Peak and Cringe

[Through the Living Hope]

You know what kind of music we really don’t talk about enough? Movie soundtracks. Specifically, villain songs and the songs that are banger instrumentation paired with the cringiest lyrics imaginable that can’t really be played out of the movie’s context.

So let’s talk about it. The peak villain/“villain” songs, and the cringy bangers.

Peak villain song example: How Bad Can I Be? from the Lorax. At the start of the song, it’s all major chords, and he’s genuinely asking if what he’s doing is bad, because he doesn’t see it that way at all. But as the song progresses, all the chords become minor, and no matter your stance on capitalism and logging, he really does seem formidable and, well, bad. (Side note, the Once-ler was low key an idiot? I mean, he needed the truffula trees to make his profit, and he drove them to extinction. If he was actually smart and looked in the long term, he would replant as he went. Kind of a no brainer. Not only is he bad, he’s an idiot.)

Peak “villain” song example: Not Evil from the Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Air quotes because while Queen Watevra Wa’nabi isn’t actually a villain in the story, she’s framed that way for a long time. This song is simultaneously creepy and comforting, and it’s written in such a way that her genuine acts of kindness and trying to convince the Apocalypseburgians that she isn’t evil, it comes off the opposite to an audience. Masterfully done, and fun to listen to.

Cringe banger examples: Friends are Family from the Lego Batman Movie and Found My Place from the Lego Ninjago movie. Friends are Family: Incredibly great tune. The lyrics are right on the line between cringy and sweet. However, because of the references to the characters of the movie, it can't really be taken out of the context of the credits, same with Found My Place. It also references the characters of the movie, and the meaning of the lyrics is heavily tied to the conclusion of the movie, so it can't really be taken out of context. Nevertheless, it is an absolute banger of a song.

(Post a peak villain or “villain” song and a cringe banger)