#the dies irae

[externalacousticmeatus]

OK GUYS so yknow in urinetown how cop song is basically just rain rain go away?a little while ago i noticed this, the “julie cassidy” part is almost identical.

a few months before that, when i was some research into urinetown’s uses of the dies irae (i was head dramaturg), i noticed that one of the places where that motif was used is in cop song. the 4 notes used in “julie cassidy” follows the exact pattern of the dies irae. for context, the dies irae is an ancient chant, and the first four notes are used EVERYWHERE to foreshadow death. So i looked at the sheet music for cop song, rain rain go away, and the dies irae, and they all follow this pattern. they aren’t IDENTICAL, but they’re very similar.

this seems like a fun silly thing, and don’t worry, it is. BUT THINK ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS!! the dies irae is used to symbolize death. in urinetown, it shows that death is urinetown, and in cop song specifically it’s used to show that the cops are literally just killing people. so…why is it used in this nursery rhyme? honestly? i have no idea. it’s probably a coincidence. this lead me down a rabbit hole of trying to figure out if this was the same song as “it’s raining it’s pouring the old man is snoring”, and i couldn’t really get a clear answer. i know when i was younger i sang them together, and they are pretty similar musically, but when i asked a lot of my friends and peers they always thought of those two songs as separate. it turns out there aren’t really set lyrics for nursery rhymes online, so when i couldn’t really get anywhere with that. if for some reason they ARE actually the same song, does this imply that the story is somehow related to death??? that the old man who bumps his head dies??? i know when I was a kid I always sang “didn’t wake up in the morning” as in he died in his sleep, but i asked my friends what they thought happened to the old man when they were younger, and they either didn’t thinking about it that much or that they sang “didn’t get up till the morning”. so i’m not sure.

tldr: cop song=rain rain go away=the dies irae. the internet is very vague when it comes to nursery rhymes. i’m losing my mind.

[sarcasticdolphin]

..... (A random thought)

I kind of want a proper Elisabeth in Concert production. One with a big double choir as the ensemble. As much as the ensembles are always excellent, quantity has a quality all its own, especially for songs (Alle Fragen, etc) where a certain amount of raw power is called for from the chorus.

[codemiracle]

Hello everyone, it's been a while. I just wanted to remind everyone that Dies Irae is still in the works even though the development slowed down. I'm planning on ending my hiatus on the blog very soon, so please stay tuned. :] Here's some Valentine's day art from my old Patreon, hope everyone has a great day!

[dewardin]

[jaegereska]

The Dies Irae. It is your title. Your combined force. Day of Wrath.

[solplease]

blushy blushy

close ups under the cut!

[bunnygirllover45]

Alien stage spoilers!!!!!!!!!

Theory: Seth is Luka 😨😨

They both got that creepy ass manipulative smile, and in ruler of my heart the lyrics say:

My world collapsing

My savior, my beautiful lady

Make me your god, I can give you everything 

Seth would literally destroy a world and create a new one for his darling, he likes being called “my savior” and he can create stuff based off of how many followers he has..

Also I DARE you look at me in the face and say this isn’t ayato and Seth!!!!!!

(This is all a joke, sorry for spamming you 😭😭)

the ruler (god) of your heart!

[solarweer]

The "can't cook for shit" group

Had to fill the silence with something •◡•

Those handsome bois belong to @codemiracle

[baujoo]

『My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?』

Ch. belongs to @codemiracle

[flying-fangirls]

As a music, religion, and literature nerd, the Dies Irae has been one of my favorite go-to pieces of trivia for a long time, which means that this line:

Has been driving me batshit BONKERS since part 42! And also as a semi-professional media analysis yapper, I figured I might as well dive into the exact reasons I jumped up and audibly gasped upon first hearing this line and have subsequently lost my mind since then. So!

