*If you actually read all of this, you’re like unto a saint. This is just me being stupid for, like, eight hours split between two days. Please note that the first half was done on the day when I was in an extremely anxious/poor mood, so it tends to be more angsty and reflective. The second half was done while I was in a very, very good mood, so it’s extremely silly and shallow. Just something to keep in mind if you actually bother to take this sucker on.*
Feeling wordy, so I’m writing at will. Word vomit.
I’m gonna kill my computer. It keeps freezing, and I don’t know what’s wrong.
This is ridiculous. I’m trying to type and write for as long as I possibly can
and a good paragraph and a half just got erased because I hadn’t saved yet.
What is wrong with this thing?
Why is Nanny 911 on CMT? It seems somewhat out of place. Do people who listen
to country music frequently have family issues? Because that seems like a poor
reflection on the channel if not. And also, that’s quite the generalization. I
can’t imagine any other reason for having this show on this channel. I’m not
being…music…ist. I’m just stating that that’s how it seems. Any other
suggestion as to why such an unusual show would be on a channel that seems to
have absolutely nothing in common with it would be greatly appreciated.
More Nanny 911. Gosh, this makes me terribly concerned about having kids. I
think I’ll only have one child to save myself from the stress of multiple kids
fighting with each other. That’s reasonable, right?
Okay, unrelated note. Why in the world are my nails clear right now? Usually
the white part of your nails is opaque, but right now certain parts or all of my
nails are clear. Isn’t that strange? Why is that? It isn’t as though I’ve
done anything to my nails lately. Perhaps it’s an indicator of health. But
then again, I’ve never noticed it so distinctly before, and I mess with my nails
a lot.
The commercial where the Milky Way bar is talking in a seductive tone is rather
eerie. If I ever hear a voice like that in my head, I am going to run the other
way, not find the culprit and purchase it to consume. How is that supposed to
sell the candy bar? Worrisome.
Pretty soon I’ll be switching to music mode, in which I will just be ranting all
about the songs I’m listening to…at least until I get bored and move on to a
different song. These rants are not limited to the thoughts that come into my
head during the song, what I’m reminded of (pardon the grammar), and my opinions
on the song itself. I love doing that! I just don’t feel bored enough to do so
very often.
Augh, I hate it when shows make punny references to the occupations of the
people in the show. “My verdict on this family is ‘not guilty’.” Okay, yes,
they’re lawyers, no need to beat us to death with it. Alright, music time.
The first song is the Additive Song from Animaniacs. I downloaded this song
thinking it was Tom Lehrer song…and it may be! I actually have no idea.
Knowing Morpheus’ credibility, it is not a song by him at all. However, it is
just as clever as any of his songs where he names a lot of silly words at rapid
pace. Food additives? Excellent! I can’t complain about that. They rhyme
them.
Ah, Traverse Town. I love this song, it takes me back to the good ol’ days of
Kingdom Hearts I. I know a lot of people hate Traverse Town because one has to
spend an exorbitant amount of time there, but I just look back fondly upon those
days. I probably hated the place at the time, but now that I’ve moved onto
Kingdom Hearts II, Traverse Town is like grade school–you were miserable when
you were in it, but now that you’re in college, you wish things were so easy
again.
Ohhhh, I love Chicago. I don’t know why I didn’t bring that movie with me to
college, as it’s one fabulous musical. All That Jazz is a wonderful song–I
love the 20s, the styles were awesome, the music was tremendous, and…okay,
that’s it. That’s all I like about the 20s. WAIT, I also loved their
colloquialisms. “Bee’s knees”? “Cat’s pajamas”? Ooh, piano solo. The piano
solo in the Overture is beautiful–simple, but extremely effective. And I also
find it amazing how seamlessly it goes from the fast-paced Overture into the
slow, sultry All That Jazz. Oh man, Catherine Zeta-Jones is a fabulous singer
and actress. She’s such an excellent Velma Kelly. I always forget how much I
love this movie. I can’t imagine why; I adore it. My parents told me we were
going to go see it at the theatres, and I was dead-set against it. They
insisted it would be just like Moulin Rouge (which I was obsessed with at the
time), as I was inexperienced in musicals back then so the only basis of
comparison they had was the one musical I had seen. I agreed to go rather
reluctantly, and I’m pretty sure I was sold at this song. I mean, for God’s
sake, how could one NOT love the movie right away? It was cute, too, because I
loved every song in the whole dang thing, and when we got to the car, my mom
already had the CD for me. She’s a pretty good judge of character–I’m obsessed
with movie soundtracks, and I was destined to feel the same way about musicals.
I mean, it’s in my blood; it would be strange if I DIDN’T like musicals.
Ah, the opening of .hack//SIGN. I miss that show. I mean, I only watched it
sporadically–whenever I had the time and happened to turn on the TV while it
was playing–but I always thought it was good. Plus the game was top-notch (the
first one). I remember playing it non-stop when I rented it…and then being
very, very sad when I had to return it. And also, who knew Yuki Kajiura did all
the music for the series? Or rather, who knew I would decide I like her music
and then she’d do the music for part of the second and all of the third game in
one of my favorite series? And she improved, in my opinion, in the Xenosaga
series. Or, at least, the style she used for it was better than the .hack
style. .hack had a very techno kind of feeling to it (and since it was a
show/game about being trapped in a video game, that’s perfectly acceptable).
Xenosaga, on the other hand, was famous originally for it’s sweeping, orchestral
style. The fact that Kajiura could bring in that style while adding the techno
that seemed to properly represent the technology aspect of Xeno is just
wonderful. I approve highly. I think it’s this balance between the two styles
that makes me love the third soundtrack every bit as much as the first.
