(no subject)

Dear Jukebox Hero,

Thanks for writing a story for me! As I say in virtually all of my letters, I have notoriously bad taste and you should really try to write a story you will enjoy writing instead of trying to cater to my taste. But here's some thoughts on the songs I have requested.

Aquarium - Camille Saint-Saens (Song)

So I requested this because I would have felt bad not requesting a programmatic instrumental after spending so much time campaigning for them to be eligible, and also because "Aquarium" is such a fascinating piece of music. It's full of darkness and mystery and the wonder of the life aquatic. I'm interested in the question of perspective... is it fish-eye point of view, or has some invader from the land made their way into the Aquarium and attempted to unravel its secrets? I think maybe the music could accommodate both.

Chips Ahoy - The Hold Steady (Song)

This song feels like a Ray Bradbury short story in song form. Also, with a little more sex and drugs, but only a little. I'm interested in backstory on the girl, post-song fic about the narrator, and generally anything that gives the ambitious vagueness of a Craig Finn lyric a little more solidity.

"Dark Fantasy" by Kanye West

I didn't really know Kanye at all before this album, and still really don't know his music well. But the buzz made me check it out, and I was astounded by the inventiveness and musicality. With this song, I'm most transfixed by his encounter with the Devil in a Chrysler LeBaron... The majestic banality of that moment is what Kanye is talking about. Kanye's struggle as an incredibly rich celebrity is so removed from most peoples' lives, yet he manages to bring it down to a level we can follow: Temptation. Temptation is what brings Kanye down among the common people, struggling with the same kinds of doubts and desires as anyone else even in his rarefied, gothic fantasy world.

Starman by David Bowie

So last year I requested "Five Years", and in a sense I'm fishing for the same thing as that request, fic that explores the tragic false messianism of Ziggy Stardust. Of course, this song doesn't actually literally mention Ziggy, and by the rules of the exchange that means you're not beholden to any of the canon on the rest of the album. That's actually why I requested this song instead of "Five Years"- to allow you to also tap into Dar Williams's alternate canon for the song, from her bizarre cover version. I'd be interested in something that only pulls from the Ziggy stuff, something that only pulls from the 5 minutes to the New Millennium stuff, something that tries to merge them, something that doesn't use any of it and just treats the song as a solitary piece of canon, whatever you want.

Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) - Billy Joel (Song)

I'm someone who has a lot of New York City feelings and this song is just a song about people having New York City feelings, so it's pretty great. The specifics of the song are pretty goofy, and yet weirdly specific. I like the idea that it's Miami, the place where masses of expat New Yorkers retire to, that coalesces as a sort of NYC 2.0. Also, I really am fascinated by the moment that Joel focuses on, where NYC is doomed and everyone has recognized this fact, and yet somehow they have enough time to say goodbye one last time before it is destroyed.

Judas - Lady Gaga (Song)

I'm interested in something cyclic, that plays with the idea that the Judas-Jesus-Magdalene triangle is something that repeats again and again through history and that Gaga as Magdalene is just the latest reinvention of a pattern that never goes away.



Anyway, thanks again!

~Ferret