it was very much metal lol just less prog than the rest of the album. but still extremely prog lol. an aside, the structures of the songs and the feel of the album is very Auri. nightwish and auri are very close on the spectrum that theyre on and this album in particular the venn diagram was overlapping Hard. not one not two but Three ballads on the album?? amazing, showstopping, everything that nightwish is about. but i'm getting off track. spider silk, AMAZING. no notes. literally just a song about a spider. and it slaps so hard. the children of ata, i had read the story on wikipedia when the album was first announced. it made me emotional then and it made me emotional again listening to the song. "we are the ones to tell you why the world of us it will survive." the melodies and chords in yesterwynde as a whole i found sounded very ominous and even scary at times, but underneath there's this message of hope. the core of the album is this cry of hope for humankind and that our legacy will go on forever, because there is good in the world. and love. i enjoyed ocean of strange islands, the day of and perfume of the timeless even more in the context of the album. i misremembered that ocean of strange islands was the second song and i was imagining it as a nearing-end-of-album kind of song, but it works so well as an intro? its a whistlestop tour of bits and pieces of every nightwish era and a fast paced headfirst dive into the rest of the album. ive listened to perfume of the timeless a few times but for some reason this was the time it really got me and the whole theme of the song got to me. it just has amazing instrumentation and the atmosphere is unlike any nightwish song before it but so very nightwish. talking of that, the instrumentation, the orchestra, piano and also the different synths like the 80s vibes in children of ata and the elevator music-y (?) vibes in spider silk, i have absolutely LOVED. nightwish do every single genre challenge. i need to relisten to antikythera mechanism with the lyrics and the weave and lanternlight but i love that there are so many different styles and genres in this album. and so many musical influences! both the outside influences and also the influences from every past era of nightwish. somehow it manages to capture the spirit of the very first acoustic demos from 1995 and every album since. i am very excited to relisten to every song. whos to say what will become my favourites but at the moment i can't stop thinking about the children of ata. that and perfume of the timeless, for me, are the thematic core of the album. those are just my initial thoughts but im sure im going to continue to be very normal about this album and think about it a normal amount for the next business year

[turntabless]

🔮 honey - samia 🔮

welcome! to! the! first! installment! of! turntable takes!!! that’s a working title i think it’s cute. idk <3 to start this off i took a request from my wife @missnoirr herself <3 thanks tiana i love you !!! this is not going to be well written or concise and i also don’t know much about the specifics of music theory. sorry guys

genre: pop, indie rock

kill her freak out

ooooooh this is good. keys throughout the beginning are insanely thematic and fit really well with her beautiful voice! the layering is gorgeous! the lyrics hurt me and are very filmcore to me, fitting perfectly with the music <3 the little distortion bits about halfway through are so tasteful. yummy. the layering growing and the volume getting louder? love. chiming strings are lovely. atmosphere insane !!!! warbling keys at the end i owe my life to you <3

charm you

immediately struck by the acoustic guitar and the layered vocals. beautiful. bass and drums pick up and it’s a vibe !! oooooooooh god falsetto in the background fucks! he lil upticks at the end of some phrases are mesmerizing. lyrics are fun! and so earnest at parts! two tracks in samia already has a gorgeous voice.

pink balloon

stripped down piano and vocals immediately i’m in love. jesus these lyrics are. something else and presented in a way that captures the emotion of the song. feels kinda nostalgic and youthful which absolutely adds to it. jesusssssss the heartbreak the reality of it. the ending phrases are going to

murder me.

mad at me (featuring papa mbye)

OOOO fun lil intro with a good beat and keys!! voice is so effortless this is insane. loving the distortion and the CRACKLY GUITAR. so nice. goooood!!!! all of these lyrics so far are incredibly real and feel so coming of age and youthful. papa mbye has such a smooth voice it’s so pleasing to me? and it works insanely well with samia’s???also love the interplay between the two with the lyrics. lovely

sea lions

screaming “porn kills love outside your window with the adventists” was a fun sexy lil starting line and immediately endeared me. cause yeah. also starting the phrase with just her voice then adding the bass-heavy keys is such a good choice. also this is just painting such a picture of a nasty breakup with someone you still care for and it’s killing me right now! beautiful. samia QUEEN OF LAYERING. WOAH. DISTORTION BREAKDOWN INTO SOME DRUM BEATS AND SYNTH. this is so funky but the chiming keys still feel sooooo youthful and hopeful !!! very intrigued at what the spoken parts near the end mean and might look into it further but samia’s voice is beautiful on top of it. probably one of my favourites on the album so far.

to me it was

ohhhhhhh fade in from the last song with some pretty acoustic guitar. this feels like a story or letter adressed to someone and gives very much the impression of anxiety and coming into one’s own with someone else by your side. beautiful. very emotionally evocative with some beachy guitar and fun slides. this one might be the realest one i think. ALTO HARMONY JESUS that was nice. more layering and harmonies and it feels so nostalgic and so hopeful!!!! this is beautiful. a little spoken part that gives a slice of life that transitions into another language!!!

breathing song

ooooooo. separated synthy parts at the beginning and her vocals (autotuned but so tastefully!) shine so beautifully. twinkling notes mixing beautifully with the bass-heavy synths then the piano picks up on top of that? raindrops! these lyrics….. very evocative and make me think of an unhealthy relationship and working through the mental health aspect of it. OH instrumental cuts out and samia belts so desperately…. gorgeous. ABRUPT CUT ??? queen

honey

so lovely. acoustic guitar strumming pretty quick and light and the lyrics are VERY night out with the girls after a long week and the world just falls away. so hopeful but at the same time there’s… a note of melancholy that i can’t help but feel? layered harmony and drums kicking in, this is so feel-good. BASS BASS BASS. GOD YUM? cute lil riff underneath? oooooooh. male harmony underneath transitioning into what sounds like a choir. beautiful beautiful beautiful. this is truly like. 2am at a party you don’t want to stop!

nanana

ohhhhhh god. the lyrics on this one…. starts out hurting lots!!! “trying not to cry while the choir sings bleak midwinter cause they believe in something” ohhhhhh. sweet little guitar plucking with the slightest bit of feedback/electricity filtering through. feels like a bit of a lullaby. PICKING UP WITH SOME BASS AGAIN i love this !!! still feels very ethereal and honestly like looking out of the window during winter and watching the snowflakes fall, contemplative and depressed and can’t look away. WHISPERS IN THE BACKGROUND and instruments and vocals harmonizing with her voice. CUTE MALE CHOIR MOMENT with a soft “hey boys” introduction, and i love that their voices aren’t as polished.

amelia

keys!!!! soft vocals with a bit of rasp filtering through is scratching my brain quite nicely !!! OOOOO !!! fun drum beats and layering with some pretty guitar! her voice kinda phasing in and out is so nice! another really exciting song that feels like FUN. samia’s higher register is my favourite thing that’s insane !!!! lower guitar riffing hidden in the background provides such a nice harmony there. PULSATING SYNTHY BURST. WHEW.

dream song

ooooooo. pretty pretty lower guitar mixing so well with her voice, transitioning into an ascending little riff that goes back down. layered harmonies get me INSANE!!!! this song sounds like feeling on top of the world with someone no matter how impulsive or reckless it is. beautiful contemplative lyrics <3

thoughts: beautiful beautiful album perfect for coming of age movies, breakups and scream-crying about!!! i love the way samia uses layering and the keys, and the way the song progresses and gets more complex and deeper/bassier! fun poppy indie mix!!! samia’s lyrics go so hard and they’re subtle sometimes in that you hear it, take a quick second to process it and feel your heart drop a little <33

[unnonexistence]

fic writer asks number 14!! tell me your inspiration

[fic writer ask meme]

14. where do you get your inspiration?

music!!! music is the biggest & most obvious source. I owe a lot of my newmann headcanons & interpretations to, like, 10-30 pacific rim playlists that i listened to over and over again on 8tracks when I was in uni. they gave me something nice to think about while I was doing the dishes, & I will forever be grateful lol.

I make my own playlists as well, both for longer fic projects & specific characters/specific parts of the movie/et cetera. often i'll have a song that captures the vibe i want for something PERFECTLY, and I like to look at the song and go "okay, how exactly is it doing that?" and use that as a starting point (i.e. steal their storytelling techniques haha).

for The Big WIP, one of the songs I took a lot of inspiration from is Home To Me by Madeline. it has this repeated idea of, like, something romantic happens & the narrator is like "this is lovely, but I know it's not really about me," & I definitely used that. it also inspired a specific detail that's going to be obvious when I eventually post the relevant chapters lol.

another song I took much more abstract inspo from is A Small Fruit Song by Al Stewart. it's got this whole long & complicated instrumental that leads up to two verses expressing a feeling in as straightforward a way as I think it can be expressed, and like... yeah. that is a shape I'm trying to write too. sometimes you have to dance around something for a while before you can say it concretely.

playlists also help me stay on track with the story, because my first drafts often don't quite hit the emotional beats I intended them to. like there's one scene I've been messing with for ages because it's just not quite right, and I realized after listening to an old playlist again that I had the wrong reasoning behind Newt's feelings, & it was throwing everything off. still gotta fix that but I know what the problem is now!

aside from music, reading genres I don't write (mostly mystery & various types of nonfiction) really replenishes the writing well for me. they're hard to pick out as direct influences, but it all goes into the blender & a smoothie comes out, you know? gotta have a variety of ingredients in there.

thanks for asking!!

