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lochtayboatsong · 3 years

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The Jesus Christ Superstar essay absolutely no one asked for.

Last weekend, I watched the pro-shot of the 2012 arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ben Forster, Tim Minchin, and Melanie C, because it was Easter and it was up on YT for the weekend. I never managed to do my annual listen-through of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass this year, as is my usual Easter tradition, so I figured “Why not watch/listen to this instead?” It was my first time seeing and hearing JCS in full, and Y’ALL, it has been living rent-free in my brain ever since. I have a mighty need to get my thoughts out, so here they are, in chronological order by song.

1) Prologue: I love the way JCS 2012 makes use of the arena video screen. The production design and concept clearly took a lot of inspiration from the “Occupy ______” movement, which makes it feel a bit dated now. But every single production of JCS is a product of its time period, so this is a feature and not a bug.

2) Heaven On Their Minds: This is a straight-up rock song. It wouldn’t be out of place on any rock and roll album released between 1970 and 2021, and it boggles my mind that Webber and Rice were both in their early twenties when they wrote it. Also, the lyric “You’ve begun to matter more than the things you say” hits hard no matter the year.

3) What’s the Buzz: A+ use of the arena screens again, this time bringing in social media to set the tone. Also, this song establishes right from the outset that Jesus is burnt out and T I R E D by this point in the story. Seriously, can we just let this man have a nap?

4) Strange Thing Mystifying: Judas publicly calls out Mary and Jesus claps back. Folx, get you a partner who will defend your honor the way Jesus defends MM in this scene. Also Jesus loses his shoes and is mostly barefoot for the remainder of the show.

5) Everything’s Alright: Okay, this is one of the songs I have A LOT to say about. First, it’s important to know that I was a church musician throughout all of my adolescence and into my early adulthood. The pianist at the services I usually played at was a top-notch jazz pianist, and also my piano teacher for about six years while I as in high school and undergrad. (Incidentally, I had a HUGE crush on his son, who was/is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist and also played in the church band, but that’s a story for another day.) One of the hymns we played a few times a year was called “Sing of the Lord’s Goodness,” which is notable for being in 5/4 time. Whenever this hymn was on the schedule, it was usually the recessional, or the last song played as the clergy processed out and the congregation got ready to leave, so we were able to have some fun with it. After a couple verses the piano player and his son would usually morph it into “Take Five,” a famous jazz standard by Dave Brubeck which is also in 5/4 time. Anyway, the first time I listened to this song in full, it got to Judas’s line “People who are hungry, people who are starving,” and I sat bolt upright and went “HOLY SHIT THIS IS ‘SING OF THE LORD’S GOODNESS/TAKE FIVE.’” And I was ricocheted back in time to being fourteen and trying to keep up with this father/son duo in a cavernous Catholic church while simultaneously making heart-eyes at the son. Final note: This is the only song in the musical to feature all three leads (Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene) and is mostly Jesus and MM being soft with each other in between bouts of Jesus and Judas snarling at one another.

6) This Jesus Must Die: I LOVE that all the villains in this production are in tailored suits. LOVE IT. Also, Caiaphas and Annas are a comedy duo akin to “the thin guy and the fat guy,” except in this case it’s “the low basso profundo and the high tenor.” Excellent use of the arena video screen again, this time as CCTV.

7) Hosanna: My background as a church musician strikes back again. It honestly took me two or three listens to catch it, but then I had another moment of sitting bolt upright and going “HOLY SHIT THIS IS A PSALM.” Psalms sung in church usually take the form of call-and-response, with a cantor singing the verses and the congregation joining in for the chorus. If I close my eyes during this song, I have no trouble imagining Jesus as a church cantor singing the verses and then bringing the congregation in for the “Ho-sanna, Hey-sanna” chorus.

8) Simon Zealotes: This is part “Gloria In Excelsis” and part over-the-top Gospel song. Honestly it’s not my favorite, but it marks an important mood change in the show. The end of “Hosanna” is probably Jesus at his happiest in the entire show, and then Simon comes in and sours the mood by trying to tip the triumphant moment into a violent one. Jesus is not truly happy again from this moment on.

9) Poor Jerusalem: Also not my fave. It kinda reads like Webber and Rice realized that Jesus didn’t have a solo aria in Act I, so they came up with this. But it has the distinction of containing the lyric, “To conquer death you only have to die,” which is the biggest overarching theme of the story.

10) Pilate’s Dream: Pontius Pilate might be the most underrated role in this entire show, and I love that this production has him singing this song while being dressed in judge’s robes.

11) The Temple: The first half of this is one of the campiest numbers in Act I, at least in this production, and it’s awesome. The second half is one of the saddest, as Jesus tries to heal the sick but finds there are too many of them. Also the whole scene is almost entirely in 7/8 time, which I think is just cool.

12) I Don’t Know How To Love Him: Mary Magdalene’s big aria, and one of the songs I knew prior to seeing the full-length show. This production has MM taking off her heavy lipstick and eye makeup onstage, mid-song, which is kind of cool. Melanie C says in a BTS interview that MM’s makeup is her armor, so this is a Big Symbolic Moment.

13) Damned For All Time: The scene transition into this song is played entirely in pantomime, and I love it. The solo guitarist gets to be onstage for a bit, A+ use of the video screen again to show Judas on CCTV, etc. Love it. And then this song is Judas frantically rationalizing what he’s doing, and what he’s about to do, with Caiphas and Annas just reacting with raised eyebrows and knowing looks.

14) Blood Money: This is where the tone of the show really takes a turn for the dark. I think this might be one of Tim Minchin’s finest moments as Judas, because his facial expressions and microexpressions throughout this scene speak absolute volumes. And the offstage chorus quietly singing “Well done Judas” as he picks up the money is a positively chilling way to end Act I.

15) The Last Supper: Act II begins with major “Drink With Me” vibes. (Except JCS came WAY before Les Miz, so it’s probably more accurate to say that “Drink With Me” has major “The Last Supper” vibes.) Jesus and Judas have their knock-down, drag-out fight, and it’s honestly heartbreaking, thanks again to Tim Minchin’s facial expressions. A well-done production of JCS will really convey that Jesus and Judas were once closer than brothers, even though their relationship is at breaking point when Act I begins.

16) Gethsemane: This is Jesus’s major showpiece and one of my faves. Jesus knows he has less than 24 hours to live, he knows he’s going to suffer, and worst of all, he doesn’t know whether it’s going to be worth it. It’s an emotional rollercoaster to watch and to perform, and it goes on for ages: something like 6 or 7 minutes. Fun fact: the famous G5 is not written in the score. Ian Gillan, who played Jesus on the original concept album, just sang it that way, so most subsequent Jesuses have also done it that way. Lindsay Ellis has a great supercut of this on YT. John Legend notably sang the line as written during the 2018 concert.

17) The Arrest: Judas’s Betrayer’s Kiss is played differently across different productions. The 2012 version is pretty tame - I’ve seen clips and gifs of other productions, including the 2000 direct-to-video version, where they kiss fully on the mouth and have to be dragged apart by the guards and it is THE MOST TENDER THING. Then the 7/8 riff from “The Temple” comes back and the 2012 version lets the video screen do its thing again as Jesus is swarmed by reporters.

18) Peter’s Denial: Not much to say about this one, as it’s basically a scene transition. But it’s a significant moment in the Passion story, so I’m glad they included it.

19) Pilate and Christ: The 2012 production continues with the theme of Caiaphas, Annas, and Pilate all being bougie af, since Pilate intentionally looks like he just came from tennis practice during this scene. Also he does pilates...hehehe.

20) King Herod’s Song: Tim Minchin says in a BTS interview that JCS works best when Jesus and Judas are played seriously and the rest of the production is allowed to be completely camp and wild and bizarre all around them, and he is bloody well CORRECT about that. Case in point: King Herod. There is not a single production of JCS that I know of where Herod is played “straight.” He’s been played by everyone from Alice Cooper to Jack Black, and everyone puts a different zany spin on him. In JCS 2012 he’s a chat show host in a red crushed velvet suit, who is clearly having the time of his LIFE.

21) Could We Start Again Please: This is another of my faves. Just a quiet moment where MM, Peter, and the disciples try to grapple with the fact that Jesus is arrested and things are going very, very badly. This is also my favorite Melanie C moment of the 2012 show. Her grief is very real, and the little moment she has with Peter at the end is very real.

22) Death of Judas: This is basically Tim Minchin screaming for about five minutes, and incredibly harrowing to watch on first viewing.

23) Trial Before Pilate: Possibly my single favorite scene in the entire 2012 production. This is another harrowing watch, but there’s so much to take in. The “set” that the entire show takes place on is essentially just a massive staircase, and the people with power are almost always positioned above the people without power. In this scene, the crowd shouting “Crucify Him!” is positioned above Pilate, which is a very telling clue to Pilate’s psychology during this scene. Jesus is at the very bottom of the stairs, of course. Excellent use of the video screen once again during the 39 Lashes, to show the lash marks building and building until the entire screen is a wash of red. Pilate’s counting also gets more and more frantic, especially starting around “20.” And all the while the guitar riff from “Heaven On Their Minds” is playing. Jesus’s line “Everything is fixed and you can’t change it” is played quite differently in different productions - here it’s defiant, but elsewhere (in JCS 2000 for example) it’s almost tender, like Jesus is absolving Pilate for his part in the trial. But it always ends the same - with Pilate almost screaming as he passes the sentence and “washes his hands” of the whole sorry business.

24) Superstar: The most over-the-top number in the show. Judas, who died two scenes ago, comes back to sing this. There are soul singers. There are girls in skimpy angel costumes. The parkour guys from the prologue are back. Judas pulls a tambourine out of hammerspace midway through the song. And Jesus is silently screaming and crying as he gets hoisted onto a lighting beam while all this is going on.

25) The Crucifixion: More of a spoken-word piece than a song, it’s Jesus’s final words on the cross over eerie piano music, and another harrowing watch.

26) John 19:41: An instrumental piece in which Jesus is taken from the cross and carried, at last, to the top of the stairs, before being lowered out of sight as the video screen turns into a memorial wall and everything fades to black.

So. I know I’m anywhere from three to fifty-one years late to this particular party, but I am on the JCS bandwagon now and I’m thoroughly enjoying myself. :)

#jesus christ superstar #jcs 2012 #jcs is all i have been thinking about all week sorry not sorry #ben forster #tim minchin #melanie c #andrew lloyd webber #tim rice

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hypmicdaydreams · 2 years

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What about Stella by FP?

Amazing. Spectacular. A masterpiece. Need I say more?

I usually don't prefer Fling Posse's songs, but gosh did Stella serve!! I just adore everything about this song, from the mv to the lyrics and story to the vocal performances! I'm such a sucker for anything involving space, especially in a fantasy realm; it's my favorite trope, so needless to say, I was ecstatic with Stella when I first heard it! It has such a magical and whimsical sound to it, and the melodies for each character/planet does make me feel like I'm traveling through space!

Also, I absolutely love love love the story with it! I think how they used it to foreshadow the characters, such as Dice being Otome's son, Ramuda being a scientific experiment, and, well, we're still not on Gentaro yet, is such a genius idea! And the vocal performances as well; I think all the vas did a fantastic job at portraying how alone they felt in the first verses before the ending where it all comes together. And I do love the message how they all meet each other and decide to stick together at the end, to go on the endless journey through space together even when there are so many uncertainties and plausibilities! And that ending when the chorus is sung for the last time, oh gosh, it absolutely hits me in the chest. It has a chokehold on me omg. It just sounds so whimsical!! I adore it sm. The last line too hits me emotionally, and at least in the arb version, I do love the sort of twinkling sound that comes at the end? Idk how to explain it, but I think I've only ever heard it in the arb version, and it's my absolute favorite part because it leaves me with a sense of like longing? because I just finished such a beautiful song?? Lol anyway I'm sure you can tell I'm way too attached to Stella

Fling Posse may be my least favorite group, but I do have to admit that the story with Stella and how they began as a fling out of convenience then became a close group of friends that help one another out is heartwarming!

Anyway, this song transcends words as well, quite literally out of this world! I think it's too legendary to be given a rating because it's in its own category

#asks #mod rambles #rambles a lot actually #many thoughts about this song #music asks

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cursed-or-not · 4 years

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Suptober Day 11: Rock and Roll

Music heard so deeply / That it is not heard at all, but you are the music / While the music lasts

(T.S. Elliot, “The Dry Salvages”)

Cas thinks that of everything humanity has made, music has to be the best.

There have been more impressive creations—buildings meant to reach the stars, codes of law that formed the first societies— but not all masterpieces last.

Humans have never stopped making music.

Cas has always appreciated it for its longevity, but he doesn’t truly understand it until he pulls Dean Winchester from Hell.

It’s a process. At first, Dean can’t make sense of Cas’s voice, a voice that doesn’t sound like music but like martyrdom, like Heaven and holy wars, but slowly, Cas starts to understand the pitch that Dean lives in.

He doesn’t realize that Dean is starting to understand him, too, until later.

“Don’t ever change,” Dean finally tells him, and Cas thinks this was the first time their music converged.

…

They’re sitting in a bar, and Dean is wincing. Cas still doesn’t understand entirely, because he knows Dean likes this song, but Dean keeps saying something about cover bands and bleeding ears, and Cas just smiles along.

“You’ve been quiet,” Dean accuses after another string of complaints about the band, and Cas tilts his head in confusion.

“I don’t want to talk over the music,” Cas says simply.

Dean’s expression holds something soft but fleeting.

“Yeah, well, this isn’t music.”

Dean’s words just confuse Cas further.

“I thought… you liked this song,” Cas says, wracking his brain for the memory of this playing in the car.

Dean shakes his head.

“No, no, no,” he begins, “If you think this is the same as what I made you listen to, then I didn’t teach you very well. Trust me, there’s a difference between a classic song and a shitty garage-band cover of it.”

“Oh,” Cas says in response. He still doesn’t understand.

“Oh?” Dean prompts, seeming to notice Cas’s confusion.

“It’s just… wouldn’t you rather hear a bad version of a good song than nothing?”

Dean considers the question.

“I mean, on principle, no. But you might have a point,” Dean responds. “I guess I’d have to really like the song.”

“And this one? Do you like this one enough?”

