I don't know how else to set this one up, other than to say that when it feels like the universe is trying to punish and degrade you, you have to restore balance by capturing it and inverting it. Direct the vibes back outward, and change them to rewarding and uplifting.
Or maybe you'd have to be born during a manic phase of the excitement cycle like me and Stevie Wonder to cope with things that way, instead of stewing in negativity (vulnerable phase births) or numbing yourself through wild-child hedonism (restless phase births).
So what better non-occasion to send some love and gratitude to all the content-creators out there, large and small? There doesn't need to be a special occasion, like all those detailed in the song below, for you to flash them a smile, give them headpats, thumbs up, or otherwise let them know you appreciate their presence. It's all the more honest of a signal of your friendship, camaraderie, or whatever, when it's not required by the occasion.
I'm addressing this to a composite of all sorts of creators, so everyone can identify with it. I'm drawing primarily on my special frenship with Aimee Terese, though I'd include Anna Khachiyan too, the Hololive girls I watch who may know about me (Gura and Fauna), and even those like Pokimane and Wolfabelle who probably don't even know I exist.
But most people out there can imagine someone singing this to them, if not me personally. It's not so narrowly tailored to those specific individuals, they're the inspiration for something universal. You've got your humble deep appreciators as well, and if they're too shy to say so, or can only do so on special occasions, let them speak through me.
I like getting away from strictly romantic themes, from time to time. Most people online are looking for simulations of non-sexual / non-romantic relationships that are dwindling IRL, as all behavior goes virtual. So it wouldn't be true to the times to only adapt old songs to the romantic aspects of online.
Although yes, I am mainly thinking of girls being addressed -- they need appreciating more than we do. Maybe some day I'll put myself in a girl's mind and write a guy-appreciating song (no homo). "Let's Hear It For the Groyp" or something, hehe.
Original lyrics here.
* * *
No trending take to congratulate
No perfect-angle pic that indie darlings fav'd
No one-line zing, no next big thing
I'd say this even while you took a month-long break
No check of blue, no front-page news
No special guest who drew a million extra views
Though not real life, it's no less true
And so for you this song, a long time overdue
I just blogged to say ::I hugged you::
I just blogged in thanks for all you share
I just blogged to say ::I hugged you::
Still I feel it, from our timeline's very start
No thousandth like, no follower spike
No A-list cross collab for brands to synergize
No clever meme, no all-night stream
No fan-art feed so full, it needs a separate site
No hater mob, no shotted screen
No long cathartic thread to beat back the NPCs
Though not real life, our bonds renew
No shadowban could keep these words from reaching you
I just blogged to say ::I hugged you::
I just blogged in thanks for all you share
I just blogged to say ::I hugged you::
Still I feel it, from our timeline's very start
I just blogged to say ::I hugged you::
I just blogged in thanks for all you share
I just blogged to say ::I hugged you::
Still I feel it, from our timeline's very start
Very start
Very start
Not to get all meta or anything, but even the irony-laden "I'm too Byzantine / Eastern to smile" art hoes know they like this kind of music, and lyrical tone. What Anna dismissed as "Grammy music" on their podcast (and yes, this song was literally nominated for 3 Grammys).
ReplyDeleteBut I suspect that, as in general among the depressive cerebral set, that was either a form of *self*-deprecation -- she's embarrassed to like the occasional such song, which is bad for her avant-garde brand -- or sour grapes rationalization -- because the typical guys in her art-world / media cultural niche (whether a friend or a bf) are girl-hating dirtbag losers, and would not invest emotionally in the girls of that niche enough to write or sing a song like this one.
That was the real "glow-up" of hers, BTW -- not ditching the buzzcut for the long(er) locks, but finding the rare decent man within her cultural niche to stick with her and help raise their child.
If we still had a cohesive national culture, I'd be writing songs like this for normie girls on Facebook, who non-ironically put John Mayer in their playlists, provoking a natural "Awwww!" response. But those girls basically don't exist online anymore, nor do their male counterparts.
ReplyDeleteEvery online platform is so sub-cultural, irony-encrusted, and unrepresentative of the majority nowadays. I haven't logged into Facebook for nearly 2 years now, I'm sure even that one is mostly barren. And like most post-Boomers, I only used it to keep in touch with family, a far cry from its late 2000s / early 2010s heyday.
But I don't care, this kind of content needs to be created, the muse demands it and I can't control it -- even if it's now more of an effort, perhaps a battle, to break through the hardened defense mechanisms of the only audience that actually exists.
I'll just tell myself that it gives the effort a heroic quality that it would not have had back in the good ol' days -- achieving the victory of piercing through their irony-armor and hitting a bruh-girl right in the feels.
That's why the lyrics need the occasional ironic / meme-y reference, to act as a shibboleth for this cultural niche. Otherwise they'll dismiss you as an outsider and not let you in. Corny-ass Grammy-music writer...
But if they hear even one shibboleth, with their in-group's distinctive ironic / meme-y tone, well, he can't be *that* much of a sub-human outsider. Is he one of us? I dunno, but let's at least let him in and hear him out...
This is not the same as a Trojan Horse or "pill pocket for your pet" approach. That would be something they were initially all in favor of receiving, then surprise, it's something else entirely when you've let it in.
That would be like if I re-wrote a Lana Del Rey or Charli XCX song, but did not reinforce their depressive or wild-child persona. Hmmm... hehe.
Gura's inclusion of "Grammy music" in her karaoke streams is in the same vein as the ongoing lyrical project here. She likes that kind of music, isn't afraid to show it, and has to make it break through the ironic / meme-y defense mechanisms of the too-online audience.
ReplyDeleteSo she uses a sharky anime girl avatar, not something normie. She uses weird spelling, not normie spelling. She drops references to obscure memes from all throughout the past 15 years, not normie memes from your Boomer parents on Facebook. And she creates her own in that mold, like the "chum jar" for punishing the naughty members of the fandom. And she's a gamer girl who plays niche horror games, not the normie girl who only ever played the Sims.
They're thinking, Hey, if someone with *that much* of an irony power level can unabashedly sing "Beyond the Sea" (and not while drunk, as a meme), the Disney renaissance classics, Hall & Oates, Bruno Mars, etc., then maybe it's OK for me -- an irony-poisoned too-online Tumblr-diaspora gremlin -- to enjoy it too, and non-ironically.
All part of her Manic Pixie Dream Girl role, coaxing wary people out of their security-blanket shells, encouraging them to just enjoy the enjoyable in life, and follow her lead as a carefree free-spirit.
Or do I need to call her a "free-spirited gremlin" to get the message past her defenses? Hehe. We here at the International Brotherhood of Sincerity Posters salute your service, sharky.
Aimee, your new anime branding requires that you become a Vtuber and start live-streaming again.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have no problems maintaining your digital hijab when the audience isn't seeing any part of you whatsoever...
If you really believe in the power of meme magic, you need an army of anime avatars on your side -- where else is a better recruiting ground than the viewership of anime girl streamers?
Plus, God intended for that mellifluous voice that he gifted you to be shared with the world, not totally muzzled by a paywall. :)