#contrary to phoebe bridgers i don't know the end | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

skepticalcatfrog · 2 months

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Okay look this is too good to stay in my brain, so this is what you all get today.

Secret Shanghai Tumblr Playlist #1

(Aka, it's not a real playlist. It's just being collected on Tumblr. But maybe I will make it one eventually.)

Anyway, here's our song of the day:

Chinese Satellite by Phoebe Bridgers

If you're a fan of Benedikt Montagov, and you also love being sad and making him suffer, you're going to love this one.

This, to me, is specifically related to Benedikt's character in the first chunk of Our Violent Ends. You can go ahead and just listen to the song if you'd like, but I'm putting a (sort of) line-by-line analysis below the cut for anyone who wants to enjoy this song in the precise way I do as they listen along.

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(Each bit of analysis is going to be associated with the lyrics in the image above it, so you'll get a chance to read the lyrics first. There won't be analysis for every single line here, because some are just based on pure vibes. I'm only detailing the ones that I associate with specific things.)

We see a lot of this feeling in him, specifically when he's around his family. He's trying to behave as much like himself as he can, but he's so lost and so full of grief and anger at this point that it's difficult to not let it show (and he often isn't successful at hiding it).

To me, this line refers specifically to Juliette killing Marshall. Benedikt wishes it could've gone another way, even if he doesn't know how.

The first half of this section is pretty clear cut. It's frequently referenced, not only by Benedikt himself but also by other characters, than he's sort of been overtaken by numbness. A lot of the time, he just isn't feeling anything at all, and when he does feel something, it's overpowering.

As for the second half, that has a bit of a double meaning for me. Not only does it mean that he wants to be wrong about the fact that he'll never see Marshall again (even if he believes that to be impossible), but it also sort of stands for how much he misses Marshall's frequent contrarianism. They would often have small, non-serious disagreements, and as annoyed as Benedikt could get with them, it became the norm for him. There isn't anything to replace that relationship, it's simply gone.

Again, I see this part as being about how contrary Marshall frequently was. He's described to be very impulsive, and he isn't afraid to speak his mind even if it can cause trouble for him.

This lyric, to me, is about how Benedikt would be willing to do a lot of things - even things that are out of character for him - if it meant that he'd get to see Marshall again somehow.

I feel like it's somewhat clear what this bit is referring to. Benedikt still lives in the apartment that he once shared with Marshall, and even after he's gone, it's like he's still everywhere. The absence of him, in and of itself, is a reminder that he was once there.

And that's all I've got! As I said at the top of this section, there are some lyrics that I didn't specifically analyze, but that doesn't mean I don't think they fit. I just think they fit based on vibes rather than specific, citeable things. Hope you enjoyed this, if you read this far! This song makes me insane.

#these violent delights #our violent ends #secret shanghai #chloe gong #benedikt montagov #marshall seo #benmars #phoebe bridgers #i may do more of these #i have a few saved in my brain

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