[screechthemighty]

Okay so. I do have thoughts on the TriMax ending, actually. Keep in mind I'm very tired rn and might have a head cold and I only read the ending once at like 3 a.m. on a work night BUT hear me out.

I think the ending works fine conceptually. I don't mind the fact that Vash is kinda sorta back in the same position that he once was--big bounty, on the run from people who want to capture him for it, Meryl and Milly on his tail--because while the broad strokes are the same, a lot of specific details aren't, and I think that's where it works for me.

Yes, Vash is back to being an outlaw, but if you think about it, he's also a lot freer than he was back at the start of Trigun? He can't use his powers anymore, which is really kind of a big load off his back when you think about how much trouble they caused him. He has his girls back, which is a big plus. Knives is gone which is...more of a mixed bag, so put a pin in that, but seeing how Knives was the root of a lot of Vash's problems, there's some benefit there.

But I think for me the biggest change comes when his interview (if you want to call it that lmao) gets broadcast and you see how many people are happy he's okay. All the people he saved along the way. All the friends he made. Vash has always had people willing to stick up to him, but I think in a post TriMax world, where he's not only been able to show those people his true face but his presence was instrumental to saving lives (and people know it!! He was the connection between humanity and plants and people saw that), he's going to have a much easier time navigating the world. Like, yeah, there will always be people who don't give a shit about that and just want the money, the Earth Federation is still pissed at him, but there's still improvement there. Not to mention the Earth Federation being there is going to (hopefully!) ease a lot of weight off the backs of everyday people, which will in turn mean things like "less crime" and "less financial incentive for regular people to turn Vash in" (see: the town from the first few chapters of Trigun Classic).

So on the whole, while the tone shift back to lighthearted is a bit jarring, I actually like the ending.......except for the fact that I feel like there's an arc missing between the end of the main plot and the actual ending. This is why I said to put a pin in Knives, for the record.

There's a big chunk of Vash's potential emotional development from those six months that we just don't get to see, and I feel like that's the biggest part of the reason why the ending is so jarring. We don't get to see him process the fact that he's still alive despite his losses, we don't get to see him truly process those losses, he's just kind of...back at it? Which, to be fair, he does compartmentalize way too much in the Actual Canon, so that kind of makes sense? But it is odd to not see that process, even if only in one chapter, to wrap things up. Like obviously I have no idea what happened behind the scenes, but it almost feels like this was all the story Nightow was allowed to write so he had to just wrap everything up in one go and move on.

So, yeah, basically this would've been a perfectly good, even great ending had we gotten like two more chapters to see what went down with Vash mentally during those six months. But that'd also be a tough sell, so I can see why we didn't. But I like the ending. If nothing else it affirmed to me that "March to the Sea" by twenty one pilots was the correct choice for my Vash playlist.

[techygeeks]

Exploring the Songs of De Dana Dan: A Musical Rollercoaster

The 2009 Bollywood comedy De Dana Dan, directed by Priyadarshan and featuring an ensemble cast including Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Shetty, and Paresh Rawal, is celebrated not just for its laugh-out-loud moments but also for its vibrant soundtrack. Composed by the ever-versatile Pritam, the music of De Dana Dan mirrors the film's blend of chaos, romance, and humor. It's a playlist that many, including listeners of Ruh Radio 1440 AM, might recognize as an essential part of Bollywood’s musical charm.

1. "Rishte Naate"

Singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Suzanne D'Mello Lyricist: Sayeed Quadri

This romantic melody, with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's soulful voice and Suzanne D'Mello's delicate harmony, stands out as one of the album’s highlights. The lyrics by Sayeed Quadri capture the tender and emotional essence of love, making it a favorite for those who enjoy heartfelt tracks. A song like this often finds its way into playlists that celebrate timeless romantic melodies—something listeners of Ruh Radio might deeply connect with during their late-night drives or quiet moments of reflection.

2. "Paisa Paisa"

Singers: RDB and Manak-E Lyricist: RDB

For those who enjoy high-energy tracks with a Punjabi twist, Paisa Paisa is an instant hit. The quirky lyrics and infectious beats bring humor to the concept of money’s importance, a theme central to the film's story. It’s the kind of song that can bring a smile to your face, whether heard in a bustling market or played during a lively segment on your favorite frequency—1440 AM.

3. "Baamulaiza"

Singers: Mika Singh and Dominique Cerejo Lyricist: Ashish Pandit

Playful, groovy, and loaded with Mika Singh's trademark energy, Baamulaiza is a track that can light up any party. The humorous undertones of the lyrics blend seamlessly with its vibrant beats. Songs like this remind us why Bollywood music is often synonymous with celebration—a sentiment cherished by Ruh Radio listeners, who appreciate a blend of entertainment and lighthearted fun.

4. "Gale Lag Ja"

Singers: Javed Ali and Ban Jyotsna Lyricist: Irshad Kamil

Romantics will appreciate Gale Lag Ja, a serene duet that brings warmth and tenderness to the album. Sung by Javed Ali and Ban Jyotsna, and penned by Irshad Kamil, the song’s gentle melody and evocative lyrics make it perfect for quieter moments. It’s one of those tracks that can transport you to a world of calm, much like the reflective musical interludes heard on Ruh Radio during your favorite time slots.

5. "Hotty Naughty"

Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan Lyricist: Kumar

A sassy and bold track, Hotty Naughty sees Sunidhi Chauhan in her element, bringing flair and charisma to the composition. Picturized on Katrina Kaif, it adds a layer of glamor to the film and is a fun, upbeat number to groove to. A song like this would fit right into a vibrant Bollywood-themed playlist, energizing listeners on-air at 1440 AM.

6. "De Dana Dan - Theme Song"

The theme track captures the chaotic, comic energy of the film. With pulsating beats and a fast-paced rhythm, it serves as an anthem for the madcap events in De Dana Dan. Though it’s not a lyrical number, its instrumental energy perfectly complements the film’s essence.

Conclusion

The music of De Dana Dan is a testament to how Bollywood blends humor, romance, and energy into its soundtracks. Whether it’s the soulful notes of Rishte Naate or the foot-tapping beats of Baamulaiza, each track contributes to the film’s vibrant narrative. For those tuning into Ruh Radio 1440 AM, these songs are a reminder of Bollywood’s ability to craft melodies that resonate across generations, making even a simple car ride a journey into the heart of Indian cinema.

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[musicinstrumentsins]

An Insight into the Appearances of Oboe in Popular Media

The oboe has been winning people's hearts across the world since time immemorial. All credit goes to its haunting and distinctive sound quality. Beyond the confinement of the concert halls, this versatile woodwind gear has played significant roles in popular culture, television shows, movies, and other media. Simply put, it is an integral part of the cultural fabric. Here, we will delve into the artistic journey of the oboe, explore its roles in different popular platforms, and the overall impact it has on the crowd.

Role of the Woodwind in Movie Scores

One of the most prominent uses of the woodwind in popular culture is in movies. Owing to its expressive capabilities, it often gives a hint of nostalgia and melancholy to movie scores. Needless to say, the haunting melodies of this woodwind instrument can prompt a sense of hope, loss, or contemplation. Here is an example for you - the iconic theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey - a Stanley Kubrick flick. The music piece was composed by Richard Strauss. It seamlessly captures the film's sense of wonder and mystery.

Aside from its role in dramatic aspects of musical compositions, the oboe has been utilized to spur playful and lighthearted effects. Take, for instance, its use in Disney's beloved animated film "The Little Mermaid,". Here, the gear portrays the enchanting underwater realm and adds a sense of magic and whimsy to the shots. The instrument has a unique timbre. This distinctiveness blends perfectly with the vividity and incredible characters of the story. It added charm and depth to the overall experience.

Oboe and Storytelling in TV shows

Television shows have also adopted the oboe as a powerful tool for storytelling. The popularity of the gear for creating background music and theme songs is mainly due to the ability of this woodwind family member to convey a range of expressions and emotions. Can you guess the classic example? Well! It is the theme song from the celebrated TV series MAS*H. This show features a haunting melody that correctly strikes the bitter-and-sweet tone of the show.

The Ultimate Gaming Experience

Apart from film and television, the gear has also made its place in other forms of widespread media, such as video games. The oboe can add an aura of mystery or adventure. You may consider the example of the most loved game series, “The Elder Scroll." Here, the gear is used to follow the players on their respective journeys through the various landscapes of the game.

Above and beyond!

The woodwind's appearances in popular culture have not only entertained people. It has also helped to introduce the instrument to a wider audience. By hearing the gear in familiar contexts, people may become more interested in learning about the instrument and its history. You are probably also one of them. Right? The first thing first! If you own this gear - whether you are a professional or just an enthusiast - get a dedicated oboe insurance plan.

Furthermore, this beloved musical equipment's cultural journey has also helped solidify its place as a versatile and expressive instrument. Its ability to evoke a wide range of emotions has made it a valuable tool for composers and musicians alike. Whether it is being used to create a haunting melody or a playful tune, it continues to captivate audiences and enrich the world of popular culture. So, if you are an aspiring or seasoned musician, make sure to buy a comprehensive oboe insurance plan in the first place.

