Alone, at the edge of the universe humming a tune...
ミラクルミュージカル (Miracle Musical) is a Creator-Driven Successor to Tally Hall after they stopped releasing albums. It was founded by some of the same members (including Joe Hawley, Ross Federman, Zubin Sedghi, and Bora Karaca). Their only full-length album, Hawaii: Part II, was released on December 12th, 2012, at 12:12:12am — a surreal Genre Roulette that involves Time Travel, electroshock therapy, multiple foreign languages, references to ancient mythology, and may or may not be forming a continuous story. Nobody's exactly sure what it means.A variety of outtakes from it were released on Hawaii: Part II: Part ii, which came out on May 19, 2014. This was followed by Hawaii Partii (an anthology of chiptune remixes) on December 31, 2015.
You'll trope forever tonight:
- Album Closure: The final track, "Dream Sweet in Sea Major". It's a calming piece with surreal lyrics about truth, dreams, sailing, and the peaceful end of the universe. Towards the end, it compares the situation to the end of a song.The part is wholly ending
A line in any final song
So long, so far - Album Intro Track: "Introduction to the Snow". It's a calm, lonely piano track that opens the story. There's only five lines and it's 1:40, making it the shortest song on the album.
- Anaphora: Used during the "Ruler of Everything" reprise in "Variations on a Cloud":Do you like how I walk?
Do you like how I talk?
Do you like how my face has learned to tick like a clock? - …And That Little Girl Was Me: Through most of "Murders", the singer describes a boy and a girl in the forest. The last lines are the same as the first, except with the pronouns switched to the first person, indicating he was the boy.
- Arc Number: The number 7 appears several times throughout their discography.
- Seven colors are mentioned (in Hawaiian) in "Black Rainbows". Six being the colors of the rainbow and one being, well, black.
- Not only is it in the title of "Space Station Level 7", it's even mentioned in the lyrics.
- "Dream Sweet In Sea Major" is exactly seven minutes long.
- Hawaii: Part II: Part ii can be bought on Bandcamp for $7.77.
- Arc Symbol: The stellated octahedron
, often referred to as a "stella octangula" is closely associated with the project, and is mentioned in the lyrics of "Black Rainbows".- It can even be seen faintly in the moon on the cover (it can be seen more clearly in images such as this one).
- It can even be seen faintly in the moon on the cover (it can be seen more clearly in images such as this
- Book Ends:
- Both the first and last tracks start with the line "alone at the edge of a universe humming a tune".
- The first and last three lines of "Murders" are nearly identical, the key difference being that the first lines are in the third person and the last are in the first person.
- Breather Episode: After the harrowing "White Ball" and the ominous lyrics and off-key piano of "Murders", "Space Station Level 7" has an uplifting instrumental and sounds more relaxing. It's much needed before "The Mind Electric".
- Call-and-Response Song: "Variations on a Cloud" includes the line "join if you wish" during the "keep it coming back" chorus.
- Driven to Suicide: "Variations on a Cloud", which is about the 9/11 attacks, contains a reference to "jump[ing] to end it all / let[ting] this one be to break the fall".
- Electro Convulsive Therapy Is Torture. The entire point of "The Mind Electric" is to illustrate this, with half of the song being reversed demonstrating the effects of having the brain damaged by electricity.
- Epic Rocking: "The Mind Electric" (6:13, including the reversed version) and "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" (7:00).
- Girls Stare at Scenery, Boys Stare at Girls: In "Black Rainbows", Madi Diaz sings the following:I see the praised rays
You see me smile
We know the joy beyond above
Has been here awhile - Gratuitous French: The bridge of "宇宙ステーションのレベル7":Une ensemble d'enfants
La galaxie s'étend
Jardin de l'imagination
Je dois dire bonsoir
Lance-toi et tu vivras toujours ce soir- This is also one of the many sections reprised in "Dream Sweet in Sea Major".
- Gratuitous Japanese: Not only the band's name, but the track "宇宙ステーションのレベル7" (Space Station Level 7). The song is in Japanese for the verses and chorus, but then switches to French in the bridge.