However, Kajiura should have been able to do more for the second game–the
soundtrack noticeably suffered in that game, and it makes me sad. I mean, some
of the music is good, but…it’s nothing in comparison to the other two games.
Wow, that digressed a lot from .hack.
Yubaba’s Panic. I love Spirited Away…but I’m not going to listen to this one,
because I just don’t want to. So there!
Prince Ali reprise. Why does no one own Aladdin? I love that movie. Release
it to DVD, Disney! It’s way too good to let it waste away on VHS. Man, Jafar
is sweet. Sure, he sings in a very distinctively, border-line SILLY manner, but
he’s so delightfully evil. How could anyone NOT love Jafar? He has the
CRAZIEST LAUGH EVER. Ooooh.
Institutionalized, from Iron Man. No.
Wish We Had More Time. This scene almost made me weep in Get Smart–and it’s
not even a terribly sad movie. The fact that they could squeeze in a scene
that’s so heartbreaking in a movie that’s so action-packed and silly is really
something to be admired. I would kill to see this movie again–I can’t wait
until it’s out on DVD, I’ll buy it in a heartbeat. Trevor Rabin is a genius–I
loved his work in National Treasure, and he did wonders with Get Smart, too. I
disagree with all the bad reviewers out there, he did some phenomenal work with
that previously-established theme.
Oh my, Albedo’s theme from the anime of Xenosaga. Okay, I am surprised and
pleased with the Xeno anime. I was under the impression that it was downright
awful. It LOOKS like it should be downright awful. The artwork is spotty; in
one scene the characters will be gorgeously, distinctively rendered. In
another, they look absolutely hideous. Why is this? The shots of Margulis and
the Durandal’s 100-Series are more often than not leave much to be desired.
Grace and I assume they let interns draw those scenes and they just weren’t up
to snuff. It seems like they should have been more careful, especially since
they show those characters quite a bit throughout the series. But I digress.
The rest of the anime is unbelievably good.
And that brings us to a song from the third Xeno soundtrack. This is some kind
of strange mix of one of the themes in Promised Pain. The simple piano theme is
surprisingly moving and eerie. How do composers devise such a simple sequence
and make it so emotive? It boggles my mind. Is it just luck, or do they know
when they start it that it’s going to give this feeling of mystery and tension?
I wish I knew, as my compositional skills suffer at the hands of being far too
complicated.
Entr’acte/Wolf Chase from Beauty and the Beast (the Broadway version). The last
time I listened to this, I told Seth it made me think of him, and it’s true. I
have never seen anyone so madly in love with Beauty and the Beast. When we went
to go see North High School perform it at Thespian Festival, he could recite all
the words to it–he actually sang during the performance, which was obviously
silenced quickly and in a panicked manner. But still, that’s just impressive.
He looked about ready to burst into tears at the very thought of the musical,
let alone the performance. And whenever I hear If I Can’t Love Her, I think of
him. This is why I need a guy who can sing. I melt when guys sing, it’s kinda
terrible (which is why it killed me when Brian sang–he was self-admittedly not
a strong singer, I promise, and when we watched Aladdin he sang part of Whole
New World…who wouldn’t die?). When Seth sang that song with his whole heart
(like he should always do–he’s a tremendous singer when he does, but he usually
cops out, the lamer), I probably could have forgiven the fact that we weren’t a
very good couple. Don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly happy with us as friends
now. I mean, when we were dating, it was more like we were good friends who
said we were dating…but nothing was really different otherwise. Anyway, I’m
just saying, the singing was probably what won me over in that instance.
…Which kind of makes me think of Ryan. He asked me to Prom by recording him
singing a song…how do guys figure this stuff out? Am I transparent about
singing? I think I must be, or else what would the chances be? …Oh wait, it’s
probably just me appropriating this to my situation. I mean, Seth just sang
because he could. Brian was singing because he was a sweetheart. Ryan was just
excellent that way. Though…I am kind of glad things didn’t work out there. I’m
happy with us just being friends, too. I’m so thankful all of my break-ups and
crushes have ended pleasantly. I would be upset if I lost all those friends.
Okay, it’s been two songs since I started that rant. A song from Tenchi Muyo
the movie just went by, but I don’t know what it was. Now I’m onto one of the
songs from August Rush. Which reminds me of Finley’s rant about how tapping an
acoustic guitar doesn’t really work. That was a startlingly good movie! And it
ties into Ryan, actually. I remember him saying people recommended that movie
to him frequently, but he never saw it. And then I watched it shortly after. I
remember doing something stupid…like telling him how good it was, secretly
hoping he would, like, ask me to watch it with him. I love me when I have a
crush, I do all kinds of inane things that make me hate myself later.
True–which is actually Room 312 from Silent Hill 2. Ah, memories of Adam.
Tonight must be the ‘reflect on all the guys you used to obsess over’ night.
Which is embarrassing and far too prominent in my life. Silent Hill 2 always
reminds me of Adam, though, since I watched him play through the whole thing.
Let’s get off the guy topic. What an awesome game–I am truly one of those
people that likes psychological horror movies better than gorey horror movies.
I’m cool with blood, I guess, but…it’s just not as scary as when you’re tricked
into thinking there’s something there… Silent Hill 2 is the best game of the
series, in my opinion, simply because of that. I never realized it until I read
a review about it explaining exactly what it is about the game that’s
frightening. It was 100% true. You run down the hall and hear a slight noise
from one of the rooms. The room is locked. Or you enter and there’s nothing
there. The noise was definitely something there–it wasn’t a drip of water, it
was a creak or a footstep. It’s dark in the room, you’re sucked into this
nightmare world where you’re alone and floundering against some kind of hellish
representation of your failings, and from all sides you hear people, creatures,
anything trapping you in a psychotic kind of room of mirrors where you start to
freak yourself out and the environment barely has to do a thing. Now that’s
what I call brilliant.