Some Final Words

The oboe's appearances in popular culture have played a significant role in introducing the instrument to a more expansive audience and showcasing its versatility. As the gear continues to evolve and adapt to new cultural trends, it is sure to remain a beloved and influential instrument for generations to come.

[unitedstatesofworld]

The Untold Story: Dana Chang Violin Cause of Death Unraveled

Dana Chang, an incredibly talented violinist, left the world too soon, leaving her fans, family, and friends searching for answers. Her untimely demise has sparked curiosity, leading many to wonder what exactly happened. The cause of her death has been shrouded in mystery, leaving room for speculation and numerous questions. How could such a gifted musician suddenly vanish from the world? What was the actual cause of her death? These questions linger as we attempt to piece together the details behind the Dana Chang violin cause of death.

Who Was Dana Chang?

Before diving into the cause of her death, it’s important to understand who Dana Chang was. Known for her incredible prowess with the violin, Dana was not just a musician but a virtuoso. Her passion for music ignited at an early age, and she quickly became one of the most talented violinists of her generation. Dana Chang wowed audiences with her emotive performances, skillful techniques, and dedication to her craft.

Early Life: Dana was born into a family of musicians. Her mother was a pianist, and her father, a cellist. It was only natural that she took up an instrument herself.

Rise to Fame: Chang’s performances began to capture attention, especially when she started performing at major concerts worldwide.

Contribution to Classical Music: Dana’s unique style and interpretations of classic pieces brought a fresh perspective to the violin world.

The Mysterious Cause of Death

Now, the burning question—what caused Dana Chang's death? This topic has been widely debated and speculated upon, with no official confirmation released. Several potential causes have been suggested, but none seem to fit perfectly, which adds to the ongoing mystery. Although some reports point to natural causes, others believe there may have been underlying health issues that were kept private.

Health Concerns: Some sources suggest that Dana may have been suffering from an undisclosed medical condition. However, no one close to her has confirmed this.

Speculative Reports: A few media outlets speculated about mental health struggles or burnout, considering the immense pressure faced by musicians of her caliber.

Could these rumors hold any weight? Or were they merely the product of public conjecture?

Mental Health in the World of Music

It’s no secret that the world of professional music can be incredibly demanding. From the pressure to perform at a high level consistently to the emotional toll it can take, mental health is often overlooked in this field. Dana Chang may have been a victim of these overwhelming pressures. Could her cause of death be connected to the stress of living in the spotlight?

Burnout: Many musicians struggle with burnout after years of pushing their bodies and minds to the limit. Was Dana feeling the effects of this, and could it have contributed to her tragic end?

Mental Health Stigma: In many cases, artists hesitate to talk about their mental health, fearing that it could impact their career. Dana’s private nature leads some to speculate that she may have been battling personal demons silently.

The Role of Lifestyle Factors

Another angle worth exploring is whether lifestyle factors played a part in the Dana Chang violin cause of death. As a professional violinist, Dana was undoubtedly traveling frequently and maintaining a grueling practice schedule. The demands of being a top-tier musician might have led to poor health habits.

Lack of Rest: Musicians, especially touring ones, often face irregular schedules, late nights, and little downtime. It’s possible that her physical health deteriorated due to exhaustion.

Physical Strain: Playing the violin for long periods puts immense strain on the body. It’s not unheard of for musicians to suffer from repetitive strain injuries. Could this have escalated into something more serious for Dana?

A Legacy Cut Short

Regardless of the actual cause, one fact remains—Dana Chang’s death marked the end of a beautiful musical legacy. Her fans still find it difficult to comprehend that someone so vibrant and full of life is no longer with us. In reflecting on her life and contributions, we should remember her as the passionate, talented violinist she was.

Influence on Young Musicians: Dana Chang inspired countless young musicians who looked up to her as a role model.

Her Performances: From heartfelt renditions of classical pieces to modern interpretations, Dana’s music lives on in recordings and in the memories of her listeners.

What’s Next for Dana Chang’s Legacy?

While Dana may no longer be with us, her music continues to resonate. As we explore the Dana Chang violin cause of death, we also celebrate her life. Her influence on the world of classical music will remain undiminished.

Tributes from Fellow Musicians: Many of Dana’s colleagues and fans have paid tribute to her with concerts and events held in her honor. These performances not only celebrate her life but also ensure that her musical legacy endures.

Future Projects: There’s been talk of posthumous albums featuring unreleased recordings by Dana. Could these provide more insight into her life and work?

Conclusion

The Dana Chang violin cause of death remains a tragic mystery that continues to haunt those who admired her. Whether due to natural causes, health issues, or lifestyle factors, the world lost an extraordinary talent far too soon. Dana’s legacy, however, will never fade. Her music, her passion, and her spirit live on in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to witness her brilliance.

As we continue to seek answers, perhaps the most important takeaway is this: Dana Chang’s life was a masterpiece in itself, and that is something worth remembering.

[musicinyeg]

Review : "Ancillae" The Debut EP by Darkened Skies

Darkened Skies, the female-fronted progressive and alternative rock metal band just dropped their debut EP "Ancillae" (out now on all streaming platforms), an incredible body of work from start to finish with hauntingly gorgeous vocals, great lyrics, and fantastic music production all based on "The Perfect Victim", the book written about the real life story of a horrifying crime that took place between 1977-1984 that involved a woman named Colleen Stan. A woman held hostage and placed underneath a husband and wife's bed in a box, only to be taken out and used as the couples sex slave and their children's babysitter. I highly recommend either reading the book, watching the movie based on the crime "Girl In The Box" or even one of the several True Crime Docs about it on YouTube to give you context!

The EP starts with "The Monster Inside" which perfectly captures the moment when someone gives in to all of their darkest impulses, and allows the things they desire to transform them into their truest form of being. It's told from the husband and wife's point of view, and their mindset as they capture their victim. Right on the first listen, i was so impressed with how the instrumental builds through out the song and showcases the couple's darkness, not just through the lyrics, but in the ways the score switches gears with each verse.

The next track "Skeleton" is based on the wife's point of view. Her conflicting feelings towards her husband's desire, her complacency in his needs that she stomachs for the sake of love, and having a child. I love the sorrowful vocals at the start of the track, and the harmonies and layers added, but my favorite part of the track is when the demonic screams kick in capturing what could be interpreted as the voice in her head that convinces her to stay with him.

The third track on the EP "The Devil Sleeps Above Me", is from the victims point of view. Encapsulating both her fear, and her hopes that she will get rescued, be it by heroes or by death. My personal favorite on this project, because the way Sharon (the vocalist) manages to capture the emotional state of the victim so authentically through her performance, actually gave me chills.

The next track, "Escape", also told from the victims point of view, is quite literally about her escape, and while i don't want to give away how she does so for those who will end up reading the book, watching the movie, or watching the documentaries, (shout out to the lyricist who leaves it cryptic enough that it doesn't give it away either), i think the production of the song actually does a great job at showcasing what takes place because once the lyrics are through, we get 3 and a half solid minutes of instrumental that for me..and i can't explain why exactly, but it somehow manages to show off the emotion of what went down, especially if you are already privy to what ends up getting the victim out of her situation.

The final track "Life After", is about exactly what you expect it to be about. Life after being out of that couples grasp, but at the same time, not really being free because the physical and emotional scars still have the victim in a choke hold, but knowing, or at least hoping that someday she will be okay again.

All in all, it is a great project that perfectly captures the story of Colleen Stan, and the mindset of all the parties involved, with incredible music production, lyrics, and vocals. While the project as a whole can certainly stand on it's own and be enjoyed whether you know the story or not, i think knowing the context gives you the opportunity to have more of an emotional connection to the project.

--Xx Deon (MusicInYEG)

[montyterrible]

The Essential Ernest, A Portrait of Quality

The first of the Ernest films, Ernest Goes to Camp (1987) might feel, perhaps appropriately, the most like a “real movie” out of the handful of titles from the series that I’ve re-watched so far. This is in part because of its more ambitious-feeling scope: Things are getting blown up and set on fire late in the movie as Ernest and his crew of mostly children defend their summer camp from an evil mining company. It still has that vibe of a small cast in an easy-to-wrangle location, but certain bits, some more subtle than explosions, lend it a sense of extra legitimacy as a movie.

Like other films in the series, Goes to Camp uses sped-up footage to create a sense of… speed at points, but the effect this time felt much more cohesive with the look of the rest of the movie around it by virtue of how the footage seemed simultaneously sped up but also slowed down in a way that made it look less uncanny to me. Meanwhile, during a low point in the story, Victoria Racimo as the camp nurse gets to deliver an emotional address to the “delinquents” that Ernest has been assigned to camp-counsel and does so with a strong sense of veracity and power. Jim Varney sings a song earlier in said emotional low point over footage of the various main characters packing their stuff to give way to the aforementioned mining company that also feels like a real attempt to throw some weight behind the plot.

