a list of songs that i think make life a little more worth it (and a little bit about why i think so)
Never Coming Back by Evan Call
This song is very special to me because of Anthir's (DnD OC) backstory. The way I envisioned his past initially (and even now) was in scenes. I was listening to this song while writing one of the scenes in his lore doc and the progression of the scene ended up matching the music roughly, at least with my reading speed.
After he fled from Rune, I tried to imagine how lonely he'd feel. For someone who'd never known friendship until that one Special Person came along, what must it have felt like when they were gone?
This song is also special because I listened to it a lot during a time where I thought I might never be able to talk to someone again. This person was so important to me that it shattered my world to hear them say goodbye. Things are okay now- great even- but I vividly remember the hole it left in my chest when they walked out of my life for that little while. I only realised while writing this that it's a direct parallel to Anthir's story.
I find it a little funny how I always end up writing parts of myself into my stories and characters.Duet by Omori
If you've played Omori, I don't think this song needs explaining. I get attached to many games for many different reasons but Omori really was a game that shot me through the heart. I've been wounded in a sense that I don't think I could ever forget the game in its entirety.
Although the gameplay itself is simple, it's a world so vast that I find myself yearning to be a part of it. For a story so far from my own experiences, I've cried countless times watching the same events unfold again and again.Bonded by Tragedy by Evan Call
I don't remember where in Violet Evergarden this song played but the title alone makes my mind wander, maybe a little too much. I always imagine a tender scene between two people, it changes all the time. The simpler way of putting it is trauma bonding but I do find it beautiful for two people to bond over shared experiences, especially if they were difficult.
As difficult and painful as they may be in the moment, experiences that hurt are proof that we're alive and truly living. Although I hate a lot of the experiences I've had, I've been grateful for most of them at some point because if I didn't have them, I wouldn't hold some principles or have the same sense of morals.
That part of it makes it important and beautiful to me.We Are by One Ok Rock
Listening to this song always reminds me of the months I spent crying into my pillow begging myself to stay strong. I didn't even have a reason to be back then, I just felt like I didn't have a choice. I'm thankful for a lot of music that got me through some of my darkest days even if they weren't as bad as I thought they were back then, especially compared to the things I've known since.
Sometimes we just need something to pull us back up before we can start walking again.
This song was that for me.Way Back Home (feat. Conor Maynard) by SHAUN
The rumoured backstory behind this song (real or not) hurt a lot but somehow being told by someone that this was their song to me hurt more. I won't go into details but it's another one that got me through a tough time. As much as I don't really like remixes, being able to understand the lyrics just changes the impact, which is why this version specifically means a lot to me.Zoltraak by Evan Call
I think it's obvious at this point that I have a deep love for music. As much as I would love to understand music theory and nerd out about writing and composition, I gave up on piano lessons when I was 11 and never looked back. I regret it now but it takes too much time and effort to get back into it this late in the game, so I've resorted to spouting nonsense instead.
Songs like this (to me) are meant to be blasted through headphones. I like to drown in my music and I love it when it transports me to a different world. As much as I love soft emotional music, I thrive when bombarded with different sounds. The line between loud noise and loud music is a thin one but the difference is clear to me, one makes me want to disconnect from everything and the other makes me think that perhaps staying around won't be so bad, if only to experience more music like it. Few things ever truly make me feel alive and I'm proud to say this is one of the tracks that does.
Frieren's writing is phenomenal on its own but Evan Call's compositions elevated the entire series to a completely different level, I already know this young that it's one of the things I'll be obsessed with for the rest of my life.It's Quiet Uptown from Hamilton
I'm truly a sucker for good writing, parallels and call and response in songs, always. I love when artists use the same phrases with different music or the same music with different phrases that all connect and tell of a whole narrative.
People can say that Lin Manuel Miranda is a corny actor or that his vocals aren't the best but his writing speaks to me far more than you could imagine. It's amazing how much meaning and emotion a simple phrase can hold in the face of context. A phrase as short as "It's quiet uptown" can bring me to tears because of the history behind it. It's only in recent years that I've begun to see more of the beauty in writing and Lin's writing amazed me even back before I began obsessively reading into words. I love it.Moon Halo by HOYO-MIX
A lot of songs from Honkai Impact 3rd are soo, so beautiful in both sound and lyrics but this is my favourite. I like to overthink and read into things so OF COURSE i read into some of the lyrics and went "oooooo this is the PERFECT song for Anthir and Aelius! (my DnD PC and NPC respectively)"
The melody for this song is so pretty to me and the LYRICS are INSANE. They drive me ABSOLUTELY INSANE.
One of the ways I judge whether or not something is media I enjoy and love is by how it makes me feel and how much it makes me feel. I don't even know how to describe how much I sobbed during the countless times I've rewatched the animated PV for this song. This song alone made me start playing HI3 and although I haven't gotten far, it's definitely a song I'll always remember.Unknown Mother-Goose cover by dongdang
this one is a little different. This song doesn't hold any sentimental meaning to me other than the fact that it's written by wowaka (who i'm sure we all miss dearly) but this specific cover itches my brain just right. dongdang is an artist i've been following for some time now, introduced to me by a dear (still) friend back in high school. initially we just listened to his covers for his airy voice which i wouldn't really label as ethereal but he definitely has the qualities of an etheral voice, he just utilises it in a more rough manner (rough in sound, not management). lately his instrumentals have been insanely good too. I've always had bursts of obsession with this song and this might be the strongest. the combination of dongdang's range (and frankly insane discipline over his voice) and the arrangement make a perfect song (for which i made a playlist just to loop it infinitely on youtube).The Prophecy by Taylor Swift
I wrote a whole paragraph about this and the next song but bear told me to log in after i clicked publish so it's all gone ;-; anyways love the song, love the writing.
I know this song is mostly despair and helplessness but i think it has the same level of emotion as Taylor's 'Mad Woman' and 'labour' by Paris Paloma. we love women writing about women.I Can Do It With a Broken Heart by Taylor Swift
Yes, everyone's going on about this song and I'm one of them. I can't relate to her just because I'm not naturally that hard working but something about hearing this story of a woman who's pushing through the biggest tour she's gone on in her career while she feels like the world is crumbling around her is weirdly motivational.
To me this song feels very "damn, she's doing all that and I'm already struggling with what's on my plate?" but not in a belittling way like it's giving me strength to strive to reach that level of surviving.ROUND 1 | Alien Stage
I'm so normal about them. Just went through the whole playlist on yt and I know everyone's going crazy about round 6 and ivantill (they're also dancing around in my little head driving me insane) but mizisua just has a different flavour to me. "My god. My universe.", just the delivery of that line with the cut from young Sua to idol Sua and the music, the sound design everything about that scene drives me absolutely fucking insane.SilEighty Toujou | Initial D Extra Stage OST
I never watched Initial D and I was never really interested however I was exposed to a bit of the soundtrack especially the tracks with vocals because my dad used to play it in the car all the time (we were never radio people once bluetooth became a thing). I've always fixated on like overlapping interests when it came to making friends with people/building relationships so I was super excited that my dad was also into anime (a handful of years ago when I was in my otaku phase and had rediscovered that Initial D was in fact an anime) only to find out it was an older anime about racing which I never really got into. Timeskip to sometime around the second half of 2024 and I stumble across a youtuber called Redlyne and his first video on exploring old minecraft servers. I actually don't remember whether it was in his first or second video of the series but after a couple rewatches (cause his commentary is good background noise for me while I do work) I thought "omg the music he uses for transitions between different chapters is REALLY GOOD" and he had a list of all the songs in the description so I went to check them out! SilEighty Toujou was first on the list and since then I've only been looping this once in a while when I do work, I have yet to touch the rest of the list ASJHDFGAJHS. I feel like it's nice to have that sort of reconnection to my childhood, that I can find something else from that time I genuinely enjoy now.Wiege | Alien Stage
!!Tiny spoiler warning for Wiege MV!!
The first thing that hit me when listening to Wiege was how similar it felt to the track 'Weaved Theme' from Under This Luminous Sky. It's a gorgeous little animation by emilyamiao, the soundtrack produced by Reuten Productions. It's not exactly the same and I have no idea how to connect the two songs in music theory but the feeling I got when listening to both these songs for the first time was very similar. Both sound like waltzes (again from my very limited musical knowledge) and both invoke a very magical feeling for me. UTLS is more of a literal magic with the themes in the story but Wiege sounds very much more fantasy to me (in the sense of genre) and I like to interpret that as the AUs being the fantasies of the main cast, that they might be aware that in another life they had happier lives together, that there's hope in a different time (Ofc this is me interpreting this a little outside of canon). Sonically, Wiege pulls out a lot of different emotions in me and something about the piano during the last 55 seconds of the track makes me feel incredibly hopeless yet also incredibly hopeful. It's a complete contradiction and I have no other way of describing how it makes me feel.