Here is why I think that the Dies Irae is the perfect analogy for John and Arthur:

Religion

Let's start with the most straightforward meaning: "Dies Irae" is a Latin term, and it translates to the "Day of Wrath." Or otherwise known as the Judgement Day, the foretold second coming in Catholic canon, when Christ will "come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." It's at this Last Judgement where God will wield perfect justice to send the worthy to everlasting peace and the unworthy to everlasting punishment. (everyone say "thank you" to excessive childhood Catholic lessons for burning this into my brain)

There's a kind of irony to the fact that Arthur so vehemently rejects Christianity and religion as a whole, and that John spends much of his arc trying to distance himself from the role/identity of a god, yet both are given this incredibly religious title, effectively restricting them from ever forgetting the presence/influence of religion in their lives.

This title has a couple layers though, because we have to consider why it's the Day of Wrath specifically that represents Arthur and John. Now, I don't think I have to tell you that those two are bursting with anger 80% of the time. But I am going to tell you that those two are not just angry, but moreso "divine fury" incarnate.

The Day of Wrath, the Final Judgment, is the final and eternal judgment of God on all: "For now before the Judge severe / all hidden things must plain appear; / no crime can pass unpunished here." (Dies Irae, Dies Illa). The final Judge, the all-powerful God, can see the objective morality of every single person, and is thus the sole, rightful determiner of fate.

This assumption of their right to perfectly and single-handedly decide others' worthiness shows up over and over, not just John and Arthur's actions, but also in how they describe these judgments.

When Arthur kills the widow on the island, it's not because she was dangerous, but because she was a cultist who "deserved" to be punished.

When John and Arthur need to get rid of Mr. Scratch's stone, John says they should give it to "criminals" who are "deserving of this curse." Even though, just moments before, Arthur refused to give the stone to Oscar because to do so would be to cursing him to a fate of eternal suffering.

And I can't go into every single detail about the entire Larson plotline because this post would double in size, but it obviously needs to be included here. Possibly the strongest tie between this arc and the idea of the Dies Irae is Arthur's conviction through it all. Arthur vows that he is going to kill Larson in divine retribution not because he wants to, but because he has to. He even goes so far as to admit that killing Larson will be a mistake, a cruel and overly-bloodthirsty action that goes against his compassion. But killing Larson isn't a choice to Arthur, it is the unavoidable punishment for Larson's sins and Arthur is simply the enactor of justice. Just like the Final Judgment, there is no sympathy, no hesitancy— the judgment is absolute, divinely ordained, and cannot be stopped no matter how undeniably horrific it is.

If we look at the Catholic Catechism, principle 2302 states that it is sinful to kill out of desire, but that it is "praiseworthy to impose restitution" and use violence to "maintain justic." So even if Arthur has intent to kill, his actions count as divinely sanctioned. He is acting as the hand of God's punishment.

Over the course of Season 3 and 4, Arthur's fiery rage dies down to a more gentle simmer, but his conviction only seems to grow, and John follows suit. Despite previously reprimanding Arthur for his unquestioning wrath, John eventually becomes just as convinced that Larson "deserves" to face a wrathful reckoning. The "fact" that Larson is wholly unforgivable and is fated to receive eternal punishment becomes more indisputable in their minds, and they both stop questioning the morality of their intentions, entirely convinced of their judgment.

Throughout the story, Arthur and John insist upon the importance of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness, and say that these are the values that guide their every action. Yet, time and time again, they approach certain people with nothing but wrath and resentment. It's a sharp contrast to the benevolent figures they make themselves out to be, and Arthur and John are often blind to the contradiction because, in their eyes, they are still following those values in every action. And in the moments when they do recognize their horrific words or actions, they still cannot let their judgment go, convinced that it is their "duty" either way.

In Part 35, Arthur says "Just because you can't make the hard decision, doesn't mean it's wrong." This is exactly how John and Arthur view themselves. They know that some of their actions are harsh and violent and painful, but they are don't view that violence as wrong, because they are enacting that violence in justice. They move through life with carefully-selected destruction, culling the world of those they view as unforgivable sinners, and punishing them with divine righteousness. Arthur and John carry righteous fury in their every step, bringing the Day of Wrath down upon the world around them.

