Ranking the Applejack Songs (From Worst to Best) · 6:48pm Jan 8th, 2022
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were voiced by an actual musician and singer, yet strangely enough neither of them really got a lot of songs to themselves. Applejack has the least amount of songs of any main character so far with only seven that definitively count as a character song. Like with all previous lists, I'm looking at how these songs stack up not just on an entertainment level but also how well (if it all) they represent Applejack's character (what character she has that can be translated into song, anyway). And of course, like always this list is purely the result of my personal opinion so please respect it.
7. Shake Things Up (Equestria Girls: Summertime Shorts)
Why it's on the bottom: Human Applejack oddly enough got two songs to herself, just like human Rarity. Just like human Rarity, there's one song that fits her well enough and one that doesn't fit her in the slightest. This song is a montage song of human Applejack making various fruit shakes while working at her summertime job in the mall. That's really it, there's nothing else to this song. Even "Life Is a Runway" at least was based on a popular and iconic song. This one may be more original, but it really doesn't have anything going for it. You could swap human Applejack out for any other character and it would be exactly the same. You could stick Sunset Shimmer into this song and nothing would change. That's how insignificant and inconsequential it is.
6. Raise This Barn (Apple Family Reunion)
Why it's not on the bottom: As nice it was that Applejack finally got to take the lead in a song, this song really just seemed like a placeholder until we could get a proper character song for her. The song is not unlike a square dance, and I have to wonder if anyone's ever set dance steps to it since it seems like it would be easy enough to do. No, we're not talking about the often misheard saying of this song. But even putting that aside, this song is exactly what it says on the tin: A song about barn raising. And the bit about the Apple family that comes into play at the end is something Applejack isn't part of, at least in singing.
5. Hush Now, Little Sister (Bloom and Gloom)
Why it's in the bottom three: I think this technically counts as a song. And this is definitely something unique to Applejack's character, a lullaby to reassure someone who's worrying, letting them know everything will be okay. It's kind of in the same boat as "Hush Now, Quiet Now", and we even get a brief reprise at the end of the episode it's featured in. However, the song is pretty short and doesn't give you much to talk about. It's a bit more character focused compared to what's below it, but not by much.
4. Seeds of the Past (A Hearth's Warming Tail)
Why it's in the middle: This isn't quite as in character for Applejack as the other two spirits' songs are for the characters "playing" them. It does fit in regards to the "seed" theme, which may be why Applejack was chosen. Or it could just be that they'd already settled on Applejack and wrote a song to work with her character. It would be in character for Applejack to show someone else the error of their ways. But with some working around, this could be made to fit someone else if the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past was played by a different pony (like say Princess Cadence).
3. Stop The Bats (Bats!)
Why it's in the top three: They're trying to strawman Applejack here, suggesting that she's in the wrong for wanting to protect her crops, her farm and her way of life from an invasive species that can't be controlled. I get the feeling the song wants us to believe Applejack's going to have the bats exterminated, using pest control of some kind, but they're not allowed to say it. That makes it come across as just rounding up the bats and chasing them away, as if that'll solve the problem. But Applejack is firmly in the right, Fluttershy has already been shown to have lost her only bargaining chip and the only thing that could make her arguments seem logical. There's a lot of Batman symbolism, though it must be asked how Applejack knows all these things about the vampire fruit bats if she only has Granny Smith's stories to go on. She's also very quick to judge based only on what she's heard. Really though, this was a conflict between Applejack and Fluttershy, the rest of the mane six didn't need to be dragged into this just to try to turn sympathy to Fluttershy. This song and the episode itself can be summed up as "The strawman was right". This is a conflict that suits Applejack, it's her way of life that's threatened and like it or not she's in the right for wanting to do something to defend it.
2. Five to Nine (Equestria Girls: Better Together, Season 1)
Why it's not on the top: This song is all about human Applejack doing her daily chores around the farm. It's in character for her, but it could just as easily have been sung by pony Applejack without changing the context. It's kind of like the song a protagonist sings at the beginning of a musical, a song about their life and the routine they're in. All that's missing is the desire to seek something more, a call out for adventure. It's good at what it is, but not unlike "The Other Side" it's a song that could go to the pony character instead of the human character and nothing would change.
1. Apples to the Core (Pinkie Apple Pie)
Why it's on the top: Yes, Applejack only starts off the song and is then part of the chorus for the rest of it. But family is a very big part of Applejack's character, especially in the episode this song is from. The visuals help convey a sense that Applejack's involved here even when she's not the lead singer: Whether it be playing what I assume is a banjo, or being seen singing with Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh. It honestly feels like "Raise This Barn" was just tiding us over while they worked on this song, and it didn't disappoint in the slightest. It's kind of hard to say more about these songs since they're all fairly simple, perhaps reflecting the simplicity of Applejack's character and how she's content with her life as it is. It makes her a good straight man (or straight mare in this case) but it also means it's hard to put her in a starring role if she doesn't have someone to work off of.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow (hopefully) when we'll look at and rank all the Rainbow Dash songs.
Shake Things Up is a song that I absolutely love