Dean thinks about it before responding, “You know, I guess I do.” He huffs a laugh. “I guess music is music, no matter how shitty.”

Cas looks at Dean through startling blue eyes and tries not to think cursed or not.

…

Sometimes, Dean wishes he could hear everything that Cas does.

He wishes Cas spent less time marching to his own beat, to the orders he hears on angel radio, to the music only he can hear.

They try to share it with each other, sometimes. It’s why Cas spent so much time trying to make Dean understand and why Dean spent so much time on a mixtape. But sometimes, they just can’t find it in themselves.

This time, it’s about the nephilim.

Cas is convinced that Lucifer’s son will do something good, something great, even, and Dean isn’t willing to take the chance of him doing the opposite.

It’s hard to be angry.

He knows Cas isn’t lying to them about the future he believes in. When Cas talks about this kid, about the future he saw he could make, something in Cas’s expression turns so hopeful that it makes Dean ache.

It’s not that Dean doesn’t think Cas believes he’s doing the right thing; it’s that Dean can’t convince himself of it.

Whatever brave new world Cas thinks will come from this kid— Dean just can’t see it.

Cas hears music that no one else does.

…

When Cas dies, Dean doesn’t listen to anything for weeks.

The cassettes in the car stay untouched, the records unplayed.

There’s a boy with the blood of Lucifer who they have to save now, too, but Dean doesn’t care because he couldn’t save anyone when it counted, so what’s the point now?

Jack doesn’t know music. It’s not even that he doesn’t know good music; he’s never even heard the bad kind. Someday, someone might teach him, might show him how to drive with it playing and hum it while he fishes, but for now, he doesn’t ask, and no one offers. Dean doesn’t talk to him.

Jack misses Castiel, too. He’s the father he never got to meet, his unknowable savior, and maybe, just maybe, Cas could have taught him. Now, though, everything is silent.

They don’t know where angels go when they die. No one knows, Sam told him, but all that Jack knows is that it has to be somewhere, and he just wants his father.

When he cries out, the universe hears.

Somewhere, there’s music still playing.

…

It’s Thanksgiving, and the bunker buzzes with life.

They don’t do this, don’t celebrate normal holidays, but with the end of the world looming over them, now’s as good a time as any to start.

It’s not just them. Jody and the girls agreed to come, and they’ve made a mess of the kitchen, but no one seems to mind. Garth brought his family, too, and the babies have been looking wide-eyed at the bunker since they arrived. Eileen is due to arrive any minute.

There is happiness in the air, but Dean is terrified.

He knows about the deal.

Today isn’t the first day he’s known, but it’s brought up a whole new wave of fear and grief.

Giddy voices sing from the kitchen, and it’s a song Dean knows he recognizes—something by Pink Floyd—but he can’t bring himself to hear any of it. He’s standing in the doorway of his room, anger preventing him from joining. He feels like he’s living with one foot in and one out.

Cas stands across from him.

“Dean, I know why you won’t join,” Cas says, and Dean lets out a bitter laugh.

“Yeah, I’m sure you do.”

Cas’s brow furrows, and he asks, “Are you angry?”

Dean shrugs, but the way his shoulders move jerkily answers the question.

Cas begins, “I know you think this will make me happy enough to—”

“That’s not the only thing, Cas!” Dean interrupts, and anger has seeped into his voice.

Cas stays silent, waiting for Dean to continue.

“It’s— yeah, I’m worried that today’s gonna make you happy and you’re gonna die in the middle of eating a piece of pumpkin pie,” Dean says, frustrated. “But what about the next time? And the time after that? Are we just gonna make sure you’re always miserable so you don’t die?”

Cas looks at Dean with sadness written on his face.

“Well,” Cas begins, and the calm of his voice contrasts starkly with the sharpness of Dean’s, “I think I’m safe at least until we beat Chuck.”

Dean makes a sound of disbelief.

“So, what then?! We just keep trying to find a way to dust God, and we ignore that it’ll probably kill you?”

Cas blinks.

“Yes,” he responds, and Dean’s face twists with anger.

“If you’re not gonna be around when we save the world, then what the hell are we even fighting for?!” Dean shouts.

Dean’s voice is loud, too loud, and now he can hear a baby crying from the other room. He’s not sure if it’s baby Sam or Castiel, but in the next moment, Jack’s voice filters in from another room where they left him watching the twins sleep. He keeps his voice soft and soothing.

“Shhh, shh, it’s okay. It will be okay,” Jack says gently, and Dean can’t see him, but he’s sure Jack is holding the baby as he speaks. In the next moment, the crying has stopped.

The music from the kitchen is still playing.

“Them,” Cas answers then, and any frustration has melted from his voice. “We’re fighting for them.”

...

Some days, it all comes back to the mixtape.

It doesn’t matter what else there is; it doesn’t matter that there’s still God to fight or a deal to cheat, and it doesn’t matter that there’s fear and grief or anything other than love. On days like this, it all comes down to the music between them.

They’re in the car together, and they’re on the second to last song of the mixtape, but Dean doesn’t think he’s heard a single word of it.

It’s not that they’re speaking over it; every time they play the mixtape, Cas listens like he’ll never get another chance, but just because there are no actual words drowning it out doesn’t mean there’s nothing distracting Dean.

Something hangs in the air between them that’s louder than the music, and when Dean finally catches Cas’s eye in the passenger seat next to him, the notes all shatter.

“Cas—”

“I know.”

It’s a simple response, and Dean almost has to laugh at it because of course Cas knows.

Before Dean can tell him anything else that he already knows, and before he’s quite sure what he’s doing, Dean’s pulling the car over.

If Cas already knows, then—

“Cas, can I—”

“Please.”

And that’s all it takes.

There’s a moment of waiting, a break before the chorus, and then they meet in the middle.

It’s soft where they come together, but it’s not so tentative that Dean doesn’t feel his heart race. Neither intends to waste a second of this, and when they draw back for air, their cheeks are flushed.

“I’m sorry,” Cas blurts as they pull away, and for the life of him, Dean can’t imagine why he’s apologizing.

“You’re sorry?” Dean questions, still not quite trusting himself to string too many words together.

“The mixtape,” Cas says, still breathing heavier than usual. “You made me the mixtape, and I never got you anything in return.”

Dean almost laughs at Cas’s sincerity and timing, but when he responds, Dean’s voice is low and just as sincere.

“Don’t say you never got me anything,” Dean breathes, and then he pulls Cas in for another kiss.

It’s short and gentle, but Dean already can’t imagine how he’s gone so many years without this.

“Kisses aren’t an actual gift,” Cas says skeptically, but the way he leans closer to Dean takes away some credibility from the statement. “Not like the mixtape.”

“Cas, I hate to say it,” Dean responds, “but you’re better than rock and roll.”

It doesn’t matter that the song’s almost over, or that they still have a world to save, because Cas’s hand is in Dean’s. Maybe there’s the Empty waiting around the corner, but here, there is music.

For now, this is enough.

#suptober20 #destiel #deancas #destiel fanfic #destiel fic #castiel #dean winchester #spn fanfic #spn #Supernatural #the empty #mixtape #so this isnt my best writing but i.... poured my heart n soul into this #my suptober stuff #mine

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theaspers · 4 years

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sappy love songs for the romantics ✨

thank u for participating in my scientific research that was honestly just me looking for new songs to listen and write very corny and very lame fics to hehe

— that’s where it is | mammon

his grip around your wrist is tight as he tugs you along. he’s too fast, way too fast for you, but you’re way too high on adrenaline and the way his loud laugh rings and melds with yours to care. you can’t feel anything but a swelling happiness inside you, so much so that it almost hurts, and the sting of the cold devildom night air as it rushes against your cheeks.

“mammon!” you yell, between laughter and gasps for air, “this is all your fault!”

and it is. always getting into trouble, always dragging you along with him somehow. curfew is creeping close and when you get back, lucifer will probably be ready with an earful but there’s not a single part of you that cares at the moment.

“hey!” he counters over the pounding of both your footsteps, “you were there too!”

you laugh again, “shut up! now hurry, before they catch up!”

he comes to a grinding halt, grin mischievous as you stumble into him with a loud cry of pain. before you can complain, he leans over to press his lips against yours. when he pulls away, there’s a glint in his eyes that’s captivating.

he beams as he tangles his fingers with yours and starts back up again, “i’m not gonna come back for you if you fall behind so you better hurry up!”

— can i have this dance | diavolo

this is the third time, you think, and it doesn’t seem like diavolo’s keen on stopping any time soon. one of your hands is still clasped gently in his, the other resting on his arm. his hold around you is steady, and there’s a twinkle in his eyes that’s even brighter than the blinding golden lights of the ballroom. it is indulgence in its finest definition, the future king of the devildom against gilded decor and bright reds and pink petals of roses with eyes only for you.

by now, the murmur of the crowds have returned, a constant thrumming over the smooth music that’s playing but you hear none of it. he’s been whispering charming little secrets into your ears, voice low and soft, silly observations about his guests, his plans for later on in the night. it’s exhilarating, the happiness that fills you is unlike no other.

“they’re all talking about you,” he tells you, grinning, pride lacing his voice.

you laugh as he guides you into a sweeping motion, footsteps fluid as he does, “i think they’re talking about you.”

when he pulls you close again, you return his grin, “but i don’t blame them.”

— can’t help falling in love (light version) // state of grace | simeon

when you see finally see simeon again, everything stops.

the time, your breath, the tiniest specks of dust suspends. the loud trumpets, the rushing winds, the fanfare comes to a still. there is only you and him and a rush of overwhelming emotions that crashes over you.

there’s a knot in your throat, painful and difficult to swallow around, a stinging in your eyes but the tears never come. seeing him - looking as wonderful as ever, resplendent in all his golden glory, the breathless beauty that you remembered him to be - is cathartic. laughter leaves your lips slowly, quietly, as you fumble, stumble your way into his embrace. his steps are as clumsy as you are feeling.

everything comes rushing back as soon as he draws you close, a non-violent violent crashing of bodies and limbs and emotions long pushed away. and it’s good. his embrace, the way his arms wrap around you. his laughter, pleasant like the ringing of chimes in the wind. his steady heartbeat, beating at the same pace as yours. the words spilling out of his mouth, of reassurance and comfort and love. nothing could be better.

— it’s not living if it’s not with you | leviathan

he looks.

always for you, always to you.

he’s lying on his back on his floor, eyes following the curls and waves of blue that spills across his room, fingers thrumming against his abdomen. even now, his attention is all on you.

your rapt attention is on your phone, watching something that he’d recommended. you’re close. close enough that he can feel your warmth against his side. if he just reached over, he would be able to-

he can’t even finish the thought before his face burns.

he gives into the urge and yells out loud and you jerk in surprise, a small yelp leaving your lips.

“what’s wrong?” you ask, eyebrows furrowed.

a lot of things, he wants to say, like how nice you look in this light and how your laughter has snuck under his skin and he saves them for moments you’re not around and how he just likes having you around. but even thinking about those things has him flustered and on the cusp of shutting down so he just launches into a rant about the show he has you watching instead.

— white blood | beel

beel doesn’t make it all go away.

it has nothing to do with him. everything about him is big - himself, his appetite, his emotions, his love. encompassing, engulfing. it helps, even if he does not realise it. but the exhaustion is bone-deep and too heavy for that - the weight of the worlds, endless thoughts that do not tire as they run in your mind, things you need to do and the things you have yet to do and the things you want to do.

it would be easy to slip away unnoticed, you think. to dissipate into the hustle and bustle of dinner prep, the hiss and sizzle and crackle of steam and oil and fire, beel’s occasional murmuring as he worked over a huge pot of dinner. nothing’s shaking off the biting coldness that you’ve been feeling, not even the usually welcoming warmth of the kitchen.

but he turns to you, eyes twinkling in anticipation, holding out a spoonful of the meal he’s been working on for the past hour and it’s grounding.

he doesn’t make it all go away, but that’s okay.

— just wanna be with you | demon brothers

this is nothing if not the epitome of unbreakable bonds: the brothers all sitting around you, chatting and laughing about mundane things over take-out. no one says anything about the dinner attempts that’s staining the kitchen counters, or at the bottom of a burnt pan or splattered over the walls. not even lucifer. no one says anything about your impending departure either, but it’s a gray cloud hanging over the room that’s easy enough to ignore over levi and mammon’s bickering.

there’s a softness around everyone’s eyes, a lightness about them that you’ve only just noticed - for just this moment, everyone is content. longing curls around your heart, squeezing lightly. oh how you wished you could save this moment, keep it close. it’s between a chorus of laughter that the thought comes to you - there’s nowhere else you would rather be.

— symphony | lucifer

lucifer’s hummed midway through a song you’ve been singing under your breath for the past week before it clicks. it’s an odd little tune, and along with it comes an odd little thought: when was the last time he felt this free?

but it isn’t just him. even now, as he stops to think, you’re everywhere. in the squabbling between mammon and asmo, in the music that’s echoing throughout the house, in the low hum of the kitchen appliances. the house is no longer so quiet, so tense. it is one of the undeniable traces, proof, of the lives you’ve somehow managed to change in the short amount of time you’ve been here. levi’s and satan’s and beel’s and belphie’s and his.

he leans back and sighs but does not stop the small smile from curling on his lips. he’s never been too fond of anything too loud but this. he could live with.

— adore you | asmo

a downright shame that it’s always dark in the devildom, you think, because asmo looks good in the setting sun. loud and beautiful against pink and purple and reds, the best shades, the perfect shades for him. you just can’t look away.

he’s leaning against you, comfortable. he’s talking about something that happened to him in the past, smooth voice carried away by the cool evening winds. one of his pinkies is still curled around yours and cradled close. his laughter is a siren’s song. addictive. and it’s. how do you even explain how you’re feeling in this moment?

your icecream is melting, and your palm already feels sticky, and you should probably just throw it out. but instead, you lean over to press your lips against his, bursts of strawberry and lemon, tacky and soft.

#obey me #obey me swd #obey me imagines #obey me x reader

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freddieslater · 3 years

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Rowing the Rarepair Rowboat: Luke Patterson x Willie (Julie and the Phantoms)

Requested by @phoenixfidelity

Luke can't help but be distracted every so often. He can tell that it's starting to get on the rest of the bands nerves every time he misses a chord or he accidentally glances away from the lyrics so he misses a word and then the whole thing is forced to an abrupt halt. He's really trying to stay focused.

