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jukebox_fest letter
Apr. 14th, 2022 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yelpDear Jukebox Jockey,
It's my first time doing this exchange! I threw in some of my favorite songs, and hope my ramblings, interpretations, and prompts for each one will be helpful to you. Some are vague and some are perhaps too specific, but for all I'd be happy for you to ignore them entirely, and take your creation in whatever direction inspires you.
I also have a general likes/dislikes post here.
Song: Impermanence - Major Parkinson (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH3fZnOJ98
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Major-parkinson-impermanence-lyrics
The one-word title says it all for this one. I love the themes of impermanence, mortality, the pressure of time, and how it makes the search for meaning in our limited lives more desperate and more urgent. I especially like the callouts to famous poets and how they impact the subject's view on love. Perhaps, due to our short lifespans, we need to build upon our predecessors' passed-down understanding of the world, since we don't have all that much time to find our own from scratch. If these borrowed insights don't end up working out for us, and that can feel like a betrayal. One take on it that I'm partial to: the narrator is a vampire, singing to a pitiful, short-lived human at their lowest moment, when they're hating their own mortality most. (and possibly offering to free them from it?)
Song: Whatever You Want - Vienna Teng (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0_4xGczoU4
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Vienna-teng-whatever-you-want-lyrics
The characters in these lyrics are fascinating! "You", as well as "your right hand" and the "dress wearing a face", both loyal and indispensable. Both invisible to you, and in position to ruin you. I would absolutely love if these two found some shared connection in their service to "you", coordinated their rebellion together, and gained fulfillment in lives of their own. What changed, after all their years of silent faithfulness? What gave them the strength and self-value to become more than just shadows?
Song: Preciso Me Encontrar - Cartola (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56mu8KSUYqk
Lyrics link: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/preciso-me-encontrar-i-must-find-myself.html
This one has simple lyrics but a powerful mood. I love how well it captures this longing to explore, to find oneself, even though it's not painless or costless. I think it's hard to give up what one already has in order to seek what else is out there, and I think the narrator here faces that choice boldly with a complicated sort of joy.
Song: Sons & Daughters - The Decemberists (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MsDPtPCpZ4
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/The-decemberists-sons-and-daughters-lyrics
Such a cheerful, mysterious song! I would love some worldbuilding for this. What conflict are they trying to escape, what sound of bombs? Where are they headed, and is it a real place, or just a fabled promised land? The optimistic tone, the future tense, make me feel that the singers are far from their destination, and using this song to comfort themselves, and ease the grueling journey with no end in sight. Addressing the song to sons and daughters makes me wonder if the singer even expects to make it personally, or if this is more of a generation ship type of situation, where only their descendants will see the end of this journey.
Song: Getting Ready to Get Down - Josh Ritter (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnQ89jZvZD0
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Josh-ritter-getting-ready-to-get-down-lyrics
This song always puts a smile on my face. I'd love to hear more about the subject of the song, and her irrepressible zeal for living life joyfully. Even though the song talks a lot about "getting down", it seems the primary message is that nothing her town or family throws at her can manage to "get her down", if you will. One detail I like is how she does attend the Bible school and such, but she takes only the lessons that resonate with her, and leaves the rest. I wonder what the others back home actually make of her on her return. If they still despair about her, or if she starts to win some of them over. If she's a beacon of hope, a role model, to someone else who needed it.
Song: Shelter - Porter Robinson (Music Video)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzQ6gRAEoy0
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Porter-robinson-and-madeon-shelter-lyrics
The video goes so quickly from a vibrant, magical VR playground to a tragic backstory. I'd love to see more of how the protagonist makes use of the world-shaping powers at her disposal. Does she ever try to craft other people in her loneliness? For a fix-it, it would be lovely if Earth survived after all, and she received a message to come back. (Maybe infrastructure was wiped out and it took a long time to rebuild the the technology to reach her?) A reunion with her father would be lovely. After living most of her life in her VR chair, she'll probably need his help to learn to walk again (some nice symbolism in that). It would alternatively be cool to see her make contact with other survivors (who perhaps weren't fortunate enough to have the technology of her spaceship, and might enjoy getting to run around under the open skies again, virtually), or even an alien race (whom she can introduce to beauties of her lost home through her VR system).
Song: American Moon - Sailship (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZEU_KLx1Nw
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Sailship-american-moon-lyrics
There is a very surreal, ethereal quality to the two people meeting in this song. The man, who seems to be going through his first werewolf transformation, and his lady - perhaps the one who changed him? perhaps a human, initially shocked at his change, but gradually coming to see him as the same person he was before? perhaps one of the witches laughing in the woods, who summoned him here? Alternatively, if you want to take a more metaphorical view, perhaps just a man showing his inner self to someone for the first time, being vulnerable before her, and hoping for her acceptance.
