Brainstorming post: 2016

[morbane]

As nominations will begin in approximately 4 days, this post is a place to bounce ideas around, gauge interest for your preferred songs & music videos & other pieces, and decide what to nominate.

You have 8 nominations this year. This and other rule updates are on AO3.

This post is also on LiveJournal - check the comments there as well.

Comments

[merryghoul]

I'm thinking of maybe nominating "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" by Bob Dylan. Maybe. But I really want to nominate the video for "Superhuman" by Andrew Bayer. The song's about a breakup, but the video adds sci-fi elements to visualize the disconnect in a (same-sex!) relationship.

I don't know what else to nominate, really. I just want all the fic for Taylor Swift videos from 1989, too, ha.

[alexseanchai]

Eight? Sweet!

I plan to nom:

Vixy & Tony, "No Hurry"
Seanan McGuire, "Earthquake Weather"
Dresden Dolls, "Half Jack"
Arcade Fire, "Abraham's Daughter"
Spiral Dance, "Woman of the Earth"
Dartmouth Decibelles, "House of Stone and Light"

And two more as yet unspecified songs, because this is the first I heard of eight. Probably one will be Seanan McGuire's "Time Travel Girl".

[(Anonymous)]

Yay!

I have questions:

1 Do you have to create a work based on the music video if there is one, or just the lyrics?

2 Can covers/versions of a song be nominated?

3 Can the songs be in a language other than english?

4 Do instrumentals count, like soundtracks from an anime or live action TV show?

[morbane]

1. Depends if the music video or just the song is nominated. If someone requests "Title - Artist (Music Video)", you're expected to take the music video into consideration. Some requesters may say "it's okay to ignore the music video if you want" and in that case you can follow their wishes. If someone requests "Title - Artist (Song)", you do not have to incorporate any music videos into your fic/art/podfic.

2. Yes. You can specify the cover artist when you nominate.

3. Yes. I encourage people to link to English translations if they can find them, just because English is the default language of the fest and it encourages other participants to try the song, but people don't have to do this.

4. Interesting question. Yes, you can nominate them, but please think carefully about whether your interpretations, and the interpretations of someone who has never seen the anime or TV show, will match up in a way that satisfies you.

Not allowed: nominating a piece that comes from another canon and saying, "This really captures Yukiko's pain at the point where she learned her brother had betrayed her, could I have a story about that?"

Allowed: "This pieces is so dramatic and sad - please draw me something angsty."

Etc.

[morbane]

*adds things to list to listen/watch*

[morbane]

Some perennial favourites here!

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the speedy reply Morbane!

I just thought of another question though: do the songs have to be officially released? What if they were ad-libbed? I'm asking because ad-libbed songs are totally a YLVIS thing, and they've made a lot of songs that I'd really like to see fanworks of.

[morbane]

I'm not totally sure what you mean. Could you explain a little further, please?

[seekingferret]

Desperately want fic for "Young Moses" by Josh Ritter.

Maybe this year the programmatic classical piece I'll nominate will be "On the Trail" from Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite".

I should probably think about nominating The Argument's Inflatable Amy.

[(Anonymous)]

So for example, YLVIS did this comedy segment called Radio Taxi where they sang songs very relevant to the unsuspecting passenger, like in this video

https://youtu.be/1Bkw50LWuR0

The songs are improvised on the spot and aren't officially released, unlike for example the song What Does the Fox Say?

Would I be allowed to nominate songs from the video for the exchange?

Sorry if it's a bit confusing!

[morbane]

Yeah, that should be fine. I'll check the video out and let you know if there's a specific label it makes sense to use for it (like "Skit excerpt" instead of "Music video" or something).

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you!

[seekingferret]

Also, I always try to nominate the Dar Williams version of David Bowie's "Starman" because it is so weird. This year especially "Starman" fic would be great.

[sirvalkyrie]

Sleepless Torture Tower - a song about three sisters that torture people to carry on their father's work

Dream Demon - English cover by multiple singers. Demons taunt an unknown person about being a fool.

Bad Apple - English cover that turns a solo song into a duet. No clue what it is about.

Portrait of the Pirate F - The youtube video has been pitched up due to copyright claims. The actual version is in the description. Boy goes to Wonderland and becomes Peter Pan.

Jekyll & Hyde - One girl has two personalities

[pameluke]

I've managed to cull my long list some, but I still haven't made my final decisions.
I've also noticed I've got a bunch of songs where I'd love something with a supernatural element to it, so I hope that's okay.
I think I would like to go for one song per artist, so I shall have to make some tough decisions with some of these. Oh, and I'm into all of these for the songs, the video's are optional.
The list so far:

Rolling Stones
You've Got The Silver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FchROOM25ao
Possibly a dwarven love-story?

Natalie Merchant
Ophelia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GryxQEhYRr4
There's so much in this song, either fleshing out one of the characters, or going for some kind of reincarnation, phoenix type of story where all Ophelias are the same Ophelia. The video interpretation where Ophelia is mad could also be interesting.

