Animorphs Playlist

Compiling our dream Animorphs soundtrack

[animorphs-playlist]

Feedback on Spoilers and More

Seems there are people reading Animorphs for the first time? Most of my posts will cover the series in their entirety. I try to be vague, but you can figure stuff out from context. Also doesn’t help that this series is like, 10 20+ years old... Do we tag spoilers here?

Should I tag spoilers?

Also, Tumblr blocks my posts from tag results when I use external links to lyrics.

Would anyone mind if I didn’t include lyric links?

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Happy Flash Forward Friday! Kicking these posts off with...

The Offspring - “You're Gonna Go Far, Kid” (2008) * [for lyrics, see video captioning]

* Caution: F-bombs galore, so don’t blast this unless you’re alone in the car or something (highly recommended, btw)

Now dance, f**ker, dance Man, he never had a chance And no one even knew It was really only you

This is like a preview (overture?) for the next playlist, Animorphs: The Guerilla Arc.

This song is full of driving power beats as you rush into the fight, mouth set in grim determination. The adrenaline-fueled panic just before you pull off an impossible attack. The sweet thrill when you get away alive. The smug relief that you bested your enemy.

This would be the perfect battle theme if our kids didn't have to deal with moral dilemmas and just happily mow down the Yeerks like a video game. Sadly, that is not the case. You can’t escape the crash and burn. Loss of self. Despair. The next playlist will cover the rest of that and more.

Still, I love all the lyrics and the drumming always gets me pumped. How perfect is the chorus?

With a thousand lies And a good disguise Hit ‘em right between the eyes Hit ‘em right between the eyes

I want an AMV where each time they eyeball-scoop a Controller is timed to those two last lines, lol.

And if you can’t get what you want Well it’s all because of me ... Trust, deceived!

I originally wanted this song for Jake. The lyrics are about hit-and-run guerilla fighting tactics while in disguise. I thought it fitted Jake’s dynamic with Tom’s Yeerk. Imagine the song switching POVs between Jake and the Yeerk as they both try to outwit the other at the dinner table and in the Yeerk pools.

IIRC, Jake fantasizes the day when he can free Tom and reveal to his family and the Yeerk that he was an Animorph the whole time. This song embodies that moment of somber satisfaction. If this song had been released in the 90s, I bet Jake would have it on repeat in his CD Walkman.

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I just wanted to write an introduction post, dammit.

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Tune Out with Tobias Playlist

Mostly about Tobias going through every stage of pining for Rachel while wanting to fly away.

(And because this is the 90s, TW for drug abuse, child abuse, and rape in music videos i.e. "Runaway Train")

Shout-out to the delightful Morph Club Cast for kicking off this tumblr and this Tobias post! Check out their podcasts, especially Episode 42 (Book 33: The Illusion) for Goo Goo Dolls discussion goodness.

Click below for playlist breakdown and commentary.

But first! A confession: The lead singers for Soul Asylum and Goo Goo Dolls are how I envision an older Tobias: stringy hair hiding hollowed eyes, gaunt features that are somehow still handsome, and a raspy voice that isn't used to speaking. xD

1. Foo Fighters - "Learn To Fly" (1999) [lyrics]

Hook me up a new revolution / 'Cause this one is a lie

Tobias before that fateful night in the construction site. Always feeling out of place, always searching for something more.

Now I'm looking to the sky to save me Looking for a sign of life Looking for something to help me burn out bright I'm looking for a complication Looking 'cause I'm tired of lying Make my way back home when I learn to fly high.

2. Lenny Kravitz - "Fly Away" (1998) [lyrics]

I want to get away / I want to fly away

Self-explanatory. Captures the thrill and freedom of first flight for a pre-nothlit Tobias. Empowered Tobias, yeah!

3. Soul Asylum - "Runaway Train" (1993) [lyrics] [wiki]

Can you help me remember how to smile?

He doesn’t remember because he’s a hawk and hawks don't have lips, ahhh~!

Oh man. Here is the quintessential nothlit Tobias theme song. You have to watch this video. Every time the chorus comes on and I see those missing photos? I cry a little inside, knowing that if Tobias had a normal home life he would've been one of them. But he didn't. No one cared that he disappeared.

It seems no one can help me now I'm in too deep / There's no way out

He's trapped forever, noooo~

4. Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris" (1998) [lyrics]

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

He can’t cry either because he’s still a hawk.... :(

Our first Tobias/Rachel song. All the lyrics are perfect. Tobias doesn’t want anyone to see him, but just know he’s still there. Trapped.

This song featured on the City of Angels (1998) soundtrack, which I listened to repeatedly in middle school. The movie is about an angel who falls in love with a human who can’t see him... and... Ngh. Probably the most unironic role Nicolas Cage has ever done.

5. Nelly Furtado - "I'm Like A Bird" (2000) [lyrics]

Each and every single day I know I'm going to have to eventually give you away

A more upbeat but still sad Tobias/Rachel song. The lyrics happily use a bird metaphor to express how torn and hesitant Tobias is about pursuing a relationship with Rachel when he's a bird boy. Just fighting that impulse to fly away because too many feels and complications.