There’s some fun reincorporation of various elements: lanterns turned into rockets, biting turtles, a gross toilet. There are several fine Contraptions on display, like a food-launching cannon and a bus that’s been turned into a catapult. There’s a sort of “Chekhov’s Gun”-type scenario with an actual gun but also with a little cart (like, “Ernest’s Golf Cart”) that spends the whole movie rolling around as a kind of lightly comedic refrain between scenes and that finally comes to a stop just in time to be loaded with explosives and driven into a marauding behemoth of a construction vehicle. And there are other little moments of fine-tuned whimsy, like Ernest whistling along briefly with non-diegetic music in one scene or two of the kids tapping their feet in time to similarly non-diegetic music in another.

The extremely 80s dramatic plot heavily focuses on a strip-mining company (literally named “Krader” after its owner) that wants to take over and ruin the titular camp—Kamp Kikakee—which belongs to an old Native American man (Iron Eyes Cody) and his granddaughter (Racimo). It’s an incredible blunt instrument of environmentalist messaging, but the concept of some old dude who only cares about money trying to destroy a summer camp just feels very of its time to me and a lot of fun for it. As for the cultural and political component of that plot: Iron Eyes Cody certainly gives the movie a fun element of legitimacy, I guess, in terms of its cinematic pedigree, but—and perhaps this is unsurprising for a movie called “Ernest Goes to Camp”—I wouldn’t say that the indigenous… themes and the portrayal of said themes are necessarily Good, even if we ignore the Italian American playing one of the most explicitly “Indian” characters in the movie. In its totality, it’s a portrayal by and for white people despite it also not really making light of those elements or demonizing them. It just boils down to the old stereotypes: warriors and spiritual living and a more intimate tie to the land. I might call it “reductive,” keeping in mind that this is still a white person speaking right now…

This is still “Essential Ernest” to me with regard to its overall quality, as well how perfectly I think it captures some of the essential qualities of the Ernest character. As much as he’s supposed to be some kind of working-class caricature in some ways (he’s “whiter than white” and “a redneck,” to briefly quote 1995’s Slam Dunk Ernest), he’s also so many things that such caricatures often aren’t: He’s certain kinds of ignorant, but also consistently creative and clever; his living quarters in these movies skew campy and kitschy; his arms always seem more muscular than I expect them to be, but he’s also small and lithe and a little craven in his posture. He’s expressive and emotional and open and vulnerable—He is earnest, this Ernest—even if he doesn’t want it.

Humor often results from the dramatic irony that arises when these obvious elements of Ernest’s characterization clash with his various boasts about his charm or his physical skills, and, usually, the other characters in the movie roll their eyes and chuckle along with us, the audience. However, what makes Goes to Camp so good at highlighting this fundamental nature of Ernest is how the kids he’s been assigned eventually warm up to him, and after he’s accidentally sold the camp out from under everybody and starts talking about going down to the work site and busting some heads to make things right, his boys, who would almost certainly tell you they’re too worldly and experienced to be taken in so easily, buy into the bravado in a way that no one else does. They’re just kids, in the end, and seeing them and Ernest lose their confidence is decently affecting. Ernest Getting His Ass Beat by Krader’s right-hand man/chief goon is the precipitating event that takes us into the emotional low point sequence as the kids’ disillusionment and the camp’s seemingly impending ruin dovetail. What ultimately wins the day is not some conventionally masculine show of strength, but creativity and cleverness and goofiness—spry little Ernest, an old man, two eccentric camp kitchen staff, and a few kids winning the big fight by relying on those weaker or lesser qualities. Ernest is Ernest in all of these movies, but it’s here that his Ernest-ness feels especially prominent and pivotal to me.

[nationofsouls]

Unveiling Timeless Elegance: The Stellar Blush Strap Watch by Nation of Souls

In a world driven by innovation and technology, there's something truly enchanting about a classic timepiece that transcends trends and speaks to the heart. Nation of Souls presents the Stellar Blush Strap Watch, a masterpiece that redefines elegance and sophistication. Join us on a journey as we explore the remarkable features and enduring allure of the Stellar Blush Strap Watch – a timepiece that blends timeless design with modern sensibilities.

Embracing Timelessness: The Stellar Blush Strap Watch

The Stellar Blush Strap Watch is a tribute to the art of watchmaking, seamlessly fusing vintage charm with contemporary aesthetics. Nation of Souls, known for its commitment to quality and craftsmanship, has created a watch that stands as a testament to the enduring appeal of traditional design. Crafted to capture attention and capture hearts, the Stellar Blush Strap Watch boasts a delicate balance between heritage and innovation.

A Glimpse into Elegance

The very first glance at the Stellar Blush Strap Watch evokes a sense of elegance that's hard to ignore. The blush-colored strap exudes femininity and sophistication, perfectly complementing the stainless steel case. This harmonious blend of materials and colors ensures that the watch is not just an accessory, but an expression of personal style. Whether paired with formal attire or adding a touch of refinement to casual ensembles, the Stellar Blush Strap Watch effortlessly elevates any look.

Every Detail Tells a Story

What sets the Stellar Blush Strap Watch apart is its meticulous attention to detail. From the intricate design of the watch face to the precision of the hands, every element is carefully crafted to create a cohesive and captivating whole. The minimalist dial exudes a sense of timeless grace, while the subtle branding serves as a reminder of Nation of Souls' dedication to quality. It's in these details that the Stellar Blush Strap Watch becomes not just a timekeeping instrument, but a work of art.

Crafted for Every Moment

Whether you're stepping into the boardroom or heading out for a social gathering, the Stellar Blush Strap Watch proves to be the perfect companion. Its versatility is a testament to its design, seamlessly transitioning from day to night, from formal to casual. The watch doesn't just keep time; it becomes a part of your narrative, adding a touch of elegance to your every moment.

Precision Redefined

Nation of Souls' commitment to precision is evident in every tick of the Stellar Blush Strap Watch. Powered by advanced mechanisms, this timepiece doesn't just tell time; it encapsulates it with unparalleled accuracy. Whether you're planning your day or cherishing a special occasion, the reliability of the Stellar Blush Strap Watch becomes a cornerstone of your journey.

Capturing Hearts and Attention

The allure of the Stellar Blush Strap Watch extends beyond its physical beauty. It captures hearts with its ability to tell a story, evoke emotions, and stand as a symbol of exquisite taste. As you wear this watch, you become a part of the legacy it represents – a legacy that embraces tradition while celebrating the modern spirit.

Nation of Souls: Where Time Meets Artistry

Behind the creation of the Stellar Blush Strap Watch is Nation of Souls, a brand that intertwines time with artistry. With a history rooted in craftsmanship and a vision focused on innovation, Nation of Souls is dedicated to crafting watches that transcend mere timekeeping. The Stellar Blush Strap Watch is a shining example of their philosophy – a philosophy that combines the best of both worlds to create a timepiece that's truly exceptional.

In conclusion, the Stellar Blush Strap Watch by Nation of Souls is more than just a watch; it's an embodiment of elegance, precision, and a timeless connection to the past. With its classic design, attention to detail, and versatility, the watch becomes an integral part of your personal style and narrative. Whether you're drawn to its aesthetics or its reliability, the Stellar Blush Strap Watch is a true testament to the art of watchmaking. Elevate your style, embrace tradition, and celebrate modernity with the Stellar Blush Strap Watch from Nation of Souls.

[gayfriendlyweddingdjsau]

Making Memories: How to Craft the Perfect Playlist for Your Gay Wedding

Choosing the ideal music for a wedding

The music you select for your wedding helps to set the mood for this particular occasion because it is a celebration of love, commitment, and joy. For LGBTQ+ couples, the task has even greater significance because the music they select for their wedding becomes a reflection of their very own unique love story. This comprehensive guide will look at the skill of selecting music that is appropriate for a gay wedding while making sure that each beat and tune accurately captures the love and happiness that the couple shares.

Adopting Inclusion

Finding wedding professionals who value diversity and are sensitive to the particular requirements of LGBTQ+ couples is crucial when organizing a homosexual wedding. Finding the ideal wedding DJ who appreciates the significance of expressing the couple's love and identity through their musical preferences is part of this process. Gay wedding DJs are industry experts that focus on selecting music that honors love in all of its manifestations, making sure the couple and their guests have an unforgettable and inclusive musical experience.

Lesbian Wedding DJ Celebrating Love

Lesbian wedding DJs are crucial in selecting music that reflects the love and excitement of the couple, just like gay wedding DJs do. Music that connects to the two women's journey and shared experiences is necessary to celebrate their union. Lesbian wedding DJs are professionals at putting together musical settings that capture the characteristics of the couple, their love story, and the festive mood of the event.

Creating Custom Wedding Music

Music That Reflects Your Love Story: Choose songs that depict your special love story and the path that brought you two to this special occasion. Whether it was the song you first danced to or the one that played during your proposal, pick songs that have special value for you two as a couple. Personalizing your gay wedding music gives your special day an added touch of tenderness.

Inclusivity and Diversity: Take in a wide variety of musical genres that speak to you both as a couple. Whether you enjoy mainstream songs, alternative music, or classic ballads, don't be afraid to mix different genres to make a playlist that reflects your varied preferences and personalities.

Music for the Ceremonial Setting

The Walk Down the Aisle: For the processional, pick a music that captures the feelings you want to express as you cross the threshold. This moment establishes the mood for the remainder of the ceremony, whether it be a mellow and romantic melody or an enthusiastic and joyous piece.

Exchanging Vows: When exchanging vows, take into account instrumental music that accentuates the feelings felt in this private moment. A genuine and emotional atmosphere can be produced by soft piano or acoustic guitar tunes.

