Ranking The Songs of Make Your Mark: Chapter 2

For those of you who haven't seen Make Your Mark: Chapter 2 yet, consider this your spoiler warning. I don't think I'm spoiling too much since all the songs got leaked online in full ahead of time (from the soundtrack), but I know some probably still haven't heard them yet.

Now, for those of you who have seen those eight episodes on Netflix, by now the songs have probably had time to sink in and be heard. And I feel like it's about time to do a ranking on them, excluding the theme song of course. That gives us a total of seven songs to consider, almost one per episode. So, how do they all stack up so far? Well, let's find out. Of course, this is just my opinion, so chances are you'll disagree with me.

7. Where'd It Go ("Hoofdunit?")
Why it's on the bottom: This song feels the most detached from the episode it's part of, either at show length or at full length. It feels like it was written before the episode, and then they forgot to put it and realized they had to hastily include it. It's apparently a music video that Pipp put together with the Pippsqueaks based on the mystery Zipp was investigating. And I think we're to assume Pipp made it up after re-burying the lantern and adding glitter to lure Zipp to her. However, one thing I didn't consider in my episode review that I feel bears repeating is that such a decision was not Pipp's to make because the lantern wasn't hers. She didn't even consult Sunny before re-burying the lantern. It's a classic case of good intentions gone bad. And I'm to assume that when Pipp says in the full length version "My friends and I are on the case", she's referring to her Pippsqueaks. I would probably care more about that if there was anything special about the Pippsqueaks. It feels like they want them to be the next CMC, but the Pippsqueaks are just a bunch of kids as obessed with phones as Pipp is with social media. Compare that to two members of the CMC being the younger siblings of our main cast, and a third idolizing another. Plus, the CMC were supposed to be the stars of their own spin-off show originally, so they had to make sure they stood out. The Pippsqueaks don't have that luxury, they feel like a discount Hewie, Dewie and Louie from all media prior to the 2017 Ducktales reboot in that you really can't tell them apart. They might as well be one character. And again, Pipp made up this music video rather than consult with Sunny about what she'd done, and Pipp never has to be called out for this or made to apologize.

6. The Unicorn Song ("The Traditional Unicorn Sleepover")
Why it's not on the bottom: Yes, yes, I know it's not much of a song. It's kind of in the same boat as things like "Junior Speedsters". But at least it actually feels like it's part of the plot, like it has a reason to exist in-universe. It's really saying something when an actual song is lower than something that barely qualifies as a song.

5. All You Need is Your Beat, Remix ("Izzy Does It")
Why it's in the bottom half: This remix would carry a lot more weight if Pipp herself came up with it, or even just got the idea to do it herself. But nope, Izzy is the one who invented this remix. The weird thing about that is that some of the lyrics have changed, even though Pipp didn't write or sing this song at any point from what we know. Izzy does mention being inspired by Pipp, but how she could add words to a song when Pipp was not there to sing them, I have no idea. That feels like something that slipped through the cracks when this remix was thought of, further lending credit to the idea that Pipp was only made the focus of "Izzy Does It" alongside Izzy late into production for some reason even though she got "Portait of a Princess" to share with Zipp and had a subplot in both "Ali-Conned" and "Hoofdunit?".

4. A Special Tune ("Have You Seen This Dragon"?)
Why it's in the middle: It's meant to be a lullaby, and it works pretty well as one. It's slow, sweet and soothing. It's good at what it is. I even like how they work in Izzy's one pony band in-universe, adding its instruments to accompany Pipp's vocals. That being said, I find it kind of weird that I can hear Pipp, Izzy and even Sunny singing quite well, but assuming Zipp and Hitch are singing it too their vocals are being drowned out. Zipp might be forgivable since she's not much of a performer, but for Hitch considering he's calling out to Sparky you'd think something like this would really emphasize him, especially since otherwise he doesn't have a single song at all for Chapter 2. We already know that his VA can hit high notes pretty well, so why isn't that being featured more prominently here?

3. All You Need is Your Beat ("Izzy Does It")
Why it's in the top half: I'm not exactly sure I understand how this song can sound like modern pop in-universe when Pipp doesn't have any of the stuff she probably would normally have when she was performing. But this is perhaps the one point in "Izzy Does It" that at all feels like it was made for Pipp. She's singing about how she finds inspiration, how it's always come easily to her. And indeed, any truly great artist, writer, whatever can you tell that finding inspiration is that first step towards creating something. It is kind of generic, cliche and on the nose, but it does provide some nibbling around the edges for Pipp in regards to character. Not exactly sure why this song needed to be remixed for later in the same episode. I guess they had to pad out that soundtrack somehow?

2. Pony Love ("Portrait of a Princess")
Why it's not on the top: Especially in-universe, it would've been easy to make this just a throwaway song since Queen Haven isn't a character of focus. But we actually get to hear her sing and sing well, pretty much suggesting that she's the one from whom Pipp inherited her great singing voice and talent. This song is very obviously meant to be a throwback to 80's love ballads, but it could also serve as a bit of backstory for Queen Haven in that she too was a performer once upon a time. It's kind of weird that Queen Haven has been getting the most focus of any of the leaders or supporting character thus far: She was featured prominently in a few episodes of Tell Your Tale, got to have a role in the Make Your Mark special and definitely stole the show in "Portait of a Princess". Meanwhile, Phyllis has yet to appear outside of Tell Your Tale and Alphabittle didn't even show up in Tell Your Tale until over fifteen episodes passed, and it took even longer than that for him to speak. And of course, Sprout has so far only had a glorified cameo in "Growing Pains", as well as the questionable continuity of the tie-in video game. Still, I think I can feel justified in saying that there's one song that eclipses this one.

1. Portrait Day ("Portrait of a Princess")
Why it's on the top: You know it's going to be good when they foreshadow this song early on in the episode, even explaining the reason behind its existence. And when Zipp starts singing it, she proves to have a pretty good singing voice that goes along with Pipp's pretty well. If there's one good thing to come out of "Portrait of a Princess" for Zipp and Pipp, it's definitely this. And I have to give the episode some credit for not using Hitch or Izzy in an episode where they clearly didn't belong, making "Portrait of a Princess" the only episode so far where they don't have the entire mane five on-screen. The focus was mostly on Zipp and Pipp, and they stuck to it through this song, which is just so beautiful. It also represents a genre shift that is much appreciated, and is currently the only song Pipp sings that is for sure not a modern pop song. It's the one that feels like it has the most reason to exist in-universe. Even "Pony Love" feels like it's there to fill up the run time and the soundtrack, not that I'm complaining when that song was better than it had any right to be.

And there you have it. Keep an eye out for my review of the upcoming G5 Christmas/Holiday special coming to Netflix on November 21: Winter Wishday.