Lurker > Raetsel_Lapin

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???: Fleet Foxes | The Shrine / An Argument (8:07)
https://youtu.be/PTIZ0BCry_k?si=GNxqnuhawMSAyahU
Nominator: @NBIceman [11 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 63.24
Final Score: 63.331

(First Reaction: There's some interesting lyrics in the first half of the song.

I'm not one to ever pray for mercy
Or to wish on pennies in the fountain or the shrine
But that day, you know, I left my money
And I thought of you only

That is beautiful and poignant. I'm less into the rest of the lyrics (though points for referencing the terrible sunlight), but that verse hits pretty hard. The song's outro, An Argument, is interesting; it's a very experimental and intentionally discordant clarinet solo which is... interesting. I'm not sure how much I like it (though I probably would have loved it back at topic 1), but it's not entirely a negative?)

Indie folk is a fairly uncommon genre, which helps the song stand out a bit. I like it and I still rather like the section of lyrics that I quoted, but... it's one of those songs where I just want to leave the write up at "I like this" and move on. I'm also less into the discordant solo--presumably it's just a "not what I'm in the mood for" thing, but it's... off-putting enough that it makes it easier to eliminate this song.

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???: Copeland | I'm a sucker for a kind word (3:52)
Nominator: @xtlm [9 songs remaining]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l1dW4xzf2Q

Initial Score: 63.26
Final Score: 64.20

(First Reaction: Ooh, this one is pretty nice. I think I rather like the band--particularly the vocalist, Aaron Marsh, who has a pleasing voice. There aren't too many lyics I'm attached to, but they do come close in places:

In a house without a back door
I was looking for a fire escape
And I'll be ripping up the floorboards
Just trying to get away

A desperate need to escape from somewhere, someone, or something is certainly relatable. While it never quite sparks into something that I love, I like this song and it's a fine addition to that tier.)

A very pleasant song with relatable feelings of paranoia, restlessness, and needing to escape. I like it. I wish I could think of more that I wanted to say here, but it's another of those very "I like this" type songs.

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???: Houshou Marine | Im Your Treasure Box (4:20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV-5W7SFHDc
Nominator: @FL81 [1 song remaining]
Character: Houshou Marine

Initial Score: 63.77
Final Score: 62.00005

(First Impressions: ...Okay, this is ridiculously overly sexualized but it's so ridiculous that it kinda loops back to feeling like a parody of itself? I did laugh at it a few times, so I'm going to hope that's the intended response--alternatively, this song did bring some joy, so I don't really care if I'm enjoying it in the wrong way. I'm going to start with this song in the low-ish 60s; part of me wants to drop this song way down the list because it's just... *mutters*, but... I think this is trending towards "I hate how much I like this" more than actual dislike? I... well, we'll see where this goes next time.)

It is kinda funny (particularly the fact that no one lets her out by the end of the song) and I do like references to the sea & what not, but it's unfortunately not one of those ''stupid comedy songs that keeps gaining points on every listen, even as I resent myself for giving them so many points" deals and kinda taps out early on in the "I like this" stage of competition.

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???: Zoomlight | Central Tower "Axis Pillar" (4:07)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZEqxDnuySo
Nominator: @Place [6 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 63.775
Final Score: 64.10

(First Reaction: This is different. I just saw the name and was expecting the original song, so I was briefly confused when this was... not that. Also, there's no way I can find any lyrics for something like this, so I only have the music to judge on. On the plus side, I do rather like this music! I... can't say I remember enough about Axis Pillar to tell if even one note is the same here, but it's strange in an appealing way. Not overwhelming, not completely bizarre, just a little... off. Slightly distorted. It's rather appealing, honestly.)

I'm not even positive if these are lyrics or just vocalizations, not that it would make a difference in this type of case. I'm pretty sure I prefer the original song with it's bizarre contrast of "upbeat & energetic techno adventure" with "retro chiptune-adjacent ghost mannor music", but this take is so radically different that it's not really fair to compare them. And this nominated one does have some lower tones in some places, which is neat. It's a neat song that I like.

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redrocket posted...

Im glad you enjoyed it! ponyphonic actually does have a sort of companion song to this one from Lunas perspective. Perhaps you could add it to zalist?

https://youtu.be/4vBJAgbiBTY?si=dXtJYoupBjTggXTo

Also, I didnt use this video because it wouldnt be relevant for this ranking, but another channel took Lullaby for a Princess and added some pretty nice animation. Thats here if you want to check it out.

https://youtu.be/i7PQ9IO-7fU?si=Dyhw68kH6HzXB0LQ

I very much look forward to listening to the first one (officially added), though I am a bit confused by your remark about the video for Lullaby not being relevant... putting aside that I'm very easily manipulated by outside factors and don't care about objectivity, you used the video version of "Gonna Be My Day" which is clearly inferior to the album version of the song. I thought you did that hoping the video would pique my interest or get you extra points somehow...

(For the record, I swapped to the album version on that track myself because it's a fairly minor change that gives several extra points. Cheating, but the album version is only about ten seconds longer so it's not so drastic a change that I feel particularly bad about it.

Oh, and I'll definitely watch the video for Lullaby later. Not sure when, but I'll save the link and get to it.)

Well, anyway, let's just move along. Six eliminations today to make up for only four songs yesterday, starting with another big name song:

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???: PRINCE | I WOULD DIE 4 U (2:59)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkNl3pq1twE
Nominator: @Mega_Mana [13 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 63.99
Final Score: 64.02

(First Reaction: Honestly, I've never been too big on Prince's music... and this is a rather mid song of his. I'm not sure if I'd stand by my rankings from Rank the Tracks, but I had this as only the fifth best song on the album:

1: Purple Rain
2: Let's Go Crazy
3: When Doves Cry
4: Computer Blue
5: I Would Die 4 U
6: Take Me with U
7: Darling Nikki
8: The Beautiful Ones
9: Baby I'm a Star

(I remain disappointed that Computer Blue is not the full Hallway Speech version, but I suppose that would be a pointless digression).

...actually, I suppose this song is better than either version of Computer Blue. Blue does have a great spoken word intro, but I'm feeling like that probably shouldn't carry the song as far up the list as I had it... still, I feel this at least a full tier below Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, and When Doves Cry. (And 1999 if it were on this album. Maybe Little Red Corvette? I feel like I shouldn't like that one as much as I do, but I can't see it getting less than 90 points which feels ridiculous; it's so pointlessly longer than it needs to be and so sexual, and yet, I think I do actually love that song.

