Music of the Wasteland · 11:07am Jul 27th, 2014
art by Jeffrey Kan
This week, both The Overmare Studios and Stable-Tec Studios put out their theme music for their respective Fallout: Equestria projects!
I thought we could celebrate with a blog about the music of the Equestrian Wasteland. As we all know, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is very often a musical. Characters burst into song in random places at the drop of a hat, and we love it! In the first season, many of the songs were beautifully reworked versions of existing songs, usually from musicals. (My favorite was "The Art of the Dress".) In creating Fallout: Equestria, I wanted to pay homage to that, if not capture it as best I could in writing.
art by icekatze
All the songs in Fallout: Equestria, whether they have lyrics in the story or are merely mentioned, are based on real songs. Some should be easily recognizable (such as "Mad World") while for others I kept only one or two elements (such as "Raise Your Glass", for which I kept the song's theme, but radically restructured the rhythm and lyrical structure).
Music has always been a major source of inspiration for me, and there were quite a variety of songs that I would turn to while brainstorming or while writing. I built a playlist on YouTube, the Fallout: Equestria Inspirational playlist, to listen to while writing. I soon expanded the playlist to include four kinds of music: A) music that I listened to while writing, B) music that I listened to while brainstorming or that were sources of inspiration, C) songs that were the real-world basis for a song within Fallout: Equestria, and D) songs and other music created by fans who were inspired by Fallout: Equestria.
Particularly because of that last category, the playlist quickly became huge. At this point, the playlist is sorely outdated in that regard. There has been an absolutely amazing amount of wonderful Equestrian Wasteland music put out by brony composers and musicians! And the playlist has only a relatively small selection of them. I'll admit, I stopped building the playlist after large swaths of the playlist got deleted. A small number of the deletions were from brony musicians who left the fandom (or, in one case, was pressured to remove all music created by his band after they broke up over irreconcilable differences); but the vast majority of the missing videos are because the "songs I listened to while writing" category included a large selection of music from the various Fallout game soundtracks, and the accounts hosting them fell prey to YouTube's copyright policies.
I still find myself listening to songs and daydreaming Fo:E-based PMVs in my head. The image above was a gift by the very talented Icekatze, who was inspired to draw it after I mentioned in a chat how I'd been envisioning the song "The Scientist" performed by the cast of Fallout: Equestria. (For those who don't recognize him, that's Life Bloom at the piano ...and FIMfiction needs an Octavia smilie for right here.)
BTW: if you are wondering why I used a link to the Glee version up there when the song is by Coldplay -- or, for that matter, why many of the songs on the Fallout: Equestria Inspirational playlist used Glee versions -- the answer is because the songs are ensemble versions. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is an ensemble cast show, and the first two Fallout games were games about finding friends and building a party to take on the wasteland. These are stories about friendships. Ensemble music just feels so much more appropriate to the Equestrian Wasteland. (At least to me.)
art by Maniakmonkey
Naturally, there is a lot of great Equestrian Wasteland music that I've missed. What are your favorite songs inspired by the universe of Fallout: Equestria? What songs have inspired you in the creation of your own Fo:E works? Which songs do you listen to when you want to daydream about the Equestrian Wasteland?
(As you'll not above, I have linked rather than embedded most of the music that I have mentioned in this blog. This is to try to keep this blog from being exceptionally taxing for some readers to load. As a courtesy, please give links rather than embedding YouTube videos in your comments. Thank you.)
“If we are fighting, then I will fight,” Gloom answered gravely. “With blade and poison, and with my life until they kill me. Then probably rise up as a vengeful spirit and haunt whoever’s left.”
To round this out, I'll leave you with another "Song of Gloom". As mentioned in my Thank You, Plus Pony Music blog, Gloom was a very minor character in Fallout: Equestria. The first Fo:E roleplaying game that I participated in was set years before Littlepip emerged from Stable 2, and so I decided to play a filly version of Gloom as my first character. The little zebra had the Random trait and would regularly break into song. Each of her songs was based on one from the real world which I had hastily re-written, filk-style, between my character actions. The song below was one of her first, a song about a zebra from Froggy Bottom Bog.
