#that's the best song on this album and it skips during it lol

[brenna]

the vibe for june 18th is doing it for myself. changed out my own battery (even though it was both raining and a heatwave), brushed and clipped the cats' claws, made dinner, did dishes, then wrote. amazing what you do when you take a day off work.

[blackgirlfariy]

Lick Back Pt1

This is taken place after that wonderful video surfaced of Letitia and Kehlani- lol

Paring: Letitia x F!reader

Warning: 18+ please

Summary: You and Letitia have been messing around on the low a little before BP2. To the public you’re her best friend but when it’s just you two she’s the love of your life. After an interesting video appear on twitter you were sick of waiting so you decided to get your “lick back”.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

“Hello-”

“Bitch go look at what I sent you on twitter.” Your best friend, Mimi, told you.

I rolled my eyes at her for cutting me off but go look at it anyway. My eyeballs popped out of my head when I saw my so called “girlfriend” letting the singer Kehlani grind on her. I don’t if it’s my crazy eyes but if I’m not mistaken, I see a smile on her face.

 “Girl, you want me to cut her or you gon’ do it?” Mimi said after my long silence on the phone.

“Nope. I want you to come over and we’re going to go out and have fun and forget about these nothing ass men and women.” I said before walking into my closet trying to find the perfect outfit for tonight. 

“Ouu bitch, I like when you get like this. Makes me remember our old college days. I’ll be on my way and better have bottles ready for our pregame.” She hung up after that and I sprang into action. 

I’m a famous songwriter and singer who worked with big names in the industry. I wrote songs for Beyonce on her lemonade album, I wrote songs for Ariana Grande and many more artists. I have a few awards under my belt. With my background in writing music, I was asked to write a song for Black panther 2, Lift me up, it was such an honor. I met Letitia through my childhood friend Ryan who is also the creator of Black panther 1 and 2, I was a fan of hers since watching her episode in Black Mirror. 

The moment I looked her my heart flutter and I wanted her to be mine right then and there. We went out to dinner during one of our breaks from the famous world and we’ve been close ever since. Until one night I ended up in her bed with her head in between my legs. Ever since the two of us have on the low with each other. My only complaint in the way she acts when the two of us are in public, she treats me like a best friend would. I would understand it if we weren’t fucking each other brains out every night. 

It hurts to be in a position like this, in a position where you have to go out the way to show someone who you thought valued you that others can do and feel the same. Simple. I wasn’t planning on going crazy tonight but every time I see that video; I get upset and start thinking who was going to this ass thrown back on them. 

After I got out of the shower, and I walked to my vanity to give myself a beautiful beat face and once I was done with that, I walked to my room where my outfit laid on my bed. I put on my outfit and turned around in the mirror looking at how my ass sit just right and how my boobs sit in the dress. I wore a short black dress that was a little higher than my mid-thigh and wore black heels from LV. 

I heard the doorbell ring which alerted me Mimi have arrived. I walked down my spiral staircase walking up to my front door opening it seeing Mimi looking fine but what’s new. She was always the fashion friend. 

“Soooo you trying to get fucked up tonight huh? You look good girl.” Mimi said walking in giving me hug.

“If I’m getting fucked tonight it’s by somebody else because she acts like shit sweet. You beautiful by the way.” I responded leading her to the bar in my house where all my favorite liquor is. 

Time skip

By the time my driver dropped us off at the club we were beyond tipsy. I had to hold on to her in order to make inside. I was giggling about everything I looked at, when we walked in, I heard my favorite artist Megen Thee Stallion playing. We walked up to our section where I saw some of my other friends Mimi must’ve invited. We all grabbed shots and took them with a lime right after. 

“All right y’all like I told y’all Y/n is supposed to be getting her lick back tonight because her lil boo got her out looking a stupid. So, we gotta go all out tonight because if she gets caught, we might not see her again, okay?” Mimi laughed while we cheered and agreed. 

After some time, my friend Toni went to get us more shots while everyone else stood on the couch shaking ass and rapping lyrics obnoxiously. Before I knew it, I was on the dance floor with a homegirl dancing to twerk by the city girls. I’m throwing it back on her and she was keeping up with me the whole time. Mimi found her a man to the same. I at this point and time the last thing I was worried about Letitia at all. Honestly fuck her, it’s not fair that she can act the way she does but if i do it, it’s a problem.

I was still dancing with my home girl, when I glanced up to one of the top sections and saw the one and only… Letitia Wright. I thought I was seeing things so I just ignored it and walked to the bar for a water. I felt the club energy shift drastically, I looked over my shoulder and I saw her standing in the middle of the club floor. I could feel her eye on me even with her dark shades on. I didn’t want to pay her any mind but her aura is suffocating.

“Here all alone?” I heard a women’s voice on the right of me. I looked over and saw this tall dark skin women. She was beautiful and she wore a jumpsuit and she smelled vanilla, I was mesmerized.

“No I’m not. Im here with some friends. You need some company?” I asked with a smirk on my face.

Now my plan for the night was just to get a couple of dances and get some videos to post. I didn’t expect to maybe go home with someone.

“I would love some of your company. Let me order something- “ the sexy women was cut off by you know who.

“Y/n how you been? I haven’t seen you in a while it’s nice to see your back in London.” Letitia said making her presence known.

“Well I called you and you didn’t answer. I just assumed you were too busy.” I responded with a little attitude in my voice. I’m not weak in the knees for her right now because I’m mad so I’m not afraid of what she could do to me.

“Well I’m about to go. You wanna come with me?” The women said, I didn’t get her name but hey.

“I was hoping you would come with me. I was hoping we could catch up with each other.” Letitia said while sneaking her to my ass and giving a squeeze.

“Uhh well your right Titia we haven’t talked in a while. So we’ll um… can I have your number so we can talk and get to know each other?” I asked the women. If Letitia want to be petty so can I.

After I got her number me and Titia walked out the club. I didn’t miss the looks all my friends gave me. They can’t judge cause my situation is no different than mine. Expect Mimi, she gon’ be a hoe until the day she die.

We walked outside getting slightly blinded by the excessive flashing lights. I wasn’t worried because like I said she treats me like a best friend on the outs. Her car pulled up and she opened the door for me and she got inside herself.

“Imma fuck you up.”

To Be Continued

A/n- hey you guys so with the growth in the Letitia Wright fandom I wanted to take a stab at it. Please be nice it’s been a LONG time since I’ve written. I do take requests for her and the characters she played.

[teknicaldifficulties]

NPMD WAS SO FUCKING GOOD AND NOW I'M GONNA TALK ABT IT IN A REALLY DISORGANIZED FASHION

ruth and richie were hilarious characters, and i am GLAD they didn't turn out to be smokescreens for different pre-established characters (...technically? not main characters anyway, but goddamn i was not expecting the paulkins cameo). poor richie, that whole scene with him being like "i'm not a loser anymore, i'm one of the guys! i love life! :)" when we know that he's about to murdered was such a hilarious gut punch, and ruth was just,,, god, diversity win, this sweaty disaster of a teenage girl who gets wedgied to death is canonically bisexual. what a legend.

will branner is INCREDIBLE, holy shit. he steals the show as max in every scene he's in. max may be my favorite villain in the hf stage trilogy, he's as hilarious as he is menacing. he's like. i dunno, jock beetlejuice? something like that. also new ship just dropped, will and jon's unnamed student characters during best of you.

speaking of best of you, god the MUSIC was so great. don't know if it quite beats out black friday for me yet, but it's damn good. literal monster wasn't my favorite like i was expecting, i'll have to give it another listen to pin that down. but still, what a score, not one skip happening once this cast album hits spotify.

pete and steph were once again Cute As Hell, it was really neat seeing their relationship play out over the course of a full show. their "i don't love you but maybe i actually do" song in beanies (forgot what it was called lol whoops) was a banger, and seeing them walk out in their cute lil homecoming outfits in the end put the dumbest smile on my face. also, that reprise of cool as i think i am in act 2 nearly made me cry, joey as pete was a phenomenal choice.

grace,,, holy shit, i love what they did with grace in this show. hearing her call god a son of a bitch before stealing the gun from one of the officers and turning back on them threw me into another goddamn dimension. dirty girl and bully the bully were hilarious songs (feel like i'm overusing that word, but how else can i describe it?), and holy shit, her having sex with max's ghost to vanquish him and then proceeding to go mad with power?? my jaw was dropped, that was incredible. i never could've predicted that in a million years and i've never been more delighted.

me like one month ago: yeah i don't think we're gonna see the lords in black in npmd since this is supposed to be a more standalone hf show than black friday :/. literally all five of the lords in black: we're about to end this dumbasses whole career. that was WILD. their song wasn't my favorite in the show (if only bc it was kinda hard to hear with the digital ticket audio), but i am ecstatic to have canon human designs for all five of them now.

god, i feel like there's more i wanna say, but there's just so much to talk about. all i can say is that after three years of delays, i'm so so happy that we're finally getting to see npmd. dunno how it stacks up against tgwdlm and black friday for me yet, but i'm just overjoyed. can't wait for the youtube version and the cast album, they're gonna be great.

[eatingstringcheese]

headcanons - katsuki bakugo

in which we dive into the world of headcanons for katsuki bakugo

warnings: a few swear words

❬ 🖉 ❭ ━━ GENERAL

»❁» cat person

»❁» knows some sign language because his quirk could potentially give him tinnitus and hearing loss

»❁» religiously listens to corpse husband

»❁» Scotty Doesn't Know, Never Satisfied, Rät, Verbatim, and Cigarette Ahegao, are his top five songs on spotify

»❁» he doesn't actually smell like caramel/burnt sugar, just his hands, but he uses a citrus-y soap stuff

»❁» uses two different 3-in-1 body washes (6-in-2 lol) for speed and cleanliness, because why waste time in the shower if you could be training?

»❁» goldfish is the superior snack food, but never regular goldfish, because regular is for extras

»❁» favorite movie is the lion king, but for some reason he gets the strongest urge to pee or get a snack when mufasa's death scene comes on, weird right?

»❁» he styles hair really well, one of the girls could have a bad hair day and he casually walks over and fixes it

»❁» he has gifted kid syndrome, excelled as a child and when he got older and leveled out with his peers achieving anything other than excellency was intolerable by him

»❁» you know those tiny sneezes that are barely audible but so cute you could die? katsuki and only katsuki

»❁» horny pretty much 24/7

»❁» dislikes big gatherings

❬ 🖉 ❭ ━━ BEST FRIENDS

»❁» you guys met at a cat cafe you frequented a lot in shizuoka (the closest real city by musutafa). you bumped into him and he spilled his coffee on his white shirt. he was pissed so you apologized profusely and bought him a new drink. after that encounter you ran into each other several times at several different places and eventually became friends because you two had similar tastes

»❁» mitsuki loves you because you're not as loud and angry as katsuki is, mitsuki hopes your more calm and laid back nature will rub off on katsuki. (she also prefers you over the bakusquad because they're loud, 9/10 times she'll agree to you coming over)

»❁» when he invites you over to do homework together or just goof off mitsuki always asks if you want to stay for dinner

»❁» when you stay for dinner you always offer to help with the dishes (because brownie points)

»❁» his friends love you and adopted you into the bakusquad

»❁» mina thought you were dating

»❁» when he says "go fuck yourself" he really means "yea we're best friends but i'm not gonna tell you that"

»❁» you made him a photo album for his birthday (4/20 pog) and he ALMOST cried but he didn't, he only sweated through his eyeballs ;)

❬ 🖉 ❭ ━━ DATING

»❁» you confessed to him. your parents were out of town so he invited you over because he didn't want you to be alone. you agreed and you guys had hung out at his house. movie night, dinner, and snacks, the usual. with a rush of adrenaline you turned to him and asked him. your gaze met his and he gave you a simple nod, unable to speak due to the goldfish in his mouth

»❁» your first kiss was surprising. during hero training you got cornered in a tight hallway, noses centimeters from touching. you smirked, cupping his face in your hand and planting a soft kiss on his lips. you skipped away while he stood back startled. he chased you down after class for revenge

»❁» the entire foundation of your relationship is trust, to him a relationship can't work without it

»❁» he liked to grab your waist and kiss your forehead (or cheek depending on your height)

»❁» he secretly wants to be babied but don't tell anyone

»❁» whoever wakes up first gets dibs on good morning messages, but katsuki always sends the good night message because he sleeps early

»❁» you like to cook together, but he is very over protective and watches you very closely (he worries about you and doesn't want you getting burnt or accidentally cutting yourself)

»❁» you spend a lot of time together, mostly cuddling and staring off into space

»❁» he has two favorite ways to cuddle, you wrapped up in his arms while he peppers your face with kisses and whispers sweet nothings to you or laying on the couch together, you playing with his hair and his head on your chest so he can listen to your heartbeat

»❁» you said i love you first his response was "dammit bastard, i was gonna say it first"

»❁» dislikes traditional dates, prefers to sit at home (mostly because he wants to be babied and also because he doesn't want anyone looking at you)

»❁» your name in his phone is "babe" pretty simple because he believes actions > words

»❁» his name in your phone is "katsu mcsplody" because why not?