Motherland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIJ1ZPW5_L4
So many immigration stories that can be told to this song, either focusing on the former homeland or the new homeland.

My Skin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADgYKvTWssM
This is such a complicated relationship, I always want to know what went wrong, or maybe it never was good.

Bob Dylan
Sweetheart Like You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpRKstHl7Y0
Favorite Dylan song, and I've always wanted to know what happened to the woman, and if she got herself out of that dump.

Shelter From the Storm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uJJSuWt_M8
This is just a hopeful warm song that always fills me with hope, and there's so much story in it.

Bruce Springsteen
State Trooper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5MyNuBdhg
or the version by Deana Carter because female narrator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR5JiAqCHjE
Who did she murder and why?

Human Touch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cNRQo1m3A
Just played straight, or with a non-human narrator and a doomed inter-species romance.

Soulsavers
You Will Miss Me When I Burn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DZHyNpQCLI
This is devastatingly lonely, and I always thought it was sung by someone accused of witchcraft sentenced to be burned alive. Cue post-mortem revenge spree.

Leonard Cohen
First We Take Manhattan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTC_fD598A
I know it's all supposed to be metaphors, but honestly, I've always seen it as a sci-fi possibly post-apocalyptic dystopian revolution story.

[whuffle]

Sheesh can I have your music collection please!

[alexseanchai]

:)

[morbane]

No clue what it is about. - Usually a good start for a prompt :D And I like that it's already been remixed, in a sense.

[morbane]

I have a feeling I've read something you've written about On the Trail before. And I hope there is lots of Bowie in this year's tag set.

[morbane]

Shelter from the Storm is an old favourite of mine too.

You certainly won't be alone in asking for supernatural takes on songs.

[tristesses]

8? Nice! Hopefully I will think of a couple more, but here are my initial thoughts.

Bottom of the River (Delta Rae): a song about the Salem witch trials, but I think it could be expanded to be about any supernatural creature vs humans. Not sure if I'd nominate the music video or the song itself. Sort of Southern Gothic.

Desire (Meg Myers): Dark indie rock/pop song about desire. It doesn't really have a plot to it, but I love how gritty and aggressive the lyrics are (especially since you don't see that a ton from female singers). Not sure if I'd nominate the music video or the song.

Hit and Run (LOLO): pop song and music video about a woman taking bloody revenge on the men who killed her sister/friend/girlfriend (it's left open to interpretation). The linked music video has PG-13 levels of violence and sexual violence, if anyone would like to know.


Glory and Gore (Lorde): pop song that's probably about teenage cliques, but uses gladiator imagery and generally makes me think of a roving post-apocalyptic (or historical!) girl gang.

Rumbrave (Murder By Death): Alt rock/Southern goth song about the Devil. Or at least that's how I interpret it, but there are all kinds of directions you could take it.

...my noms are all kind of dark this year. Oops?

[sirvalkyrie]

It is.

[seekingferret]

Yup: http://jukebox-fest.dreamwidth.org/6451.html?thread=60723#cmt60723

[deep_dark_waters]

Natalie Merchant! I had Ophelia in my requests last round too :-)

[deep_dark_waters]

Mostly gonna be recycling requests from previous rounds, I think:

Book Smart, Street Stupid - Sarah Slean: Lyrics | Youtube

This always made me think of a university student finding her way at a time when not many women were able to attend. Not sure about prompts yet (other than historical) but I love the feel of it.

Cassandra - ABBA: Lyrics | YouTube

It's about Cassandra of Troy, but I've always wanted a modern day/future apocalyptic sort of take on her - trying to warn people about some impending doom and not being believed.

Circus - Tom Waits: Lyrics | YouTube

Vivid ensemble cast with a ton of tiny backstory snippets to expand. "There was Yodelling Elaine, the queen of the air, who wore a dollar sign medallion, and she had a tiny bubble of spittle around her nostril, and a little rusty tear for she had lassoed and lost another tipsy sailor" <3

Small Town Dracula - Hawksley Workman (video): Lyrics | YouTube

I already loved the song but was so ridiculously charmed by the video. Weary vampire dad or grandad and overexcitable tiny vampire child.

The Traitor - Martha Wainwright: Lyrics | YouTube

Favourite Cohen cover. With a woman singing, it makes me want some kind of historical/fantasy wartime melancholy f/f love epic...

When the End of the World Came - The Jane Austen Argument: Lyrics | Youtube

"When the end of the world came it passed like an awkward remark" is just about my favourite opening lyric to a song ever <3

Still dithering on the others. Definitely some Bowie but I have to choose one from a ridiculously long list (probably Cygnet Committee or Memory of a Free Festival or something from Outside). Also maybe one of Rufus Wainwright's fairytale type songs, either Evil Angel or The Consort.