I just typed right on through that 24 song. Oh well. Now it’s Wicked, and
that’s way more fun. Last night, I went to Barnes and Noble with Emily and
found a whole table of Wicked merchandise. I would die to see that musical
again. They had the Wicked Grimoire, which was really cool to see! I mean, it
had pictures of the other actors and actresses who played the characters. I
kept wondering if some of the ones pictured were the ones I saw in Chicago–I
mean, it had the touring cast, and I thought I maybe recognized the Fiyero.
That would be pretty cool–I had no idea the cast I saw was in a canon book
about Wicked, that’s just really neat. One Short Day, by the way, is kind of an
underrated song. I mean, it’s adorable, and the end part where the two
different pieces overlap is really cool. I guess I’m a sucker for overlapping
song parts, though.
Fight On from Final Fantasy VII. I briefly forgot which game, but then I
remembered that only in VII could the synths be this bad. Ouch. I love VII,
but really, the sound quality left much to be desired. Not that most PSX games
of the time didn’t do so as well. I love VII, though, I sincerely hope they
remake it for PS3. I know Squenix says they won’t do it, but I have no idea why
not. I mean, it’s a time/money commitment…but they should know by now–after
one spin-off game, one prequel, one prequel in anime form, and one sequel in
totally sweet movie form–that anything VII will likely sell like hotcakes.
ESPECIALLY a remake, as fans have been scrambling for one since…probably VIII or
IX. I mean, the graphics jumped so far from VII to those games, it just seems
like Squenix should have done a better job in the first place. And now that
they came out with the PS3 demo, it seems preposterous and stupid to not make
good on that demo and make the full-fledged game. Okay, sure, wait for XIII and
Versus to be finished. Okay, sure, wait for the new KH games to come out. But
tell the fans you’re making it before they all have strokes. We’ll buy it, I
promise.
Ah, Sonic Adventure. The music in those games was surprisingly good. I mean, I
bought it at the time because I was obsessed with Sonic. However, I still enjoy
it. They actually bothered to use real guitars. Who can complain about that?
Especially after hanging out with a few guys who actually play electric guitar
(and after hearing Finley shred, any synths just sound weird to me–even more so
than before). Sonic does a tremendous job with music, I’ll admit it. Even this
dumb little boss song is pretty good. I like the weird twangy guitar…the
Seinfeldian one (yeah, I use REALLY TECHNICAL TERMS) in the background. It adds
depth. I know that sounds weird to say about a Sonic song, but it’s true.
Call Me Al! This makes me miss last summer. That was the year of marching
band, Paul Simon, and Xenosaga. Grace was leaving for Savannah in the fall, so
we had to make the absolute most of the summer. We were basically attached at
the hip, and all we did was blither about Xeno, draw silly things, stay up late,
and obsess over this song. It’s pretty much a big blur, I don’t remember many
details, to be honest. But I do remember this song. They played it for
marching band when she was a drum major, so we were able to laugh about that. A
video we watched used it to represent Albedo, spawning our cries of “LIMB COUNT
MAMBO”. That was a good year. It’s strange to say that this song doesn’t
really bring about any specific memories, just a general warm feeling, a sort of
colorful enigma and a feeling of freedom. I don’t know if it’s just how happy
this song is or if it’s that year, but the emotions are there. How can a song
do this? Music is so powerful when it’s attached to memories. It can even make
me poetic.
Ah, another Xeno III song. a dark omen. I find it strange, by the way, that
all of the songs from that soundtrack are in lowercase. Nothing is capitalized
except names. What would posses Kajiura to do that? Or was it someone else
working on the game?
Ah, I should admit now my real reason for talking for forever. I’m trying to
reach a certain number of words. I am literally going to type until I reach
that number. It’s a silly goal, but I’m bored. I’m trying to stop worrying
about that friend, I’m trying to kill time, and writing rapid-fire as words come
into my head is a good exercise in typing, writing eloquently, and only using
real words. Plus it’s a good way to get thoughts out of my head and someplace
safe for once. I like reflecting.
God Help the Outcast. This song is beautiful, it makes me feel sad for
Esmerelda whenever I hear it. …Actually it just makes me sad in general. And
the strange thing is that I can’t place why. I mean, it’s a sad song, yes. It
brings up such a good point about outcasts…and it makes one feel so sorry for
them. But there’s something about Esmerelda’s unconventional voice and the
weeping violin and the piano and the build that makes me so sad. It reminds me
of how I auditioned with this song for musical Junior year. I miss Junior year.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Senior year, too, and this one is great, as well.
But that year was just great…my first boyfriend, two big roles in theatre, good
classes, new friends…I am willing to overlook the bad times just to look through
a rosy camera lens at what was that year.
the harsh truth from Xeno III. Another sad song, but it just doesn’t have the
same emotion as God Help the Outcasts. I think I’ll keep going, actually. As
pretty as this song is, it’s not very remarkable.
Skipped a few songs to get to the Battle Theme from Pokémon Gold from Super
Smash Bros. Melee, I think. God, I love Pokémon. That’s all I’ve been exposed
to this past week. David put in Pokémon Colosseum and now it’s all I hear, talk
about, see, everything. I’m not complaining, no. And this particular song is
awesome–it reminds me of just how much I loved the music from Silver.
