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To be fair shes only just now starting her band, probably has only been a few weeks into being a rockstar. Also she was gonna get married to a metal singer, makes sense that she knows SOMETHING in terms of music or singing. I imagine when she was with him she sung a few songs.
My interpretation is that Ups and Downs is effectively a summarization of Slayer's outlook on having such a long life. He's lived so long that sometimes he physically can't experience certain things that he loved, like being unable to see the morning sun. But, eventually, he realized that's okay. All things are temporary, and he's just glad to have seen it at all. Aiming for a happy ending isn't gonna work, especially when you're immortal, because it's just a single moment in time that will eventually come and go. The things he finds enjoyment in are the small things, not any grand adventures that're important enough to become the stuff of bedtime stories. He realized that if he's focused on the material and where he's gonna end up, he'll potentially become jaded and cold. So that's why, even when he's retired, he refuses to stagnate.
My favorite part about Symphony is that at the start, the song is about ABA only caring about herself ("I'm just a quirky note in the symphony"), but once ABA realizes she needs to care about Paracelus's feelings, it changes to include them both ("We're just a quirky note in the symphony"). However, the lines "I'm not here to fit in this world / I just want to make a difference" never change from using singular pronouns. That's because that part IS just about ABA. Only she can define who she wants to be, and while Paracelsus can support her and be there to help, it is ultimately something ABA needs to figure out for herself.
I've always thought that Just Lean is like a folk song from every characters point of view. Like there all singing in a bar with all there differing opinions. Yet they all agree he always hated by the god of failure. Cause he's just too damn lucky!
I interpret Ups and Downs as a younger Slayer coming to his current philosophy. In Slayer's Arcade Mode, when talking to Nagoriyuki about when he bit him, he says that he wasn't very responsible in his youth. Perhaps he tried achieving everything he could, only to find that surrounded by precious things, his heart turned into stone. Eventually coming to the idea that playing the supporting role in other people's lives was what he should strive for.
I honestly love every theme from Strive. You just get tired of skipping the "bad" songs on a playlist and actually listen to those "bad" songs and they're actually really good. Every song has redeeming qualities or moments that are just so peak.
Ive always viewed ups and downs as slayer basically talking about “here are how I’ve AVOIDED these problems” and the idea that its framed as his advice to nag and zato is cool. Also ups and downs uses similar music to jack-a-dandy which is unfathomably based
i love how relatively simple slayers song is compared to basically all other characters, this coming from a major enjoyer of the circle and symphony, HES OVER 600 Years old, he already dealt with his problems hundreds of years ago and now he’s here to mentor the little young zato 1s and 2s
I particularly really love the "Ups and Downs" interpretation. When you stretch the message of that song to being about his students and not just him, it makes it lot more impactful to me.
I agree with Slayer as well, literally in his arcade mode he says something along the lines of "Living forever isn't that bad" showing that he's not tired of the sun or his life but he's talking to his students and teaching them the ways.
16:05 I believe the second verse is referring to Gabriel. He is the only character who performed an "economic overthrow" as the song says. Also "his eyes don't shine" because he isn't part of dandyism
I personally interpret Slayer's theme as how there is both good and bad in life, but even after a Happy Ending, there is more to life to be appreciated, after all "Life is a journey, not a destination" and just to "Enjoy the ride with its Ups and Downs". After an eternity, he still finds beauty in life, just like one of the endings of his arcade mode shows
It's very eh to me too, some of it is good, most of it is boring, it's my feelings with ram's theme the intro is awesome then it falls apart@@GamingChair420
@@hawhawhaw3123 nothing's wrong with nago's theme, however gamingchair420's opinion is in fact wrong. you don't listen it for the whole song, it's all brilliant buildup to the best moment in any ggst song, and his weird "realization" is just an excuse to hate a good song that most people like
Wow, just missing the whole Xrd Sign character arc with Elphelt realizing the persona she’d been faking the whole time is the most real thing in her life and it’s not a mistake to call that her true self and her newfound resolve to connect to humanity and put value in the abstract, hence the “extras of life”.
On a bit of a personal note, Elphelt (and by extension, "Extras") came out right around the time I was fired from my last job, after three years of stable but mentally draining work. I was exhausted and wondering if I should consider switching careers to something else. That's when I listened to the song and read the lyrics for the first time and the chorus, which talks about enjoying the little things in life, really got to me. This was the second Guilty Gear song to make me cry, after The Circle. Extras reminded me that yes, having a job is important for keeping myself sheltered and fed, but that my life should be more about what I do out of it. I'm still lost but I'm on this path of trying to enjoy the little extras of life. In the end, I decided to use some of the money I had saved up and take a break to cool my head, see family and friends, and dedicate more time to doing things that I like, rather than just things I need to do.
Honestly same on the slayer theme. Slayer seems quite happy with his life right now. So I saw it as giving advice to somebody else on how to live like that
I personally think the god of failure line is referring to how, if jhonny were to fail in some way, then the consequences would be very big, as the leader snd essentially face of the jellyfish pirates, the god of failure hates him so whenever he fails, they are magnified by a LOT
Slayer's theme is probably my favorite cus even though Johnny is in fact HIM, Slayer's theme just makes me wanna stomp people in lobbies and that vibe is critical for me in this game.
A detail I'm surprised you didn't bring up for Elphelt's theme is how part of the second verse is a reference to "All I want for Christmas is You" in terms of the melody. Oddly enough, this aspect might be significant to her in one of two ways. One: it could show that she has specific songs she's inspired by. Two: the fact that Elphelt's birthday is on Christmas. Also, that interpretation on Slayer's theme is really interesting and I kinda agree now. In the second verse, "Holding a platinum knife with some fine glow" could be interpreted towards Nagoryuki and his want for honorable combat. "But his eyes did not shine" can be viewed in multiple ways. It could refer to Nago's losing his will to fight due to the fact that he can never lose, the fact that you literally can't see Nago's eyes most of the time in a fight since he wears that mask, or the fact that you literally can't see Zato's eyes AT ALL. It most likely refers to Nago's drive for fighting, but thinking about it in a more literal sense is pretty funny.
I'm pretty sure the official lyrics for that section is "My friend enjoyed Paradise for Palate, holding a platinum knife eith sapphire gloves". I don't really think it's talking about nago or zato in particular, but rather vanity and greed, which also links to the line "Surrounded by precious things, the heart turbs inti stone". Just my opinion tho
Okay I'm sorry for all the spelling mistakes but my phone doesn't let me see what I'm typing nor edit my damn comment so you'll just have to try to understand LMAO
@@Chaos_Vergil actually i think you might be up to something, the next line is " but his eyes did not shine, what he miss is that he cant be overthroned" it does references how Nago lost his will to fight, the shine in his eyes so to speak, because as a vampire he cant lose, in fact all ups and downs gives me the impresion of it being Slayer giving a motivational pep talk to both Nago, Zato and everyone else he thinks it may need it (sorry for any spelling mistakes or i misinterpreted something, english is not my first language)
I woke up today and the darkness was pierced by the morning sun and I looked around and I was surrounded by precious things! I decided I was going to enjoy the ride and went from up to down as I fell out of bed and out of a 10-story high window
I think this season of Strive has been the most positively recieved so far music-wise. I've seen so much love for Symphony, and Ups and Downs is an easy song to just blast out when you're feeling great. Just Lean is the song used the most to post memes, but I kinda love that it has that potential.
8:00 I always misheard this line as "I'm still lost, but I like this place" Which I think is also a pretty good line. She doesn't know where she is or what shes doing in life, but shes having a good time so she doesn't really care to figure out whats going on, shes happy and thats it.
I just realised that for the last 10 or so months I've been singing along to Just Lean with the wrong lyrics... Oh shit... Ah whatever, there's barely a difference to count it as a mistake
This was definitely worth the wait! I loved hearing your interpretations of the previous songs in GG and now it’s great to hear your take on S3’s, especially my favs A.B.A and Elphelt. A.B.A’s theme is my absolute favorite out of S3 with her character intriguing me with this song touching on the ideas of not being normal and wanting to make a difference in the world with her relationship helping her for the better(after addressing the bad parts of course in arcade mode 😅). Also I like your interpretation of Ups and Downs, I didn’t realize the idea of it being about Zato and Nago before until now. It does actually fit the two pretty well and ties into the arcade mode well(before I thought it was like a young Slayer going through all of this before reaching this conclusion of enjoying life for what it is).
2:17 ARMOR CLAD-FAITH IN B TIER??? it was literally my favorite song before elphelt released, why the heck is a musical fucking masterpiece below trigger on this tier list
Haven’t seen a lot of people talk about it but the way I see ABA’s theme is something more personal. I see it as an allegory for Autism, a lot of the lines resonate way too hard for me, as a person who is constantly has to work hard to feel like I’m apart of the world
Maybe "Hated by the god of Failure" isnt about Johnny, but perhaps commentary of people who play life safe, like Giovanna who actively mentions shes happy with her stable job and doesn't plan on changing. Maybe "Just lean its anyones call" is told by a person who wants to play it safe, and leans in the winners direction, not embracing failure and thus being hated by the God of Failure, as not taking any risks will decrease failure, oppossed to Johnny who is a gambler at heart and takes plenty of risks in his life, being that hes a normal human using inhuman sword techniques againts strong characters like Bedman
Johnny second is definitely "she was told". It would fit the third line which is "that it's the word of the man who hated by the god of failure". The song is kinda like a parent or and old folk telling stories of johnny to the younglings
Still think that Elphelt existence in Strive is the reason why EVERY CHARACTER GOT LYRICS NOW, cuz before strive 0 lyrics besides Raven and DI Sol had not an inch of voice in them, but now EVERYONE HAS
To add up to "Ups and downs", I think that the first part of the chorus "Hardly the stuff of bedtime stories" is Slayer telling Nago and Zato that if they kept focusing on what troubled them, this is how people would remember them and tell their stories.
Extra's reads more to me like Elphelts struggle with finding her place in the world as a creative. "Are you brave enough to be a fool" sounds like a (really awesomely worded) way to invoke stage fright or showing off your art to others. Until you are brave enough to show your stuff, you typically don't know how the audience might react, so you have to be brave enough and face the possibility that you might suck or give the audience an entirely different experience from what you expected, so you might turn out to be a fool. It's only at the start of the song, so it's never brought up as Elphelt is clearly brave enough to be a fool. She is very clutzy after all, so it fits. A.B.A is actually from GG Isuka (a strange, super janky 4 player 2v2 fighting game without a tag system) and was imported back into GGXX via one of the update games. Since Isuka already used the sprites from XX for the other characters, she blended right back in. She's one of the few GG characters that Daisuke didn't create himself or had a very little hand in her creation. Which is why she has so little lore. My interpretation of the lyrics is very meta and heavily based on this and how she's still in Strive because Daisuke (and the rest of the dev team, let's be honest) still likes her enough to include her in spite him not having made her. She's a quirky character/note in the world/symphony. Entirely agreed with the interpretation of Just Lean and more or less with the second Ups and Downs one (I don't think it's really about Slayers students though), so no notes there.
My interpretation of Ups and Downs is more positive. I think Slayer's just saying to appreciate life despite difficulties and to just enjoy the ride, good and bad.
I thought in Johnny's theme that it was "before those who warn of dawn," and in turn, I believed he was there before those who lurk in the darkest hour, it's always darkest before dawn.
A colleague of mine likes metal music and I recommended her Extras, where I described the song being about not knowing what you want to do with life, but that it’s fine and you’re having fun despite it all. I took it a bit broader than just Elphelts emotional state 😅
I always thought of "ABA's theme to be saying "breakout" moreso to describe her emotions, like when she has an emotional breakout over Paracelsus. Turning the key to a world untold could be her trying to break that habit while navigating through the "maze woven with words"
When the songs dropped, each one seemed to perfectly fit for other games and characters I've been playing. Maybe it's just a horoscope thing, picking random parts and making patterns with other things.
Gekko youre my inspiration to get ggst ive been craving over this game for years but i never had the money for it until this week and omg im so happy i love you so much
Season 3’s songs have been absolutely brilliant. I got the game right before Johnny released so to have my first around-year of the game was 4 cool and really fun characters releasing and 4 absolute bangers of songs. Especially Slayer for both of those Ups and Downs is just absolutely perfect for me
Theres another interpretation for Extras that goes beyond El talking about her band. It's more likely she's talking about herself, specifically her nature. Elphelt is a Valentine, a clone of Aria/Justice who was created by Ariels to be a sleeper agent embedded in the human population. All the emotions she has, every good thing about her and her love of everything and everyone, was preprogrammed into her to help her blend in, not something she developed. In other words, everything about her isn't natural. She doesn’t actually know what she wants in life because all her desires, her want for marriage and meaningful connections, were preprogrammed, but she doesn't care. She'll keep pushing forward, trying to find her place in the world, even if she doesn’t know what that is exactly, and having a great time while doing it, enjoying all the little extras that life has to offer along the way, which is honestly a beautiful thing.
I thought ups and downs was always about slayer talking too nagoryuki or someone about experiencing life to its fullest beyond its mundaness and it's "ups and downs"
@@truegraham6780 it says, my friend enjoys courage for the plate, holding a platinum knife bla bla, soft fire glow. That is nago bro. Silver plate is more for rich people, but he says that a courageous man who holds a fancy knife has lost his drive.
@@nechavez1921 Naoki himself posted the lyrics for that section a while ago. It's " Paradise for the palate" and "holding a platinum knife with sapphire gloves" then after the "his eyes did not shine" part it says "what he needs is an economic overthrow". With all that in mind it doesn't sound anything close to Nago. Nothing we know of that guys life has been paradise, the dude was dying when Slayer first found him.
You know, after listening to Ups and Down again, and seeing the lyrics... I have to agree with your second interpretation. It just makes more sense when spelled out the way it was in this video.
The lyrics in aba's song "I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference" Hits harder because I pretty sure (some one fact check me pls) Aba wasn't made/designed by Daisuke, aba first debuted in the spinoff Guilty gear isuka. So that line always hits harder for me
We personally find Symphony to have a lot of implications for the themes of the lyrics in Guilty Gear games going way way back. "I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference" very cleanly sums up the philosophy of Guilty Gear's story as a whole. (At least in our eyes.)
I was ready to damn you for your ranking before your insights into the lyrics gave me pause; I especially liked your summary of Slayer's theme which, audibly, I think is his weakest, but the lyrics that you deciphered paint a wonderful scenario. Thank you. I can't wait for Venom's theme!
I forgot who did the video but someone did a cover of bridge of symphony to make it fit more like a wedding song and it's such a banger. it's what I imagine the bridge of symphony is everytime I listen to it
Imo Extras not being S tier if not on of the best Strive songs should be criminal it’s just SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!! I respect most of your tier choices though so not bad.
Honestly as a trans girl I fucking love Aba’s theme. Mostly because I fully relate to the main bridge. I genuinely just want to make a difference in this world, to make it better, which isn’t something I can do by fitting in.
I saw a comment on a lyric video about Just Lean that mentioned that the "hated by the god of failure" meant he was just really lucky. Like, if you're hated by the god of success, you're gonna lose a lot, right? But he's hated by failure, so he's gonna win a lot. Also, I think it's notable that in Symphony, the blah-blah-blahing comes right after the line "life is a maze woven by words."
Not sure if anyone else has added this yet, but Paracelcus (the key) originally had a body, but it was destroyed by Slayer during a fight between the two of them, and Slayer figured that Paracelcus posed no real threat without a body. He left him there in the ruins of their battlefield for A.B.A to find some time later
I've stumbled many times / I might get hurt / But I keep on running Who would walk out on the street bothered about / Bumps in the road? Big fan of these lines in Extras.
Honestly, for the 2nd verse of Ups and Downs, I'm inclined to think of it as an anecdote from Slayer. He had a friend. The point of the Assassin's Guild was to combat corruption im government. So, I think this could be Slayer talking about a friend he had to kill because theu became corrupt; his friend enjoyed innumerable luxuries, without a shinebin his eyes. Cause he doesnt apprecuate them of the onea who brought hin this wealth. So he needs to be economically overthrown. Slayer's heart turns to stone ad he steels his nerves to betray a friend. Thats my take, anyway.
Tbh I never saw Slayers theme as reflecting him, but never in a negative way. I saw it as him becoming bored with complacency rather than being forced to get used to it. Remember- after Xrd he’s retired and stopped fighting.He’s surrounded by everything he could ever want- for all intents and purposes he has a good ending to his story, but it becomes monotonous- thus, he comes out of hiding to beat people up again. His “happy ending” was a “sad short detour” in his life. Au contratre to the popular interpretation, he isn’t hyping himself up but rather the song itself is about how getting back into fighting was what he needed to feel (for lack of a better word) alive again. Also Elphelt’s theme *is* canonically written by her, as seen in her story mode.
Yesterday I was obsesed with figuring out if you were hated by the god of failure, would you never fail or only fail. And today you drop this video as if to answer my question.
I hope raven makes a return, because his song will probs be his perspective on immortality. We also might be able to learn what he's been doing during strive and what he thinks/feels about being on his own after he stopped being Asuka's right hand man. Besides the song I hope he gets some lines with Jack-o, Happy Chaos, Asuka, and Ram, it'd be cool to see an interaction of raven and ram talking about how he saved her in Xrd or ram thanking him once again.
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you forgot Nago's theme in your tier list btw
Elphelt really went from near world destroyer to government soldier to runaway to epiphany having metal screamo singer in like 3 weeks
Strive is 3 weeks after Xrd huh?
@@CorockDragneelI think it's in the first episode of Strive history that Leo says to Ky that the war ended 3 weeks ago
@@CorockDragneel yes the entire game takes place 3 weeks after Xrd, somehow Elphelt became an Idol
To be fair shes only just now starting her band, probably has only been a few weeks into being a rockstar. Also she was gonna get married to a metal singer, makes sense that she knows SOMETHING in terms of music or singing. I imagine when she was with him she sung a few songs.
@@lynx4082 She mentions having 7 fans
"Ive waited an eternity for this"
“It’s over prime”
Why Throw Your Life Away So Recklessly?
"It's been 84 years..."
Sameee
"It's over prime"
My interpretation is that Ups and Downs is effectively a summarization of Slayer's outlook on having such a long life. He's lived so long that sometimes he physically can't experience certain things that he loved, like being unable to see the morning sun. But, eventually, he realized that's okay. All things are temporary, and he's just glad to have seen it at all. Aiming for a happy ending isn't gonna work, especially when you're immortal, because it's just a single moment in time that will eventually come and go. The things he finds enjoyment in are the small things, not any grand adventures that're important enough to become the stuff of bedtime stories.
He realized that if he's focused on the material and where he's gonna end up, he'll potentially become jaded and cold. So that's why, even when he's retired, he refuses to stagnate.
my interpretation is that slayer is in gui lty gears
yeah but the funny youtube man said your opinion is BASIC and WRONG so you are INCORRECT
I love this song man. It motivates me.
My favorite part about Symphony is that at the start, the song is about ABA only caring about herself ("I'm just a quirky note in the symphony"), but once ABA realizes she needs to care about Paracelus's feelings, it changes to include them both ("We're just a quirky note in the symphony"). However, the lines "I'm not here to fit in this world / I just want to make a difference" never change from using singular pronouns. That's because that part IS just about ABA. Only she can define who she wants to be, and while Paracelsus can support her and be there to help, it is ultimately something ABA needs to figure out for herself.
I've always thought that Just Lean is like a folk song from every characters point of view. Like there all singing in a bar with all there differing opinions. Yet they all agree he always hated by the god of failure. Cause he's just too damn lucky!
Talk About You being on the tier list but Name of Heaven NOT being on the tier list is criminal and I hope you know that Gekko
Am i blind i literally dont see it
Not to mention What Do You Fight For not being on there either.
Gekko is temporarily suspended from cooking.
One would say that gekko burnt the dish, but that implies he gave time for some of the ingredients to cook...
Out of the Box isn't there as well
@@dusty0896 yes it is, second last in B
I interpret Ups and Downs as a younger Slayer coming to his current philosophy. In Slayer's Arcade Mode, when talking to Nagoriyuki about when he bit him, he says that he wasn't very responsible in his youth. Perhaps he tried achieving everything he could, only to find that surrounded by precious things, his heart turned into stone. Eventually coming to the idea that playing the supporting role in other people's lives was what he should strive for.
"Strive" for. I see what you did there
finally, a nuanced take on this interpretation instead of just saying "the song is about him". i still disagree, but respect
The way i screamed when i saw Ram’s theme in D tier, and Jack-O’s theme being the literal worst, the Valentine Council will remember this
Me seeing the gravity at c :😡
But hey people do have their preferences
I honestly love every theme from Strive. You just get tired of skipping the "bad" songs on a playlist and actually listen to those "bad" songs and they're actually really good. Every song has redeeming qualities or moments that are just so peak.
