Music posts?

Perhaps writing about my current favorite music.

This is a new idea that came to me as I am easing back into writing more again. I wonder what you guys think. Would you want to read about me talking about music? Analyze song lyrics? Talk about the beat and the tempo, the instruments that I hear? Or maybe if they’re from soundtracks how they fit into the story of the movie? Definitely let me know in the comments about what you think.

For now I’m gonna give you guys a snippet of what could happen if I decided to write about music.

Alright then let’s see what song or genre of music do I want to talk about first?

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I have recently been getting into a music artist by the name “Lydia the Bard” and she has really catchy songs. As I am writing this post Lydia the bard has recently dropped a song titled “Siren” which has an interesting concept behind it. This song in particular was if Ariel became a villain after her happily ever after defeating Ursula. The story Lydia gives for the background of the song is as follows,

“Our story begins where the original left off, Ariel had defeated Ursula and was blissfully in love with Eric. But something had changed, something was wrong. Ariel’s voice felt unfamiliar, anytime she sang or hummed a tune the tone felt off, the timbre of her voice darker. The first few times she dismissed it as nothing, simply her getting used to being able to speak again. But as Ariel went about her days, singing to herself frequently, Eric began to act different too, possessive and obsessively doting towards Ariel. Something was definitely wrong.

Just as Ariel was about to go in search of an answer, Eric placed a lock on her door. Confused and heartbroken Ariel demanded to know the meaning of this. Eric’s eyes were glassy and harsh as he told her that he wanted to ‘keep her safe’.

Grimsby, Eric’s guardian noticed the change in Eric too and grew suspicious of Ariel, concerned she’d done something to harm the prince as he’d seen Ursula do not long ago. He went to the library and collected every book he could find on mermaids and studied Eric’s behaviour from afar until he came upon the answer. “We thought your kind had died out, more than 500 years have passed since you disappeared from our history books but I’ve found you.“ Prince Eric’s eyes widened as he read the text Grimsby handed him. “Siren”

Siren? Ariel hadn't heard that word before, but something deep and primal inside her called to it. Something that had laid dormant in her for too long. Ariel couldn’t understand why her voice had suddenly picked up this effect, but Eric was right, somewhere along the way, she had become a Siren. But how ? The voice she cherished, had become a curse. Every note, every melody, seemed to enthrall a human. Almost as if Ursula’s dark magic had awakened an ancient power in Ariel’s voice whilst it was in her possession.

Eric locked Ariel away in the castles jail, determined to shake her grip on him and protect humankind from this new threat. But truly, he was afraid of her power and overwhelmed by an urge to possess and own this strange creature. Ariel’s siren magic had caused permanent damage and Eric’s need to own her was obsessive. But that didn’t count for the rest of her people, he had no love for them. And that day he released a decree ordering them to be killed on sight.

Heartbroken Ariel tried to convince Eric to see reason but she was no longer permitted to talk. Ariel was constantly gagged to stop any potential use of her power and her guards ears blocked. At no point did Ariel try to use her power but the dark eye of the Siren had awoken in her and it was getting more and more agitated. Everyday wasted locked up was another day her people lived in danger of humans. She could only hold out for so long. And when one lazy guard went to adjust his earplug she took the opportunity to escape and used her powers against a human willingly for the first time. It felt natural, it felt right.

As Ariel raced back home she reflected on her time with Humans. Was she truly the monster? Or was everything she had been taught about them true. She no longer wanted to be part of their world, not now they’d threatened hers. So she would fight fire with fire. The very people she had once admired became her prey. Humans were simple, fragile creatures, and she was a siren—born to lure them, to captivate them, and to control them. Ariel returned to the seas and coaxed forth the ancient nature of her fellow sirens and prepared to defend her home from any that dared get too close. If they wanted a monster then a monster was what they would get. And Eric was about to find out just how deep the sea truly went.”

This is directly from the description of the animatic accompanying the song. I loved this concept, a heroine who turns into a villain is one of my favorite concepts when thinking of characters because it gives an opportunity to show what happens when good people get pushed too far. I also liked that this was something that Ariel couldn’t control, contributing to all the complex emotions that make her become a villain.

Ariel wasn’t sure what was going on, she just knew her voice was different, then Eric started being different, which made Ariel scared. It didn’t help her fear when she was told she had become a Siren, and when Eric locked her away and had even forbidden her to speak, that presumably made matters worse. With all the fear of not knowing what was happening to her and why, along with her lover treating her like she was a monster to be feared, and hearing a decree that her people would be killed on sight for fear they were Sirens too. All these mixing emotions are what wore her down to escape using her ability intentionally and becoming a full fledged Siren and convinced those of her people left to become Sirens as well and retaliate against Eric.