...huh, maybe I do actually like Prince's greatest hits. Five high scoring songs is pretty great. But I've gotten wildly off topic.)

ANYWAY, this song is.... good, but disappointing. I'm not really a fan of offering to die for people, so I think there's a definite ceiling for this type of song. There are some good lines in the verses, playing with gender and species in ways that I would normally love & it's not as though I dislike his singing (on this track, at least [Kiss... took me a long time to adjust to]), but... well, "I like this song, -BUT-" kinda sums things up well enough. It's catchy enough that I'm going to try having it at the "I like this" tier, but I could see this fairly easily dropping down a bit to the Kinda Like level because I'm fundamentally opposed to the point of this song and it's really hard to overcome that bias.)

This song feels kinda endless... the last new line is at 1:40 and the song just keeps rambling with its chorus for over a minute straight. I feel it's a really bad sign when a song is only three minutes long and almost half of it is filler. And I've just never gotten behind the subject matter of bragging about how you'd die for someone; after having spent so much of life being suicidal (again, doing fine now), it feels like declaring you're willing to live for someone is the far more difficult and inspirational sentiment. I wouldn't say this song is being Vogue'd because while there are definitely other Prince songs I'd rather listen to, I don't feel as though as I have too many Prince songs or anything--I'm quite open to adding more of his work to my playlists. This just isn'g the right track.

On the plus side, I really like the non-binary nature of "I'm not a woman, I'm not a man" and also "I'm not a human"; the song comes incredibly close to pushing a lot of my buttons, but the payoff is just repeating a chorus about being willing to die. I suppose in that sense, it is like Vogue--that got me all hyped up and had "dance floor!" while this gets my hyped up and only offers death. Le sigh.

...Well, that write up was needlessly cruel! I do like the song! It's catchy and plays with some topics that I really enjoy. One of those songs where the fact that it makes it this far up the list while I have so many complaints speaks highly of its quality, even if that doesn't really offer any comfort.

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???: Empire-Ensemble | Counter Raid Another D (6:02)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYLIlCQWtw
Nominations: @MacArrowny [12 songs remaining.

Initial Score: 63.90
Final Score: 64.30

(First Reactions: Oh hey, I kinda remember this from VGMC. This is prety nice--tragic villain songs are always something I enjoy and I do like sinking into the darkness, so this works on a few levels. I like this one.

...I know I should point out a few lyrics here or something, but while I like all of them, there aren't any that I'm in love with or want to focus on. The lines about being destroyed and being a corpse are certainly good, and as I mentioned there is some good darkness here, but this is more an "I like this and leave the write up at "I like this"" song than an "inspires an actual write up" song.)

Well, I suppose this could be a remix. Or I could be thinking of a different song entirely. These lyrics certainly seem familiar, but with my memory, that never means anything. Doesn't really matter either way, I suppose.

Song is pleasingly bleak. An endless cycle of death & rebirth, killing and being killed by your friends eternally as you sink to the frozen depths. I can certainly work with these lyrics. And I do like the song. I just never seem to get all that attached to it for some reason? It's very much just an "I like this" track, in spite of all the eternal despair.

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-continued-

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???: Kittie | Vultures (3:20)
Nominator: @Murphiroth [6 songs remaining]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYxOhZVt-n4

Initial Score: 63.19
Final Score: 63.19

(First Reaction: I like this song. There's a good balance between clean vocals and screamed vocals, and it's easy enough to make out the lyrics even at her metal-growl-scream-y-est.And there's also a good balance in the lyrics; there are repeated refrains about not bowing down or conceding, but also some bleak lines:

Vultures circle me

These scraps of poison meat are all that is left
Scavengers, enjoy your feast

Referring to yourself as poison meat is certainly a choice. And while we're dealing with metaphorical vultures, it still paints a bleak enough picture that I find it appealing. Very good example of the "metal, but not too metal" subcategory.)

I do like having metal vocals that I can actually make out without needing to have the lyrics open at all times, that's as convenient as it is impressive. Very few vocalists that can pull that off. Other than that, it's very much an 'I like this" song. I like that it's a tamer brand of metal, I like that the lyrics contain enough bleak lyrics that it nicely fills my "sad" quota, I like both her clean and growl-y lyrics. But while I like every aspect of the track, I never quite get attached in a way that makes me want to keep moving it up the list. 63 points feels very appropriate for it.

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???: Camera Obscura | Suspended From Class (3:46)
https://youtu.be/wCuFvVv-tLY?si=EM5hEN7nHLDg2g8j
Nominator: @tazzyboyishere [13 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 63.22
Final Score: 62.54

(First Reaction: A surprisingly sweet song about a presumably forbidden crush:

It's not love, no, it's nothing like that
[...]
Now he wants to kiss
He says he can't resist
You're going to have to keep it hidden inside

Which, given the repeated references to class, could easily be a teacher-student fling which... would make this song signifiantly harder to enjoy, so I'm going to enjoy the fact that it's vague enough that it could also not be that and assume it's about some other forbidden but not illegal crush & treat it as a sweet song that I like without bothering to engage with other theories.)

It's a very sweet song, but i'm... not quite in the mood to think about classes or forbidden love in general. Very well performed and I'd like to try some other song by the band, but also very much the wrong subject matter for this point in time.

...I know that sucks in every possible way, but it is what it is. The fact that I like this song in spite of the subject matter hopefully says enough positive things to ease some of the sting.

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^Songs added to za'list.

"Dawn of a Million Souls" score increased to 62.56 so that I can plug a different song into the "62.53" spot. (I could give the new song a very precise value of "62.524" or something to make it fit properly, but I'd much rather it has .53 & Million Souls have some extra fractions of a point so this is what I'm doing). It also conveniently makes it easier for me to slot an unrelated song into "62.54", keeping the list organized without resorting to increasingly bizarre point values.

....Not that I don't like my bizarre scores, I just think this more accurately reflects my current opinion.

Four drops today; I'm in one of those moods where after four hours of music, there's a grand total of four songs that I'm comfortable eliminating right now and I should take a break before I get burned out.

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???: ponyphonic | Lullaby for a Princess (6:47)
https://youtu.be/H4tyvJJzSDk?si=qbTB4kRnnGaW4iYW
Nominator: @redrocket [12 songs remaining]
Characters: Celestia and Luna

Initial Score: 62.7009
Final Score: 62.53

(First Impressions: [Before Listening]

This is another song that I'm skippping ahead to. It's cheating, but I really want to listen to an MLP fan song right now and it's just not going to be fair to other songs if I'm listening to them while thinking "wow, I really want to be listening to that other nomination right now"--at best, the distraction might make it a bit harder to fairly judge said other songs. At worst, I'd be incentivized to be even lazier with the write ups since the faster I got through everything else, the faster I could get to the song I wanted to hear. So... yeah, I'm skipping ahead to this one right now.

