Top 5- Alan Walker

…bbbrrraaaiiinnnsss…

That’s right. I have returned from the dead.

I am genuinely sorry about the slow update: unexpected stuff keeps happening, and I keep being busy on weekends. Also, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is really addictive.

So, Alan Walker: I know nothing about him, except that he’s a DJ. With relatively depressing lyrics.

This should be fun!

The Spotify playlist has been updated, Google Play is open, I even have the mini player in the corner… let us begin.

Today’s list is: Faded, Alone, Sing Me To Sleep, Darkside, and The Spectre.

Well. This sounds like a fun list. Onwards!

faded

Well, this one starts out with piano, so that’s something.

And, that… is not the voice I was expecting.

Honestly, none of this is what I expected. It’s very slow to start, but then it slowly builds, adding more synth, keyboard, and then there’s a beat drop, and it gets interesting.

Meaning-wise, the song communicates a feeling of loss, possibly about a past relationship. The prechorus, in which it basically just repeats ‘where are you now?’ sounds almost like the person’s calling out for the other. Also, the ‘was it all in my fantasy?’ and the ‘were you only imaginary?’ makes it seems like they’re questioning the entire nature of their relationship with the other person- was any of it ever real? Using the word ‘now’ makes it seem like it was something in the past, and the person’s either remembering or hasn’t moved on, hence ‘I’m faded’ later on in the song.

Later, in the chorus, we have the seemingly random ‘Atlantis, under the sea, under the sea’. While at first this seems like a throwaway line, when you start to think about it, the meaning becomes more clear. Atlantis can also be known as the ‘lost city of Atlantis’, adding to the theme of loss throughout the song. It also seems like an answer to ‘where are you now?’, possibly suggesting that the other person is lost to them, in Atlantis, as it were.

Though compared to the music, which starts out with a relatively calm, sad-sounding piano, and goes to a more synthesiser-heavy beat, this is a little strange. The music itself is pretty uplifting and energetic, and the meaning is… not. Which is a fun bit of contrast.

Also, if anyone can figure out the jumble of nonsense, then well done.

Overall, it’s pretty good. Not quite what I expected, but when are things ever?

Feel free to add your own opinions in the comments.

alone

Well. there’s less piano, more synthesiser right off the bat.

Despite the title, which makes it seem like a sad song, it’s actually pretty optimistic. Admittedly, the verses are pretty down, but the chorus (which is the important part) is very much not.

In the first verse, we have someone wanting to know, ‘Am I losing my mind?’, and asking someone else to ‘never let me go.’ At this point, it’s only being sung by one voice, which is a pretty important detail.

When we hit the chorus, at least one or two other voices are brought in, or sampled to make it sound like there’s more people. Which is also important, because the chorus is saying that the person isn’t alone, and the way more voices are brought in helps to illustrate this point.

The chorus goes a little something like, ‘If this night is not forever/at least we are together/ I know I’m not alone/ I know I’m not alone/ Anywhere, whenever/ As long as we’re together/ I know I’m not alone/ I know I’m not alone.’

Why is this important, you ask? Well, let’s take a closer look.

• ‘If this night is not forever’- they’re recognising that whatever they’re going through, let’s just call it the ‘night’, isn’t going to last forever.
• ‘At least we are together’- the other person is supporting them, holding them up, whether they’re a friend, a sibling, a partner, etc.
• ‘Anywhere, whenever’- that person will be with them through everything, and they know that.
• ‘As long as we’re together’- if they have each other, (y’all catch my reference?) they can get through it.
• ‘I know I’m not alone’- do I really need to explain this part?

In general, this song is quietly reminding you that you’re never alone, and that there’s always someone there for you. One of my favourite things about it is the way it doesn’t specify who the other person is in the song. It leaves the interpretation down to the listener, which is both fun and really annoying for me, because there’s like a million ways you could interpret it if you really thought about it. But overall, it’s a bright, optimistic song.

However, the title is deceptive. Why can’t they just make sense?

I mean, it does make sense, but it makes you think that the song is about being alone, but it’s almost the exact opposite.

Why????????

Sing me to sleep

No.

The only problem with these songs is that there’s not a whole lot I can say about the music, which is a little annoying, but hey. More meaning analysis, which is all I really do anyway.

So, speaking of the meaning, let’s just get started.

