SOTF Song Contest # 22

[Shiola]

Attention everyone: Cicada has decided to drop out of the contest, and their song Calling All Skeletons by Alkaline Trio is therefore removed from the contest.

Those who have submitted their votes to me already may re-submit them accordingly.

[Shiola]

The votes are in! Time to found out which songs still have a chance at being opening credits, and which ones are going to end up in fanmade compilations on youtube!

[+] Tribute Videos

11. Renai Death Game - Submitted by Skraal, it received 48 points.
10. Like Yesterday - Submitted by Buko, it received 49 points.
9. Bug Boy - Submitted by Murderweasel, it received 61.5 points.

Happy to report the following songs are making it to the next round:

[+] You know, that show with the theme song that goes like...

Sweetest Kill
Only Us
Immortal
Man
Glory and Gore
Viciarious
Living to Die
Words on Sign

Round two will be up momentarily!

[Shiola]

Okay folks, here it is.

Round 2

The contestants for the second round of the 22nd SOTF Song Contest are:

Deamon
Brackie
Emprexx Plush
Dr Freud
Ruggahissy
Cactus
Shiola
D/N
CrossbowPig
Fenris
TheLordOfAwesome
Jilly

In no particular order, here’s some more of that delightful intro music, and their respective wrinkly bois.

1. Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks

[+] Raisins

Back a few years ago when I was participating more in SOTF, I kind of thought of this as the SOTF theme song. It's about a school shooter, and I always thought that it was pretty transferable to any big player in a game, and that it fit the overall violent theme of SOTF.

2. My Chemical Romance - The Ghost Of You

[+] Raisins

????

3. MISSIO –Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea

[+] Raisins

My version of the HBO SOTF is moody, dark, and the epitome of serious television. That's not to say that it wouldn't have a comedic bent in it here and there, but overall the concept is bleak and moody in tone, and I believe that's the tone the intro should take. Cinematographically it should resemble something like the US adaptation of the Killing with muted colours and a feeling of dread. This particular song is haunting but up-tempo with a strong introduction - the piano chords coupled with the singer's mournful vocal presence gives it a perfect feeling to set the stage for our show. The lyrics are not too on the nose, but they manage to convey a feeling of the intimacy that one can still feel in times of despair; a perfect way to describe the stories of most of our characters.

4. Have A Nice Life - Bloodhail

[+] Raisins

"But in grief we do not claw our chests
we do not tear our clothes
we do not gnash our teeth, for though it lasts as long as it possibly can
there is no suffering
and there is no lack of suffering.
No joy
no lack of joy
there is no cause
and no cause of causes.
God, the Great Pitier,
is not present to keep the tally or write your name.
There is no death.
Because there is no life."
- Antiochus

5. Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts

[+] Raisins

- it's about a breakup with a lot of war and death metaphors so it's pretty lyrically obvious
- it just feels like it fits SOTF
- I made an oblique reference to it long ago in SOTF so that's nice
- it totally feels like an opening credits song
- I guess the driving bass line gives it a bit of a dark country feel which fits with Tennessee

6. Murder By Death – True Dark

[+] Raisins

A theme of inescapable doom and the southern gothic sound combine to make what I’d view as a pretty good opening theme for V7. The dynamics of the song lend itself to editing for an intro quite well, and it opens quite strongly. I think it’d be pretty memorable.

7. Gotye - Eyes Wide Open

[+] Raisins

The lyrics in the second verse of the song are more overtly about climate change, but as an intro will usually use the first verse and the chorus and not include the second chorus, this shouldn't matter too much. It's intended to be about people in the future dying from the ravages of climate change having ignored all the warnings about what it would do to the planet, but lyrically it can be more widely interpreted as a song about a group of people meeting their end by some means that could have been avoided. In the context of a SOTF TV series this lends an ugly, bitter tinge to the series, almost implying that these kids had it coming and if they had been better this wouldn't have happened to them; it almost feels like it's coming from the terrorist's perspective, or possibly the perspective of an audience that's only seeing the worst of them. Lyrics like "everything we had, everything we did is buried in dust, and this dust is all that's left of us" and "you just get used to living in fear or give up when you can't even picture your future" feel particularly poignant.