Putting Together the Ideal Reception Playlist

The First Dance: Your first dance together as husband and wife is a treasured memory. Choose a song that speaks to you both and perfectly encapsulates your relationship. Let the tune and words express the feelings you have while holding each other.

Dancing the Night Away: For the reception, make sure your playlist contains a balance of popular songs and songs with special meaning to you. To keep the dance floor active and busy throughout the night, let your guests to suggest songs.

Working with a Wedding DJ: Some Advice

Open Communication: Be honest with your gay or lesbian wedding DJ about your musical tastes and any songs in particular that have special value for you. A skilled DJ will take the time to comprehend your goals and develop a playlist that fits them.

Reading the Room: A talented wedding DJ will be able to assess the atmosphere of the space and modify the music accordingly. By choosing the appropriate songs at the appropriate moments, they will read the mood of your visitors and keep the dance floor active.

Conclusion

Making the appropriate music selection for a gay wedding requires thought, inclusivity, and individuality on the side of the couple. Whether you want to hire Best DJs or lesbian wedding DJs, you should make sure that they support your goals and are committed to creating a musical environment that celebrates both your love and the joy of the event. Your wedding day can be transformed into a peaceful celebration of your special and lovely journey together with the help of a playlist that has been thoughtfully chosen to match your love story.

[belizedeservesbetter]

A Man of No Importance is Really Important to Me

John Doyle really said “Let me show you how it’s done” 

In an age of musicals where Big Belting and screaming high notes are all the rage, I am so completely thrilled that the smaller and more modest A Man of No Importance gets a chance to shine - and shine it does over in Union Square at Classic Stage Company.

The shows tells the tale of Alfie Byrne (played by Jim Parsons but more on him later) who is a part time bus driver and full time leader of a small amateur theatre troupe in Dublin. Alfie is determined to stage Oscar Wilde’s Salome, despite objections from the church all the while straining against the homophobic society that has held him down for so long. The show is very charming on its surface but packs a real punch as well.

The show really made me remember just how good of a writer Terrence McNally was. The book is absolutely phenomenal. There are so many characters in this show and yet each feels fully realized. Alfie himself is such a wonderful character and his desperation to stage this play and how deeply in love he’s in with his best friend is so gorgeously written. Everything is so subtle and so perfectly heart breaking at just the right moments and really made me remember how good a musical can be. 

Of course the music is excellent, but I was also really blown away by the orchestrations. I know people are hit or miss about John Doyle’s having the actors also play instruments, but it worked so perfectly here. Bruce Coughlin’s orchestrations were so beautiful and brought out so many layers to the already beautiful score. 

Truly, this is a show about art and love and deep love for art and deep love for theatre and being gay and what you cling to when the world you live in won’t let you be who you are or love who you love. 

John Doyle’s direction perfectly highlights all of these themes and his style is so perfectly suited for this show. Stripping the show down to its bare essentials highlighted the raw emotion of the show and the feeling of Alfie being trapped but desperately trying to find his way out. Doyle also staged a lot of scenes in a way that I can only describe as like a near and far effect? It was really lovely and really captured Alfie’s loneliness and how often he is seen as an outsider. 

There was also such a deep theatricality to it that I found so beautiful. Doyle made the show feel like the poems Alfie loves. He created such beautiful stage pictures that will stick with me for a long time. 

Between this, last year’s Assassins and of course The Color Purple, I’m reminded that John Doyle is one of our most iconic directors for a reason. He’s able to get to the heart of the show and put it on full display. He pulls phenomenal performances from his actors and knows how to tell a damn good story.

The set, also designed by Doyle, was also very lovely. It set the whole show in the church basement where St. Imelda’s Players rehearses their plays and it fit Classic Stage Company’s space so perfectly. The back wall was covered in antique mirrors, which was a really lovely touch considering Alfie’s big song in Act One. 

Which of course brings us to the performances, which were all wonderful. Everyone was excellent, with Jim Parsons, Mare Winingham, AJ Shively and Mary Beth Peil being the highlights.

Peil is always a delight, and it was wonderful seeing her play an actress who takes her performance way too seriously. Shively was surprisingly very wonderful, though really I shouldn’t be too surprised as I thought he was great in last season’s Paradise Square as well. His Robbie grounded Parson’s Alfie very well and his “Streets of Dublin” was a highlight. 

Mare Winningham is Mare Winningham, which means of course she was excellent. Alfie and his sister Lilly are the emotional core of the show, and she was absolutely wonderful. 

Jim Parsons was also absolutely wonderful, which is no easy feat considering he is on stage for just about the entirety of the show. It is very clear how important this character is to Parsons, and he fills him with so much heart and so much want. He isn’t the best singer, but it somehow works in the show. Alfie isn’t a great artist, so Parsons doesn’t have to be a great singer. Likewise, where he lacks in singing (and occasionally the Irish accent), he makes up in heart and excellent acting. It was an absolute joy to see him on stage. 

All in all this show is so wonderful! If you’re able, definitely head down to Union Square to see this beautiful gem of a show. 

[sugadaily]

On tvN’s You Quiz on the Block, SUGA told stories from before his debut. The period of his life when he struggled with how to live off his music. SUGA and BTS have kept going and going for eight years, and now he’s on their grounds, where he can do anything he wants musically. What began with that long journey is the story of SUGA holding his head up higher and staring at the future, reaching for it.

How are you feeling after your shoulder surgery? You’re doing physical therapy in parallel with work. SUGA: I’m all right. I’m keeping up with the physical therapy, too. I had surgery last year because I wanted to be able to go back to work sooner. I have nothing else to do except music.

You said that there’s nothing for you to do other than music in the “BE-hind Story” interview on YouTube, too. SUGA: It’s true. I tried gaming, but I have no talent for it. The people I play with online get so frustrated if I do. I mean, I’m working hard and got some recognition in my life, and yet people bash me so hard in games. (laughs)

I wonder if there’s a game you can do better in than you do in your career. You’re currently at your sixth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 [with “Butter, at the time of this interview]. (laughs) How are you feeling these days? SUGA: When we were at number one for two weeks straight, I was like, Wow, this is so amazing! But after the fifth or sixth week, we really started to talk about it between ourselves: I really can’t believe this. Anyway, I feel like I have a responsibility. And I think I’ll end up thinking much, much more when we get ready for the next promotion. Even if I just try to enjoy this situation, it hasn’t sunk in. We can’t leave the country, plus there’s lots of issues in the world right now that are much more important than how well we perform on the charts.

As you say, it’s a tough situation, all over the world. How do you feel about releasing “Permission to Dance,” with its positive message, at this point in time? SUGA: It seems like everyone around the world is really tired of this situation dragging out. I wanted to convey a message that tells people to keep hanging on to hope until the very end. Whereas we released the album BE in this situation, seemingly without any certainty, I believe things will slowly get better now. I don’t know if we can go back to the way things were before, but I’m still working with the hope that we can return to a situation that resembles what we had before.

Aren’t you tired of the pandemic being in this prolonged state? SUGA: I look at it as, when you lose one thing, you gain another. I ended up being able to see my family more since I’m in Korea. In that sense, I feel more stable, so I’m not so much tired as hoping each day that things will become okay soon. I keep moving back and forth between work and home, and I’ve started to reflect on parts of myself I didn’t know about before. Like that I feel somewhat comfortable when I start and finish work at a certain time. While I used to have to go to bed at a certain time for work the next day or else I had a hard time getting up early, now I know I’ve figured out what time I should wake up at to make sure I feel good all day. What I pursue in life is emotional stability, and I don’t think there’s really anything too exciting or sad happening these days.

What effect do those emotions have when you work on music? SUGA: They don’t have a big effect on it. I think it affects the way I write lyrics a bit, but I’m not working on any lyrics at the moment. I’ve been making music for a long time, so I think it’s possible for me to express emotions I’m not feeling in the moment. And it’s good that we released “Permission to Dance” in this kind of situation.

You sing rather than rap in “Permission to Dance.” In addition to rapping, you started singing more both before and after BE. What did you learn about your voice? SUGA: “Permission to Dance” was a little bit difficult. I don’t draw a line between singing and rapping or anything, but it was different from our usual style, and the vocals were a bit high, too. So even though it took a while to prepare for it, I worked hard, and even when I asked some older musicians for their opinions, they all said, “It’s good the way you’re doing it. Don’t try to sing better—just sing more.” I think my only option is to sing more, like they suggested.

As far as style goes, you’ve been doing a smoother kind of pop music. Did any differences arise as a result of these changes? SUGA: All things considered, the English was the hardest part. I paid close attention to my pronunciation in “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.” It wasn’t easy to capture that smooth feeling in the songs, so I practiced my pronunciation quite a bit. And I end up breathing a lot when I’m doing an English song, but the rap parts were a bit hard for that reason. There’s a clear difference from Korean songs, since English has so many syllables. But I don’t have any one method I stick with for my vocals yet, so I tend to try lots of different things out.

What do you make of BTS’s achievements over the past year with “Permission to Dance” and “Butter,�� as well as the group’s change in style? In the space of a year, you’ve released songs in a style different from MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 or BE. SUGA: As a producer, I think reactions are important to an artist who works within the field of popular music. With that in mind, speaking as a producer, “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” were the best choices. And musical tastes are different from country to country, and the cultures are different, too. Given that situation, I think it’s important that we’re a group who can send such a universal message out into the world.