"The Wicked"
by Little Gloom
to the tune of "Lucinda" by Tom Waits
"They call me Qleasr the Wicked.
I sold poultices, Mint-als and lead.
Now my fate's in the hooves of these ponies.
When night swallows this town I'll be dead.""My coat is black as the bayou.
My stwipes white as sea serpent's bones.
I left Lookout to follow ol' Luna.
Now I'll never be welcomed back home.""Pledged my soul to a sliver of moonlight --
A sly gwin 'neath a blanket of stars.
And I speak with souls of the elders,
Which I keep in the basement in jars.""Now the sentence is passed and I'm walking,
To the 'tine at the top of the hill.
My accusers are waiting and watching,
Just to see if my body lies still.""And as the blade slides down upon me,
As my head rolls on down to the crowd,
I search every face for ol' Luna...
To carry me up past the clouds.""They called me Qleasr the Wicked.
I sold poultices, Mint-als and lead.
Now my soul’s been consumed by the starlight,
And my body decays in its bed."
art of Little Gloom by mls-classics
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2319753
Fixed!
I listen to a lot of music when brainstorming for my FoE, but the one that has been stuck in my head recently has got to be Arnhem Knights. However, the best music for writing and brainstorming would have to be music by Keiko Matsui. Here are my favourites:
Her music sends me into another world.
IGN: 0/10, it's not mainstream and unoriginal.... not to mention it's not call of duty
2319789
Also, what are you referring to?
Gratz on having your novel being converted into both a game and a web-series, even if it's amateurish.
2319793
Because IGN is known to give games with lots of advertisement on their site, good reviews, and these games can mainstream and unoriginal, like call of duty.
One example.
Little big planet karting, got a 6/10, this was a few days after their review of COD:BO 2, in which the game got a 9/10
2319797 I know that, but I meant what were you giving the 0/10 for?
2319809
It was part of the joke.
Heh... Now I feel a dick that I always put my Charisma low. (Low Charisma=Low number of possible companions)
And stopping a endless army of super mutants by nuking their base and stopping a highly trained and dangerous army of the Enclave, by once again, nuking their base.
Are we going to see a ponified Butcher Pete? I may have hated that song every other time it came on. But The Vaults were where it showed it's true colours.
Great choice of song to lead out, Kkat.
As for me, I'm inspired by too many artists to name or think of at the moment (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds gets a special shout out, though). What concerned me at first is that in the Fallout games, the timeline divergence precludes anything from Elvis onwards, which is 99% of the music I really like, and want to reference in Song of the Wasteland. I wasn't sure if this was the case with your story too, but I suppose it isn't. And if it was, I'd ignore that anyway because I love the more modern music so much.
Oh? What is "This Coming Storm" based on?
Quick Question: Do you know how much the pay is for FoE the game? Or is it a mod?
2320427 Thanks!
hi hi
It turns out that The Scientist -the original version- is a long time favorite of mine, and I enjoyed the glee version too.
(Also, Art of the Dress was a moving episode for me, being an artist myself. PinkiePieSwear's Always Stressed Mix is one of my favorite re-mixes out of my whole library of pony musics.)
So, there's really too much music in my playlist to go through all of it, so I'll try to just pick out a few notable ones. I've got a 21.2 hour long (and growing) playlist of soft, relaxing music that I usually listen to when I'm feeling stressed, and I find it often helps me clear my mind and think. Its something I regularly put on in the background when I'm GMing Blue Team, to help better pace myself and not panic when things start getting out of control.