‘Wait a second, let me catch my breath’, everything is happening so fast to the person, let’s call them X. It’s possible that the other person (Y) is leaving them, and they’re asking them to wait, just let it sink in. ‘Remind me how it feels to hear your voice’, X almost doesn’t recognise Y here, or doesn’t want to believe this is happening.

‘Your lips are moving, I can’t hear a thing’- they’re in shock, unable to process what’s happening. ‘I would do anything for you’- X is begging Y to stay with them, because whatever it is that’s wrong, they’ll change it. Y doesn’t seem to stay. Poor X.

I’m just gonna leave the chorus for now.

Anyway, the second verse says ‘I can hear your whispers in my mind’, probably meaning that they haven’t forgotten Y, even though Y has quite possibly forgotten them. 😥. Also, it says ‘I’ve become what you cannot embrace’, suggesting that they’ve changed in a way that Y either wasn’t comfortable with, wasn’t able to accept, or just didn’t like, which is mean, and also that ‘our memory will be my lullaby’, showing that our poor friend X is still holding onto their memories of X.

Finally, onto the chorus! My favourite part!

So poor X here just wants Y to comfort them, asking Y to ‘sing me to sleep.’ X just wants Y back.

I kinda feel bad for X here. Poor X.

This could also be taken as meaning that Y is dead, which is an interesting way of thinking about it. At the beginning, X is told that Y is dead. It’s not perfect, but it’s a fun (?) different way of looking at the song.

Darkside

come to the darkside. we have tacos.

Kind of a.. pew pew pew noise… there?

Once again, I have nothing to say about the music, so onwards to the meaning!

The first verse starts by saying ‘we’re not in love’, which is probably a lie. ‘We share no stories’ so you’re just two random strangers? Yeah, right. ‘Just something in your eyes’, told you.

This song kinda sounds like the first person (we’ll go with R) is encouraging the second (how about F?) to come with them into the ‘darkside’. Abandon all your morals, why not?

From a serious (as serious as this ever gets) point of view, R is telling F to let it all go, just for a little bit, to stop caring about the world (‘Let’s just believe their lies’) and ‘let go of the light’. Why bother trying to be a decent human when you can just abandon everything for a few hours?

Hey, do any of you remember when I was talking about Say Amen (Saturday Night) on my P!ATD post?

Well, this song is similar.

Imagine it. Girl is sick of her (privileged) life and wants to rebel against her parents. A new dude turns up at school. oH mY gOsH, he’s a dark, mysterious type. Her friends warn her against talking to him, but evidently she doesn’t listen, because if she did, that would make a terrible movie. Or just a worse one. He’s a bit of an arrogant jerk. But of course, he has some dark secret: maybe it’s just him and x number of small siblings at home, whatever. You get the point. Anyway, she’s like all sympathetic towards his situation and he’s actually a big softie. So at some point, her parents find out and they ground her, but she doesn’t care, obviously. She sneaks out. Dude has something to show her, it’s some big screenshot of what his life is like, they go to a bar, an illegal basement party, whatever. She finds she likes this life because it’s freer than her life. He’s convinced he’s not good for her (which he isn’t) but does she listen? I can’t be bothered to come up with an ending so you get to be trapped in suspense forever.

This is the song playing at that party.

No offense to those of you who like that kind of thing, I would probably watch that movie as well despite how cliche it is, but that’s not the point.

It’s basically just me trying to make it look like I have ideas.

The spectre

Honestly, all I can really say about this song is that it sounds like either a) a sped-up version of all the other songs or b) the music to an adventure platformer.

Also, the person singing seems to be possessed. I would get an exorcism done if I were them.

Sorry this isn’t much, but WordPress decided not to save this and I don’t want to listen to it again, because it’s definitely not my favourite.

Conclusion

So it’s not really my thing. To me, basically all of these sound the same.

Also, the first draft of this post gave me a headache, so…

I’m sure there are people who like this kind of thing, but there’s something about the electronic pulsing in the background.

Once again, I apologise for the late update, I’ve been busy doing other stuff. (on my third Divine Beast, if you’re wondering (which you probably aren’t). that camel is no match for the might of the fish brain.)

Anyway, it’s vote week, and I’m using my divine power as a fish brain to completely ignore this week’s list.

Muse or Walk The Moon? You guys decide. Either comment, or vote on my (eventual) poll on Instagram (I’m @justanothervictimsince2004, if you don’t already know).

See you next week! (probably)

Finally, in the wise words of Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, and Ronnie Vanucci:

We hope you enjoyed your stay. It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

Fish brain out.