BTS has really grown and changed a lot, starting with “No More Dream” and all the way to “Permission to Dance.” SUGA: I think it’s a natural course of event for those of us who make pop music. Artists mix and match different genres as they grow, and the music develops as the people of its time listen to it. I’ve been listening to a ton of music lately, and thanks to the times we live in, if I listen to a song a few times, they recommend me more songs in a similar style. And after listening to them, I realized the style of hip hop is also changing and is splitting off into different offshoots. Other than hip hop, I also listen to a lot of instrumental music. I’ve always liked Hans Zimmer’s music. There have been many times where a movie I like turns out to have music by Hans Zimmer.

What is it about Hans Zimmer’s music that draws you in? SUGA: I like orchestral music. There’s a lot of pop songs that are under the three-minute mark now, and whereas it’s sort of predetermined that they’re always written with intros that are four bars long, orchestral music can do a lot within its framework.

But, as can be seen in IU’s song “eight,” which you both produced and featured on, you broke out of pop music’s typical composition style and tried out a highly condensed progression. The composition of the chorus is very straightforward. SUGA: Yes. I insisted that the flow be roughly cut in half from that of a typical song, and I expect more pop music will be like that in the future. And maybe even shorter as time goes on. I mean, these days there’s songs that are under two minutes, even.

Regardless, I felt the chorus in “eight” is extremely dramatic with its structure and the melody of the chorus. I thought it was rather grand in scale as well. Would you say that you’re attempting to mix your tastes and things you want to do into the structure of pop music? SUGA: As you know, I love hip hop, so when I was first making music I thought it had to be hip hop no matter what and that I had to take pride in my own ideas and not accept any compromise. But while getting some experience at the forefront of pop music, I figured out that you can keep being stubborn or inflexible because there are people listening to you. There was a time I made music without any listeners before I became a member of BTS. But if someone were to ask if I stopped being stubborn about the music I’m making these days, the answer’s no. As I grew up and became an adult, I came to realize that I have to negotiate between what I want to do and the kind of music the public wants without compromising anything. When I give up on something I wanted to do, I ask myself, What will I get out of this? And conversely, when I want to do something, I ask myself, What can I get out of this? That’s how I keep my balance to make it to where I am now.

You have no choice but to think about those things when you work on other artists’ songs, especially when you’re a producer. SUGA: I’m BTS’s SUGA, and I’m Agust D, and when I’m producing, I go by “by SUGA.” But when it comes to by SUGA, I make perfectly commercial music. I’m the producer for those songs, sure, but the owner is someone else, you know? In that case, they’re commissioning my work. But they wouldn’t think about just leaving it all with SUGA. The artist’s label has to think carefully about whether to commission me for producing and consider my situation, too, and those people must be hoping for something commercial. That’s the most important part of working with outside people. Actually, that kind of work isn’t much of a benefit to me, to be honest. Oh, he can write this kind of song, too. That’s all. The more valuable thing I can get from it is the recognition and records the artist or the company will get with the song instead.

As you noted in your previous Weverse Magazine interview, when you discussed your “interest in the music industry in the US,” you seem to constantly think about the things artists can do within the framework of the music industry. SUGA: I don’t know. It’s just that I’ve become more certain since the pandemic started that I’m the kind of person who always has to be doing music. That much I know for sure, so I want to keep on making good music. And the pop music market is something that came about because there were people listening, and there’s a long history to the US music market, and it possesses the most influential charts in the whole word. So then I thought, Wouldn’t they have gone through all the same things that we have? And really, whenever I talk to other pop stars, the situation is always similar. The US is also more realistic about commercial results than any other country. I wanted an accurate picture of how those people work. Right now, Korean pop music’s spread is in full swing and we need more good artists to keep popping up. From a producer’s standpoint, if that’s going to happen, I think the key is how well we can mix our music and the characteristics of overseas music industries overall.

How did it feel to be in the lineup for the Grammy Awards, one of the icons of the US music industry? SUGA: The feeling was less immediate because we couldn’t be there in person, and it wasn’t a huge distinction, but the performance made me think, This is different, because it’s the Grammys. What changed my view from the first time I went to an American music awards ceremony was, the first time I went, I was really scared of the world’s biggest music market. But when I look back now, I don’t think I had any reason to feel that intimidated. To be honest, I have only now begun to enjoy the awards ceremonies; I wasn’t able to then.

It’s no exaggeration to say that you’ve achieved most of the things that you can as an artist in the music industry. What steps do you think are necessary for the artists who follow after BTS? SUGA: The way artists work seems so difficult. They make an appearance on a different music show every day once the promotional period begins, meaning the exhaustion artists face is enormous, and that fatigue often results in injuries as it adds up. That kind of music show is for promotional purposes, so it’s not like the artists can earn a proper income from them. On top of that, despite all the promoting, there’s no visible outcome, so they inevitably lose morale. If possible, it’d be nice to have one of the performances be really high-quality, even if it’s just the one, but in this environment I’d say that’s pretty difficult. And since our job doesn’t fit the common conception of work, there’s ambiguous boundaries when it comes to issues of legal protection as well. We need a lot of improvements to be made to the industry and its system.

They demand a lot of things as collateral for success, yet success is extremely difficult to attain. SUGA: The great thing about the label I’m with is they listen to the artists’ opinions. I think both we and the label know to a certain degree what kinds of activities would be best commercially speaking. But the question is whether the body can endure it or not. If the fatigue builds up as you continuously do those promotional activities, it’s hard to do them the way you did when you first debuted. In that case, I think the label ought to actively accommodate the artist’s views about what they can and cannot do. An attitude that’s just like, Oh, we made you kids, and as long as you just do what we tell you to it’ll all work out, so just do it—I think that really doesn’t make any sense. Of course, there could still be situations where the label has to be pushy like that, obviously. But I heard there’s been times where a label will just say, Do it, without any explanation to the artist, or, Why are you talking so much? I think that’s the biggest issue and it’s destroying the industry. If you just see the artist as a product, how can they do anything creative? I really think it’s very contradictory to ask the people on stage to put on an enjoyable performance when they’re experiencing neither fun nor enjoyment.

That reminds me of the music video for “Daechwita” somehow. You appear onscreen as both a rebel character and a king, looking as different as your situation when you first debuted with BTS and your situation now. SUGA: There was a lot I wanted to do in “Daechwita,” not just musically but also visually, and a lot of ideas came to me as I came to reflect on who I am as a person while working on the music video. It naturally occurred to me to separate SUGA, by SUGA and Agust D. The character I played in that video who wasn’t the king was a stranger. It takes place during the Joseon era, but then there’s cars and guns, which of course don’t belong in that era. I think we’ve been living our lives that way. Right from our debut, a portion of the hip hop lovers criticized us by saying, They’re idols. But at the same time, we heard things like, They’re not idols. I didn’t know which drumbeat to march to, so I think that’s why each of our albums took a different direction than people were expecting. But I don’t think I can call myself a stranger in this situation anymore. So these days my main goal is to keep going with BTS for a long time. Having a huge audience show up at our concerts is nice, but I think the goal for all of us is to make sure the group can keep making music even as we get older. I think right now we’re thinking a lot about how we can have fun and be happy on stage.

What do you mean when you say fun and happy music? SUGA: I think people are happier the busier I am, so lately I’ve been thinking that I need to focus a little more. I figure we should do as much as we can for ARMY since they feel happy watching us. We’ll continue to try our best, so I hope they believe in BTS and keep their eyes on us.

So that’s why you do music. SUGA: This is the only thing I know how to really do. Other than music and BTS, there’s nothing special about me when I look at this 28-year-old Min Yoongi. That’s why I want to keep doing this.

[bubmyg]

there was no particular reason i wrote all this down other than reading the translations to my universe made me cry last week because i’m just Like this. this is a mini compilation of yoongi lyrics that i hold gently in my palm and close to my heart in a he’s my artist for life kind of way. these aren’t all my favorite yoongi lyrics, i certainly have more but not ones that fit this general vibe. 

this is like extremely disorganized, i kind of just wrote it like a journal (and i’ll probably copy it to my bullet journal at some point actually). interpretations are my own, music is cool in that we can all read and hear the same thing and get different things out of it (which is why yoongi has often said he doesn’t attach specific meaning to things, giving it up to the listener instead)

so yeah. here’s me being fond of yoongi in 4k for no reason other than. idk. i wanted to. all translations are from doyoubangtan and doolsetbangtan. 

song request - lee sora ft suga

“I’ll be with you, for your birth and your end; That you’d remember that I’m with you, wherever you are; I’ll be a comfort for your life at any time, and so; please, that you’d lean on me and take a rest, every once in awhile.”

to me, this perfectly encapsulates what creating music is for yoongi in a two-fold kind of way. not only does he want his music to be a source of comfort for those who listen to it (just as the art of music is for himself), he’s also consistent in his assurance that taking a rest is okay. not being okay is okay. simply existing for the time being is okay. it’s a gentle empathy that comes from the experienced heart of someone who’s not going to tell you that it is okay, but will tell you that it won’t always be like this. friendly little moon trying to get you to smile with him on sleepless nights.

so far away - agust d ft suran

dream, will eventually be in full bloom at the end of hardships

this was on my undergrad graduation cap. it’s one of my favorite lyrics of all time. if so far away is my heart song, this is my heart lyric. this is a common motif in yoongi’s lyrics; dormancy is only temporary, you will bloom at the end of the cold winter.

dream, hope it to be there with you at your creation and at the end of your life

creation to end is another common motif n his lyrics. in this specific context, i imagine it to most closely be analogous to holding dreams close to you your entire life. dreams are dreams no matter how they manifest, even if they’re simply something you long for until your “end”.