Usually it's a piece of cake! He loves the band and he loves playing, because he gets so lost in the music that he forgets the rest of the world exists half the time.

He catches sight of Willie out of the corner of his eye again as they're building up to the chorus of the new song they've been working on. Luke resists the urge to look away from the notebook in front of him.

His fingers keep moving determinedly... while his eyes dart off to the side. It's just a split second, then they're right back on the page, and he hasn't missed anything!

But his mind is quickly taken over by the brief glimpse of Willie that he got. He's just sitting cross-legged on the studio floor, hair tied up in a messy bun, nodding along to their music while he paints. While wearing one of Luke's hoodies. He found it lying on the back of the couch when they came in and he said he was cold, and so he asked if he could borrow it, and Luke wasn't going to say no, was he? That would be rude!

Besides, the orange actually really suits him. It matches the streaks of yellow paint on his cheeks--

Luke quickly glances back over. Sure enough, there is actually paint smeared across Willie's face. And a paintbrush in his mouth while he carefully paints with a different one. He's so focused, his eyebrows scrunched, his foot tapping to the beat on his knee--

Luke catches the mess up in his chords but not before he can stop it. He abruptly stops playing, the rest of the band once again halting along with him.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to--" He takes a deep breath and looks determinedly down at his guitar. "Let's just go again, yeah? I'll get it this time, I promise."

"Yeah, I don't think you will," Julie says, and Luke's surprised to find her smiling rather than being mad about it. She and the rest of the band share a look.

"Probably better if we take a break for now," Reggie agrees, clearly trying to suppress a smile of his own and failing miserably as he lifts his bass strap over his head.

"I'm... getting kinda hungry anyway," Alex lies, nodding way too eagerly.

Willie looks up for the first time since their last brief pause. "Are you guys done?"

Another look is shared. Luke shakes his head vigorously, staring at them all in disbelief.

"No! No, we're not! Come on, we still have to practice this song or else we're not gonna have it ready for tomorrow!"

"You'll be fine!" Flynn assures him, hooking an arm around Julie's shoulders. "You guys sounded great! Well... most of the time."

"Yeah, you were really good," Willie agrees, beaming at them with such sincerity that Luke's heart melts under the rays of sunshine he radiates when he turns it on him.

He barely notices Reggie muttering, "And that's our cue..." and the four of them scattering around the studio, and practically leaving the two of them alone.

Luke doesn't know why they're acting like this. So, yeah, he keeps getting distracted from the music. But he's trying to stay focused! It's not exactly going to help if the rest of them just decide to give up!

He sighs and decides he may as well put his own guitar aside for the moment.

"You okay?" Willie asks with a slight laugh, but his eyes are concerned when Luke glances up at him.

His stomach flips over like a pancake. It's weird but it's been doing that a lot lately and he can't seem to figure out why. Maybe he's coming down with something? That would be super inconvenient timing considering they have a gig tomorrow!

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Luke says, but even he feels like he's somehow lying even as he tries for a grin.

Willie isn't buying it either. He takes a moment to think, his eyebrows only creasing the tiniest bit this time as his thumb rubs a circle into the crease of his elbow. Luke finds the movement strangely calming to watch.

Then it stops, and Willie lights up. "Well, since you guys are... taking a break for the time being, do you wanna help me with this?"

Luke finally tries to take a proper look at what he has actually been doing this entire time as Willie moves over to sit beside him on the couch.

There's a poster -- multiple, actually, as well as what Luke swears is a pile of what were once his guitar picks. He doesn't really play his acoustic too much anymore because it never sounds right with any of their songs, and his fingers just got used to the feel of the strings on his electric, so there wasn't ever really a use for them anymore.

Willie notices him picking up one of the plectrums and turns sheepish. "I found them lying about in here and thought they could use a little... sprucing up." He shrugs. "I didn't think anyone would really mind."

Luke shakes his head and grins as he picks up another in amazement. Each one is painted, and not just a solid colour, but a whole piece of art is painted onto each one. Scenes of bridges with the sunset behind them, fields full of vibrant plants, a starry night sky, a gh--

Luke raises his eyebrows at him. "Is this meant to be me?"

Willie peers at the one he's holding up which features a ghost silhouette wearing an orange beanie with a guitar strapped around its translucent little body.

"Yep," Willie confirms, then breaks out into another sheepish laugh. "I got a little bored of the fancy designs, and I thought that it would be funny, seeing as how you're, you know, Julie and the Phantoms."

"So," Luke glances at the pile of plectrums, "did you do one for all of us?"

"I haven't gotten around to it yet. I wanted to start with you 'cause I figured you'd make the cutest ghost. With the beanie and all."

Luke's stomach does the thing again. And he swears his face is burning up. He better not be getting a fever, because the thought of getting sick right before a gig is giving him a little too much deja vu.

"Does that mean you don't think I'm a cute ghost when I'm not wearing the beanie?" Luke teases, mock serious.

Willie laughs, caught in surprise by the question. But he shakes his head, gazing at Luke with creases around his eyes and a soft smile.

"No way. It's, like, totally impossible for you to not be cute."

Luke laughs as well now and gives him a gentle push, his hand lingering on Willie's arm. "Shut up."

"I got you smiling, at least," Willie points out.

"Yeah, well." Luke doesn't really have anything else to say because he's right.

He looks at him for a second as Willie shifts his attention back down to the posters and plectrums. Luke doesn't mean to stare, but there's something about watching his fingers move that feels... comforting, even when they're just moving a stray bit of hair behind his ear.

"Have you ever played guitar?" Luke blurts out without thinking.

Willie looks back up in surprise but shakes his head. "No. I like listening to music and sometimes performing with Caleb was fun but that was only ever singing. I've never really gotten the hang of an instrument. Takes too long to figure it all out."

"What if I helped?" Luke asks, not fully sure why he's offering. "I'm not saying perform with us. I'm just saying it could be a fun hobby, if you had someone helping you figure it all out."

Willie considers it then shrugs, beaming at him again. Luke's beginning to think he needs sunglasses just to be around him because he finds himself grinning back before Willie's even answered.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do it! But I will warn you, I'm not the most patient person."

"Good thing I am then," Luke says.

"No he's not!" Reggie shouts over to them from the other couch in the corner.

Luke glares at him but Reggie just raises his hands with a confused expression as if to say, what did I do?!

Rolling his eyes as Willie laughs, Luke says, "Don't listen to him. We can practice later and use my old acoustic, that way it'll be a bit easier and you can use one of your awesome designer picks."

He gestures to the pile and Willie scans over them, looking for one to use. Then he picks up the one with the ghost version of Luke on it.

"A great choice, if I do say so myself," Luke says, grinning. "Now, what are we painting?"

Willie hands him a paintbrush and one of the posters. He explains the design and they both start working on them. At some point in between Luke finishing one and Willie just adding a few last touches to his own, Luke tries experimenting on one of the blank picks himself.

When he shows it to Willie, his eyebrows raise and he almost doesn't seem to know what to say for a second. Then his face splits into a smile of pure joy and Luke doesn't think he's ever felt so pleased with himself as he does watching Willie gush over the little ghost hovering over a skateboard like it's the best thing he's seen.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #luke x willie #willie x luke #luke patterson #willie #willie jatp #rowing the rarepair rowboat #myedit*#phoenixfidelity #this is such a cute pairing though??#they would be disaster dorks together and I love that for them

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doomedandstoned · 3 years

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Cassius King Drums Up Hard Driving New LP, ‘Field Trip’

~By Tom Hanno~

In the doom/stoner metal circles, the name Dan Lorenzo has become synonymous with his Vessel of Light project, but there is more to this prolific guitarist than just that band. From his days in Hades to Non- Fiction to Vessel of Light, Dan has laid his trademark work to many albums, and now he presents us with an album of original music from his latest project, CASSIUS KING. 'Field Trip' (2021) will be out next week and is, in my opinion, a must-have album.

For a bit of historical context, I want to add that Dan has been using the Cassius King name for years, from his debut solo album to his endless cover song CDs with various lead vocalists; but it wasn't until 2021 when Lorenzo decided to make an all-original album with vocalist Jason McMaster (Watchtower, Dangerous Toys, Broken Teeth, Howling Sycamore, Ignitor). This decision stemmed from the Covid-19 pandemic keeping Vessel of Light from touring in support of their Last Ride album, with Dan also feeling that fans weren’t ready for a fifth VoL album without touring the last one.

Ironically enough, the song “Join the Exodus”, which we’ll talk about later in this review, was originally written during the recording/writing sessions for the second Vessel of Light album, Woodshed. Dan tells me that, “I actually recorded the music to the song Join the exodus for the Vessel of Light album Woodshed. I wrote so many songs that Nathan forgot about it. So then Ron ended up playing on it, and it just sat there for two years until Jason sang on it. It’s probably one of my favorite songs on the album.”

Despite the connection to Vessel of Light, I don't recommend jumping in thinking you're getting music that is just like them; there's obviously going to be a comparison because of Dan, but it's not an overly large one. Cassius King is less doom, even though there’s a definite Black Sabbath sound, and Jason McMaster has more in common with singers like Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and Dio, than he does with Nathan Opposition; who, as you know, provides his own awesome vocal style to the Vessel of Light albums.

Jason McMaster explains further, by saying that "It was the kind of material I had been wanting to do for a long time. It feels a bit like Ozzy and Dio playing poker over some leftover Sabbath material. The melodies came to me quickly, as well as some of the lyrics. Things I already had fit the visions I had upon first listen and it all flowed immediately. I would not call it a full "doom" application of terms, but its heavy, it reminds me of what I love about Sabbath and Dio songs."

Now that we have an idea on what we’re getting into, let’s begin talking about the best tracks on the album. We'll start with the aforementioned song, “Join the Exodus.” This is the one track where I will draw that direct line to Vessel of Light, and I had thought so even before Dan shared its origins with me.

Beginning with a heavy intro, with the guitars playing a stripped down version of the main verse riff, and Jason singing:

TEARS ON THE TRACKS IN A RACE, EMOTION GLEAM AROUND THE BEND I TASTE THE RAIN DROPS AS THEY TRICKLE DOWN MY FACE AGAIN REMINDS ME OF THE SAND FALLING FROM THE HOURGLASS TIME DISAPPEARS WITHOUT A TRACE.

Jason’s vocals are performed with such conviction, such power, that you can get the idea that he’s really really feeling what he’s saying, which helps make the song seem more honest than it would if he was just “phoning it in.” This goes without even mentioning the Dio influences in the lyrics themselves, and in certain areas of his performance here.

Musically speaking, this track is heavy, with a strong groove, which really makes sense because of the era of its beginnings. Woodshed had that heavy groove throughout the album. As always, Dan has a phenomenal guitar sound, and even if you didn’t know it was him on this, you’d still know that it was him within moments after hitting play.

Towards the end of the album, we find a song that is titled, "Six," which had a working title that Dan told me came from the way the intro guitar part had sounded to him.

"And I didn’t tell anybody else this," he confided, "but the working title for the song 'Six' was 'Randy,' because I thought that opening riff sounded more like Randy Rhoads than me! Not sure if you agree, but just a little bit of knowledge on the track."

I can definitely hear that Randy sound in the intro riff, but, in my opinion, it doesn't really sound like that iconic guitarist as we get much further into the track. In all honesty, I hear more of a Kiss meets Black Sabbath vibe once the riff opens up for the verse.

Jason really brings in that Dio vibe with his vocal performance, and it shows exactly why Dan partnered up with him for this album. Between Jason, Jimmy Schulman, and Ron Lipnicki, Dan put together an immensely talented band for this album, and they all absolutely crushed it on this track.

One of my favorite tracks is titled, "Apocalyptic Nations," which just so happens to be my favorite song on the record. This tune opens up with some tribal influenced drumming, and is a perfect way to bring in the album. I think of Judas Priest's Painkiller when an album opens this way. Lyrically, this song could be about many things, but I catch a Stephen King influence in there, with his book The Stand.

TRASH MY NAME ACROSS YOUR SEAS YOU CONTROL MY DESTINY BRINGING FATES UNKNOWN TO ME LEGENDARY, WHEN PEOPLE USED TO DREAM ANCIENT STORIES OF THE TRAVELIN' MAN YOU WILL BELIEVE

If you've ever read The Stand, you'll know that the villain, Randall Flagg, is known as "The Walking Dude" and that he is hell bent on destroying civilization through terror, violence, and death. The lyrics really could be about this "Man in Black," as he's also called, but it could just as easily be about a government that is just as hell bent on the same things as Randall.

As per his usual modus operandi, Dan pours his all into the riffs contained within "Apocalyptic Nations." They create the power needed to propel Jason’s vocals into the stratosphere, while also leaving the perfect amount of room for the other instruments to shine through.

The last track that I'd like to bring up is "Below the Stone," and is one of my two top picks from this album; with the other being "Apocalyptic." The riffs have a sweet little groove to them, and are, once again, the perfect vehicle for the vocal work. I'm unsure of what the lyrical content is about, but the execution, and the arrangement, makes this song shine, really standing out from the others. This chorus section really exemplifies what I mean:

OH, OH, OH, WE PRAY FOR THE LIGHT WE MAGNIFY ALL HOPE AND THE SEARCH WILL BEGIN BELOW THE STONES THE SECRETS LIVE AND BREATH OH, OH, OH, WE PRAY FOR THE LIGHT

Field Trip will be out in digital format July 23rd, with compact disc and vinyl due out this October. The CD will include two bonus tracks, a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Out on the Tiles" (Dan actually plays the bass and guitar on this cover). and Cheap Trick's "Big Eyes." The other ten tracks are all original tunes. I have an earlier Cassius King CD that Dan sent me, which is full of cover songs, and hearing them attack these originals is really great for me.

To sum it up in one short sentence: you need this album. Pre-orders will be announced soon via Nomad Eel Records, so get ready for that and I'll see you in the next review really soon. Enjoy!

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#D&S Reviews #Cassius King #Dan Lorenzo #New Jersey #metal #heavy metal #Tom Hanno #Nomad Eel Records #Doomed and Stoned

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sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 3 years

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Croatia brings no men in a hamster wheel to Rotterdam 2021

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Now could this be the teddy bear uprising invasion Muse has warned us about 12 years ago?