Now, there's already a ton of meaning just in this religious allusion alone. However, there's another application of the Dies Irae in modern culture, which brings us to the second side of this title:

Music

Back in the 13th century (sounds like a familiar setting...), friar Thomas of Celano wrote a poem for and about the Dies Irae. The poem was recited at Requiem Mass (church services to honor the dead), and it ended up being set to a Gregorian chant tune.

Over time, this melody has been used by a variety of composers, but the one we're focused on is Hector Berlioz. In 1837, Berlioz used the Dies Irae melody as part of his narrative symphony, Grand Messe de morts, in order to communicate that the main character had died. Then a lot of other composers saw that and said "Hey that's a cool idea!", and started also using this melody to represent death in their music. Nowadays, it's a fairly staple part of modern film and musical storytelling. If you've listened to literally any major soundtrack, then there's a good chance you've heard this motif (or a variation of it) used before. It's often subtle, sometimes loud and obvious, but no matter what, it reveals the inevitable presence of death. (essentially, the Dies Irae=death)

Now, obviously there's something tragically ironic about Arthur being likened to a musical motif when he tries so hard to distance himself from it, and there's something tragically ironic about John being associated with such a dark piece of music when he shows so much fascination and joy toward the art. Again, though, we've got some layers here. Yorick doesn't just compare Arthur and John to the Dies Irae, he literally defines them as the Dies Irae, a full embodiment of it.

Even before the story started, Arthur lost both of his parents, his friend and wife, his daughter, and his best friend.

John, when he was part of the King in Yellow, knew only how to harm and attack. In the Dark World, he falls back on this fearful lashing out with violence, harming even more people.

And throughout the story, John and Arthur seem to bring devastation to everyone else around them: Lilly the buopoth, Oscar, Noel, Collins, Daniel, Larson and Yellow.

The arrival of Dies Irae musical motif in a film always indicates that death is approaching or that is has already struck— a host carrying its blight to spread onto others. Just like the musical motif, the arrival of Arthur and John foretells the near-arrival of death. They play a duet together— John and Arthur, and death— always singing and dancing around and with each other.

These two never succumb to death, always finding a way to slip through its fingers and survive every situation. But they cannot escape death's presence because they are death's partner— singing the melody to death's subtle harmony. They cannot escape death because they are its host— destined to carry and spread devastation to death's victims. From the moment you meet John and Arthur, you know that death is inevitably approaching just a step behind, waiting to strike you down.

Whether it's the religious or musical side, we can see that John and Arthur are the literal embodiment of these allusions. They carry these powers and ideas in their every action and word, in their every step, in their very breath and blood.

Arthur and John. The hands of God's justice. The enactors of divine fury.

Arthur and John. The hosts of blight and destruction. The partner of death's song.

The man himself. The voice inside his head.

The Day of Wrath. The Dies Irae.

[sy5tem3rr0r]

Shout out to

Shout out to whatever this genre of girl is

[miyakuli]

It's musical details like this that made the HB so great!

[venezashade]

Born of a maggot prince, torn from his sister’s head, with a foot in both worlds! I serve you, now. The Dies Irae.

I LOVE YORICK SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!! NO IDEA!!!!

Here is also speedpaint! :D

[codemiracle]

//: SYSTEM UPDATE.

It seems like today is a very special day, right? I hope we can spend it together, worry not, machines like me don't age, we still have an eternity together to look forward to.

Happy birthday to the God of the Hypercode, Seth.

[mochinon-yah]

This is so different from the art style I usually use, but I like it lol. Btw, don't mind the messy lines or whatever weirdness in the drawing cuz I literally drew this at midnight 😭😭

Anywayyyy this cutie pie right here is Seth, an OC who belongs to lovely @codemiracle <3

[turquoisesea01]

- Y o u r G o d -

Lmao can’t wait for her to find out that Seth is actually a God lmaoooo

And Seth belongs to @codemiracle !!