Honestly, I love Pokémon music–I’m genuinely jealous that David has the
soundtracks to the games, because it’s Gameboy music. He has soundtracks to
Gameboy games, how epic is that? It is truly epic, I’ll answer that rhetorical
question! People just don’t realized how good that music is. I mean, all the
composer had to work with were a few layers of plain beeps in different pitches.
The music was fabulously arranged for what it was–and even beyond that. It’s
just good music.
Ya Mama by Fatboy Slim. Hoo, wow, this brings back a lot of memories, too.
Back in the day, when I used to hang out with Belén a lot. We used to listen to
the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack non-stop. This was definitely my favorite
track, and I still really like it. It also reminds me of my horrible, horrible
DBZ story. Standing at the Edge of the Earth was and is a travesty of writing.
40 pages of 14-point Arial disregard for canon Mary-Godawful-Suefic, and it
wasn’t even finished when I printed it and let people read it. Though in
retrospect, that’s probably a blessing in disguise–as I recall, the ending was
some ridiculous mishmash of me killing off the DBZ characters I hated most, an
obsession with Sailor Moon, and a bizarre, unexplained battle scene eventually
culminating in the original love interest of the story coming back from the dead
for absolutely no reason. Why did I think that was a good idea? I wasn’t a
stupid child, as I recall. I had brains. I had plenty of grey matter. I
remember being absolutely thrilled with my clever ending. Lakai (because I
named EVERYONE Lakai back then) opened the door and… “Hello Lakai”. That was
the ending. I GUESS YOU SHOULD JUST ASSUME IT’S TRUNKS. I don’t think I even
explained it. No one would gather that from context clues. I guess she is
astonished before the line is said. But it could be anyone. Lakai was
astonished to see…Jesus. At the door. I would be! But Trunks? No, not
obvious. Gack, that story was awful.
I See Dead People In Boats. Why do people hate the third Pirates movie? I’m
not exaggerating when I say it’s my favorite of the movies. Why? Well, my
answer is multifaceted. First, and foremost, I walked out of the theatre
feeling completely satisfied. What more do you want, people? After that,
things get more specific. Have you HEARD the music? Hans Zimmer is a god, I
blasphemously swear. The way he handles multiple themes is goosebump worthy
100% of the time. I could listen to this song or I Don’t Think Now Is a Good
Time any day of the week and still feel like I’m watching the movie. And the
way the instruments weave together…the way the themes dance from one to the
next…I just can’t even express how much I love the music in this movie. It took
everything I liked about the other two soundtracks, rolled them up together, and
threw in a free t-shirt. Plus the plot was wonderful. The characters became
realistic. Will backstabbed people. Jack acted absolutely out of his mind.
Elizabeth actually had a personality. Barbossa was better than ever before in
every way. Davy Jones had a love interest…and she was awesome. Plus they
decided to give Pintel and Ragetti another try at stardom. Plus the
relationships were exactly as I wanted them. Will and Liz had issues. They
fought. They had misunderstandings. They ended up together in an orgy of drama
and love and wonderful. Who gets married by the coolest, most ruthless pirate
ever in the middle of a vicious sword fight on a pirate ship IN A MAELSTROM?
Will and Liz, that’s who. And who dies in the most dramatic way, splitting the
couple but creating a heart-rending plot point? Will. WILL DIES. I’m
thrilled. Plus he comes back as the jaded captain of a ship. And he’s still
with Liz, they just have to be separated for a while. I love this. And Davy
and Tia have a thing, what’s up with that? EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING GOOD. I
love Davy and Tia. I think their story is just…perfect. It pulls at my
heartstrings, it’s complex, dark…everything I love in a good, conflicted love
story. And Davy falls into her figurative arms at his end. I melt. Plus Jack
is just as crazy as ever–and this time, it REALLY seems like it. He seems
multiple versions of himself. He quite literally goes insane. Or was already.
But they show it, and that’s what counts. Plus the movie ends the way it
should–with Jack acting like a drunken idiot, starting out on a new adventure.
That’s what Pirates of the Caribbean is. It’s drama, romance, insanity,
darkness, humor, and a sense of adventure that most people just don’t have in
their lives, nor will they ever have it. That’s why it’s so good. The movie is
everything Pirates ought to be. It’s perfect.
Okay, skipped a Xenosaga while typing, now I’m on a Little Shop of Horrors song
I’m going to skip. Okay, Gold Saucer from the Final Fantasy VII Piano
Collections. This arrangement is just adorable. I wasn’t exactly a fan of the
original song, but this one is so bouncy and cute. It’s very…I don’t know,
traditional? It has a lot of elements in it that remind me of songs I’ve played
for my piano lessons. It’s also just pretty; the melody is so well displayed
here, and it’s so much deeper than the stupid, clangy, bright version in the
game. This arrangement has chords, the melody is clear, and the dynamics are
brilliant. The end is even fabulous. Everything culminates in this crazy
chord-fest that jumps around the keyboard just enough, then dies down to a cute
little ending. Excellent.
Love Me When I’m Gone. This is a good song. I have nothing else to say,
really.
Skipped Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Now I’m on There’s A Reason These Tables
Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Figured It Out Yet. I love Panic! for
making their titles so long. I’m kinda sad they don’t do that anymore. This
song is fabulous, by the way. I really need to listen to more of their songs, I
know for a fact they are all this good. Grace sent me this one on a burned CD
and it’s so distinctively cool. The singer’s voice is gorgeous, the
instrumentation is so cool and unusual. Piano? Check. Unconventional drums?
Check. Trumpets? Check. I love it. Forever.
I skipped a few songs due to talking to a friend. Ahhh, it’s the opening of
Wicked. I forgot how cool the piano/xylophone combo in the beginning is. And
then it segues really nicely into the Unlimited theme…and then the scary Good
News part. How COOL is that? It’s tremendous! I love Stephen Schwartz, he’s
brilliant. This song manages to be both triumphant and strange…like there’s
something macabre about the whole situation, you just can’t put your finger on
it. Plus the fact that the Ozians jump right into that dark No One Mourns the
Wicked in the middle of Glinda’s attempt to be upbeat? The feeling it gives is
just perfect for the show. That kind of outward, sugary idea given off in The
Wizard of Oz that hides the seedy underbelly of the show…that’s exactly what
Wicked is. Then it does the story of Elphaba, which is really well-done, too.
They way he keeps the same theme from one conversation to the next, just
changing the feeling from one to the next is SO great. And the Wicked theme is
in there as they sing about her! AND there are strange chords! This is really
just perfect. I never realized how good this song is. Now that I analyze it, I
realize all of it’s intricacies. I love it, it’s wonderful. Very nice, Stephen
Schwartz.
Ah, and we begin day two of the writing. I had to delete several hundred words
due to unnecessarily emo qualities. Now that the pointless anxiety has passed,
I have made the executive decision to wipe that slate clean.
Words Drowned By Fireworks from Final Fantasy VII. This song is strangely
calming. The instrumentation is lacking, as one might expect from VII, but the
basic tune is very charming. I recall not liking this part of the game, but
looking back at least the music was good.
Oh man, I LOVE Hercules. Alan Menken is a brilliant composer. From Beauty and
the Beast to Hercules, he’s got talent, man. Cutting the Thread is an excellent
example of his skill. He can paint a scene with music alone–Hades’ theme is
clearly defined, he puts a minor swing on the main, triumphant theme for
Hercules, and…just his instrument choices are wonderful. They have a playful
kind of quality that play to Hades’ quirky personality, but there’s still a
macabre quality to them. And the sawing strings beneath Herc’s theme give it a
wonderfully epic feeling. Ah, harpsichords. Nothing sounds more evil than you.
Ooh, and now he’s bringing in Meg’s theme in a very heart-wrenching
arrangement…STOP BEING AMAZING, ALAN MENKEN.
Is it obvious that I’m in a better mood today? I think it is.
Sweet Afton by Nickel Creek. I love Nickel Creek. I never thought I’d love a
bluegrass band, but they’re just so unconventional. Chris Thile has a beautiful
voice, all the performers play their instruments with god-like skill AND sing
like angels, and their songs range anywhere from delightfully playful and a
little bluegrassy (no caterwauling, just instrumentals), to sweet and calm, to
slow and sad. Their melodies have such depth to them. They build like you
wouldn’t expect…and the words are much more poetic than…er…most bluegrass. I
don’t mean to generalize, there are some deep bluegrass songs. However, Nickel
Creek’s lyrics are so poetic in comparison to the kind of music I usually hear
from my step dad (I like some of that music, too, though). Ah, this song is
just so pretty and simple. It builds in the middle to a harmonized melody and
then cools back down to a simple vocal over basic guitar and mandolin. Ah, then
one last strong note and they finish off the song. I love it.
Skipped a few songs to get to I’ll Never Tell from the Buffy musical episode. I
just had this song stuck in my head! It was Friday…or possibly Thursday. Maybe
Thursday. Anyway, this song is adorably strange. It reminds me of Adam,
though. He introduced me to Buffy, after all. We used to listen to this
soundtrack all the time, I mean it, and we liked this song because it was cute
and clever. Of course, we tended to prefer I’ve Got a Theory. However, looking
back at this song, I see how clever it is. It really gives off the feeling of a
tense kind of relationship that has it’s high and low points, and it has its
share of arguments. Plus it’s just a fun song. There’s a dance break, for
goodness’ sakes. And it literally comes out of nowhere–it’s mostly just Anya
interrupting Xander to be annoying. This song makes me love these two as a
couple even more. I mean, I didn’t watch a TON of Buffy, but these two were
adorable all the time. I remember hearing something about one of them leaving
the other at the altar…and that just makes me sad! I never found out if they
officially got together after that or not… I wish I had watched more of that
show. Even though it was a little silly, it had its dark parts and it’s sweet
parts…and a musical episode. What more do you want?
Oh God. Through the Fire and Flames. I LOVE this song. It’s so…it’s just
absolutely ridiculous. And it’s not just totally sweet, it’s actually
enjoyable! The melody is bizarrely attractive to me and the fact that it’s
later echoed in the solos is…I don’t even know. It’s awesome. And it reminds
me of two separate things. Firstly, as it‘s a shorter story, this song reminds
me of David. I mean, seriously, he listens to it ALL THE TIME. Of the handful
of songs I have stuck in my head when I wake up, this one (often combined or
confused with Operation Ground and Pound, as they‘re extremely similar) is a
frequent culprit (others are almost exclusively battle songs from Pokémon
Coliseum). Not that I’m complaining, I love this song. It’s just excessive. I
mean, the song is over 7 minutes long. …Not that I didn’t listen to it on
repeat in my car all summer. DON’T JUDGE ME. Secondly, the longer story.
Nicole and I had a joke about how I pick up my cat and hold her like a guitar
sometimes. So we used to sing this song as if the guitars were cats. Y’know,
every note is “meow”? It was the most hysterically strange thing we did in the
make-up room…oh…ever, I’d say. I mean, it was even weirder than a bunch of us
assembling Clue character costumes in there. Or dressing up as old British
people and wandering the halls of the school. Ahaha, God, I love this song.
The crazy percussive part at the end is just SO CHOICE, to coin a friend’s
phrase. I giggle every time I hear it. It’s coming up riiiiiight after this
reprise of the opening riff. SERIOUSLY, this song cannot be this cool. Hee,
okay, yeah, I’m giggling. SO COOL. It’s like a sweet rave party where they
replaced every instrument with an electric guitar and gave all the dancers
guitars and then let the DJ sing for a while. IT’S THAT CRAZY.
Okay, Pirates of the Carribean 2. This would be Dinner is Served. What a
strange song. It starts out with those tribal drums and a mysterious voice…then
segues rather abruptly into the waltz where they break out of the bone cages.
WEIRD. I don’t even know if I like it.
YES, MY FAVORITE SONG FROM RENT. Forget Seasons of Love, I like RENT. This
song is so cool! The guitar is so…edgy. I know that sounds stupid, but it is.
And that’s the point. Plus it opens with Mark singing. And he’s my favorite
character. What more could I want here? Nothing. Oh, oh, plus it has a sweet
build up to the chorus. I LOVE it when multiple voices add harmony onto a
melody. LOVE IT. I missed this song. It’s been quite a long time since I
listened to Rent music actively. It was just about the biggest thing since the
internet for a while there, and we watched it at every cast party for theatre.
It actually got a little annoying…especially because NO ONE LIKED THIS SONG so
we never got to listen to in the make-up room when we listened to the
soundtrack. This was upsetting. Anyway, now that the hype has died down, it’s
cool to come back and listen to this song. I always forget how SWEET it is.
It’s so…aggressive. I can’t even describe things today. But it is! It pounds
at your ears with repetition and a wall of sound. But it’s not a bad wall of
sound–it’s a MUSICAL wall of sound! I admire anyone who can pull that off.
An OC remix of Zelda’s Lullaby (Lullaby Proximitus). This is a really cool
remix, I’ll just say that now. And the thing I find strangest about it is the
fact that I really can sleep through it. I mean, yeah, it’s a tried and true
electronica mix–all kinds of synth instruments and drums and crazy things like
that–but there’s something so relaxing about it. On a low volume, I love to
sleep to this remix. It’s one of my favorites, I’d say. The piano in it is
gorgeous; the remixer managed to take such a sweet, slow song and turn it into a
mysterious and sad kind of mix that still has a hard edge to it. Very nice.
Oh Soul Calibur. This is one of the ending songs from the first game. Good
times! I loved that game; no matter how good the new games are (and oh…are they
ever good), the first one will always hold a place in my heart. It was a
genuinely good game! The graphics were phenomenal for Dreamcast! And the
fighting system was easy to understand, in my opinion. Plus the character
designs were awesome–I’d say they, too, heavily contributed to me wanting to be
a character designer. Oh, epic win, Soul Calibur.
Ah, Utena music. Tainai Tokei Toshi Oruroi. This is just a cool song. The
jumps in the vocals from note to note are just really cool! It may be glaringly
obvious by now, but I am a serious sucker for minor keys and crazy harmonics.
…David, don’t kill me if you read this. I know nothing about chord names or
anything, so I’m probably using terms incorrectly (I really SHOULD know more
about these things…but then again, I stopped learning piano theory…forever ago).
BUT I DON’T EVEN CARE. I just speak with my heart and if you don’t understand
what I mean, then…you…shouldn’t read this. …I’m kidding. I’m rambling now.
I’m terribly off-topic, too. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.
Theme Music from Space Channel 5? Oh, EPIC WIN. Okay, Space Channel 5 is a
highly underrated game. Okay, yes, it’s a dancing game. Yes, you’re a
futuristic, British mod-dressed reporter in an orange vinyl miniskirt and tube
top with obnoxious platform shoes. Yes, you have bright pink hair. Yes, you
say things like “groove evening, space cats”. But who cares? The game is FUN.
It’s like Katamari Damacy. It looks absolutely inane–okay, it IS absolutely
inane–but you can’t help but enjoy yourself. You start to pick up Ulala’s
walk…you start shouting directions in time to music…it’s just fabulous. And the
music itself is awesome! If you like spy-move-esque music, groovy and/or funky
tunes, or anything even remotely like those things, you will more than likely
love the music as much as I do.
Bible Study from 3:10 to Yuma. This is a strangely good song. I’m usually not
a fan of overly Western-sounding music. However, this song is just downright
cool. The opening repetitive section is so eerie, it really gives you the sense
of building up and waiting for something triumphant to occur. And then the
strings come in…and they just heave emotion into it. Even when the traditional
wah-wah Western trumpet comes in, it’s just perfect for the song. It’s like
they took a Western movie soundtrack, removed all the annoying, and added in a
beautiful chord progression. That is a-ok.
What Shall We Die For from Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Okay, Elizabeth finally
seems like a good character in this scene. I mean, I was once tempted to use
her monologue for an audition. It’s so driving, so fiery. I actually like Liz
for once while she rallies the troops, so to speak! And this song is such a
powerful background to it. As if the Hoist the Colors theme wasn’t cool enough,
they changed the theme to fit this scene…and you can’t help but get goosebumps,
it’ll blow you away. It’s what’s great about Pirates. It’s that adventuring
spirit coupled with an epic arrangement.
Ahaha, Winnie the Pooh from Kingdom Hearts II. This song mostly cracks me up
because of how much Grace hates Winnie the Pooh. I mean, it’s downright comical
how vehemently she detests the bear. She often makes degrading comments about
his weight while beating his levels in Kingdom Hearts (because if you want to
beat the game with completion, you have no other choice than to beat his
levels). It really puts Pooh in a whole new light. A whole new, negative
light.