And LITERALLY, these review series make me feel like Croatia is openly taunting me - I watch the days go, I’m losing track of time, and when another day comes, I’m screaming “oh no I forgot to publish a review sooner than wanted!!”. Guess I’m for one glad there’s a time related song this year, hum?

ARTIST & ENTRY INFO

Repping the Adriatic coast nation that got all the sea instead of Bosnia & Herzegovina is some 22 year old Albina Grčić, who first popped up on X Factor Adria back when that was a thing, and got lumped into a girlgroup in later stages, but to that she said “hvala ne” and moved on with her life, getting eliminated just like that. Queen <3 She did get her second chance to compete as a soloist and make a more prominent mark on her career when she ended up on The Voice in Croatia. She did well, placing third overall in the season, but somehow, during the duel stage, her coach initially favoured her fellow Dora 2021 contestant Filip Rudan:

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Her Voice success landed her a record deal with the Croatian division of Universal Music, she released a debut single, sometime later ended up on Dora, and here she is now, on Eurovision.

“Tick-Tock” is the song, a standard upbeat pop song, and one of the ones that talks about a girl leaving a terrible relationship and being so well over it that she “found [her]self and [she’s] finally free”, and the “tick-tock” here is used to represent the time passing by, not the sound of her heart, unlike a fellow ESC entry of a similar title. The tune (or its lyrics only) is co-authored by some dude you might’ve heard of from France’s 2018 preselection Destination Eurovision, and that is Max Cinnamon - some half-English guy with a half English song about love (”Ailleurs”) that did moderately averagely in the final... I don’t even know if his influence shows, I just love how 2021 has sort of become revenge of the NF flops but they’re writing other entries instead (Suzi P, “Adrenalina”).

REVIEW

I often don’t really fully vibe with female bops in Eurovision as much as I want to, like, for the most part they’re overhyped, and I let the “yass queeeeen” audience gorge on the everything their favourite bops give them. But this year there are plenty of great ones to choose from, as I think that it’s safe to say that most, if not all, are tucked in somewhere inside my top 20, top 25 at the very minimum. Croatia managed to even do the impossible and land into my top 10.

Why?

Well, the answer is that the song is just so damn good.

I mean, what’s NOT to like about it? It’s a catchy and upbeat song that incorporates xylophones (or whatever is it that sounds like them), guitars and synths; has a good bassline in the chorus; and it’s just... a very good composition overall, like, all the instruments in it are just in their right place and uplift the song massively. I also like Albina’s performance on it, both live and studio, it clearly shows that she’s a very good singer (also shown on her cover of the scandalous Oscar award snubbery “Husavik”). Sounds like a song a common pop loving Eurofan could gear themselves towards. Besides, it also has possibly my favourite pre-chorus section of the 2021 year? Oh wait, there’s also Switzerland, scratch that. “Tick-Tock” has one of my favourite pre-chorus sections of 2021. It builds up so well instrumentally and the way Albina sings it is even better. I obviously like to believe Albina heard those voices from far away that helped her to escape, has found herself, and she’s finally free from her “partner’s” bad lovin’ and restraint. Yas queen go be free you didn’t deserve his tomfoolery anyway! 👏 (Also I admire a section that’s not quite the pre-chorus but is still before the 1st chorus, the one that goes “If you pull me down then I'll come around” - literally just a lot of the parts of the song are full of nice vocal performance and I don’t regret ranking this in my top 10 not a second.)

If it has any drawbacks, it’s just that it gets a tad too repetitive after the halfway mark... like, the pre-chorus before the second chorus is the one to be repeated once again, and no new verse, nothing - but it does launch itself into something extraordinary, and that is a chorus in Croatian, which I assume she would perform in Eurovision because there’s no Eurovision version on the song promo bundle, I suppose. Comparatively the Croatian chorus is not as complex in lyrics as the English language one, and flows slightly differently too. But the song still has a long chorus by the end, and song with too many choruses is never a good sign for those that look for a song that’s constructed well, but I guess it’s a good factor for those that value the song’s catchiness. I guess that’s what one of the two Eurovision 2005 hosts valued the most when writing the Ukrainian 2006 entry “Show Me Your Love”, which if you ask me, is straight up 75% chorus, lol.

So yeah my verdict is that almost everything about this song, I like. I’m just a little devastated that in a usually very easily gorged on category of female bops, this just tends to lag behind in love, like a fellow song I really like this year, Israel. Instead people tend to prioritize Cyprus (which I get because they’ve established themselves as a girlbanger nation since Fuego swept Eurovision) and... probably even Azerbaijan? (which I might also get because Eurovision rarely has this thing called an ethnobop anymore, and it has more ethno than “Cleopatra” did, but still unnecessarily underwhelming lol.) Well then, in a year of female bangers, I would just like Croatia to not be swept under the rug come semis I guess. Yeah “Tick-Tock” may not sound like it brings something totally never seen before in a Eurovision environment (foreign language lyrics, themes about a break up, hell even her dancers looked like they were wearing the same hats as Tamta’s dancers), but you got to have a lot in you to sell a worn out idea to the new heights, and Albina does exactly that in my eyes.

Approval factor: Yeah! There is a lot of it in here for me. Follow-up factor: A great follow-up, not so great in regards to panini but musically it’s just going up and up from what we had in the past few years. I’ve actually not minded “The Dream” for the most part but I knew it was a chanceless plodding ballad and Roko harboured heaps of wasted potential working with Jacques Houdek and having wings as part of his performance, uff. *_* And then there’s “Divlji vjetre” which I also like a lot - a much better male ballad winner choice! If the Dora re-up winners keep being decent imo just like this, I have a feeling I will follow it a lot more often than I did just this one time this year. I am just saying that panini-wise, it was a sucky move from HRT for not allowing their last year’s winner promote his new song with Tijana (from Serbia 2017) on the Dora night, so we sadly only heard a pre-recorded opening version of “Divlji vjetre” to start off with :( Otherwise I think it’s not Dora’s fault in itself that Damir himself chose not to even submit an entry this year because he hadn’t found a good one - much like with Diodato for Sanremo (he was NOT rejected, if you think he still was, shush). But aside that, musically, it just keeps going up for me. Well done Croatia, for you’ve used to be a Eurovision country I don’t necessarily care about, that you brought two pretty damn good entries in a row. Qualification factor: I can absolutely trust in Albina bringing in a little bit of her charisma and well-likedness, and on top of that, a great vocal performance, in Rotterdam. Don’t ask me why, I just do. She doesn’t really perform her song live on pre-parties as much as I’d like to hope she would, but you heard girlie on the national selection, she didn’t win for nothing. Yeah yeah there might as well be female uptempo songs hungrier for the last spot, but I’d like to think Albina is one of the ones ready to devour than to be devoured. Go girl! Take us all dancing!

NF CORNER

To be honest with you, “Tick-Tock” winning Dora caught me by surprise. Ever since its re-up, the last two editions were kind of won by male ballads, and maaaaybe the dancey females were doing moderately well enough for themselves, but not overall? But look, juries were very keen on Albina, probably because she can SANG and she creates one hell of a fancy presence on her performance. And somehow she ended up snatching a win out of the hands of 5G conspiracy theorist 2016 representative Nina Kraljić, who was at first too drunk to care, but too unexpectedly sober to yell all over the soc. media how she was robbed and how the contest was rigged against her with her being on first and all that. Which is a shame that she is one of THOSE people, because her NF entry “Rijeka” is kinda nice? We did have the Balkan-esque ballads coming from Croatia in recent memory, but we haven’t had a truly proudly folksy one at that from Croatia for a long while, if not ever. Nina could’ve very well brought that to Rotterdam (and another mismatched wardrobe choice oops). But instead she was the one screaming “oh no, oh no, oh no”.

Actually I regarded Nina as one of my faves pre-show, and Albina was on her way, though she didn’t really cement the personal fav status until after all performances, thus making Nina and Albina switch spots for me. But truly, the one song that was my top favourite, iiiiiiiiiiis

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GIMME AN OCEAN! OF LOVE!

2021 made me realize that damn, maybe anything that’s funky is my favourite music genre afterall. Up until then I vibed with entries like “Tonight Again” and “What’s the Pressure?” that had this sort of energetic flair and very rhythmic kinda sound to it, but 2021 just simply cemented it to me that my music world has probably been about nice and smooth and funky all along. I owe so much gratitude to ToMa first and foremost along the lines of more to have come in this year’s lineups - I just can’t not want to dance to “Ocean of Love”, and ToMa is quite alright at selling it live as well. There are small gripes with some instrument usages but that doesn’t detract from the fact that I love love LOVE funky guitar tunes.

Aside from that, I can give shout outs to Beta Sudar, whose song not only was underrated, but also had an underrated meme format throughout its performance:

My other props go to Bernarda, who not only competed in a national selection singing a song about seeing “Colors” while blind (and ironically there was a song called “Blind” in that same NF sung by a well-seeing guy!!), but also for finally putting this every country’s reject to rest. Seriously. That particular song was passed on to everyone in need of a competitive Eurovision bop, from Poli Genova to Helena Paparizou as of recently. Oh well, at least the song died a honourable death - well performed slice of good typical Eurovision pop (maybe even overperformed a little towards the end), that got a good rank with the regional juries, but somewhat murdered in televote, fellow Boris Milanov composition “Chameleon” style.

This one Mia Negovetić chick was promising too! Her song was written by the Debs and you might be tired of them trying to continue infiltrating Eurovision at this point, but a lot of their Eurovision songs are usually something I enjoy, “She’s Like a Dream” is no exception. Nothing but 3 minutes of pastel-dressed Croatian Ariana Grande doing what she does best <3

Oh and also some dudes tried to play chess on stage too I guess. But their song is not worth looking into, because one of the acts on it is apparently also a conspiracist, and maybe because oft this their entry is aptly titled “Sing, for the freedom has arrived!” lol I wonder what exactly is the kind of freedom you’re thinking of my guy

Was this the “better mood game” Laura was warning everyone about? Beats me

NF CORNER (NON-COMPETITIVE)

• It’s still hilarious to me as to how one of the acts this year, Brigita Vuco, was planning to bring in backing dancers, only for them to show a fake COVID test or something and outright BARRED from coming with her on stage. <3 Whatever she intended to do with them dancers, I have absolutely no idea, but at least she committed to her song being about drunken nights visually by having all these blurry shots

• Nina Kraljić’s greenroom shenanigans, from the “1-2-3, 1-2-3, drink” to numb the sadness over some results (and the 8 she got from the region Rijeka for the song “Rijeka” lmao), to whatever she saw on the phone that made her smile or go neutral

• Greenroom reactions in general. I swear, this year had cameramen in every single corner everywhere just to make sure something covers up for a human audience instead of severals of Zoom screens permitted to act as an audience. Random people in greenrooms were doing some sort of emotions after random acts, and also randomly they ended up pointing a camera towards an act that lost, but the act didn’t treat losing as if it were such a big deal <3

• All the other memes the Croatian Twitter might’ve noticed me for:

seriously Bernarda was locked in a bluelight mathematical dice contraption. how fucking cool is that

ANY LAST WORDS?

I just fucking hope that Albina shatters any doubts that people have had about her song come rehearsals, and somehow Croatia AND Israel slip through, because never too many female bangers I appreciate in the final, if they all are the bangers I appreciate, lol.

#eurovision #eurovision 2021 #rotterdam 2021 reviews #croatia #Albina Grčić #albina #tick-tock

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taehyung-rambles · 3 years

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Who Was the Center in Each BTS Era? (Up to Permission to Dance)

As an opening statement, I’m gonna advise anyone reading this to look at my blog to see if I’ve done this with the B-sides yet because I plan to in the future, which should be a pretty interesting post.

So, this post is exactly what it sounds like. As if I haven’t gone through the BTS eras enough on this blog (and I will continue to do so), we’re going through them again because sometimes I just wanna binge all the BTS music videos. What we’re gonna do is look at a few different options for who ended up being the center--if their was one--for all the BTS eras.

Those options will be: no center, center, co-centers, secondary center(s), and MV center(s).

Before anyone else says it: I know Jungkook is the center of BTS, but BTS have always been really flexible with their positions, and believe it or not, Jungkook isn’t the sole center most of the time. So, that’s why this post can even be a thing.

A couple things to bear in mind here: this is not based on line distribution. This will apply to the B-sides more than the singles, but there are times--even with BTS singles--where one member may not be the most represented within the song, but they were clearly chosen to center or co-center the song. Of course, more times than not, the center or centers are the most represented, but not always. There’s one high-profile one toward the end in which that is the case. Obviously, when I say “secondary centers,” that means that the member isn’t as prominent in the era as they would be if they were a co-center, as this would mean they and one or more of the other members are equally sharing the load.

This list also has zero to do with biases. I bias Taehyung like nobody’s business, but--and I’ll say it upfront now--he’s not been the center in very many instances (at least, not in the BTS singles; if you’d like to know about his time being the center in the B-sides, check that post out). Also, I’m considering almost all aspects of BTS’s eras when making these decisions. I’m thinking about the MV, I’m thinking about the choreo, I’m thinking about the vocal; the only thing I’d say I’m only considering sometimes is the marketing. I’m not going out to do a bunch of research on how BigHit advertised these songs to people for this post, so there won’t be a lot of talk about photoshoots or interviews or anything like that. That being said, I’ll probably talk about it when we get to Dynamite because the marketing for that was everywhere, and it’d be difficult not to know which member(s) they were pushing the most to sell that song.

Finally, as you can see by the above list, I’m going to be mentioning a MV center or centers--if it applies--for each MV. This is, obviously, something that can’t be done in the B-sides version of this post. The reason I’m adding it here is because there are quite a few examples of BTS MVs that really heavily feature a certain member when they aren’t that prominent in the vocal or the choreo. However, as the MV is also a part of marketing for the song, whichever member(s) were chosen to be the face of the MV have an important, central role to play. In fact, in many ways, the members that end up being MV centers without being a center in any other way often become one of, if not the, face of the era for a lot of fans. So, clearly, the MVs hold a lot of weight, and can sometimes overshadow the actual track for many people.