»❁» he loves to compliment you about everything under the sun

lmk if u wanna be added to the taglist :) like n reblog if u enjoyed <3

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 7/18/2023

idk man i just work here

listening

not another rockstar, maisie peters. spotify

this is a little poppier than i generally prefer-- the first knee-jerk comparison i can make for the vocals is taylor swift, esp in the first verse? luckily for everyone, i was white-knuckling it down the katy freeway (26 lanes. never again) and did not have the extra concentration necessary to skip it on whatever autogenerated dance playlist spotify spat out for me. as a fellow woman with a Type, i must tip my hat to ms peters.

Hmm, funny I could pick 'em in a line up, line up Pretty certain I could do it with my eyes shut, eyes shut A little self-obsessive and I sign up, sign up Where's the pen? Where's the line?

@pasta-pardner has made a gorgeously lush electronic/indie pop cowboy playlist. my very favorite song (so far, still have it on loop) is Horsie by Twilight Circus Dub Sound System. it sounds like the opening theme to Samurai Champloo. it ripples and grooves. it lives somewhere between rock and reggae. the whole album is incredible music to hang out to.

-

reading

retractionwatch (my beloved) linked out to datacolada.org in a recent article and my ears perked up. data colada gets REAL deep into the investigative reporting of specific papers, including some fascinating excel sleuthing. they use CalcChain!!! i thought i was the only one who used CalcChain!!!

CalcChain tells Excel in which order to carry out the calculations in the spreadsheet. It tells Excel something like "First solve the formula in cell A1, then the one in A2, then B1, etc." CalcChain is short for 'calculation chain'.

one of my worst traits as a person is that i looooooooove an academic trainwreck. i love watching academia eat itself. i love watching people get caught for sloppy shit like "excel file sorted REAL weird, pointing to tampering with individual data points"

-

watching

new jennings motor sport!!! the oil change is. hough. impressively disgusting. oil does some funky shit when it's been sitting for ??? decades

-

playing

ive been playing genshi/n impact like it's my job. having a lot of thoughts about crunch, and content, and player expectations vs shareholder expectations and Line Go Up and if AAA free-to-play video games are at all ethical to play for anyone ever, but hey! look at this snarky catgirl!

also lol. lmao. this is a game for children. we are all aware of the restrictions and limitations placed upon games for children in the chinese and american markets so yeah the answer is going to be yes, every time

-

making

lately i have been going to my best friend's house after work (what an unimaginable sentence a month ago) and hanging out and watching whatever toddler shows are on tv while we shoot the shit and i knit. there's another half-repeat on the baby blanket for the baby who has just turned four months old, but it's in the car and the night is dark and full of mosquitoes.

i literally cannot do any life shit, even most doctor's appointments, until i have a real physical stable address so all i am really doing is knitting and playing genshi/n and opening and closing my email like the fridge. i have one security deposit back from the old mass apt plus one more paycheck (but, crucially, not the nearly $2k from the roach apt and we are rapidly approaching lawsuit time) so the cat and i are a little bit more stable/able to put down a security deposit on something else the minute it comes along. this would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of readers like you during that very bad first week here. thank you. i want to do some sort of thank you...stream? liveblog? series of posts about something? but i'm not sure what yet. stay tuned. tell me your thoughts. what would you like to see?

[randomravager]

5 17 21

5. What song will always make you cry? waving through a window from Dear Evan Hansen is a song I skip 90% of the time just so I don’t end up sad during certain times 😭

17. What song do you listen to if you need to pump yourself up to do something difficult?

rocket science by meet me @ the altar is the song I blast if I’ve stopped running from “exhaustion” and I need to get back my momentum. apathy is boring by bears in trees is the song I listen to if I need to inject agressive happiness inside my veins. and then it just depends on the vibes of the day lol

21. Best album of all time?

I’m not much of an album listener per se, but I’ll give two albums that I just love. the saviors album by Green day, rising by mxmtoon, and honorable mention for a is for accident by the dresden dolls

[mrschwartz]

everything you've come to expect

The best song on the album

look i really suck at differentiating the best from my favorite bc i always think my opinion is Objectively correct lol and my favorite is pattern. so that's probably the best. or aviation

My favorite song on the album

pattern!!!!!!!! it's one of my favorite songs of all time

My least favorite song on the album

........bad habits. it's a banger but i gotta be really hyped to be in the mood, i find myself skipping it often, i'm sorry..

The most overrated song on the album

sweet dreams tn. absolutely does not deserve to be tlsp's most listened track of all time on spotify, it's literally so offensive that it is lmao. like alex's vocals go off but the song only gets interesting musically about two thirds of the way in. and most of the lyrics are cringey lol

Most underrated

dracula teeth!!! halloween banger. i feel secret emotions during the outro (after "c'est horrifique!") with that riff and the strings on top. heaven on earth

The banger of all bangers

it's. it's pattern. lol

Rate from 0-10

9 feels good

[hekateinhell]

♡ + Armand/Lestat

I didn't realize you'd reblogged this meme and now you gotta feed me in return 😾 (and if someone else has asked for them in VC then I wanna know about them in your high school au)

babe you get my entire kitchen, apartment, whatever you want 🥹 LOL you already know the whole arc I have planned for them in the sequel but I'll stay in context of where we saw them last on ao3 -- their mutual boyfriend's name freshly tattooed on both their asses and Armand struggling to admit to Lestat that he loves him as well, before Lestat (for once), did the hard part for him.

• Who is the most affectionate?

Lestat.

Armand is incredibly insecure about just how much he's 'allowed' to touch him in public and in private so he doesn't readily initiate -- he doesn't want to rock the boat now that Louis's other boyfriend seems to have finally accepted him (he doesn't entirely trust Lestat's drunken and endorphin-fueled love confession).

Lestat's trying to navigate the awkward 'undefined' stage as well, but in the meantime, he'd like everyone else to know in no uncertain terms that this one also belongs to him. He's living his dream with one arm around Louis's waist and the other draped over Armand's neck. Everyone knows Lestat and Louis have been an on/off item, everyone knows Armand and Louis have also been an item for a while now, Lestat would like the world to know that he and Armand are also... something.

He just doesn't know what yet but if he could mark Armand like a dog in public, he would. It means the world to him that Armand never gave him back his leather jacket after that night and wears it to school every day even though it's much too baggy on him and reaches precisely down to his thighs. To Lestat's eighteen-year-old brain, they're practically engaged as long as Armand holds on to that jacket.

• Who initiates the handholding?

See above.

Poor Lestat has to instigate literally everything right now. Oh no, it's not going to cause any problems down the line, why would it? 😔

• Who worries more for the other?

Armand worries about Lestat living on his own since his mother bailed and left him alone with an empty house. Lestat doesn't... do well alone. He'll invite anyone over to hang out and party if Armand and Louis just can't be there; bad things happen.

• Who is more likely to ask for help?

Directly? Neither of them. But Lestat's much more prone to purposely and consciously acting out in the hope someone will notice and help him. Armand will just pretend Bad Things Aren't Happening.

• Who is the one always losing the keys?

Lestat loses everything that isn't physically attached to his person. Sometimes he forgets where he parked his car and that's his baby.

• Who leaves little love notes for the other?

They're in the same grade (even though Lestat's older, Armand skipped a year and Lestat got held back a year) so Armand and Louis typically share their notes with Lestat who has a terrible fucking time focusing during class (it's the ADHD and dyslexia). He'd much rather and much more easily fill a notebook with lyrics and random doodles for his dream album covers.

When Armand knows Lestat will actually be reading over his notes later (only under threat of a quiz or an exam -- he would like to graduate this year, thank you very much), he works in little quotes from his favorite love poems or songs.

He hopes Lestat knows it's intentional that Armand penned out the entire [love is more thicker than forget] in the margins, that Armand was thinking of him when he wrote it and not just scribbling because he's bored. Don't judge him; we all went through our E.E. Cummings phase.

• Who can't sleep unless the other is there?

Armand is an anxious sleeper and his home life in foster care isn't... great, so he spends at least half of his day at school catching up on sleep. He gets his best sleep in the library on someone's lap; out on the field using Lestat's stomach as a pillow while they lay out on the grass away from everyone else; in the backseat of Lestat's car with Louis's crumpled-up sweater as a pillow and Lestat's jacket as a blanket.

Armand would never sleep in front of other people, but on a mostly subconscious level, he feels safest just knowing Lestat's around -- a 6ft, 175-pound German Shepard that for some reason is personally interested in him right now.

(Though I have to say, Lestat loves when Armand can sleep over at his house, for many reasons aside from the obvious.)

• Who is more likely to propose to the other?

Considering how Armand drunkenly and brazenly asked Lestat to fuck him before they've ever done it, I'm going to say Armand. Whoops...

Let's hope when Armand proposes it goes better than the 'fuck me' conversation did.

• Who introduced the other to their family first?

Neither of their family is in the picture at the moment, so we're going to thrust this onto Louis.

Technically, Lestat and Armand knew of each other and had seen each other around the school before, but the day Louis formally introduced them to each other as his boyfriends was interesting -- in fact, it went something like...

Armand: [spit, hissss] 😾😾😾

Lestat: the fuck.

• Who is more likely to play with the other's hair?

Lestat loves playing with Armand's hair while Armand's napping. He has a shit ton of nervous energy that needs an outlet and he always has to have his hands busy with something, plus he'll make up literally any and every excuse to touch Armand.

• Who makes sure the other has meals/stays hydrated?

Lestat knows about Armand's home life and that he can't always afford to buy lunch at school, so he usually grabs him something from the deli when he goes for himself. He buys something for Louis too so Armand doesn't feel awkward and singled out; it makes Lestat feel good to be in any sort of big manly provider role and it doesn't hurt that Armand flutters his lashes at him and playfully licks his lips as he whispers 'thank you.'

• Who is more likely to stand up to anyone for the other?

Lestat has a much more reactive and implosive temper, so it would probably be him if someone even so much as looked at Armand the wrong way.

He's lost plenty of sleep trying to find out what exactly Armand meant by the virginity comment (they're not in the place yet where he can outright ask and he doesn't want to bring it up to Louis in case Armand hasn't and it'll become A Thing). But he fantasizes about getting to the bottom of it one day so he can figure out who to kill.

