BAQ

I make music I hope others will enjoy. 26 - She/They

[baqisnotdead]

have u ever seen the music video for "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard?

^one of the most useless questions on tumblr dot com

ok anyway i was compelled tonight to rewatch this song's music video not only cuz it slaps, but i remember watching it with my sister some years ago and us being baffled about what this music video means

source:

re-familiarize yourself with this barely-sensical emo pop rock cinematic classic and you'll understand my confusion. so...it's a time loop concept. big deal. maybe it doesn't have to make sense and it's just interesting enough on its own to provide a lossely-cohesive storyline carried along by concept rather than by narrative?

and yes that could very much be it, but i was struck with some revelatory thoughts upon my own viewing of it tonight. i won't clog your dash but if you wanna dive in with me, i too have nothing better to do this tuesday night <3

so we all know the art of The Music Video is a pendulum that swings wildly in dozens of directions across several decades -- a music vid making little to no sense isn't the end of the world. sometimes the lyrics don't match what's on the screen at all and life goes on. however, i think i was wrong to assume that of this song and its video. now i don't mean i expected the song's lyrics to be literal; about "green cars" and "women running me over" and "goddamn sidewalk nuns again" but i think that all has a purpose for being in the video, regardless

just as lyrics can contain abstract meaning, music videos can help convey that visually as well. i think this time loop "gag" and the accompanying microgags within them in perpetuity is plenty entertaining, and that's clearly one angle in all of this, and that's great! the worst thing a music video can do is bore you. but i think the implied goofiness or high-concept-ness of it all can lead a viewer to not look as closely into the implied themes of it all. yes, it's great to follow in the storyline-not-storyline kinda way, but drawing critical thematic statements from a man parkouring over a shopping kart full of garbage? that's too fuckin far

except it's not! because like i said: it's all in there for a purpose. just breaking down what we see sequentially, all of it feels disjointed until the time loop clicks after the first chorus. only then, over a third of the way into the song, are we able to start piecing things together. with this, the theme of "cycles/something cyclical" is established. what's this cycle of? what's the intended outcome and how do we get there?

once a loop is established in any story, what's most interesting about it is what changes, and not what actually "loops." upon first run, barreling through Sidewalk Nunz, ragdolling over a shopping kart of trash, we see him pitifully miss the goal: a green muscle car of mysterious rock n roll origin. we loop and we're back on our feet. this time: side spin around the nuns, PARKOUR over the homeless -- that'll show them!! -- and we're a bit ahead of the curve as our hero is mowed down in his emo prime (electric violin continues)

but then it's bridge time! and that means: story development! inside what looks to be the nicest apartment in Newark NJ, a brief case and glasses fit for an eye surgery patient are seen. an attractively lesbionage agent takes them both and attempts to leave. the chase ensues once more, and the nuns are skillfully woven through, the vagabond is High Fived TM respectfully, and the hero successfully intercepts and boards the green muscle car, end of song

so...what's it all mean? well here's my take: it's all about the cyclical nature of self-improvement within the context of partnership. first off, this is supported at least somewhat by the lyrics. everything is very hypothetical and expressing desire for things like nostalgia, a better future, etc. "If I could find you now, things would get better" it's a bittersweet theme that desires for the past and the future, but not the present. typically, times of change or adjustment are what these desires and emotions manifest from. an unsteady or unpleasant "now" could be/would be/should be made better by remembering a better past, or wanting a better future. sadly, one of those things we can never get back, and the other only comes when work is done and change is made.

that's when i was reminded of what changes, literally, within the music video! as we know, time loops exist to be solved and escaped -- see "Groundhogs Day" or "Palm Springs" -- which is the thematic metaphor for what feels like an endless cycle of uncertainty during significant life changes and relationships. within a romantic/relationship context, i view our hero's cyclical journey as a test, some trials he has to figure out the best way to navigate to get to his intended goal. what ways work, which ways don’t? i think this says a lot about the deeper themes being discussed

in a basic sense, the street nuns and the shopping kart are problems or obstacles the hero is facing. since they're metaphorical and intended to have meaning to many viewers, what they are literally is up to you! one obstacle could be handling commitment, it could be with addiction (which can be cyclical as well), the list goes on. but what matters is not what the problems "are," but how the hero gets through them. we know the first attempt was messy and with complete disregard. trying to mosh pit through the nuns only slowed him down, and body slamming the kart looked ineffective at best. clearly, we are being told "You cannot strong arm your way through your problems."

