tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post3543512119926779940..comments2024-03-04T08:47:21.895-06:00Comments on The Nicsperiment: Johnny Q Public -- Welcome to EarthThe Nicsperimenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-63419467486957835302014-05-30T00:13:58.898-05:002014-05-30T00:13:58.898-05:00To me, "Battle Dancing Unicorns" is a sa...To me, "Battle Dancing Unicorns" is a sad follow-up to "You Can't Handle This." In my opinion, the song is painting the Battle Dancing Unicorns to be pathetic twenty and thirty-somethings who don't want to grow up. Basically, the "Unicorns" are struggling to seem cool to the younger folk, thus the line "I'm fighting just to be relevant," to the ones who "have never met a thousandaire" and "are still in high school, but have to acknowledge, that (the song's narrators) are professors at robot spy college." The song is essentially taking on the whole hipster subculture of people that may have been picked on in high school (like the subject of "Suckerpunch"), but never moved on from it, and feel that they have to prove they are cool to people that are still in high school (and everyone else) by living in a fantasy realm. Basically, sacrificing becoming an actual adult to live in the past forever, thus "impaling themselves on the horns." So indeed, you do not want to be a battle-dancing unicorn, which is also the point I believe the song is making. <br />As for the order of the last two...I dunno, I get what you're saying, and I can see the disparity between Roper and Kerr's lyrics, but the way Reese sings the line "back when I still made you feel something" gets to me in a way I think a final track should. Even though the final line is "if winter lasts forever," something about Reese's performance makes it certain that it won't.The Nicsperimenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-63156375064887877482014-05-29T22:00:52.925-05:002014-05-29T22:00:52.925-05:00I like the lyrics for "We Own the Skies,"...I like the lyrics for "We Own the Skies," but I really do not care for the cloying, pop chorus line (my least favorite things about the album are how often these things pop up, and the weird dilution of Roper's voice in most of the songs). Other songs do that pop chorus approach, but not quite so noticeably. <br /><br />I like Zen and the Art's opening, but then it kind of maunders off and the message of it is pretty meh. Parts of its lyrics almost seem to clash with "We Own the Skies" as well, if you think about it (we have, hehe). <br /><br />"Battle-Dancing Unicorns" just pales for me compared to "You Can't Handle This," and now that the band is in their 40s (I think), another song about the nerds being cooler than the jocks in high school just feels meh to me. Move on, you've done it before in multiple albums (Suckerpunch is another good one, Jessica reminded me). And I don't want to be a battle-dancing unicorn, especially with glitter. Get thee behind, Twilight, especially since the song is so catchy, even if the lyrics are lame.<br /><br />Other than skipping those, I'd like the last three songs to be shifted around. Blizzards and Bygones is ending on a dark note and I've Seen the Sun seems an answer to it (as does A Dark and Stormy Night), so shuffling those a bit would be helpful. <br /><br />Overall, our household feels like the lyrics can be at odds between the songs, depending on what Roper did with the lyrics versus Scott. Not that I don't like doubt or ambiguity about life (I feel that stuff all the time and write about it), but there are some odd contrasts in the songs taken as a whole. Nealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-3232463242309562312014-05-29T10:07:08.817-05:002014-05-29T10:07:08.817-05:00Man, but the lyrics on "We Own the Skies.&quo...Man, but the lyrics on "We Own the Skies." So relatable! Fox is not a fan of "Zen and the Art..." and considering he is usually the one I listen to the album with, I skip it (it's definitely my least favorite track, as well, as the lyrics are like out-dated cliff notes, and the chorus melody is cloying). We are fans of The Battle-Dancing Unicorns, though. <br />How would you jigger it? The Nicsperimenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101227163387381013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9602155.post-84972722536319972492014-05-29T09:03:35.488-05:002014-05-29T09:03:35.488-05:00They're not any old albums, but our household ...They're not any old albums, but our household has a "better" of Five Iron's Engine of a Million Plots. Heresy, I know, but "Zen and the Art..." "We Own the Skies" and "Battle Dancing Unicorns" just aren't all that great to me. Retreads of old ground that aren't as good as previous attempts and just don't work for us. We skip them and I love the effect.<br /><br />And we haven't rejiggered the last few songs, but I still feel like they're in the wrong order. :p Nealnoreply@blogger.com