[After]

Yep, I like this one. It does a better job of portraying Celestia than the show itself ever did; having her actually suffer and grieve over banishing her sister makes her an actual character with emotions, which is certainly an improvement. It's not quite my favorite song--but the characterization in the lyrics is great & the music is solid, so it's quite easy to like this song.)

I fear that by nominating so many MLP fansongs, you've accidentally Vogue'd/Stronger Than You'd this pick. Is it impressive and good characterization for Celestia, but... it's pretty obvious to me which of the nominated songs is in last place & when I'm struggling to make cuts, it becomes way too easy to point at "song that's fairly low on the list of songs I'll go back to because I can name many preferable alternatives" and move along.

....That being said, it's not as though this song's score dropped drastically or anything, so I could be overstating the impact being last place of its kind actually had. And I do still like it! Not half as much as I'd like it if Luna were actually here (apparently singing about a moon princess does not give you bonus moon points & you can read whatever you want into that), but taking a character that I don't really care about & making her even remotely compelling takes a fair amount of talent.

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???: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 | Credits (0:29)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0esC2tlrWU
Nominator: Kopazzynth [1 song remaining]

Initial Score: 63.02
Final Score: 62.80

(First Reaction: Why does this song sound so ominous? It's like Bowser (or King Koopa, considering the show) has had enough games & is rallying a massive army to bomb the **** out of the Mushroom Kingdom. It's certainly a neat effect, it just seems at odds with how incredibly lighthearted the series is.)

Well, now this feels more like Zelda music to me. Not actual game Zelda or anything, but a cartoon version of Zelda that is slightly more mature than the one from the Super Mario Super Show. Either way, this song implies an epic war between kingdoms and it's still so weird that this song is attached to the Mario franchise; especially to the end credits and especially especially to a show that's so riiculously goofy. This is the Mario cartoon that had Milli Vanilli as a guest star for crying out loud!

So, it's a very surprising song and I like it. It's nice to have an instrumental track that inspires some sort of vision and I actually don't think this track is too short; it's long enough to imply tension and a coming war without ever becoming too epic or overstaying its welcome, so I think the brief runtime likely works in its favor. I just find myself growing far more attached to other songs and while this is quite an interesting song that I'm glad I had a chance to think about--I'd never really bothered to think about how strangely dark this theme was, even though I've seen a few episodes--I think I'm more drawn to all the 63+ point songs at the moment.

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BlackDra90n posted...

It's because there's some uh, triggerable content (suicide) in the music video. If you're interested in the story the video is worth watching, but it's fine.

Noted. I'll try to watch the video at some point; I may just add it to ZA'LIST and watch it then.

NFUN posted...

It's not a game, so that checks out

I am both mildly relieved that I have a valid reason for not finding it and mildly agitated that "stage 2" is not the theme for the second stage of a game

....I am aware that stage also has non-video game related definitions. I know words.

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Public song list was indeed missing two scores (one of NFUN's songs and one of azuarc's), those have been added. There was also a case where I forgot to update one song's FInal Score on the master list, so I'm glad I found that one.

I need to do a check on both my master spreadsheet and the public one... Public sheet says that was the 95th elimination and the master list say it was the 97th. So clearly, I need to figure out which sheet is wrong and fix that before the effect snowballs... though I'll do that tomorrow. Probably.

On a completely unrelated note, the virtual barbershop song was retroactively upgraded to 63 points some time ago and none of us ever remember to post that here. The change was made on the public sheet and we always say "we'll just post that when we drop the next songs so we don't waste a post", but we always forget. So NOW it's posted.

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???: Tekken 3 OST - Nina Williams Theme (3:22)
https://youtu.be/iAjdkTFv0yI?si=ChEBIXxKsecRPSPr
Nominator: @mcflubbin [8 songs remaining]
Character: Nina Williams

Initial Score: 62.00
Final Score: 61.60

(First Reaction: Groovy. I don't think I usually like Tekken music, but I do like this one.)

I'm hitting another block of instrumental songs that don't inspire strong reactions. This has got a pretty nice groove to it and I like it, but it doesn't inspire any particular ambiance or imaginary scenes, leading to a very "I like this" track in which I just like it and struggle to find anything besides general enjoyment to state about the track.

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???: Steven Universe | Stronger Than You (2:52)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GrmiTlaVgo
Nominator: @PIayer_0 [6 songs remaining]
Character: Garnet

Initial Score: 62.44
Final Score: 64.60

(First Reaction: Steven Universe is one of the best cartoons ever--possibly my favorite, though it's been a while since I watched through it. It definitely has the highest quantity of "10/10" wham episodes, so it's probably the favorite. But... honestly, I've never been that into this particular song? I've gone through moments of obsession with "It's Over, Isn't It?", "Do It For Her", "Other Friends", "Drift Away", "Love Like You", and "Peace and Love on the Planet Earth"... even "Tower of Mistakes". But while Stronger Than You is arguably the most iconic song in the series and a great moment, I've always just "liked" it? I don't know. Maybe it's that I've always found Garnet the least interesting of the main cast, maybe I'm just too much of a bitter loner to properly vibe with joining together with someone, I dunno. Either way, I do like it, but that feels oddly low for a series that's so overflowing with songs that I love.)

I like this song, but it hits some of the same problems as Vogue. If I want to listen to a Steven Universe song, it's not going to be this one. Besides the others I've mentioned, I think I even take some oddball picks like "system/BOOT.PearlFinal (3).Info"... which I just listened to in its entirety instead of actually typing anything here because I am very easily distracted. Definitely a "right series, wrong song" type nomination. Which is being overly harsh --I do like it! I've listened to it quite a bit. I'll also say there are definitely other Steven Universe songs I enjoy less than this one... I never really got into "Here Comes a Thought" for example.

*goes to listen to it*

...Well, not the best sign that my first thought of a song that I don't like is another Garnet track. I also may actually prefer it? It's sweet.. I'm much more into falling apart, but the song's got its heart in the right place so I do smile a little even as the repetition tries its best to turn me against the song. Which... well, the most damning thing about the nominated song is that even the songs I thought I enjoyed less are doing much better than it tonight. I'm sorry. You definitely had a good plan with nominating a Steven Universe song, at least.