It's my first time doing this exchange! I threw in some of my favorite songs, and hope my ramblings, interpretations, and prompts for each one will be helpful to you. Some are vague and some are perhaps too specific, but for all I'd be happy for you to ignore them entirely, and take your creation in whatever direction inspires you.
I also have a general likes/dislikes post here.
Song: Impermanence - Major Parkinson (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH3fZnOJ98
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Major-parkinson-impermanence-lyrics
The one-word title says it all for this one. I love the themes of impermanence, mortality, the pressure of time, and how it makes the search for meaning in our limited lives more desperate and more urgent. I especially like the callouts to famous poets and how they impact the subject's view on love. Perhaps, due to our short lifespans, we need to build upon our predecessors' passed-down understanding of the world, since we don't have all that much time to find our own from scratch. If these borrowed insights don't end up working out for us, and that can feel like a betrayal. One take on it that I'm partial to: the narrator is a vampire, singing to a pitiful, short-lived human at their lowest moment, when they're hating their own mortality most. (and possibly offering to free them from it?)
Song: Whatever You Want - Vienna Teng (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0_4xGczoU4
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Vienna-teng-whatever-you-want-lyrics
The characters in these lyrics are fascinating! "You", as well as "your right hand" and the "dress wearing a face", both loyal and indispensable. Both invisible to you, and in position to ruin you. I would absolutely love if these two found some shared connection in their service to "you", coordinated their rebellion together, and gained fulfillment in lives of their own. What changed, after all their years of silent faithfulness? What gave them the strength and self-value to become more than just shadows?
Song: Preciso Me Encontrar - Cartola (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56mu8KSUYqk
Lyrics link: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/preciso-me-encontrar-i-must-find-myself.html
This one has simple lyrics but a powerful mood. I love how well it captures this longing to explore, to find oneself, even though it's not painless or costless. I think it's hard to give up what one already has in order to seek what else is out there, and I think the narrator here faces that choice boldly with a complicated sort of joy.
Song: Sons & Daughters - The Decemberists (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MsDPtPCpZ4
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/The-decemberists-sons-and-daughters-lyrics
Such a cheerful, mysterious song! I would love some worldbuilding for this. What conflict are they trying to escape, what sound of bombs? Where are they headed, and is it a real place, or just a fabled promised land? The optimistic tone, the future tense, make me feel that the singers are far from their destination, and using this song to comfort themselves, and ease the grueling journey with no end in sight. Addressing the song to sons and daughters makes me wonder if the singer even expects to make it personally, or if this is more of a generation ship type of situation, where only their descendants will see the end of this journey.
Song: Getting Ready to Get Down - Josh Ritter (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnQ89jZvZD0
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Josh-ritter-getting-ready-to-get-down-lyrics
This song always puts a smile on my face. I'd love to hear more about the subject of the song, and her irrepressible zeal for living life joyfully. Even though the song talks a lot about "getting down", it seems the primary message is that nothing her town or family throws at her can manage to "get her down", if you will. One detail I like is how she does attend the Bible school and such, but she takes only the lessons that resonate with her, and leaves the rest. I wonder what the others back home actually make of her on her return. If they still despair about her, or if she starts to win some of them over. If she's a beacon of hope, a role model, to someone else who needed it.
Song: Shelter - Porter Robinson (Music Video)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzQ6gRAEoy0
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Porter-robinson-and-madeon-shelter-lyrics
The video goes so quickly from a vibrant, magical VR playground to a tragic backstory. I'd love to see more of how the protagonist makes use of the world-shaping powers at her disposal. Does she ever try to craft other people in her loneliness? For a fix-it, it would be lovely if Earth survived after all, and she received a message to come back. (Maybe infrastructure was wiped out and it took a long time to rebuild the the technology to reach her?) A reunion with her father would be lovely. After living most of her life in her VR chair, she'll probably need his help to learn to walk again (some nice symbolism in that). It would alternatively be cool to see her make contact with other survivors (who perhaps weren't fortunate enough to have the technology of her spaceship, and might enjoy getting to run around under the open skies again, virtually), or even an alien race (whom she can introduce to beauties of her lost home through her VR system).
Song: American Moon - Sailship (Song)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZEU_KLx1Nw
Lyrics link: https://genius.com/Sailship-american-moon-lyrics
There is a very surreal, ethereal quality to the two people meeting in this song. The man, who seems to be going through his first werewolf transformation, and his lady - perhaps the one who changed him? perhaps a human, initially shocked at his change, but gradually coming to see him as the same person he was before? perhaps one of the witches laughing in the woods, who summoned him here? Alternatively, if you want to take a more metaphorical view, perhaps just a man showing his inner self to someone for the first time, being vulnerable before her, and hoping for her acceptance.