DISCLAIMER: Most of this is based on how I perceive the face(s) of these eras. Some of my conclusions are weird, and I can’t explain them, but it’s what I feel is true about these songs. Ergo, yes, there’s gonna be songs where two members have the same part, but only one feels like a center. Sue me. All the members have their different ways to shine, and that’s what makes BTS the best.

Center: Namjoon

Namjoon just feels like the center of No More Dream. If you’re listen closely to the vocal, he’s obviously a big foundation for the song to stand on since he’s got all these supporting parts. Those parts add up to make him the member--no questions asked--with the most airtime in No More Dream. That’s not really why I chose Namjoon for this position, though. No More Dream really felt like an introduction to BTS with Namjoon as the MC. I guess a better way of saying that is that Namjoon really came off as the leader of BTS in this era. So, I didn’t really have to think much about who I was giving this position to because it seems obvious.

Secondary Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

So, I feel like some people would say Jungkook’s the center of this era, and that’s fair. The reason he’s listed as a secondary center here is because he didn’t feel like he had much in-your-face presence; it was more like, if you were looking for Jungkook, you could find him within the song and the choreo easily. I don’t know if that makes sense. It’s not like the chorus is a background piece or Jungkook’s rap verse isn’t fire, but he just isn’t as prominent as Namjoon is.

Jimin is much less of a secondary center than Jungkook in the No More Dream era, but if you consider the choreo, Jimin is extremely prominent. It’s one of those situations--which happen more often than you might think--where a member doesn’t actually feel that present in the track itself, but if you are visually consuming it in any way at all, that same member sticks out the most. That’s how Jimin is here.

No MV Center

I thought hard about whether Jimin and Namjoon should be in this category because of the insert shots, voiceovers, and the choreo, but I think that has more to do with the entire package of the era than it does with the MV alone. The conclusion I came to was the MV doesn’t have a center. This section probably seems redundant, but it’ll make more sense once we get to an era that actually has an MV center or two.

Center: Jimin

This one’s probably pretty obvious to most people. I mean, this is a Jimin era. Usually, eras that are so heavily weighted to one member are Jungkook eras, so it’s interesting that the We Are Bulletproof Pt.2 era was such a Jimin era. I don’t know how to go into this further, but Jimin’s got the most parts--parts in the chorus, namely--so Jimin’s also the center in the choreo the most. I mean, I know this isn’t about taking the person who has the most airtime and giving them this position, but sometimes the eras do translate literally like that, and thus is this one.

Secondary Center: Namjoon

I was surprised, going through the MV, how much Namjoon appeared like a secondary center. I’m realizing that, for most of BTS’s early career, Namjoon was an important anchor for BTS’s music. That’s how it was in We Are Bulletproof Pt.2. It’s because all these parts that seem more like part of the beat than actual, singable parts go to Namjoon, so his presence runs underneath the entirety of the mix.

No MV Center

I know it seems dumb to talk about this when I say there isn’t a center in the MV, but this is kind of where I get to talk about the other members and how they fit into the era like, for instance, if any of them were close to being considered a center. Surprisingly, We Are Bulletproof Pt.2 is kind of the exact opposite; it didn’t seem like the MV really tried to enunciate any member specifically. Like, even in No More Dream, you could tell Namjoon was featured a lot, but this era didn’t do that. I found that interesting. I guess it’s probably because they were all just dancing on a chess board, but ya know.

Center: Jungkook

I couldn’t tell you why I don’t co-center Jimin with Jungkook, but Jungkook really feels like the face of this era. I don’t know if it’s the fact that he starts off the song--after Namjoon’s intro--or because he starts the choruses or what. I guess it might be because it’s a chorus that repeats during its two halves, so Jungkook’s voice is the one you’re going to pay attention to, since it comes first. Plus, this song was obviously produced to compliment his vocal tone because his voice is, not only layered under the other members’, but has more punch to it than the other vocalists’, as well. By that logic, clearly Jungkook was supposed to be the center for this era.

Secondary Centers: Namjoon & Jimin

So, as far as Namjoon goes, it’s the same thing I’ve said already: he’s working as the foundation for this song by filling in all the extra bits that support the track. Jimin, though, I wasn’t planning on adding--and I’m not really adding him because of the choruses. By the end of the N.O choreo, you’ve got Jimin in a central spot to finish off the performance as the instrumental closes out. As that part is so long and so clearly focused on Jimin, I couldn’t not put him down as a secondary center.

MV Center: Jungkook

Here we have our first MV center. Now, I will say there are stronger examples of an MV center, but Jungkook was obviously the main character in the school scenes of this MV. Of course, the school setting didn’t last the whole MV--and it’s not like the MV stopped and turned into a short film for a quick second like we’ll see later--but Jungkook still stuck out.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

So, I really struggled trying to pick out which members were the most prominent in this song, but we’ll talk about why with the next member. Jungkook and Jimin are the centers of this era for basically the same reasons. Both of them are on the chorus, and--more importantly--both of them stick out in the chorus. Both of them have these opportunities to be charismatic that they use really well, and both of them are out front during the choreo most of the time. It all adds up to them giving off “center energy.”

Secondary Center: Taehyung

I really thought Taehyung would be a co-center, as well, but he disappears halfway through the song. To be clear here: if we’re talking about the parts that Taehyung had in this song, and if those parts had ranged the entire song, Taehyung would be the sole center of this era. Like, watch any performance of this song, let alone the MV and dance practices, and tell me he doesn’t give off center energy. Anyway, after his parts are over, Taehyung falls to back of the dance formation and effectively vanishes--which is a real shame because he makes this era for me. Enough of my biased rambling--long story short, the first half of Boy in Luv has Taehyung as a center, and the last half doesn’t. A secondary center is the option that meets in the middle.

MV Centers: Jin & Yoongi

Straight off the bat, because of the scene during the bridge, Jimin and Jungkook are also kind of MV centers, but I’m not looking for “kind of’s” here. Jin and Yoongi were the ones who had the flirty scenes with the actress in the MV, so they stuck out a whole lot. It created a bit of a story around each of them and their characters in the MV, and the other members didn’t really have that.

Center: Jungkook

Who was jumping out their skin being surprised by this one, am I right? I mean, if we even talk about the choreography alone, this would be super obvious. When I first started learning about idol groups, this song is what I thought a “center” meant. This is obviously no shade to Jungkook himself because the members probably didn’t really have a hand in who was getting the most airtime or how much airtime that would be in comparison to everyone else, but BigHit really wanted to push Jungkook for this song.

I guess it was probably because he’s the youngest, he has a clear and soothing voice, and he’s the exact type of boyfriend material that’s easy to sell to young fans. I know this song has deep meaning that came from Yoongi, but the way this song was presented was so fluffy and soft, and my guess is that Jungkook fit the bill to be the face of it.

No MV Center

I mean, yeah, Jungkook stuck out the most, but that was because of the choreo, which is already covered by the center position. As far as the MV itself, no member stuck out more than another beyond the choreography. Jin, of course, does have his moment with the rose, but a.) that’s a part of the choreo, b.) it wasn’t long enough for him to be considered an MV center anyway, and c.) that piece of choreo can’t even make him a secondary center because the vocal line distribution was so heavily tipped in Jungkook’s favor--again, not throwing shade at Jungkook; just stating how the song is divided up. The long and short of it is that, while the choreo had central-ish parts for Jin and definite central parts for Jungkook, the MV didn’t do anything more with them than with the other members. No MV center this time.

Co-Centers: Jimin, Taehyung, & Jungkook

Just to give myself a backdoor here in case I change my mind on this later, I’m gonna say that I was sure the 95s would be secondary centers here, but after watching the MV and really paying attention to the choreo and line distributions, I think all three members of the maknae line stood out equally during their parts. Actually, the 95s do have a stronger vocal presence than Jungkook does, but Jungkook owns the choreography, so it more or less balances out.

I will say that Taehyung doesn’t feel as prominent as Jungkook does on the chorus, so that’s what made me want to put him down as a secondary center. However, the post-chorus is absolutely enough to make Taehyung stick out like Jimin and Jungkook. Jimin--dare I say--is the most center-like out of all three of them as far as general feeling goes. Again, considering everything, they’re all equal, but Jimin really reads like a center in Danger.

MV Center: Taehyung

All the members have got their individual scenes in the MV that are used for the inserts, but Taehyung’s scenes were clearly supposed to be the central ones since they, you know, ended the MV with him cutting his hair off. Even besides that, though, Taehyung’s parts in Danger came along with the best camera work and set design. I mean, there’s a better way of saying that, but I don’t know what it is. Like, go the MV and look at the first post-chorus so you can see how they framed Taehyung during that part. That really made him feel like the central member in the MV.

Center: Taehyung

This is one of two (or few, depending on when you’re reading this because new music is always coming out) eras in which I can 100% say for certain that Taehyung is the sole center. If we’re talking B-sides, that number might increase a bit, but as far as singles go, Taehyung really does not get the opportunity to be the sole center that often. Anyway, explaining this would be like explaining the obvious. The brief for this era was “impish bad boys that look like they’re thirsty as fuck.” And Taehyung fit the brief.

No, but seriously, BigHit clearly wanted to sell War of Hormone as a song by a bunch of punk kids that have just a little bit too much fun, and if 2014 Kim Taehyung wasn’t a little punk, I don’t know who would be. Not because Taehyung’s actually a womanizing asshole--Taehyung’s clearly the softest and kindest person ever to exist--but because he can tap into that sensual and mischievous type of character really easily. He’s an actor after all. Plus, there’s the whole “sexy growling thing” they obviously wanted in the vocal, and Taehyung’s the go-to member for that.

Secondary Center: Jungkook

Here’s why Jungkook is the War of Hormone era’s secondary center: they needed a cute member to calm the whole thing down. I’m now going to put myself in the mind of BigHit as they were producing this track.

“We can’t have Taehyung out here killing everyone with his growls and his expressions and that tongue thing he does. We’ve clearly gotta put a soft bad boy character in there so this song doesn’t entirely decimate our fanbase. Put Jungkook in.”

In the same way Taehyung fit the super-duper bad boy brief, Jungkook fit the cutie pie bad boy brief, and that was needed to balance out Taehyung’s parts in this era. All vague descriptions aside, Jungkook was used as a support for Taehyung in the War of Hormone era, or that’s what it felt like, at least--despite Jungkook having more airtime. If, in any universe, Taehyung ever went easy on us, this era could’ve been a co-center era for the two babies of BTS. However, Taehyung chose violence, so Jungkook didn’t get a chance to pop out as much. Considering their overall discography, though, I’d say that’s fair enough.

MV Center: Taehyung

I’m mostly saying this because of the end of the MV where the actress--or her character--picks him, but also, Taehyung’s stage presence in this song kind of makes him the MV center anyway. Not the choreo--even though he’s the center of that for a lot of the time, too. I’m talking about his attitude, his expressions, his gestures, and on and on. That kind of made him the central figure, for me. Plus, you know, Taehyung got the girl or whatever.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

This song is so freakin’ weird because Jungkook has exorbitantly more airtime in the studio version of I Need U, but Jimin features really heavily in the choreo because they give him most of Jungkook’s final chorus when they do it live--which obviously means that Jimin centers in the choreo the most. So, it’s like: listen to the song, and Jungkook’s the center, but watch it live or in the dance practice video, and it’s Jimin. Either way, both of them read like centers to me. Even though Jungkook is in the song a lot, and therefore, has a big presence, Jimin’s vocal is the one I associate with this song because it fits so well while sticking out just a skosh.

MV Center: Taehyung

Most of me was thinking that there wouldn’t be an MV center for this era because every member had a story that ends up getting carried into the Wings album era, but then I remembered that the original MV for I Need U literally stopped everything dead so Taehyung could hit his in-verse father in the head with a bottle. And then, after that and a couple seconds of showing a few of the other members, the MV cuts back and forth between hardcore violence and Taehyung laughing with the other members.

The MV goes, “Wow, look at this. Taehyung’s so happy. Oop, now he’s stabbing his father with a broken bottle--oh, he’s happy again, that’s nic--oh. Oh, no he’s back to stabbing his father--no, look, he’s happy, so... Damn, that’s a lot of blood.” I mean. I don’t know if they knew already that Taehyung was good actor or what, but BigHit nearly gave him a short film all to himself. So, yeah, I’d say Taehyung takes the center position for the I Need U MV.

Center: Jungkook

I’m kind of naming Jungkook here because I feel like I have to, but I want you to know that the For You era is really close to not having a center, in my opinion. It’s more so the parts they gave Jungkook that made me put him down as a center. He starts the song, he ends the song, he’s got the first chorus, and there are parts where you go, “Oh, they’ll probably let that member sing here,” and then you get to the next line, and you’re like, “Ah, no; they went with Jungkook.” That’s not a bad thing, mind you, because Jungkook’s vocal is perfect for this song; it’s just that Jungkook had more airtime than the other members by a good bit. Again, I’m not making this list according to that, but it’s gonna be a factor in a song where every member sings on the choruses.

MV Center: Jungkook

Do I need to go into this a whole lot? Jungkook’s trying to get money to see this girl he likes, so the whole MV is about how the other BTS members are struggling alongside Jungkook but put together the means for him to go see the mystery girl. That’s the K-drama, and Jungkook is the lead. I mean, fair enough; Jungkook could definitely be the lead in a K-drama.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

I know this is a hardcore Jungkook era, but Jimin sticks out, like, a lot. At the very least, you’ve got to credit the choreo to Jimin in the same way you would for Jungkook. I mean, yeah, Jungkook’s vocal pierces the entire song, so he’s obviously going to center for this era. He’s a forefront figure in the choreography, as well, and putting him in that costume for the MV is essentially assault. However, I think Jimin managed to make his presence just as big through the choreo and his unique vocal tone. So, I’ve got to give the Dope era’s center position to both of them.

No MV Center

Since this MV is basically just the choreography, I can’t say Jimin and Jungkook were centers just because they were the choreography leaders for Dope. Actually, I thought the overall MV was almost equally representative of each member since they all had a different concept with their wardrobes.

Center: Jungkook

I mean, Jungkook just permeates every single cell of RUN. The choreo, the vocal, and nearly everything else are extremely centered around him. There’s not really a whole lot else to say. When there’s such a large difference between line distribution for the members, it makes it obvious that that member will be in the center of the choreo most of the time, as well. That’s the case for Jungkook in the RUN era.

Secondary Center: Jimin

This era is a little bit like the I Need U era, but Jimin doesn’t stick out quite as much. He does stick out enough to be considered a secondary center, though, because he’s also highly represented in the vocal, so he’s got mirroring parts in the choreo. Jimin doesn’t have as much of a focus in this era as Jungkook does, but it’s close.

No MV Center

I thought this would be like the I Need U MV, but it really wasn’t. You’d think Jungkook’s the center because of the bit where the camera zooms in on him while everyone is partying, and then the rest of them are gone, but there’s also several bits where Jin has close-ups while he spaces out. Or maybe Jungkook could’ve been the center because, after the music stopped, he looked back at the camera. But that can’t be it either because Taehyung had bits like that of him falling into and coming out of the water at the beginning and end of the video. Maybe it was Jimin because he got pulled into the room toward the end of the MV, but it was Namjoon who was pulled in at the beginning. Basically, they were all well represented, so there’s no center to speak of.

No Center

This song isn’t really supposed to have a center, is it? I mean, we can talk about who had the most airtime, but that’s not what this is about. I think this song was supposed to be a message from all the members, so one member wasn’t going to stick out more than others. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

MV Center: Taehyung

Taehyung being the MV center is stretch, and I know that, but he does have bit of a role that makes him stick out at the end. It’s kind of like Jungkook being the center in the For You era--it doesn’t feel totally accurate to give it to him, but it also feels inaccurate to not give it to him. There’s that little bit at the end of the MV where Taehyung steps out of the maze at last and the other guys are waiting for him on the other side. Taehyung’s also the one to look back at the plane or camera or whatever at the very end; basically, Taehyung gets more solo shots in this MV than any other member, as far as I can tell without actually counting, so he takes the center position.

Center: Taehyung

I wasn’t actually planning for Taehyung being the sole center for this era, but I feel like I can’t really justify anyone else co-centering with him. Taehyung does feature fairly heavily in the choreography, but a lot of the reason he ended up the solo center for the FIRE era is because of the part he was given. As someone who had heard “bow wow wow” everywhere before even knowing what K-pop was, I’d say it’s safe to call Taehyung’s part the most globally iconic--though Yoongi’s part is obviously the most iconic within ARMY. Plus, the end of FIRE is almost a full minute of just Taehyung’s solo with group vocals around it, so. I mean, he’s got hella presence in this era, no doubt.

Secondary Centers: Yoongi & Jungkook

Initially, I thought Jungkook was going to co-center with Taehyung because Jungkook is extremely centered within the choreography, but the “eh eh oh eh oh” part feels more like a supporting piece--which is absolutely fine, by the way. However, Jungkook is pretty damn close to being a center for the FIRE era because his vocal is absolutely everywhere, and he’s the center for most of the choreo. As an aside, I kinda wanted to add Jimin in this category because of the 333, but ultimately, that wasn’t enough to support him being a secondary center, for me.

Yoongi, I’ll be honest, I’m kind of putting in here because he feels like a center for the era after all the attention his opening line got. If I’m looking at the choreo or even the vocal, Yoongi doesn’t stand out as much as it seems (though his verse in FIRE is one of the best rap verses in BTS’s discography; fight me about it), but the fact that he opens and closes the song has a large overall impact on my perception of the FIRE era. Yoongi is definitely one of the faces of FIRE, at the very least.

MV Centers: Jin & Yoongi

So, though Yoongi wasn’t the main center for this era, in my opinion, the MV does make it seem like he is. Which, I guess, is mostly because of the opening scene before the music actually starts. But whatever; Yoongi still sticks out regardless. For Jin, I don’t know if it was because he doesn’t have that much airtime or what, but the scenes in the MV that focused on Jin were really focused on Jin. No other member got that kind of solo within the MV, so Jin’s parts seemed like they were meant to be special.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

I don’t know how to explain why this is how it is, but this is how it is. It’s one of those eras where the amount of airtime does predict the centers because of how much more airtime Jimin and Jungkook have compared to the other members. I mean, that’s what a main and lead vocalist are for, I suppose, but it ends up with these two being pushed so far forward in the Save ME era that you can’t really make room for another co-center. They’re also the two with the most central pieces in the choreography, but that’s obvious with how much airtime they have. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, either, because BTS’s discography celebrates all the members at one point or another. It’s just that Save ME was a song that suited Jikook the best, so they’re the obvious centers.

No MV Center

Since this is an MV that’s literally just choreography, there’s obviously not going to be an MV center. I mean, if you wanna say that Jimin and Jungkook’s parts meant they had more close-ups, and so they’re the MV centers, then fine, but that’s a bit of a cop out.

Center: Jimin

This is one of the few--maybe even less than that--clear Jimin eras where Jimin is the only center. It’s not really that he has so much more airtime than the other members, but Blood Sweat & Tears is a song that just fits Jimin. He actually doesn’t have much central time in the choreo until the end and at the beginning, but it’s another one of those feelings I’ve got. I’m not saying this to alienate the other members because I actually do have my own opinions on who owned this era (check that post out on my blog, by the way), but this song makes Jimin shine the brightest. Every member has a song that does that for them, and this is Jimin’s.

Secondary Centers: Hoseok & Jungkook

Are you screaming at me for not considering Hobi a co-center? In the studio version of Blood Sweat & Tears, I’d probably put Hobi in as a co-center, but considering everything from the track to the choreo to the live performance, Hobi’s presence is just a touch smaller than Jimin’s. Just a touch. Like, they split his post-chorus with Jungkook live, and Hobi isn’t really a center in the choreo after a certain point, so it’s a bit like Taehyung in Boy in Luv.

As far as Jungkook goes, he’s not really a strong secondary center for this era, but he’s enough of one that he has to make this list. Part of it is because of his additional parts in the live performance and the choreo, but it also feels like Jungkook was meant to act as a visual and performative support for Jimin. I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it does it me.

MV Centers: Jin & Taehyung

I was gonna put Jimin here, too, but he only got that one shot at the beginning where Yoongi covered up his eyes that felt like it was really Jimin-focused. Taejin, though, had their own little mythology film going on. The Blood Sweat & Tears MV is the prime example of “this member doesn’t actually have much going on in the song, but the MV is all them, baby.” That’s how it is for Jin in this era. A lot of people say Jin is one of the ones who owned this era, and a lot of that has to do with the MV, what with the statue-kissing and all.

Tell me why I don’t feel like Taehyung was as big of an MV center as Jin even though Taehyung had a shirtless scene with slits on his back where his wings apparently used to be. I don’t understand, either. But I’d say a shirtless scene with wing slits is a pretty good reason to be included as an MV center.

Co-Centers: Jin, Taehyung, & Jungkook

After consulting the choreo because, you know, the MV doesn’t have it, I came to the conclusion that, both vocally and choreographically, these three are the centers for this era. Spring Day was initially an era that I thought didn’t have a center, and I don’t think it does have a super defined center, but I do see Jin, Taehyung, and Jungkook as the more prominent members. For one, the choreo really clearly centers around Taekook more than the other members, but there’s also the fact that all three of these members really stick out in the vocal itself. I landed on these three for my co-centers, but Spring Day is really close to not having a center at all.

No MV Center

I thought this was going to go to Jin because I thought I remembered him featuring in the MV a lot more, but he didn’t really. Actually, I’d say Taehyung and Jungkook are closer to being MV centers since the beginning has a little scene with Taehyung before the music starts, and there’s a bit around the bridge in which Jungkook has some solo-ish focus, but those things still aren’t quite enough for this position. All the members had their own inserts and settings, so it felt fairly equal all around.

Center: Jungkook

This was another era I was sure didn’t have a center, but Jungkook’s extremely prominent. Actually, I thought, if anything, the rap line would center in this era, but even they don’t seem nearly as prominent as Jungkook. It’s just that the lyrics are really repetitive for the vocalists, and Jungkook bleeds through all the vocal line parts. At least, it really feels like he does. As far as the vocalists go for this era, Taehyung’s vocal is the only one that sticks out, aside from Jungkook’s. But Jungkook’s vocal sticks out above all the other members--in terms of prevalence, mind you; the best parts of this song are obviously the rap verses. As such, he’s really active in the choreography, as well. It felt like I, more or less, had to give Jungkook this era.

Secondary Center: Taehyung

I can’t tell you why I’m putting Taehyung down. I was about to move on from this section, and my brain said, “Think about the chorus,” and so, I ended up here. This is all about that feeling I’ve talked about already. I think it’s because Taehyung’s the one that starts the chorus, and he’s got really powerful choreography to go along with his already powerful vocal. It makes his presence in the track and the live performance feel a lot bigger.

No MV Center

I mean, yeah. It’s a choreography-driven MV. When you’ve got the bits with them running or whatever, Jungkook centers a bit, and Namjoon kind of feels like an MV center, too, but a lot of that has to do with the choreography being shot the way it was. It’s the same with Taehyung since he got some great framing during his choreo parts. But prominent choreo parts do not an MV center make.

Center: Jungkook

I mean, there’s not really any way to get away from this one. I don’t blame BigHit, though, because Jungkook’s clean vocal is literally made for bright pop songs like this one. It makes sense that they’d want to use a vocal that blends in with the instrumental so well. As we know, the vocal affects the choreo, so Jungkook felt like a strong foundation to this song that the other members built upon. I don’t think many would argue that Jungkook is the sole center for the DNA era.

No MV Center

Can you believe I’m not putting down Taehyung, Hobi, and Jimin as a type of center, even though most people think this was Taehyung’s era, Hobi’s best work, and even though Jimin is the only other member on the chorus? Somehow, even though they all feel prominent in my memory of this era, diving back into it revealed that Taehyung is only prominent in the intro, Hobi is only prominent at the end, and Jimin is only prominent on the first chorus. How weird, right? They’re all almost secondary centers, though.

Anyway, that had nothing to do with the MV center, did it? There isn’t a true MV center because this MV is mostly the choreo. However, Jungkook is the closest one to being the center, simply because he’s got that little whistle bit at the beginning. Obviously, one scene isn’t enough to list him here, though.

Co-Centers: Yoongi & Hoseok

Don’t ask me why I didn’t put down Namjoon, too. I wish I could say something other than “because this is what felt right,” but that’s the situation. I’m sure most people would say Hobi is the sole center of this era, and that’s entirely fair, but I felt like Yoongi brought his presence to MIC Drop just as much as Hobi did. The two of them, more or less, have the same amount of time in the center for the choreography, as well. Again, I wish we could be talking about Namjoon, too, but despite him having the most airtime in this era, he didn’t feel quite as front-and-center as Hobi and Yoongi. His verse is still fire, though.

Secondary Centers: Taehyung & Jungkook

Should I be doing this because I feel like it’s true? I guess we’ll find out. I don’t know; it seems pretty clear to me that JK and Taehyung were meant to be secondary centers for this era since they got the most central parts in the vocal line the most often. I feel like this is partially influenced by the fact that both of them murder the choreo when they’re in the center for MIC Drop, but I really do feel like these two stuck out.

No MV Center

Let me tell you, though, if we were bringing choreography into this discussion, Taehyung in the MV would make this list easily. He’s so aggressive in the MV, you know? No, but, this is another choreo-based MV. You know the drill by now.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

This one’s another obvious one for most people, I would imagine. Actually, at first glance, this looks like it’d be Jungkook’s era as a center, but Jimin has a lot of prominence, as well. The best way to describe it is that Jimin was the strong support he’s meant to be for Jungkook considering their positions as main and lead vocalists, as well as lead dancers. However, because of the refrain, Jimin then ends up also feeling like less of a support and more of a center in his own right. Basically, there was a lot of good give and take between Jimin and Jungkook for the FAKE LOVE era, which is why I ended up seeing both of them as co-centers.

Secondary Center: Jin

I’ll be honest--I don’t really get the feel of a secondary center from Jin in this era, but I can tell that that’s what he was meant to be. He’s very present in the vocal, and that translates to him being present in the choreography, as well--which ends with him in the center, if you recall. I don’t think this era is quite the era for Jin as a center, but he does still feature really prominently, regardless of how my perceptions may be situated.

MV Centers: Jin, Jimin, & Jungkook

This is another instance where I thought Jin was going to seem like a stronger MV center than he was, but it’s really the visuals of him toward the beginning-what with the windows shattering and all--that stick with you. I still think the theater of Jin’s scenes are enough to consider him an MV center. For Jimin, his piece wasn’t as stand out, but you can tell Jimin had extra focus on him when compared with Taehyung or the rap line. In the scenes between the last pre-chorus and the last chorus, Jimin did have a scene where most others didn’t, so he felt like enough of an MV center to include here.

Jungkook is probably obvious. He had a fairly long scene in between the last pre-chorus and chorus, so there’s that, but the overall MV seems to have more images of him than the other members. I imagine Jungkook was probably the main character for this story, though all the members had really cool set pieces and insert shots.

No Center

I really was gonna sit here and be like, “Oh, yeah! Namjoon’s obviously the center!” But, listen, everyone’s parts in IDOL stick out so much that I don’t think it’s fair to say that Namjoon was the sole center. In fact, I’d say Jimin is actually the closest thing to being a sole center in this era, but it’s really only vocally because, as far as the choreography goes, he feels just as well represented as the other members. Ergo, this era is too chaotic for any one member to take the spotlight. Namjoon is the face of IDOL, though. And, vocally, Jimin’s pretty damn close.

No MV Center

I mean, the chaos was too much. Yes, Jimin has special focus on the bridge and during the final dance break on the chorus, but again, that’s just one piece of the whole. At the beginning, you’ve got a lot of shots of Taehyung, and then you’ve got the rap line having multiple focuses since they have two verses each. Jin and Jungkook got some cool focus during their parts, too, so an MV center isn’t really possible to find.

No Center

Jimin sticks out the most in this song, don’t get me wrong, but that’s mostly because his vocal on the chorus sounds so special. It doesn’t exactly work out to be even in a literal sense, but the vocal line at least seem like they have equal airtime in this era since they all get to sing on the chorus. That meant that a true center wasn’t going to be a thing, especially since it’s almost one of those songs where every member has their piece and then they disappear for the rest of the song.

No MV Center

I mean, should I call Taehyung the MV center because of the beginning and end? I don’t think so, since it was only a few seconds each time, and the rest of the MV was choreography. I mean, Taehyung did kind of feel like the face of the MV because of that, but I don’t know that it’s enough of a reason to put him down here. He’s the only option for an MV center, anyway. Maybe I’ll feel the need to change this later. We’ll see.

Center: Jimin

I’m still convinced that this was supposed to be an era dominated by Jimin. We’ll talk about Taehyung in a second, but when I first watched the Boy With Luv MV, I thought that Jimin was the clear center. I still do, even though my opinions on who owned the era are a bit different. Jimin is pronounced in the choreography, but his vocal is exactly the right color for a song that’s this bubbly. The choreo obvious matters a lot, but I think Jimin’s voice, more than anything else, is the face of this era. I know that sounds weird because of what I just said about Airplane pt.2, but that era was more like, “Wow, Jimin sounds so unique,” and the Boy With Luv era is like, “Jimin is the song.” So.

Secondary Centers: Taehyung & Jungkook

Jungkook does not feel like a secondary center to me because I find that he gets lost a bit in the Boy With Luv era, but like in the FAKE LOVE era with Jin, I know that Jungkook was meant to be Jimin’s support for this song. Jungkook feels nearly as pronounced in the choreography as Jimin does, and his clear vocal serves to fill in when necessary for this pop track, which is one thing Jungkook’s vocal color does best.

Taehyung, though, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t really be a secondary center since his standout parts are the opening to the choreo and the parts on the chorus he shares with Jin. However, I don’t think you can find me any ARMY that genuinely deny that Taehyung isn’t, at least, one face of this era. Most people I’ve seen discuss the Boy With Luv era ardently agree that Taehyung owns the era, no questions asked. Whether it makes sense within the standards we’ve laid out for centers so far or not, Taehyung, his vocal, and his visual absolutely dominate this era. In terms of being the face of an era, Taehyung may come out on top as the sole center, but for the purposes of keeping this list objective, a secondary center he shall be.

No MV Center

Again, like, this is another situation in which Taehyung would be brought up if we were talking about the choreography; so would Jimin. Their visuals are so heavily tied to this MV, but it’s all attached to the choreography. Outside of that, no member had more solo focus than another.

Co-Centers: Jimin, Taehyung & Jungkook

I know some of you will be upset that Jin isn’t in this list, and I understand. Initially, Jimin wasn’t going to be in this list, either, but his vocal felt like it fit the tone of this song the best. Actually, here’s how I came to this conclusion: Lights was made for Jimin’s vocal tone, but Jungkook and Taehyung clearly stick out the most. As such, Jimin doesn’t necessarily have less prominence than the babies of BTS, but the babies of BTS were strong in this era. Jimin still deserves to be a co-center because of how well his vocal fits this song, but Taehyung and Jungkook were fucking power vocalists in the Lights era, so they’ve got to be centers, as well.

MV Center: Jungkook

This MV feels a bit like the Magic Shop VCR; it’s a lot like Jungkook is frozen or lost, and the other members find him. It’s not so pronounced like it has been for other MV centers, but it was still clear to me that Jungkook was the main character for this MV.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Taehyung

I mean, this would be an obvious choice if you really listened to Make It Right. When we don’t have choreo for a song, we’ve got to look at the vocal, right? The 95s are all over this track. Admittedly, the live does take just a touch of that away from them during certain performances, but the studio version of Make It Right is littered with Vmin. First of all, their solos are pretty pronounced anyway, but even if you listen to the crowd vocal on the “Oh, I can make it right” lyric, you usually only hear Taehyung plus the rest of the members singing in a clump underneath him. And if it isn’t Taehyung you’re hearing on the main vocal, it’s Jimin. Or Jimin and Taehyung. Like, I don’t know if it’s because these two have the most unique vocal tones in BTS or what, but their individuality really shone in the Make It Right era.

No MV Center

Unless the MV center is ARMY? I don’t know; Make It Right is one of those stage mix MVs, so it wasn’t gonna have a real MV center anyway. Unless the MV center is that animated couple that’s in the original version of the music video? Nah, I like the the idea of ARMY being the center more.

Center: Jungkook

I don’t need to go to the MV for this because Jungkook’s got hella pipes that’s he’s using for a hella long time during the bridge of this song, and that’s so much center energy. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an era that feels like all the other members are about equal, and then there’s Jungkook. It is what it is, though; I mean, the man is the center of BTS, after all. If I’m being really honest, though, the bridge is the only thing that makes Jungkook the sole center of this era. If Jungkook’s solo on the bridge wasn’t a part that caused the rest of the song and choreo to stop dead, the ON era probably wouldn’t have had a center at all because I don’t feel like Jungkook was all the pronounced anywhere else in ON. I guess me putting him down as the sole center tells you how impactful the bridge was, though.

Secondary Center: Jimin

It’s the “hey na na na” line, you know? No, but really, both in the choreo and the vocal, Jimin is a big foundation for ON. I mean, obviously Jimin has parts besides that line, but even as a whole, Jimin feels like a part of the basic structure for, both the track, and the choreography. I’ve felt this way about other members in previous eras, and I don’t know how to explain it well; think of it as though Jimin is a part of the beat. It’s essential to ON’s sound, even though it may not always stick out as an individual piece.

MV Center: Jungkook

Jin did have a bit of focus at the beginning, and I almost put Taehyung down as an MV center because there was a good bit in the middle where it was literally just Taehyung, but the entire story of the MV revolved around Jungkook, like, escaping slavery or whatever. I mean, the man blew into a conch shell and ran up to the top of BTS’s Pride Rock; if that’s not MV center energy, I don’t know what is.

No Center

I’m gonna keep it a buck with y’all: the vocalists nearly all sound the same on the chorus of this song because of the effects on their vocals. It’s kind of cool, though, considering the message of the song. Like, the lack of individuality is almost an extra piece to the lyrics, but I swear to you, Taehyung is the only one who sounds distinct on the chorus of Black Swan. As such, no one could’ve really been the center for this song. As you can probably tell, the vocalists are usually the centers--if there is one--and that’s because they get the choruses, which repeat the most; they have more opportunities to be the centers. In an era where their uniqueness is stripped away, there’s not going to be a center.

Also, if you’re asking, “Well, if Taehyung is so distinct, why isn’t he the center?” the answer is: because all the vocalists have basically the same parts. Yoongi, actually, would be the closest, in my opinion, to being a type of center for this song, but the chorus is the base of Black Swan, and so Yoongi doesn’t quite fit, either. Nothing wrong with an era without a center, my friends. Just means more central time for every single one of our boys.

MV Center: Jimin

Clearly, this was going to be the case. I don’t actually find Jimin to be that prominent in Black Swan, but the MV is what makes everyone say Jimin is the face of this era. And there’s a good reason for that. The Black Swan MV is such a wonderful platform for Jimin’s gorgeous, gorgeous artwork. It was like a portfolio of his talent, and it’s absolutely captivating watching him dance. Of course, Jimin does have a small bit of centralization that the other members don’t have in the stage choreo, but the MV is where Jimin got to really shine. Black Swan is really the only era where, rather than a song fitting a members vocal, we got to partake in a song that complimented a member’s dance style. I hope BTS do more with this kind of combination later for other members because Jimin getting to shine like this was really lovely.

Center: Jungkook

There’s really no other reason for this other than Jungkook’s vocal is very nearly the entire song as far as vocals go. Again, sometimes airtime predicts the center, and in this case, Jungkook has, like, double the amount of airtime when compared to the other members. So, obviously, Jungkook representing this era was the overall goal. Stay Gold is another one of those songs that benefits from a vocal tone like Jungkook’s, so that’s probably why Jungkook got such a large focus for this era.

No MV Center

Taehyung’s the closest thing to an MV center since he’s got that bit at the end where the camera focuses on him while he releases magic from the tree or whatever. So pretty he looks in the Stay Gold MV, by the way. If you’re watching all the way to the end, it does feel like, “Wow, Taehyung’s a bit of a main character,” but it’s really only at the end. So, no MV center this time as everyone had really beautiful set pieces that got shown fairly equally.

Center: Taehyung

Call me biased; call me whatever you want, but Taehyung’s presence is so fucking strong in Dynamite. Yes, Jungkook has a lot, a lot of vocal focus; yes, he centers in the choreography the most, but have y’all seen Taehyung’s attitude? Dynamite is the second era on this list that I’m sure Taehyung is the sole center for. Here’s where we’re gonna talk about marketing a bit. Taehyung’s visual was used to absolute death for the Dynamite promotions. I’m assuming it was because the retro look was especially fitted to Taehyung’s style, but Taehyung was everywhere. Not to mention the parts in Dynamite Taehyung got were really important pieces of the song--such as: ending the song. The choreography, as well, though not centered around Taehyung, was absolutely dominated by him regardless because of the way he decided to carry himself in this era. I don’t know; maybe I’m seeing things other people aren’t, but to me, Taehyung was obviously supposed to be the face of Dynamite.

Secondary Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

I don’t think Jimin is as strong of a secondary center as Jungkook, but I do still think Jimin’s role in Dynamite was really important. It’s sort of because he was a foundational piece, but it’s also because Jimin came off as bubbly and fun during the Dynamite era, and I think that helped to sell the overall visual of the song.

Jungkook, I’m sure a lot of people will say, should be the center for this era. I feel like I can kind of tell that an attempt was made to have Jungkook be the center, but then Taehyung and his charisma kind of ended up blowing up once Dynamite was released. Jungkook, to me, has the true foundational pieces of Dynamite. The beginning of the choruses, for example, are the catchy parts of the chorus, but not the punchy parts of the chorus. You see what I mean? Jungkook did have the first verse, too, of course. I’ll say this: vocally, Jungkook is absolutely the center of this era. It’s just that, as a total package, he didn’t stick out quite as much as Taehyung.

No MV Center

I mean, the beginning makes it feel like Jungkook is the MV center, but every member has their own set and solo shots. Plus, you’ve got the improvised choreography and the insert shots where every member appears to be equally represented. I don’t really see Dynamite as an MV with a definite member at the forefront.

No Center

So, there is a definite excess of Vmin in Life Goes On, which I think is beautiful because their vocal tones are full of emotion, but I don’t think that necessarily means they’re the centers of this era. If we were going based on airtime, Taehyung would be the sole center because of the amount of airtime he’s got, but again, I don’t know that it’s fair to call him a center for just that reason--even though Taehyung is very prominent in the vocal. Mostly, Life Goes On is a song BTS is giving to ARMY, so it feels like they’re all singing it to us, and no single member sticks out more than another.

MV Center: Taehyung

Jin does have a bit in the MV, just before the final chorus, where the camera stops on him for a moment, but it’s only that one part, so I couldn’t really call him an MV center. Taehyung--in the original version of this MV, at least--was definitely the one leading the narrative. Most of the MV was the boys having fun or singing to the camera, but there were also the clips of Taehyung driving BTS around, looking at an arena, longing to perform; it seemed like Taehyung was chosen to convey BTS and ARMY’s feelings about the pandemic and how much we all miss each other.

Co-Centers: Jin & Jimin

I gotta be honest: getting a handle on the Film out era is kind of difficult because it feels like such a fragmented song--and that makes it beautiful, but it’s hard to pin down a representative for this era, even though it definitely feels like there is one.

Obviously, I’ve decided that there are two. Again, without choreo, we’re looking at the vocal. To me, Jin and Jimin’s vocal tones stood out the most in Film out. I found both of their contributions to this song to be absolutely stunning, but even being objective, Jin and Jimin seemed like they were supposed to be the ones sticking out this much. I assume that’s because this is a very ethereal song, and I think I can confidently say that no other member has the monopoly on songs that sound like Film out than Jinmin do. Jimin’s angelic adlibs and falsetto was the thing I noticed right away when listening to this for the first time, but the more I listened to it, the more Jin came to the forefront, as well. We may only have vocals to go on for deciding a center--especially since Film out wasn’t marketed much--but Jinmin’s vocals really took center stage for this era.

Secondary Center: Taehyung

I really don’t know what it is that makes me see Taehyung as secondary center for the Film out era and not Jungkook, but Jungkook didn’t feel that prominent at all, despite having written the song. Taehyung felt like the anchor for Film out, which is something I noticed within my first few listens. Jin and Jimin were definitely the shining stars, in my opinion, but Film out still needed Taehyung for balance. The last half of the song is where all three of these members shine the most, and I think it’s really clear that Taehyung’s vocal was able to add a depth of emotion to Jimin and Jin’s. I think secondary centers, to me, are the members I can tell are being used as supports for the center or co-centers, and that’s what Taehyung was for Film out.

MV Center: Jin

This is the exact opposite of Life Goes On, actually, because Taehyung was the one who was last seen in the MV, which makes it tempting to see him as an MV center, but Jin was the one present in the narrative for the whole MV. I don’t know what that narrative was for certain, but I think it was something like looking in from the outside and getting lost in some kind of metaphorical storm. Jin was the one doing all that. So, he’s the MV center, for sure.

Co-Centers: Taehyung & Jungkook

Jungkook is a co-center, in my opinion, because it feels like he was supposed to be. I can’t really pinpoint what it is about Butter that makes Jungkook a co-center, but he’s got airtime on every chorus, which means he’s gonna be prominent in the choreo, as well. That’s probably what it is, now that I think about it. The chorus is the money piece of almost every song, so Jungkook being chosen to be in each of the choruses is a big thing.

Taehyung--look, I don’t know what it is about Taehyung, but the fact that he went from a single line in No More Dream to being this central in one of BTS’s biggest eras is insane to me. Like, listen. Taehyung got to start and end two seperate choruses--which means he’s pretty prominent in the choreo, but he’s also prominent anyway because he’s nearly always in the front--and he got to sing half of each verse. That never happens with Taehyung. Vocally, Taehyung has the most “I’m the motherfucking center” energy than he’s ever had. Something about this era has Taehyung way out in front, and I think that’s so fun since he doesn’t always get that opportunity.

Secondary Center: Jin

I wanted to put Jin down as a co-center; I really did, but the slight difference in vocal prominence between him and Taekook is what made me give him the secondary center position. Jin is still really prominent in the Butter era, though. I thought Jin really outdid himself with his vocal tone in Butter, and he’s been killing the choreo every single time they perform. Jin really does feel like one of the faces of Butter.

