#sings vague owl city lyrics

[thesinglesjukebox]

DJO - END OF BEGINNING

Keeping up with TikTok pop while we still can...

[3.75]

Leah Isobel: I kind of want to be a hater about this. "Stranger Things star makes budget Ariel Pink pop about growing up, goes viral on TikTok" is an insufferable Mad Libs narrative pitch. The lyrics feel cryptic in a bad way, like Djo is aware that he's traveling well-trodden ground and straining to justify himself. And yet, his acting background comes through: his hammy Boris Pickett affectations lock him to the beat, keeping the song from feeling overly self-indulgent. It's still a little mushy, but that's not a crime. [5]

Nortey Dowuona: Djo has rightly seized on his captive audience in order to launch his pop rock career, but it thankfully hasn’t spiraled the way the Childish Gambino project did to the point where there are insufferable fans and detractors duking it out over its merits -- mainly because it’s too good to be dinged, but not good enough to be more than a popular actor’s passion project. Adam Thein’s limp drums, which have aged badly since 2022, can’t keep the overwhelming pace of the synth riffs or the lumpy bass left in the background of the mix. They support the toplines rather than drive the song, as many a baseline has done, but that then leaves the topline to hold everything up, which it constantly refuses to do. As for Joe Keery, he is no Childish Gambino before 2012. At least it’s short. [4]

Alfred Soto: The Stranger Things actor is too old by at least five years to have taken Twenty One Pilots seriously. [0]

TA Inskeep: Owl City 2024. [2]

Dave Moore: The verses are synth fetishism worthy of an awkward Stranger Things teen romance subplot (derogatory), followed by a pale imitation of a Sufjan Stevens chorus (complimentary). The ingredients sort of work on paper -- I am only human, which is to say a dork who was born in the '80s. But the song just sort of sits there, like it was designed to be vaguely apprehended floating through a pop-up beer garden. [5]

Taylor Alatorre: Are we just supposed to take these younger artists' word that their work is primarily inspired by genuine Nineteen-Eighties music, and not the phantasmal refractions of it that were being created between 2008 and 2015 (and beyond)? Because whatever points I take away for roteness and facelessness, I may give back for honesty. Anyway, check out Twin Shadow's new single "To the Top" if you get the chance. Sound of the summer. [4]

Katherine St. Asaph: This is by a Stranger Things actor and supposedly sounds like the '80s. What it actually sounds like is the driftier, understated parts of '90s alternative radio playlists. And as someone who owns the Carice van Houten album, I fully support TV folks making vanity albums that don't sound like what you'd think. [6]

Mark Sinker: He’s singing “tear to cry,” but I first heard it as “diddikai”, the Romani term for a traveler not fully Romani. Maybe you can make something of this – musician who fashions his artistic persona round not being the character he plays in a multi-season Netflix series! – but I’m not sure I sensibly can. The song is pretty and mannered and flimsy; he’s way not old enough to have the wisdom he thinks he has.  [5]

Isabel Cole: "I wave goodbye to the end of beginning" is a great line, capturing the moment when you might not feel particularly like an adult but understand, suddenly, that until recently you were very young, and now you are something else. I do remember twenty-four! Unfortunately the actual song is a plodding, soupy nothing. [0]

Will Adams: When you've got an admittedly gorgeous arrangement of languid, synth-smeared indie-rock, the last thing you want to do is sound like a try-hard; and yet, Joe Keery's delivery of clipping every syllable makes "End of Beginning" almost embarrassing to listen to. [5]

Ian Mathers: There are some choices here I kind of like (mostly around the lyrics and vocals), but the guitar tone, the chiming synth sound, and something about the production overall feels instantly dated, like I'm already looking forward to me five years from now hearing this and going "yeah, a lot of shit sounded like that in 2024." [5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: An absolute nothing of a song – but I know, deep in my heart, that if I had encountered this as a college freshman it would have absolutely rocked my shit. Keery is seven years too late for me, but I'm glad this exists for those who need it. Will I still feel this warmly towards this mediocrity if I have to hear it out in the world for the next year or so? Well, that's not my problem right now. [4]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[biromantic-nerd]

tagged by: @romanticism-is-maudlinism ah wow it’s you ☺️ bless thank you so much! <3

rules: you can usually tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to! put your music library on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people 

1. “E.T.” by Holly Henry (Katy Perry cover): love how ethereal this cover sounds, otherwise I’m not into the original song

2. “Fix You” Secondhand Serenade (Coldplay cover I think): oh man Secondhand Serenade is one of my favorite break up bands. This is an old song that I haven’t listened to in forever but still love.

3. “Full Length Dress” by VARSITY: okay I can’t actually understand the words afjsdghadkjf but I like the sound of their voice. Their song “So Sad, So Sad” is one of my faves too.

4. “Budapest” by George Ezra. This one’s so nice. Hits different when you’re (alloromantical) queer

5. “I’d Like To Walk Around In Your Mind” by Vashti Bunyan. One of my all time faves! ugh she’s so so amazing, everything by her feels like a poem sung to really cool + soft music. (I got “Train Song” by her for number 8 and I was like ,,, this feels like cheating to have TWO of her songs? so it’s getting skipped + an honorable mention. But her “it won’t be long”/ “it won’t belong” is Such amazing wordplay)

6. “Even If” by Ella Eyre. Oh man this song. My favorite version is the “Live at MOBO Awards” one but wow her voice is just so !!! amazing!  and the lyrics are so poignant. I think if people still made AMVs, this would be a popular song for that

7. “New York City Boys” by Pet Shop Boys: (Finally a song that’s not soft. I felt like the ratio was so off. Like I do love soft songs but I listen to non-soft songs too!) Man this is just a funky feel good 80′s bop with a bit of gender themes sprinkled in for bonus fun

8. “I’m Coming Out” by Chic (Diana Ross cover): (this is the umpth cover on this list what is Happening? Also TWO 80′s songs right in a row??) Such a fun song! I only know the chorus but that’s the best part. I sing that sometimes (the chorus) when I do dishes. probably 10/10 queer people would make this their theme song when they come out, don't look that statistic up just take my word on that ajsjajaj

9. “Burn” by Elle Goulding: Haven’t listened to this in Years but I def still enjoy it. So pretty. One of the few fire motif songs that isn’t angry, which is neat

10. “If I Could Fly” by One Direction: okay sometimes I forget that I went through a casual 1D phase. I love pop music and this is such a pretty “love” song that’s vague enough to also be applicable towards a best friend, which I ADORE platonic takes on love songs

All 10 and ZERO My Chemical Romance songs?? Seems whack. Plus - zero emo? No alt? And Owl City where are you? Whack.

Out of curiosity, I had to do the next 10, see below

1. “She Will  Break Your Heart” by Noora Noor

2. “You Got Cool” by Mansion

3. “learning to hate you as a self defense” by flatsound

4. “Letters to you” by finch (acoustic) (See! Finally some alt songs!)

5. “Candy Wrappers” by Summer Salt

6. “Je ne veux pas travailer” by Pink Martini (Love this song. So peppy and feel good.)

7. “Bad Blood” by Sleeping At Last (Okay yeah I love SAL so that had good odds on popping up as well, though this isn’t one of my favorites by them)

8. “If I Was A King” by Siskin River (acoustic version)

9. “Get The Gang Together” by Gerard Way (OKAY that’s almost MCR lol see I knew it had good chances

10. “I’m Not Yours” by Angus & Julia Stone (I honestly didn’t remember this song but it’s very nice)

[carewyncromwell]

“Good evening, everyone. I hope that your holiday season is appropriately merry. I am called Bartholomew, or Bat, Varney, and this is my singular favorite part of the entire year. As she is aware of this, my mundane has given me special access to her ‘Askbox,’ so that I may interact, educate, and debate with all of you about subjects involving this most wondrous time of year. I was raised in the later half of the 18th century and I’ve also lived through what my mundane calls the ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts’ timelines, or the 19th century and early 20th century...and, courtesy of my mundane, I’ve been also given access to the fourth wall so that I can discuss things that came later, as well, as long as they involve Christmas.”

‘I must say, as much as I still don’t understand about my mundane and this communication method of hers, discussing Christmas traditions of the future is incredibly appealing.’

“For more such Christmas content, my mundane says you may consult the ‘Bat Comments on Christmas!’ tag...and naturally, she encourages you to send in those Christmas-related owls my way.

“Today’s topic of discussion is one of Christmas’s most central traditions -- caroling.

“Now of course, holiday songs are as old as holidays themselves, so there was naturally plenty of music centering around Christ and his birth from the start -- generally hymns, which were written in Latin and meant to be sung in church, whether on Christmas or not. But since Christmas was always split into both secular and non-secular traditions, there were also less formal songs that people sang outside of church as well. The first written carols of this sort that we know of originated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I -- in fact, one of the most popular Christmas songs we know of today, ‘What Child is This?’, uses the tune of the song ‘Greensleeves,’ which was written at that time.

“Christmas caroling on people’s doorsteps -- much like Halloween’s ‘trick-or-treating’ tradition -- was inspired by a custom from older winter holidays where poor people would go door to door in wintertime, singing vaguely threatening songs to beg the houses’ rich owners for food, lodging, and/or money. As time went on, that tradition was called ‘wassailing,’ after a hot spiced beverage called wassail, which I suppose would be comparable to eggnog today. Caroling became more mainstream once people took to writing the songs down and printing copies in the 16th and 17th century -- even though there was a significant span of time in England when caroling was banned, thanks to the efforts of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan-led Parliament. Even with the ban, though, the singing of carols persisted. Christmas caroling in organized groups really took off with Christmas’s rebirth in the 19th century. Thanks in part to a rather popular novel by Charles Dickens -- which was, appropriately enough, called A Christmas Carol -- the holiday that was once a bawdy outdoor festival was rebranded as a time for togetherness, love, peace, and giving to the needy...and caroling cheery songs door-to-door with others for pay fit perfectly with that theme. More song books were published, compiling many traditional Christmas songs together specifically for caroling.

“Now then...shall we discuss some individual Christmas songs? I suppose I can always start with a few of my favorites, from over the years...and, perhaps, you all can contribute others for me to discuss as well, if you so desire.

“‘Hark! How All the Welkin Rings’ is a song I learned in my childhood from my mother. The version I grew up with was originally written in 1739 under the name ‘a Hymn for Christmas-Day,’ by Charles Welsey -- over the years, the lyrics and melody were modified and transformed into what you all may know as ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.’

“‘The World Turned Upside Down,’ as I’ve mentioned previously, centers around the time that Christmas was banned in England. Interestingly one could easily compare its structure to that of traditional sea shanties, as it’s a rather repetitive cluster of notes that always ends with an identical line that everyone can sing along to, even if they don’t know the rest of the words.

“‘Joy to the World’ is based largely off of psalm 98 of the Christian Bible. Its first musical variation was published in 1719, though the tune used today is from an slightly more recent version from 1848. From what I understand, the popularity of that second version has only increased exponentially, over time.

“‘O Holy Night’ was originally written in French in the mid-1800′s as ‘Cantique de Noël.’ It was based off a poem called ‘Midnight, Christians.’ It’s also a favorite of my esteemed friends, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel.

“‘The Santa Claus Express’ sadly did not take off the way other Christmas songs have, from what I gather, but it without fail always reminds me of my close associate Grim. @cursebreakerfarrier Trains have been closely associated with Christmas at least since the 1860s when the first wooden toy trains were made, but they only became more popular with the invention of the first electric toy trains at the very beginning of the 20th century. It’s little wonder that since then model train sets became popular gifts and that -- likewise -- trains now spark a lot of nostalgia for both childhood and Christmas in a lot of people. I suppose that’s why one of my mundanes’ favorite Christmas-themed moving pictures, The Polar Express, focuses around a train that travels to the North Pole.

“‘Winter Wonderland’ is the newest of these songs, as it was written in 1934, but from what I understand, it’s become very well-beloved over time. One story I’ve heard is that its writer had been in treatment for tuberculosis when he wrote its lyrics, taking inspiration from his memory of New York City’s snow-capped Central Park. I must confess that I always enjoy ‘echoing’ each line until it comes to the chorus whenever I hear it -- you know, ‘Sleigh bells ring (sleigh bells ring) -- are you listening? (Are you listening?)’ Violet and Bertie @that-ravenpuff-witch tend to do the same thing, whenever either of them are in my earshot and the song starts playing.”

[non-sequitura]

Non-sequitura Disney in-depth analysis (after making a tier list)

Warning: SUPER longform. If you don’t know a movie well, you should skip the summary. I tried to be light on spoilers, but they’re there.

I went chronologically from favorite to least favorite. So S tier is, in order from fave to least fave, The Incredibles, WALL-E, then Zootopia.

S tier (Something I consider high quality AND a movie I greatly enjoy. I would love more Disney movies be like this.)

The Incredibles - one of my favorite movies of all time, possibly THE favorite. Rockin social commentary, epic action scenes, memorable characters, not a minute of screentime wasted, great take on the Fantastic Four, hilarious parts for both adults and children, an interesting villain, etc. 

WALL-E - I love how social commentary was done here. Also skies above, what a beautiful love story. Really blazed a trail in non-verbal storytelling (especially given it was an animated kids film!) Robot animations are particularly delightful. 

Zootopia - another social message delivered excellently and entertainingly. I love Judy and her persistence, I love the expressiveness of the faces and the epic city setting. I love Judy and Nick's banter. This movie deserves to be remembered longer than it has been so far. Admittedly, not one of my fave villains, which makes it my least favorite of the Ss. 

A tier (either super high quality or something I greatly enjoy and deem of at least reasonably good quality)

Mulan - this movie did everything right. Truly feminist protagonist, an icon for strong Asian women, fairly culturally accurate (tho Mushu confuses me), GORGEOUS and iconic music. Lets a relatively natural romance develop. I frickin love the action scenes, I love the emporer. Sadly, this movie just didn't lodge its way in my heart as well as Pixar did. Pixar just has some magic, yo. 

Cinderella - my gosh what an underrated protagonist. Her family straight-up abuses her and she never loses sight of her goals for a better life. Iconic visuals helped bring Disney out of bankruptcy. A gorgeous alto singing voice. 

Wreck-it Ralph - alright alright ppl don’t crucify me for this. I honestly can’t think of much wrong with this movie. Vanellope and Ralph’s vitriolic best buds relationship is adorable, her forgiveness of him is heartwarming and (relatively) deserved, rockin’ Owl City song, epic visuals that mix together bc of all the different games. ALSO ONE OF THE BEST DISNEY VILLAINS NO CAP. One of the only twist villains I like. And we stan the romantic pairing. 

Tangled - I’ve talked about this a lot, but Rapunzel deserved the whole world after what she’s gone through. That being said, Gothel is not some shallow monster she needs to escape from, but an intelligent, well-defined monster with backstory. I could totally see this story happening if the world of Tangled existed. Epic love story, hilarious dialogue. Music is… good but much of it is less memorable to me. Visuals are good but not quite at the level/creativity of many other disney films. 

The Lion King - they really put Hamlet in Africa and pulled it off lol. But in all seriousness, no one took the premise of this film seriously at the time and it became sooo iconic. I love Scar and his eventual downfall, I love how Simba grows emotionally, I love the sad moments that don’t overpower the overall feeling of light goofiness. And music so memorable it was one of the first Disney musicals. 

Coco - not a super unique story premise. But an incredible culture to explore with such creativity and sensitivity. I love the themes of death not being the worst and music being so central to the story. Twist/twist villain was memorable and not expected. And yeah, it did make me cry, so props there. 

Ratatouille - the most recently watched of these films for me. This movie is soooo unique! Back when Pixar was truly super out there with their concepts. Super Parisian visuals and soundtrack. It somehow starts goofy (THE OLD LADY TRIES TO KILL REMY WITH A SHOTGUN WHILE WEARING A GAS MASK) but really drives home the message that you can truly do what you want regardless of who you are. Colette can get it. And the monologue by Ego at the end is one of my favorites in film. 

Frozen - Anna is one of my favorite Disney protagonists. She’s so resilient and loyal. Elsa ain’t bad either but she experiences… less character development. The film is a tad too pleased with its own self-awareness for my taste, but there’s no denying how iconic the music and visuals were. 

Inside Out - Alright, this movie hits home for me bc I tried to run away after moving. A super thoughtful, heartfelt depiction of (potentially depression? imo) with great moments of humor. Riley’s inner world is so creative and lovely. Also realistic depictions of Minnesota/California culture. 

Tarzan - Jane! is! smart! and! adorable! Her scientific curiosity makes her very endearing. it’s so cute to see her and Tarzan learn from each other. Also Tarzan’s “found mother” is epic. Solid score. Solid film all around. To quote Lily Orchard, “This film is what Pocahontas tried to be.” 

B tier (one of my favorites but has a few significant flaws that bring it down (or not quite as memorable to me, but consider good quality))

Peter Pan - Haven’t seen it in a hot sec, but I remember being super charmed by this as a kid. Just going out, having incredible adventures, and returning to a warm home at the end of the day. Tinker Bell is hilarious and beautifully drawn. Gets major negative points for the depiction of Native Americans tho. 

Big Hero 6 - I was super charmed by the protagonist, his family/friends, and the setting. The plot/villain’s motivations are a bit of a mess, though. 

Princess and the Frog - This movie has so much flavor to it! The visuals/music are lovely and unique. Tiana is incredible but it’s kinda annoying how EVERYONE keeps trying to shoehorn her into romance. The thing is, her goals are entirely reasonable. Focus on her restaurant, then look to settle down. But they’re like “nooo you’re ignoring the important things in life” smh. Also, epic villain, woohoo! The movie dragged significantly for me when they were in the bayou. Charlotte is delightful. 

Winnie the Pooh - don’t remember it super well, but I think it was charming and occasionally dark, which is an addictive concoction. 

The Little Mermaid - MAN ppl roast Ariel way more than she deserves. Visually, it was… fine. idk. This movie is good. I don’t have much else to say about it. 

Snow White - the one that started it all. Visually, super impressive. Musically, lovely. I find the romance a bit… off. Well, more than a bit. What is it with Disney and kissing sleeping people? 

Alice in Wonderland - a nerdy acid trip. Right up my alley! I also like films where ppl go on incredible adventures and return to the status quo, but THEY changed bc of it. Epic. SUUUUPER creative visual interpretation of Carroll’s book. Brave - gosh I loooove films where a parent and child learn to understand each other. Never got why ppl hated this movie so much. The Scottish flavor is present and fun. Merida made one mistake and made it up. The arrow scene is iconic. 

Cars - a fun ride! (hahaha puns.) We love seeing Paul Newman as a car. 

B-minus tier? (same as B, but problematic, or weaker story-wise.)

Hunchback - man… settings-wise, this film might be my favorite. I also love Esmeralda and Quasimodo as characters and as a duo (though the sexualized depiction of Romani ppl is not epic.) I also don’t find the discrimination against Esmeralda/Quasimodo jarring bc it matches the time period. Frollo is super interesting as a villain. The gargoyles are… def not necessary. Basically, this film doesn’t know what it’s doing with tone. 

Sleeping Beauty - Aurora was my favorite when I was younger because I thought she was the prettiest, and that still defines how i feel about this, basically. Visually lovely - everything is kind of elongated and gothic. Maleficent is spiteful and epic. I have no issue with the fluffier parts of the movie, like the music or the fairies. RIP for lack of consent being a plot point, though. 

Hercules - Megara is incredible. one of the only Disney “princesses” who acts like an adult and has cynicism as a major part of her personality. I love her and Herc’s progression where she learns to trust him (yes, he is genuinely that sincere, it’s not a front.) Muses are unique, whoever came up with them was high on something and I’m living for it. I just think the plot itself was somewhat unrealistic/ weirdly-paced. There are some memorable songs, some less-than-memorable songs. Art style is cool but I’m personally not a fan. EXTREMELY inaccurate depictions of the original Greek gods. 

C tier (entertaining, but I don't consider it a great movie)

Bolt - I watched this like 11 years ago. It was fun! A cool concept about those put on a pedestal learning their worth even without celebrity boosting them up. Animation was… fine I think. not super memorable to me. 

Frozen 2 - They really took any scrap of character development Elsa had in the first movie, threw it in the garbage and set it on fire. Anna deserved so much better. Songs are bombastic and impressive, have the occasional interesting lyric, but are really weirdly placed and none are quite as iconic as the first movie’s (except Aurora, she does great work here. Also the song Anna sings after she thinks Elsa died.) 

Not a big fan of the vaguely homeopathic theme. Not a big fan of Olaf’s WEIRD character development. Not a big fan of the suuuuuper awkward dialogue and the animations that imply not only that Kristoff is into his reindeer but that Elsa and Anna are into each other (if you’re questioning if they did that, yes, they did, I can find screenshots of some really weird expressions/moments. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO PANDER TO YOUR WEIRD FANS, DISNEY.) 

The voice actors did great work, the animators did great work (look at the details on their clothes! Look at how Elsa’s posture changes to be more confident! look at how they're animated while they're singing!) Some weird costume/makeup choices that make Elsa look like an aging starlet, but she also has some gorgeous moments so eh. It’s a wash for me. 

They really did not know what to do with Kristoff this movie, huh. The only thing that happened to him was singing a cheesy 90s ballad and marrying Anna, both of which were admittedly epic. Also, the trolls got 0 appearances despite being literally psychic. Probably could have helped with a lot. I'm not a huge fan of lore/worldbuilding, and thee was a lot of it here. Overall neutral on it. 

Also a big theme in this movie I don’t love - **** TANGIBLE CONSEQUENCES TO OUR ACTIONS!!! The danger is Elsa’s death, the elements, colonialism, and Arendelle literally being destroyed. None of those end up playing out, so I was left at the end going “this film had literally no stakes.” 

Monsters U - same as above - entertaining at the time! Not super memorable. The ppl we were supposed to dislike kept switching. Doesn’t really match the canon of Monsters Inc (I thought they were supposed to have known each other since childhood so why did they meet in college?) 

Cars 3 - so apparently, everyone HATED this movie! Fun! I never watched Cars 2 (yes watched Cars 1 if you haven’t been paying attention to this list), but I didn’t think this movie was bad at all. Well-acted, some fun chase scenes, the scene where Lightning fails at driving in the simulation is genuinely hilarious, and some interesting perspectives on teachers getting the spotlight for their skills for once. 

Incredibles 2 - I liked this film at first, but then it was… just okay in retrospect. I love me some good family dynamics. The plot here makes not a lot of sense. THEY BUILT UP THE UNDERMINER FOR NOTHING AND THEN FORGOT ABOUT HIM. I was surprised by the villain swap, but it happened so last minute I never really understood their motivations even after they explained them. Tried to tackle waaaay too many messages. 

D tier (I didn't enjoy these or consider them mediocre)

Finding Dory - Maybe I should have put this higher? Like C tier at least. Ah well. Wasn’t a huge fan of the body/physical comedy (not my thing), but it was entertaining and awww finding family is heartwarming. 

Finding Nemo - I remember nothing about this movie. 

E tier (this film has significant problems)

Beauty and the Beast - *sigh*… I want to love this movie. The score is gorgeous. Visually, they could have made it more distinctly Rococo-era France but didn’t (why?) The voice actors did good work and I think Paige O’Hara is SUPER underrated here. 

The Beast is emotionally manipulative with an awful temper that (for MOST of the movie. He doesn’t change.) That’s the main reason this is in E tier. This movie shaped so many generations of people thinking they can change the behavior of someone who treats them badly through the power of love. But you can’t. She learns to “love” the beast under coercion. It’s not Stockholm syndrome - it’s a trashy romance novel. Big fan of Gaston as a villain. He’s an archetype ppl can recognize and it’s so satisfying to hate him.

F tier (I think this film actively harms the industry and would rather it not have been made. Both the one in E tier could be considered harmful to the industry, but I think they had significant enough artistic accomplishments to scrape above that. I'm also generally a fan of "lack of censorship bc it's better to teach what not to do.")

Pocahontas - this movie took real historical events and romanticized them AND sexualized one of the only Native princesses they’ve had. Boo. Nothing wrong with animation!Pocahontas as a character, it’s just people put her in a story that doesn’t represent history well at all (and these historical events, unlike those in say, 14th-century Germany, had super relevant effects on people alive today.) And they portrayed the Native Americans and colonial settlers as equally in the wrong. (though I like Governor Radcliffe as a potential villain and love the line “see how I glitter.” I can’t NOT laugh when I hear it.) Lovely music, though. Nice animation, but the colors are weirdly… muted? 

Bad Garbage (I don't wish this film had never been made, but I wish I never had to see it.)

Planes - this movie was ridiculous. I remember not much about it except that I kinda hated it and that it was super cheesy with tension one could see right through that immediately resolved itself via one twist or another. 

Haven’t seen tier: Recess, A Bug’s Life, A Goofy Movie, DuckTakes Movie, Lilo and Stitch, Pinocchio (actually i have seen this but I remember nothing about it), The Nightmare before Christmas, Toy Stories 1, 2, and 3, Up, 101 Dalmatians, The Great Mouse Detective, Cars 2, Moana, The Good Dinosaur, Pete’s Dragon, Fantasia, Peter Pan Return to Neverland, Fantasia 2000, The Black Cauldron (read the book, though!), Bambi (or I did and remember nothing about it), The Rescuersm, The Rescuers Down Under, Planes Fire and Rescue, Bambi 2, The Fox & the Found, Oliver and Company, Atlantis, Treasure Planet (I want to, though), Piglet’s Big Movie, The Jungle Book, the Emporer’s New Groove, The Jungle Book 2, Chicken Little, Brother Bear, The Three Caballeros, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Dumbo, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Aladdin (seen parts but never the whole thing), Strange Magic, The Sword in the Stone, James and the Giant Peach, Frankenweenie, Lady and the Tramp, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Doug’s 1st Movie, Monsters Inc. (want to, though), Meet the Robinsons, Dinosaur, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, The Tigger Movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, that pooh movie at the end without the title on it

-11/21/20

[beatyoutothepunchline]

On Telephones

Carrie Fisher once said to, “Take your broken heart and make it into art.” I don’t know if she ever found a way to mend a mangled heart--one that can’t will itself to make any art right now--but if anybody has got something better than slamming a two buck chuck while laying on the floor of your dorm room, listening to Julia Jacklin’s cover of “Someday” by the Strokes for the ten millionth time, while going between six different tabs on Glassdoor of jobs you didn’t get while waiting for inspiration to ding like the semi-hourly email from Sur La Table, reminding your newly single ass that “love is in the air” and while it is you can take an extra forty percent off all clad cookware, I’d like to know. All of this is happening on my phone, which I’m trying not to look at right now and am failing miserably at because I’ve spent the last ten years slowly becoming more and more addicted to and reliant upon it. I’m not sure I could go twenty seconds without checking my Instagram feed, and I can assure you that unless the little blue dot on my map app moved with me, I wouldn’t ever get to where I was going. (Have you tried to ask somebody on the street recently where something is? Everybody’s got their headphones in). Remember when phones were just phones and all they did was call people? I do… vaguely. I remember using my stubby, bitten down middle school fingernails to pull up the antenna of my 90’s Nokia, plopping down on the floor in the living room of our house in Omaha and calling everyone in my mom’s address book and tell them I had a cellphone and if I needed to be reached personally, I now could. I remember my mom walking into the room and asking what I was doing, so I told her. I was on the phone with our next door neighbor, Doris Helfrich. My mom pulled the phone out of my hand and apologized laughing it off. I was too old to be doing stuff like that. Twelve or thirteen maybe, but I’m amazed there was a point in my life when talking on phone was a source of anxiety. This is due to the pressure of trying to make a good first impression, which I’m bad at to begin with. I’m one of those people you need to meet at least eleven times before they can form an honest opinion about me. There’s even more pressure over the phone, because there is nothing to go on other than my voice. This wasn’t something that I noticed until I got older and became slightly more perceptive and self conscious of it. I personally have no problem with it, however, in recent years it has come to my attention thanks to the groundbreaking observation of several of the men I’ve gone out with that I sound, “nervous” (In my defense, I’m usually burning the candle at both ends and my voice is shaking because I’m jacked up on an insane amount of coffee.) Or they say I sound scared or sad or angry. My absolute favorite though,came from this idiot I am crying over who told me,“You sound like a California girl.” Because apparently I talk slower (I’m assuming he meant I had a super cool laid back, So-Cal surfer drawl) and because I say “like” a lot (I do, but it’s usually because I’m trying to find the right way to say something. I’m not sure why taking my time to choose my words carefully needs to be pointed out to me as if it’s a bad thing.) But I’m cool and I quote from my favorite Valley girl, saying, “Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man,” or some other joke that fits the comment. The smart one’s laugh and move on. The dumb ones ask, such as said idiot ask, “Why do you use comedy to distract from insecurities?” Truth is I didn’t have any until idiot dudes started pointing them out to me. I hate to admit I let something that stupid get to me, but whenever my phone rings now there’s this sense of fear that the voice on the phone doesn’t match the person I am, and the takeaway will be what I sound like, not what I’m trying to say. The next phone I got was a burnt orange Sidekick, which meant I could finally text people instead of having to call them. Not that I knew anyone to text. Certainly, the sixty-year-old neighbors I called on my Nokia didn’t know how to text or didn’t. But I meet people at school, those people invited me to parties where I meet more people. Those people and I talked for a while and if general teenage awkwardness (because let’s be clear: teenagers were socially awkward long before phones started making them that way) or my inability to form a sentence without sounding like an idiot didn’t ruin the conversation we’d exchange numbers so we didn’t have to talk with our mouths anymore. I distinctly remember a two week period in high school where I met a dude at a party, told my friend to give him my number, lost my phone for two weeks (totally content with never seeing it again) only to find it with an eighty-nine percent battery life and three texts from the boy my friend gave my number to. And really there are two things that are amazing about this. The first is that there was a point in my life where I went two weeks (336 hours, 20,160 minutes) without looking at my phone and that there was a point in my life where I truly didn’t care if the dude from the party texted me. Right after the party, or at all. What happened to her? Fourteen years old in that cocktail dress my mom bought me last minute from Forever 21, standing along the back wall of a dark high school gym, the bass rattling my chest. There was a point in my life where the loudness of it all didn’t freak me out. There was something almost kind of meditative about it. Not the people or music. There is absolutely nothing meditative about being surrounded by teenagers in varying stages of puberty (and yet somehow simultaneously, at the peak of it), dancing to “Apple Bottom Jeans” by T-Pain and screaming “REMEMBER FIFTH GRADE?!” or singing out of key to “Fireflies” by Owl City and screaming “REMEMBER SEVENTH GRADE?!” or little circles of light from a disco ball spinning around your head like someone knocked out in a cartoon. I stood along the back wall of the gym, closed my eyes and focused on the bass until I forgot all the lyrics and all the people around me. If I were twenty-one then I’d have pulled my earbuds out of my clutch and put in my music, Jon Brion or Aimee Man or the Velvet Underground, and slow danced with myself. Unfortunately, I was fourteen. I didn’t know who Jon Brion or Aimee Man were and I didn’t go to the dance alone. For some reason, I decided to go with a bunch of girls who were appalled by the sight of grinding. I was appalled by them being appalled by people who made different choices than they did and decided to call my parents to pick me up an hour into the dance. “Already?” My mom asked though I’m not sure why she was surprised. I always left the party early. As I sat waiting on a concrete bench outside, a girl ran out of the building like Cinderella and the clock was inching toward midnight. She was wearing a powder blue ball gown that looked more prom in the ’50s than a homecoming in 2013 and she was bawling her eyes out, mascara and eyeliner streaking down her face. She sat down on the opposite end of the bench from me. There were about twelve identical benches around us, but she sat on mine for some reason. From what I gathered between sobs into her cell phone she and her boyfriend had just broken up because he had and cheated on her with another girl, who he had taken to homecoming instead of her. Back in my dorm room in 2019, in between Julia Jacklin songs, I started to binge-watching videos by Thoraya Maronesy where she challenges people to call their crushes and ask them out on a date, or asks what the kindest thing they’ve ever been told and there was one video titled, “Who's 1 stranger that you still remember?” And as I watched this video, I tried to think about a stranger I remembered meeting and only one that came to mind was this girl on the bench. And the only thing I remember feeling at that moment was disgust. Because I didn’t understand why she would cry over someone like that. I didn’t get it when I invited him to a lit series I was asked to read at. I’m scared of talking to one person, the thought of standing in front of fifty hipsters in Carhartt beanies who are all tastefully one drink into the evening, armed with big vocabularies and ready to critique me is terrifying. It’s not like Iowa where if you screw up people won’t remember it because they’re not paying attention, won’t remember it because they’re five beers in, or will remember it but love you enough to make it into a joke they’ll tell at your wedding, to your children when they are old enough to get it, and put in your obit. To my surprise, they were all incredibly nice and he was the asshole. I took his judgment of shaky voice and my word choice as honesty. I let him rip into the poets that read the whole walk back to the train, only meekly interjecting with, “At least they’re writing poetry.” I let him call me cute and mansplain the intricacies of his book on finance and politics. I didn’t get it until I made dinner for him (which took well over the estimated hour cook time, because I, in fact, do not know how to operate an oven) and he told me that he was seeing three other people while I was home over winter break. Over break. When he was calling me every other night to tell me he missed me, I was dipping out of dinner early, laying on the landing of the staircase of my parents place or pacing around the freezing garage floor talking to him for an over hour. Because who calls anymore unless they really like you? Only then did click and I finally got it. Heartbreak is a sixteen year old who--for the first time in her life--finally feels like Nora Ephron didn’t completely lie to her, only to have that feeling stripped away by some stupid thing some boy told her. Because a woman well versed in her past mistakes and a man well versed in his didn’t write the right words for that asshole. Heartbreak is a big blue dress that directly juxtaposes the era. That you write off as being delusional or dated, but secretly gives you hope that slow dance still happen, that late night telephone conversations between two people still exist, and still mean more than what is said during them. Heartbreak is mascara running all down your face and no one chasing after you when you leave the party. And let me tell you, that kind of heartbreak looks much better on a sixteen-year-old girl at homecoming than on a twenty-something sitting alone at her kitchen table, with a botched TJ’s lemon chicken sitting in front of her, still a little raw in the middle. I glance down at my phone, trying to convince myself it was to check the time instead of Snapchat, or Instagram. It’s the time of night I would have called him and I debate calling my mother, but I’ve already called her. She likes breaking news, not this repetitive, 24-hour loop of a relationship I prefaced with, “Don’t get used to hearing about him. It’s not gonna last.” I know she will be a hundred percent honest with me. She’ll tell me to wipe the snot out of my nose, splash some cold water in my face and get over it. So instead I call my grandma because I want to talk to somebody that will pretend to care and she is scarily upbeat and gets wildly off topic. She will save me. Or distract me. Maybe they’re the same thing. As soon as she picks up, she tells me about how my uncle Rob was in Chicago for a Navy conference. “But only for two days,” she says as if to avoid offending me. As if I would be furious to find out he didn’t want to spend the few free hours he had in his tight schedule to see me. She told me he left his Navy blues or whatever you call them back in DC where he sometimes works, or in Sicily where he is currently stationed. I forget where she said he left his Navy blues because I wasn’t listening to her tell me how he ran all over town on his lunch break, acquiring pieces of a uniform from thrift stores and getting them tailored to fit him before dinner that night. Where nobody was the wiser, save the two men he asked had a spare necktie. I didn’t stop to consider how beautiful that was--how it could be a short story. One I could’ve been writing if I wasn’t preoccupied with things not working out with the guy I was seeing. My grandma, now picking up on my not so subtle crying, tells me in an uncharacteristically flat, matter-of-fact tone, “It works or it doesn’t,” before telling me to link up with my mom’s second cousin who lives two streets down on Michigan Avenue. That I should consider writing him a letter. Maybe network a little. I write down his address, toy with the idea of writing a letter, but hang up when my grandma starts telling me to “network” with people. A few hours after my conversation with my her, no further into my homework or a story about my uncle, I go from break up songs to love songs when “Big Me” by the Foo Fighters pops up on my recommended list. I’d heard the song before, but I had never really listened to it. Some people say it’s about a fight this guy has with his girlfriend and the line, “If we can get around it/I know that it's true.” Meaning, if it’s the real deal, they’ll figure it out together. Some say that lead singer, Dave Grohl, simply meant it as a corny love song for his wife at the time, some insist it’s about dealing with the loss of Kurt Cobain. I don’t know. I wasn’t in the state of mind to analyze it, so I let the music video inform the brilliant and infuriatingly vague lyrics. The music video for “Big Me” parodies a Mentos commercial, aptly renaming the mint candy “Footos.” In it, Grohl, the band, and several actors (who, if not ripped off of the set from an actual Mentos commercial we’re perfectly cast as being the kind of people that could be in one), encounter a series of minor a setbacks. A woman gets parked in by a self-centered businessman, Dave Grohl gets cut off by an angry lady in a limo, and a kid is kept from getting into a Foo Fighters concert. After a moment of contemplation as each tries to figure out how to deal with the situation they are confronted with, they have this sort of “Ah-ha!” moment, before popping in a “Footo,” smiling at the camera and coming up the solution that has been there all along. The band picks the car out up of the parking spot so the lady can get out, Dave Grohl befriends the woman in the limo that cuts him off and give her a Footo, and the kid is able to sneak into the concert and play with the band. It’s equal parts funny, stupid and feel good and I can’t help but smile when I watch it. I text my brother a link to the video and tell him that I’m having one of those nights where I look at Dave Grohl and think, “Alec could do that.” I pause to explain that, “I don’t know exactly what I mean by that.” But I tell him have fun making that EP he and his band are making. I listen to the song fade out and check my phone, wishing I could pop in a Mento, choose happiness and figure out how to fix myself when I think of one last number I can call. I get up off the floor, walk over to my desk and slide the poem my mom gave me out from under the chip clip holding it to my picture frame. The poem was her dad’s. It’s titled “Don’t Quit,” and when I’m close to quitting I read the poem. When I want answers to questions I flip it over to the phone number written on the back under the name D. Imer. I have no idea who he might be is or what it might means. I open my phone, dial the number, and stop just short of calling. Not because I care about what the person on the other end will think of me or my voice, but because I don’t want to ruin the illusion I’ve created. Deep down I know it will not redirect me to a secret telephone line that will give me answers to all my questions.