That was just the backstory for the song, now it’s time to get into the lyrics.

Oh, sailor dear
You're looking tired
Why don't you come to bed?
Down here with me, I'll keep you warm
Jump in and take your rest

Come, my friends, it's time to work
South, there's sailors, spread the word
Let's put on a show
Heard you want a sea retreat
Well, why not jump in and swim with me?
Come on out of the shallows and into the fathoms below

So we sing...

Come here, oh sailor dear
Jump in and swim with me
Hero, sailor dear
Jump in and swim with me
Come and swim with us
Come and swim with us
Oh, oh

Jump on down, the waves are just divine
Swear it's true, dive in, the water's fine
Don't fear the sea, dear, fear what lives inside
Won't you jump in?
Sweetest song in all the seven seas
Sailors die to hear our melodies
The siren

(Oh, sailor dear)
Oh, sailor dear
(You're looking tired)
(Why don't you come to bed?)
Why don't you come to bed?
(Down here with me, I'll keep you warm)
I'll keep you warm
(Jump in and take your rest)
Jump in and take your rest

Had your chances once before
Offered love, but you chose war
But that was long ago
If you love the sea so much
Then take my hand, I'll help you love
Come on out of the shallows and into the fathoms below

So we sing

Come here, oh sailor dear
Jump in and swim with me
Hero, sailor dear
Jump in and swim with me
Come and swim with us
Come and swim with us
Oh, oh

(Jump down)
Jump on down, the waves are just divine
Swear it's true, dive in, the water's fine
(Jump down)
Don't fear the sea, dear, fear what lives inside
Won't you jump in?
(Jump down)
Sweetest song in all the seven seas
Sailors die to hear our melodies
(Jump down)
The siren

(Oh, sailor, dear)
Did you really think I'd ever spare your life?
(You're looking tired)
You come into our sea to claim me as your wife
(Why don't you come to bed?)
I'm not something you own, not something you can buy
To live with you alone, sweetheart, I'd rather die
(Down here with me)
Our voice is death, it drowns a mortal man
(I'll keep you warm)
What part of "jump down" don't you understand?
(Jump in and take your rest)
So sail all you like but you'll fall on your knife
As soon as you hear our song

(Oh, sailor dear) Oh, sailor dear!
(You're looking tired) You're looking tired!
(Why don't you come to bed?) Come to bed!
(Down here with me, I'll keep you warm) Down here with me, I'll keep you warm!
(Jump in and take your rest) Take your rest

I’ll be honest I really like these lyrics, the first verse is actually what I would imagine Sirens in mythology sang to lure sailors. The line “Don’t fear the sea, dear, fear what lives inside” is to me a really powerful line, because this is Ariel telling Eric to be afraid of the sea itself but what lives in the sea. I already have this mentality, where I’m not scared of the ocean I’m scared of what’s in there. You can’t really blame for it though there are lot of scary and dangerous creatures in the ocean. Anyway I like that line but the lines that precede are just as good “Sweetest song in all the seven seas, Sailors die to hear our melodies, The Siren” I love the alliteration of ‘S’ in the first part.

“Had your chances once before. Offered love, but you chose war. But that was long ago. If you love the sea so much. Then take my hand, I'll help you love. Come on out of the shallows and into the fathoms below” These lines call back to the backstory we were given in the description of the video, they even call back to some things about Eric’s character that was established in the Disney movie. Such as his love for the sea, and the detail of ‘fathoms below’ calls back to the song featured in the movie when Eric’s character is introduced titled ‘Fathoms Below’.

There is also the part where Ariel is angrily singing directly to Eric. “Did you really think I'd ever spare your life? You come into our sea to claim me as your wife. I'm not something you own, not something you can buy. To live with you alone, sweetheart, I'd rather die. Our voice is death, it drowns a mortal man. What part of ‘jump down’ don't you understand? So sail all you like but you'll fall on your knife. As soon as you hear our song.” I like this part because the delivery of the lyrics are in a way that these are the things Ariel is finally getting off her chest. Overall I love this song because of the lyric choices and the music composition was great. I high recommend listening to the song and other songs by Lydia the bard. She might be your cup of tea, she might not be, but you’ll never know for sure unless you try.