agonistagent:

Today we’ll be analyzing So Great and Powerful’s RD/RA, a song in his Unmakeablelove series about Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

INTERNET:

Here’s a link to a mirror of the song’s mirror. If you haven’t heard it before, give it a listen before reading this review - pure text can only express so much.

I have also been informed that the MP3 link is down. Here’s a download link courtesy (right-click save as) of http://sogreatandpowerful.com (which archives other SGaP works).

INVENT:

So Great and Powerful is an artist in the My Little Pony fandom, writing songs that are inspired by and sampling aspects of G4, as well as past generations and fan works. His style can be described as abstract, and sometimes ambient. Attributed influences include Pogo, Pinkie Pie Swear, and I swear there’s some Thom Yorke.

IMPRESSION:

SGaP creates a wonderfully abstract romantic song about the meaning that two horses create when they fall in love. It’s quite hard to describe by pieces - it resists reductionism like many of SGaP’s other songs. Even the lyrics have a holistic nature - each verse is bound in a tight web of context and concepts.

INTERPET:

Starts off with a relatively dry sounding melody (I’ve given up at identifying instruments), along with a rising ambience.

SGaP’s next two lines are pitched down and sung slowly, and sound really big. I also had difficulty discerning them without lyrics, but the tonality and way it was sung seemed more meaningful than the words themselves.

Love what you’ll never see twice. I’ll hold your feathers tonight.

It’s also inviting mondegreens (misheard lyrics) - for an example, I almost interpreted the second line as “I’ll hold you close to mine” (as the regular sung lyrics would suggest) and the first as something about “sage white”, but in most sane interpretations, the general feeling is expressed.

And then there’s the next vocal sample. It comes from the film Before Sunrise (1995), a romance movie about two people who meet in a foreign city while waiting for a train, decide to explore the city, and by extension explore themselves.

Once you lookup the general plot (there really isn’t much, it’s more of a minimalistic talk and explore), the influence is obvious - even the first line of RD/RA is influenced by it (Love what you’ll never see twice - the two characters in Before Sunrise might only meet once).

Celina:

You know I believe if there’s any kind of god, it wouldn’t be in any of us Not you or me But just this little space in between

The movie follows this with: If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it’s almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.

This reminds me of the bridge between Western and Eastern thought in regards to metaphysics.

Western (read: what you probably assume is) philosophy usually says that there is a higher order - the Forms, Heaven, Laws of Physics, whatever floats your boat, and that these are projected upon the world in each one of us. That we are vessels containing souls and that these souls are fundamental and irreducible.

Western philosophy makes statements like: Rainbow Dash is a pegasus pony because she has wings, four legs, and a soul.

In the Eastern (Confucian) tradition, there is no God with a capital G. Even tian, traditionally translated as “Heaven” is rooted in the Earth as a collective creation of the interactions in the world. There is no higher up - only what we create here, and that we are defined and composed of our conduct. There are no unique souls, rather we are unique because of the complex interactions that we engage in.

Eastern philosophy makes statements like: Rarity engages in loving conduct with Rainbow Dash and becomes one who is loving.

And I suspect this is where the idea of Unmakeable Love comes from - it’s not something that a single person (or pony in this case) makes - Rarity doesn’t create love by herself. The substance of love isn’t created by an act, it is the act.

There’s also the more literal interpretation that true love is impossible as per the context of the lyrics, but we can at least try - coincidentally, this also falls under Confucian philosophy w.r.t. (with respect to) consummate conduct - see Analects 4.6.

The piano and bass lines kick in, leading to SGaP’s mane lyrics:

In the dark cinema I held you close enough to my heart I was a meteor burning up Catch me before I fall back to earth Darlin’, I know you can’t carry two Help me to go beyond solitude Holding you on the wave we become I was a meteor burning up

Now, at first glance, this is a reference to the events of Sonic Rainboom (S01EP16) from Rarity’s perspective.

As a refresher, in Sonic Rainboom, Rarity flies too close to the sun with her dew wings and falls to earth (the meteor), and Rainbow Dash catches her and the Wonderbolts, flying fast enough to create a Sonic Rainboom in the process (the wave we become - note that the wave is something they created together - without Rarity’s life on the line, Rainbow Dash would have not been inspired to go fast enough).

However, the literal interpretation only goes so far - what does dark cinema refer to? Is it metaphorical for solitude (hence held you close to heart)? Or maybe it was her performance on the stage, that while literally bright and exposed to the sun, was dark of authenticity?

In any case, this is then followed up by a much cleaner Rarity repeating her line from Becoming Popular (the song from Sweet and Elite, S02E09). The soundscape is remarkably empty of all but her voice and the piano

I’ll be the one (x3)

Rarity’s saying that she’ll be the one for Rainbow.

After three repetitions, this is then followed by the following two lines (and the drum kicks in). The first I’m the type is sung normally, but the second one has more chorus on the piano and Rarity’s voice. It reminds me of a call and response pattern - Rarity answering Rainbow Dash’s call, or maybe an internal need - affirming that yes, she is the one.

I’m the type, I’m the type I’ll be the one (x3)

The piano fades out and rises again with the next three repeats:

I’ll be the one (x3)

The piano at this point in time is very reminiscent of The Eraser’s outro, and Rainbow Dash clips show up on the scene. There’s a buildup with the repetition as more and more of her spliced line shows up (by the way, I have no idea where Lead me into the town came from, hopefully someone can inform me).

Lead me in I’ll be the one Lead me into the I’ll be the one Lead me in I’ll be the one Lead me into the town I’ll be the one

By this point, the soundscape is in full bloom - these two lines repeat, with an unchorused Rarity responded to by a chorused Rarity and Rainbow Dash singing “just one way” (which I suspect may be composed of clips from May The Best Pet Win!, S02E07).

I’m the type, I’m the type Just one way (x4)

With all of this in motion, the beginning vocals repeat:

Love what you will never see twice I’ll hold your feathers tonight

The same words, but it feels so much more different in this context - more uplifting, faster. Same with the following lines.

In the dark cinema I held you close enough to my heart I was a meteor burning up Catch me before I fall back to earth Darlin’, I know you can’t carry two (I’ll be the one) Help me to go beyond solitude (I’ll be the one) Holding you on the wave we become (I’ll be the one) I was a meteor burning up (I’ll be the one)

Reinforcing the call-response theory, this has SGaP’s lines responded to by I’ll be the one - merging the pony and SGaP lyrical themes together.

INSPIRE:

SGaP had an old, incomplete version of this song. Much more minimalistic.

It starts off a soft electronicish whoosh and explosion (the Sonic Rainboom?).

In these lyrics, the perspective is a third person - SGaP himself. And the meteor is now Rainbow Dash, and instead of the two of them falling, they appear to be exploring the city (just like in Before Sunrise), aware of their public status (a theme that is missing in the current version).

For a kiss between the young artist and the rainbow meteor starlet They were chased around cities, though it will sound silly Both were quite aware what glam does to cameras

The last three lines that we have turn towards meta - what is the nature of love, and even include the narrator’s actions in it.

Love’s a thought that turns you both to dust — swirls you ‘round impossible futures Lovers in a tree kiss as I write my treatise On the meaning of a slow dance for romance

This version is incomplete, but it’s interesting to see what stuck and what didn’t.