#musical einstein istg

[sevensees7]

i need to yap about scylla and why it's the best song in all of epic the musical for a moment. i'm not knowledgable with music theory nor am i a lyricist, i know absolutely nothing about music other than 'it sounds good,' so sorry if i use the wrong music terms here!

not lyric related like the rest of this post, but can we just appreciate how the song tries to lull you into a sense of security with the light instrumental and vocals at the beginning, yet the synth adds a strange sense that something's not quite right? no? just me?

what's so awesome is that every. single. lyric. in this song is negative. not a single thing is positive.

SO STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING:

"the lair of scylla" we tend to associate lair with villain, aka a dangerous thing/place, so just from that word you know something is wrong.

"this is our only way home" implies that this path they must go through is dangerous, something bad is gonna happen

"you're quiet today" "not much to say" trying to be kind and bring up the mood -> immediately shot down. OR being passive aggressive -> mood is down from the start. depends on how you interpret it honestly.

"you hide a reason for shame" you're ashamed by your secret and the way eurylocus immediately says "i have a secret i can no longer keep" (which is also implied to be negative based on the increasingly desperate tone) proves that.

"you know that we are the same" you + implied monster = same, probably not great.

even if you hadn't listened to any other song, due to the 'drop' and "i am so sorry," you know that eurylocus opening the wind bag was a massive mistake in some way.

"leaving them feeling betrayed, breaking the bonds that you've made, there is no price we won't pay, we both know what it takes to survive" = you betrayed and deeply hurt those around you for your own survival, selfish motivations.

"forgive me" no response, again no positivity allowed, despite how much eury tries!

THEN, THEN THE FUCKING FULL SPEED AHEAD PART

in full speed ahead, it's hopeful and happy! "ithacas waiting, my kingdom is waiting, penelopes waiting for me so full speed ahead!" = i wanna see my people, and most importantly my loved ones, as soon as i can so row fast! everyone is desperate to get to ithaca and you can hear it in their voices, ody almost sounds like he's tearing up at the idea. the last big full speed ahead, it's all coordinated, all the crew members are harmonizing, they wanna get the island over and done with so they can get home and see their own loved ones too, just like ody!

but in scylla, at first they try to harmonize again like before, but they mess up, they've gone through so much that they're hearts just arent in it as much as they used to be. they're tired, they want to get home, it's just that now that wish seems so far away. they stumble and say "full speed ahead" over each other to show how uncoordinated they are, HOW DISTRUSTFUL THEY ARE OF NOT ONLY ODY BUT QUITE POSSIBLY THE OTHER CREW MEMBERS! cause who knows what they were thinking when eurylocus confessed he opened the bag! did they know he opened it and were upset the truth finally came to light by the man himself? were they unaware and thus surprised at the confession, adding even more chaos to their attempted harmony? both??

"deep down, we only care for ourselves" speaking to both ody and eury, we're all selfish inside. we care only for our survival at the end of the day. ody will do whatever it takes to get himself home, foreshadowing later events, while eurylocus was deeply selfish in wanting to know what was in the bag (and possibly hinting toward mutiny?)

"eurylocus, light up six torches" despite being said in a somewhat ominous tone, you can't really dechipher the intentions behind this order. it's mysterious with said with no emotion, like ody is already disassociating and running on autopilot. he's making himself as emotionless as possible as to not feel guilty of his actions. he needs to do this, he can't regret it for even a second, he can't second guess himself and wonder if this is the right option, he just needs to do it.

"deep down, we're lonely demons from hell" i don't think i really need to explain this. we're selfish, we're cruel, and we're lonely, especially the crew on the ship - they've been away from their families for a decade, trust in their captain is getting weaker, and they don't realize scylla is warning the crew of both her and odysseus' intentions. they haven't accepted themselves to be monsters, they're oblivious to her words, hence why they only sing "deep down." she is telling everyone that he's selfish and will betray them if it benefits him.

scylla and ody have accepted they're monsters, they're one in the same. he's gonna sacrifice six of his crew so he can get home, and she's gonna accept those sacrifices, both doing so for their own personal, selfish desire to survive.

