Favorite song(s) of Act V???
Took me a hot minute but you mean The Dear Hunter, right? I was so confused, like "since when is KCD2 divided into acts and has songs" hahaha sorry, don't mind me, just having a bird brain moment.
This is such a hard question though, because I love all of them, truthfully. This album has been such a huge inspiration to me musically that I spent a good half of my 2018-2020 studying it and trying to write arrangements for other songs using what I'd learned. Of course I've forgotten most of it since I haven't even pressed a piano key in a 1000 years after that, but that's besides the point lol
I would definitely lie if I said I wasn't only vaguely familiar with the story. I was postponing it for so long, but your ask made me finally sit down and spend a few evenings to relisten to all the Acts and actually read lyrics from the very beginning. And oh what a tragic story it is!
There are a lot of major spoilers here, btw, for those who are unfamiliar with the Acts and The Dear Hunter. I really recommend experiencing it for yourself if you haven't.
But going back to answer your question not in a cop out way, I do have a few songs that I love more than the others :D
Regress -- it's so nice! The piano, the strings, how not exactly calm but not anxious either it is. It's like drifting through ether (that is passively angry and disappointed in you lol). Everything about it is great, and the transition into The Moon/Awake as the Oracles finally give up on Hunter after so many warnings? UGh, I'll never get tired of that gut punch.
The Moon/Awake itself is also so amazing. Back from the haze to the to the harsh reality. Definitely one of my top 3 songs in the album just by its sound alone.
Cascade -- love the vibes on this one. It feels so... lost? Of course cause the main character is under opiates, as well as kinda lost in life at that point, but one of the things Casey does really well is paint a picture even if you don't really pay attention to the lyrics. Here, Hunter, metaphorically, is sort of dragging his feet, and looking and looking for solutions to his problems but not finding much.
The Revival -- so upbeat, so loud, and spectacular! You can feel just how much the Pimp/Priest gets to gloat at having been able to blackmail Hunter into reopening the brothel; the song is oozing that malevolent joy, and the moment he drags Hunter back at the end, preventing him from quietly walking away again makes me go NO TF YOU DON'T, GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HIM. B I T C H.
The Haves Have Naught -- my brother said he finds it a bit corny, like a Disney song :D I don't know, maybe I just have a taste for theatrics, but I personally love how the lines between the two characters echo each other in a way that shows their opposing views, especially how they become one on the "These people will just tear themselves apart". Gives me shivers.
Light -- this one is kind of a personal song to me. I've never had a particularly easy relationship with my parents, and hearing the words "know that your father, too, has made mistakes" brings me to tears almost every time because it feels like they are singing it.
The Fire -- another shivers-inducing song. Hunter finally stops running away or hiding or lying low until things somehow solve themselves on their own, but chooses to stop pretending and take the responsibility for his life choices, and ooh boy is his rebirth from the ashes violent.
The March -- aoaoaooaoa, I'll never stop singing praises to Casey for portraying the events so vividly through his music. You can almost feel the heat of the burning building singeing your skin, and the sweat dripping down your neck as the Pimp/Priest, desperate to save himself, gathers his makeshift army.
A Beginning -- as sad as it is absolutely beautiful. The heartbeat in the background as Hunter lives out his last moments; his whole life flashing before his eyes as the song picks up the pace in the middle, reprising a familiar motif, and the rewinding effect right after that. The story that took so many years and so much hardship has finally come full circle, right back to where it started.
Ended up putting more than half of the album on here lmao Listen you can't blame me, they're all too good, alright???