- Insanity Defense: The protagonist of "The Mind Electric" is made to testify for an unspecified crime. He tries pleading that he's a good person despite being insane. It doesn't work, leading to him being sentenced to electroshock therapy.Father, your honor, may I explain?
My brain has claimed its glory over me
I've a good heart albeit enasni
(Condemn him to the infirmary) - Last Note Nightmare:
- The last few seconds of "Isle Unto Thyself" features a Sting getting progressively louder, serving as the transition into "Black Rainbows".
- Inverted in "The Mind Electric". The song grows increasingly intense and distressing as the protagonist undergoes electroshock therapy, destroying his mind and making him wonder what could have lead to this. However, the last verse appears to be after the shocks are over; the background noises die down and the singer's voice returns to normal, admitting that he's somewhat calm now.
- The last 42 seconds of "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" primarily consist of a Drone of Dread with progressively more notes added onto it.
- Lonely Piano Piece: "Introduction to the Snow" starts off with a nostalgic, lonely piano until the lyrics come in.
- Longest Song Goes Last: "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" is the last track, and it's seven minutes long.
- Madness Mantra: The words "I'm trapped!" are said by the male singer six times over the end of "Labyrinth", once he realizes he might never escape.
- Miniscule Rocking: "Introduction to the Snow" (1:40).
- Ominous Latin Chanting: "Black Rainbows" is a tribal-sounding song with deep, ominous Hawaiian chanting running throughout. A woman's voice can be heard singing "Stella octangula~!" in the background, which is Latin for "eight-pointed star".
- One-Word Title: "Murders" and "Labyrinth".
- Reprise Medley:
- "Variations on a Cloud" is a big mashup of previous songs from the album: melodies and lyrics from "Isle Unto Thyself", "Murders", "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" are brought back and twisted around. The song ends on a reprise of "Ruler of Everything" from Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum.
- "Dream Sweet in Sea Major", the final track on the album, includes lyrics from the earlier songs "Introduction to the Snow", "Black Rainbows", and "Space Station Level 7".
- Sanity Slippage Song: "The Mind Electric" includes a man who is held on trial. He pleads that "his brain has claimed its glory over him" and he "has a good heart, albeit insane", which leads to him being sent to the infirmary for electroshock treatment. This is incredibly painful and distressing for him, including lines like "Someone help me understand what's going on inside my mind/Doctor I can't tell if I'm not me".
- Sdrawkcab Speech:
- "White Ball" has the line "it's kinda fun doing it at this point" played in reverse.
- The first half of "The Mind Electric" is the same as the second part of the song, but played completely backwards, including the lyrics. Additionally, even in the straight-forward verse, the word "insane" is reversed.
- Siamese Twin Song: "Introduction to the Snow", "Isle Unto Thyself", "Black Rainbows", and "White Ball" are a Siamese quartet.
- Studio Chatter: "White Ball" contains several moments of this scattered throughout, such as "I panicked" which can be heard in full here.
- Time Machine: "Time Machine" begins with the narrator regretting how he used to spend his time, but then he realizes that he can regain it with his time machine. Over the course of the song, he becomes accustomed to it and admires that he can do anything instantly and with no urgency. The song ends on an ominous note with the first two lines of the chorus being repeated multiple times, suggesting that he's now entered a time loop.Ooh, live the dream with a time machine
You've been waiting forever
But you can make ever wait for you
Do what you want to do - Title Drop:
- "Isle Unto Thyself" starts with the line "you were an isle unto thyself".
- The last lines of "Labyrinth" are "in the glass labyrinth, I am the mouse" and "it's just a game you play here in this labyrinth".
- Triumphant Reprise: A variant. "Variations on a Cloud", which mixes in various Hawaii: Part ii songs, ends with a reprise of "Ruler of Everything" from Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. The original verse is about a guy being pretentious and flashy, his wife criticizing him, and the overall pointlessness of this since he'll die of old age someday anyways. In "Variations on a Cloud", he now has a "wonderful life" and seems to have accepted that his situation is different, being more careful and looking forward to new opportunities.
- Uncommon Time: The verses in "Murders" are 19 beats long, subdivided as 4+4+3+3+5.
