Hi! I remember how you wrote that you'll do the sky is falling analysis because it has rg parallels, will you ever do it?
(I'm sorry if I mistaken you for other account bc I can't find this post now, but it'll be interesting to hear your opinion anyway!)
I don’t remember if I said I’d do one, but I do vaguely remember an ask about it that I don’t think I ever answered aha.
Sky is Falling is a song with… a lot of layers. So it’s difficult to do a comprehensive analysis that covers all of them. What makes it so complex is it’s one of three songs that all sort of play off of each other. The first is Touch the Sky, which is a direct parallel to this one. But both songs also have similarities to Trust Love. It also links to Treasure. I won’t be doing a full comparison between all of them, but I’ll try to get the main points across.
The primary narration of Sky is Falling is from Oz and Oscar as a shared perspective. We see it first with the use of the pronoun “we”, as well as the several symbols linking back to Salem – and by extension – Oz’s centuries-long feud with her. Lines like, “Can’t outrun the ruin of our lives” and, “a curse that’s never-ending,” are good examples.
The first stanza really reminds me of Oscar back in V5 during the Dojo Scene.
He dreamt of a life of heroism, and a dream is something that isn’t real. It’s an imagined ideal; a fantasy. But his dream became reality and it’s more a nightmare than anything else.
Here comes another nightmare Another fever dream The horror just won’t stop An endless scream But this is not subconscious We’re not imagining We’re wide awake This is reality
The song’s title itself references the fairy tale Henny Penny (aka Chicken Little) which is about a chick who believes the world is coming to an end when an acorn falls on its head. It’s typically used as "a hyperbolic reaction to perceived belief of imminent disaster", but I don’t think Oz and Oscar’s view here necessarily fit that theme.
Ozpin has said his magic is dwindling. Salem has been playing the long game. It’s clear to all parties that this final fight will likely be the last. Either the world will be saved, or it will be destroyed. Regardless, the cycle is ending. In fact, the defeatism in these lyrics is part of that clear parallel to Touch the Sky, which is a song entirely about feeling as if “misery has been discarded” and a “new life has begun”. Despite the scene featuring Touch the Sky not including Oscar, the lyrics do allude to him with the line: “and I somehow feel I finally feel like me.” Specifically, to his dialogue in V8E2 where he says pretty much those words verbatim to Ozpin.
If these two songs are parallels, then Sky is Falling is feeling as though the world is falling apart after they all finally had gained some sense of security and hope. But it's not only about the threat of Salem... It's also predicting Oscar's grief over losing Ruby.
The main part of the song that argues this is the bridge. Lets break it into sections.
Lost all my hopes and dreams Watch my life flash by in scenes And it seems there’s no soul On the video screen
Clearly more of that hopeless imagery, but specifically mentioning "no soul on the video screen" as a reason for why Oscar's is lost seems very deliberate. The person who's been on a screen diagetically with any sort of focus on hope... is Ruby. While there's a montage of several people around the world watching her broadcast, we know Oscar isn't one of them. Because, at the time, he's separated from her, imprisoned, and not at the luxury of pulling out his scroll.
One of the most persistent themes of this show is that only when everyone works together will they be able to drive away the darkness. And V8 is a season where their whole team is split in half, they've lost an ally in Ironwood, and the rest of the world either won't or can't come to their aid. This song highlights that the world will end if they don't all work together. Especially Oscar - Oz's last incarnation and Salem's longest adversary - with Ruby - the last (?) silver eyed warrior and potentially Salem's greatest weakness. This is a theme that comes up consistently in several songs. But here, with the full context of the bridge, it's clear Oscar's hope - his certainty - is tied to Ruby. And when he is separate from her, he feels lost both in the world and in his belief in himself. It is a highlight towards his attachment to Ruby and the monologue he has in the V9 epilogue. The song continues:
But I’m green tryin’ to figure out What all of it means Staring at the casket Hoping to move past it Knowing things will never be the same And that’s it
Oh, you're green, are you? Are you Oscar Pine? I'm not gonna say it's not a little corny ahaha.
The lines "figuring out what all of it means" can be foreshadowing that epilogue where Oscar is trying tirelessly to find out what happened to Ruby and her team. They also mention how he stands at her grave and is unable to move past her death because he hasn't yet given up hope she's still alive.
Cold soaked as I’m standin’ in rain Feeling nothing but pain Until I see you again
These last bits of the bridge mentioning cold and "feeling nothing but pain until I see you again" are another layer to that longing... or should I say, pining for his rose. This is part of how Sky is Falling links to Treasure, which is a song entirely about longing for a love they've been separated from across worlds. I don't need to fully rehash that one as the full breakdown for it can be found here. The one part of it I will link here is this verse:
Though I walk this world I am nowhere to be found Every thought's of you But for now you're not around
This focus on the "world" being what's lost can be used as a literal description, as it's not wrong to say that Ruby fell somewhere apart from Remnant. However, as Treasure came after Sky is Falling, it's hard to not see it as a direct reference:
Our world’s Lost without a soul We’re losing all control Not getting closer (...) Lost control I think I'm gonna lose it All my sanity's slipping away
This loss of control and sanity, specifically being linked to the grief of a soul lost to another world... is just a symbolic way of summarizing Oscar's state in the epilogue. How he feels uncertain without Ruby around. How the merge is progressing faster each day, and him and Oz are fighting to stop it from overtaking him. It might even be referencing that bit earlier about how they can only win - and by extension, free Oscar from this curse - if everyone works together. And how it can feel like the world is ending when Ruby, someone who needs to be a part of that final fight is missing.
“You always believed in the best. Saw people for who they really were. Some of us don’t know anymore...”
Overall, Sky is Falling is quintessentially an Oscar song. From the specifics of his experience with the merge, his inherited feud with Salem, to his insecurities, his attachments, and his grief. It's the whole package. Quite fitting for The Little Prince who once lived on an asteroid only to crash land - from the sky - into a lonely desert apart from his Rose.