Hope it to be there with you at your creation and at the end of your life; It will be generous to you wherever you stand; It will eventually be in full bloom at the end of hardships; The beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will the future be

the entirety of this song reads like a story and this last refrain reads like the conclusion (kind of). the slight wording change from the previous choruses means a lot in that regard, more definite and firm. you will be okay. maybe not now, maybe not next week. but you will be.

suga’s interlude - halsey ft suga

Though the dawn before sunrise is darkest; don’t forget the stars you longed for only rise in the darkness

just a really pretty but heart wrenching lyric in the context of the entire song. he’s also used this metaphor several times. i love me a good string of consistency with minor adaptations to fit the vibe. this song also made me cry the first time i read the translations lmao.

my universe - coldplay ft bts

Because the trial we face now is just for a moment anyway; All you have to do is to just keep shining bright like now; And we will follow you, embroidering this long night

this could mean so many things depending on how you wanted to contextualize it. of course the song is about love, so you could view it in that way. we’re in the midst of a global pandemic where we can’t see each other. or maybe it’s simply existence. continue to exist and one day your bright light will be followed even in the darkest of nights.

also the og title of telepathy being 잠시 (for a moment) is so...min yoongi you are so cool

people - agust d

Did someone say humans are the animals of wisdom?; The way I see it, humans are the animals of regret

Your ordinaries are my extraordinaries; Your extraordinaries are my ordinaries; Your ordinaries are my extraordinaries; Your extraordinaries are my ordinaries

super simple to understand which i think makes it more poignant. especially if you contextualize it with everything he’s said or written regarding the plight of fame and how he himself grapples with it as min yoongi.

28 - agust d ft niihwa

just this whole song. if song request encapsulates yoongi’s musical ethos, this captures a lot of his general musings.

paradise - bts

Just living like this, surviving like this, that’s my small dream; Dreaming dreams, grasping dreams, breathing breaths, it’s often too much

a more blunt take on the simply existing is a good enough dream. yoongi’s 2018 new years message was one of the things that made me go “yes. Him™” so paradise is very <3 for me

interlude: shadow - bts

Flying high scares me; I mean, nobody had told me; how lonely it is here –;how my leap could be my fall

another thing he uses frequently, even as recently as an interview regarding permission to dance. the contemplation of how a fall is far scarier than landing because getting back up is uncertain.

Yeah, I’m you and you’re me, do you finally get that now?; Yeah, you’re me and I’m you, do you finally get that now?

the entirety of this song is haunting particularly paired with the sampling and the music video as a visual but this part is just...the whole idea of competing internal voices throughout the narrative of the song or if you’d rather truly treat the lyrics like a piece of literature, you have quite the unreliable narrator, one that’s trying to grapple with his own sense of self.

140503 at dawn - agust d

Pretending that I’m not lonely, pretending that I’m not suffering; needlessly pretending that I’m okay, and pretending hard that I’m strong; I built a wall in front of me, “Don’t come inside”; I’m an island in this wide ocean, “Don’t abandon me”

the entirety of agust d just makes me ache but i mainly pulled this part because he uses the island metaphor consistently. here, it’s used like i said before; achingly.

this song also gets overlooked a lot in the larger context of agust d but anyway

eight - IU ft suga

Island, yeah this is an island; a small island that we made for each other; Yeah, mm, forever young, the word ‘forever’ is a sandcastle; A farewell is just like an emergency text warning of a disaster; A morning met together with yearning; As each of us pass this eternity, we’re sure to meet again on this island

can i be honest and say i forgot this song came out at the beginning of the pandemic. anyway, if you haven’t heard the various times that jieun has spoke about this song and it’s conveyance, i encourage you to. the music video also gives a beautiful visual.

i wrote a small analysis of this when it came out so i’ll just put it here 

burn it - agust d ft max

I hope you don’t forget that giving up decisively also counts as courage

of course this can absolutely be taken at a literal meaning especially considering he said a similar iteration of this to someone on kkul fm BUT i also like looking at it in context of the entire song because maybe this is him trying to convince himself too, especially considering the wording of the last chorus doesn’t change it so it implies in order to get past the fire u need to let it burn first? burn it = giving up on some aspect of pain?

i see why max didn’t shut up for eight months about making this song i wouldn’t either hello

outro: tear - bts

im including this one firstly because i love the song but secondly to say i knew the second u all were surprised by yoongi saying he wrote this as essentially a break up song for bts and they all cried while listening to it that y’all don’t actually read or interact w their lyrics fjdklafjsd

just bc it’s a rap song doesn’t mean it’s a diss or a flex. weirdos.

intro: never mind - bts

I hope you forget about all your mistakes and such; Never mind; It’s not easy, but engrave this in your heart; If you think you’re going to crash, accelerate more, you idiot; Never mind, never mind; Whatever thorny path it may be, go run; Never mind, never mind; There are a lot of things that you can’t control

the entire composition of nevermind is similar to first love and shadow to me where you can just hear the emotion in his voice while performing it

this is also another general idea that he mentions a few different times through different songs which as we’ve seen i am <3 for

intro: the most beautiful moment in life - bts

once again i don’t have a specific lyric to pull i just love this song so much and i feel like it isn’t talked about enough because first of all the use of the basketball throughout the instrumental, the incorporation of the origin of his stage name into an entire song regarding his general existence as a performer and coming into the beginnings of sizeable fame, and just his general way of essentially writing one giant ode to something he loves and analogizing it to something else he loves to talk through internal struggles.

aka im once again saying min yoongi you’re so cool

first love - bts

same line of awe from above this whole song is just a story, a poem, a journal entry, a beautiful confession, i don’t know. this is yoongi’s best bts solo u can argue with a wall about it also if you were able to see this live i hope u have a terrible week (im joking)

every fancam i’ve ever seen of this makes me cry. so. do with that what you will in regards to how i feel about this song.

[fyeah-bangtan7]

SUGA: “This is the only thing I know how to really do”

On tvN’s You Quiz on the Block, SUGA told stories from before his debut. The period of his life when he struggled with how to live off his music. SUGA and BTS have kept going and going for eight years, and now he’s on their grounds, where he can do anything he wants musically. What began with that long journey is the story of SUGA holding his head up higher and staring at the future, reaching for it.

How are you feeling after your shoulder surgery? You’re doing physical therapy in parallel with work. SUGA: I’m all right. I’m keeping up with the physical therapy, too. I had surgery last year because I wanted to be able to go back to work sooner. I have nothing else to do except music.

You said that there’s nothing for you to do other than music in the “BE-hind Story” interview on YouTube, too. SUGA: It’s true. I tried gaming, but I have no talent for it. The people I play with online get so frustrated if I do. I mean, I’m working hard and got some recognition in my life, and yet people bash me so hard in games. (laughs)

I wonder if there’s a game you can do better in than you do in your career. You’re currently at your sixth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 [with “Butter, at the time of this interview]. (laughs) How are you feeling these days? SUGA: When we were at number one for two weeks straight, I was like, Wow, this is so amazing! But after the fifth or sixth week, we really started to talk about it between ourselves: I really can’t believe this. Anyway, I feel like I have a responsibility. And I think I’ll end up thinking much, much more when we get ready for the next promotion. Even if I just try to enjoy this situation, it hasn’t sunk in. We can’t leave the country, plus there’s lots of issues in the world right now that are much more important than how well we perform on the charts.

As you say, it’s a tough situation, all over the world. How do you feel about releasing “Permission to Dance,” with its positive message, at this point in time? SUGA: It seems like everyone around the world is really tired of this situation dragging out. I wanted to convey a message that tells people to keep hanging on to hope until the very end. Whereas we released the album BE in this situation, seemingly without any certainty, I believe things will slowly get better now. I don’t know if we can go back to the way things were before, but I’m still working with the hope that we can return to a situation that resembles what we had before.

Aren’t you tired of the pandemic being in this prolonged state? SUGA: I look at it as, when you lose one thing, you gain another. I ended up being able to see my family more since I’m in Korea. In that sense, I feel more stable, so I’m not so much tired as hoping each day that things will become okay soon. I keep moving back and forth between work and home, and I’ve started to reflect on parts of myself I didn’t know about before. Like that I feel somewhat comfortable when I start and finish work at a certain time. While I used to have to go to bed at a certain time for work the next day or else I had a hard time getting up early, now I know I’ve figured out what time I should wake up at to make sure I feel good all day. What I pursue in life is emotional stability, and I don’t think there’s really anything too exciting or sad happening these days.

What effect do those emotions have when you work on music? SUGA: They don’t have a big effect on it. I think it affects the way I write lyrics a bit, but I’m not working on any lyrics at the moment. I’ve been making music for a long time, so I think it’s possible for me to express emotions I’m not feeling in the moment. And it’s good that we released “Permission to Dance” in this kind of situation.