"captain, something approaches" very...neutral, but based on everything so far, you know it can't be good. interesting note: something approaches, not someone approaches. you're never told what scylla looks like, all you know is that she doesn't appear human enough to warrant a someone. i adore the immediate contrast between her polite "hello" and the imposing instrumentals that follow, like something terrible, whatever just greeted us, is revealing itself. her voice isn't as human as it was previously, but she's still somewhat kind. perhaps she has some humanity still in her, but scylla, like odysseus, has let her monsterous side practically consume her. once more, they're the same - they don't want to do this, but will anyway. OR she's mocking them, saying "hello" as a way to show she's intelligent, a cunning monster just like ody is.

the fact that we're never given a hint as to what this monster looks like other than she's an intelligent and can growl is perfect horror, there's nothing more terrifying to a human than the unknown. "row for your lives!" two directions could be taken with this line: either ody is genuinely scared or simply pretending. either way, i think that in this moment, odysseus is trying to get the ship out of there so no more lives are taken then necessary. if it's the first option, he didn't know more about scylla other than a cost needed to be made so actually seeing her made him forget his goal and focus on the survival of him and his crew for a moment. if not, then this line may have also been him being selfish, you row for your lives so i can get home. fully up to interpretation! one more thing with this, i find it interesting how odysseus doesn't say full speed ahead? now this could absolutely be a stretch, but i think there's a reason he doesn't; he is so disconnected from his crew, so set on a selfish goal that him never saying "full speed ahead" (like that section tries to set up) is a betrayal in and of itself. his goals aren't aligned with the crews anymore - "i want to get home" vs "we want to get home." NOW WE GET TO SCYLLAS PART - credits to a comment i read in the song's comment section (written by thomasdeclerc18310) cause i would have never realized this if not for that. screenshot of that comment is below the cut! in her first verse, she's talking to the crew:

"drown in your sorrow and fears" they feel sorrow as their own captain willingly, unbeknownst to them, sacrifices them. they feel fear when being attacked by a nightmarish monster. "choke on your blood and your tears" exactly what it sounds like, they're crying from the betrayal as she kills them.

"bleed 'till you run out of years" they die, maybe even bleeding out on the ship or in her stomach as we aren't told what's happening. we can hear the screams of the crew, we know she's attacking, but the how is a complete mystery. "we must do what it takes to survive" scylla is selfish, she must do what it takes to survive. she's speaking for all monsters here, as well as her other heads (though if you know nothing about her, you wouldn't know this).

in the second verse? now she's talking to odysseus:

"give up your honor and faith" ody is officially letting go of his morals both as a king and a captain when he sacrifices them, he loses his personal honor and faith in himself, as does the crew. "live up your live as a wraith" ody will live the rest of his life crushed by guilt and regret. he will be a ghost of his former self when he returns to ithaca.

"die in the blood where you bathe" odysseus is portrayed to be bathing in the blood of all the dead men he's gotten killed. as well, she could be speaking to the dying crew and eurylocus, as the latter's actions got 557 men killed by poseidon. "we must do what it takes to survive" both odysseus and scylla.

then as the last man is murdered, the intrumentals relax. we think we're finally safe until we hear scylla one last time: "we are the same you and i." once more, she's repeating that she and odysseus are the same. and he agrees, he synchronizes with her, admitting he is a monster... but not completely, all he says is "i." despite his insistence that he is like her, he still can't quite say it. they're both monsters, but maybe ody hasn't accepted it as much as we're led to believe.

i am convinced that scylla is the PEAK of epic the musical, and nothing will ever come close. from the extremely thought out lyrics to the absolutely incredible instrumental, this song deserves it's own tier ngl. yes, other songs sound good and have clever lyrics and such, but scylla is just everything great about the musical shoved into one song. every lyric has a meaning, a double meaning in some cases. the intrumentals tell a story of their own, trying to lead you into a false sense of security. the vocal performances are some of the best in the musical. i adore this song, and hopefully this makes you appreciate it too :D

anyway, thanks for reading all my autistic yapping if you made it this far.

here's that original comment: