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Gideon the Ninth, first flower of my House.
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so you’re telling me one of the characters in wake up dead man is a formerly beloved author who, after the culmination of his wildly popular fiction series, has been radicalized online by right-wing conspiracy theorists, has abandoned his successful writing career in favor of spending all of his time on social media (and what little writing he does put out on his substack is praised only by his staunchest supporters), and is SO convinced that everyone’s out to get him that he’s dug a literal moat around his (distinctly castle-shaped) house?
lol. lmao, even.
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Thimble's current life plan
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it actually is insane to me that it's a cultural norm for men to suck ass at getting their wives/gfs gifts. especially when they whine about how they have no idea what women like.
man, you're not getting a gift for Female Domestic Partner. you're getting a gift for Natalie, a person whom you have been married to for 7 years, whom has lived in the same home with you for a decade, whom speaks to you every day about her thoughts and interests, whom you presumably love, and whom you can directly or indirectly ask what she wants. it's not that you don't know what half the human population wants, that's irrelevant. you don't know what Natalie wants and that is inexcusable.
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I have a confession to make... I thought the idea of wireless headphones like air pods were so so stupid when they first came out. But having owned wireless headphone pods with a case I have to admit that I do enjoy them quite a lot. But we should still eat the spleen of every person who lobbied to phase out the headphone jack in electronics
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La Dispute Song of the Day: Top Sellers Banquet
Top Sellers Banquet is the 10th song on La Dispute's new album, "No One Was Driving The Car" which has had me in a mental chokehold ever since they started releasing the singles this year.
Top Sellers Banquet is on the longer side being 8 mins and 18 seconds long. It comprises many musical segments that tell the story of the rapture happening during a banquet of one of the largest Multi-level-Marketing schemes, Amway, which is rooted in American Christian Conservatism with its Headquarters being in Grand Rapids, Michigan (where La Dispute are based/from and reference extensively in their songs, as well as the founders of the company beinf from their and very prominent wealthy members of the Christian Reform Church (based in GR) which also executes great influence over the city)
Amway preys on people's beliefs and situations in order to get them to join or buy their products whilst only benefitting the executives at the top, or (top) sellers willing to resort to other ways of earning money, and then those many other "sellers" at the bottom barely making any money from actually selling their products. Amway have been accused of being a pyramid scheme (which they probably are), and this gets referenced to in Top Sellers Banquet "and they're all in awe of it, here standing with the pyramid tip above" as well as in 'Landlord Calls The Sherriff In', which is also about Amway's influence and Capitalism.
The Narration of Top Sellers Banquet is told from the point of view of someone directing a camera as if the events talked about were to be a film instead of a song, which is a main theme of the album as the band stated they wanted the album to be like a film without pictures. "People come in, on a pilgrimage. There'a slow pan. Pull the camera back"
The song begins and ends with the camera shot as the camera is the only "real" thing in this story and to highlight the feeling of being a powerless outsider/observer to the events, as you are just the "viewer".
In the song the top-sellers arrive at the banquet and they are all in awe of the wealth displayed by the executives who run the banquet. As the top sellers they have done well for themselves and indulge in material things, "in suits and jewels and diamond ballgowns" but when they are met with the splendour of the banquet hall in the "country club" they "almost kneel on the ground" as they enter. This is deliberate wording as people kneel to pray, so its implying they may view the Executives as God-like, which is ironic because they "praise jesus for the gospel of more" in the next few lines, they believe they are faithful to "God" but they actually have strayed from their faith and now serve the whims of Amway Capitalism (another important theme of the album) and greed more than they supposedly serve the God they pretend to love so much. They also use the word "pilgrimage" to describe the top-sellers arrival.
The Banquet starts and then the Camera changes its focus onto the dancers performing at the banquet, hinting they will be important later in the story.