*gets distracted to listening to every other song she mentioned earlier* Oh, I really love this one [Editor's Note: "Peace and Love on the Planet Earth"]... Peridot is so relatable.

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NBIceman posted...

I think someone may have nominated Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy) for one of these topics at some point?

Not at one of ours, at least not to a main ranking. I didn't really keep records of all the post-topic songs (or songs listened to during the topics, like the full version of 24 Hour Cinderella up there) though, so it's plausible the song was mentioned and I just don't remember it since it wasn't at a full ranking.

I'll definitely add Liar Liar to ZA'LIST and I might check out those albums later. ; I have some idea of Epica/Black Halo's story since I did research when I was hyper into Somewhere in Time... been a long time since I read it, obviously, but I feel like I still recall the basic gist.

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Apologies for the repeated delays. I was not feeling well yesterday, so I just didn't do anything. Not sick enough that I couldn't have worked if I'm being honest, but enough that I had trouble sleeping and just didn't care to work until I was well rested again. Five drops today, featuring two BlackDra90n songs & two instrumental songs with short write ups:

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???: Lorna Shore | Pain Remains I: Dancing LIke Flames (6:07)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JglOS8TRFp4
Nominator: @BlackDra90n [11 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 61.29
Final Score: 62.51

(First Thoughts: I think going through three songs by this band in rapid succession is not going to go well, as this type of heavier metal usually fares better in smaller doses, but I shall comply with the directions.

The lyrics are pretty nice. Losing oneself in a dream world to be with someone who is gone is certainly relatable, though even with the lyrics pulled up, I can only make out one or two words... still, I don't often let my inability to make out the words actually hurt my opinion of a song, so it's fine. I do wish there were fewer drums; they are mixed properly so they're not overwhelming or painful to listen to, but it's a bit... well, I just don't usually like drums, so naturally I'd like them to be dialed back a bit. Still, this is overall a nice song.

Am I just a ghost just like you, caught between the
Seams of two intertwining melodies?

Nice of the song to end on its best lyric. Song does end rather abruptly as it's meant to transition to the next song, so I do see what you meant... I'm starting to wonder if I should force you to nominate them together as one long song instead of three smaller ones, but I suppose we'll see how I feel after hearing the next two.)

Lyrics seem easier to decipher this morning which is nice. I do like the song, I'd just really prefer less intense drumming... no tragic stories on that one, epic/heavy percussion just tends to be a negative for me. I'll also say that I'm glad you're nominating all three of these are separate songs instead of one giant track because, honestly, I could use a bit of a break between songs... it does result in this one just kinda stopping, but having a bit of time to recover between intense drum songs can only help each song's Final Score.

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???: Lorna Shore | Pain Remains II: After All I've Done, I'll Disappear (5:51)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFJ5fF7cbE0
Nominator: @BlackDra90n [10 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 64.00
Final Score: 62.52

(First Thoughts: YouTube link demands that I sign in to watch it, so I'm going to play the song on Spotify instead if that's okay? ...Well, you're not breaking the laws of space & time to prevent me from doing so, so I'll take that as an okay.

I'm just a whisper, just a specter locked away in time
This purgatory is eating away at my mind
[...]
And after all that I've done
After all of my pain
After all that I've become
Will I disappear, disappear
Like a ghost in the breeze?

Lyrics are fantastic, though as usual for the band, I can't make out many of them. There's also some rather nice, melodic guitar work towards the end of the song. I like this, though as always, the drums are a bit much. I suppose there's some interesting bits with them near the end, how you can faintly hear the more beautiful playing underneath the drums that try to crush them... not my favorite implementation of the technique, but it's still neat. And while it is naturally meant to flow into the final track, it doesn't feel unfinished in the way Pain Remains I did. Pretty nice song, likely in the middle of the "I like this" tier.)

It's like the world I knew keeps passing
Unlike the void I've become

Really, you can point to any line in the song at you'll probably find a great lyric. This is definitely one of the best songs of the entire topic in terms of lyrical content. And I really, really like the guitar solo towards the end of the song; the quiet interlude is such a beautiful contrast to the rest of the song & the way the guitar intensifies to fight back against the drums is really quite an interesting technique. It's a pretty great way of simulating an internal conflict, so this song has a lot of positives going for it.

But... well, drumming this intense can be a bit much for me on most days and it's hard to say that I'll honestly take it over most of the other remaining songs (and even some already eliminated tracks) as a result. It's a good pick in that it is definitely doing some things I love, it's just perhaps a bit too heavy on the intense drumming.

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???: Wataru Ishibashi - The two cradles / stage2 (5:20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp1skjyjU-g
Nominator: NFUN [7 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 61.996
Final Score: 62.30

(First Reaction: Surprisingly fun space music. Feels shmup-y to me, very zipping around blasting crystal mirrors and generic enemies. It's really not a bad ambiance, to be honest. I like it.)

It still definitely makes me think of Gradius III's Crystal Labyrinth:

https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/gradius-iii-arcade-gamerip-1989/15.%2520Crystal%2520Labyrinth.mp3

They're probably not that similar, they just give off very similar vibes to me. Though I'm having trouble finding any information about this game, so I have no idea what it actually is. Well, either way, i like it and it reminds me of another song I like, so... yeah.

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-continued-

The 401st song has officially been added to the spreadsheets! And with this final elimination of the night, nominations are now closed.

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???: Rina Sawayama | Comme Des Garons (Like the Boys) (3:03)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv5i5yg-zNc

Nominator: Bane_Of_Despair [13 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.92
Final Score: 57.97

(First Reaction:

"The idea that the socially acceptable version of confidence is in acting like the boys, otherwise as a woman you get called a bitch but in the club, we reclaim the word bitch as a sign of ultimate confidence (yes bitch, work bitch). I wanted to sit these two together and make a club fashion banger that makes you feeling like THAT bitch whoever you are."

Good message and a good beat. There aren't any lyrics that I want to highlight and the outro is a bit one note, but I kinda dig what the song's going for. I think i want this song to start at the high 50s and then I can see how it feels in comparison to other songs at that level. )

I'm not really into club bangers and I think this song isn't quite working for me as much as everything actually in the Nebula, but I also feel bad for eliminating it... bad enough that I'm going to delay this drop for another day and revisit it tomorrow. I'm... skeptical that I'd actually move it into the Nebula, but it's close enough that I want to give it one more chance before making the cut.