Fr, like Trigger is my least favorite but it's still a damn good song
@@amnesiacapothecary I mean each to thier own i guess, i find it to be in my top 3 songs from strive lol
Ram main here can confirm her theme is shit.
2:18 put alone infection is S tier right now or else the Geneva convention is gonna be a Geneva suggestion
See, this guy knows what's up
based, i don't get why people hate it so much or think it's worse than trigger
@@IneffableMasquerade would you mind telling me who those people are?
The Gravity in C is a crime
Gravity is like Zato's theme you either love it or hate it and I don't love it
Fr
Maybe, just maybe, C tier stands for CUBE.
@@GamingChair420 "gravity is like zato's theme" wtf are u on about never cook again
gravity is alright, extremely underrated though. deff think the only song that should be in c tier is trigger
Ive always viewed ups and downs as slayer basically talking about “here are how I’ve AVOIDED these problems” and the idea that its framed as his advice to nag and zato is cool.
Also ups and downs uses similar music to jack-a-dandy which is unfathomably based
i love how relatively simple slayers song is compared to basically all other characters, this coming from a major enjoyer of the circle and symphony, HES OVER 600 Years old, he already dealt with his problems hundreds of years ago and now he’s here to mentor the little young zato 1s and 2s
There's a 2nd one of those
Finally, Just Lean
Are you the Johnny from guilty gear strive or Johnny from XRD
@@Onfelidoffed Breaking the character for a moment long enough to say that I've never played Xrd myself, so I'm very much the Strive Johnny
@@JohnnyGuiltyMan give it a shot sometime, he's way more interesting (and broken) in that game
@@JohnnyGuiltyMan oh that's unique
@@JohnnyGuiltyManxrd rev 2 is about 13-14 dollar rn on steam buybuybuy
I particularly really love the "Ups and Downs" interpretation. When you stretch the message of that song to being about his students and not just him, it makes it lot more impactful to me.
I agree with Slayer as well, literally in his arcade mode he says something along the lines of "Living forever isn't that bad" showing that he's not tired of the sun or his life but he's talking to his students and teaching them the ways.
bruh why do people still argue that the theme is about him having a recent realization if that's the case? people are dumb
16:05 I believe the second verse is referring to Gabriel. He is the only character who performed an "economic overthrow" as the song says. Also "his eyes don't shine" because he isn't part of dandyism
Extras is peak 🙏
It's easy to say that when all of season 3's songs have been peak
@@pidge0n201agreed
One of the most motivating songs for me.
Certified classic in my ears and soul
Extras and Symphony just vibe with me so much
All of season 3 was peak
I personally interpret Slayer's theme as how there is both good and bad in life, but even after a Happy Ending, there is more to life to be appreciated, after all "Life is a journey, not a destination" and just to "Enjoy the ride with its Ups and Downs". After an eternity, he still finds beauty in life, just like one of the endings of his arcade mode shows
From Gambling to Girlypop to Jealousy and Dandyism. This truly was a Guilty Gear Pride Month!
girlypop mixed with guttural metal screaming. also why does that second sentence feel so accurate
13:37 I also absolutely love this segment. It's literally any meme about ascending
i just noticed that Let Me Carve Your Way isn’t in S Tier. my lawyers will be in touch
I realized with Zato's theme you either love it or hate it and I don't love it
okay, nago theme enjoyer
It's very eh to me too, some of it is good, most of it is boring, it's my feelings with ram's theme the intro is awesome then it falls apart@@GamingChair420
@@hawhawhaw3123 nothing's wrong with nago's theme, however gamingchair420's opinion is in fact wrong. you don't listen it for the whole song, it's all brilliant buildup to the best moment in any ggst song, and his weird "realization" is just an excuse to hate a good song that most people like
Wow, just missing the whole Xrd Sign character arc with Elphelt realizing the persona she’d been faking the whole time is the most real thing in her life and it’s not a mistake to call that her true self and her newfound resolve to connect to humanity and put value in the abstract, hence the “extras of life”.
On a bit of a personal note, Elphelt (and by extension, "Extras") came out right around the time I was fired from my last job, after three years of stable but mentally draining work. I was exhausted and wondering if I should consider switching careers to something else. That's when I listened to the song and read the lyrics for the first time and the chorus, which talks about enjoying the little things in life, really got to me. This was the second Guilty Gear song to make me cry, after The Circle.
Extras reminded me that yes, having a job is important for keeping myself sheltered and fed, but that my life should be more about what I do out of it. I'm still lost but I'm on this path of trying to enjoy the little extras of life.
In the end, I decided to use some of the money I had saved up and take a break to cool my head, see family and friends, and dedicate more time to doing things that I like, rather than just things I need to do.
Honestly same on the slayer theme. Slayer seems quite happy with his life right now. So I saw it as giving advice to somebody else on how to live like that
I personally think the god of failure line is referring to how, if jhonny were to fail in some way, then the consequences would be very big, as the leader snd essentially face of the jellyfish pirates, the god of failure hates him so whenever he fails, they are magnified by a LOT
Slayer's theme is probably my favorite cus even though Johnny is in fact HIM, Slayer's theme just makes me wanna stomp people in lobbies and that vibe is critical for me in this game.