Most people leave Lestat alone because he's generally pretty popular and well-liked (and also an older senior who's had his share of fights), but if Armand ever overhears some snarky asshole insulting Lestat's intelligence because he's repeating a grade, he will cut them down to size with the most bitingly vicious words in the calmest possible tone. He might even smile as he does it, just to be extra creepy.

• Who is the most likely to prepare a surprise for the other?

Armand did spring the tattoos thing on Lestat, so I'd have to say Armand.

People expect Lestat to be capricious; Armand not so much, so it's extra surprising. But he loves to plan little 'not quite dates' and excursions that often rely on the premise of 'just trust me, Lestat! 🥺'

• Who makes the other pinky promise not to do certain things?

Armand makes Lestat pinky promise that he's not going do anything reckless like drink and drive if he's going to a house party Armand and Louis can't attend. It's not that Lestat means to be reckless, he just thinks he's invincible.

Lestat's pinky promise requests are much more innocuous, usually after they've made up following a petty adolescent squabble: 'Promise you're not still mad at me? Swear on it.'

• Who puts a blanket over the other when they fall asleep on the couch?

Lestat covers Armand up when he's fallen asleep at school, Armand covers Lestat when he falls asleep on his couch or in his bed. Usually Lestat's on top of him already, between his legs and resting his head on his chest, and so it takes a bit of gymnastics practice to maneuver a blanket over them both. It's worth it for some of the best sleep either of them will get anytime soon. 💖

[maneskintalk]

RUSH! released, and I finally have a moment inside my chaotic life to sit down and listen to this list is not going to include the loneliest, mamma mia, supermodel, or gossip, gasoline since you know we already heard those, lol 

Own my mind - A powerful opening to the album, a very vibey catchy introduction. I love the riff and especially the bass!

Timezone - I REALLY love Damiano's voice in this one raspy & powerful love how it starts soft and gets stronger as the song continues. Definitely, I say, the second-best ballad on the album 

Bla Bla Bla - I know some people see this song as unserious and fun but according to the rush! The storyline is about a boyfriend and a toxic relationship. It's one of those unserious songs with deeper meanings overall I'm in a love-hate with this song sometimes I will listen to it sometimes I will skip it lol

Baby Said - L O V E, the guitar intro sold this song for me 8 seconds. I love how you continue to hear it throughout the whole song, and let me add this Thomas shines during this album. His guitar skills *chefs kiss*

FEEL - Seeing this storyline, and they were like we were just having fun. There's no meaning behind the lyrics, guys! It made me laugh, but the song itself is good Damiano saying LA LA LA LA is now buried in my brain.

Don't Wanna Sleep - I love the song definitely in my top five. The drums in this song are to die for, and Thomas's AMAZING guitar solo, Y E S!

Kool Kids - I disliked this song. The way Damiano sings it annoys me, but he was drunk while recording this, so LOL, but this song is just bad. Remove this from the album, and nothing changes at all. 

If Not For You - Damiano brings such passion and soul. This ballad is very calm compared to the others, in which you expect a beat and instruments playing louder instead, it stays on the same pace, and I love it as you can tell I'm a sucker for ballads!

Read Your Diary - This is very addictive, and "forever and ever" is like a drug. It gets stuck in your mind even though I'm not too fond of the song. It's very catchy

Mark Chapman - This song I was MOST curious about because of why they named it after a murderer. Anyways it's good, a very speedy song like they're on a timer, and it's about to go off.

 Il dono della vita - Just like with If Not For You expecting the instruments to play louder instead, it's on the same pace. This song was the perfect way to end the album for RUSH! It's not the strongest ballad on this album, but it's the perfect The End Song.

Overall I Love RUSH!, and maneskin did not disappoint. I love the versatility in their music and hope they continue with it

[biggreenstache7]

thoughts and feelings about the halloween specials?

not sure if this is like, thoughts on spooktacular as a concept as a whole (which i guess can be summed up as "used to be my favorite thing on the channel, slowly losing interest") or on all of them as a whole, so i'm just going to uhhhhhhhhh. yeah

Spooktacular i - obviously it's not amazing because it's the first one and in that sense also falters story-wise but like. dude it's so much better than anything else on the channel in 2016. it feels like during that one week break something clicked and the channel stopped being mid (the last few rips before title theme and ending were also p solid but the stuff before that. yeeeeeaaaahhhh) it was cool that that was woody's first main appearance. also the album art had no right being that good. otherwise its mostly ok yea that sure is the first one

Spooktacular ii - uhhh feature presentation is a little silly i like it but it's also. yeahhh. what was the deal with them putting woodman like that. and otherwise it was mostly just spooktacular 1..... 2

2018 skip because nothing happened. uh i guess the rips were good. same old

Spooktacular iii - Lol. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah this is one of my favorite things on the channel in general. I could talk about it for ages. It's so awesome and i think it will quite literally never be beat, atleast in terms of spooktaculars. the writing is a little stupid but it GETS GOOFY WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S SO STUPIDLY CHARMING!!!!!!!! IT'S A WHOLE EPISODE and the amount of time put into it is so clear. i love the original song with lyrics in it so much i ripped it. IT'S EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm sure if it didn't exist i would probably be a different person. AND IT WILL NEVER BE BEAT. whatever. the rips are like the same as usual but that DAMN MURDER NOT TOO NICE! whatever. whatever. 4/10

Spooktacular iv - uhhh it was fine. i really wish they did more with the theming it felt kinda like missed potential but atleast the banner was AWESOME one of my favorite banners on the channel ever. shoutouts to this one for being like the only one that actually ends on halloween. also the moment the yankin takeover happened i pointed out this video and like asked if she was the like fallen angel or whatever mentioned in it BEFORE curse of the fallen angel was even announced. kind of badass of me. otherwise yeah kinda nothing

spooktacular v - it's fun! i liked cotfa, it didnt take itself very seriously but it was enjoyable to listen through. kinda an initial highlight to me of my main problems with siiva writing as a whole but the fact it was an audiostory worked in its favor and the dynamic between the 3 main characters was fun. halloween events need to stop lasting so long though like, the fuck do you mean this went on until november 13th?!?!?

spooktacular vi - it's fun i guess, but not much more than that. i liked the videos, they were goofy, david s pumpkins is a fun thing to have as the reocurring joke, but it was clearly not something that was given much thought and a result kinda blends in my head as "A spooktacular" i appreciate the mspaint videos existing though. but yeah it's. just "tradition" at this point

spooktacular vii - god i wish i actually cared at this point dude. it's not bad at all and i'm sure the music stuff is fun but lore has been gone for like, almost a year and now that it's back it's just. a little nothingburger? i have a lot of small complaints i could make about the story this year but i just can't really bother anymore. it's fine. this is all fine! i'm losing my capacity to care about this channel and it's all okay. takane is a nothing protagonist on her own. the writing is kinda subpar at worst and average at best. all of it feels completely like missed potential. nothing about it feels like, yknow, siivagunner. and i cant even be bothered to care anymore (i just skimmed through the last 2 videos). idk man. it's not "bad" in the slightest but a lot of aspects of it represent things and quirks about the writing on this channel ive never really cared about. i think maybe 5 years of being into something and having it never really do anything for you might be doing something to me to the point where i don't really care anymore. this just seems to be becoming a good excuse to let it go because it doesn't say much to me anymore.

sorry that ended on a bit of a downer note idk what to say now. yay! fun! spooky ooooooooooooooooooooooooo halloween boo

[neverheardnothing]

Album + Iconis & Family concert breakdown/review

I wanted to consolidate my thoughts on Album after having enough time to digest the songs and their recorded versions. Here’s my track by track breakdown no one asked for. Warning, it’s a long one.

Album

A bit navel gaze-y, she types for her Iconis dedicated blog while wearing her Iconis and Family t-shirt she got on a trip she spent way too much money on entirely to see Joe, lol. On my generous days I’ll say I think he deserves it though, and then on my hater days I’m rolling my eyes. It’s very Joe, a sprawling mess of a too long song, it’s just that it’s too much about him as a person in a way that doesn’t excite me. Not to say I think Joe is boring but I don’t think it was written in a way that appeals to me. By itself, it’s mostly a skip because of sheer length, it isn't all that good/exciting of a song, and Joe isn’t the best singer. I think I like his live performances more because on professionally recorded it sounds just good enough that it’s in an uncanny valley between the rawness and messiness that live allows and which Joe does well in and the cleanness of recorded. I do enjoy the family coming in at the end as well as the little references to other songs of his littered throughout. That’s the main redeemable part of the song. Well, the music is nice but that’s usually a given. The ever so slight echo-y haunting quality is great. But not enough that I’m going to ever listen to it enough to remember the words and the order of the call and response at the end.

Best memory of the song was on the Saturday Iconis and Family Album release concert at 54 Below where within the first verse, Joe forgot the lyrics and had to start over.

The Answer

Interesting singer pick for the song. Yeah, Joe says that not one person is on Album solely for their name but, well, some people are clearly here at least partially because of it. Not discounting his performance at all, it’s very good. Just doesn’t stand out from the many other versions of this song that are out there. I haven’t seen Aaron Tveit in enough to be able to judge his acting in general, but everything in his version felt stock, standard, safe. It was very impressive vocally and sounds really good but this is a teenager having a breakdown about his life path, and it doesn’t quite sound like that. Again, it’s good but it’s like he didn’t put his stink on the song which is what I’m looking for when I hear new performances of a song other people have done.

Ammonia

Charlie R once said something of the sort that hearing a song fully/with new orchestrations for the first time is like only looking at line art for so long and then seeing a colored image. Yeah. Man, yeah.

All the other performances of Ammonia have cut that one verse since Heidi did it and I’m glad it’s back. I could and have spent hours listening to this version. The ominous bass was an obvious choice for orchestration but that doesn’t make it any less good when you hear it. I’m always a big slut for strings so hearing those spiccato high notes is great. The strings in general make this song feel so expansive. It sounds like the freedom of an empty house, taking up more space than there is physically. It’s loud and sweeping and epic in the exact way this song and the story told in it deserves. Fuck. I love Ammonia.

Heidi deserves awards for her performance in this song. Also I can’t believe it was one of the songs released early, I was thinking we would have to wait till the entire thing came out to hear this monster of a song, but no it was just out there. It forced me to listen to this one hours on repeat because nothing else was out (except for Kevin) and you’d think the song would be diminished on that many repeat listenings but yet during each one my mind was still fucking blown by how good it was.

Archie's All-American

The energy of this song is fucking infectious. At the concert, we went straight from Album into this song and the instant head boppin’ energy was palpable from within a second of the instrumental starting up. EWM was fucking great on this song in person and I’ll be honest I think I like that more than ABF’s version on the Album, though maybe I’m biased because I just really like EWM’s voice. Not to say that the Album version isn’t good, but I think the instrumental mix didn’t go as hard as it did in person (drums really gave it that extra oomph). ABF does bring a youthful energy to his version that’s very nice and fitting of the song. Speaking of ABF, apparently he did a demo version of Kaboom and I would kill a man for it. God, this song just makes you want to fucking dance.

Lydia's Song

I know absolutely nothing about Beetlejuice but Lauren doing this song is always such a weird goddamn delight. Lyrically, this song isn't my favorite but the music and performance Lauren consistently gives is unparalleled. I know it’s called acting, but her mood when she was singing this song in person was so dour I actually got fooled into thinking she wasn’t happy to be there briefly. Also, strings. The deep, sparingly used drum beats. They add so much to the atmosphere of this song. Fucking superb, Charlie.