[Later: Yeah, I'm still feeling like this one is just a tiny bit before the next level. Good beat and good message, but I just never really get into any aspect of it enough to honestly say that I want to move this up again. Sorry, I at least gave it one more chance.]

===============

Now that we have a final number of songs, I'll go back and properly number everything just as soon as I'm confident that everything that's being eliminated before the 58 point Nebula has been cut.

EDIT: And I've gone ahead and deleted the Duckman write up; kept it up for... around 27 hours? I feel like that's enough time to leave that many personal confessions up on a public forum.

Four instrumental songs that didn't inspire any strong thoughts fall as things resume. This puts us at 49/50 songs towards our nomination deadline; I expect that I'll be back in a couple hours with one more drop to officially lock the nominated song list, but I can't make promises.

===============

Honkai Star Rail | Death Approaches (1:49)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgfW1E_YtrE
Nominator: @pyresword [3 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.35
Final Score: 57.20

(First Reaction: This feels way too upbeat and trance-like for a song with that title. I wanted ominous pain and fear, but all I got was a rave in some fantasy kingdom, I feel more-than-slightly cheated. Also, whatever that instrument is towards the end is rather unpleasantly high-pitched, like a bird screaming in my ear. Still, "fantasy rave attended by a screaming bird" is definitely a new experience, so I'd say that I kinda like this one.)

I do like instrumentals that convey a novel experience and this is certainly a novel one to be picturing, but the track feels a bit too short and... I really do just kinda like the song itself. I'm sorry, I do feel like I should be giving more points to something unique like this, but magical raves filled with screaming birds are apparently not my scene.

===============

-

===============

Fusion Legend | Concertino in Blue (5:45):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITH-l72YYT0

Nominator: @Place [9 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.39
Final Score: 57.40

(First Reaction: It's another instrumental that doesn't make me think of anything in particular, but there's some cool electric guitar shredding and a nice sax and I kinda dig its vibe. It does feel a bit long... not really sure why (5:45 is not a long runtime), but I feel I've had my fill of "cool guitar shredding" after around three minutes, so it's slightly worn out its welcome even before it goes a bit too epic towards the end of the track. Still... I do kinda like it. Some nice instruments performed in fun ways.)

One instrumental that's too long & another too short. What a pair this afternoon's drops are. Honestly, I do rather enjoy the sax, but the last part of the song is the type of intense music that I find a bit boring and I find my attention waning well before the song ends. I still kinda like it, but a bit more focus on the sax and a little brevity would probably carry this song up another tier or two.

===============

-

===============

Kait Dunton | Headspace (3:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHgGH09GAqA
Nominator: @FL81 [3 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.39
Final Score: 56.80

(First Impressions: Some nice, easy listening keyboard playing. It doesn't provoke a strong reaction, but it's very pleasant and a relaxing way to kinda groove with for a couple minutes. "Nice and easy" are the only two adjectives that come to mind, but... yeah, it's nice.)

It's definitely a nice and easy track to listen to, but I'm afraid that I'm just not getting any feelings from it at all. I kinda like it, but I feel like it's not leaving enough of a lasting impression & that I prefer some already eliminated tracks that have higher highs/lower lows because they're just more memorable for me. I'm sorry; this is a nice song though.

===============

-

===============

Hideaki Kobayashi - Aire Iglesia (8:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ2ASC4IAYA
Nominator: NFUN [11 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.404
Final Score: 57.90

(First Reaction: It's a nice enough song, but there's only so far instrumentals that don't make me think of anything can go and I'm just not connecting with this one. I do kinda like it, but I don't feel like a whole lot happened for how long the track is and I just don't get anything in particular from it.)

This song is definitely a peg above the other three instrumentals being eliminated in this post. It's very... sci-fi-ish. I'm not really getting anything specific beyond "high technology" and occasionally "hope", but a hopeful high tech song is definitely more than I was getting from some other tracks. But... like all the other tracks dropping now, I'm just not as into them as the songs that getting moved into the Nebula and beyond, so I can't quite convince myself to delay this elimination any further. It is very close though.

===============

Link updated on my notes, thank you. I'm going to hope that no news is good news, so I've resumed working. Murphiroth's five songs have preliminary scores and write ups now. Will hopefully resume working on eliminating songs this afternoon and/or evening.

I'll probably delete those four posts later this evening, just before I take a break from working for the night. Leaving them up for a bit over 24 hours seems sufficient.

#B#

Part of this topic series is finding what triggers me and why, & I've made quite a bit of progress over the years. I'm able to listen to rap music now and Pink Floyd (that was the racist twit's favorite band, so it took quite a while before I could listen to them without the association), I don't have meltdowns over blatantly Christian music, I've gotten closure about the death of a certain relationship & can listen to songs that remind me of him without any emotional spikes... it doesn't seem like it, but I am doing better. So finding something that hits this hard is important. I knew I wasn't handling these memories well, but I didn't realize just how intense the emotions could hit if something triggered a flashback. So.. I can truly thank you for this nomination. I'm not in a position to judge this song with any type of objectivity--I'm not even in a place to read the lyrics without several emotional spikes--but learning to process these feelings is important.

[Later: Fun fact, I have absolutely no idea what score this song is going to end with. At least 58 points because I can't dislike something that's triggering this many emotional spikes, but I'm in absolutely no place to judge it. So... score. It will have one! Probably!]

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

[Present Day]

Alright, let's go back to that DBZ RPG for a minute and how far gone I was mentally. I was barely sentient at the time, suicidal (don't worry about it, I don't want to die now), incredibly dysphoric, and completely uneducated. I was a wreck. But somehow I found my way to a DBZ roleplaying chat room which quickly became my home. The place was barely regulated; the owner almost never checked in on the rooms, there were no moderators, and there was no way to actually enforce any rules other than peer pressure. It was also an incredibly wild and lawless place--nothing forced you to actually talk in character, so it was just as much a regular chat room as it was an RPG. And there were no real rules about what your character be, so you could be anyone or anything! Lots of us just stole our characters wholesale from various anime and games. It allowed me to play with age, gender, species, and personality in a way that you don't really see these days. Absolute freedom isn't really a thing on the net these days.

Anyway, the relevant thing is that one of the members killed herself in real life and I was so far gone that I couldn't really have a reaction to it. From my perspective there wasn't any real difference between someone logging off forever and dying. Possibly because I was just that undeveloped mentally and socially, possibly because I planned on killing myself too and couldn't see anything wrong with it, probably both.