Same
Personally I-NO and Happy Chaos are my favorites in the whole game
A detail I'm surprised you didn't bring up for Elphelt's theme is how part of the second verse is a reference to "All I want for Christmas is You" in terms of the melody. Oddly enough, this aspect might be significant to her in one of two ways. One: it could show that she has specific songs she's inspired by. Two: the fact that Elphelt's birthday is on Christmas.
Also, that interpretation on Slayer's theme is really interesting and I kinda agree now. In the second verse, "Holding a platinum knife with some fine glow" could be interpreted towards Nagoryuki and his want for honorable combat. "But his eyes did not shine" can be viewed in multiple ways. It could refer to Nago's losing his will to fight due to the fact that he can never lose, the fact that you literally can't see Nago's eyes most of the time in a fight since he wears that mask, or the fact that you literally can't see Zato's eyes AT ALL. It most likely refers to Nago's drive for fighting, but thinking about it in a more literal sense is pretty funny.
I'm pretty sure the official lyrics for that section is "My friend enjoyed Paradise for Palate, holding a platinum knife eith sapphire gloves". I don't really think it's talking about nago or zato in particular, but rather vanity and greed, which also links to the line "Surrounded by precious things, the heart turbs inti stone". Just my opinion tho
Okay I'm sorry for all the spelling mistakes but my phone doesn't let me see what I'm typing nor edit my damn comment so you'll just have to try to understand LMAO
@@mrburninghands5740 You're good, bro lol
@@Chaos_Vergil actually i think you might be up to something, the next line is " but his eyes did not shine, what he miss is that he cant be overthroned" it does references how Nago lost his will to fight, the shine in his eyes so to speak, because as a vampire he cant lose, in fact all ups and downs gives me the impresion of it being Slayer giving a motivational pep talk to both Nago, Zato and everyone else he thinks it may need it (sorry for any spelling mistakes or i misinterpreted something, english is not my first language)
I'm personally waiting for people to finally realize the beauty of Patriot's theme "Surrogate Life".
I woke up today and the darkness was pierced by the morning sun and I looked around and I was surrounded by precious things! I decided I was going to enjoy the ride and went from up to down as I fell out of bed and out of a 10-story high window
I think this season of Strive has been the most positively recieved so far music-wise. I've seen so much love for Symphony, and Ups and Downs is an easy song to just blast out when you're feeling great.
Just Lean is the song used the most to post memes, but I kinda love that it has that potential.
I like how everyone music tier list looks completely different
8:00 I always misheard this line as "I'm still lost, but I like this place" Which I think is also a pretty good line. She doesn't know where she is or what shes doing in life, but shes having a good time so she doesn't really care to figure out whats going on, shes happy and thats it.
I just realised that for the last 10 or so months I've been singing along to Just Lean with the wrong lyrics... Oh shit... Ah whatever, there's barely a difference to count it as a mistake
me too🤣🤣
same
I can see Johnny mishearing his own theme song
@@banbanistaken Hey, as long as it's in character
I thought it was she was told not it’s anyone’s call
This was definitely worth the wait! I loved hearing your interpretations of the previous songs in GG and now it’s great to hear your take on S3’s, especially my favs A.B.A and Elphelt. A.B.A’s theme is my absolute favorite out of S3 with her character intriguing me with this song touching on the ideas of not being normal and wanting to make a difference in the world with her relationship helping her for the better(after addressing the bad parts of course in arcade mode 😅). Also I like your interpretation of Ups and Downs, I didn’t realize the idea of it being about Zato and Nago before until now. It does actually fit the two pretty well and ties into the arcade mode well(before I thought it was like a young Slayer going through all of this before reaching this conclusion of enjoying life for what it is).
2:17 ARMOR CLAD-FAITH IN B TIER??? it was literally my favorite song before elphelt released, why the heck is a musical fucking masterpiece below trigger on this tier list
Haven’t seen a lot of people talk about it but the way I see ABA’s theme is something more personal. I see it as an allegory for Autism, a lot of the lines resonate way too hard for me, as a person who is constantly has to work hard to feel like I’m apart of the world
Maybe "Hated by the god of Failure" isnt about Johnny, but perhaps commentary of people who play life safe, like Giovanna who actively mentions shes happy with her stable job and doesn't plan on changing.
Maybe "Just lean its anyones call" is told by a person who wants to play it safe, and leans in the winners direction, not embracing failure and thus being hated by the God of Failure, as not taking any risks will decrease failure, oppossed to Johnny who is a gambler at heart and takes plenty of risks in his life, being that hes a normal human using inhuman sword techniques againts strong characters like Bedman
Slayer's theme always came off to me as Slayer taking it easy going through his day to day and occasionally reminiscing about Nagoriyuki and Zato
Elphelts theme is my favorite, the juxtaposition of mollys great pop voice and her metal scream is hilarious to me and it’s just a banger
6:09 You better put what do you fight for higher up on this tier list
As a matter of fact where is what do you fight for!?!?
I like to think that slayer theme is about him just enjoying life, that's It, he just really likes being alive
2 A tier and two S tier tracks in c tier is crazy
the town inside be being low is gonna cause a riot sooner rather than layer
Johnny second is definitely "she was told". It would fit the third line which is "that it's the word of the man who hated by the god of failure". The song is kinda like a parent or and old folk telling stories of johnny to the younglings
Elphelt’s theme is so relatable. I love her theme so much.