The Protector

Joe, tell me what this song means you bastard. I know you saw my Reddit AMA comment because you acknowledged it when answering the other one!! Todd Solondz’s Happiness apparently helped inspire this song which means I have to go watch it at some point. This song wasn’t one of my regular listens before Album because it was so confusing but lately I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

I know I’m overusing this word and I’ll use it several more times before we’re through with this breakdown, but the music of this song is so fucking haunting and beautiful. The dissonant chords. The deep piano. The journey you go on with this song. First listen you think it’s an extended joke with the “in Florida” punchline but on repeat listens it starts to be more than that. The music and lyrics are both a bit too chilling. To me, this song has always been about a father, too beaten down by life and haunted by the past, to trust his son with his own safety, but that feels pretty surface level after you get past the Florida joke reading, though I do think my readings of songs tend to stay pretty surface level. I’ll be wondering what else I’m missing for a long time.

Another overused term, this song is a liminal space. It’s distant shores. It’s snowy fields of white. It’s record stores. It’s suburbs bathed in white. It’s too-real conversations that can only happen in kitchens late at night and are never accessible again, but have changed you and your understanding of the other person forever. I have no fucking clue what the Florida bit is supposed to mean, even still.

Maybe the placement of this song on Album, sandwiched between Lydia’s Song and Kevin, will provide further clues but for now the mystery of The Protector remains unsolved.

Kevin

I didn’t realize Andrew R was as popular as he was but I guess considering the 81k streams on this song at time of writing (second most popular being the title song at 13k), he brings in the listeners. I admit I’m more partial to Jeremy M’s version of the song. I think he fits in the character more and makes bolder decisions, but he doesn’t sit as well with the music. Andrew plays it very straight, sarcastic, and vitriolic while Jeremy’s is a bit more flighty and wondrous. I haven’t checked to confirm but it feels like the tempo is slowed a bit for the middle of the song which I’m pretty ok with on this track. His delivery on “I mean you didn’t even live here then so it wasn’t really a thing for you” is so good. You can taste the contempt. The police sirens are a golden touch. I can see it in my head, him stone faced, nonchalantly walking opposite past police cars racing towards the scene.

Another person who is probably on here at least partially because of the name, but I’m ok with it because he kills it (literally) on this track. Finished typing this and just remembered his numerous Broadway credits, yeah he’s popular lol.

Jeff

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined and you know exactly why. The goddamn lyric change. Changing “naked Korean girl” to “naked caucasian girl” makes the song instantly lose 1/3rd (literally a third, her 3 traits are: naked, Korean, and girl) of its meaning because at least for my reading, the fetishization of the exoticness of the east is baked into the song. I know everyone’s gonna be like IT’S NOT THAT DEEP and that’s fine, I’m still gonna rant here. The whole point of the song is that Jeff is looking to this person who he thinks is the complete opposite of him, of which the Korean part is intentionally drawing upon the long history of painting the east as foreign and other, and wishing to be like her.

The specific change to caucasian seems like such a weird one, too. Who SAYS caucasian? To my knowledge, no one is out here saying “I’m caucasian” in the way people say “I’m white/Korean/Black/etc.” I get why Joe changed it because if I were a white man I wouldn’t be writing a song like that, but well, he did, and I liked it the way it was.

Maybe it wasn’t intended to be read that way and Joe just needed a nationality that would fit with that number of syllables, but he wrote Korean originally and that’s how the song was popularized and now that meaning is part of the song, death of the author etc. Just like it’d be pretty impossible to change Just Means or Nerd Love to be less uncomfortable/offensive without changing the DNA of the song, you can’t change Jeff, even if on the surface the issue seems restricted to one word. Changing it seems both cowardly AND neuters the song. I would love to talk to Joe about this and why he changed it but that doesn’t ever seem likely to happen. Final take, it should’ve stayed as “Korean.”

Also, I don’t know how much I jive with the trans interpretation of this song. Yeah, we’re going even further down this rabbit hole. The original lyric of Korean makes me instantly think of the way white men specifically fetishize Asian women, especially in film and porn, in a way that’s so cishet and about the white male/Asian female (forgive my use of the term I promise I’m not going mrasian on you) interaction and yellow fever that it’s hard for me to see past it as anything other than fetishization. I don’t think Joe was intentionally writing about any of this other than to use Korean as a shortcut catch-all for Asian exoticness to highlight the otherness from Jeff’s experience. Even some lyrics within the song push back on the more sexual parts of this interpretation (“I don’t want her to think that I’m some perv on some voyeuristic trip” “I promise I’m not looking out of carnal frustration”) but then come the first “oh” part of the song where I take it to mean he’s deriving some sort of pleasure, sexual or not, from this, so who knows how reliable of a narrator Jeff is, though I do tend to take his word on it when he says it’s nonsexual. Not to say that it can’t be fetishistic without it being sexual. Nor that this and the trans reading of the song are exclusive, just that the former is what is overpoweringly what I think of when I hear this song.

Ok, we’re done with the it’s not that deep section.

With that out of the way, Jeremy is fucking great. He plays both the humor and the complexities of this song so fucking well. I love the very specifically chosen grammar incongruity in the line “a couple couples see me fall all over but none of them cares.” It’s subtle enough that you might miss it at first or think that the singer messed up the lyrics but it’s consistent throughout different people singing this song and you realize it’s supposed to convey Jeff’s drunken state. Such a small detail. I fucking love it. Jeremy’s delivery also changes a bit. You can hear the swallows and the slight lag in speech. I can feel his fantasy shatter and reality come crashing back in when he says “myself just staring back at me.” The ever so slight hint of bitterness in his voice when he says “your life will be the same.” It’s so subtle and so good. Man, Jeremy’s performance on this song is unparalleled and it’s a shame this version is ruined by the lyric change. I love this song so much despite how sinister it feels to me. It really is a masterful combo of music, lyrics, and performance.

BUT I AM NOT THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember when people shipped Kevin and Jeff? Wild times and I never really understood why. Okay, I do in that they’re both named sadboi characters whose songs have a surprising life and death twist, but on a deeper level I don’t think these characters have anything that would make them compatible. At the core, their characters are based on apathy and self-hatred respectively and what about those two things go well together I’m lost on. It does make for good vibes and aesthetics I guess.

64

Using Joe lyrics to talk about different Joe songs. “I think about the legacy and all those who came before.” Guess all his street number songs are obviously going to be about history and legacy. The cyclic nature of inspiration. The deconstruction of the rose tinted glasses we see the past through. Alan is so good on this track it makes me almost angry. Slight growl on “drink at McHale’s.” His voice is so smooth. The new orchestrations for this song are so pretty and definitely on the subtler side. Touch of strings, brass, and drums that gives it some extra color but still mainly piano and guitar like in the live version. I love the not quite synchronization on the delivery of “good lord, nostalgia’s so complex!” Also just having 3 people who can really fucking sing on this tracks brings so much life to it.

Play the Princess

Much in the way I think Hosing The Furniture woman and Ammonia woman should leave their husbands and get together, I think the two women in Play The Princess should kiss about it. I think they kinda swapped out a jazzy style for a more country vibe. I can believe this version of the song happens in the backstage of Bloodsong. I do admit I really miss Katrina’s voice on this track, I don’t think L Morgan and Destinee’s voices go as well together. Like they talked about on the podcast, they both seem sorta type-less, but L Morgan sells the princess type a lot more than Destinee does the tough type. Or maybe I’m just too used to hearing Katrina’s powerful voice on this song. Overall, I just don’t think Destinee gave a good performance. Like at 3:40 you can hear her just fade out and it’s only L Morgan singing. What the hell is that? Maybe a lack of communication from having recorded separately? Whatever it is, this track turned out to be pretty disappointing and it was one of the ones I was most looking forward to when the tracklist was announced.

On one hand, I guess it says something about how these women perceive themselves to be that type and mentally put themselves in those boxes when in actuality they don’t come across as it and that they have much more in common than they give themselves credit for, but on the other hand they’re both just sorta same-y and the lack of contrast doesn’t excite me.

The Actress

All the Obie awards to this performance. This song is so Katrina’s that I literally cannot imagine anyone else doing it. I love the new zombie-like “yaaas queen.” It’s my exact reaction to her singing like this and that’s exactly why that line is in there. I love how you need to have that loud and high voice the song talks about to pull it off, but she also retains so much of her uniqueness in her performance that the song talks about throwing away. Also, god this song is so fucking bonkers. Just so classic Joe. The seven minute insane character story epic. This type of song is what I think of when I think of a Joe composition. For translation from live to studio, no complaints. Pretty much a replica and it works very well.

The Song

This fucking song makes me want to hide under sheets and never come out again. This is not the song I should feel called out by the amount of raw fucking lines that make me feel way too seen, but yet here we are. Songs to make my future therapist listen to for sure. Insert Gordon Ramsay’s it’s fucking raw.jpg here.

This along with the next song on Album is of those songs by Joe where you go “oh this is about him” to “oh it’s actually only about him in the same way that all the songs he writes are about him, but he uses the context of his real person to make it seem like it’s only about him on surface level reading.” Brilliance. That’s also why I have trouble believing that it’s solely based on any relationship in Joe’s real life. Sure, he probably drew inspiration, but I doubt this is anything close to a one to one recount of what happened in his life. Off topic, but it feels the same as when people think A Strange Loop is autobiographical for Michael R. Jackson. Yes they drew varying levels of inspiration from their own lives but it’s clearly about a character and not themselves.

Sometimes I lean towards maybe The Song could be about a real life relationship with the introduction he gives it (can only be sung when a certain someone doesn’t come to the concert), but I always wonder how true that is. I used to take it at face value but lately I've been thinking about the bits he's done in the past in between songs that aren't true so now we're back where we started. The introduction could be part of the performance. Then I also remember how Joe's material never is surface level about him, they're all done through characters, slightly more apparent in All The Mistakes than in this song, which makes me even more sure that this song is also about a character. Am I overthinking this? I'm probably overthinking this.

This is the song on the album that should have an intro, not fucking Muthers. I want that intro on here to fuck with people’s heads even more.

All the Mistakes That He Made About the Girl

Sad to say that it's not as rockin’ and angry as in the live videos. Unfortunately that’s a complaint about almost every single song on here but y’know, only so much you can do when translating live to studio. I feel like Joe just isn’t slamming on the keys as hard as he can like this song deserves. The electric guitar and drums helps but also Joe just doesn’t sound as aggressive as he does in other performances. I think there’s a slight synthetic effect on Joe’s voice throughout the song? Or maybe not, but definitely at “he’ll be back where he started” it’s very audible and I enjoy that a lot. I’m also liking the electric guitar arpeggios. Also once again, a sucker for strings. 

I love that in a way this song is the opposite of The Actress in that while they both talk about how well the performer can sing, The Actress actually calls for that performance while this song is exclusively performed by Joe and anyone can admit he’s not the greatest singer.

Yesterdays / I Can't Relate

I’m so conflicted because I love the version Jared did at the Lincoln Center and the higher chorus a lot and yet Jason V’s voice is so deep and soothing and I think it fits song better. I could easily see this song on some indie artist’s 5 track EP. Both Jason T and Jared start off with like a weariness in their acting but Jared moves into almost reproachfulness by the end while Jason T stays mostly weary. Love both vibes. I do miss synthy piano, it evoked like an 80s sorta feel. This song so melancholy that I don’t listen to it that much but it really pulls off the vibes it’s going for. Old man too confused and tired to yell at clouds.

Building a Fort

I like this song only so far as it’s a good character song. I don’t really care for it musically or lyrically. One line that always throws me is “I’m not answering your email, I’m throwing out my phone” because I always feel like this song is a spiritual brother to Albuquerque Anyway. It seems very much from the POV of a child so having a phone and email to check seems so strange. Do children check emails? I really don’t think it could be an adult with the way the music is and the rest of the language of the song. If it is that sure would be weird. Anyway the song is cutesy but not for me most days. I love that the backup vocals though are also (as far as I can tell) all by himself alone.