Then it diverts the shot back to the banquet attendees all too busy taking videos of the dancers at the banquet on their phones to actually appreciate their prescence but also too distracted to notice the incoming rapture "no one notices the flash all around"
the hillside is said to have glown white and then there was a sound and then in the song they add a crashing noise and sirens to indicate this and it feels like the entire song pauses with the shock of the events it details.
and then there is a muffled insert of a speaker who i believe to be a member of the Christian Reformed Church as he mentions the "Banner" which was if i remember correctly a sort of newsletter of teachings for the church. And he mentions "Arnold Brink" who was a member of the church and wrote teachings of Calvinist theology, and the specific concept mentioned in the song was that of "death". And the speaker asks the audience "you must die. I must die. In view of that, where will you place your energy? where will you set your ambitions? where will be your goals? how will your aim be determined? what will be your seeking?".
I'm going to be personally honest here and say i'm not the biggest fan of the speaker inserts in the La Dispute album, i feel like they overdid it a bit but i understand wanting to make the point obvious, it just personally felt a bit too on the nose, but the effect of this one specifically is that its saying that the people in the song, those top sellers, they placed their energy pursuing something not worth pursuing, in pursuit of "evil" and so now in this fictional telling of a rapture they would die with this being their legacy. Which is a really fucking sad legacy. not that it is 100% their fault as they were tricked by the people at the top, the executives into believing what they were doing was the right thing but they still indulged in the temporary/fleeting material benefits they gained from it.
Then after the break the narration begins again with the lights going out and all sound disappearing. And the people would open their mouths to presumably scream or cry out but there was nothing to be heard.
and then the camera changes its attention back to the dancers which had been frozen mid-dance "suspended in the air", and then on the orchestra "bows mid-stroke" and the servers who were "scattered like a statuary in a garden or a tomb" all the workers were motionless. but the guests and executives were not. the executives taking no notice to anything happening at all.
This is when all the workers get raptured and beams of light fall to the earth, starting with a dancer who "unthaws" back to life and floats slowly, weightlessly up into the sky above the scene. Its beautifully descriptive and i really think the instrumental tone in this section really suits the scene and emotions of those being raptured.
then the camera pans to below them and it was the guests who had fallen to consumerism writhing in horror "pulling out their hair" "gnashing their teeth" realising they are to not be saved. the fact they are not saved may be a reference to the bible quote which i saw someone put when they analysed the lyrics on genius "now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your Gold and Silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days" James 5:1-3
What is significant in this scene is that the executives continue on like nothing is happening this represents how the ultra-rich often get off with no consequences whilst the world suffers around them/they cause the suffering of many but still they act as if nothing they have done or are doing is causing this so they carry on. "eating and drinking and talking as if entirely unfased"
and then its back to the contrast between those getting raptured hear a heavenly choir as they ascend above and those on the ground weeping and burning their belongings, probably realising they have no value anymore. "They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" Matthew 13:42
and then the camera leaves us on this contrast as it rises upwards itself into the clouds where it can no longer see anything else in the "grey" and theb the camera cuts out and goes black as there is nobody/nothing left to see and the "film ends without credits" potentially because there would be no one left to make it.
Jordan Dreyer is hurting my brain
and then the song ends on the speaker reciting a prayer as the song fades out.
and im exhausted now lol- its past midnight.
but yeah i'd go into more detail but i fear sleep is essential for a persons functioning.
I'm not a christian but if i was i'd probably be able to spot more references. I know the description of the rapture is in accordance to how its described in the bible. I'm kind of obsessed with the level of detail and subject knowledge put into not just this song but this album
and how intentional the instrumental is. The guitar melody that the song starts with incites a feeling i can't really describe. I also like how clearly you can hear the drums in this song. that Hi-hat mmm.
this song has definitely grown on me over time, originally it felt too nebulous and confusing for me to fully grasp the meaning of and the length and the speaker inserts can be potentially off putting. it's a solid song, with a solid message, not my favourite La Dispute song but still good.
Please add anything I missed or correct me with anything I have been wrong about
I will return tomorrow.
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well you know what they say. when you've invested billions of dollars into hammers every problem looks like a nail and you keep handing these hammers to your users and they go "i don't really think i needed this hammer" and "but i don't have any nails that need hammering in right now" and "this is not a nail this is a glass vase that will break if i hit it with a hammer" and "didn't you used to have, like, other tools avaliable that might be better suited to this job" and you tell them to suck it up because you've replaced all your screwdrivers and wrenches and box cutters and crates and ladders and paint with hammers because your shareholders need to see an increase in value from your hammer investments