8. Ghoultown – Bury Them Deep

[+] Raisins

To start, the song has a country-western vibe to it, a genre that is popular within Tennessee, but has a darker tone and subject matter fitting with the subject of SOTF. While the song is far more literal with its message, the lyrics could easily be interpreted as being spoken from either certain students or members of the Taskforce. For example "Bury them deep that's what I said" could be seen as either a character's resolve to kill their fellow classmates and win SOTF or as the rules of the game of SOTF as laid out by the terrorists, in which the only way to leave is to kill all competitors or to "bury them deep" as it were.

9. The Go! Team - Flashlight Fight

[+] Raisins

It's an energetic fight song / anthem which I think would work in the context of SOTF.

10. Nothing More - Go To War

[+] Raisins

Aside from the relevancy of the lyrics and mood of the song, the beginning makes a versatile lead in that would work in a variety of openings. There are also multiple moments that could be used as motifs throughout the sound track, particularly the repeated fading "Do you feel safe?" at the end of the choruses.

11. The Naked And Famous - The Sun (nsfw – nudity)

[+] Raisins

“What the hell have I done" is the war-cry for every SOTF tragedy so that's why this song spoke to me as a potential super downbeat intro theme.

12. Massive Attack - Angel

[+] Raisins

Angel has a great melody and beat, that while dark and moody is also slightly dreamlike. This helps create an atmosphere that really fits with the content of the game of Survival of the Fittest. The steady intensity build-up of the song also fits with the game and how things steadily get more deadly and dangerous as things go on. Overall it just sounds like a tonal match.

Voting is by Eurovision rules. You'll be sending your top 10 songs in as follows:

12- Song Name
10- Song Name
8- ...
7- ...
6- ...
5- ...
4- ...
3- ...
2- ...
1- ...

With 12 being your favorite song, 10 being your second favorite, and so on. The top 8 songs will continue into the finals. Public votes count for half. Remember to tag me in Discord for public votes, or post in this thread.

Votes by board PM or Discord are both perfectly acceptable. If you're in this round and you do not vote, you will be disqualified.



Good luck!

[Shiola]

Alright, it's that time again. Time for results!



The following songs have been eliminated:

[+] Might still end up in the animated series

12. Bury Them Deep, submitted by TheLordOfAwesome. It received 31 points.
11. Flashlight Fight, submitted by Jilly. It received 32.5 points, including one 12.
10. Bloodhail, submitted by CrossbowPig. It received 51 points, including two 10s.
9. Go To War, submitted by Emprexx Plush. It received 53 points, including one 12.

Which means...



The following songs are moving on to the final round:

[+] Still Kicking

Pumped Up Kicks
The Ghost of You
The Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea
Little Broken Hearts
True Dark
Eyes Wide Open
The Sun
Angel

The final round will be up soon, hang tight!

[Shiola]

Alright, let's do this.

Final Round

The contestants for the final round of the 22nd SOTF Song Contest are:

Ares
Brackie
Cactus
D/N
Deamon
DMBoogie
Dr. Freud
Fenris
Frozen Smoke
Kermit
Laurels
Maraoone
MK Kilmarnock
Pippi
Ruggahissy
Shiola

Here are the final 16 songs, in no particular order:

1. Broken Social Scene - Sweetest Kill ((Content Warning))

[+] Raisins

On a surface level, the song - and especially the music video - are about murder. SOTF is also about murder. On a deeper level, the song - and especially the music video - uses murder and violence as a metaphor. SOTF also uses murder and violence as a metaphor. On a deeper deeper level, my research has told me that a lot of people seem to take the video at surface level, getting distracted by the violence and only seeing it as a music video about a lady committing murder. This also happens to SOTF - to a lot of people, SOTF might just look like a bunch of weird people writing about childmurder, when upon closer inspection it's (usually) something a lot more meaningful.

2. Thrice - Only Us

[+] Raisins

Picked because the opening synth and strings sound like a great opening, then right around the 1 min mark when the guitar kicks in is where I picture the cast being introduced. The lyrics in the verses and chorus are all regarding fighting against the "them" of the system, which leads into the "Only Us" idea, which I think is a great and fitting metaphor for SOTF.

3. MISSIO –Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea

[+] Raisins

My version of the HBO SOTF is moody, dark, and the epitome of serious television. That's not to say that it wouldn't have a comedic bent in it here and there, but overall the concept is bleak and moody in tone, and I believe that's the tone the intro should take. Cinematographically it should resemble something like the US adaptation of the Killing with muted colours and a feeling of dread. This particular song is haunting but up-tempo with a strong introduction - the piano chords coupled with the singer's mournful vocal presence gives it a perfect feeling to set the stage for our show. The lyrics are not too on the nose, but they manage to convey a feeling of the intimacy that one can still feel in times of despair; a perfect way to describe the stories of most of our characters.

4. The Naked And Famous - The Sun (nsfw – nudity)

[+] Raisins

“What the hell have I done" is the war-cry for every SOTF tragedy so that's why this song spoke to me as a potential super downbeat intro theme.

5. Marina and the Diamonds- Immortal

[+] Raisins

The song is about life, death, and the attempts to cling to life as long as possible even though death is inevitable and our attempts to stay it will only result in failure, but that shouldn't put you down because each person's individual existence still means that they lived at some point and that some bit of their essence will remain after their death even if it's not apparent.

6. Take That - Man

[+] Raisins

The song itself has a notably dark atmosphere to start off with thanks to the instrumentation chosen, and the lyrics contain both references to personal relationships and much darker things as well - both of which are major parts of SOTF. There's a sense of finality and inevitability in the song, which, again, I think is very fitting for what would be a TV version of SOTF. One review described it as an 'apocalyptic anthem', which I think is a very suitable title.

7. Lorde - Glory and Gore

[+] Raisins

1.) lorde. that's it that's the entire reason
2.) the lyrics are incredibly on-point
3.) the mood fits v7 in general i feel. this dark brooding atmosphere, with understated tension. and then it bursts in the chorus.

8. Murder By Death – True Dark

[+] Raisins

A theme of inescapable doom and the southern gothic sound combine to make what I’d view as a pretty good opening theme for V7. The dynamics of the song lend itself to editing for an intro quite well, and it opens quite strongly. I think it’d be pretty memorable.

9. Tool - Vicarious

[+] Raisins

I’ve considered this to be the theme tune to sotf-tv for years; it’s a song entirely about gleefully watching other people’s suffering and death

10. Archive - Words on Sign

[+] Raisins

My personal raisins for this is personally I'm trying to picture the intro of a bleak Utopia/'Doomed Antagonist' feel. An intro that's really focused on the loneliness and lack of trust that the island breeds, rather than some defiant action movie. Band of Brothers style mini-series on someone like Illario.

11. Hypocrisy - Living to Die

[+] Raisins

Living to Die paints a perfect picture of the dark, hopeless atmosphere that SotF conveys. Lines like "I can't wait til I'm finally dead. Erase my numbers and hope to never return again." certainly fit the bill of somebody who's been dragged through hell and certainly can't take much more. The song's instrumental breaks even cater well to flashing montages of various cast members' faces all before fading to a title card for an Executive Producer credit.

12. Massive Attack - Angel

[+] Raisins

Angel has a great melody and beat, that while dark and moody is also slightly dreamlike. This helps create an atmosphere that really fits with the content of the game of Survival of the Fittest. The steady intensity build-up of the song also fits with the game and how things steadily get more deadly and dangerous as things go on. Overall it just sounds like a tonal match.

13. Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks

[+] Raisins

Back a few years ago when I was participating more in SOTF, I kind of thought of this as the SOTF theme song. It's about a school shooter, and I always thought that it was pretty transferable to any big player in a game, and that it fit the overall violent theme of SOTF.

14. My Chemical Romance - The Ghost Of You

[+] Raisins

????

15. Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts

[+] Raisins

- it's about a breakup with a lot of war and death metaphors so it's pretty lyrically obvious
- it just feels like it fits SOTF
- I made an oblique reference to it long ago in SOTF so that's nice
- it totally feels like an opening credits song
- I guess the driving bass line gives it a bit of a dark country feel which fits with Tennessee

16. Gotye - Eyes Wide Open

[+] Raisins

The lyrics in the second verse of the song are more overtly about climate change, but as an intro will usually use the first verse and the chorus and not include the second chorus, this shouldn't matter too much. It's intended to be about people in the future dying from the ravages of climate change having ignored all the warnings about what it would do to the planet, but lyrically it can be more widely interpreted as a song about a group of people meeting their end by some means that could have been avoided. In the context of a SOTF TV series this lends an ugly, bitter tinge to the series, almost implying that these kids had it coming and if they had been better this wouldn't have happened to them; it almost feels like it's coming from the terrorist's perspective, or possibly the perspective of an audience that's only seeing the worst of them. Lyrics like "everything we had, everything we did is buried in dust, and this dust is all that's left of us" and "you just get used to living in fear or give up when you can't even picture your future" feel particularly poignant.

