This is my song, ‘Fight.’ I uploaded it to YouTube first in 2023, as part of a three-track EP I wrote for my first year’s final project at college. The lyrics of this song are based on a book series called, Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy. (I would do a full lyrical analysis right now but you do not have time for that, trust me. Instead, please enjoy this abridged version.)
Imagine a skeleton detective, who is your magical friend and mentor, is giving you and your friends a pep talk about the dangerous battle you’re about to face. Villains must be stopped. Evil sorcerers, who have wronged you, and caused many of your sorcerer friends great pain. Skulduggery Pleasant, the skeleton in question, acknowledges the low spirits of the group, and attempts to comfort you.
“It’s time we put all of our weapons aside,” he says, as you and your friends are preparing to rest before the fight. “It’s time for the battle of our lives.“
Oh, bonus extra fact, Derek Landy, the author himself, loves this song:
You can listen to the full EP here, which includes another song called, ‘Is It Hopeless For Us?’ This song I wrote the day after a slightly saddening experience with a friend, whom I thought shared the same feelings towards me as I had about them.
I was struggling for a long time trying to come up with a concept for the lyrics to this song, but the ‘perfect’ situation occurred, where inspiration seemingly came out of nowhere. Each verse has a different rhyming scheme because I basically just ranted all my feelings on to a page. I decided to layer each verse over the previous one, to create the illusion that there was a ‘mess of thoughts inside my head.’
This song I wrote in 2024, for my second year’s final project at college. If you don’t know already, a big special interest of mine is Les Misérables. I am very involved in fan culture, so of course I will jump on suspected relationships within this musical.
The name of this specific ‘ship’ I’ve written about is Enjoltaire. Enjolras and Grantaire are two students who partake in a failed revolution against the monarchy in 1832 Paris. The story of Les Mis, written in 1862, is based on the student rebellions that were a part of the Paris Uprising of 1832.
Enjolras is the name of the fictional leader of the revolution in the story, and fans have theorised for decades that him and another revolutionary, Grantaire, are in a relationship. There are subtle nods to this in the original 1862 novel by Victor Hugo and in the musical. The premise of my song is that these two revolutionaries are in the afterlife, having been killed during the fighting, and they are reflecting on their relationship. In the story, Enjolras frequently talks about how he is fully devoted to the revolution, and doesn’t have time for anything else. On the other hand, in the book, Grantaire is said to have fallen asleep drunk during the fighting. I thought this opposition of the two characters would be interesting to explore from a reflective point of view. I wanted to convey Enjolras’ initial continuing devotion to the revolution, but have his ideals shift to an afterlife of love and happiness. All the while, Grantaire would be thinking about how heartbroken he was before he died. The song eventually turns into a duet, with both of them ending up on the same page.
After all, they did hold hands when they were executed.
The reason I wanted to write this song was because I am a typical fan who latches on to relationships between characters. But I also find it important to explore LGBTQ+ relationships, especially in media, and in years (the 1830s) where you wouldn’t expect to find them as represented. Some actors playing Enjolras and Grantaire in productions of the musical performed since the 2010s have incorporated the characters’ chemistry into their acting onstage, showing unwavering support for their possible queer relationship. Queer representation is very important, so even if Enjolras and Grantaire were never intended to be in a relationship, I think the allyship of actors and fans alike is extremely powerful, and it makes LGBTQ+ fans feel seen and valued.
This is the second part of my second year’s final major project from college. The lyrics are inspired by the feelings you get when someone important in your life leaves. It may sound generic but it wasn’t to me at the time. It was a very strange situation to say the least. The lyrics on the whole aren’t supposed to make sense, but the first verse vaguely talks about wanting someone to not grow angry and cut their friends off, but instead to have a fun time with them at the fair. Not that this song has a typical verse-chorus structure, but the harmonies, particularly in the chorus, represent the unease you can feel around certain types of people, and the uncertainty you can feel around a situation within a friend group. I for one have had my fair share of upsetting happenings within friendship groups.
I believe that the section after what I call the chorus was inspired by Imogen Heap, and her song, Hide And Seek. I really like her work with the Mimu Gloves, although I don’t think she uses them in this song. Still, her electronic style is something I can get behind. The slight melancholy feeling that is communicated through her song resonates with me, especially during the last section that I feel is similar to what I have done in my song.
Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to hear more stuff like this! The music on my channel I feel is the most accurate representation of me as an artist and my human experience at present, so that’s where you’ll find me. 🙂