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prettyinpwn-blog · 1 year

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No lie, I’ve loved Lord Huron for ages so I’m a little biased, but damn does the Strange Trails album of theirs fit the Stan Twins so well at times, especially Ford but there’s a hint of Stan character themes in it, too (also Bill a bit). Mostly Portal!Ford focused on revenge, Stan working to get Ford back, Ford coming back and knowing Bill is still a threat, and some Sea Grunks vibes.

There’s even a western/acoustic guitar plus sci-fi electronic instruments vibe like the Gravity Falls soundtrack has, and the album cover has that general American outdoorsy feel (hard to describe but it’s like that same aesthetic you see on vintage state or national park signs in America).

There are romantic themes that don’t fit. But minus those it’s peak Stan twin feels.

tl;dr: for those who don’t read under the cut, at least listen to Frozen Pines by Lord Huron, I beg of you. Max Stan twin vibes. Pines because duh, the setting being a snowy night in a pine forest, two male voices singing at times, and the lyrics mY GoD.

If you like it, then listen to The World Ender, Meet Me in the Woods, and Way Out There too for some lesser but still Stan twin or Bill vibes.

Some deeper, rambling thoughts for the whole album under the cut ~

Okay, so this is what I mean with this album, song by song:

1. Love Like Ghosts - eh, one of the romantic songs I mentioned that don’t fit well. I love this song, ‘tis one of my favorites on the album, but not very Stan twin-ish. Maybe more Stan-ish because it mentions the protagonist being haunted by ghosts all the time, likely a feeling Stan had all those years after Ford had disappeared and he was trying desperately to get him back. There’s also a theme of seeing ghosts in oneself, which, since Stan looks like Ford...

2. Until the Night Turns - definitely more Ford, one because lyrics about staying up all night (Ford is allergic to sleep), and because these reasons:

“I had a vision tonight that the world was ending Yeah, the sky was falling and time was bending I watched the heavens collide right before my eyes What if the world dies with the sunrise?“

“I had a visitor come from the great beyond - cOUgH Bill CoUGh Telling me our time in the world is done And to watch for a sign in the midnight sky What if the world dies with the sunrise?”

“When the World Ender comes, baby, don’t close your eyes”

Definitely due to it being in major key, it’s a more happy feeling song, so this feels like a Ford during the meeting Bill and admiring him era of Ford’s life, plus some foreboding foreshadowing of how Bill is the World Ender. Though so is Ford, in a way.

There are some romantic themes but meh ignore those.

3. Dead Man’s Hand - this is a great song with both Stan and Ford lines, BUT I’d say it leans more Stan, both when he went to go see Ford before the portal accident, him taking over Ford’s life, etc.

“Yellow lines, in the dead of the night Oh, I was heading back out West Trying to keep my eyes open wide I’d gone days without any rest”

I’d see this as being both Stan going to Ford before the portal accident, driving out to see him, but this can also be Ford because sleep what’s that? Also EyEES. “You come back from a trip to the East But you don’t come back from the dead”

More of a Stan line. He staged his death to take Ford’s identity. Could also be Ford, though, since he was also sort of “dead” to the world after he disappeared. Also, they’re both from the East coast.

“Sure as hell he was dead as they come, He was already starting to smell eh ignore this line Just a kid, with his hair slicked back And a knife tucked into his belt Was he unforgiven? Or just tired of living a life that never felt like his?“ Stan to a T. He had his hair slicked when he was young, the knife in the belt from years of crime and/or expecting people after him, and the last two lines? Ooooooooof.

“I stared right into the endless Void And I ain’t going back if I got any choice“ AKA I stared into the void of some interdimensional portal that I lost my brother to and I’ve decided to stay here to fix it.

There’s also a stanza about the protagonist in the song burying this dead man, but the dead man doesn’t want to stay and wants to keep roaming. It’s like Stan juggling on that tightrope of “is Ford dead, is he not, do I keep trying?”. Could also be Stan as the dead man himself, still technically alive after he’d already buried himself. Or Stan feeling like he’s having to bury his own brother mentally. GAH the possibilities are endless.

4. Hurricane (Johnnie’s Theme)

Stan to a T, at least the first stanza. The lyrics explain themselves:

“I get a thrill outta playing with fire ‘Cause you hold your life when you hold that flame I get a kick outta thunder and lightning And tearing through the night hollering your name

I get a laugh outta starin’ at darkness And wondering why people live in the light I drive fast and I rumble the hardest I don’’t feel alive if I ain’’t in the fight” The fire part is self-explanatory. Also I think Stan canonically had a motorcycle at one point? So huehue, that imagery is cute. The lyrics just give off a vibe of Stan’s personality overall.

“I can’t sleep when there’s something to do - like staying up trying to get your brother back “You spend your whole life dreaming, and you wake up dead”

This death imagery, man. Stan, going along trying get rich quick and con schemes, dreaming up fame, only to have to fake his death to take Ford’s place?

The rest of the lyrics of this one aren’t too applicable to Gravity Falls/Stan, besides the part about being an illusion (’cause he ain’t Ford, but he stole Ford’s name and looks like him, so Stan is an illusion of Ford of sorts). Also the mentions of eyes everywhere...