Take 2: my guy jukes out the nuns and gets major air over the kart. while we're meant to think it's effective, clearly all was for nought. the lesson here: "You cannot simply avoid or completely skip over the problems like they don't need to be dealt with." the result of this path being the hero getting what he thought he wanted, only to be hoisted by his own green muscle car about to run him over.

as the final attempt begins, we're given important context that is the driving motivation for our hero. while the woman and the briefcase could be ambiguous in literal meaning as well, they represent loss/the threat of losing something or someone important if our hero can't break the cycle. this happens all too often to real people caught in cycles or constantly-shifting times in life, so the hero's desperation makes sense. but then, after artfully weaving peacefully through the nuns and scoring some Good Person Clout, the hero achieves his goal

the final lesson clearly being: work through the hard stuff. don't brute force it, don't dodge it. make mistakes and learn. learn that it's ok to have hope and want better things for yourself in the future. you might be afraid of losing something important to you along the way, but you can still get better and get things right as long as you keep moving through them.

and i dunno...i think that was a really cool and uplifting message to this song and this music video that i have no idea is there or not intentionally on the part of Yellowcard, but we all know that's not the point of art and music lmao. i found this cool meaning in this cool song/video and i hope you did too! k that's all go to bed

[sailor-sunshine]

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Miku

Psst check out my kofi

[baqisnotdead]

Hold Me Closer (Piano Cover) | by Cornelia Jakobs

Welcome back to New Music Mondays!

Something that is no secret about me is my love of the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite my own very, very complicated history with this international musical staple, something that will always have a place in my heart are the actual songs and not so much the "contest" part of it all. This is to say: this will not be the last ESC song I'll be covering, believe you me.

"Hold Me Closer" was easily tied with "SloMo" for my favorite song of the 2022 contest. Sweden sending a solo female rock ballad was beyond refreshing to see and hear. In my cover, granted, I don't have an entire string section with guitar and drums for backup, but that's ok! My love of playing this song comes from how well it translates to solo piano.

My favorite part of rock songs is their reliance on power chords. On the piano, I get to craft and play some of my favorite chords that are rich, punchy, rhythmic, and driving. For example, at the very start, the chord I play in the right hand is (from bottom to top) D-G-A-D. In musical terms that I can barely remember, I think it's a I/"one" chord, 3rd inversion with a sus-2? Or is it a sus-4 because it's inverted? I don't know for sure -- I'm very pretty and have a great personality, I can't always remember music theory.

Basically, this chord is really close to just being D-G-D, is just a power chord with an extra D on the bottom. By adding the A squished in the middle, it creates a very soft dissonance with the G, which I hope brings out the bittersweet nature of this song. It also allows my hand to be playing in a position that makes transitioning to the other chords very easy and still contains that inverted sound that decorates the piece.

A struggle of creating piano covers is knowing I don't have the lyrics to help the listener keep track of the piece, so there's a lot of intonation and rhythm that has to be present for the song to still have cohesion. That includes picking a piano that has enough presence to hopefully evoke a "sung" quality to the melody, as well as enough "punch" for the left hand to establish the beat and meter. If this were a more "orchestrated" cover, I wouldn't need a piano that's so "in your face" about itself.

Oh and before we go -- I added a key change! Now, the original and Cornelia's performance are already flawless; I didn't add or alter anything here because I think I made the song "better." No; these ideas are just my personal interpretation of the song and what I feel makes it unique to the way I arranged it. When I perform this song, I'm reminded of my own feelings involving a person very close to my heart, and the way I feel about that person feels like a key change.

Thank you for listening, reading, and sharing in some music today. See you next Monday!

[baqisnotdead]

Money Money Money - ABBA Cover 1st Preview!

Welcome back to New Music Mondays.

This week I wanna share a sneak preview of a cover I've been working on for awhile. ABBA is a band I grew up listening to thanks to my mom -- who grew up listening to them. LONG before I even knew they had conquered Eurovision, I was a kid listening to them in the car and singing along. Also I've seen Mamma Mia more times than I can count.

