Epic One-liners

So I looked it up and I know one-liners are supposed to refer to jokes. I also looked up with pithy means and now I know what the spongy white stuff in my clementines is called, AND a cool noun.

Pith - the essence of something.

Anyways, I was listening to some music recently. And I just didn't know what to call them - those really poetic, quotable, oddly-specific but vastly relatable lines that just pop out of the colour of the song and stick in your head? And that make you realize how interconnected poetry and music are because this line of the song is going to mess with you forever and reconstruct your entire philosophy on life?

Haha jokes on you I don't have a life.

(I think one-liner works, I'll try to find another word though.)

Aight let's get started:

1 "If I could change anything, I think I would start with the name / The truth is, all those angels started acting the same / If they ask, 'Why'd she go?', you can say / 'Cause life in Eden, life in Eden changed."

- Eden, Sara Barailles

This is a bop and I a lot of songs that have biblical allusions always make me a 'lil wary because I can't be completely sure how they are grounded. But this is one that's just too good to ignore, man I love Sara Barailles. What I get from this song is the story of a broken relationship, a failing relationship that is causing more harm than good to hold on to. But it's supposed to be "perfect". It's supposed to be great and dandy and fine all the time but it's not. And there's no use playing the blame game because neither of us is happy and it won't make anything better even to apologize. There's too much negativity that it just doesn't work, it withers, it dies. And there's nothing left to save it. They're too tired to try and hold on anymore.

This line is part of the chorus, so technically it's not a "one-liner" cause it's repeated like, four times (what a great way to start off this list, eh?), but it's just a REALLY good line. Usually for me, the songs that hook me in are the ones with a strong chorus or pre-chorus. It's great when the verses exhibit the same wax poetic as a good chorus too, but I can overlook it if it's mediocre. The chorus on the other hand...if you're gonna repeat it five times in the course of the song, better make it good. It sucks when you hear two great verses that are really deep and lovely, and then you find yourself in the chorus and there's this weird chord modulation and they'll just singing the same line over and over again and it doesn't really even make sense with the rest of the song? Or WORSE when you get to the part that should be the chorus and all you get is a bass drop and some funky dance groove. Yikes.

I DIGRESS.

I like this line because it's powerful. It makes a choice and is aware of the consequences. It breaks away from something that doesn't work, it's a person realizing their worth and that people change and sometimes it's not what we want it to be.

2 "Sometimes the words we tend to withhold / But they're exactly the words someone needs to be told / And oh, thinking they know."

- Obvious, Taylor Trensch from 'Dear Evan Hansen - Deluxe Album

OH BOI is this the bop of the century. Obvious is probably my favourite cut song on the album, and I'm actually really sad about it not making it to the final version. Don't get me wrong, I love "If I Could Tell Her", cause it really gets the story and the emotions down PAT. But Obvious is something else, and it's nice to hear Taylor Trensch sing it, it feels like a different version of the character. It's different from other love songs, it's a different kind of confession. I love how one of the comments on the the song puts it:

"...It's unconditionally admiring; its quiet and not forward; it's not impulsive; it's steadfast and isn't born of the heat of the moment. And yet it's not less loving than songs full of sexual passion. It's not sad or happy. It's solemn. There are no lyrics about him wanting to be with her. He's describing her beauty, not to woo her, but to show respect."

- Minty916 T

(thanks Minty)

It's pure admiration, it's love that's been hidden in all the little things finally breaking free not because they can't keep it in any longer, but because they can't imagine how the object of their affection can be so unaware. I just came to the terrifying realization that it shares the same sentiment as One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" but it's not even comparable to that song so I'm gonna go back to my main point now.

This bridge part is so meaningful. How many times have we thought something like "wow she looks beautiful today!" or "that's such an adorable habit!" or "your sense of humour is on point" or have harboured a crush that has grown and grown and grown but never done a single thing about it? Saying it out loud may be the most horrifying, world-altering thing ever but isn't it so incredibly wild that this thing has taken over your mind and they have no idea?

To you, it's so obvious. But how could they possibly know that if you never tell them?

3 "I don't need you to respect me, I respect me / I don't need you to love me, I love me / But I want you to know you could know me / If you change your mind."

