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angel-armed · 2 years ago

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Tristamp OST analysis

This is going to be a bit of a monster even with me just jumping to favorite songs so bear with me... I'm a classically trained vocalist, I play piano, guitar, and a load of different woodwinds.

1.KNIVES’s Piano

This is the most important leitmotif in the series, legit. This is part of how Knives ‘haunts the narrative.’ While he doesn’t appear in every episode, his leitmotif is everwhere. This melody appears even in songs that are not necessarily about him, and can also be tied directly to the concept of Plant Song, which is another track on here. It gives the idea that Knives’ theme is not something he just magically composed and pulled out of the aether– it’s a primordial melody that belongs to the Plants themselves. We see this especially in the scene in Episode 11 (Or 12, they blend together for me oops) where Vash starts to sing this very melody and the Plants sing along with him.

Millions Knives vocal Ver.

This is probably the most obvious and prominent track in the entire show. It takes the same melody and motif as Knives piano theme and adds lyrics that are really only fully heard here and in Drain Arm, the 2nd to last track. These lyrics turn that Plant Song into a blatant lovesong, even including a call and response– a lyrical/vocal style used primarily in lovesongs in musicals and even Disney Lovesongs. Without official lyrics to look at the, lyrics I hear go as follows:

Can we breathe (or maybe be, but breathe is more likely) the same way together?

All of the lives(Lights? Lies? All fit) are a part of me

Wish we could stay here forever

Although the stars are falling down.

Remember how

We used to be

No turning back

Stars falling down

These are the main vocals, but the response is, either right after the last stanza or during it, underneath the vocals as a joined swell “I still care for you” suggesting that said response is Vash responding to Nai’s previous thoughts. I could go on about this one forever, but those are the main points to take away.

Vash the Stampede

This is Vash’s main theme and leitmotif, heard very prominently throughout the first few episodes. It harkens back to the more Western heavy themes of the original anime and manga, and really represents Vash’s spirit. It’s upbeat and introduces several motifs that will be used to represent Vash throughout the rest of the OST. It also includes the big brass fanfare that are the main Trigun Stampede theme from the first OST (which I haven’t played to death as much as the 2nd one) We’ve got the harmonica and guitar that brings us that western feel, but that quickly gets wrapped up in a modern almost hip-hop rock beat and really encapsulates the way Vash presents himself, less than his actual inner being. It almost feels like this song is how Vash wants the world to view him. That cool cowboy that Nai talked about when they were kids.

10. Boyhood/ NICHOLAS THE PUNISHER/ Whom to let live

This gives us Nico’s leitmotif, and some that might later be associated with Livio depending on how they decide to utilize him in season two. This is the only place in the soundtrack where we hear the use of the theramin (A very cool instrument you should look up the history of) which is famous from classic sci fi shows like the Twilight Zone and the Original Star Trek. It’s used to invoke a sense of spookiness, and often used to tell us through the music that something strange and alien is happening which is appropriate, as part of Boyhood is used during the scene where we’re shown how Conrad’s experiments transformed Wolfwood and Livio.This and NICHOLAS THe PUNISHER makes use of another instrument we don’t really hear anywhere else– the Saxophone, which if you know Trimax and the 98 anime, is a cool throwback. Whom to let live uses it even more prominently. Whom to let live is a personal favorite of mine, it’s so introspective and soft– almost soothing. This plays on the Sand Steamer during one of Wolfwood’s introspective moments; when he’s trying to choose who he should save.

11. Energy of the Plant

This one contains some of the same musical elements of Knives’ vocal theme, eventually ramping up into the violins that are often used, in my opinion, to represent Vash in a theme– a cool little nod to them being connected literally and figuratively.