Now as an adult, certain ABBA songs have a delightful way of suddenly hitting me like a nail to the forehead (in a good way). As of late, I have been having a hard time with money. I am more than certain I am not the only one. What are some of the things I feel about money right now? Simple: stresed, angry, confused, apathetic, hopelessly hyperfixated, redundant, and futile, just to name a few. So naturally: how do I put all that into a song?

As you can hear, the first thing I thought of (other than the deep kick/hi-hat hardstep beat) was the repeating digital bell. As mentioned, the nature of "money" is very cyclical and repetitive. That bell serves as a reflection of that process. If you listen close, you can hear that every fourth bell sort of "falls flat" at the tail end. My keyboard has a wheel on it that bends the pitch of a note slightly up or down, so that 4th bell ding goes "down" but only slightly -- even if you falter, you gotta keep going.

I loved discovering the instrument that serves as the main melody, the one that sounds like a digital telephone dial sound. It's a bit analog, kinda retro video game, but ultimately it reminds me of entering numbers on an ATM or on the phone every time I call my bank. I also chose this tonality for the melody to reflect how much people rely on digital means of getting/sending money. I was thinking "Maybe I should put in a cash register sound" but then I thought "When was the last time I saw someone open a cash register/heard that sound?" The digitization of currency is very evil, despite its convenience -- (wow it's almost like that's the tradeoff...)

As for my inspirations, there's a lot of Joost Klein, Kaarija, and Penelope Scott in my approach. The beat and genre itself can be attributed largely to the first two, but I want this song to a dance party that tastes like a really bitter cigarette; that's where the Penelope Scott comes in. Electronic music can be fun, but it can also be quite sardonic and dry, and at times a bit sinister. I wanna see how well I can blend both of those vibes, and I hope it lands in the final draft.

As the title/runtime reminds us, this is only a sneak peek! Depending on what I work on this week, I may or may not share more updates about this song. Ideally I'd like to get two to three songs at a time that I'm working on so I can always keep it fresh! Thanks for listening and reading, to anyone out there in the void who finds me, lol.

[baqisnotdead]

Music Monday: "Solitude"

In high school and undergrad, I wrote, recorded, and uploaded practically anything I could whip up on Garageband. From piano pieces to podcast soundtracks to covers, I would just share music. That was a joy I didn't realize was so important to my heart until life began to get in the way of that.

But I'm not going to ignore seeking that joy anymore. As I've reminded myself and others, "the opposite of creativity is isolation." That's why I wanted to start my new weekly tradition with sharing my song "Solitude." I wrote this a couple years ago originally for my best friend's short film.

So in these posts, I just wanna chat and ramble about the piece, be open to reactions, and let people offer constructive support.

The film this was originally written for deals with the passing of a mutual friend between the two protagonists and unanswered questions that person left. Naturally, my friend gave me the direction of writing something bittersweet, pensive, and wandering.

To get that "bittersweet" feeling to be a present motif along the journey of this song, I came up with that repeated, cyclical ascending right hand arpeggio. Even though it flows pretty quickly through the piece, it's easy to pick out the four notes: C - E - G - A. This creates a bittersweet impression because it combines a major chord with a minor chord (C-E-A is the minor chord/"bitter" and C-E-G is a major chord/"sweet").

This was recorded on Logic Pro with one of the new piano patches they added, which I was STOKED to see. My biggest complaint was how Logic really only had one decent MIDI piano voice, but one day I just got prompted to update and get over a dozen new piano/keys patches. I'm excited to create tons of pieces with different pianos, as composing for piano is my starting point for almost everything I write.

So this piano patch is called "Lucid Recollection" and I chose it specifically for that cool delay/echo effect. My favorite kinds of plugins are ones with effects I barely have to mess with to sound how I want them to sound. The crackling, icy echoes ring through the higher and/or less dense sections of the song, so I don't have to worry about the reverb and echo of the effects drowning out the melody when we're lower on the piano.

Overall, this new piano and desire to re-record an older piece of mine was an extremely fulfilling activity and I'm happy to share it. The physical act of playing this song puts me into a headspace I certainly wasn't in when I first wrote it. To me, the echoing piano effect exists in contrast to the rest of the song. The building and continuous motion of the melody goes on and on, only to inevitably slow and the echo seems to "catch up" with the rest of the song. Maybe it's something I'm trying to outrun, or maybe it's a memory. Who's to say?