The way he interpreted Ups and Downs about him mentoring Zato and Nago makes me understand the song even more, awesome vid btw
Your tier list should be in the D tier of a tier list of tier lists.
There is one thing I would agree, though
Rock parade is the best song in the game.
Still think that Elphelt existence in Strive is the reason why EVERY CHARACTER GOT LYRICS NOW, cuz before strive 0 lyrics besides Raven and DI Sol had not an inch of voice in them, but now EVERYONE HAS
To add up to "Ups and downs", I think that the first part of the chorus "Hardly the stuff of bedtime stories" is Slayer telling Nago and Zato that if they kept focusing on what troubled them, this is how people would remember them and tell their stories.
Extra's reads more to me like Elphelts struggle with finding her place in the world as a creative. "Are you brave enough to be a fool" sounds like a (really awesomely worded) way to invoke stage fright or showing off your art to others. Until you are brave enough to show your stuff, you typically don't know how the audience might react, so you have to be brave enough and face the possibility that you might suck or give the audience an entirely different experience from what you expected, so you might turn out to be a fool. It's only at the start of the song, so it's never brought up as Elphelt is clearly brave enough to be a fool. She is very clutzy after all, so it fits.
A.B.A is actually from GG Isuka (a strange, super janky 4 player 2v2 fighting game without a tag system) and was imported back into GGXX via one of the update games. Since Isuka already used the sprites from XX for the other characters, she blended right back in. She's one of the few GG characters that Daisuke didn't create himself or had a very little hand in her creation. Which is why she has so little lore. My interpretation of the lyrics is very meta and heavily based on this and how she's still in Strive because Daisuke (and the rest of the dev team, let's be honest) still likes her enough to include her in spite him not having made her. She's a quirky character/note in the world/symphony.
Entirely agreed with the interpretation of Just Lean and more or less with the second Ups and Downs one (I don't think it's really about Slayers students though), so no notes there.
I think Symphony is my favorite GGST song. The combination of piano and drums and just how crazy the people playing them go on them is just perfect.
My interpretation of Ups and Downs is more positive. I think Slayer's just saying to appreciate life despite difficulties and to just enjoy the ride, good and bad.
When GekkoSquirrel uses a Dracula Flow bar... I am here for it.
I thought in Johnny's theme that it was "before those who warn of dawn," and in turn, I believed he was there before those who lurk in the darkest hour, it's always darkest before dawn.
Im glad your back with this because the way you told about there meanings about there songs are fun to watch 👍
i love the idea of just lean being made by people in gg universe
That's a great take on Slayer's theme, it definitely helps that his arcade mode is about him giving pretty similar advice to those two
A colleague of mine likes metal music and I recommended her Extras, where I described the song being about not knowing what you want to do with life, but that it’s fine and you’re having fun despite it all. I took it a bit broader than just Elphelts emotional state 😅
That's actually a really cool interpretation of Ups and Downs
I think it's freak out in symphony. Freak out turn the key to the untold world of madness
I always thought of "ABA's theme to be saying "breakout" moreso to describe her emotions, like when she has an emotional breakout over Paracelsus. Turning the key to a world untold could be her trying to break that habit while navigating through the "maze woven with words"
I always thought of it being about breaking out of societal norms and embracing and accepting herself the way she is.
I’d never even considered that interpretation of Slayer’s theme but it goes hard
When the songs dropped, each one seemed to perfectly fit for other games and characters I've been playing. Maybe it's just a horoscope thing, picking random parts and making patterns with other things.
Gekko youre my inspiration to get ggst ive been craving over this game for years but i never had the money for it until this week and omg im so happy i love you so much
Season 3’s songs have been absolutely brilliant. I got the game right before Johnny released so to have my first around-year of the game was 4 cool and really fun characters releasing and 4 absolute bangers of songs.
Especially Slayer for both of those Ups and Downs is just absolutely perfect for me
You actually COOKED with this. I never thought of Slayer's song that way...
I agree with your tier list for the most part, except for hourglass because I got into a car accident while listening to that song
Im pretty sure that extrasis actually one of her songs because in her arcade it plays briefly
Theres another interpretation for Extras that goes beyond El talking about her band. It's more likely she's talking about herself, specifically her nature.
Elphelt is a Valentine, a clone of Aria/Justice who was created by Ariels to be a sleeper agent embedded in the human population. All the emotions she has, every good thing about her and her love of everything and everyone, was preprogrammed into her to help her blend in, not something she developed. In other words, everything about her isn't natural.
She doesn’t actually know what she wants in life because all her desires, her want for marriage and meaningful connections, were preprogrammed, but she doesn't care. She'll keep pushing forward, trying to find her place in the world, even if she doesn’t know what that is exactly, and having a great time while doing it, enjoying all the little extras that life has to offer along the way, which is honestly a beautiful thing.
18:05 6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really like your interpretation of Slayer’s Theme. Fits a lot more with how he’s represented.
I thought ups and downs was always about slayer talking too nagoryuki or someone about experiencing life to its fullest beyond its mundaness and it's "ups and downs"
i agree with slayer, sounds like he is speaking to nago. In the song he speaks about someone loosing their drive.
That part of the song is talking about a fancy rich guy who has everything he could want though. Not seeing how Nago fits tbh.