Haddonfield, 15 Years Later (For Judith)

COME ON HOME!!!!!!! During the very first listen I was sort of concerned by how low energy it was but then it kicked into high gear and every single fear was assuaged. Jared fucking kills it so goddamn hard (sidenote: I’ve been re-listening to Isolated Thunderstorms and Elusive Particle is such a fucking jam). I like breakdown laughter a lot since now it isn't a solo song and he doesn't have to Carry the entire thing but also man, do miss those High Notes. The choir arrangements are so fucking fantastic I need to give Joel my life. I want to hear just the vocal tracks on this song. The arrangement and amount of people singing also really helps with the volume and energy. Love the drop out on the lyrics (same thing as in MITB). In the Sunday performance, Jared did a little inhale like he was gonna start singing before stepping away from the mic. God tier. Platonic hand in marriage to that acting choice. Jared so consistently brings like 200% to performances I really want to see him in a full length Joe musical one day. Oh, also time to admit I haven't seen Halloween.

Sympathy for the Killer

Not one of my regular listens before Album but Liz does so good on this song that she and the song are growing on me actually. Previously I had only really thought of her doing Velociraptor but she killed so hard on this song (or rather was killed) both acting and singing-wise (sidenote: definitely gonna be keeping an eye out on White Girl In Danger). As a song itself, it’s not my favorite, but it’s short enough, Liz gives a good enough performance, and the production is fun enough that I’ll listen to it most of the time. I love the dissonant piano, the laughing, the sighs. Fun fact it’s also the second shortest song on Album (behind Slide Whistle). A Joe song less than 3 minutes long is a rare, rare thing.

Helen Sharp

Previously a “Joe sings this so there’s a layer of extra irony/meaning” song but literally anything lost from Joe performing it is instantly made up for one hundredfold with Lorinda’s performance. Are you fucking kidding me?!?! I am literally fucking speechless. I don’t have words to describe how good she is on this. Charlie’s work on the song also helps elevate it to a new fucking level. I love the at times creeping and other grandiose strings, along with the brass (what is that, a tuba?) that joins in right at the end. It helps expand the world of the song so much. I truly know nothing about the movie Death Becomes Her but I can imagine this version of Helen Sharp actually doing something, anything, about Madeline. Meanwhile, Joe’s version is also angry and bitter, but seemed more content to just bitch about it, and the orchestrations definitely help with that difference. I love the venom in Lorinda’s voice at “everything you wanted for yourself” but honestly I could pick 10 different deliveries to put in there and they’d all be true. I love Lauren being so audible in that first shout of “Madeline” when more people join in. I love the scream. I love the whisper of “Madeline” at the end.

When the YT release of the Lincoln Center performance happened, Lauren posted a picture of this song happening on her insta story captioned with something along the lines of “if only you could hear the names Joe is shouting in our living room right now” and I would kill to be a fly in that living room wall right then. I mean I think we can all guess the names but it’d still be fun to hear.

The Nurse and the Addict

Heard that one version of Joe singing it at the MTF so many times that my brain leaves in the flub he did and not hearing it on this version always throws me for a loop momentarily. The typewriter clack noises are brilliant and so, so fun. My platonic hand in marriage to whoever thought of it. Probably Charlie. I love that editing gets us the complete dead silence for after "pull away a bit" to the point where someone thought the song stopped playing. It’s so jarring. This track is one of the best live to studio translations on Album. All the new additions to the instrumentation are so good. Taylor’s voice has this sort of innocence and optimism to it that makes the relationship in the song feel even more unbalanced. When he just straight up starts screaming at the end it even sounds melodic.

Out Of Sight / Out Of Mind

Rip “(The Buddy Song)” lol. A song that got that the banjo/country orchestration which I don’t know if I enjoy on this song as much. This is mostly a skip unfortunately, not even the strings can save it. Well, there is one part I very much enjoy which is the slow part at the 4 minute mark. That “and not care all about me like how I care all about you” reminds me instantly of Krysta singing Adore. I think if we cut a minute or so out of it I’d be more inclined to listened to it. I enjoy the lyrical contents and theme of the song a lot but musically it’s just not my thing and the style on Album isn’t helping. Krysta does a good job on the song though. Not that I would trade it for Jared’s version but I do want to hear her do Haddonfield with the new choir arrangements.

The Saddest Girl in the World

Liz did this song live at the concerts and I enjoyed it then but otherwise it’s a skip. On the Saturday performance on her way up to the stage she stopped by a friend of mine’s table during the “he don’t have to be of age” line and said hi to him, which killed me. Otherwise, I don’t enjoy pretty much anything about this song. Not the music nor the lyrics. Not really sure why there was what amounted to a pointless lyric change. I don’t think Kerry did the best on this song. Really I don’t have much to say about this song. The only way I can really enjoy this song is solely as a snapshot of a character like Just Means. Wish this had been replaced by one of the songs on my missed list. Definitely a skip.

Norman

This version elevated Norman from a skip. It’s because of the strings. I’m always a sucker for violin no matter the situation. The very slow run right before 2 minutes in is so lovely. The contrast between the elegance of the violin and the lyrics and mood of the song is so stark and I love it. The staccato. The anger and volume and scream behind “I wish we were.” The stutter. The numerous girls in the background laughing and talking and calling his name. I definitely picked out Lauren’s distinctive voice. Haven’t seen Psycho but this performance seemed much more of a character than other ones I’ve seen. I am also always just constantly blown away by how new orchestrations can make it feel like you’re hearing a song for the first time. Thanks Charlie for literally my entire life.

(Run Away from You)

It regrettably does not go as hard as that one version of Joe at Two River which is my all time favorite which is unfortunate. I love the slight distortion/electronic effect on Jason’s voice during “girl I swear with all my werewolf heart” as well the crunchy electric guitar throughout. The “hide behind the bushes” etc part just does not have the level of intensity as it needs to make the song really work. It needs to build to frenetic levels and leave you feeling like you’re stalking down the street right alongside him but instead I feel like it didn’t go anywhere and I fell asleep inside the bush. I miss the werewolf breathing sounds. I’m wondering if Jason wasn’t feeling well or something when recording because this is not as good as it could’ve been. There are videos of him doing better. I think I’m being a bit overly harsh on this, it’s honestly not that bad and nowhere near the worst live to studio adaptation on this album, it’s just that I know it could be a lot better so I’m disappointed.

The Prisoner's Christmas Song

Not one of my regular listens before Album. I don’t think I care much for the song in particular but Grace gives such a performance and musically it fucks severely. Honestly just copy paste my exact feelings on Sympathy For The Killer. I am a huge sucker for a lot of growl in voices when singing so generally have a very fun time listening to it.

Right Place / Wrong Time

Yee fuckin’ haw. Legendary goddamn song. Maybe thee Joe Iconis of all time? It has all the major qualities: a story with a twist, vivid misfit characters, so fucking long, the struggle of being an artist, obsession with the past, repeating chorus, nonsense syllables. Yeah, this is thee Joe Iconis song of all time. I like that one of Katrina’s lines is “tell me my singing’s out of style” when she’s talked about how her style is actually what’s hot right now but it wasn’t when she started.

I miss the piano sirens, they’re a lot more subtle here. Not much to say about this one, just a very solid recording of what’s done live and I appreciate it.

52

Sometimes I think to myself “why is Joe so hung up on Broadway” and wanting his shows to play there. I had a conversation with a friend around when LIHN was happening at Two River where I was saying it’d sure be something if Revolution Song one day played at the Tony Awards. They said they’d rather the institution actually be torn down and at the time I couldn’t quite articulate why I didn’t think Joe would ever want that. Well, this song is why. For better or worse, he much too much respects the legacy and meaning of Broadway. He considers himself a pretty traditional guy, not trying to break new ground, be witty/impressive/insincere etc. He too desperate to make it within the place he loves to ever do anything else.

I don’t know why there’s a single soft clap/snap along the middle of the track. It seems like it’d much more belong in an a capella version of this song. It’s pretty clearly intentionally added because it cuts out eventually but it seems a bit too soft and the rest of the song is overproduced so that it doesn’t add much to the song and it just feels a bit like a distraction. Not that the song was overproduced, I just think it was past the level of being able to add a clap track along it. I actually like the level of production and new instrumentation.

Admittedly, I’m not much one for history. That’s one of the topics Joe talks about a lot that least resonates with me. I love that as time goes on, fewer and fewer people will know what this song is talking about without looking it up. I know I had to. I’m the people who don’t understand how much they meant, but this song gives me a small window into the mindset of people who care. It makes me care more than I did before.

A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. I liked the live versions of this cover a lot in the past when I heard them but I wasn’t expecting it to make it onto Album. It’s weird to hear this song without the backing vocals and dialogue. It’s sweet that the last line is changed so it’s a pure-ish love song and it also subverts expectations like this song originally did. Guess we’re in covers/cabaret versions of songs from full shows section of the album.

Joey Is a Punk Rocker

Another one that wasn’t one of my regular listens and that I only enjoy as a character song. For both this and the last track, I really do like that the people singing are so different from the character that usually sings it in the show. In general, I really enjoy Annie’s voice and how full of character it is. The one section of the song I do have to admit I enjoy is the line “that his nipples were pierced but his heart was too.” Banger fucking line. Also the hilarity of Joe writing the line “I’m in love with a punk rocker named Joe” has not worn off for me.

Social Worker

Now this is a bonkers version of Social Worker. Immediately the synth is like whoa, what the fuck. I love the increasing echo effect on Nick’s voice during the panic attack section of the song. I enjoy it just as a listen but I’m really curious as to why they decided to go down a synth route for this song. Seems weird and I don’t know if I tonally agree with that choice, but I also don’t really disagree? Just want to know why they did it. Also, low-key I think Nick could’ve done better on this track. Like it was very good but I think the instrumental was definitely carrying.

I Was a Teenage Delinquent!

MAYBE THE GREATEST THING THAT HAS EVER GRACED MY EARS??? I think within the first goddamn second I had my tiny little fucking mind blown. This song and the fullness of the orchestrations makes me want to scale several stories of brick wall so I can scream from rooftops “I FELL IN LOVE IN JUVIE HALL!!!!!!!!!” I truly mean it when I say I love how bad, overdramatic, and trashy this song is. She’s writing on bathroom walls in lipstick! She’s romanticizing her suicide scars! She’s falling in love in anger therapy! I love the incongruity of the line “I am a teenage ne'er-do-well” like a teenager would ever, ever say that. Well, maybe they did in the 60s. I love the brief saxophone bit while they almost kiss. I also love that they cut like the 30 seconds of dead time. This song is such a violent, cheesy, goddamn banger. As always I’m in love with the uniqueness of Lauren’s voice and performance. I can’t believe that LIHN came from this. It would be interesting and fun to hear Amina and Kelly do this as a one off but I’m glad it was Lauren and Molly, I want Amina and Kelly’s rendition of I Fell In Love In Juvie Hall to remain a sacred, earnest, triumphant gay love jam.

(Do) the Slide Whistle!

What the hell is this. Why did they go all out on this song. I don’t know the story behind this song. I don’t think it would help even if I did. It’s catchy, I’ll give them that. Who the hell are Suzie and Jenny and [Turp?], what is this song? All around confusion.

Muthers R Speshel (Wen Yer Sad)

I guess they lined up Slide Whistle and this one next to each other so I could double slam on the skip button. The nicest thing I can say about this song is that at rare points it’s charming and heartwarming. Another case of “well... some people are here at least partially because of their name.” It is not like LMM has been out here at concerts doing Joe’s songs.

