Over the Garden Wall needs a thread, and that's a rock fact!

true facts: the second I finished watching the series (very early in the morning) I texted a friend watching it with me "I DON'T WANNA BE A TREE"

 

Ngl I totally listened to the Beast's song on loop for a good long time after watching it the first time, I have a Thing about low voices

 

His voice is amazing. When I rewatch, every time he starts up that song again in episode four, I'm taken right back to the moment at the end of the episode where I realized that that beautiful voice was not another silly, eccentric OTGW NPC but the BEAST HIMSELF. Chills. Wonderful chills.

 

I know a guy who can do a spot on impression of the Beast's voice and it's really actually terrifying.

 

OK but the Beast has another song too


Also I rewatched this the day before Halloween with my roommate.

I think that the Unknown is a limbo-ish place for lost souls, but it also seems to be a sort of... liminal place. The Unknown, I think, pretty specifically refers to the forested area that the kids come out of, maybe some sort of giant dimensional crossroads that weaves together a few different places - an afterlife (Pottsfield), and an actual plane where real people can live properly, albeit in a very fairy-tale way (Beatrice's family, Ms Langtree, possibly Auntie Whispers and Lorna...)

 

I love that song. I am perpetually disappointed my voice is too high pitched to sing it. :glares at deep voiced friend who keeps singing it to rub it in my face:

 

Is it a... @liminal place?
Edit: also hell yes Come Wayward Souls is so gorgeous

 

This is a good thread! I'd forgotten how much I liked OtGW. I want to watch it again.

Also, because people were talking about the beast's song (peeps may know this already): it's a reference (a cover, I guess) to a theme from Englebert Humperdinck's opera Hansel und Gretel. Which is fitting, since it's obviously about children being lost in a wood. The theme is sung by Hansel and Gretel's father (interesting, because as far as I remember the father is a sympathetic character in Humperdinck's version.) I remember there being some other musical references and pastiches in the series, although I've forgotten what they were now. I might rematch soon, in which case I'll make a note of them. Musically, it's a very clever show.

 

you know, I started thinking about how most villains don't see themselves as villains, and I wondered about how such logic could apply to the guy who literally turns children's souls into trees and burns them to perpetuate his own existence. I think the conclusion I came up with that when you take the lyrics of his songs more literally, he doesn't just look like the trees because creepy, but he is an agglunation of the trees themselves in body and spirit.

When you flip the perspective from "actual satan" to "giant metaphor for suicidal depression" it makes a lot more sense, because in that context, dying is a good thing, in both songs, joining him is presented as something that gives hope and comfort the same way death does. If you look in the lantern, you can actually see the beast's spirit in the flames, dancing around as flames do. Now, it's pretty heavily implied that it's a lie to perpetuate his own spirit, but I don't think self preservation and manipulating people into death are conflicting motivations. Self preservation is not a uniquely human trait. It would make some level of sense for an Akira blob of despair to have to bring together more people into that same level of despair in order to perpetuate itself. Something doesn't stop being lies even if you believe them yourself.

idk this idea was a lot more complete and better sounding in my head but then I got a migraine and so words are hard.

 

Well...I watched the thing again. It's an incredible little series.

At the end, when

Spoiler

the woodsman's daughter comes back

I literally burst into tears. That's rare for me.

I've just stopped crying, haha. I guess I've been thinking about bereavement a lot the last couple of weeks.

 

I think the reason why Wirt's disregard for his little brother didn't phase me much (aside from not having that kind of experience of being an older sibling) is that I have a pretty complicated relationship with my own older brother. Like, he would be very protective of me... up to a point. But got frustrated and gave up on that and started being victim blame-y when I just became resentful of the world instead of standing up to my bullies, and it was complicated even further by his abusive tendencies. Like... it's pretty clear that he loved me and he wanted to protect me, but at the same time he was kind of selfish and fucked up in other areas. So fiction with non dysfunctional sibling relationships is like "okay... sounds fake but ok."

I definitely have a different relationship with my sibling than Wirt and Greg, but I think it's the same concept where the older sibling clearly has issues that aren't being addressed and kind of fucks up. The parents might try, but obviously either their efforts aren't working, or they have no clue that something wrong is happening.

 

Ok so I suddenly remembered I was watching the commentary for OTGW and in one episode the creator said that Wirt feels more comfortable in the Unknown, because it's a product of his own mind. So it's not just Dante's Inferno: For Kids!/Purgatory, it's specifically Wirt's version of that. So it's kind of like... a nice harmony between the afterlife theory and allegory for mental illness theories.

 

looking for other good amv besides Willow Tree March. Some are good, most are too flashy and are distracting at best (an trigger a headache at worst)

I think this one is my other fav now:

 

You know, I just now realized how often Greg and Wirt fall into cold water while they are falling in cold water.

 

I loved this show but I had trouble watching it because so many feels. And the coins thing, too.

 

Wow that's good.