- Change Your Mind, Zach Callison from 'Steven Universe'

Lol, yes that's basically the entire song though. I love Steven Universe and hearing this song at the end of the whole Diamond arc was just lovely. Steven Universe is all about family, and friendship, love, and the joys of life, and Steven really embodies all that, maturity, growth, responsibility. It's funny remembering the happy-go-lucky kid who started off singing "Cookie Cat" back in episode 1. Anyways, with all the big revelations that happen concerning the origin of the Crystal Gems, the whole Gem War, and especially Rose Quartz, Steven's identity and the fabric of his whole universe is slowly stripping away to reveal what it all really is. This song is so powerful in that it's because he finally knows - who he is, what he's doing. He believes in it and loves himself. Despite the mistakes of people past, he isn't defined by who he is told he has to be. He accepts himself and finally, finally can be himself. Because he knows himself and has let himself be known. This song is I think often referred to as a type of anthem for some LGBTQ+ people who are fans of the show, because it also really hits the heart of how families are affected by the coming out process and the too familiar feelings of fear of not being able to be who you are in front of the people who are supposed to love you. And it goes to empower people, with this core message ultimately being I love who I am. Now it's your choice whether you want to do the same. And being OK whatever happens.

4 "A part of me can't believe it's even real / A part of me doesn't know how much to feel / A part of me feels a rush within the pain / A part of me needs the feeling to remain."

- Part of Me, Cast of Dear Evan Hansen

I want to do a whole analysis on this song and how the entire musical's tone would have changed had this replaced what we now know and love as 'You Will Be Found'. There's this whole bridge section that just builds so much intensity that had me lying in bed crying the first time I heard it. But this verse here, this freaking verse.

Dear Evan Hansen is a seriously heart-wrenching musical and story. And it deals with a lot of sensitive, difficult issues about people, family, life, belonging. If you haven't heard it, I definitely recommend giving it a listen, don't let the premise put you off. It felt a little far-fetched to me at first too. This cut song describes one of the big climactic moments in the story, after the protagonist, Evan, constructs a whole online movement upholding the memory of his dead classmate, Conner who had committed suicide. Some of the principal voices you hear in the song are Conner's parents, his sister, and the voices of hundreds of strangers on the internet empathizing, sympathizing with the situation the Murphy's and all the people who had ever known Conner find themselves in. Death is universal, suffering is universal. These concepts are known by all and felt by all. The writers of this song, in a annotated look at this song try to describe the atmosphere of Part of Me as trying to portray the characters 'falling into the internet', being swept into this unseen world that magnifies and simplifies the most confusing and darkest aspects of humanity. "A part of me needs the feeling to remain." Once touched by pain, it's difficult to remember what it felt like without it. It's difficult to function once all of what you've ever known is completely turned around, completely swept away. This sentiment, of not knowing how to let it go, of not wanting to let go, is so awfully wrong but also so so truthful. Feelings like this can be mistaken for the feelings we desire all our lives, cravings for love, attention, acceptance, belonging. Misery loves company, they say, and what better community to find yourself apart of than a whole universe who struggles and fails just like you everyday? But you just can't let yourself fall into that. Everyone needs to get help, it shouldn't feel fine, it shouldn't be okay to be miserable and hurting. And this is also somewhat related but also not, you shouldn't manipulate people's emotions about this kind of thing. You can't use other people's desperation, weakness, sorrow to further yourself, others pain and the image of "I understand" to get within their trust. Shared experience, I think, is one of the most powerful means of connection between people in the world, and gosh this is a long tangent I don't really know what I mean anymore...but it's like, just because other people understand you when you feel a certain way, and because when they understand you, you finally feel accepted or important or...y'know understood, that doesn't allow you to keep on exploiting that emotion, that feeling so that you feel good about yourself. Because if it's a bad emotion in the first place, why go on continuing to harm yourself like that? It's real complicated and real delicate but I don't know, it seemed important to address. We can't ignore these aspects of life, but we can't go on if that's all allow ourselves to see either.

ALRIGHT there'll probably be a part 2 of this in the future, it was fun analyzing these song lyrics and some of my favourite tunes. It's one thing to share a good song with someone, but I don't think I've ever really explained to someone before why I shared it with them, why I love it so much, and what exactly it is that makes the music meaningful to me. We all interpret things a different way so its really interesting to open up the discussion and hear other people's thoughts too!

Alright, that's all for now! Ciao!

#musically #alittlebitofrandom #stevenuniverse