My Best Friend's a Skeleton

Jeremy is delightful as the skeleton as always. I wonder if the skeleton jumpsuit he wore in the 2013 video is the same one in the 2022 shows. I think I enjoy Lance’s version more but they’re really incomparable since that one was live and George’s was a studio recording. Lance is just. Such a silly guy lol. Don’t know which I like more, the “I cannot wait for you to pass” in the live version of George or the “that’s gross why would you say that” but really just all the awards for Jeremy. For the Album version, it’s another one that got that sorta banjo/country twang in the orchestrations which I’m enjoying on this version of the song, but honestly overall it’s a skip. It’s the sort of song that lives on the banter they have between verses so it’s best in a live recording. Makes me wish they swapped this song out for something like Blue Hair.

Velociraptor

A real win for my media comprehension skills that this song is next to Him Today, Gone Tomorrow. I was like “yessss” when I saw it when the tracklist came out. It makes the skull line very weird but with an extra layer of meaning I guess.

I love the sort of what I can only describe as elevator-style music. It gives the song a very modern, cosmopolitan feel. I can easily imagine this as an anonymous woman lost in the size of NYC. I love how bold the guitar noise is after the “there’s a dinosaur” noise. It kind of sounds like it’s supposed to be a dinosaur roar. I love the line “where the species intertwine” because suddenly that line feels like it implies everyone on the street is a different species instead of nondistinct/normal/human like I was imagining them before. Everyone sees themselves as an animal in a city of humans but really they’re all their own kind of weird and Velociraptor is just looking for people who are weird in the same way as her. I don’t usually think about this but this song really is similar to Right Place/Wrong Time.

Also I have absolutely no memory of where I heard about this but once Liz said that she was complaining to Joe about feeling tired of singing generic songs about people feeling out of place and then he wrote this for her haha. Liz consistently kills it in an under-appreciated way, very much hoping she’s in the official White Girl In Danger cast next year so we can see/hear her in something.

Him Today, Gone Tomorrow

Not as much of a banger as it is in the live performances. Unfortunately nothing about this performance of this song is that good. A combo of audio mixing, instrumentation, and vocals all make this song not live up to its potential. There’s a real variance and buildup of energy in the live version but in this one it’s all mostly samey. I don’t like the addition of background vocals, it’s not loud enough to actively contribute to making the song better and in fact it feels like it helped make this a more lulled song this version. I do prefer the emotion and acting in the vocal performance for this version though.

I love the “she” transitioning from sounding like a tentative question to a celebration with many exclamation points after it. I want to see Manifest Pussy in full. I always wonder if there’s more context for this song that I’m missing.

Starting to Forget

Not one of my regular listens before Album. I actually used to think that this song was about a woman walking the line between still missing and starting to forget their abusive ex and healing, and I thought that for longer than I care to admit. I think it was only when I went to transcribe the lyrics to this song a few months ago that I finally really started paying attention to exactly what was being said and I realized how incredibly sad it was. Then even more recently I found out it’s about Joe and his grandfather. But you know what I still somewhat stand by my reading of this being about one person’s complicated journey moving on from their ex-lover. It could work.

I love Badia’s voice on this so much. It’s also interesting because on the Album podcast, they said they recorded all the band stuff first, but this track sounds very singer lead with the liberties taken with tempo. It sounds like a song that requires the accompaniment to come after or be live with the singing, but apparently that’s not what happened so props to them for making it sound like that’s what happened.

Also shout out to this song for apparently being able to always bring a tear to Michael R Jackson's eye.

Tightrope Walker / Mountain Climber / Me

So Joe has this old song called Tightrope Walker but I’ve never heard it. I have to imagine this song is a reworking/expansion of that other song and it makes me really curious to hear what the old version was. Regardless, new Joe Iconis song!!! [Has a life crisis].

This song is so interesting and I’m still trying to figure it out. The latter half captures the feeling of being an observer in your own life, the detachment and distraction of living in our social media age, and the ease at which we can compare ourself to others now. However, I don’t understand why the tightrope walker and mountain climber bits exist. To draw comparison to the “me” bit, but is it saying that they’re more similar or different than one would expect? Or neither? Is it saying that the career of an artist is in some ways comparable and as dangerous as tightrope walking/mountain climbing? The biggest hint is the some people are fueled by terror/praise meanwhile I live vicariously through others line. Do they exist only to lay down examples of other’s accomplishments that the starving artist feels they’ll never have their own version of? The song is a lot about what motivates people and I guess the artist’s lack thereof? Or maybe they do have motivation but it’s slowly been eroded over time by not reaching their goals while everyone else seems to be. Still, I don’t understand why. And then it also gets meta with the “I hate my vocals on this song” so then it’s implying that the starving artist wrote and is performing this song. I don’t know what any of this means! Would love to hear what other people think of this song. Can’t wait for the podcast episode of this song.

Since Joe almost never shares his lyrics verbatim I think I’ll be wondering forever if the “and days and days etc” part eventually ends on “and daze” because I love a good homonym. Would be cool if it did.

I love Molly H and her voice so much. I also really want to hear Lauren do this song. I think her voice lends to the style a lot. I love how casual this song sounds, very fittingly for the message of the song. In the Sunday live performance of this song it went heavy on some sort of synth-y rock guitar and there were also backing vocals. It was weird.

Flesh and Bone (The Robot's Song)

I'm sorry. What the fuck? It's like they decided to suck literally all of the energy out of this song during the recording. And I know Jason can go hard on this song, I've seen it before. So what the fuck. It started out a bit more low energy than I was expecting but I was expecting it to pick up but then it never did and we got to the nanas at the end and I was so disappointed. I just checked and it’s literally 10 bpm slower than live versions. I’m back again wondering if Jason got sick or something because this was not it. His voice sounded a bit off, like it was more tired/weaker. I’m just am in shock at how bad they ruined this song. Like how did this happen. This is one of Charlie’s favorite songs so like, how did he listen to this and think “yeah that’s good.”

The string pizzicato was nice but I’m still not sure how I feel about it in this song specifically. I miss the versions where the guitar in the background plucks an alarm going off/warning signal of low battery. The wind and rust sound effects were also lame as hell in this version, and by lame I mean almost nonexistent. I very much prefer versions where they do something outsized and wacky. Overall, I don’t know why you would choose to listen to the worse version of this song out there.

Party Hat

The new interjections are so fun and I love it. I think my favorite is “you are quite something” and “that’s what my therapist says!” It reminds me of Lauren’s Our Show. Also love the funky lil banjo and melodica. Thank god they kept the kazoo. This song is almost good enough for me to forgive EWM for making smacking lips noises right in my ear. Honestly I don’t have all that much to say about this song. Good song, good recording. Okay, I’ve been trying to find a way to word this without sounding weird but there is no good way. I want EWM to be my cat. No elaboration. You either get me or you don’t.

Amphibian

About to say something sacrilegious. I only like Amphibian an okay amount and it definitely is one of those songs whose charm lies in live performance, though this track translated pretty well from live to studio. I think they’re also aware of this so starting it off way more cutesy helped. Also that the ensemble choir was made up of so many people was great. On some tracks you can tell the ensemble had less people and as a result felt much less full. It’s very cute that Lance joined in for a duet. Double Natos! Shamefully, I thought it was Joe the first few listens until Al told me otherwise. I like the crowd/general chatter noise at the end with very low ribbits that then transitions straight into It’s All Good.

The Amphibian on Sunday when Will was out with COVID was by far my favorite performance of this song, ever. Amara was so good at the beginning that I want an entire version of her and John’s energy was so innocent and quickly turned rockin’ that I am obsessed. 

It's All Good

I feel like the audio mixing could’ve been better on the ambient crowd/chatter noise to not have it cut out as abruptly? It felt a bit jarring. Regardless, I like it. It creates a feeling of a live performance where people just get up and go to the mic that fits well with the content of the song. Not one of my favorite songs of Joe’s, but it’s so nice to have the boys from the 08 cast all singing together on this and their voices mesh very nicely together. It also sounds like they recorded together to match up the vocals or at least they did a much better job of it here than some other tracks.

Find the Bastard

I have to fucking talk about this shit. After the Saturday concert, the performers were talking to audience members outside and I had a short conversation with EWM where I told him how much I loved BSOL. He ribbed me a bit about being 12 when the original production happened, which is totally fair, and I thought that would be the end of that interaction. But he remembered because the next night during this song, right after the first “what’s your name, what’s your name,” (I guess I shouted loud enough that he noticed me) he made eye contact and pointed to me in the audience briefly as he sang. I am still replaying this moment in my mind. And also physically replaying it on the vid I took lol. Literally the amount of joy that those brief seconds have brought me is immeasurable. Months later just listening to this song is still a free happiness machine.

Last on Land Whomst? This is my new favorite, no I'm not biased at all (ok but can you blame me after what happened). I guess I should talk about the actual song now.

Ok, on the Album version right at the beginning of the instrumental after the very first measure (0:03-0:04), the guitarist accidentally plucks another string when changing fingerings and it bother me to no end. Can you tell I’ve been listening to this song on eardrum shattering volumes? Other than that, almost 0 complaints. The snake rattle effect sends chills through me. I like that there’s clearly a lot of people in the mix for the ensemble part but you can hear Jason ST and Katrina distinctively in the mix. I love the new brass. It fits so well. Loud and brash just like the show. Speaking of the brass, I’m in love with the drawn out instrumental crescendo right before “they done me wrong.”

AND FROM NOW ON, WHEN THEY ASK MY NAME (WHAT’S YOUR NAME, WHAT’S YOUR NAME) MY ANSWER ALWAYS GONNA BE THE SAME (WHAT’S YOUR NAME, WHAT’S YOUR NAME) I’LL SAY MY NAME IS AWFUL LONG AS IT’S THE LYRICS OF THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do not know how a single person in the world could possibly listen to this song and not feel the hype in their fucking soul and The Musician’s mission as their own. For three minutes and twenty-nine seconds, I’m a guitar wielding musician recently freed from prison on a mission to get my woman back from a dastardly kazoo playing villain. And it better be yours too.

I don’t know why on these TBS and BSOL tracks, there’s noise/people talking at the beginning/end. I assume for like atmosphere/continuity to signify that they’re from the same show/should be listened to together?

Last on Land

Don't look at me, I'm listening to Last on Land. As always, thinking about that one review that called this song the out of nowhere number about sailing. Watch your fucking back, I’m about to turn you into an out of nowhere number about sailing. Though I’ll be honest, parts of this song are still lost on me but I enjoy that. I’m always thinking about what certain lines could mean when I’m listening to this song. Some parts mean a different thing to me every time I listen to it. I guess I can understand how someone who wasn’t paying attention and hearing this song for the first time could think it was just a song about boats. I mean, admittedly that’s what I thought the first time I heard this song. But then you listen again and you notice the raw fucking lines like “we find the solution to escape our fate, it lies in the equal distribution of our weight” and I dare you to not feel even an ounce about community and what we owe and willingly give to one another when this song plays.

Since it’s in a different key on Album as it is in the show, the octave jump on the piano backing is even higher and everything feels even more perilous. Like oh my god, things are beginning to sink!!

Sorry I am continuously ragging on it, but it’s noticeably not as good in an album of mostly good to stellar performances. I don’t think Jason ST’s performance on this track is the greatest but the tiredness sort of fits the opening of the song so it’s not as egregious on this track. I don’t know there’s any standout performances on this track actually, it starts getting very good later into the song.