@@truegraham6780 it says, my friend enjoys courage for the plate, holding a platinum knife bla bla, soft fire glow.
That is nago bro.
Silver plate is more for rich people, but he says that a courageous man who holds a fancy knife has lost his drive.
@@nechavez1921 Naoki himself posted the lyrics for that section a while ago. It's " Paradise for the palate" and "holding a platinum knife with sapphire gloves" then after the "his eyes did not shine" part it says "what he needs is an economic overthrow". With all that in mind it doesn't sound anything close to Nago. Nothing we know of that guys life has been paradise, the dude was dying when Slayer first found him.
You know, after listening to Ups and Down again, and seeing the lyrics... I have to agree with your second interpretation. It just makes more sense when spelled out the way it was in this video.
Roar of the spark being that low is insane
The lyrics in aba's song "I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference"
Hits harder because I pretty sure (some one fact check me pls)
Aba wasn't made/designed by Daisuke, aba first debuted in the spinoff Guilty gear isuka.
So that line always hits harder for me
Johnny's theme is just legit self-glazing and i love it
We personally find Symphony to have a lot of implications for the themes of the lyrics in Guilty Gear games going way way back. "I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference" very cleanly sums up the philosophy of Guilty Gear's story as a whole. (At least in our eyes.)
Ngl I thought "Hardly the stuff of" was "Heartbeat stopper" for Slayers theme.
Johnny so cool and succesful, even the god of failure hates him
Omg thank you you're likr the only other person I've seen who picked up on the death flags for Johnny
I was ready to damn you for your ranking before your insights into the lyrics gave me pause; I especially liked your summary of Slayer's theme which, audibly, I think is his weakest, but the lyrics that you deciphered paint a wonderful scenario. Thank you. I can't wait for Venom's theme!
The Gravity in c tier hurts my soul but I love your analyses. Also congrats on parsing whatever the heck Naoki is singing in Just Lean
Gekko uploaded another theme meanings video. My mood has improved, IMMENSELY.
I forgot who did the video but someone did a cover of bridge of symphony to make it fit more like a wedding song and it's such a banger. it's what I imagine the bridge of symphony is everytime I listen to it
Imo Extras not being S tier if not on of the best Strive songs should be criminal it’s just SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!! I respect most of your tier choices though so not bad.
Good to see that i'm not the only one with that interpretation of slayer's theme
Honestly as a trans girl I fucking love Aba’s theme. Mostly because I fully relate to the main bridge. I genuinely just want to make a difference in this world, to make it better, which isn’t something I can do by fitting in.
I saw a comment on a lyric video about Just Lean that mentioned that the "hated by the god of failure" meant he was just really lucky. Like, if you're hated by the god of success, you're gonna lose a lot, right? But he's hated by failure, so he's gonna win a lot.
Also, I think it's notable that in Symphony, the blah-blah-blahing comes right after the line "life is a maze woven by words."
Not sure if anyone else has added this yet, but Paracelcus (the key) originally had a body, but it was destroyed by Slayer during a fight between the two of them, and Slayer figured that Paracelcus posed no real threat without a body. He left him there in the ruins of their battlefield for A.B.A to find some time later
Perfection can't please me and the gravity being so low is ridiculous im banning you from the kitchen
I've stumbled many times / I might get hurt / But I keep on running
Who would walk out on the street bothered about / Bumps in the road?
Big fan of these lines in Extras.
To this day U can't believe daisuke managed to put two belts on a key design
Honestly, for the 2nd verse of Ups and Downs, I'm inclined to think of it as an anecdote from Slayer. He had a friend.
The point of the Assassin's Guild was to combat corruption im government. So, I think this could be Slayer talking about a friend he had to kill because theu became corrupt; his friend enjoyed innumerable luxuries, without a shinebin his eyes. Cause he doesnt apprecuate them of the onea who brought hin this wealth. So he needs to be economically overthrown.
Slayer's heart turns to stone ad he steels his nerves to betray a friend.
Thats my take, anyway.
Tbh I never saw Slayers theme as reflecting him, but never in a negative way.
I saw it as him becoming bored with complacency rather than being forced to get used to it. Remember- after Xrd he’s retired and stopped fighting.He’s surrounded by everything he could ever want- for all intents and purposes he has a good ending to his story, but it becomes monotonous- thus, he comes out of hiding to beat people up again.
His “happy ending” was a “sad short detour” in his life.
Au contratre to the popular interpretation, he isn’t hyping himself up but rather the song itself is about how getting back into fighting was what he needed to feel (for lack of a better word) alive again.
Also Elphelt’s theme *is* canonically written by her, as seen in her story mode.
Yesterday I was obsesed with figuring out if you were hated by the god of failure, would you never fail or only fail. And today you drop this video as if to answer my question.
I hope raven makes a return, because his song will probs be his perspective on immortality. We also might be able to learn what he's been doing during strive and what he thinks/feels about being on his own after he stopped being Asuka's right hand man. Besides the song I hope he gets some lines with Jack-o, Happy Chaos, Asuka, and Ram, it'd be cool to see an interaction of raven and ram talking about how he saved her in Xrd or ram thanking him once again.
Slayer’s just spying Zato 1 and Milia dating while also checking on Nago being beat by everyone
COMING HOME, COMING HOME, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!
Elphelt's one is S TIER HANDS DOWN