Tally Hall’s Banana Man. What is this? I don’t even know. It’s very obviously
a drug reference. This “banana man” has to be some kind of drug dealer. The
effects of these “bananas” are just too trippy and bizarre to be anything other
than…y’know, acid. Or cocaine. Or LSD. I have no idea. Don’t get me wrong,
it’s an awesome song. It’s so upbeat and crazy. It gets stuck in your head
like nobody’s business. And it has an accompanying dance! It reminds me of
Brian, though, since the Banana Man dance was what made my sophomore Homecoming
fun. He pretty much shanghaied me the whole night and we employed the Banana
Man dance for nearly every song. Win yes? The best part is that the dance
spread to pretty much all my friends in the theatre department.
Okay, I don’t really know what this song is called. I know it’s by Billy
Talent, though, and Grace gave it to me on Oon Say Day. I really like it–it’s
very…yeah, edgy. But it’s really fun to sing! And for some bizarre reason, it
reminds me Tamaki from Ouran Host Club. It’s probably because I was really into
Ouran when I first started listening to this song, and the phrase “boy who
always did what he was told; was promised to be king when he was old” is kinda
Tamaki-ish. It’s still a very strange connection. The rest of the song is
kinda angst and loud, which are two words I don’t commonly associate with him.
Maybe in a bad fanfic. Certainly not in the actual anime. But oddly enough,
listening to it now, it reminds me of the twins. I think it’s because the
singer sounds British, and I associate that with the Weasley twins, who are very
similar to the Hitachiin twins. Huh. This is just a very Ouran song,
apparently. I never would have placed that before.
Ohhh, Unbelievable. This song cracks me up. There’s something really fun about
this crazy song. And the guitar in the chorus is awesome. At the same time, it
reminds me of the fact that I’ve heard all of EMF’s other songs are just
terrible. It also reminds me of the fact that Grace’s mother (I think) used to
think the lyrics were “you’re ugly and you’re bald” instead of “you’re
unbelievable”. Isn’t that hilarious? It’s also ironic that it talks about
purple prose. Since all I’m doing right now is word vomiting all over this
document. It could be purple prose if I wanted. But I don’t, because that is
just obnoxious. …Or is me just writing whatever comes into my head more
obnoxious than that? I can’t be sure. What if I wrote ALL of this in purple
prose? That would definitely be the worst.
Okay, Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight is just the most bizarre
thing in the world. Wait, scratch that. Tiny Tim is the most bizarre thing in
the world. Scary man, high pitched voice. Song that features in Spongebob,
reused in a Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children video. There’s really nothing
like seeing Kadaj singing this song. I mean, it’s a really silly, fun song
despite being unbelievably weird. I sincerely like it! Whenever I’m feeling
down, I just turn my iPod to this baby and…just get weirded out. In the best
way! This man has a terrifying voice. Love it!
I am honestly not a big fan of the song No Place Like London. In fact, the only
reason I’m commenting on it is to say that this will ALWAYS remind me of when
Nicole and I rewrote the song to be about Assumption (part of our fight song
goes “there is no place like Assumption”, hence we came up with this). It was a
nice social commentary on the drunks and cliques at our school. It was REALLY
fun to sing around the halls of school, especially because no one knew what the
heck we were doing. Then again, that was common when Nicole and I were
together. The best incident was still the time we flounced down the hall to the
cafeteria for lunch, practically belting Epiphany (also from Sweeney Todd).
Finally, we got to the “and I’m full of JOY”, stopped, and looked over at the
head office to our left to see one of the counselors staring at us, bewildered.
It was totally worth it! Now Epiphany makes me laugh whenever I hear it.
Which…in retrospect…is really bad. Epiphany is an extremely serious song. …Why
so serious?
Okay, I am pretty sure Survival on the street of insanity (why are there no caps
there?) is from Hellsing. Wait…yes. It is. Okay, I may not have enjoyed the
original OAV of Hellsing very much due to the ridiculous plot changes, but the
music was just utterly delightful. It was so off the wall and bizarre, one
couldn’t help but love it. There was one song in particular that I really
wanted–it was from the fight with Anderson–but I can’t figure out which one it
is. Hence, I just downloaded a few songs I really liked. This was one of them!
It’s very funky and jazzy, which I enjoy greatly.
Nephilim is a gorgeous song. Yasunori Mitsuda is a genius, his work on the
first Xenosaga game is wonderful. This is such a strange piano piece; I played
it for my last recital this fall and my piano teacher never got acclimated to
it. She always found it very strange–and it is. At times it seems
straightforward in its approach; it’s a beautiful piano piece. Other times, it
changes keys unexpectedly, it refuses to resolve the final chord (that drove my
teacher CRAZY), and…I don’t know. It’s so strange and wonderful. It really
fits the character of Nephilim, who is never completely explained and disappears
just as abruptly as she appears. This song is much the same.
Ah, another song from the Xenosaga animation. This one is Requiem. It’s
actually one of my favorites. See, the ending theme of the show is a beautiful
song–however, I really can’t stand the vocalist because she can’t hit high
notes…and it sounds very awkward. This song, however, is an a cappella choral
version of it (wordless; just “ooh”) and it’s gorgeously arranged. It’s such a
somber song…
Okay, Hurry Up is definitely one of the best songs on the Final Fantasy VII
soundtrack. It isn’t as well known as some of the more popular battle themes,
but this one has much more depth and interesting instrumentation. I remember
hearing this the first time and being surprised at how excellent it is. I’d
LOVE to hear this one in full orchestration instead of synth. It really makes
you want to hurry! Which can be an issue if you’re driving while listening to
this, believe you me. I have serious issues with music while I’m driving, I
think. I mean, not literally serious. I’m a safe driver, don’t mistake me.