I love the angelic choir sort of quality the “ohs” in the vocal only part, and it carries that quality even when everything else comes back in. It feels like prayer and community to someone non-religious like me. The only thing on this earth for us is each other. The new harmonies are so fucking good it makes me lose my entire goddamn mind every time I listen two minutes of this song. Especially the new high part on “if you weren’t here with me.” You know the one. The echoing on the chorus. Thank you Joel for these god tier vocal arrangements. It’s what this song fucking deserves. It really feels like it’s taking full advantage of the size of its goddamn cast list. I wouldn’t be surprised if almost all the people in that image of people on the album were in this chorus.

Can you believe that Joe originally wasn’t going to do any songs from full shows of his? Thank god Jen convinced him otherwise. Lord, what would I do without [this version of this song].

Try Again

I connected like a year ago that the "lifeboat manned by me" line was in reference to Bloodsong but it took me up until a few weeks ago to realize the "fuck those bastards, find a friend" is also probably one. With how connected this song is to other works of Joe now I'm realizing the suicide attempt off the roof is not at all random and definitely calling back to Broadway, Here I Come! lol. It takes me a minute...

Ending with Try Again instead of Last on Land is fun and interesting. The placement of this song makes me think Joe still feels like he hasn’t made it in the way he wants to in this industry, which, fair. It’s just funny how a song he wrote with a large inspiration about BMC after TRT is still the message he wants to go out on, that even with that very show making it to Broadway, he still feels he’s at the stage where he’s picking himself back up and trying again. And I guess YMMV on if he deserves to feel that way. With how much he talks about being a fan of traditional musical theater and having traditional mindsets of what being successful in musical theater looks like, he certainly hasn’t made that original show that’s been reviewed well by the NYT regionally and moved to Broadway and had a successful run in the way he thinks/thought shows should do. And both BBH and LIHN, right after BMC had a similar trajectory of not being the success he wanted, with LIHN being especially similar to how BMC started out.

Though honestly I don’t know what Joe Iconis would be like if he had his well-loved Broadway hit and I don’t know if it’s ever gonna happen for him. It seems like he just somehow grates on people in a way that in his eyes, he’ll be almost making it forever. Like if you just shift your viewpoint a bit, this track would’ve also fit very well after Right Place/Wrong Time as the 26th track, at exactly halfway through Album. With this song as the midpoint, it would’ve sent a message of how despite the NYT review, he tried again and BMC was eventually able to get to Broadway because of the love people had for it, and he saw that result of trying again and is past that part of his life.

Am I reading into all this too much? Probably. Maybe he placed it here as an upbeat message about trying again to loop back to the beginning of the album. But reading and listening to what he says in interviews I’m inclined to think he still feels like he’s in the trying again stage of his life.

[abbysreverie]

THE BEST THE 1975 ALBUM

I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (2016)

This was the era where I was able to fully anticipate anything from The 1975 and it was one of the most special moments of my life. This was the time where I must say my musical preferences have fully awakened. The 1975 and Dirty Hit did so sooo good in this era. From the aesthetic visual teasers to actual promotions to the production with their live stages on tour, everything was beautiful. I still love ILIWYS’s neon lights visualizers better than the theatrical stage set-up of BFIAFL. The setlist too was much better even if we’re talking about songs only from their first 2 albums released, we’re still beyond satisfied then.

Fave tracks:

Somebody Else (obviously, who doesn’t love this song?)

Paris (i just love the vibe, nothing personal)

Iliwys (i would sacrifice my life just to hear this live!!!)

Notes on A Conditional Form (2020)

Now NOACF was something else. This came out during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and I couldn’t thank my boys enough for saving my life back then. Everyone was still in shock and filled with anxiety because of the virus but The 1975’s NOACF came to rescue me from that. It was jam packed with so many good tracks, all of them were no skip for me. Apparently, NOACF carries my most fave song from the whole discography of The 1975—perhaps of all time, and nothing’s taking its place still even after BFIAFL’s release ‘cause let’s be real, BFIAFL in general is just isn’t it. Just me? Alright, no sweat. But I guess I really took a step back from them because I expected too much from it but just ended up kinda disappointed instead.

Anyway..

Fave tracks:

Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy) (this bad boy holds the crown as my ultimate fave The 1975 song. And the fact that Rome also worked on this song makes it extra special for me. The melodic run is what attracted me to this song, it was a mix of late 90’s pop, alternative R&B and neo soul. Matty said it was their first pastiche-y song since it’s like a mixture of samples. Matty also shared that he considers this song as the “anomaly one” off of the whole album because of how experimental it is. But I don’t really care, to me it’s fun and very satisfying to listen to and it’s absolutely beyond perfection)

Then Because She Goes (i understood why they made it a short song, like Roadkill. i just have a strong feeling they’d make a part 2 of them lol)

Yeah I Know (i was literally bopping and whispering “tf is this” at the same time when i first heard this song. it was like some sort of spiritual awakening and i enjoyed it very much. hit that shit, go hit that shit SUPREMACY)

P.S. Their self-titled Album is already a given. I mean, nothing beats the OG. Most of my favorite songs of them you will basically find in the self-titled album. The 1975 was like the soundtrack of my pre-college arc, like my anxiety was lessened because of how I discovered The 1975 on the summer of 2014, when there was literally a lot going on in my life. My family moving in to another city while I was still emotionally and mentally preparing for college was kinda stressful tbh, and I thank The 1975 for giving me the energy and for keeping me motivated during that time… yeah..so that’s it i guess..

[an-odd-idea]

Stream of consciousness during album because I’m afraid (of how good it will be and how many feelings I might have)

Yun: Very Namjoon. But also jazzy. It suits him though, I am zero percent surprised

Still Life: EEEEEHEHEHE I need to look the lyrics up, but the VIBES

All Day: AAAAAAAAAAA but then it sounds like a j-hope song too all of a sudden???? we call this the best of many worlds. Oh hey it’s the “let’s gooooo!” thing, too!

Forg_tful: Kinda like a really good country song? Not country exactly, but that sort of feel. Reminds me of Tophouse. The featured artist has a really cute voice

Closer: :)))))))

Change pt.2: AAAAAAAAA pt.2 it was so scary and now it’s chill, but now unsettling-chill, wtf who hurt you? I don’t know where part one is, and it’s not the first time- it just be like that sometimes

Lonely: So fuckin’ lonely. This is a freaking great song. Everything about it. It’s just perfect I guess. Some songs, regardless of how they compare to any other songs, are just automatically 10/10 immaculate, there’s nothing you could possibly do to make this song better than it already is (pls don’t be lonely though, I’m sorry about that)

Hectic: Very chill-sounding. I really like the featured artist. Oooo I was not expecting the way it changed near the end, I like that

Wild Flower: Almost skipped it because I already heard it in the music video and it’s so beautiful and heartbreaking that my stomach hurts and I can’t take that twice in one night. I did anyway. I have also already seen the translation, and I want to give him a hug and fix everything that’s wrong with the world and run through the wilderness just because. Also, talk about poetic wording. *is in pain*

No.2: Vibe whiplash after Wild Flower lol. It’s so nice… second time I’ve heard a k-pop artist rhyme melody with felony, interesting. I was told that the last line is “I will protect you now” what does that mean? Gotta look up the rest.

It’s so good it’s so good it’s so good, I have no more thoughts Goodnight

[moonrisecoeur]

🐕 ok baby im so sorry for this literal. giant list. BABY YOU SAID YOU WERE WEIRD ABOUT MUSIC, THAT YOU WERE ANNOYING ABOUT MUSIC, ECT ECT WHATEVER I FUCKING CHALLENGE YOU BECAUSE I AM NOT FUCKING!!!!! NORMAL ABOUT MUSIC !!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM DISGUSTING ABOUT MUSIC!!!!!

babe i even CATEGORIZED them bc theres so FUCKING MANY !!

also i did do cws on some songs i had concerns ab? the ones w !s are ones im super unsure ab. also aaaa u dont have to listen to any of these but,. u awaked the demon,, BEAST in me.

i have also fdhgkjdsfg listened to most of the songs in ur post but my brain is also mushy after listening to all of these and making this list so i shall. give thoughts Later. xoxo (its also late hehe)

my top faves <3 (if u like these i am skipping the making out part and going straight to fucking u)

this is your night - amber

no one ever really dies - mystery skulls

magic original demo - mystery skulls

these dont rlly have lyrics but i literally listened to them on repeat when i was writing the novel length asks to u so if u want ur brain to melt like mine while i was writing those...,, <3<3

(cw: a bit loud/high pitched and really weird music? ravey)

desktopbuddy - nanoray

dogwalk2000 - nanoray

dog bus (ft telemist) - metaroom

worm rave - metaroom

songs i feel ud like based on ur music taste ive seen (plsss tell me if u like them bc i will happily rec more i just feel bad w how long this list FUCKING IS)

until we get there - lucius

don't just sit there - lucius

wasting time - hoax

western medicine - hoax

into the blackhole - hoax

winter - daughter

the only exception - paramore

are you bored yet? - the wallows

don't you wonder? - jagged jaw

tonight is - jagged jaw

the comedienne - parenthetical girls

who'd have known - lily allen

somewhere only we would know - lily allen (this is a cover but god its my fav version so)

come to me - goo goo dolls (baby im ngl i think leon would love this song)

true love - coldplay

juliet - cavetown

lemon boy - cavetown (cavetown is a trans king please support his music <3 mwah mwah)

relax, take it easy - mika (ngl this one is a bit more of a shot in the dark buttt)

together - mystery skulls (same as above tbh)

these r from like 1 artist i rlly like but bby i am sure u will NOT like their music,, kinda like the nanoray and metaroom ones but like worse. !!WILL!! make ur brain melt. (trust me when i say i HANDPICKED thru their music,,,,)

kill screen - machine girl (!!!!cw: yelling! im only including this bc its one of my top FAVES. it goes so hard holy shit. if ur comfy with it listen from 2:55-end cus theres no yelling, its just such fucking GOOD buildup to the BEST part of the fucking song [3:18] i9ts literally. AHH)

post rave maximalist - machine girl (cw: has some sirens and airhorns? theyre not loud tho.)

freewill - machine girl

nine minutes and forty three seconds - machine girl (bro this album is like straight up not your alley this is the only song without screaming in it LOL)

cloud99 (as above mix) - machine girl

lilith - machine girl

cyan hardcore - machine girl

sin to win! - machine girl

IM OBSESSED W THESE AND THEY NEED MORE LOVE

my favorite color is you - revenegeinkyoto (!!!!cw: yelling--mostly exclamatories and parts of the bridge, the ending is a bit heavy w it tho--, yandere song, heavy metal)

don't go insane - dpr ian (THEREVE BEEN SO MANYT LEON EDITS TO IT AND GGGRRRRRR GRHHHH RHHHH that one part GURLL iykyk but ITS A GOOD SONG REGARLESS AHHHGGGHHHH)

the memory viewer - sugary sweet machines

talkative revolver city slicker (/or/) resume song - sugary sweet machines (these are 2 songs that (at their core) are essentially the same but are different enough that i pick them based on which im just feelin more,) (OK SO ALSO these r from the ost of an indie game and IDK if i can rec the game personally (i found it during a very dark part of my life) but the ost and esp these songs are hella banger and i really want the artist to get more love for them)

megatronic - powerman 5000 (cw: not yelling but heavily synthetic sounding? hard music xP)

benzie box - danger doom (THIS. GOES. SO. HARD.)

boys & girls - will.i.am (BI SONG? BI SONG?)

gekka no yasoukyoku - malice mizer (cw: not english) (THIS GOES SOOOO HARD its literally. so good. i try to avoid reccing songs not in english but this is too good to not)

cipher peon battle - pokemon colosseum (it makes me feel epic lol)

overrated but i love them

little dark age - mgmt (i literally make amvs in my head about re2 leon in my car while listening to this song i am obsessed. Obsessed.)