6. Love Spit Love - "How Soon Is Now?" (1996 cover of 1985 song by The Smiths) [lyrics, also see video]

I am human and I need to be loved Just like everybody else does

Tobias coming to terms with his duality and acknowledging his human side. Just gotta get over that shyness, boy!

I always thought the lyrics were “I am the sun / I am the air” but it’s even better because Tobias is actually The Son and kind of an heir???!!!

I am the son / I am the heir Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar I am the son and heir Of nothing in particular

I also loved Charmed as a kid, so don’t judge me on using this version and not The Smiths. That show had great 90s flair.

PAUSE! Spoiler Alert!

The last few are about The End. I shall not speak of what happens, but beware of spoilers and Heavy Implications of Sad Times.

7. Tonic - "If You Could Only See" (1996) [lyrics]

Well you got your reasons And you got your lies And you got your manipulations They cut me down to size

Tobias directing his anger and every-sad-emotion-ever at Jake. All the lyrics are perfect for this. Take your pick.

8. Goo Goo Dolls - "Black Balloon" (1998) [lyrics]

A thousand other boys could never reach you How could I have been the one?

Just... tears.

Wikipedia: “[The song] is based on a woman who is struggling with a heroin addiction and her lover who is desperately trying to save her... Also about ‘seeing someone you love that is so great just screw up so bad.’"

But for me? I see this as Tobias wanting to save Rachel from the warrior/soldier role she fell into.

One line in the chorus really gets me every time. Can you guess which one?

And I'll become / What you became to me

9. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Scar Tissue" (1999) [lyrics]

With the birds I'll share this lonely view

Most of the lyrics are irrelevant, but the chorus hook and melancholy guitar riffs more than make up for it. The last progression also adds bittersweet closure to this playlist.

The book by the same title is about the consequences of heroin and how it can ruin a life. I’ve found many lyrics about drug addiction can be applied to the PTSD the kids go through. Just replace [drug name] with [war]. Expect to see this recurring in other playlists.

Hope you enjoyed it! And please send in your own Animorphs tunes to share with the group. :)

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About the Playlists

According to Wikipedia, the main in-universe timeline of the Animorphs ranges from Spring 1997 to the final end happening around 2004. (Interesting side note: the last book was published in May 2001.)

The Animorphs would've been around 5 or 6 years old in 1990, and able to recall music from that time through their formative childhood years.

For this reason, I've kept most of my playlists to releases between 1990 and 2004.

Playlist posts will list artist, song title, year, link to lyrics (mostly azlyrics.com because it has the least annoying ads), and occasionally a wiki link if it’s particularly interesting. (No longer including external links bc tumblr is stupid.)

Since lyrics will always be relevant (unless otherwise noted), only my favorite lines will be highlighted along with background info or interpretation for each song. Each character playlist is aimed at following that character’s arc through the books, so these descriptions might make it easier to understand the order.

No problems if you want to skip all that and just listen, though. Just remember most playlists will cover The End in some way, so spoiler alert?

Enjoy!

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Keep it in the 90s (Part 1?)

These playlists started when I heard an Animorphs live-action movie was in the works. Unfortunately, the rumors turned out to be false. :(

To cope with my disappointment, I read fan opinions on how the ideal Animorphs adaptation would be produced. Everyone agreed that the sad attempt known as the Nickelodeon TV series should not be repeated. But where to proceed from there?

Live-action or strictly animate? Studio Mir-esque animation or 3D animation? (Me: Studio Mir!!)

Modernize or keep in the 90s?

For that last question, my opinion is staunchly: Keep it in the 90s.

Modernizing creates the obvious smartphone hurdle that makes it statistically impossible for our Andalite bandits to stay hidden. Technology aside, I feel other aspects of the books are better off in a 90s frame of mind, especially the character designs for Marco and Rachel (more on that some other time).

We're also estranged enough from the 90s that we can look back on it with nostalgia. The 90s have become its own period genre, like the way we think of The Breakfast Club (1985) or Heathers (1989) when listing classic 80s teen movies. For my generation and their older siblings, teen romances like Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) and She’s All That (1999) were the height of 90s mainstream cool.

But when you watch those movies today, the fashion and dialogue choices are a bit cringey, right? How could something so trendy at the time become ridiculously passé now?

How do you recreate an aged era so that it’s palatable to a modern audience?

You pull a Stranger Things.

I’ll keep my pseudo-critic ramblings for another post, but you should watch Netflix’s Stranger Things if you haven’t already. Then you might agree that a not-cringey 90s period piece could be possible with the right styling, soundtrack, and cinematography.

To Be Continued...

[animorphs-playlist]

Introduction Post

Welcome to Animorphs: The Playlist!

Here I’ll share YouTube playlists I made for the Animorphs book series, concentrating on that 90s sound. Feel free to share or submit your fave Animorphs-esque songs.

Check out the FAQ for more info.