• Journey to the Land of Red Dunes - Nicolas Dominique
• Alone - Moby
• Flutterwonder - Tsyolin and PinkiePieSwear Orchestral Mix
• Night Sky - David Larsen
When I'm writing, I usually try to have as close to absolute silence as possible, in an attempt to prevent any and all distractions. (Since I started getting a chronic ringing in my ears about a year ago, that has been much harder. I absolutely cherish silence, and it is frustrating that I can't have it anymore.) But there are some pieces that have helped push me on writing FO:E stuff. They are, however, thoroughly melancholy.
• You Gotta Glitch - JackleApp (A dark take on you gotta care. Very fitting for the wasteland.)
• Diane (Eureka Seven) - Sato Naoki (A favorite anime of mine, very melancholy most of the time, and then they'll throw a resolution at you that'll make your heart soar with hope.)
• Nomads (Starbound) - Curtis Schweitzer A brooding Passacaglia that fits the mood. (Much of the Starbound Soundtrack is good mood music.)
• Theme for Scotland - Alasdair Fraser (Bittersweet fiddle is bittersweet.)
I've used a number of songs in radio broadcasts during Blue Team, here's a few of them. Most of them are a bit more on the upbeat side of things, especially since the Blue Team game is set in a time period after Littlepip has, for the most part, saved the day. (Homage certainly thinks so anyways.)
• Trip the Light - Garry Schyman, feat. Alicia Lemke (People are a lot more alike than we are un-alike. All around the world, it makes my heart ache that people will judge entire cultures as being evil. Just like the zebras did of Equestrians, and Equestrians did of zebras. This song was billed as an unpublished DJ Pon3 original, but recently recovered from her stable.)
• Rhinemaidens - The Envy Corps (I adapted a little bit of this song for a more upbeat broadcast, mostly for the "in the dark," line.)
• Cathedrals - Jump Little Children (A much more melancholy tune, it was adapted in part for the for imagery of something moving past war and harsh borders.)
• Non, Je ne regrette rien - Edith Piaf (Played on the alternative radio station that's more for weirdos, it directly contradicts Homage's idea that everyone has something they regret, on its face, but the subtext tells a different story.)
• Mon histoire - Alain Boublil (Another melancholy tune for Friendship Radio.)
• I also adapted a song in game from the old Swedish folk song Hälsa dem Därhemma written about a young sailor who asks a swallow to send his regards back home. (Hope Springs sang it shortly after being cured, as she wondered if she could ever return to where she'd been before. Possibly a memory of a song that old pony sailors once sang during the war.)
As for music that has reminded me of FO:E at one point or another, I've got quite a few, but here are some of the more memorable ones.
• Pinkamina Smile - TheLunaticEclipse (When I first heard this song, and many times since, I can't help but imagine Pinkie Pie quietly singing this to herself in her office on the last day. Perhaps knowing that she won't get her wish, but wishing it all the same.)
• Rain - JayB and Giggly Maria (I imagine Homage singing this song in the days before Littlepip, as she waits for something, anything to give her hope or take it all away.)
• The Howling Song (This reminds me of the Black Book. Gives me the shivers...)
• Don't Fear the Reaper (Beyond Good and Evil) - Christophe Heral (Good ambient music for a spooky abandoned factory.)
• Nightmare Moon, The Halls of Nightmare - Legends Box (I almost forgot this one! Very creepy moody stuff.)
2319771
My dad is a big fan of Keiko Matsui, I think I've probably overheard most of her songs at one point in time because of it.
Call me weird, but I actually listen to Mumford and Sons. Like whenever I hear this song and it's lyrics, I can't help but think of Project Horizons. Mumford and Sons - The Cave
Or Guise of Chaos when I hear this one: Mumford and Sons - Roll Away Your Stone
And this one reminds me of Murky Number Seven:Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
For your original fic there's several songs done by a local band named Old Banners that I love to listen to, but unfortunately they haven't uploaded many videos to the internet anywhere. Though I do ike to listen to this one and pretend Homage is singing it to LittlePip: Mumford and Sons - Winter Winds
2320437 I've read it, and a side fic was kinda what I was thinking of when I posted that comment.
2320460 Cool! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one here who knows her! I got into her music because of my dad. Do you like her?