However, I do tend to drive somewhat faster when I’m listening to a more intense
song. I keep an eye on my speed, I just notice that I catch myself speeding up
more often when the music would lend itself well to an action scene in a movie.
Aw, Save the Last Dance! I LOVE this song! For one, I love Michal Bublé. He
has the most gorgeous voice ever, definitely in my top five favorite vocalists.
Plus this song is so cute and bubbly! It always reminds me of my Final Fantasy
VII fan character Keia and Reno. It just fits them; Keia’s a flirt, Reno’s a
flirt. They have come to terms with this. They can go have fun at a dance
without having to be stuck next to each other all night. However, that’s not to
say they’re not gonna have the last dance together. I dunno, it’s just very
them. And I love it. I think this song contributes to why they’re one of my
favorite fan couples. …Or perhaps the fact that I love the couple so much makes
me like the song more? I don’t know!
Un Monde Sans Danger is a great song. Gotta love a techno opening to a
pseudo-anime in FRENCH. You know, Code Lyoko was not a horrible show. People
complained about it, but I don’t know why. It was certainly no worse than
anything else on Cartoon Network at the time, and I actually enjoyed it. I can
tell I like a show when I bother to ship a pairing, and I was a big fan of
Ulrich and Yumi. Jeremy and Aelita was cute, too! Oddly enough, though, this
song more reminds me of Ragnarok Online. Back in the day, when I was absolutely
enamored with that game and Adam and I would play it every waking moment, I was
a big fan of turning off the in-game music (but leaving the sound effects on)
and playing my own music. One day, I just listened to this song on repeat for
hours. Hence, even though this song has absolutely nothing to do with that
game, that’s what comes to mind. Gosh, I miss RO. I had a lot of fun playing
it…and I never did get Pandora to become an Assassin. She was only about one or
two levels away! It’s a pity it’s so hard to level by yourself in that game. I
had to go kill those…worms in the desert. Boo.
Aw, It Takes a Woman. What a sexist song! But it always reminds me of Mike as
Horace Vandergelder and the stupid little kick move that Sam and Ryan had to do
as Cornelius and Barnaby. They looked like adorable little nerds, it was
awesome. Then randomly, Michael and Jeremiah came in and got to join in. I
never really understood why they were in the scene…they didn’t really add to the
effect or anything. Ahaha, plus they spell femininity “femity”. Brilliant. I
can’t even hear this song without hearing Mike’s inflections, because they were
MUCH funnier than the original Broadway version. One could always (and no doubt
still can) count on Mike to be funnier than is necessary. Ah, good times.
Okay, I’ll admit I really like Linkin Park’s new CD simply because it has some
top-notch songs that AREN’T scary screaming songs. In Pieces is an excellent
example of this. The background is very simple, and the words (though
traditional LP angst-tastic) are so effectively emotive. I don’t know. The
song never really amps up significantly, and that’s just very nice. It stays at
a simple kind of level, not overwhelming you with sound like some of their songs
tend to do. This particular song was one of the ones Grace and I pinpointed as
good songs for a Xenosaga AMV. My personal choice is the other song, but this
one would be excellent, too! I think we decided it would be a URTV video. I
love that plotline so much. My heart broke in the third game at the conclusion
of their story. It always reminds me of how complex Albedo really is. Not many
people seem to look too deeply into his story, but it’s really moving when you
take the time to examine it.
I’ve never seen Jekyll and Hyde, but I love the soundtrack. One of my favorite
themes is reprised in the Finale, which is what’s playing now. Gosh, I’d love
to see this show. This ending song is so simple, so short…and yet it’s
beautiful. It almost seems to express all the sweet, sad parts of the musical.
The way Emma’s melody is unconventional and somewhat “off” and the reprise of
the triumphant theme at the end…just gorgeous.
Skydeck A Go! Go! is one of those songs from Sonic Adventure that I tried to
find for MONTHS after playing the game and could not, for the life of me, find
anywhere to get it short of purchasing the CD (which was simply unacceptable
back then). So look at me, likely six or so years later, finally finding this
song and downloading it faster than you can say “sorry, you’re how much of a
nerd?” To which I say SHUT UP, this is a good’ un.
Okay, PURE BREEZE is one of the best songs from Soul Calibur III, I’m not gonna
lie. The instrumentation sounds perfectly real (I’m not sure if it is or not,
honestly). It’s such a cool song! I don’t particularly like the character or
level attached to it, but there it is. I had to listen to it once outside of
the game to understand just how well-done it is.
Oh Giants. This song brings back memories of the worst Pirates movie ever.
Back in 8th grade, Grace and I wrote a sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean. It
was a decently written story–the plot was a collaboration, we had fan
characters (mine was a Mary Sue, of course), and we actually got the book
printed. It was pretty cool! …Then we decided to make a movie of it. Poor
life choice. The thing went from EXCRUCIATINGLY planned to being an absolute
mess. I guess this song reminds me of the whole ordeal because around the time
we actually filmed the thing Grace and I were very into Five Iron Frenzy,
particularly this song. It really brings back vivid summer memories, I’m not
gonna lie. I think we even joked about making a clip where Talia mouthed to the
laughter in the beginning of the song. Ah. Then there’s the end of the song
that we always skipped. Awwwwwesome. Creeper.
And you know what?
Guess how many words are in this monstrosity?
IT’S OVER NINE
THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!
!!!!
