So that new music video... · 5:29pm Jun 9th, 2019
Just a quick recap, before we get into things.
- After season three, Hasbro gave us a movie called Equestria Girls, in which Twilight Sparkle went into a "human" world after Sunset Shimmer, who was one of those 'quickly redeemed' villains and there was a bunch of 'okay, this isn't bad, just a bit cliche cause there's a high school.
- After season four, we got the sequel--Rainbow Rocks, in which it turns out that just because Sunset decided to be a better person it didn't mean that everyone in the high school forgot her bullying. Luckily for her, three new villains known as the Sirens (or the Dazzlings, if you want to use their silly band name) showed up and proved to be so manipulative as to generate more conflict. Sunset managed to at the last minute beat them at a magic sing-off with the assistance of her friends, a well-timed coat toss, and human Vinyl Scratch's transforming DJ car. Not making this up.
- Rainbow Rocks not only made Sunset an incredibly likable character, but also gave us a trio of fun villains that the fandom adored for their wit and brazen references to seduction. They were evil and we loved it. But while Sunset got to star in a few more movies and a series of internet shorts, the sirens faded from official appearances... until now.
You all caught up? Good. Watch this, then click read more for my spoilery thoughts.
This music video doesn't actually 'happen' exactly, in my head. I mean, I can see it happening at some point, or at least parts of it. Overall, it's more a metaphorical representation of the sirens' state, and it is an interesting one. It's most evident in the first half of the chorus:
The days go round and round, round and round and round
gotta break away, make a great escape
round and round and round, round and round and round
Tedium. A disconnect from purpose. They had a passion in the movie, an evil one, but a passion. And now... they are nothing. And they're trying to find their way out of nothing, trying to get out of the cycle.
But the verses make it interesting. There are three of them, but the first two precede the first singing of the chorus.
Where do we go? Every day's the same. Did we lose the magic?
So ordinary. Stuck on the peak. Gotta find the passion.
I'm streamlining a bit, suffice it to say the last two syllables of each verse are repeated for emphasis.
So anyway, we've got two lines here. The first is very much an expression of... realization of enuui. I'm not sure what the right word is. The sudden confusion that comes from realizing you've been running life on automatic for a while, but not knowing why. Where do you go when every day feels the same? And where did your sense of wonder go?
The second line is interesting. It's ordinary, but they're stuck on a peak. They're at the top, and everything seems... normal. Being at the height of your skills... and finding you don't have a passion. A purpose is gone. Without the love for your talents, even being the best is just... okay. To the sirens, there is no point in singing anymore--because their magical gems are shattered. But they're good singers, great singers... it just doesn't mean anything.
Can I find the beauty in the simple things? Can I learn to see it?
Here's an interesting verse. The first one is "we," the second is ambiguous, but by implication still "we." This third verse comes after the first chorus. And it's an "I". The video focuses on Adagio, the leader, as she contemplates a cup of tea. And the question is pretty obvious--"does it really have to be big to matter?" (We do also see the other two exploring a field of neon daisies during this line, metaphor metaphor.) And Adagio pulls out her broken gem and contemplates it as the second chorus starts.
And here's an interesting thing: the contrast between the choruses. The first time it is sung, the girls are walking off the stage and they're somber, there's a bit of visual metaphor where they run in circles before stopping and just falling to the ground. And audibly, they're all in unison--it's beat for beat for beat.
The second time, they are visibly happier, gently approach the stage through a crowd, and take the time to connect with the group. There are ripples of their power in their footsteps, and the formerly blank-faced audience is suddenly worth paying attention to. And, if you listen closely, you feel a little life in this chorus that wasn't in the first--Adagio is providing a bit of extra line, going off the melody but not out of the rhythm, a single cheery repeat transforming what was at first sadness at loss to determination for gain.
Gotta find the magic, the magic, magic...
Overall, this seems to be a very artistic expression of artistic slumps and the ways to get out of them. How even the best need to learn to appreciate what is, to find wonder around them, lest their work simply become tedium. It's a lesson that bears repeating.