5. La Belle Fleur Sauvage -

So this song is technically about a woman, so eh, not really applicable. Could be seen as a metaphor for Ford reaching for the paranormal not knowing how dangerous it is, in some parts at least. Or Ford having a thing for Jheselbraum/The Oracle, if you’re into that headcanon.

6. Fool for Love -

Another goopy love song, so not as applicable once again. But these lyrics...

“I stare into the endless sky And the sorry tale of my life goes by I drift into the great unknown And I really don’t know where I’m going...”

Ford to a T.

7. The World Ender -

Okay, HERE’S where the songs start hitting Stan twin stuff hard. There’s also Bill in this one, especially so if you also believe in the theory that Stan is a reincarnation of Bill in some way. So this song is majorly Stan + Bill-ish, but I can see it as a song that slaps for Ford, too (because A. he technically almost ended the world and is a World Ender, B. came back from the “dead” when he returned from the portal and sought revenge on Bill for decades).

“I had a name but they took it from me I was the man I wanted to be I had a place to lay my head But they burned it to the ground, and the sky turned red

I had a life and a place in the world I had a sweet-talking wife and a beautiful girl I know I’m never gonna see ‘em again Gonna tear up the world ‘til I have my revenge

They took my life but it isn’t the end Oh, they put me in the ground, but I’m back from the dead Oh, I’m a world ender baby and I’m comin’ for them.

You hear me howl by the light of the moon That’s how you know that I’m comin’ for you Gonna find you alone in the dark of night Oh when the world ender comes, baby, run for your life I never bleed and I won’t ever age I’ll never feel the embrace of the grave Oh the fair and the brave and the good must die I’ve seen the other side of livin’ I know heaven’s a lie I tear through the night and I raise some hell ‘Cause I’m a world ender baby and I’m back from the dead

“Lord knows I should be pushin’ daisies I was six feet down until somethin’ raised me up Sent back before I lift my curse I’m gonna get me a taste of some chaos, first

Untied, I’m gonna get a little wild Screamin’ through the night like a demon child Close your eyes now the light is fading And the noise in the night is gonna get a little louder, baby

They can run for their lives, but they cannot be saved I’m a world ender baby and I’m comin’ for them.”

So this feels Bill mostly to me. Firstly, Bill isn’t his actual name, as apparently his real one is too much for humans to comprehend without going insane. Based on his backstory, he was from a dimension that was burned completely (implied to have been his own fault) and all his loved ones died. The Axolotl prophecy implies that he misses them dearly, even though he pretends not to. So from that anger he seeks chaos and wants to destroy realities.

The second stanza is almost like when he came after Ford, coming in the dark of night while Ford is all paranoid and sleepless. And the third stanza makes perfect sense, because Bill doesn’t have a body, he doesn’t bleed or die. The last few lines, well... now he wants revenge. He’s a demon child and is going to end the world. It also feels Stan though, because of the name swap thing again, his fire “death” at the end of the series and recovering from it, and the world ending with Weirdmageddon. Also if you believe in the Bill = Stan theory, well... yeah, as Stan, Bill really is back from the dead.

BUT it’s also a great Ford song, because he “died” to the world when he disappeared. He roamed the multiverse for decades and spent that long making sure he did everything he could to get revenge on Bill. Ford being “dead” and coming back is almost like his return from the dead, and he doesn’t ever deny his role in helping Bill bring the end of the world. So he proudly is like, “I’m the world ender and I’m coming for revenge”. Kind of a badass Portal!Ford to his return in NWHS song. And at the end, he’s just about to take the shot at Bill with his quantum destabilizer, but then the portal opens up and he gets pulled away from his revenge... and now he’s back from the “dead”. Hence “Sent back before I lift my curse”...

Seriously this song SCREAMS Stan twins and Bill.

8. Meet Me in the Woods - Ford. Ford ALL THE WAY, specifically post portal return. I don’t even have to explain it.

9. The Yawning Grave -

This song is more subtle than Meet Me in the Woods, but this could be both a Bill and a Ford song. Either Bill coming after Ford post dream warning in TLM, or Ford going for Bill when Weirdmageddon hits (hence the “reckoning” mentioned).

10. Frozen Pines -

Well, besides the obvious ‘Pines’ thing, and frozen pines because Ford went missing on a snowy night deep in the cold winter, and the fact that two male voices echo each other on the track at times... and symbolically the Pines are frozen because both Stan and Ford had to pause their own lives the moment Ford was lost, like they and their relationship has been frozen in time since the night of their fight...

This gives me both Stan and Ford vibes. Like a song that fits both of them as they wonder where the other is, however, certain stanzas fit one twin more than the other. To me, this is THE ultimate song for their relationship on this album, as well as any other song I’ve ever heard besides maybe Always Gold by Radical Face. To the point that I’m surprised that I’ve never heard anyone else mention this song in the fandom (maybe they have, I’ve been gone a long while..)?