20. Home

This track is SO near and dear to my heart. It’s built out of melodies and themes that are simply not present in the rest of the OST. No sign of Nai’s theme, yet the theme is played on the instrument associated with him– piano. It starts out simple and then bit by bit, brass and woodwinds come in to swell the melody into a heart-bursting wave of warmth. Just as it reaches that climax, the violins that represent Vash come in, and give us a tiny glimpse of the leitmotif from Vash the Stampede, as though whispering of the man he will become after growing up in the company of the people from Ship Three. See if you can pick it out right at 1:46! This right here is why I believe the violin is the instrument used to represent Vash throughout the rest of the OST.

23. Last Run

I can’t help but mention this track, as it is probably one of my top three favorites. Of course the most obvious part is how it incorporates Knives’ theme towards the middle and end, but the build up to that point is a masterclass in creating musical tension. It starts with the underlying sound of weeping violins, and then a synth instrument that just barely offers a TEASE of Nai’s theme as the other elements, discordant slides and very subtle percussion build up. As Vash enters the scene, the violins become more tense as well, playing short staccato notes instead of the long, weeping notes before. It drops off into that synthesized guitar bomb slide, which is used to almost simulate the beating of a heart along with deep bass. Then, the Plantsong itself comes in– the same vocals used to represent the Plants in other songs just as the Climax of the scene begins, and then Knives’ piano theme slowly comes in, falling like tears before another stop that leads into the actual climax. Honestly this song is an absolute masterpiece. Just then, some organs come in very softly, picking up what can only be called a transformative moment for Knives as his worldview is cemented into stone, his path to becoming the god of this planet laid out before him in rage and fury. Then in the very last quarter of the song, it transforms almost entirely into his theme just around the time Vash’s gate manifests– but with the added oomph of Vash’s absolutely gut-wrenching violin playing along in a duet. They are both in so much pain in this scene, and the song spells it all out.

28&29: Erhu in July and Plant Song on erhu

I love these two tracks because they really are one song, and go one into another seamlessly– they are simply Vash’s and then Knives’ leitmotifs played on an Erhu, which is legit one of my favorite instruments of all time. Really brings into focus that July has a TON of Chinese influence!

41. Conception

Jumping way ahead on this because while there are a lot of great tracks, I really wanna focus on the ones that stand out. This one in particular is really special because it takes Knives’ theme that is usually played in Minor key and moves it almost entirely into Major Key. It’s triumphant! His eden is at hand, and then, those sad strings come in (a cello this time–) that just suddenly dies out, just as Vash cuts him off.

42. Memory of Rem

This song is really cool because it is, once again, part of the same melody that Knives always plays– but it’s only ONE part of it accompanied by violin, likely to represent the half of the melody that is attributed to Vash. Obviously it represents his connection to Rem and his childhood.

44. Drain Arm

This song is a fucking magnum opus, and starts with the same notes that are present in Memory of Rem, symbolizing how she lives on through Vash. It almost immediately starts with a slow, sad violin melody that then builds up and up using some of the same melodic motifs as Home– and then Nai’s piano comes in, cascading downward along with the vocals that are used to represent plants. The beginning movement really is a mix of everything that made Vash who he is today. Then, it moves into mirroring the melody of Knives’ piano theme entirely with new added piano flourishes that make this moment feel so beautiful and yet sad. Vash and Knives are both becoming who they are going to be for the duration of the rest of the story. The old is dying, and the new is being born– very painfully. The vocals swell and then drop, bringing the focus back to the piano and some ominous percussion and bells before coming back up into a crescendo. This is where the lyrics from Knives’ Vocal theme appear, expressing Knives’ pain and Vash’s desperate “I still care for you,”

I’ve said it before but the piano here really feels like cascading tears, which are then joined by the weeping of a violin as that lyric: “I still care for you” plays. The melodies all start to join up into one as the violin now starts to play the intro to Knives’ theme and carry the song into its final climax and the pain we all know it overlays. This time, the violins play Knives’ theme– while his usual piano plays a countermelody and harmony. Still, the two are unavoidably intertwined. I can’t help but feel as though this represents Vash taking that melody into himself, carrying the Knives he knew and loved with him.

#trigun stampede

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