You sing rather than rap in “Permission to Dance.” In addition to rapping, you started singing more both before and after BE. What did you learn about your voice? SUGA: “Permission to Dance” was a little bit difficult. I don’t draw a line between singing and rapping or anything, but it was different from our usual style, and the vocals were a bit high, too. So even though it took a while to prepare for it, I worked hard, and even when I asked some older musicians for their opinions, they all said, “It’s good the way you’re doing it. Don’t try to sing better—just sing more.” I think my only option is to sing more, like they suggested.

As far as style goes, you’ve been doing a smoother kind of pop music. Did any differences arise as a result of these changes? SUGA: All things considered, the English was the hardest part. I paid close attention to my pronunciation in “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.” It wasn’t easy to capture that smooth feeling in the songs, so I practiced my pronunciation quite a bit. And I end up breathing a lot when I’m doing an English song, but the rap parts were a bit hard for that reason. There’s a clear difference from Korean songs, since English has so many syllables. But I don’t have any one method I stick with for my vocals yet, so I tend to try lots of different things out.

What do you make of BTS’s achievements over the past year with “Permission to Dance” and “Butter,” as well as the group’s change in style? In the space of a year, you’ve released songs in a style different from MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 or BE. SUGA: As a producer, I think reactions are important to an artist who works within the field of popular music. With that in mind, speaking as a producer, “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” were the best choices. And musical tastes are different from country to country, and the cultures are different, too. Given that situation, I think it’s important that we’re a group who can send such a universal message out into the world.

BTS has really grown and changed a lot, starting with “No More Dream” and all the way to “Permission to Dance.” SUGA: I think it’s a natural course of event for those of us who make pop music. Artists mix and match different genres as they grow, and the music develops as the people of its time listen to it. I’ve been listening to a ton of music lately, and thanks to the times we live in, if I listen to a song a few times, they recommend me more songs in a similar style. And after listening to them, I realized the style of hip hop is also changing and is splitting off into different offshoots. Other than hip hop, I also listen to a lot of instrumental music. I’ve always liked Hans Zimmer’s music. There have been many times where a movie I like turns out to have music by Hans Zimmer.

What is it about Hans Zimmer’s music that draws you in? SUGA: I like orchestral music. There’s a lot of pop songs that are under the three-minute mark now, and whereas it’s sort of predetermined that they’re always written with intros that are four bars long, orchestral music can do a lot within its framework.

But, as can be seen in IU’s song “eight,” which you both produced and featured on, you broke out of pop music’s typical composition style and tried out a highly condensed progression. The composition of the chorus is very straightforward. SUGA: Yes. I insisted that the flow be roughly cut in half from that of a typical song, and I expect more pop music will be like that in the future. And maybe even shorter as time goes on. I mean, these days there’s songs that are under two minutes, even.

Regardless, I felt the chorus in “eight” is extremely dramatic with its structure and the melody of the chorus. I thought it was rather grand in scale as well. Would you say that you’re attempting to mix your tastes and things you want to do into the structure of pop music? SUGA: As you know, I love hip hop, so when I was first making music I thought it had to be hip hop no matter what and that I had to take pride in my own ideas and not accept any compromise. But while getting some experience at the forefront of pop music, I figured out that you can keep being stubborn or inflexible because there are people listening to you. There was a time I made music without any listeners before I became a member of BTS. But if someone were to ask if I stopped being stubborn about the music I’m making these days, the answer’s no. As I grew up and became an adult, I came to realize that I have to negotiate between what I want to do and the kind of music the public wants without compromising anything. When I give up on something I wanted to do, I ask myself, What will I get out of this? And conversely, when I want to do something, I ask myself, What can I get out of this? That’s how I keep my balance to make it to where I am now.

You have no choice but to think about those things when you work on other artists’ songs, especially when you’re a producer. SUGA: I’m BTS’s SUGA, and I’m Agust D, and when I’m producing, I go by “by SUGA.” But when it comes to by SUGA, I make perfectly commercial music. I’m the producer for those songs, sure, but the owner is someone else, you know? In that case, they’re commissioning my work. But they wouldn’t think about just leaving it all with SUGA. The artist’s label has to think carefully about whether to commission me for producing and consider my situation, too, and those people must be hoping for something commercial. That’s the most important part of working with outside people. Actually, that kind of work isn’t much of a benefit to me, to be honest. Oh, he can write this kind of song, too. That’s all. The more valuable thing I can get from it is the recognition and records the artist or the company will get with the song instead.

As you noted in your previous Weverse Magazine interview, when you discussed your “interest in the music industry in the US,” you seem to constantly think about the things artists can do within the framework of the music industry. SUGA: I don’t know. It’s just that I’ve become more certain since the pandemic started that I’m the kind of person who always has to be doing music. That much I know for sure, so I want to keep on making good music. And the pop music market is something that came about because there were people listening, and there’s a long history to the US music market, and it possesses the most influential charts in the whole word. So then I thought, Wouldn’t they have gone through all the same things that we have? And really, whenever I talk to other pop stars, the situation is always similar. The US is also more realistic about commercial results than any other country. I wanted an accurate picture of how those people work. Right now, Korean pop music’s spread is in full swing and we need more good artists to keep popping up. From a producer’s standpoint, if that’s going to happen, I think the key is how well we can mix our music and the characteristics of overseas music industries overall.

How did it feel to be in the lineup for the Grammy Awards, one of the icons of the US music industry? SUGA: The feeling was less immediate because we couldn’t be there in person, and it wasn’t a huge distinction, but the performance made me think, This is different, because it’s the Grammys. What changed my view from the first time I went to an American music awards ceremony was, the first time I went, I was really scared of the world’s biggest music market. But when I look back now, I don’t think I had any reason to feel that intimidated. To be honest, I have only now begun to enjoy the awards ceremonies; I wasn’t able to then.

It’s no exaggeration to say that you’ve achieved most of the things that you can as an artist in the music industry. What steps do you think are necessary for the artists who follow after BTS? SUGA: The way artists work seems so difficult. They make an appearance on a different music show every day once the promotional period begins, meaning the exhaustion artists face is enormous, and that fatigue often results in injuries as it adds up. That kind of music show is for promotional purposes, so it’s not like the artists can earn a proper income from them. On top of that, despite all the promoting, there’s no visible outcome, so they inevitably lose morale. If possible, it’d be nice to have one of the performances be really high-quality, even if it’s just the one, but in this environment I’d say that’s pretty difficult. And since our job doesn’t fit the common conception of work, there’s ambiguous boundaries when it comes to issues of legal protection as well. We need a lot of improvements to be made to the industry and its system.

They demand a lot of things as collateral for success, yet success is extremely difficult to attain. SUGA: The great thing about the label I’m with is they listen to the artists’ opinions. I think both we and the label know to a certain degree what kinds of activities would be best commercially speaking. But the question is whether the body can endure it or not. If the fatigue builds up as you continuously do those promotional activities, it’s hard to do them the way you did when you first debuted. In that case, I think the label ought to actively accommodate the artist’s views about what they can and cannot do. An attitude that’s just like, Oh, we made you kids, and as long as you just do what we tell you to it’ll all work out, so just do it—I think that really doesn’t make any sense. Of course, there could still be situations where the label has to be pushy like that, obviously. But I heard there’s been times where a label will just say, Do it, without any explanation to the artist, or, Why are you talking so much? I think that’s the biggest issue and it’s destroying the industry. If you just see the artist as a product, how can they do anything creative? I really think it’s very contradictory to ask the people on stage to put on an enjoyable performance when they’re experiencing neither fun nor enjoyment.

That reminds me of the music video for “Daechwita” somehow. You appear onscreen as both a rebel character and a king, looking as different as your situation when you first debuted with BTS and your situation now. SUGA: There was a lot I wanted to do in “Daechwita,” not just musically but also visually, and a lot of ideas came to me as I came to reflect on who I am as a person while working on the music video. It naturally occurred to me to separate SUGA, by SUGA and Agust D. The character I played in that video who wasn’t the king was a stranger. It takes place during the Joseon era, but then there’s cars and guns, which of course don’t belong in that era. I think we’ve been living our lives that way. Right from our debut, a portion of the hip hop lovers criticized us by saying, They’re idols. But at the same time, we heard things like, They’re not idols. I didn’t know which drumbeat to march to, so I think that’s why each of our albums took a different direction than people were expecting. But I don’t think I can call myself a stranger in this situation anymore. So these days my main goal is to keep going with BTS for a long time. Having a huge audience show up at our concerts is nice, but I think the goal for all of us is to make sure the group can keep making music even as we get older. I think right now we’re thinking a lot about how we can have fun and be happy on stage.

What do you mean when you say fun and happy music? SUGA: I think people are happier the busier I am, so lately I’ve been thinking that I need to focus a little more. I figure we should do as much as we can for ARMY since they feel happy watching us. We’ll continue to try our best, so I hope they believe in BTS and keep their eyes on us.

So that’s why you do music. SUGA: This is the only thing I know how to really do. Other than music and BTS, there’s nothing special about me when I look at this 28-year-old Min Yoongi. That’s why I want to keep doing this.

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