I honestly could not think of a single song that meant something new upon every listen, so ended up selecting one that has undergone countless revisions in terms of my opinion. What do I mean by that? When this song first debuted in the film, I did not care for it one bit. The vocals were annoying, the scene was way too epic for what was being heard, and gosh, it was just a wannabee. After doing a side-by-side comparison with its classic counterpart, however, I began to notice how masterful of a song it was. This didn’t change after just one happy listening – heavens no! It took trial after trial of connecting the dots before I considered this revamp a fine supplement. But enough talk, what song could it have been?

“Tsubasa Wo Kudasai (Please Give Me Wings)” – music by Kunihiko Murai, lyrics by Michio Yamagami

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMBbM4aqv0

“From the groundbreaking robot anime” Evangelion 2.22 comes the second film’s dazzling insert song, “Please Give Me Wings.” Designed to stimulate the aura of the Third Impact/Instrumentality from the classic 1997 movie-to-end-all-movies, The End of Evangelion, this song triggers when Eva Unit 01 go berserk and Shinji desperately tries to salvage Rei from a terrifying Angel. Everything about that scene from the on-par acting to the flashy visuals absolutely blew me away, but the song was the only thing ripping me out of the mood. In fact, at first I thought it was stupid! All this build up for some dumb kids’ choir singing – c’mon Anno, quit being lazy! That night, I couldn’t sleep knowing that one of my favorite franchises was let down by some dopy high-pitched track, so I threw the disc back in and rewatched the scene, paying extreme attention to only the song this time around.

. . . it was . . . brilliant. Not necessarily my first pick, but after listening even more and finding the song on YouTube, I began to realize how similar it was to “Come, Sweet Death” from the old movie. Spiraling violins, a rejuvenating and happy, yet all-is-lost melody, and a musical theatre-like drumbeat – BUT above all, it was so strange and unfitting for the scene that it was a perfect match at the same time! Now whenever I give it a listen, I draw closer and closer to the heart and messages of Eva. Yet in the end, “It all returns to nothing, it all keeps tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down . . . ” Wait, wrong song, but you get my drift.

Do you guys have songs that mean something new to you every time you hear them? This was the closest I got, so I hope that’ll do for today’s challenge. Have a pleasant rest of the day and until tomorrow, this has been

– Takuto, your host