I didn't really know her well. I'd seen her around quite a bit since I basically lived in that chatroom, but we had different friend groups and interests, so I can't claim to have known her. I can't even recall her character name, to be honest. I have a lot of regrets about that time. About how dead I was inside, how I was literally unable to see her as a person. I've often wondered if there was anything I could have done to save her, if I'd just... existed in any real way. She had friends, so I doubt I would have made a difference, but... I don't know. Maybe if I'd been able to understand how much she was suffering... but it doesn't matter. I can't bring her back and I have no right to use her tragedy as a source of personal growth when I never knew her in the first place.

But, the one thing that proves that I'm not the same unhinged emotionless psychopath I was, is that I can feel things now. When someone I know and cares about threatens to kill themselves, I can actually feel things now. Fear of making things worse (it's all I can do), fear of my doing nothing also making worse (nothing hasn't worked so far), anger at the stupid way my life is scripted (I get a song about hoping someone doesn't kill themselves mere hours before talk of suicide comes up?), regret that maybe if I tried to be an actual friend than I could be part of some actual support network so things never got this bad...

...and you know the worst part? For one moment, just a moment, I wondered if I was better off being so dead that I couldn't comprehend these emotions. So if you're thinking of killing yourself, just... don't. I can't stop you, I have no right to try to stop you. I was suicidal for basically my entire childhood and early adulthood, so I know how useless platitudes are. But I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never tried to have a real conversation with you. I'm sorry for centering this on me. I'm sorry I don't have the life experience to know what to say or do. All I can do is ask you not to do this and assure you that your partiipation has always been one of the biggest highlights of my year. Even when I could never actually learn anything, the fact that you were willing to try to teach me anything meant a lot... historically people don't even try, so...

I can't do Discord right now. I'm not good at live chatting even when I'm not emotionally compromised. If anyone has any relevant information that they're willing to share, PM the Pony account. And if you don't know what sparked this present day section... well, that's not my story to tell. Hopefully it ends well.

===============

...On the plus side, none of the other Extra Songs are... quite like this. Hence why this was to be one grand finale. But here we are. At least until I delete all this and pretend this sequence never happened.

#B#

2: Alright then. What's the point?

-

And finally the question I most dread. After everything... with this song being so vital to my very existence, I feel like defining it is some final test. Like if I get it wrong, then it proves I don't deserve to exist--or worse, never truly existed in the first place. I know that's stupid; I exist, regardless of my ability to understand politcal allegories and people seem split into two camps on the song's meaning & I don't have any negative feelings towards those who came to a different conclusion. But whatever... you can either take the Optimistic View:

America may have problems, but it's still a major world power whose influence can be felt everywhere on Earth. And while it may be a giant trash fire now, we have to believe that America can do better. That as a country we can try to stand up for the values that allegedly defined the country--to be that shining city on the hill and serve as a positive example for the rest of the world.

Or you can be a Pessimist; the song depicts the entire country as a literal dump & America, the allegorical person, as literally bankrupt. Everything is shit and a cheesy, racist song accomplishes nothing.

...Now, to be fair, Duckman can go for some very dark humor at times. But I don't think the negative view fits with the show's ethics. "Everything sucks so don't try" is a South Park type message, not a Duckman one. Duckman had heart and could pull off surprisingly touching, emotional stories when it wanted to. More importantly, I feel like all of the show's heavy-handed messages and anger were borne out of a hope that America could do better. To be better. It acknowledges how bad things are and how bad things have always been, but I feel like the writers' truly believed that things could improve. Sure, the song is stupid; the characters singing it are also stupid. The only thing that's changed by the end is America deciding to try and that's the important part. If they wanted to be bleak, America would either be dead or abandon the world's children or.... well... literally do anything other than try to help?

So... yeah.

3. ...COULD YOU TYPE LITERALLY ANYTHING THAT CAN WORK AS A STANDARD WRITE UP?

Back on to the actual quality of the song, it's not great. None of these voice actors are professional singers, the song is pretty basic, and a parody of "We Are The World" can only go so far... especially when it doesn't bother trying to be funny. It's important enough to me that I'd say that I really like it, but there's no way I could ever call it an objectively good song.

[Even Later Still]

Ooh boy, that Coheed & Cambria song nominated by CJones. "Window of the Waking Mind". Back when I typed that stuff about being mute and almost banished to an institution, I really didn't think a song was going to be nominated that was actually going to trigger those memories. Honestly, why would I be expecting it? We've avoided the topic for years and it's a very specific thing. And yet, here we are. Honestly, I don't want to get into this, but I don't see that I have much of a choice. Well, there's always a choice. I refused to comment on any specifics at the actual song's write up, so I could continue refusing... but... I've already decided that I'm going to. So, fuck it, let's go with a true uncensored version of that song's write up as we revisit it now:

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Coheed & Cambria - Window of the Waking Mind (8:38)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WscFSf_OjHA
Nominator: CJones

Score: I dunno at this point in time. Maybe I'll remember to fill this place in when it's received its final score? [Later: Well this waa supposed to be at the end of the topic when I'd know what it's final score was, but I don't. So... we're... revisiting a song's elimination before it's actually eliminated.

...a rational person would take a moment to reflect on the fact that creating a time paradox in a music ranking means that you've completely lost the plot & revise their actions. But, as I said, I've got things I need to say at the end of this and I don't think it can wait. So... uhh.... time paradox ahoy?]

-

Here's a simple story and I hope I tell it well
Of a boy locked in a place, his mind the very cell
Imprisoned with his wild visions of every time in space
There's no one in this world quite like him

The thing that complicates it is his parents and who they are
The law theyre made to run from beyond the House of the Stars
The birth must be in secret so no prying eyes can see
There's no one of this world quite like him

Our pride and joy, are you there?
Are you in there safe and sound?
Tell us what you need so we can help you
We don't know what to do, we don't know what to do

Patronizing doctors with their diagnostic leads
Carry on your query, it's blood, the boy, he bleeds
But you can't see him like you, so a monster he must be
There's no one in this world quite like him

Vaxis?
Son?
Do you hear us?
Do you feel us?

And let me tell you when you've been through this, the song hits on a different level. Let me revisit the relevant part from the Duckman write up:

I... did not take his death well; I kinda shut down mentally, became non-verbal, and was almost permanently locked in a mental institution for being too defective to exist. And if you're wondering how well I dealt with "one parent dying and the other one trying to lock you away for all eternity for being worthless when you're still basically a fucking baby", the answer is NOT WELL. I HAVE NOT DEALT WITH THIS WELL, AT ALL. Also, I get a bit twitchy around the fact that children being non-verbal is just a *thing* that's allowed to happen these days--I mean, it's good. It's good that they're allowed to exist. Back in my day, we sentenced them to fates worse than death, but hey! Progress!

