InsaneJournal

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Suze (suze_y) wrote in qaf_coffeeclub,
@ 2010-08-13 12:13:00

Entry tags:

show and tell

Show and Tell: The Music Edition
Our busy-busy Bunny hasn’t had much time to play lately, and she’s suggested that she could use a little help with keeping the QAF love alive and thriving. To that end, etextraordinary, frantic_quest and I will start posting Show and Tells on Fridays (yes, it really does take three regular fangirls to do a fraction of the work of one Bunny. ;))

♥ ♥ ♥
So on with the showing and telling ...
The music in QAF is one of the greatest things about this show. How often have we watched a scene, not paying much attention to the music in the background at first, only later to realize just how perfectly the lyrics fit the moment? The first time I really noticed was the dozenth or so time I watched the end of 204 and actually paid attention to the lyrics of "Chiquitita" – and ended up in tears.

Since then I've realized there are many, many examples where the music adds so much to the story – and I want to discover them all!

Come play Show and Tell and share some of your favorites!

(Post a new comment)

xie_xie_xie
2010-08-13 05:01 pm UTC (link)

When they play "You Are My Sunshine" at the end of 507.

Until then, we don't really know as viewers exactly where Brian's head is at. Yes, we all know he loves Justin, but he let him walk out the door not, like in S2, because the two of them were so fucked up and lost, but apparently calmly and with some kind of understanding of the impasse the two of them had reached. They loved each other but wanted different things. We could see it caused them both pain, we could see Brian's face and that he was suffering, but he was still clearly choosing this.

It wasn't until that song started to play that we were truly able to understand that Brian was, in fact, still trapped in something he was NOT choosing and did NOT control -- as he later said to Ted at Kinnetik, life with a frigid bitch and an angry alcoholic had made him unable or unwilling to commit to someone (ie, SCARED and PARALYZED) and he'd thus lost the two people he cared most about in the world -- and that he not only still loved Justin, but he loved him in that primal way that we always imagined/hoped/believed he did... but weren't quite sure sometimes.

The first time I saw this episode I knew what was coming, and while I found it upsetting, I was mostly okay (I'd been spoiled for all of S5 before I saw it). But when that song started to play, I burst into tears. It gutted me.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

suze_y
2010-08-13 10:08 pm UTC (link)

Until then, we don't really know as viewers exactly where Brian's head is at. ... It wasn't until that song started to play that we were truly able to understand that Brian was, in fact, still trapped in something he was NOT choosing and did NOT control

This scene and song bring up a strange mix of feelings for me - profound sadness at Brian and Justin's loneliness for each other - and at Brian's relative isolation from everyone - and also hope for Brian and Justin's future together; the love is so obvious that we just know they must come together again.

Yet I'd never gone beyond that to consider what we're actually shown about Brian's thinking and feelings. And now that you point it out - yes!! I have to go back and watch 507 again. I've been thinking about it all day, so it must be time.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	brianslave68 2010-08-14 12:11 am UTC (link)
	I had the same reaction when I heard this song the first time....totally punched me in the gut. (Reply to this) (Parent)

kari77
2010-08-13 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Through QaF I discovered quite a few interesting songs. One of my all-time favorites is "Weapon" by the Matthew Good Band. It plays near the end of episode 309 when Justin and Brian are in Bed together.
Apart from it being a gorgeous song, the lyrics killed me when I first saw that scene.
Here by my side an angel
Here by my side the devil
Never turn your back on me
Never turn your back on me again.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

suze_y
2010-08-13 09:18 pm UTC (link)

Yes!! This is one of the first ones I fell in love with - it just seems to fit the scene, and Brian and Justin, so perfectly. Reading

highd's comment below, I started to understand a little better just why that is.

And now when I listen to the song on its own (on my iPod) it's so much more than just "listening to a song" - it's seems to carry with it the whole complex and beautiful story. This seems to be the way with so many songs from the series.

	kari77 2010-08-13 08:53 pm UTC (link)
	Parce Mihi Domine Oh, my, how could I forget about that one. Just hearing the first note makes me tear up. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	butternutsquash 2010-08-13 07:59 pm UTC (link)
	After Emmett gets to top, he enters Babylon to "I'm the main man." It's one of my feel-good songs! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	frantic_quest 2010-08-13 08:56 pm UTC (link)
	I love how "Wonderful Life" by Black, during the Liberty Ride in S4 perfectly completes the cancer arc for Brian. sigh Look at me standing here on my own again up straight in the sunshine No need to run and hide it's a wonderful, wonderful life No need to laugh and cry it's a wonderful, wonderful life Sends me to my S4 happy place every time!! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	brianslave68 2010-08-13 11:27 pm UTC (link)
	Poor Teddy from 314 ~ Perfect song for that scene Where Do I Begin by Chemical Brothers Sunday morning i'm waking up Can't even focus on a coffee cup Don't even know who's bed i'm in Where do i start Where do i begin (Reply to this) (Thread)