 

So I thought about making transcripts of Wirt's poetry on the For Sara tape,because it doesn't look like anyone else has, yet. The problem is that the audio is purposefully muffled and stuff, and I do not have the greatest auditory processing skills in the world. So there may be some minor mistakes, but I'm gonna give it a shot.

There is also probably an official way to write poetry, but I never learned that, so you'll just have to deal with my interpretation on how his diction would be put into words xD

Side A:

Intro:

Spoiler: his poems are wordy

Come, sail with me
Far out, into the long, rolling waves
Where we can drift out together
Between the pitch black seas, and the glittering skies
Each folding us slowly, into each
Toward ... towards the light, and away from it
Knowing neither up, nor down
Come sail with me
and gaze upon the moon and stars
until we know not what we are gazing
or dreaming
as the great, and gentle sea, breathes us rising
and falling, into the unseeable night
Come sail with me
Gazed upon, by the moon
and the small curious stars
are they also blinking heavily?
tired and wondering, if our sea is their sea
and our boat, their boat?
do they comfort each other?
with the sound of waves
or words
lapping
softly beside their glowing faces?
Come sail with me
listen to the shimmering thoughts
of one small star
of one wandering star
falling slowly towards the light
away from the light
knowing neither up, nor down
whose boat, is maybe our boat
sea, our sea
who maybe sleeps, our sleep
beneath the same [clears throat]
beneath the same blazing moon

Transition: [clicking noise. This one is called "Far Away"]

Far Away

Spoiler: this is roughly the moment when I realized how trippy Wirt's poems really are

Far away, in the far reaches of our souls
and in a garden of thought
where we often forget, we could remember again
One day
I
went to the river's edge
and dipped my head inside
I felt so alive
and I was free
I could see, all the fishes shinning bright
and watch the weeds, far beneath
beneath the specks of light
I was night
and I could see the moon shine, coming down from above
boy, I think I'm in love!
when you are by my side
do not hide, show your feelings in your open hands
in the morning we can dance
if we only take the chance
and we could fly away

[clicking sound.]
[Plays chopin on the clarinet.]
[clicking sound. "Translucent" Inspired by William Carlos Williams]

Translucent

Spoiler: and then after I transcribed this I needed to look up William Carlos Williams

You are
Initials drawn
On a fogged window
one reckless morning
looking out upon
one color wrapped
around
another
In a translucent world
that appreciates
the opaque

[clicking sound]
[Plays some more Chopin on the Clarinet]
[clicking sound immediately goes into the next poem without an intro]

Me Frozen

Spoiler: surprise reference to god? and also his father?

Me frozen
as poetry, upon
a spasm of a glance
no meaning in it unless you could see me writing this
but there it is
love life and God
for these, are what make words
and heavens crack like smiles
my father's nostalgic voice
like the first kiss of a verse
and that chill wind left-
your skin tinging
a cowlick
and me paused awkwardly
moments
rushing past
their determination spinning gently away

[clicking sound. again it goes right into the next poem without an intro]

Two Shoes Blues

Spoiler: The poem where Wirt tries to do "Jazzy and improvisational" and is incredibly awkward and frustrated

I have
two
pairs
of shoes
two shoes
uh- to stand by you
or two shoes for these walking blues
I have three words for you
three words that I... just can't use
these words they... they just wont do
I have.... four limbs .... to climb...
climb so high
to reach the moon... in... your great sky
I have five fingers
five fingers to... grasp your... love
no that's...
five fingers to... grab hold your...
ngh that's not very good...

[End of Side A]
[Clicking sound]
[long pause, some more clicking, very faint clarinet sounds]

old recording of baby Wirt and his dad, which which was really tough because I can't really understand baby speak but I tried dang it:

Spoiler: it's adorable

Baby Wirt: say turkey
Baby Wirt: Turkey!!!!
Wirt's Dad: Turkey!!!!
Wirt: now l-listen to it!
Wirt's dad: Okay- b-but don't touch it Wirt. Uh you can use this when you're older.

[Clicks. another long pause. a little bit of clarinet. actual end of tape's A side]

 

This makes me really wonder wtf happened to Wirt's dad 8(
On the one hand, he is mentioned around the same time as heaven and god, so maybe he's dead.
buuut on the other hand: Wirt's poems tend to be kind of surreal so... who knows. At any rate it seems like he misses him?

(Side B is coming ... whenever I can transcribe the entire thing)

 

Side B

[Side B begins with another song.]
["Wakefulness"]

Wakefulness

Spoiler: Wirt your depression is showing

Assaulted by an undesired morning
Face, full of sleep
Lights on, Life up
The world continues
We are thrust
Unprepared, back into the day
Shadowed, stubbled, stumbling from the sheets
Bare toes on the wood floor
Daring summer to catch up with us

[clicking, again it goes right into the next poem with no intro]

If I were

Spoiler: moonlight is a really prominent theme in his poetry

If I were a feather
Softly drifting
Off the wing of a bird in flight
I would beg the wind
to send me as close to you as it could
then, you could pick me up from the soil
and put me in a hat, that you would wear while you danced
Under the moonlight

[click.]
[more chopin on the clarinet.]
[click. again it goes right into his poem]

Two Cliffs

Spoiler: A LOT of stuff relevant to the series regarding symbolism. ALSO he is being a HUGE ASSHOLE to Greg. And where the fuck are his parents someone get this child a therapist he needed one like yesterday!

The two cliffs
The heart is a bitter bulb
bearing brackish, barbed blossoms
kneaded, knotted roots and gnarled shoots
The heart is a boorish beast
blunt, bludgeoning, beating
beating away time
filling my faltering blood with fear
Fear
Oh foul fields of fear
that stretch trillions of treacherous miles
ending abruptly at the collossal cliffs of "yes" and "no"
here I stand, facing this field
shoots and stalks of bitter bulbs
brimming with beasts
bellowing over the pounding of me
I could have crossed by foot
clawing towards time as it pounded past
making a break towards the shade of certainty
but I, I chose the river
the long and languorous serpent
slithering away towards the endless black sea
a dilapidated boat, upon this wistful river
I float beside the shores of fear
and in the water's gentle rocking, my harried heart grows quiet
the bank's edge, closer
and the trees rise and tighten
in the dimming twilight
in this pulsing silence
I hear your voice
my dear-

Greg: Hey Wirt! What're you doing!
Wirt: Greg! [voice quieter as he walks away from the recorder, but still shouting] Get out of here!
Greg: I'm sorry Wirt
[stomping. some kind of clattering sound, like Wirt's throwing something at him or trying to hit him]
Greg: I said I'm sorry!
[click. pause...
(also this next part is a little hushed/muffled so it's harder to tell what's being said so there may be some wonkiness here)]

I hear your voice, my dear
your voice whispers through the leaves
like a summer breeze
and my heart, though fettered in the tangled fields of fear, now whispers back
a hushed harmony of lilting leaves and rippling deals
"Please my dear, though I long along your fearsome fringes, send me some light.
remove, a guy, that I may steel myself
from the clumsy cobbles gashing, obscured along the riverside
If by chance I reach the sea
and drift not off course or capsize by cruel decree of an indifferent wind
If my foolhardy voyage brings me nigh
the two towering cliffs will fate decide
by violent sea a tranquil cove
which song the wind shall sing, of love
the dove born yes
or no, of shattered boats and requiems
Oh please, my dear, if you see me there
tossing, turning down bellow
give me your hand, or at least cast an eye
that I might see just one last time, the unmerciful gaze
before I'm dashed to rubble, and swept away

[This is an original clarinet composition. Titled Opus 6 In G Minor, with a G Major interlude.
the song start but then-]

Spoiler: Surprise poetry by Greg!

Here are some poems that I made for Wirt's tape! This one is about Bananas!

Bananas bananas all year round
Bananas bananas underground
we don't know where they come from
it they're not yellow, we wont eat one!
Bananas bananas on some trees
Can I have a fresh banana, please?

and here's a more scary one!

A little bear sat on a chair
knock knock knock
Who is there?
Asked the bear
But no one was there
the little bear combed his hair upon the stairs
knock knock knock
the bear was scared!
Who is there? Asked the bear
But no one was there
A little bear was well prepared
to ensnare whoever dared to go there
knock knock knock
the bear just stared somewhere out there
and still no one was there
no one was there to scare the bear
and yet the bear was very scared

OoOoOoo~! were you scared? Okay! That's all the poems I have today. Goodbye!

[clicks. There end of Wirt's song plays. And with this, I bring it to a close...]

Outro

Spoiler: yeah I don't think I have any relevant or witty commentary after the intensity of Two Cliffs. Still hung up on Wirt being awful to Greg!

Underneath the fading moon
That little star is leaving soon
she is shimmering in and out of view
Underneath the fading moon....
Why are we not longing for the sight
of seeing flowers bloom at night
in this gray, and sleepy life, that surrounds us?
how we stayed awake tonight,
and watched the gently shifting light
to watch the stars retire to sleep
now in this faded glow between
the night that lingers still, beyond this gray windowsill
who, now blanketed in mist
is curling up beyond the hills
and one last star is faintly blinking
in her cloudy, dawn-lit dream
as the fading moon leans, sleepy, towards the darker-sided phase
in downy light she no longer shimmers
and our great star, shall awaken soon
and will that little star remember
how we saw her off to bed, together
underneath the fading moon

Goodnight, Sara.

 

fun easter eggs for maximum sperg:


I've been trying to figure out what kind of tape recorder Wirt has, the most I can figure out is that it looks like a panasonic slimline but I can't pick out a close model or year because I never had one. (not only was it before my time but my grandparents who had all the 80's stuff had one of those badboys that played records, casettes, and 8 track tapes)



They've either moved multiple times, or for some weird reason reused the same box for storing different things after moving once. Since it currently has christmas decorations and before it had "living room stuff from old house"



Stuff from the Unknown that is in Wirt's room:

1. toy train (the train is a running theme)
2. the owl
3. not in this screenshot, but someone else noticed he had a book on interior design in his room)