Believe me when I say that I have not dealt with this subject well. I have a lot of pent up anger about everything. The doctors so willing to condemn me, my mother who was one step from locking me up, the fact that there's been no apology or actual resolution to anything... it's like 'ah well, I guess you are capable of speech after all, let's never acknowledge the fact that I was going to get rid of you for being sub-human garbage & pretend this never happened, tee hee hee' and usually I'm able to play pretend. Not be okay with any of it because I really don't know how you move past this stuff, but able to not think about it. It was several lifetimes ago and all. But this song revealed to me just how much anger I have left... those lines about the doctors calling Vaxis a monster are very rage inducing & you probably shouldn't ask how I feel about his parents supporting him because my parental issues are spiraling and you do not want an answer. Though, in short, "angry". Everything in this song makes me angry.

Which is a good thing, if I'm being totally honest.

*one part remaining*

#B#

[8 DAYS LATER]

Eesh, it's been a minute; after I made the rational choice to let CJones take the last two nomination slots, I stopped working on the Extra Song writeups in order to focus on getting the actual write ups done. Where were we? *goes back* Oh, Jesus Christ, we're actually saying all this shit?! Wow. Okay, moving along. With a mother that never cared to teach me anything (early childhood consisted largely of getting yelled at and hit repeatedly, as she seemed to have this theory that if she just hit hard enough I'd become normal; eventually she just gave up all hope and seemingly decided I was unteachable; it's... questionable which was worse for my development*) & a racist shitbag that couldn't pretend to give a single fuck about my existence, I was kinda raised by TV and the internet. I grew up in a DBZ RPG chatroom, but I think I'll skip that... we don't have the time and that's not where this train of thought is going. In theory, any TV show could have gotten through and taught me, but it was Duckman that proved the most influential. After this episode gave me the ability to think, it kinda took on a parental role--more than anyone in the real world ever did. All of my political views came directly from the show. The show was always really blatant about its politics and I ate it all up. Honestly, I've had to take some time to question if I even have beliefs of my own or if I've just spent my entire life parroting what Duckman taught me, but I think I'm able to evaluate my own views somewhat critically these days. At least, I really hope that I am.

[Perhaps more disturbing than the universe in which I never learned to think is a universe in which South Park, an equally blatantly politial adult cartoon on Comedy Central, shaped me. That is a terrifying thought. Let's not go there.]

*[Later Edit: Nah, it's being considered unteachable that was worse. A teacher that smacks the shit out of you on a constant basis might actually succeed in teaching you something; someone that decides you're too worthless to even bother hitting isn't going to teach you anything which is so much worse. Also, you kinda internalize all sorts of terrible thoughts about yourself, so you're trading "physical pain with some education" for "emotional pain and no education".]

Either way, Duckman was my teacher... and he abandoned me too. When the creators knew the series was being canceled, they decided to go with an incredibly wild cliffhanger while knowing there was basically no way they'd get to resolve it. Everyone was out of character, the plot jumped totally off the rails, and everything just... stopped. That really hurt. And it took me forever to realize why it hurt. Like, Clone High ended on a cliffhanger and even though I watched it at the same time, I wasn't particularly bothered... but... yeah. It's because Duckman was the third father to leave without any real closure.

[The important person I've referenced many times before would be a fourth father figure. I've danced around it because he's only a few years older than me, physically, and I was an adult at the time we got together... I'm not getting into that. Considering that the second topic's winner won because it helped me process my grief over our parting, let's just say it didn't end well... though we did speak again a few times and eventually parted on my own terms.

OH HEY, THAT'S WHY SONGS THAT REMIND ME OF HIM DON'T HURT SO MUCH ANYMORE! I actually got closure and ended the final relationship on my terms! Oh shit, guys, we're *actually having revelations about emotions* & talking about closure.]

So if I ever seem completely psychotic, please take a moment and be impressed that I can communicate at all? Like... for someone with no education who grew up in an internet chatroom and had their parental roles taken over by a cartoon duck, I think I'm doing pretty well these days. </.<

-

[Who knows how long it's been between the previous paragraphs and this one?]

Well, this is the most political song I've ever covered, so this is going to be SUPER FUN now. Thanks, Fandom! I love that *personal revelations important to my personal growth* are technically outlawed now! This is SUPER AWESOME, THANKS.

So, where the hell were we? I don't know and I'm not reading all that earlier garbage I typed, so let's say we're dealing with political censorship because this is suddenly REALLY FUCKING RELEVANT. I was going to get into it eventually for this song anyway, so fuck it, let's just get started. While I encountered this song on Comedy Central reruns, apparently at some point, the network got so offended by this song that they replaced it with complete silence. Which, one, fuck that; the fact that I could have missed hearing something so important to me because some network bigshot was offended by its lyrics really pisses me off. Not quite as much as "I'm not allowed to comment on the song on the board I've lived on for most of my life" pisses me off, but still, fuck whoever censored this. Anyway, let's move on a bit:

1: IS THIS SONG OFFENSIVE?

Yes, of course it is. There's some blatant racism in the lyrics, right from the start. The song literally opens with a line about spear throwers in Africa. But dismissing it as *only* being offensive is foolish; the character singing the line is the embodiment of the 50s. Yes, the song is casually racist--because the 50s were pretty fucking racist. If there wasn't an offensive line there, it would kill the point of the character and the song. To talk about America's history, you have to confront the racism that is so inherent to America. Now if you want to argue that the song, and the episode itself, doesn't go far enough--that having one allegorical jerk use something resembling a slur barely even counts as acknowledging things, then fine. It could have done a better job with what it was going for and I'll acknowledge that. For a three minute long parody of "We Are The World" on a comedy program, they did what they could and the message got through to me.

And while I could rant for a while about how comedy needs the freedom to be offensive and challenging, I think I'll let Duckman speak for itself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knIroVvPZU4

*continued again*

#B#

New songs added to the spreadsheet which puts us at exactly 400 songs by my count. I'll try to listen to them in the near future. I'm too emotionally compromised right now to properly focus on new songs & while I'm not privy to what drama is happening on Discord, I know enough to know that this isn't the time for stupid comedy so eliminating any old songs is also out.