[howyoustudythestars]

Don’t call me a heathen, but I don’t like “All My Friends”...

(Yes, I made a Twenty One Pilots reference in a post about Owl City, shoot me!)

I’ve never been disappointed this much with a new Owl City song until now.

Now, before you fill my inbox with hate like “You just want Adam to go back to Ocean Eyes days” or “You don’t like his new stuff” or even “Your no longer a fan”, read these posts of mine.  Furthermore, as a musician myself, I understand change is inevitable.  To ask him to keep writing 500 versions of the same album would be counterintuitive at best and nearly impossible at worst.  You’re essentially asking someone to return to the days when he only had a vague idea of what the world was like and spent times daydreaming at dead-end jobs, returning home at night, and turning them into what he remembered as songs and continued when he couldn’t fall asleep.  Now he has seen the world, he has a better grip on life, and he has new knowledge in his craft.  While I may miss that style from time to time, I understand his music will be different as he continues to grow as a musician and artist.

And I’ll always be a fan of Adam Young.  Nothing will likely change that.  But the thing is (and it’s something I’ve noticed with the HootOwl fandom from time to time) is that you can be critical of an artist and still be a fan of them.  That is not mutually exclusive.  Music is subjective by nature.  What someone got out of one song will be different from what someone else got out of it, and that’s regardless of whether or not they agree or disagree on whether the song is good or bad.  One of my favorite music critics, Jon from ARTV, has called himself an Owl City fan in the past.  He didn’t like The Midsummer Station, but it grew on him.  He still holds Mobile Orchestra as a bad album for various reasons, the main one being that the tracklist felt like a checklist of demographics his label wanted the album to appeal to.  (The college graduation song, the 90s nostalgic song, the old school Owl City-sounding song to please fans, the Christian song, the country-pop crossover song, etc.)  There’s nothing wrong with being critical of an artist you love, and up until now, I have enjoyed most songs that Adam has put out, including The Scores project that I initially had reservations about.  So what went wrong here?

Warning: Long post ahead!

When I heard Adam was going to be writing songs based on his personal stories and experiences, I wasn’t put off by it in the slightest.  He’s done it before numerous times: “Lonely Lullaby” was about his painful breakup with Annmarie.  “I Hope You Think Of Me” is believed to be about Taylor Swift, and his favorite song to have ever written, “This Isn’t the End”, was about his mother as a young child having to deal with his mother committing suicide.  I’ll even include the Christmas song “Humbug” in this list, as it’s about his experiences going Christmas shopping every year, and how the best gift he can give is the love in his heart.  None of those songs I had a problem with.  In fact, one of the artists I wish Adam would collaborate with is Matthew West, a Contemporary Christian artist who is well known for his storytelling style, including using his fan’s stories as inspiration for songs.  I think their styles would work well together.  If anything, I was more worried that a more personal style would give more ammunition to fans that he has changed too much and no longer is writing music true to himself.  I firmly believe this isn’t the case to this day, but I still feel let down by the new music we’ve gotten so far.

And the other day, I was super stoked to hear the Cinematic announcement.  After all, this will be his first project completed completely without the help of a label since Maybe I’m Dreaming.  The instrumental in the announcement video was gold, and part of my disappointment with All My Friends is that the instrumental is probably part of a different song.  It may not even be on any of the 3 reels for all I know.  But that will be a song that I will be looking forward to, together with the Twitter Q&A video’s instrumental from earlier this year.

One thing I’ve missed since Mobile Orchestra (barring the Scores project) is that music is his electronic melodies and synth lines.  Sure, we got that in Thunderstruck and his Waving Through a Window cover.  And based on the tracklisting now also including “Not All Heroes Wear Capes”, I certainly hope it isn’t in this more guitar-driven direction.  To be honest, the lines between Sky Sailing and Owl City is becoming a lot less blurred in terms of instrumentation.  And that’s not necessarily a good or bad thing, but I’m wondering why Adam keeps saying Sky Sailing isn’t dead if it feels like some of these acoustic-driven songs are now part of the Owl City canon more and more often.  Heck, I even consider “Paper Tigers” to be a Sky Sailing demo and not an Owl City demo for that very reason.

And, speaking of Not All Heroes Wear Capes, as I mentioned in the tags of a post around the time of that song’s announcement, I can’t relate to the song at all.  My dad was never in my life.  He left my mom before I could even remember, supposedly to go be with another woman.  I can’t say for sure because I was too young to remember and I don’t want to say that was the reason when I haven’t talked to him about it.  I’m now wondering if the lack of a father figure in my life has contributed in any way to my anxieties or my depression in any way, so it’s safe to say that my dad is no hero to me.  In some ways, minus the suicide and the gender being swapped, This Isn’t the End is more or less a better representative of my non-existent relationship with my dad.  I still wound up buying the song, but it more or less feels like a list of things Adam likes about his dad.  There is some emotion behind it, and like I said, I can’t really relate to it personally, so I can’t speak to it other than the lack of electronic elements.