wasted summers - juju<3 (fuck ppl who hate on this honestly like can ppl not have fun with music? let indie musicians have fun !! hes literally making a song with his sister thats the sweetest shit ever!!!!!!!!!! also honestly this song kinda hurts if u relate ngl pookie)

rhinestone eyes - gorillaz (iykyk,, that edit introduced me to this song but it FUCKS !!)

take me to church - hozier (look. -foams at mouth- thats all.)

mary on a cross - ghost

idk where to categorize these :v

the wolf - siames (I LOVE THIS THE EVERYTHING THE ANIMATION THE DOGGIE !!! woof woof)

can't get you out of my head - kylie minogue

better off alone - alice deejay

hypnocurrency - deadmau5

gyrate - rezz

j-boy - phoenix

credits song for my death - vivivivivi

i would do anything for you - foster the people (i ALMOST put this in faves bc god i am,, obsessed w this song but, i feel like its bully material so.)

sit next to me - foster the people

the sweet escape - gwen stefani (look i always loved this song, but i have a leon edit of this song saved to my phone and i watch it Daily)

my love - justin timberlake (me and leon. i also have a leon edit to this i watch daily.)

bloody mary - lady gaga

you like early 2000s type music? cringe? this is for u bbg

(cw: cringe, ravey)

pretty rave girl - s3rl (PLSLSSSS I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCHH GRRHHRGRRHHGHHDHDGSGDFSDFGGFHSD)

blame you - romanceplanet

bleed (runaway) - romanceplanet

lollipop (candyman) - aqua

ok this is stupid but im ngl im putting songs that make me think of leon in some way here (considering making my own playlist of stuff for him lmk if my taste is good enough boo ;* /j)

with you - linkin park (!!!!cw: yelling. (im including this bc i just want to say leon would fucking love this song. id make out with and grind on him at a house party to this song,, that is all). the yelling isnt super loud but the music is screechy during the parts so it might make u uncomfy? be safe if u listen boo, its alil on the harder side of songs)

cure for the itch - linkin park (cw: the beginning has a brief moment where theres a loud announcer? other than that this fucks, goes HARD.)

under the bridge - red hot chili peppers (WHEN I WAS LOOKING FOR,,, ROCK AND GRUNGE TO LISTEN TO bc i am obsessed with leon ehehe THIS SONG LATCHED ONTO MY BRAINSTEM,,,,,,thinking ab holding his hand while this plays on our mixtape while we drive to our coffeeshop date in raccoon city,,.,,,,u//w//u)

smells like teen spirit - nirvana (!!cw: screamy? i think? i cant tell if im desensitized to screaming in music or sm LMFAO its a song i scream when i sing it tho so) (also i KNOW this is a generic pick but it goes so hard!!!!!!!!!!!! leon Literally listens to this like its just canon)

talking in your sleep - the romantics (baby im so sorry i cant explain this one i also want to fuck michael afton and thats bleeding into my lust for leon)

no friend of mine - aimless device (THIS IS SO GOOD I WISH IT WAS MORE POPULAR)

hyena - aimless device

nobody's real - powerman 5000 (cw: its a lil bit hard of a song) (i cant explain this honestly leon would just listen to powerman and this would be his fave)

i'm not in love - 10cc (look look here ok listen to my vision. leon trying to convince himself hes not actually head over heels for you. i think its cuter with re2 leon hehe hes so cutie pookie BUT. [im not personally into aeon But..] PLEASE imagine him just laying in bed listening to this because hes still hurt over ada but hes falling so hard and fast for you. and hes scared. TERRIFIED even, <3 dont worry babyboy ill treat you so well)

yellow - coldplay

the scientist - coldplay

always in my head - coldplay (ok look i tried really hard to not put in so many coldplay songs but, listen. coldplay just feels so fucking aeon for you aeon enjoyers)

sweetest goodbye - maroon 5

sunday morning - maroon 5

my console - eiffle 65 (look. its Funny.)

separate ways (worlds apart) - journey

away from the sun - 3 doors down

here without you - 3 doors down

my precious - lifehouse

hanging by a moment - lifehouse

last child - aerosmith

jaded - aerosmith

turn up the radio - autograph

lullaby - the cure

last kiss - pearl jam (cw: kinda descriptive singing about the scenario of a loved one dying, brief mentions of religion) (he wouldnt relate to this song at all but i KNOW mans would cry to it)

(i could dig up more for this section but baby i do not wanna bore you with retro songs)

actually fuck i could put so many more songs period but this is probably already a 5 hr playlist atp eheh sorry

if u want i could make an actual playlist if u ACTUALLY wanna listen to ts so its not such a pain going thru dhjksdfhgsdkg (tho theres a few songs that arent on spotty bc its stinky :( )

🐕

the most hilarious part about this is that the only song on this gigantic list that i recognize is don’t go insane BUT NOT EVEN BECAUSE OF LEON i just like dpr ian he’s so pretty :3

also i think ill be able to put them into a playlist myself !! dw i don’t wanna make u go through the effort!! i shall attempt to listen to everything!!

[elvispresley]

6, 22, 23 and 32 for the ask game <3

thank you so much! 🫶

6. Who's an artist you really like but it's embarrassed to admit it?

i am honestly shameless for my music taste because i know i have good taste (i’m the DJ during most of my parties. i even got asked by a bar to bring my classic rock playlist because the clients were loving it). 😎 however, i often have to skip songs on my playlist when my friends are here because the songs are sad and i prefer not showing them that lol.

22. What’s your favorite song or album from the year you were born? (1999)

i would say broken bow by lara fabian. she isn’t known worldwide, but she is absolutely incredible.

23. Do you and your partner/best friend share a special song? One you'd call "our song"?

i showed the song still loving you by scorpions in the beginning of our relationship and it made us connect a lot. we knew we both loved classic rock, but i was still trying to impress him with my music taste and it worked. it was an important song in our relationship for some reason.

oh! darling by the beatles with my bestie 🥰

32. When was the last time you cried when listening to a song, if ever?

i cried a few times when listening to songs. the most recent one is coat of many colors by dolly parton. ❤️‍🩹

[fildzahputri]

got inspired by one of day6 fanbase's Instagram story. They made their own 30 days of day6 songs challenge. I made my own version LOL! buuut... I won't check for a whole month every day LOL

I won't limit my song choices to only Day6, but I will also choose songs from EOD, Dowoon and Young K's albums :)

I will finish it in one post! let's get started!

The first song that you heard : Day6 - Congratulations (https://open.spotify.com/track/2bPEmMFmuV7Szif2UmK1t8?si=f4724da3fe7c447d)

A song to blast when you're alone : Day6 - You Make Me (https://open.spotify.com/track/3Y4SnP9NDIjEj69mMY4NVp?si=e588d2148c614912)

A song that reminds you of summer : EOD - Home Alone (https://open.spotify.com/track/3XLWCoZubMt1WPp7TmSNAP?si=c2208f2271ca4fbc)

A song to drive to : Day6 - Wanna Go Back (https://open.spotify.com/track/7lvYniMPVbh78IEaVifmm6?si=b3a20d80bb544021)

A song that made you MyDay : EOD - Right Through Me (https://open.spotify.com/track/4cK8aSO2Ec4gmIjhtHfAKd?si=3214c974394d4200)

A song that reminds you of Day6 : Day6 - Shoot Me (https://open.spotify.com/track/3cl6BsTDeeGRbgug5TXrvg?si=d0409b43829f425d)

Your favourite Young One : Young K - What Am I (https://youtu.be/5K7QcN5yyq0?si=Ok2K2AI__dBO-uVm)

Favourite song in favourite album : Day6 - Like a Flowing Wind (https://open.spotify.com/track/6RW5fxlCyOxfBJbru1v9ol?si=86e37610bbd74a6f)

Favourite live performance : Day6 - Shoot Me on Gravity Concert (https://youtu.be/gRPAyE117I4?si=_hy-1AQ70M5Wi8fh)

The first song playing on shuffle : Day6 - How Can I Say (https://open.spotify.com/track/3lUTXq1JLSDQX4qBRHMBdU?si=274eebfc19e74c2d)

A song you will play on a happy day : Young K - Playground (https://open.spotify.com/track/5fTHVgJgG7b9QaCQBErXwA?si=b6bd6b9be13a4eba)

A song you will play during rain : Young K feat Dwvn - Microphone (https://open.spotify.com/track/4qaVcA4yzqG1dlGNdvyTh4?si=aa01f04514534c66)

A song that you related to : Day6 - Best Part (https://open.spotify.com/track/7wPKlkoPDyeDcMpaGizvDk?si=2c9103b7e6074eda)

A favourite unreleased song : Young K feat Song Heejin - Alone in This World (https://youtu.be/X2KTVCNBJpc?si=-fWHaI7L09FhrXeD)

A song that has your favourite lyric : Young K - Natural (https://open.spotify.com/track/41RXNTF8S30oW1mSH6kZ79?si=195a10442bde49f1)

An underrated song : Day6 - Sing Me (https://open.spotify.com/track/4MrCODuP5HnBASb4AEWsFt?si=6ff1396c0c5b422c)

A song that's on repeat : EOD - Landed (https://open.spotify.com/track/6qLjAAxNEoJvZJiAREQubY?si=4f6509a9ebce403e)

Favourite B-side track : Day6 - Hurt Road (https://open.spotify.com/track/1HUNpxohGEBTjNifa9ahOL?si=206637a2e91d4153)

A song you sing in the car : Day6 - Above the Clouds (https://open.spotify.com/track/4rChXUoYp281MB2tPL4vMm?si=a55325f74170474d)

A song you listen to during commute : Day6 - Sweet Chaos (https://open.spotify.com/track/499qjESUqiZjlNI7XQhyLp?si=2aec90ef0d4e426d)

Favourite Day6's Japanese song : Day6 - Finale (https://open.spotify.com/track/5zNC5Esw2IwbtWhJ1yb7KY?si=8bc11ffbd0da4e5e)

A no-skip album : Day6 - The book of us : Entrophy (https://open.spotify.com/album/2vnlVtSs6PP1iKvcTWtX2h?si=eL2-OUz6QMehtJ2D0dMtkw)

Favourite MV : Day6- Dance Dance (https://youtu.be/NAW0idSQ6Zs?si=2aOf5f_O4lg5gZHH)

Favourite song from solo album : Young K - Best Song (https://open.spotify.com/track/259vEYIeuiVqTcJsaaE696?si=47f6fda2c9364427)

A song that makes you sentimental : Day6 - For Me (https://open.spotify.com/track/4VA4px7fJHnQfR0IND4obq?si=d365359c38964f2c)

A song you love singing along to : Day6 - Time of Our Life (https://open.spotify.com/track/0btLaqWlXsOWLcpjE1jmIk?si=761ec6b0e4e742d2)

A song you want to listen live (in front of you) : Day6 - Deep in Love (https://open.spotify.com/track/0DzB1tFmtrW5PU8tX9XijW?si=df9c3a0db86b4c53)

A "wake up" song : Day6 - Freely (https://open.spotify.com/track/5aFpaxepI6hgmh2wu6SxsT?si=bc18aa5b748a4c1c)

A song you listen during chillin' : EOD - Thanks to (https://open.spotify.com/track/1KQrnUtKigVAtDZc6M7UsM?si=9a79246a6abc4a07)

Favourite recent song : Young K - Butterfly (https://open.spotify.com/track/7kAs2Dw6ymVkriLrbjtGDD?si=f25eb98a81474882)

That's it!!! I will post another post for the reason why I chose those songs! when I'm not lazy though LOL!