Instead, I'm going to talk about the first extra song. This was intended to be the last one posted, near the very end of the topic; hell, maybe after the last song, possibly even with a topic lock so that no one could reply to it. But there are things I need to say and this write up is the only place I can get into any of it, so... if you want a full history of my life, then feel free to read this before I have time to come to my senses and delete it. (And I'm definitely deleting this in the near future because I can't believe I actually typed this up to start with.)

CONTENT WARNING: ...Just assume this has every content warning.

===============

EXTRA SONG #1:

DUCKMAN | WE ARE THERE (3:37):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gJqrx8i1sw

Estimated Score: 72.46

(First Reaction: Ah, this song. This is going to be rough; I can't face myself and figure out what I am these days without directly confronting this song. In a very real way, this song kinda created me. I know that's a stupid thing to say, but honestly, Duckman's the closest thing I had to a father figure during my late teens (we'll get into that later) and this song--well, the entire episode really--was the first piece of media that really got through to me. The person I was before this song couldn't really analyze media on anything beyond the most basic, surface level. I'm sure I was educated enough to know--in theory--that media could have messages, but I just... never really understood. It's like the person I was was barely even sentient, completely unable to properly process the world. And then I heard this song and it was like I awoke for the first time.

...Well, again, it was seeing the episode itself that triggered things, but this isn't an episode ranking topic so you'll have to work with me on this.

The episode is incredibly heavy handed with its metaphors. Honestly, calling them "metaphors" or "subtext" is a disservice to the words themselves. The episode, "America the Beautiful", literally opens with a text warning about how blatant it is:

WARNING

THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM CONTAINS SCENES OF HEAVY-HANDED AND OVER-OBVIOUS ALLEGORY AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SMALL CHILDREN AND CERTAIN CONGRESSMEN FROM THE SOUTH.

Right, allegory, that's the word for this sort of thing. Technically. *Aaanywho*, this is what it took to break through my mental fog. Something that literally shouts in all caps about it being allegorical and being so overly blunt that even I couldn't miss it. It's embarrassing, but honestly, I still recall the exact thought I had as I woke up: Maybe this "America" person represents America the country.

...Yes, I *was* dense enough that the first thought involved a maybe there and yes, the episode really is that blatant. A group of various multinational children enlist Duckman to help find their idol, the beautiful supermodel and role model to everyone, America, who has gone missing. The episode goes through some equally heavy-handed meetings with men that represent America's phases throughout the 50s through the 80s before culminating in this song. It's... not great. The episode or the song. And yet, I shudder to think of who I might be without it. I'd like to believe that I'd have eventually developed the capacity for rational thought even without this episode beating things into me and yet... just look at all the adults who can't process satire or allegories or truly interact with media. Perhaps they're all what I could have been, Victims of a poor educational system who weren't fortunate enough to have something awaken them to actual thought. It's some scary thoughts. That people like who I used to be manage to stay that way into adulthood, that they're capable of voting, and that I may have wound up just like them if it weren't for Comedy Central airing one specific rerun at a time where I was still young enough to be positively influenced.

-

I'm going to detour a bit to my lack of father figures. Not too long, I don't want to cover my entire life's history, but again I think I need to face some of this--my abandonment issues have certainly impacted rankings in the past (see: last year where I went on a multi-post rage filled tirade about Dave abandoning the Chipettes during one of Raka's unrelated nominations because it takes very little to spark said issues). My biological father died when I was a toddler. Workplace accident. I don't really have many memories of him since I was too young at the time. It's wrong to call accidental death "abandonment", yet the feelings are similar. I... did not take his death well; I kinda shut down mentally, became non-verbal, and was almost permanently locked in a mental institution for being too defective to exist. And if you're wondering how well I dealt with "one parent dying and the other one trying to lock me away for all eternity for being worthless when I was still basically a fucking baby", the answer is NOT WELL. I HAVE NOT DEALT WITH THIS WELL, AT ALL. Also, I get a bit twitchy around the fact that children being non-verbal is just a *thing* that's allowed to happen these days--I mean, it's good. It's good that they're allowed to exist. Back in my day, we sentenced them to fates worse than death, but hey! Progress!

My mother did eventually hook up with a new boyfriend. I hesitate to call him a stepfather, as he didn't really raise me at all. Also, he was a complete fucking asshole. Incredibly racist--SO VERY, VERY RACIST. Like "constantly saying the n-word" racist. Like absolutely hating any white person who listens to rap because it meant they wanted to be n-words racist. Just picture Joe Dirt shouting the n-word at you constantly and you have a pretty good grasp on who he was. He eventually dumped my mother, kicked her out of her own house, and she wound up losing basically everything as a result; which... hey, you fuck a racist shithead, you don't get to complain when he fucks you over. I'm not sure if he's alive. I don't really care to know. He's just some colossal douche that I always hated and never had a meaningful relationship with anyway; on the plus side, I'm learning to reject his influence and listen to rap music and other things, so he didn't permanently fuck up my life.

*continued ; this is going to take like four or five messages, I think.*

Yep, the deadline is until 50 songs have been eliminated and we're still at 45. (I think it'd be 46 if you counted the quickly un-eliminated Robot Stop, but since I haven't decided on a final score for it since switching to the Spotify link, I certainly wouldn't. Also that still wouldn't be 50.)

AAaanywho, those five songs should be added to the spreadsheets now, thank you! You did post the wrong link for Communication, so I just used a Spotify link. If you truly meant to nominate that horse song instead, let me know and I'll swap the information.

NFUN posted...

sympathy for the devil?

Probably a mid-70s scoring song. I feel like the Rolling Stones didn't get all that much airtime on the oldies station I grew up with--or at least this particular track didn't--so I haven't heard their work as often as you might expect. I've also never been that attached to the band, so they're not something I seek out often... so while it's a song that I like quite a bit and have heard a fair number of times, it's been years since I last listened to it and I haven't gotten burned out on it yet.

I'm also not that annoyed by their "woo woo" chorus? It's more background noise that doesn't overshadow the actual song & there's enough theatricality and fun (bonus points for calling himself Lucifer) that I can deal with his backing singers being stupid.

Also, there may be a slight Viva Laughlin bias in the song's favor. Poor show never got a chance, being cancelled after only two episodes. They had Hugh Jackman as a villain and introduced him by having him jump onto a roulette table and lip sync to this song. Which is to say that was the greatest show of all time and I still miss it. ....Eh, fine, let's say mid-80s for Sympathy For The Devil. Not quite a favorite, but I do kinda love it.

It's lazy of me, but having all these clickable links gathered in one topic is very convenient and I'd rather this topic survive one more purge.