Anyways, lyrics that hit hard:

“Deep into the night With the moonlight as my guide I go wander through the pines and make my Way to nature’s shrine And I look up to the sky And I know you’re still alive But I wonder where you are, I call your name into the dark

I wake up in the morning, oh, and I don’t know where I’ve been All alone on a mountainside and I’m huddled in the wind And it feels like I’ve been away for an era but nothing has changed at all And it feels like I’ve been with you, oh, but what did we do and where have you gone.”

FORD x1000. Portal!Ford specifically, alone in the universe, wandering. I picture a snowy planet, and he sees pines (or some similar alien plant) and thinks of his family/brother. He looks up at the sky, wondering where Stan has been. Is he still alive back home? He decides to believe that he is, only if to keep himself going. He has a nightmare of Stan running away from him and meeting a bad end, and he calls his name in the dream.

He wakes up in the morning as the nightmare ends, cold, wind-blown, surprised he survived the night. He’s been gone in the portal for decades. And that last line, OUCH: what did he and Stan do? Was his childhood with Stan even real, because it feels so far away, now. Why did they even fight? It’s the biggest regret of Ford’s life.

Alright, now Stan’s turn:

“On the night you disappeared Oh, if I had seen it clear But a strange light in the sky was shining right into my eyes There was no one else in sight Just the endless frozen pines But I wonder all they know 'cause they don't die and they don't grow.”

Yeah, this is Stan the night Ford was lost. A cold, wintry night in a pine forest. The bright light of a portal. Ford disappearing. Etc.

The last line specifically is both Stan and Ford. They are ‘frozen Pines’, stuck in time and left regretting that night forever, not dead, but not growing beyond it, either. It also reminds me of Mabel’s line in the Lost Legends comic, about how they’re both big kids that need to take care of each other. Like Stan and Ford just stopped growing after they were separated and need the Stan-O-War II adventures to regain lost time they spent apart.

“I am ready to follow you even though I don't know where I will wait in the night until you decide to take me there.”

Stan’s loyalty to getting Ford back, of course, working diligently every night to do so.

'Cause I know I don't wanna stay here forever, it's time to be movin’ on Oh I don't want to be the only one living when all of my friends are gone.”

Both Stan and Ford. Stan and Ford both don’t want to be where they are forever, either lost in the portal, or back home with Ford lost forever. Also, the ‘moving on’ is the repairing of their relationship. And they don’t want to be the only twin still alive. :’0

“I will be waiting for you, on the other side of the frozen pines I'm gonna find a way through, there's another life beyond the line I will be waiting for you, on the other side of the frozen pines I'm gonna find a way through, there's another life beyond the line.”

A lot to unpack here. Overall, thematically, the ‘frozen Pines’ are both metaphorically them as Pines brothers whose relationship was frozen in time after their fight, the rift in their relationship, and the literal portal that keeps them apart. Ford and Stan are waiting for the other, wanting to cross the rift in their relationship to see each other again. There’s another life in their sibling relationship waiting on the other side, if they could just forgive each other. Also the symbolism of them both being “dead”, either by faking their death or disappearing, then regaining their life upon Ford’s return, both as who they were originally.

JUSt... NO ONE CAN TELL ME THAT THIS IS THE STAN TWIN SONG. FITE ME. Like I said before, though, special mention to Always Gold by Radical Face.

11. Cursed - meh, skip this one for Stan twin feels. Unless you take the relationship part out, and translate the “she” into Bill. Then maybe it works.

12. Way Out There - Ford 100%, yeah. Doesn’t even need explaining. Though I wanna highlight the lyric line, “if you don’t know my name you know it now”. Huehue.

Could also be a Stan song, since he’s a hero that saved the world, “there are many more flames when mine is gone" + “they will build me no shrines and sing me no songs” lines, since no one outside of his family even knows that Stan is a world saver. The irony that Ford is a world ender and Stan is a world saver but if he’s reincarnated Bill then...

Could also be a Bill song. Depends on how you read it.

Could also be a combined Stan and Ford song about the decision to go on the Stan-O-War II trip. Or a Sea Grunks song about them reflecting on their lives, complete with them on the ship on an eerie, foggy night for full dramatic vibes.

Also, can I mention the very Gravity Falls feel of this track with the mix of warpy/sci-fi-ish elements with acoustic guitars? Yes, inject it into my veins.

13. Louisa - sort of Stan vibes in the first stanza, but the rest of the song is a love song, so meh:

“Good for nothing is the name they'll remember me by Done nothin' with my life for no one, I'm just waitin' to die I turned my back on the world”

It could also be a Sea Grunks song if you take out the romantic mush, especially since Ford’s return is like them both coming back from death, and it talks about not wanting to die but wander the world with someone again, but meh once again.

14. The Night We Met -

Sea Grunks all the way. Minus the actual night they met, because, well, that was as babies. Maybe metaphorically as their older selves meeting each other again after the Weirdmageddon stuff calmed down? Also take out the few romantic lines, of course.

#gravity falls #stanford pines #stanley pines #bill cipher #sea grunks #at least a little bit here and there #gravity falls music #my stan twin hyperfixation is a never ending train going full steam ahead at this point

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