As to what it means for the Sirens themselves...?
...that's for the fanfic writers to decide. I do have a few ideas, though.
Like making Taconata a thing?
5071877
I've seen your comments on the other blogs, no need to hammer in the meme.
5071879 😝
I will not watch that video because I have my reasons and that I have exams to do meaning I don’t have time but the fact that the sirens are maybe back is giving me the vibes that they’ll be good guys this time who knows but in the words of Just A Pancake’s Kingdom Hearts in a nutshell series.
an adventure where a group of reformed sirens are needed to help save the day would be interesting to be sure
perhaps even regaining there lost power, transending the darkness to become something more, something new.
and that could play into the artistic metaphor too beucause now and then it does help for an artist to 'reinvent' themselves somewhat, try new styles, new ways of thinking...sometimes you find that you resonate even more with that new thing then you did with teh old
Are the terms "diagetic" and "non-diagetic" what you're looking for?
Anyhow, I don't keep up at all with EQ-G content at all, so thank you so damn much just for boosting this. Besides being thrilled that we got anything with the Dazzlings again, it's so fucking beautiful. The fact that you gave us your analysis of it is interesting too, even if they weren't the same initial take I had watching this. Although I'm sure that the three of them fainting around in the neon houses and flowers is non-diagetic, I still took things as more literal, if that's the word for it. More plot-driven.
When we get to "The days go round and round and round" my immediate thought was that they were talking about their own immortality. They have to be, to have been around in Starswirl's time, and it was up in the air to the fans if the destruction of their pendants affected their lifespan or youthfulness. The end of Rainbow Rocks seemed to heavily imply that without the pendants, they couldn't hold a tune to save their life. Or maybe the Rainboomicorn just temporarily roughed up their larynges.
"Can I find the beauty in the simple things? Can I learn to see it" can mean several things, possibly all at the same time. One is them having to learn how to enjoy life with mortal eyes now; even though I know this show is never allowed to entertain the notion of character death. So the Doylist way I have to take it is that now they're just learning to cope without being able use mind control to get whatever they want.
The blank faced crowd means how the the Dazzlings always just saw the human populace as a food source, and never remembered anyone's name, let alone make a friend. Now they're disgusted how despite still being immortal, they still have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Yeach, equality. "So ordinary. Gotta find the passion." Can you imagine an existence more pitiful and base than a magicless human?
(Although I didn't make out "Stuck on the peak" before, and I can see how that does more to support your idea of representing creative drive and inspiration. I can certainly imagine the people who work on this show going that direction.)
But somehow the pendants have been repaired, and given them a new method of feeding (or maybe the events are vice-versa). Between 1:22 and 1:23, Adagio's is just suddenly made whole with no indication for anything having happened. That really annoys me, because I didn't catch that the first time. Initially I thought Adagio was still gripping it close to her, DESPITE the fact that it was damaged and couldn't aid her. That was a really sweet image, but a re-watch dashed that. It has to mean something that the Sirens keep cradling these things like they're alive.
Actually if you squint, these things kind of look like a fish egg clutch.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/6/9/2061568.png
personal.psu.edu/sbj4/aquarium/newtank/clownfish-eggs-1-050408.gif
Now I imagine an all-female Siren race putting their energy into their gems to transmogrify it into embryos. A pure magical spawning.
It seems that they can earn power now from the positive emotions of people. Which... actually seems to put them on the dietary level of pre-reformation (preformation?) Changelings. Although it's portrayed as actually giving something in return, signified by them holding out their repaired pendants to the audience, palms out. In all seriousness, this sounds like the resolutions I've seen in a ton of changeling reformation stories, pre-season 6. Canon Changelings only seem to have exchanged love (as a tangible force) during their initial metamorphoses. Love as a source of nutrition only seems to hold out with Chrysalis. Ocellus seems to have no dietary restrictions or exceptions from all the other creatures.
A good analysis, however I want to present my own, as I feel like the Emphasis on the amulets is important. So to quote me from elsewhere.
5072442
Where did you quote this from? I'd like to include it in my blog, but I want to properly credit the person.