Has anyone attempted an actual official soundtrack for Fo:E? I know Somber recently posted a large album (46 tracks) for Project Horizons in one of his blog posts, and I would personally love to see something similar done for the original Fo:E. Maybe it could even detail actual events in the story, for example, a song mid-way through the album could be based on Littlepip's addiction, and it could end with something along the lines of Lightbringer.
Now I'm not saying that would literally be the greatest thing ever, but that would literally be the greatest thing ever
hi hi
2320940 Well, I never met her, but I enjoy her music.
I might not be a huge fan, but I'll play some of it every now and again.
2321029
I thought I was the only one here. I'm a big fan of her.
Music is actualy what inspired me to do my very first fic. From simple comment on a video to fanfic in 3 days. I have found that despite my mood at the time if the right music is playing I can become motivated to type. Such was the case with A very merry wasteland Heartswarming eve. It was Christmas eve and I was listening to brony Christmas music when I started typing. Music to me is an escape, weather it be soft calming violin, piano/guitar, or heavy metal/ponystep. Depending on my mood, my choice of music changes too. K, I`ll say it again. You have inspired so many people to open their creative sides up and to show just what potential they had hidden away. I know I mentioned fanfic righters before, but you are right. Music is huge in the FOE community. Weather it be ominous suspence filled, rap, heavy metal, or calming orcistral music. FOE music has become just as iconic as the story itself.
I've been working on various possible ideas for Fo:E side-stories for quite a while now. What music do I isten to for inspiration?
...Uh, mostly anything from Rush's album Grace Under Pressure.
There are quite a few more; I have a habit of assigning sort of lietmotifs to almost every character I conceive, so the list is LONG. Actually, most of them are actually conceived by listening to music and building them to fit.
I digress, yeah, Rush - Grace Under Pressure.
Anyone who knows the album gets it; it's not exactly subtle reasoning.
I thoroughly enjoy the theme for the game. It has a very similar effect on me as the theme for Fallout 3 has.
Music is my primary way of drawing inspiration while writing but I always end up listening to realy dark music that talks about substance abuse, murder, death etc. One of my favorite bands is Modest Mouse. They are an indie/alternative rock band and I can't find a song by them that I don't like.
Especially off of their We were dead before the ship even sank album.
Oh music... Don't even get me started on music.
There are times when I feel like dropping all the serious stuff that I'm writing and just doing a comedic one-shot that reads like a good sequel to Wayne's World, wherein I do notjin but make references to all of the 70s-80s hair bands. The only thing stopping me is the fact that very few people would actually get it.
Music... Music never changes.Step Around is my go-to theme for the Velvet I play at My Little Jamjar - the Youtube version of that song uses that Jeffery Kan image.
Thanks for the plug, love. We're doing our best to do your world justice. Stay awesome.
I'm not addicted by Nexgen
Clickety
could someone do some of the songs for Project Horizons? there is at least three songs that happen when a character is on a killing spree. two for Blackjack, one for Rapage who is then joined by others, and only one of them is a wasteland MLP:FiM song.
other good ones, Puppy Smiles singing "who's a silly pony" and Murky getting the "Smile Smile Smile" song.
You speak of a role-play. How does one join the fray?
Seventh Element did a whole Fallout: Equestria album. I'm surprised that didn't get mentioned.
2327678
It's definitely worth mentioning. That album is amazing! I've been using it as background music during some of my games.
2324567 Well, they do have that album based off of PH by a bunch of musicians on Bandcamp. Can't find the link, though.
One that inspired one of my work-in-progress stories was based off of Awoken by Glaze and H8_Seed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytKvgLuy7ng
currently my two favorites are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d741JHtavVs&index=28&list=PL4kP6kOikSJzcXwIh2DJQ9aMGYIbM7LGk
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMronwfcmFc&index=25&list=PL4kP6kOikSJzcXwIh2DJQ9aMGYIbM7LGk