But what turned me off of “All My Friends”?  If it was just the lack of electronic elements, I wouldn’t feel this way.  And to be fair, I don’t have a problem with Adam rapping or producing a spoken word track or anything of that sort, either.  To me, the lyrics can sometimes make or break a song, and I feel that was the case with this song, but it ultimately fell flat.  Honestly, it feels like a country rendition of “Good Time”, Part 2 (much like how “Can’t Live Without You” and “Embers” were part 2′s of “Tidal Wave” and “Shooting Star”, respectively), with the theme of staying true to yourself and to what you stand for, but it can’t even hold that message for long when it seems boastful in this repeated part:

And they'll be awestruck, sayin', "Aww shucks" They either got real good or they got real good luck

I mean, not to be too conspiratorial or pull a Summertime’s End, but that isn’t really biblical thinking.  And to top it all off, it’s the first Owl City song that I feel is so bland it no longer resembles Adam Young.  It feels like anyone could sing that song and it would work.  Furthermore, where are the parts that are “personal”?  Apart from talking about a dance, which I can only think of being a school dance or something of that sort, it’s not something that sounds like it’s personal to Adam, and if it is, I at least can’t relate to it.

A song that I feel would be better suited and even in a similar vein is the Outasight song “If I Fall Down”.  It has a similar theme and the story in the second verse sounds a lot like Adam’s story of making it in the music industry:

Welcome to my story Before the songs before the glory There was a boy in a town that’s boring Who let go of the fear he's holding Walked out of all his classes Followed his so-called passion Everyone said he was crazy And they were right but that was back then

Sounds more Adam like, right?  There’s a reason for that: According to ayoungmusic.com, the song was written and produced by Adam Young!

Now, I will still buy Cinematic.  I’m super excited for it.  The tracklisting has some promising titles like “Firebird”, “Lucid Dream”, and even the title track “Cinematic”, among many others.  I’m just a little nervous in the direction it will go.

The only thing I can say in Adam’s defense is that the first song/lead single that's released is not usually representative of the whole album. "Fireflies" does not capture the whole of Ocean Eyes. "Alligator Sky" does not capture the whole of All Things Bright and Beautiful. "Good Time" does not capture the whole of The Midsummer Station. And "Verge" does not capture the whole of Mobile Orchestra. Here's to hoping that "All My Friends" does not capture the whole of Cinematic.

Finally, in my opinion, what made Humbug work as a personal song is that it has a tongue-in-cheek quality that is very Owl City-ish in nature.  Even though it doesn’t really have synths, it still sounds like an Owl City song.  I can’t say the same for this song.  It sounds too bland and not at all like an Owl City song.  I am still an Owl City fan and remain excited for Cinematic, but I can’t stand behind the song “All My Friends”.  I’m just hoping the album goes in a slightly different direction!

[forgettingdanielle]

Aesthetic asks, all of them.

flower crown: when did you last sing to yourself?-earlier today, cleaning my house. fairy lights: if a crystal ball could tell you the truth about anything, what would you want to know?-if I end up doing okay in life. I’m so afraid of failing. daisies: what is the greatest accomplishment of your life?-making myself become slightly more social. Although I am still working on this, I feel happier. 1975: what is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?-Probably when I used to hangout with my cousins all the time. Now we’ve all grown up and never see each other. Also tied with clearing things up with my oldest brother. matte: if you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?-maybe try to be less nervous about things. Just let things happen and go with the flow. black nail polish: do you have a bucket list? if so, what are the top three things?-I don’t think I necessarily have a bucket list. I have things I’d like to do someday. 1.) go to Ireland. 2.) go back to the ocean.3.) move to Washington/Oregon. Visiting there a few months ago was the most alive I’ve felt. pantone: describe a person close to your life in detail.-Dark hair. Oftentimes like a sour patch kid. Makes me smile. Sometimes knows how to comfort me, other times knows when to leave me alone. Makes me laugh. Doesn’t understand how much I care about him. Messy but lovable. moodboard: do you feel you had a happy childhood?-sometimes I did, sometimes I didn’t. Up until about 7 or so I think it was decent. stars: when did you last cry in front of another person?-I don’t normally cry in front of people. Keep it to myself, it’s much easier. plants: pick a person to stargaze with you and explain why you picked them.-I’d want someone who actually would enjoy it to the fullest, so maybe my good friend Larry? converse: would you ever have a deep conversation with a stranger and open up to them?-I probably wouldn’t open up completely but I’m more than willing to have a conversation. lace: when was your last 3am conversation with someone, and who were they to you?- jeeeeeeeze, I don’t normally stay up that late. Lol it’s been over a year because it was with Larry I’m pretty sure, when he was still stationed in Cali I think. handwriting: if you were about to die, and you could only say one more sentence to one person, what would you say and to whom?-I would probably choose Justin and just to let him know I love him. cactus: what is your opinion on brown eyes?-I’ve always loved brown eyes. They always seem so deep and loving. sunrise: pick a quote and describe what it means to you personally.-“keep your face to the sun and you won’t see the shadow” basically, keep your head up and stay positive. oil paints: what would you title the autobiography of your life so far?-fuck I don’t know. “Keep going”overalls: what would you do with one billion dollars?- probably pay off my debt, buy a house and save the rest. Help out family and friends and try to help others as well. combat boots: are you a very forgiving person? do you like being this way?-I feel as if I can be depending the situation. I give a lot of people second chances but if you fuck the second chance up too, that’s on you and I’m done. winged eyeliner: write a hundred word letter to your twelve year old self.-Hey. I know shits rough right now but you’ll come out of it. The girls that are bullying the fuck out of you right now are cowards who later on will want to be friends. Tell them to fuck off. Do your best in school and don’t worry so much. Your family life will not change much so try to get used to it earlier on. You will no longer be best friends with the boy you used to walk home with everyday and that’s okay. He’ll show his true colors and you won’t need that in your life. Don’t cry after hanging up that phone call. Don’t let it have that much power over you. Just be the best you that you can be and try to let the rest fall off your shoulders. It will be hard, I know. But you’re amazing and you will do fine. pastel: would you describe yourself as more punk or pastel?- I think I’m right in the middle. I don’t know. tattoos: how do you feel about tattoos and piercings? explain.-I love them. I have 9 tattoos and will be getting my 10th in another month or so. Express the fuck out of yourself. Do what makes you happy. piercings: do you wear a lot of makeup? why/why not?-I feel like I do. It makes me feel so much better about myself, its unreal. I’ve worn makeup almost every day since 7th grade and that’s kind of sad to think about. bands: talk about a song/band/lyric that has affected your life in some way.-owl city-fireflies. No detail. messy bun: the world is listening. pick one sentence you would tell them.-be nicer. Lol that kind of sucks but it’s all I have. cry baby: list the concerts you have been to and talk about how they make you feel.-Sara Evans- first concert, went with my brother and Larry. It was awesome. -Scotty McCreery- he was so amazing. -Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Cole Swindell- the best concert I’ve been to yet. The adrenaline was unreal and everybody was so happy and crazy. I loved it. grunge: who in the world would you most like to receive a letter from and what would you want it to say?-I think my maternal grandmother, i would want an apology for how she treated me up until the point that I was old enough to walk away. space: do you have a desk/workspace and how is it organised/not organised?-i do have a desk at work, and i hate if it’s not organized. Everything needs to be in its place. white bed sheets: what is your night time routine?-Wipe off makeup, wash face, brush teeth, bathroom, make the bed how I want it, lay down, set alarm, lay in bed for hours until passing out. old books: what’s one thing you don’t want your parents to know?-the full story of all the shit I’ve gone through that they vaguely know about. beaches: if you had to dye your hair how would you dye/style it and why?-maybe a darker brown. I don’t really know. eyes: pick five people to go on an excursion with you. who would you pick and where would you go/what would you do?-Probs our group of friends, Justin, Bre, Josh, Maycie and Sean. I don’t know where we’d go. Maybe the beach or something? 11:11: name three wishes and why you wish for them.-more money: so I’m not stressed the fuck out about bills and shit. -my family to understand: they don’t seem to fully understand how I feel about our situation and they don’t seem to care either. -more free time: I feel like I’m constantly doing something. I never have time to relax and do things I’m interested in. painting: what is the best halloween costume you have ever put together? if none, make one up.-maybe the year I went as minion, I did it completely myself and looked cute as fuck. Lollightning: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done while drunk or high?-I cried to a room of strangers about how shitty I felt about how my family was treating me. thunder: what’s one thing you would never do for one million dollars?-make someone feel bad. storms: you on only listen to one song for the rest of your life, or only see one person for the rest of your life. which and why?-I would probably pick Justin. One song would suck. love: have you ever fallen in love? describe what it feels like to realise you’re in love.- I have. It feels like pure bliss to me. Being completely happy doing even the littlest of things with someone you love. clouds: if you’re a boy, would you ever rock black nail polish? if you’re a girl, would you ever rock really really short hair?-I have had really short hair and I hated it. Lolcoffee: what’s your starbucks order, and who would you trust to order for you, if anyone?-Peppermint mocha is my go to. And I don’t care who gets it as long as they get it. Lolmarble: what is the most important thing to you in your life right now?-to succeed. To make a happy life for myself and the people I love.

[allycat1088]

GETTING TO KNOW YOU!

1. Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? - None of the above... iHeart Radio 2. is your room messy or clean? - Organized chaos! 😂 3. what color are your eyes? - chestnut 4. do you like your name? why? - I've come to accept it. 5. what is your relationship status? - Single girl life! 6. describe your personality in 3 words or less - Silly, compassionate, loving 7. what color hair do you have? - Blonde 8. what kind of car do you drive? color? - An orange Dodge Nitro 9. where do you shop? - Vague... 10. how would you describe your style? - What style?! I'm a disaster. Would probably benefit from a stylist. 11. favorite social media account - The gram! 12. what size bed do you have? - Big enough to starfish! 13. any siblings? - Yes. Younger 14. if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? New Zealand. KIWI BIRDS! 15. favorite snapchat filter? - I feel too old for SNAPCHAT 16. favorite makeup brand(s) - NYX, TOO FACED, KAT VON D, BEAUTY BAKERIE 17. how many times a week do you shower? - Enough favorite tv show? - I have many! But favorites are SHAMELESS; YOU'RE THE WORST; PEOPLE OF EARTH; BROAD CITY 18. shoe size? - 10 US women's 19. how tall are you? - 5'7" 20. sandals or sneakers? - Sandals 21. do you go to the gym? - I have zero motivation. 😕 22. describe your dream date - Late night drive, coffee, blankets, and stargazing. 23. how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? - I'm in this terrible habit of not carrying cash. 24. what color socks are you wearing? - Barefootin' it! 25. how many pillows do you sleep with? - Two under my head, two on the opposite side of me for when I'm restless, a body pillow to cuddle, one for between my legs... 6! 26. do you have a job? what do you do? - I'm currently a receptionist. 27. how many friends do you have? - Do people really count the amount of friends they have? 28. whats the worst thing you have done? - Trusted someone who I thought was a friend. 29. whats your favorite candle scent? - Right now, all about the citrus scents. 30. 3 favorite boy names - Spencer, Oliver, Wyatt 31. 3 favorite girl names - Justice, Nova, Luna 32. favorite actor? - Tough! 33. favorite actress? - Carrie Fisher 34. who is your celebrity crush? - Fred Astaire 35. favorite movie? - Hmmm... Either DAZED AND CONFUSED or CLERKS. 36. do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? - Love reading! Favorite book is STARDUST 37. money or brains? - Brains! 38. do you have a nickname? what is it? - Ally; Ally-Cat; Ally-OOP! how many times have you been to the hospital? - More than enough. 😑 39. top 10 favorite songs - LA VIE EN ROSE is number 1. 40. do you take any medications daily? - Negative. Probably should! 41. what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) - soft 42. what is your biggest fear? - Being alone. 43. how many kids do you want? - preferably, none! 44. whats your go to hair style? - Disaster 45. what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) - apartment) A good size. 46. who is your role model? - Mi madre! 47. what was the last compliment you received? - That I am a Renaissance woman with my music knowledge. 48. what was the last text you sent? - Lol K? 49. how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? - I don't remember. 50. what is your dream car? - Jeep Wrangler 51. opinion on smoking? - No judgement here! I smoke. Occasionally. 52. do you go to college? - Nope! 53. what is your dream job? - Radio personality. 54. would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? - Neither. 55. do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? - Nah. 56. do you have freckles? - Not that I can see? 57. do you smile for pictures? - Sometimes. 58. how many pictures do you have on your phone? - Too damn many! 59. have you ever peed in the woods? - Indeed. 60. do you still watch cartoons? - Most DEFINITELY! 61. do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds? - Ehhhh... Neither. 62. Favorite dipping sauce? - Honey Mustard 63. what do you wear to bed? - Nada! Sleeping naked is too wonderful. 64. have you ever won a spelling bee? - No... 65. what are your hobbies? - Singing, painting, reading. 66. can you draw? - Not well. 67. do you play an instrument? - I wish! I'd love to play the clarinet, bass guitar, or cello. 68. what was the last concert you saw? - Mr. Frank Viele! 69. tea or coffee? - Most of the time, coffee. 70. Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? - Starbucks 71. do you want to get married? - Negative! 72. what is your crush’s first and last initial? M. G. 73. are you going to change your last name when you get married? - Definitely not! 74. what color looks best on you? - Black 75. do you miss anyone right now? - I do. That fucker! 76. do you sleep with your door open or closed? - Most of the time, open. 77. do you believe in ghosts? - I do. 78. what is your biggest pet peeve? - Ugh! 😑 Things not being put away properly. And people not using their damn directional! 79. last person you called` - My cousin Matt. 80. favorite ice cream flavor? - Ben & Jerry's PHISH FOOD... HEAVEN! 81. regular oreos or golden oreos? - Not a fan of Oreo's. 82. chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? - Rainbow! 83. what shirt are you wearing? - My POETIC, NOBLE, LAND-MERMAID tank. 84. what is your phone background? - Ted Bundy... 😂 85. are you outgoing or shy? - A good mixture of both. 86. do you like it when people play with your hair? Oh, yes! 87. do you like your neighbors? - They're pretty chill and have the CUTEST wrinkle potato pup. 88. do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? - Yes to both! 89. have you ever been high? - Indeed. 90. have you ever been drunk? - Yes. Wine drunk recently. 91. last thing you ate? - Raspberry ice pop. 92. favorite lyrics right now - Showtunes... The lyrics to SKID ROW from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS has been stuck in my head for a week now. 93. summer or winter? - Summer! 94. day or night? - Night owl. 95. dark, milk, or white chocolate? - Dark chocolate is blissful. 96. favorite month? - October 97. what is your zodiac sign - Libra girl 98. who was the last person you cried in front of? - Ummm.... My friend Jen-ayyyy when we saw WONDER WOMAN together. Feel free to play along! 😁

[txnithxo]

twenty-five songs challenge

I’m going to try something new. This is called the twenty-five songs challenge. Though it is supposed to be over twenty-five days, I will put it all in one post for the sake of keeping things together. So there are the questions and if interested message me for a copy or just get the headings from this post. Here’s the what, who, and why of my twenty-five songs challenge.

1. A song from your childhood.

“Mockingbird” Eminem     This is a song that reminds me of my childhood for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that I have been listening to this song since I was very young and I would sing this while I rode in my car seat. I feel that I can also relate some of these lyrics to my childhood which is also a major factor playing into my decision.

2. A song that reminds you of your recent ex.

“Underdressed” Verite     This is a song that reminds me of my recent ex. This is because some of these lyrics often voiced my inner opinion on my situation with this person and I felt very in tune with this song.

3. A song that reminds you of one/both of your parents.

“Vanilla Twilight” Owl City     This song reminds me of both of my parents – more one than another – for one specific memory. I remember one of my parents specifically telling me that this was one of the songs they shared together or that my parent felt towards the other parent after their divorce.

4. A song that calms you down.

“We’re Alone” DYSN ft. Blackbear     Though the content behind the lyrics of this song are not calming in most peoples’ opinions, I feel this is a song that calms me down. That is because since I cannot relate much at all to these lyrics, I really concentrate on the beat and how it sounds and feels, which in my sense is calm for whatever reason.

5. A song that is often stuck in your head.

“Misery” Maroon 5     I have only two reasons for this choice. Firstly, it is so damn catchy and you can’t deny that. Secondly, Maroon 5 – Adam Levine and the music video.

6. A song that reminds you of your best friend.

“One More Night” Maroon 5     This song reminds me of my best friend for one very good reason. Before the Maroon 5 concert, we saw together to prematurely celebrate her birthday she told me how much she loved this song and how badly she wanted them to perform it at our show.

7. A song that reminds you of the past summer.

“i hate you i love you” gnash     This song reminds me of my last summer vividly for a number of reasons.  This song was able to express how confused I felt about the feelings and thoughts I was having about love interests and how myself and my former friend would sing it together in the dark of the night on our vacation.

8. A song that reminds you of your first love.

“Lose It” Oh Wonder (Jerry Folk Remix)     This song reminds me of my first love for a couple reasons. The main reason was that I wanted to share my first slow dance with my first boyfriend to this song. Secondarily, it reminded me of how young our love felt and how sweet and innocent the beat was like our love.

9. A song that makes you hopeful.

“Viva La Vida” Coldplay     To be honest, my choice for this is just very much my opinion and the way my feelings interpret music. I just feel that the background music sounds fairly uplifting without being overly optimistic. Specifically, the line “Who would ever want to be king?”, was a line that spoke quite largely to me. This is because it really queued with my realist perception with the idea of brutal honesty about critical topics.

10. A song by your favourite band.

“Purple Pills” D12     I have no significant meaning behind this choice, honestly. I just love singing along to it and it makes me feel happy.

11. A song on the soundtrack of your favourite movie.

“8 Mile Road” Eminem     Don’t get me wrong, “Lose Yourself” is absolutely legendary and is still on charts to this date but I honestly love this song and it clearly ties in absolutely perfectly with my favourite movie, Eminem.

12. The last song you heard.

“Livin’ On A Prayer” Bon Jovi     I just recently heard this song on my way home before writing this and just enjoyed singing along to it. That’s about it for this one.

13. A song that reminds you of a former friend.

“Long Way Down” One Direction      Not only was this friend totally in love with One Direction and Harry Styles, we used to facetime and sing songs off of this album and inquire theories and realities on quotes from the lyrics found in this album. This was one of her favourites and she always mentioned so.

14. A song that reminds you of your bf/gf.

“Lucky Ones” Lana Del Rey     If you know the song, it’s fairly self-explicable and I’m sure you get it. For those who don’t, I’ll summarize. This reminds me of my boyfriend because I can’t help but think about how lucky we were to be placed together and that we are and will be the lucky ones.

15. A song you love singing along to.

“I Need A Doctor” Dr. Dre ft. Eminem, Skylar Grey     It’s a classic to me. Dynamic music trio. Nothing better than this song for a better Dr. Dre tribute/thanks from Eminem than this one. Just a beauty.

16. A song that has made you cry.

“Sippy Cup” Melanie Martinez     Not only is this an emotional song, it is full of some cold hard truths as well. It’s such a vague and powerful song which I feel I can’t relate too that much but when I have bad days and I realize that I do relate more to this song than I let on it makes me shed a few salts.

17. A song that makes you want to dance.

“Slip” Elliot Moss     Yes, this song is a slower song. I used to take dace classes for several years and this really taps (ha!) into my modern/contemporary soft side and makes me want to dance to it so much.

18. A song you love but rarely listen to.

“Friends” Chase Atlantic     Ten out of ten recommend. It just sounds so amazing and perfect to my ears.

19. The first song alphabetically in your music library.

“A.M.” One Direction     One of my all time favourite One Direction songs ever. I just love how it sounds and what it voices about and that kind of thing. It’s a good song, even if you dont like One Direction.

20. The last song alphabetically in your music library.

“90210″ Blackbear ft. G-Eazy     I honestly can’t express my love for this song. Not only is it by two of my favourite artists, it is literally one of my favourite songs to bless my ears musically and lyrically.

21. Your favourite song.

“Rich White Girls” Mansionz      If you haven’t realized that I enjoy some mellower songs, here it is. This song sounds so beautiful and even though I can’t relate lyric-wise, this is always my Soundcloud go-to.

22. A song someone has sung to you.

“Kill For You” Skylar Grey ft. Eminem     This one is one of my favourite songs to sing with my boyfriend. We love singing it together and we love singing it to each other as well.

23. A song you cannot stand to listen to.

“We Are The Champions” Queen     It does not matter how many times I ask, when I ask if anyone has a song request this will never NOT be my younger stepbrother’s response.

24. A song that you have danced to with your best friend.

“Locked Away” Maroon 5     As I earlier noted, I attended a Maroon 5 concert with my best friend. This was only one of many songs we danced and sung together on that night.

25. A song you could listen to all day.

“Safe and Sound” Capital Cities     A beautiful classic which makes me feel safe, sound, and happy wherever I am. I can never listen to this song too much.

[noiseartists]

DAY & DREAM (USA): Shoegaze duo extraordinaire

Day & Dream is a Shoegaze / Indie band from Ashville in North Carolina. They propose a clever and finely chiseled music, full of clever musical twists.

I listened to their album several times, and while the make up seems, at first listen, quite standard, they cleverly included unexpected sounds, like the jazz keyboard on ‘With Every Breath You Die’, and tinkered happily with the genre’s sound and dynamics. Every listen will uncover new layers … not a common occurrence.

I like the first song and its title: ‘So it begins’ (a sentence that I use often) and its Dream Pop atmosphere, totally unlike the rest of the album, almost like an inside Joke. When ‘Night lights’ starts with a Cure-like bassline, the band display what will be listened to in the album: intricate musical layers bordering on the lo-fi, Abby’s beautiful high-pitched voice, slight dissonance that avoid an ‘easy-listening’ song, feet-taping melodies. And from there you visit various music landscape, all superbly painted.

Needless to say I love this album. Follow me to discover the band with the presentation of their music, an interview and more. You will not be disappointed.

DAY & DREAM’s MUSIC

The band’s music work to date is:

2019: With Every Breath You Die, Album; Fading Summer, EP; Hidden Cinema, Single; Chrysalis, Single

2018: Nocturnal Creatures

Here are some of the songs we love:

Abby and Peter, the band members, give us some insight in their music:

Abby: The first thing ever released was the single “Nocturnal Creatures” which is about moving to Asheville from Brooklyn.

Peter: The title of our first album “With Every Breath You Die” was a phrase we heard a homeless man yelling on the street when we lived in New York City. He kept screaming it over and over and we both found it super profound. And true. Good reminder to live in the now and choose what makes you happy, even if it’s hard or scary.

Abby: Then there’s “Fading Summer” which has two new songs and our latest single “Hidden Cinema.” All three of these have more of a lounge/lo-fi vibe with electronic drum beats.

You can find a great review by Mountainsx.com of their album, ‘With Every Breath You Die’, HERE

DAY & DREAM’S INTERVIEW

Who are the group members?

Peter: The core of our band is Abby and myself. We are married and write everything.

Abby: Some shows we play as a duo with an old Ipod. We also play as a full 4-piece band with drums and our buddy Erik on bass.

We have played with a lot of musicians in Asheville and other cities, trying to accommodate everyone’s schedule and adjust for the type of show we are playing. When we started, I think we were dead set on permanent members, but it’s been more realistic this way.

How did you meet?

Abby: Two words - vegan brunch.

Peter: I met Abby in NYC about seven years ago. Later on, we moved to Asheville, NC and met musicians from good ‘ol Craigslist.

How did you come up with your name?

Abby: We had lots of other contenders, but this one felt right. Peter is a morning person, and I am a night owl.

Peter: “Daydream” it’s a common word, we broke it apart and rejoined with an ampersand. Our lives have a polarity to it, yet, we’re joined together by music.

Peter is the day; morning person, grounded and sunny, while Abby is the dream; head in the clouds and dark. Abby came up with the name, at first I wasn’t thrilled about it, but the more I thought about it, I found it to be an accurate representation of us and the music.

What is your music about?

Abby: All sorts of things, diary entries of our life. “First in Flight” is about starting this band, “Nightlights” is about falling in love and losing sense of time and priorities, “Sleepscreaming” is about Peter’s bad dream experiences. “Outside” is an unreleased song about our dog, Zeppi.

We have a lot of material about family, friends/frenemies, and their internal struggles. I do a lot of Stream of Consciousness writing, and sometimes take lyrics from that. I’m also super inspired by children’s books.

What are your goals as an artist artistically/commercially?

Peter: We all have day jobs. It would be amazing to do the band full time and make a living off of it.

Abby: We’d really love to tour/open for one of our favorite bands, and play internationally. It’d be fun to have our music licensed for a commercial or show, and to play a nighttime talk show. That would be the moment we feel we’ve made it. Really, just knowing people enjoy our songs and artistry, that truly does mean the most.

What are you trying to avoid as a band?

Peter: Musical cliches. We try to be different and put our own twist on everything.

Abby: Band drama, drugs, rock n roll. Before a show, we’re not getting smashed. I’m usually doing yoga or in a sauna, and after a show I’m usually eager to go home to snuggle our dog and drink a cup of tea. Grandma rock n roll style for me.

Why do you make the music you make? Is it in you? Is it your environment?

Peter: We both have overactive imaginations. I can’t stop playing guitar and writing songs. Abby is constantly playing piano and singing. It’s totally inside us.

Abby: It can’t be stopped. Music runs deep in my Filipino family, and always comes out in me even when I try to suppress it.

What inspires you for the music or for the Lyrics?

Abby: Nature, travels, life, death, love, pain, humor, all of it - the sweet and salty.

Peter: Sometimes I genuinely don’t know where my ideas come from, they can pop into my head out of nowhere. Other times, I have meditated and slowly ideas and inspiration show up that way. Usually, when I go for a walk or drive, the environment I’m in will present ideas too.

Tell us what you are looking when trying to achieve your sounds. Do you experiment a lot or have a clear idea of what you want?

Peter: We have a lot of material in the bank. For this last album, it became more about which songs from our song bank do we include on the lineup. I personally like many genres of music, but we wanted to keep it focused. That’s why we had our scope be Indie-Rock, Shoegaze and Dream Pop.

Abby: There is a lot of compromise, especially because our musical tastes and backgrounds are so different. We are pretty harsh critics to one another, but I think it’s a good thing for the end result.

Explain your songwriting process.

Peter: It always starts with the music. I’ll spend time contrasting chords and notes together and see where it goes. Usually I’ll flesh that out into a segment -- like a chorus or verse -- once I have enough segments, it’s like assembling pieces to a puzzle. Then, a song is about to be born if all the pieces fit.

Abby will sometimes help with arrangements and deliver a nice melody. We typically write stream-of-conscious style lyrics, and generally prefer to keep the meaning vague.

Abby: Lots of time on the upright piano - lyrics on napkins, books, or jotted on my phone and computer. I’m constantly jotting lines to future songs in random places. Lyrics/melody are pretty quick if I write the music, can be much longer process and challenging if I’m putting lyrics/melody on music Peter wrote.

Describe your palette of sound.

Abby: A favorite fuzzy blanket after a long walk in the forest.

Peter: Lots of reverb. Mainly the vocals, keys and guitar are the most effects heavy. Otherwise the bass and drums are always dry. Abby has switched from Nord to the Mellotron for a more dialed in retro sound, while I love pedals, and use a lot of reverb, distortion, delay, super chorus and flanger.

Who would you want as a dream producer, and why?

Peter: Probably, Nigel Godrich. He’s just produced so many incredible acts that I respect. I think he would easily get our sound too.

Abby: Bjork for her epic elf wisdom!

If you could guest on someone else’s album, who would it be and why? What would you play?

Abby: I’m a huge fan of Melody’s Echo Chamber, Cornelius, Yo La Tengo, Stereolab, Munya, Yumi Zouma, and Jay Som. I’ll contribute in any way they’d have me, backup vocals, tambourine, cowbell, piano.

Peter: Guitar for King Krule. I think I could write a bunch of great riffs for that band. It would also be loads of fun to play guitar in Hum, sometimes you just want to rock out to something low and heavy.

What musical skills would you like to acquire or get better at?

Peter - cello, drums and piano.

Abby - guitar & bass

Is there a band that if they didn’t exist you wouldn’t be making the music you make?

Peter: Would be Nirvana or David Bowie.

What are some places around the world that you hope to play with your band?

Abby: Paris, London, Milan, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Canada, Australia, & New Zealand.

Peter: The same. Would also add Mexico City, São Paulo, Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona.

When is the next album/EP due?

Abby: We just released “Hidden Cinema” and have lots of music videos we are working on. We plan on recording some new songs in the spring.

Some artists you recommend.

Abby: A newer band I like is L I P S (England). Also: Say Sue Me, Sweet Trip, The White Shoes and Couples Company, Ducktails, Kikagaku Moyo, Painted Zeros, Men I Trust, Sugar Candy Mountain, No Vacation.

Peter: NIIGHTS, Tape Waves, Toledo, Tennis System, Donny Benét, Palehound, Julia Shapiro, Turnover, RINCS, Lacing, Jay Som

Anything else you want your fans to know?

Abby: We love you!

DAY & DREAM ON THE NET

Their music: Spotify, Bandcamp

Their website: dayanddreamband.com

Their Social Media: Facebook, Instragram Their latest video:

[jercythesiscrying]

Karasuno Music Shuffle | Ch. 1/2 | Misc Ships, G, 1.4k

NaNoWriMo Day 5: iPod Shuffle

Summary: Rules: 1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like. 2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle. 3. Write a ficlet/drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it’s over. No lingering afterwards! 4. Do ten of these, and then post them.

Basically a collection of ficlets/drabbles featuring various Karasuno members.

Read on Ao3

A/N: This was one of the prompts I was super excited for this month and I'm so glad I got to relieve my younger years doing a shuffle challenge. I swear I will single-handedly bring this meme back because it's so fun  /)w(\  Enormous thank you to @bearixt for the excellent beta!! ♥

(Fic under the cut!)

Bed of Lies - Nicki Minaj ft. Skylar Grey

Koushi turns over in bed, sheets shifting with his movement. His right nostril begins to unclog as he lies on his left side, and he sniffs, relieved that he can finally breathe through it again.

He closes his eyes, tears still leaking out despite the fact that he’s been crying for god knows how long now. His breath hitches, and he bites his lip, trying forget about the heaviness in his heart.

He thought that seeing Daichi in person would help things, would remind the both of them what they had started, why they had held on for so long.

He was wrong.

Daichi had looked away, unable to meet his eyes, mumbling a half-hearted apology before walking away.

Koushi didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye.

Hours later, stomach empty, body exhausted, face wrinkled with a mournful frown and sticky with tears, he wraps himself in his blanket and tries to go to sleep.

Anybody Else - Orianthi

Chikara looks up at the stage, gazing at the guitarist plucking a powerful succession of chords. The accompanying bass rhythm and drumbeat compels him to continue staring at the man strumming his heart away, sweat dripping down his temples.

The guitarist begins to sing, and Chikara gasps. He’s mesmerized by the way his voice carries a heaviness to every single word in the lyrics. Chikara wonders if his heart has been broken recently—how else can someone as stunning as him possibly sing with so much sorrow?

The man’s buzzcut, tattoos, and piercings don’t intimidate Chikara in the slightest. As he plays centre-stage, Chikara can only see the softness in his actions, hear the tenderness in his voice.

All too soon, the song ends and the next ballad begins. The members shuffle around, the lead vocalist taking centre-stage once more. Chikara lets out a whine without thought—he wants, needs, to see that guitarist again. He needs to hear his voice once more.

Paradise City - Guns N’ Roses

Yuu and Ryuu are belting their hearts out to random songs shuffling on Ryuu’s phone, which is now playing an American rock song filled with hard vocals and an electric guitar. Surely, whatever the two of them are babbling are not the song’s lyrics, but they don’t care, yell-singing the words anyway.

They dance around Ryuu’s room, using a ruler (Yuu) and a hairbrush (Ryuu) as their mics. In the background, Narita bangs his head to the beat, using two pencils to tap along. Kinoshita bops his head side-to-side, singing along with amused interest where he sits cross-legged on the bed.

“SO FAAAAAR AWAAAAAAY!” they yell together into Ryuu’s hairbrush. Vaguely, Yuu wonders why Ryuu even has one—he certainly hasn’t needed it since he buzzed his hair off in their first year.

"TAAAAKE! MEEEE! HOOOOOME!"

This is the scene that Ennoshita walks in on. The expression he wears is half amused, half annoyed, but overall exasperated.

Nothing unusual, when Yuu thinks about it.

“Chikara!” he yells over the music. “Join us!” Next to him, Ryuu continues to belt his beautiful heart out, singing into the hairbrush in earnest now.

Ennoshita shakes his head, walking over to Ryuu’s desk and cleaning up the abandoned homework placed on top.

At the undeniably epic guitar solo, Ennoshita turns around, whipping out a pencil to sing:

"Oh, won’t you please take me home!"

Ryuu cries out in joy and Yuu bellows in celebration with him.

Keijou Kioku Shisei No Pavaanu - Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge OST

Kiyoko walks down the hall, on her way to the gym for club activities, when she hears a melancholic melody coming from the opposite direction. Compelled, she turns at the heel, slowly walking towards the source of the music.

She’s led to a music classroom, where a girl with choppy blonde hair sits alone at the piano. When she finishes the piece, her fingers lay silent atop the ivory keys.

Love Robots - Noisy Freaks

Tobio takes in the nightclub, shuffling his feet with crossed arms as he glares at everyone.

It’ll be fun! Hinata said. You can take a break from volleyball for one night! he said.

As if Hinata has any right to talk. Both of them stay the longest after practice; they clean up the gym together late into the night when they physically cannot play anymore.

Whatever, he thinks, rolling his eyes.

The song blasting throughout the club has a funky beat, a digitized voice saying random one-liners that Tobio doesn’t understand. Somewhere in the middle of the sea of bodies bumping together is Hinata. Tobio convinces himself that he can spot his volleyball partner only because of his outrageously bright orange hair.

“Come join me!” he sees Hinata yell at him.

Tobio pointedly looks away, decidedly not doing that.

Going Down - Jake Chudnow

Kei looks up above him, leaning back into his arms crossed behind his head. He stares curiously at the night sky, feeling the cool, dewy grass beneath him. His mom will be angry if he gets grass stains on his shirt again, though this time he wore his autumn vest, so hopefully the stains don’t set.

He begins to reflect on his day.

He knows what people say about him: that he’s unapproachable, kind of rude, quiet unless directly spoken to. That’s fine with him. He’s busy thinking about other things anyway, things that are much cooler—like how dinosaurs lived on Earth billions of years ago, and how there are more stars in the sky than he can even begin to count, each with their own solar system and orbit.

People are dumb. Kei doesn’t care for them.

Good Time - Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepsen

Coach Ukai is the one to invite the team to his grandpa’s place. Apparently, the old coach owns a cabin beside a river that can help everyone cool off from the blistering summer heat. Not only does the team come along, but both managers and Saeko nee-san blessedly join in too. The coaches are also there, but that’s the last thing on Yuu’s mind.

Asahi-san accidentally drops his phone into the river after Daichi-san bumps into him, and he moans about how he has to buy another one yet again. Yuu laughs at him, a hand clapping his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Asahi-san!” he exclaims. “I’ll come with you to get a new one!” Asahi-san groans with defeat.

The rest of day passes filled with laughter, cannon balls, and sliced watermelon.

Barcelona - Ed Sheeran

Suga gets pulled into the crowd. He’s rushed in with a throng of people who have been (unwillingly) volunteered into joining the flamenco dancers gathering in the middle of the plaza. Daichi can’t do much but gaze after Suga’s back, head thrown back in laughter.

One of the female dancers takes his hand, and the two begin to dance together. Suga is a horrible partner, definitely born with two left feet as far as Daichi’s concerned, but the wide smile on Suga’s face is unmistakable. Daichi grins.

When the song ends, Suga returns to him, eyes sparkling bright under the Spanish moonlight.

Coffee - Yuna

Kiyoko tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, pen scratching her notebook.

But if we do these practices instead of those, then we’ll also have time for weight training...

She marks this down in her notes, frowning at her messy scrawl. She wishes her writing were much neater, like Hitoka-chan’s.

She hears the seat in front of her drag against the floor, and she looks up to see Hitoka-chan taking a seat, setting down two coffee cups on the table. Kiyoko flashes a smile at her kouhai. Hitoka grins back.

Pride (In the Name of Love) - U2

Shouyou whoops, a bright peel of laughter escaping his lips as he cups Tobio’s chin with his hands. Tobio holds onto Shouyou’s knees tightly, a small smile appearing on his own face.

Around them, the Tokyo Pride Parade is in full swing, rainbow confetti scattering in the air like colourful snowflakes. Like him and Shouyou, many people have someone perched on their shoulders, and together, they all scream in rejoice.

“You okay down there, Tobio?” Shouyou eventually asks, leaning forward just enough for Tobio to meet his gaze when he looks up. His boyfriend’s eyes are alight with happiness and Tobio can’t help but grin up at him.

“I’m just fine,” he promises.

Because, really, how can he not be?

Read chapter 2 here → See additional notes here →

[thesinglesjukebox]

JON BELLION - ALL TIME LOW [2.75] Not even this year's low, but there could always be a follow-up single...

Mo Kim: "You know what would be great?" asked a Capitol Records executive, as a table of interns shook their heads in horrified silence. "Adam Young on a twenty one pilots track." [1]

Katie Gill: One of my favorite vines is the girl forgetting that her keyboard is in sound effect mode. Now, go back and listen to that awful noise that literally sounds like someone vomiting that starts off the beginning of the "low low low low" chorus. With all that in mind, I'm kind of worried that Bellion took that vine as inspiration. [1]

Katherine St Asaph: You'd think by now it would be standard, in the launching-a-popstar rulebook, not to commission any songs whose titles own themselves. [0]

Iain Mew: It turns out that if Owl City had ditched the cloying innocence thing and swapped out hugs from fireflies in favour of singing about obsession and masturbation, it wouldn't have helped. [2]

Alfred Soto: A guy who gets off on the aftertaste of someone's lips would treat an organ like Drake does women. [2]

Will Adams: Your girl broke up with you so now you have to masturbate alone and all her friends are ignoring you? Damn, bro, shit's tough. [2]

Megan Harrington: Bellion has a Posnerian underdog appeal, but there's no justifying that unsettling-verging-on-body-horror phlegmatic sample that coughs itself up and spits a loogie on the pretty enough melody. [4]

Scott Mildenhall: Better than his namesake Man Utd failure David? It's a low bar. Better than The Wanted? Not a chance. There are a lot of odd choices in "All Time Low" that seem to be intended to suggest that it is habitually quirky. Sure, this song has gaps that go on for far longer than could be considered "glitchy"; it's no big deal guys! If it ends up doing things like exposing muddled Outkast references then so be it. It's just a shame that, the last minute of getting into its stride aside, nothing here is as entertainingly weird as the lyric "or I'm late for work, a vital presentation". [4]

Josh Winters: Like a lengthy, oversharing Facebook status update from that one asshole from high school you haven't seen in years, this is worth putting out of sight (or hearing, in this case) and cutting any communication from the source altogether. [2]

Will Rivitz: I've been a staunch defender of twenty one pilots' artistic legitimacy for a good long while now, especially after a year which saw their staggering mainstream success and oodles of clueless quasi-thinkpieces from an increasingly insular music-crit literati who seem shocked that not everyone who listens to music is older than 25. Essentially, they act as a sort of Fisher-Price My First Misanthropy™ for mildly disaffected tweens, teens, and young adults, but for those people this is the first time they've heard anybody adequately articulate their stresses and fears and awkwardness and isolation in musical form. I understand what this means to them, since I had the exact same experience with (don't laugh) Linkin Park when I was fourteen: this shit is bombastic, vague, and a little corny, but it's got the perfect timbre and tone to resonate with scores of young folks who need the dreariness, terror, and ultimately hope that Tyler Joseph provides. Jon Bellion is, on the surface, aiming for the same aesthetic -- sad music with goofy electronic flourishes and a rock groove -- but his motions towards this style are at best an approximation. "All Time Low" is melancholy, but its melancholy is borne of comparatively trivial circumstances (post-relationship blues) compared to the all-encompassing, rotted-core tragedy of a twenty one pilots song. Tyler Joseph resonates because his perceived failures - feeling like an outcast, depression, fear of growing older - lie deep within him and are largely unchangeable; by contrast, a line like "I've been trying to fix my pride but that shit's broken" implies that the pride existed once, that this "all time low" is temporary when all is said and done. Basically, what I'm getting at is that "All Time Low" is a cheap knockoff of what makes twenty one pilots so powerful, less "Ecce Homo" and more its Monkey Jesus restoration. At its core, it is vanilla. It is a thoroughly unexciting pop song with pleasant production and mopey lyrics. When its chief point of comparison is a band who have taken the world by storm by being definitively Not OK, a Just OK song like this is nothing short of blasphemy. [2]

Joshua Copperman: It takes a lot of courage and confidence to reference "Captain Jack" (at least it's 70s Billy Joel) and "The Boxer" (at least he's not melodramatically covering "The Sound of Silence") within 30 seconds of one another, then marrying that to a hyper-modern drop with just enough punch to be emotionally resonant. In fact, Jon Bellion and co's production sounds almost self-satisfied, as if they knew that the "low-low-low" hook would fall into the shouldnt-work-but-does category, and they knew how fake-clever they were being with the "low" hook abruptly rising to a higher note, but did it anyway. Again, it mostly does work, aside from those cringey references, so they damn well should be self-satisfied. Respect! [6]

Josh Langhoff: Jon Bellion is a dork but I'm here to defend him, because if music critics hated people for being dorks, we'd just go around hating ourselves all the time. (Oh wait.) On first hearing I dismissed Bellion's album as Owl City rap. He called said album The Human Condition, btw, which is really making it hard for me to defend him because A Report on the Banality of Evil would have been so much cooler. But then the Top 40 DJ recommended it, claiming "Every song is good!", which forced me to reconsider; after all, when was the last time you heard a Top 40 DJ acknowledge an album's existence, let alone its quality? So, fine, now I think Bellion makes fun. rap with the Owl City kid's diction. "All Time Low" is clearly the standout song, no matter that Bellion sings about masturbation and André 3000 like he just discovered them and wants three stacks of pancakes for his trouble. The song stands out! Several times it tapers into silence -- which, if you've listened to Top 40 radio lately, you'll agree is an especially welcome trait. Plus, whenever Bellion sings the word "low," he doesn't make it go LOW like Garth Brooks; no, he goes HIGH. Thus concludes my thesis: Jon Bellion is essentially Michelle Obama. Who the fuck doesn't love Michelle Obama? [7]

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