MV Centers: Jin & Taehyung

I wasn’t gonna put down an MV center, but didn’t Jin and Taehyung’s MV scenes stick, like, way the fuck out? Jin in that lineup scene did me in, for real. I wasn’t thinking straight for days afterwards. Plus, he’s got that scene during the second verse where he’s in that chair, looking like he owns three islands, and that feels like super big MV center energy. Then, you’ve got Taehyung in the elevator, which is one of his sexiest MV scenes, period. The attitude on him, I swear. The orange suit was the end for me, honestly. I know I just talked about how hot Taejin are, but the way they carry themselves is why it felt like they stuck out in the MV more than the other members. I feel like I can’t deny them the MV center title.

No Center

This is another song that isn’t really supposed to have a center, you know? Permission to Dance is meant to send this hopeful message to ARMY and people around the world, and I just don’t think a center was necessary because the center is BTS as a whole. At the very least, no one really stuck out to me as a sole, or even, co-center. It felt like all the boys shared the load of sending us this message, so I can’t put a center down for this era. I think, for a song like this, though, that’s a pretty damn good thing.

No MV Center

Again, this was really an equal opportunity kind of era. Other MVs have really focused on each of the boys having their own set, and one member often sticks out because of that; the Permission to Dance MV, though it had solo shots of each member, was mostly just the boys, all together and having fun. I mean, Jungkook had that solo dance bit, but that wasn’t enough to sway me.

Okay, that’s it, for now. Let me know what you guys think in the replies. I tried to keep my opinions out of this because I was just looking for which member(s) BigHit was trying to use to sell each era. I’m excited to do this with the B-sides since there’s only vocals to go on, but doing this for the singles was super interesting. Thanks for reading!

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #kim taehyung #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #park jimin #jeon jungkook

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halseyhazzard · 3 years

Text

The Redemption of Judee Sill

Halsey Hazzard, fall 2018

for a writing class on pop culture criticism “So much sensationalist bullshit has been written about Judee Sill (by people who never knew her) focusing on her days as a hooker and a junkie.” So begins Pat Thomas’s interview with Tommy Peltier, a longtime friend and collaborator of Sill’s, in the liner notes to the recently and lovingly compiled “Songs of Rapture and Redemption: Rarities & Live.” He’s not wrong; in nearly all of the writing on Sill, her music, an inimitable blend of gospel, folk and country at once bluesy and baroque, plays second fiddle to the stranger- and sadder-than-fiction story of her all-too-brief life. Her eponymous 1971 debut and 1973’s Heart Food were met with praise from critics and her fellow songwriters alike; in 1973 Steve Holden called Judee a “most gifted artist, one who continues to promise almost more than I dare hope for.” Unfortunately — for Sill and for those who loved her, and for those of us who love her music — much of that promise never came to pass. She died in obscurity in 1979, leaving behind an unfinished third record and quietly ascending to the pantheon of young, brilliant musicians who died too soon.

It’s hard to write about Sill without relying on sensationalist bullshit. I suppose in writing this at all I’m contributing to the problem, but like so many others, I have joined the ranks of Sill’s devoted disciples, compelled to tell and retell her story to rectify fate’s perceived cruel disservice to a great talent. What emerges is not always a faithful portrait of the complicated artist Sill was, but rather a shifting and sometimes contradictory fable that cements Sill’s status as a legend — not, as she might have hoped, as “an extremely famous or notorious person,” but rather as the subject of a “story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated.”

The story goes something like this: Judee Sill was born Judith Lynne Sill to an average, unhappy middle class household in Los Angeles in 1944. She fell in with a rough crowd, got married, committed a series of crimes, got addicted to various drugs, went to jail, got married again. Eventually she cleaned up her act, put the gospel licks she’d learned in reform school to good use, and became the first act signed to David Geffen’s Asylum label. She put out two albums of intricate songs that married earthly desire and longing for heavenly salvation, populated with lonely cowboy types and vigilantes that sometimes seemed strikingly similar to Jesus. For a few shining years it seemed like Sill had made it. It soon became clear (the story goes) that fame was not what fate had in store for her. Until 2003, when Rhino issued Judee Sill and Heart Food on CDs for the first time as part of its Handmade series, Sill was “[u]nlamented and all but forgotten.” These are the words of Barney Hoskyns, who in a 2004 Guardian profile declared “[t]he tragic Judee Sill is well overdue for (re)discovery.” Since then, interest in Sill’s life and music has steadily increased thanks to a series of posthumous reissues and releases: 2005’s “Dreams Come True,” a two-disk set of unreleased recordings mixed by Jim O’Rourke (Sonic Youth, Wilco); Live in London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973, released in 2007; and “Chariot of Astral Light,” an intimate collaboration with aforementioned Tommy Peltier recorded in the ‘70s and finally released in 2004.

In a review of the 2004 Intervention reissue of Judee Sill titled “The Judee Sill Cult Continues, This Time at 45RPM,” Michael Fremer of Analogplanet writes, “sometimes "legends" are created and nurtured simply by tragic circumstances. In Judee Sill's case add wasted talent and unfulfilled great promise that add up to a movie worthy story.” Sill’s life has yet to inspire a movie (although a seemingly-deserted IMDB page indicates at least one attempt at a documentary), but songwriter Laura Veirs’ “Song for Judee,” renders the Judee Sill legend in sparse yet cinematic detail. In it, Veirs’ voice echoes on top of warm, jangling guitars, the apparently upbeat melody betrayed by the sadness of the story it tells:

“You wrote “The Kiss” and it is beautiful

I can listen again and again

You never really got a break

From the car wrecks and the pain”

The crux of the Judee Sill legend is captured in these lines, which immediately identify Sill’s work with the tragic events of her life. Sill’s music is mentioned in Veir’s lyric but once, and only glancingly; it’s not even clear “The Kiss” is a song, or “Judee” a songwriter. Veirs’ appreciation for her music is given is as pretext for why the listener should care about Sill’s life, but it’s clear the main attraction here is tragedy. The rest of this atypical ode is not praise, but a retelling, addressed to Sill herself, of key moments in the legend of her life. What emerges is a tellingly concise fable that identifies Sill with the lonely phantom cowboys who populate her lyrical landscape.

Veirs appears to have lifted her narrative and several phrases from the BBC documentary. She mines in particular the commentary from Peltier, who says Sill was his best friend and shares the insights that would come to compose Veirs’ chorus: “You loved the Sons of the Pioneers and the Hollywood cowboy stars/you were just trying to put a hand to where we are.” She also borrows, nearly word-for-word, an introduction Judee gave during one of her London radio performances in 1972, describing her time “living in a ‘55 Cadillac, five people sleeping in shifts.” This almost creates an intimacy with Sill, whom Veirs had never met; however, there remains an insurmountable distance. Sill had been dead 35 years — as long as she was alive — by the time this ode was composed. While Veirs hints at Sill’s troubles in the first verse, only in the last verse does she make explicit what happened: “They found you with a needle in your arm, beloved books strewn ‘round at your feet”. The revelation gives the chorus retroactive prophetic relevance. The past tense, once wistful, is now crushing.

Her death, like her life, became part of the legend. There are general points of agreement: she had been in several car accidents, was using heroin again, and died of an overdose just after Thanksgiving 1979. Everything else is less clear. Though her death certificate reports she was found dead in her house in North Hollywood, a persistent rumor suggested she had disappeared to Mexico to live out her final days. Her death was reported as a suicide, but family members and friends maintain that the note found near her, a characteristic musing on death and redemption, was an idea for a song.

The title of a 2014 BBC Radio documentary by Ruth Barnes says it all: “The Lost Genius of Judee Sill.” Sill’s genius is preceded by its lostness. Sill herself comes last. Her music is mentioned too, of course. They quote Sill’s self-description of her work as “country-cult-baroque” and her professed influences, Bach and Pythagoras. (In some versions of the quote, Ray Charles is thrown in.) Yet every time, it seems, someone brings up that she wrote “Jesus Was a Crossmaker,” about JD Souther, that Graham Nash produced it. She was the inaugural artist on David Geffen’s Asylum, we’re told, .She opened for Crosby Stills and Nash, and Cat Stevens, and Gordon Lightfoot — and so on. These revelations are usually accompanied by astonishment at the fact that she failed to find the commercial success of her peers, despite her comparable — perhaps superior — talents.

Many have offered explanations about how this happened. There is a general consensus that her falling-out with Geffen played a role. It’s not exactly clear what happened. The word “faggot” was involved, but whether it was said live or on the radio, in reference to Geffen himself or a pair of his pink shoes, is up for debate. Whatever she said severed their relationship. Some contend that she may have been in love with him, and was hurt when he spurned her advances. Others point out that she was growing frustrated with what she saw as his lack of promotion for her music. By this point, she was already making no secret of her disdain for the “snotty rock bands” she had to open for, and I doubt this did her any favors.

The contradictions in people’s stories exacerbate the larger-than-life quality of her life and times, as do the many cliches used to tell her story. Headlines variously declare her “a star that fame forgot,” “L.A.’s doomed lady of the canyon who lost her genius to drugs,” a “mystic” who “walked among us.” The human Judee Sill is lost somewhere beneath this sensationalism. It is no wonder why her friends and family members, Tommy Peltier chief among them, feel so compelled to set the record straight by providing their version of events. In his remarks in “Songs of Rapture and Redemption,” Peltier is quick to discourage speculation about her drug use and past prostitution, declaring instead “She was just the most beautiful person.”

“Beautiful,” you may recall, was the only word Laura Veirs could come up with to describe “The Kiss.” When I first heard “The Kiss,” I was immediately struck by how inadequate the word was to describe what I was hearing. The song showcases the best of her efforts to induce mathematically precise intervals into intricate melodies that aren’t so much heard as felt. Her lyrics, confusing the sacred and profane, ride the thin ridge between love and logic, devotion and desperation. Over shifting and plaintive piano Sill sings a eulogy to stars bursting in the sky and begs a lover — god? — to come and hold her “while you show me how to fly.” I first heard “The Kiss” in a YouTube video, one of few that survives of her performing, whose introduction insists that she herself was determined to be a successful musician. Ironically, the video shows precisely why perhaps she couldn’t be: severe and guileless, Sill hunches over the piano as if it were all that exists, engrossed in the song’s intense and uncommercial emotional intensity.

Sill’s idiosyncrasies are on full display in “Songs of Rapture and Redemption”, a compilation whose greatest strength is its commitment to capturing the artist and all her contradictions in her own words. The sleeve features a candid photograph of a smiling Sill, alongside several of her paintings and drawings. The tracks included are a combination of live recordings, demos, and studio outtakes that lay bare the deceptive complexity of her compositions. In the Boston Music Hall performance that opens the record, Sill, armed only with an acoustic guitar, tells the audience “I’m going to sing you a few little songs before David [Crosby] and Graham [Nash] get here. I’d like to sing you this song called “The Vigilante”. It’s new, I hope I remember the words.” The self-effacing introduction notwithstanding, what follows is nothing short of revelatory.

An early highlight is “Enchanted Sky Machines,” a bluesy number about waiting for the end of the world where she trades her distinctive fingerpicking for pentecostal piano licks she picked up in reform school. There is an aching earnestness to the way she sings of swallowing her yearning, and it carries over into “The Archetypal Man,” which begins with Sill singing the song’s opening harpsichord solo. Before “Crayon Angels,” she describes how she would call up friends as she was writing the album and sing them instrumental solos, joking that it must have been hard for them to like her in those days. The crowd is in on it, and her self-deprecating humor belies a clear confidence in her talents and her musical vision that is justified by the virtuosic grace of her playing. Sill was a perfectionist who demanded and deserved creative control, a notoriously laborious songwriter who could be a tyrant in the studio, and these tendencies are on full display even in this humble solo set. When she introduces her second last song, “The Lamb Ran Away With the Crown,” she enunciates every word, then repeats it again — ”with. the. crown.” — determined to ensure the the audience walks away knowing exactly what she was saying.

The set ends with Judee’s signature song, “Jesus Was a Crossmaker,” which had only just been released to radio two days prior. She calmly reveals the song’s inspiration, an unhappy relationship with a “bandit and a heartbreaker,” and describes waking up one day with the conviction “that even that wretched bastard was not beyond redemption.” Her diction is clear, her tone less so. The audience, nonetheless moved, cheers and laughs. She goes on: “It’s true, I swear. It saved me, this song. It was writing this song or suicide. It’s called “Jesus is a Crossmaker” and I hope you like it.” Her voice seems monotonous for such an emotional confession, but that stops mattering as soon as the song begins.

Instantly her singing voice, freed from the perfectionism of her studio recordings, reveals itself as strikingly human. Precise, unadorned, free of vibrato, it is flat in places, sharp in others, yet cuts to the rhythmic core of each note. She struggles with a few of the intervals she has given herself to sing, but this only enhances the song, giving human voice to the mathematical precision of her compositions, linking the downtrodden with the divine. With her unpretentious voice and deceptively simple language, she strives to speak redemption into being. Her longing for it is audible.

Such longing is a key theme in much of sill’s work, and nowhere is it more pronounced than in “Crayon Angels”:

Crayon Angel songs are slightly out of tune

But I'm sure I'm not to blame

Nothing's happened, but I think it will soon

So I sit here waiting for God and a train to the Astral plane

Later in the song, she confesses “Guess reality is not as it seems so I sit here hoping for truth, and a ride to the other side”. Sill knows the truth she longs for is unattainable, at least in this lifetime — but she remains unflagging in her belief in something. It is this belief that motivates her music. To characterize Sill as a god-given genius laid low by fate undercuts her formidable musical ambition, and the sincerity with which she approached her craft. The work she created was not purely inspired by the divine, but instead strove for it, confronting the inevitable impossibility of reaching perfection with the all-too-human drive for beauty in the face of death. Still, one gets the sense that Sill herself, enthralled as she was with cowboy stories and cosmic secrets, might appreciate the mythic proportions her life story has taken. I like to think that she’s made it to the Astral plane, and that wherever she is, she’s smiling.

#h: assignment #h: 2018 #judee sill #music criticism #folk music #songs of rapture and redemption

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