Voting is by Eurovision rules. You'll be sending your final 10 songs in as follows:

12- Song Name
10- Song Name
8- ...
7- ...
6- ...
5- ...
4- ...
3- ...
2- ...
1- ...

With 12 being your favorite song, 10 being your second favorite, and so on. Public votes count for half. Remember to tag me in Discord for public votes, or post in this thread. The song with the most points will be the winner, and will get first picks at hosting the next round.

Votes by board PM or Discord are both perfectly acceptable. If you're in this round and you do not vote, you will be disqualified.



Let's find out what follows our hypothetical and delightfully ominous cold open!

[Shiola]

Oh boy, results!

16-12

[+] 16th Place

Hypocrisy - Living To Die: 10 Points. Submitted by MK Kilmarnock

[+] 15th Place

Tool - Vicarious: 25 Points; including one 8. Submitted by DMBoogie.

[+] 14th Place

My Chemical Romance - The Ghost of You: 40 Points; including two 8s. Submitted by Ruggahissy

[+] 13th Place

Broken Social Scene - Sweetest Kill: 46 Points; including two 10s. Submitted by Kermit.

[+] 12th Place

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks: 50 Points Submitted by Dr. Freud

[Shiola]

Even MORE results!

11-7

[+] 11th Place

Thrice - Only Us: 51.5 Points; including one 10. Submitted by Ares.

[+] 10th Place

Gotye - Eyes Wide Open: 53.5 Points; including two 12s. Submitted by Fenris.

[+] 9th Place

Marina and the Diamonds - Immortal: 54 Points; including two 10s. Submitted by Laurels.

[+] 8th Place

Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts: 54.5 Points; including one 12 and two 8s. Submitted by D/N.

[+] 7th Place

Take That - Man: 55 Points; including one 12 and two 8s. Submitted by Pippin.

[Shiola]

Final 6!

6-3

[+] 6th Place

Lorde - Glory and Gore: 62 Points; including one 8. Submitted by Maraoone.

[+] 5th Place

Archive - Words on Sign: 72.5 Points; including one 12, two 10s, and one 8. Submitted by Frozen Smoke.

[+] 4th Place

Murder By Death - True Dark: 75 Points; including one 12, one 10, and two 8s. Submitted by Shiola (hey that's me!).

[+] 3rd Place

Massive Attack - Angel: 84 Points; including two 12s, one 10 and one 8. Submitted by Deamon.

[+] Final Two

MISSIO - Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea
Naked and Famous - The Sun

[Shiola]

The Final Two!

[+] The Runner Up, in 2nd Place

Naked and Famous- The Sun: 107 Points; including five 12s, three 10s, and one 8. Submitted by Brackie.

Oh goodness me. This means that first place goes to...

[+] What a Weiner

MISSIO - Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea: 111 Points; including two 12s, four 10s, and two 8s.

This means that Cactus is the winner, and will be hosting the 23rd SOTF Songtest, or can pass it on to another. Congratulations!

That's all, folks!

Thanks for all of the fantastic submissions, I honestly could find a place in our strange and unsettling fiction for just about every single one.

I'm glad I got to run this songtest as it was a longstanding idea of mine, and I think definitely hyped me up for V7 and the kind of themes that people are bringing to the table.

Just... no more song-posts for the love of all that's holy.

[+] Round 1 Votes

[+] Round 2 Votes

Public:

[+] Final Votes

The only public votes in this round came from Murderweasel, who sent the following:

12 - Massive Attack - Angel
10 - MISSIO –Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea
8 - Murder By Death – True Dark
7 - Thrice - Only Us
6 - Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks
5 - Archive - Words on Sign
4 - Take That - Man
3 - Gotye - Eyes Wide Open
2 - The Naked And Famous - The Sun
1 - Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts