tournament Golden Hit: Season 1 📀 Congrats to 8thPrince and Jackson!! 🏆🏆

[Legend E]

Omg a positive. Thanks @fountain

 

[fountain]

5 hours ago, Better Mistakes said:

@fountain I meant irrelevance as in my irrelevance in this competition ??‍♂️ But thank you for your feedback! It was actually quite fun writing that kind of song

I guess I don’t really get that then cause I wouldn’t call anybody in this game irrelevant since we read and review everybody’s songs in the same way  really if anybody was going to be “irrelevant” it would be the people who submitted an entry once and then never did again tbh, whereas you’re someone who has submitted for every round, so I definitely wouldn’t refer to you as irrelevant and nor should you  you’ve put a lot of effort into this game writing a song for all six rounds, don’t think that this goes unnoticed  be kinder to your efforts sis!

[fountain]

4 hours ago, Achilles. said:

Thank you for the review @fountain! Glad to hear that the song had such strong emotional resonance—I usually only get that kind of response to my most emotionally heavy work lmao

Sometimes (particularly in this game where doom and gloom can sometimes end up at the forefront in entries) we love to see a nice lighthearted, refreshing happy song  happiness is an emotion too, after all!! And you delivered a really great and vivid one. Definitely one of your standouts I would say! 

[fountain]

5 hours ago, lex said:

 

Wait this slay…. The acclaim coming through for the finale. And these beautiful lyrics  

The whole remmyussy went into this one I fear

[Aurora]

 

 

Beyoncé'd reviews anyone?! Thank you all for submitting for the finale of Golden Hit.  This really has been quite the journey!
I've been ✨ utterly destroyed ✨ by my new work schedule this week, and honestly reading all your songs has been a highlight.

If there is anything in your review that you do not wish to have public (lyric excerpts, references to your material etc.) I will remove it upon request.
 

 

1. @hurricane326 - “Trees”
This was a lovely submission from you. It’s definitely not like anything you’ve submitted throughout this tournament, so you’ve done well in regards to that aspect of the challenge. It reminds me a little of a song I wrote once titled “Pink Oasis”, which had a similar vibe and arrangement. I enjoyed this more metaphorical, atypical style from you! The rhyming and structure was cleverly utilised and I could see this being a really nice almost ambient folk song. Thank you for sharing your art with us this season, you have a lot to be proud of and this is another such example!

2. @DatChickDoe - “Romantic Villain”
Let me start off by saying I am a huge fan of alliteration use (perhaps too much so, if I do say so myself), so lyrics such as, “Weaponized words going to war,” and, “Symphony strings silently strum in a somber song,” were standouts to me, and honestly some of my favourite lyricism of yours throughout this entire tournament. I liked the structure you adopted for this piece, and the smaller three bar sections were great transitional moments. While “Days Spill On Like Blood” might remain my favourite submission of yours, this is definitely one of your best. While I’m not 100% sold that this works as a “Nothing” song (it’s still pretty somber—you even used the very word in your lyrics!) that’s not a major concern and I still enjoyed this. Thank you for your submissions throughout the season!

3. @Julia Fox - “The Last Time I Saw You (Ivan’s song)”
I think writing another song about Ivan definitely was a good base for your chosen “All” challenge. I guess you could say he is your muse. This is kind of your best song, honestly. It was raw and honest and for one of the first times in this tournament I felt like I was really getting to see the real, unfiltered you a lot clearer. The almost conversational nature of this piece worked so well and you set up some really great imagery that set every scene you wanted to depict. I loved the addition of all of the finer details such as the useless old doorbell and the 8-bit ringtone. While I’m not sure it threaded every single one of your submissions, I still consider this a personal triumph of yours. Thank you for sharing your songs with us throughout this tournament!

4. @Better Mistakes - “Blah, Blah, Blah... **** You!”
Yas @ the Lady Gaga sampled spoken intro. Also using queen GAYLE as the basis, we have to stan (even if this is a dig @ us nnn). “But I would rather not wait outside for loose change” drag the tokens. This definitely isn’t like anything you’ve submitted this season so… props for that! Honestly this was very camp and I understand that your scores and/or rankings this season might not have been what you were hoping for, but as your highest scorer for 3/5 rounds (and second highest for the others) I’ve BEEN seen your potential. And honestly? As far as diss tracks go I’ve seen a lot worse. I admire your determination and thank you for submitting for us throughout this season, and hope to see you in the next one. Who knows what’ll happen?

5. @Jackson - “Peak”
Manifesting with this title? This was another stellar offering from you, and is likely joining your trinity of submissions alongside “Reykjavik” and “DEEPFAKE” for me. Having seen a plethora of your material both in and outside of this tournament, this definitely was new territory for you but still felt like a peak Jackson classique. The structure of the verses was a nice switchup, and your first prechorus and chorus were simply marvellous. I really enjoyed the “climbing/rhyming” internal between the second verse and prechorus, too. The bridge was nice, it wasn’t quite the home run I was anticipating, but “I’ll learn to love the person that inhabits these bones,” was very profound and poignant, and the section was a logical addition overall. Your run in this tournament has been spectacular, you’ve had many knockouts and I’m sure will continue to do so. Best of luck!

6. @Hug - “Edgelord & Savior”
The title track you’ve been edging us all season for since our first taste with “RAVAGED”, iktr! Love how you basically cleared the challenge in the first verse alone and made a fantastic verse while doing so. Honestly, I think you’ve outdone “RAVAGED” with this one. It’s self-aware enough to get away with this kind of chorus, it definitely stays true to the vibe of the original and feels like a genuine companion piece, while integrating all of your other songs, which is rather extraordinary given how different they all are. Prechorus was a little long and I think would have worked better if you used half for the first and the other half for the second, but that’d just be a preference since both were solid. Overall nice work, I’ve enjoyed your offerings this season, and your continued support of ATRL’s writing community. Good luck!

7. @TruGemini - “June 5th, 2044”
Conceptually this was probably one of the most original submissions of the entire season—writing a “time capsule” to yourself in ~20 years’ time is pretty interesting. As usual your rhyming is on point. The verses are definitely the strongest aspect of this particular song I would say, they do a great job of connecting with your other material and work well with the time capsule element of your song too. I think the chorus section is a little repetitive in that it essentially restates the same idea in a few different ways instead of offering something new each line, and that is amplified in a shorter song such as this one. I’ve enjoyed your output throughout this tournament, especially your last fantastic offering, and wish you all the best.

8. @OreGuy - “Gum”
This was definitely an interesting offering from you! I think referring to your other song titles is a pretty simple yet effective way of linking to your other songs, and definitely works as an “All” offering. I think you’ve done a good job of portraying childhood innocence and curiosity, as well as ignorance and obliviousness to more adult problems. The supermarket setting was a solid approach and I like how you gave new meaning to an otherwise mundane shopping experience. I’m not quite sure if I understood the specifics of the gum metaphor or if it even was a metaphor strictly speaking. Thank you for submitting and I hope to see you again next season!

9. @Prisoner - “The Candle”
I definitely get the connection with the use of wind imagery and I think that was a clever selection to be the basis of your “All” song. This particular song felt highly metaphorical, almost as if there was some context or background I was missing, but even so I enjoyed this and how it naturally progressed and flowed so smoothly. You definitely have an unconventional writing style that is wonderfully unique, and I completely understand your domination during the various Song of the Season tournaments. Thank you for participating in Golden Hit, and I look forward to your continued involvement with ATRL’s writing community!

10. @Augmented - “Blurred”
I really, really enjoyed this. You’ve had one of the most exciting new success stories of Golden Hit and in my opinion this song is no exception. You’ve completely nailed the “All” challenge wonderfully, and the setting you’ve chosen complements your other entries perfectly. The entire first prechorus was just marvellous. I really enjoyed your chorus too, however the final chorus… I might get cancelled for this but I hate “Mr. Brightside” and it triggers really bad memories for me. We are going to pretend we didn't hear that. Overall, I think you’ve displayed a tremendous amount of talent throughout all of your submissions, and wish you all the best in this finale… the real question is, will you tie again?!

11. @Euterpe - “Infinite Flame”

“Immortal Flame” teas with this title, we love it already. I love the idea of incorporating actual lyrics from all of your other songs into this piece rather than just a few words or a general idea. You’ve managed to execute it so well that I didn’t even realise at first since nothing felt out of place. This dystopian, end-of-the-world vibe was a great way to sum everything up too I felt. Like many of your other entries, there was a sense of ambiguity and mystery that is captivating and made me read your submission a few times to truly appreciate it. You have a lovely writing style and I’ve really enjoyed being able to experience it this season. Good luck in the overall rankings!

 

12. @Legend E - “I'll Get To You”

I’m not entirely sure if this was intended to be cute or sombre, I suppose it’s a bit of both… bittersweet I figure is the perfect word. The references to your other songs are quite pronounced, but I do think you’ve done a good job of integrating them into this narrative so that they feel natural rather than forced. As you touched on in the other information section, there’s a few different ideas you’ve gone with here and a few different potential interpretations and I think that while multiple interpretations can be interesting, in this specific case the lack of clarity has obscured the meaning and emotive pull a tad. I still enjoyed this piece as with your other submissions throughout this tournament, and “White Flag” remains one of my favourite songs of the season.
 

13. @D e v o n - “I or U”

I honestly am surprised you went with the “All” option seeing as your songs have been so vastly different, and can’t necessarily see a strong link to all of your other material, but in this case that’s actually worked in your favour since this is my favourite song that you’ve submitted this season. The first two verses feel very honest and relatable, even if it is admittedly a toxic mindset to have… we’ve all been there. The second half of the song takes a rather sinister turn but it does depict someone who may be spiralling into an obsessive behavioural pattern quite well. Thanks for your involvement this season!

 

14. @Achilles. - “Crush”

This was super duper cute. Is “Reykjavik” shook? I think a little! I was a bit hesitant to embrace this as a true “Nothing” song initially (being about queer love and all), but you sold me with your other information section and I do agree it has a more lighthearted and positive vibe than your other submissions. All of the different alternate choruses were brilliant and kept the narrative progressing well without changing all too much, just enough. The rhyming was excellent throughout, as was the narrative storytelling. The months progressing was a beautiful motif! The bridge/outro section was also really refreshing and outstanding. This is definitely joining your trinity with “The End of the World” and “In the Closet” for me. Thank you for submitting such lovely songs all throughout this season!
 

15. @Remmy - “Paper Airplane Crashes”

Yup “Flowerbloom” has officially started to WILTER and your Paper Airplane has CRASHED onto the charts. You’ve wholly embodied the “Nothing” challenge in a powerful way and my only real issue is that this can even qualify as a “Nothing” song because you should have been writing like this all throughout the season! Ignoring the instrumental breaks, ignoring the misspelling of forty, ignoring the “on” echo and fade (okay I will admit this one was cute), this is obviously a lot more raw and real than your typical offerings and I found this whole piece really brave, poignant, and tragically beautiful. The bridge is utter perfection, and leads into a really great third verse (the first quatrain especially). This is your new magnum opus, no doubt about it. Thanks for ending your run this season on such a high note!
 

16. @lex - “Done”

New name, hew dis? This was certainly an interesting take on the challenge. I think the way you went about it was unique, and I liked that you didn’t use the same kind of link for every prior song… some were more literal, lyrical references, while others were thematic or structural nods. The intro was a strong opener, but I think after that things escalated somewhat abruptly. Perhaps that resembles others’ coming out experience, but it certainly wasn’t something I could relate to unfortunately. The second chorus however was an absolute SCALPER, and might just be my favourite example of your writing throughout this tournament. I mentioned before that your submissions have been somewhat of a roller coaster for me, and this song was honestly the epitome of that and I’d say it sits comfortably on the better side of the middle, so you’ve nailed the “All” prompt in that regard. Thanks for keeping things interesting, and good luck in the finale!
 

17. @8thPrince - “I'm Practicing Happiness”

 

An 8thPrince finale song? Is this real life? I am so glad you decided to submit for this final round since you’ve been such a consistent writer throughout this tournament. While each of your songs has been fantastic in their own way, you’ve been just shy of a truly wig-snatching moment… until now. This was, in my quite honest and unfiltered opinion, faultless. If I could score anything higher than a 10, I would. My song of the season. I’m going to stop showering you with empty praises now so I can actually delve into what I loved so much about this song. The references to your other material were well crafted and integrated so seamlessly and weren’t just there for the challenge aspect, but genuinely aided this piece. It has that slice of life feel that makes everything so instantly relatable, and the way you always manage to highlight new perspectives and showcase unique interpretations is simply genius. The rhyming is gorgeous, the structure is clever, the language is inviting, the imagery is beautiful, the questions are thought-provoking, and the answers are profound. If this is your version of happiness, ***** it’s mine too, the ****?

 

18. @JoeAg - “Cherry Girl”

I’m so glad to see you submit for the finale! You’ve been another great example of talent we haven’t had the pleasure to see before, and it’s been wonderful getting to see your unique creations. This submission was definitely a lot more accessible than your earlier pieces, so I think in that regard it fits the “Nothing” prompt pretty well. This was a somewhat chaotic combination of themes, so I can only conclude that something went down between the mentioned parties. I enjoyed seeing this other side of you, and have enjoyed your output throughout this tournament. Good luck in the finale rankings!

[fountain]

Aurora this Il Diavolo e Dio hate needs to stop!

[Aurora]

Just now, fountain said:

Aurora this Il Diavolo e Dio hate needs to stop!

Babe I ain't hate it, it's just Bike Lane tier for me.  Even the fire song was better imo.

[Jackson]

Thanks judges! @fountain my song was intended to reflect on my experiences this season as well as my personal life, so I'm glad that came through for you. I kinda thought of the song as like an American Idol finale song where all the finalists sing cheesy songs about finding themselves, but without some of the cheesiness. 

[diamondsky]

27 minutes ago, Aurora said:

16. @lex - “Done”

New name, hew dis? This was certainly an interesting take on the challenge. I think the way you went about it was unique, and I liked that you didn’t use the same kind of link for every prior song… some were more literal, lyrical references, while others were thematic or structural nods. The intro was a strong opener, but I think after that things escalated somewhat abruptly. Perhaps that resembles others’ coming out experience, but it certainly wasn’t something I could relate to unfortunately. The second chorus however was an absolute SCALPER, and might just be my favourite example of your writing throughout this tournament. I mentioned before that your submissions have been somewhat of a roller coaster for me, and this song was honestly the epitome of that and I’d say it sits comfortably on the better side of the middle, so you’ve nailed the “All” prompt in that regard. Thanks for keeping things interesting, and good luck in the finale!

thank you! I’m glad that second chorus was a high note for you and it left an overall decent impression. (Totally feel you on the story escalating kinda quickly, I thought the same thing and was trying to work on that but got preoccupied before I could do more rewrites)
 

Hope you enjoyed the rollercoaster  

Edited June 29, 2022 by lex

[Jackson]

36 minutes ago, fountain said:

Aurora this Il Diavolo e Dio hate needs to stop!

 

35 minutes ago, Aurora said:

Babe I ain't hate it, it's just Bike Lane tier for me.  Even the fire song was better imo.

i’m not even sure what my personal trinity would be - definitely DEEPFAKE but otherwise i like them all for different reasons 

[Prisoner]

Thank you for the finale reviews judges. And @fountain

7 hours ago, fountain said:

I really hope you’ve enjoyed it

I did love the challenges and the way this whole game works without the whole elimination thing. But to me, this season felt more like an obligation where I had to write something instead of it being a fun creative process. HOWEVER some of them were things I really needed to write about, so in a way it has been like therapy and I'm glad you guys were there to read them and give me your thoughts on them.  

[Prisoner]

Looking forward to season 2 

[Julia Fox]

Thank you for your rihviews 

[fountain]

39 minutes ago, Julia Fox said:

Thank you for your rihviews 

The acclaim  and you did it yourself, yeah

 

[Achilles.]

2 hours ago, Aurora said:

I was a bit hesitant to embrace this as a true “Nothing” song initially (being about queer love and all), but you sold me with your other information section

I was a bit hesitant about submitting it for that reason, but I figured it was so different in concept and tone and whatnot that it didn’t really matter. Plus it is written to be gender/orientation neutral for both narrator and subject, which seemed like a convenient loophole.  
 

Really glad you highlighted the bridge; I loved writing it, and the first half in particular may be among my favorite writing ever. “You kiss me first to quench your thirst / and then once more to settle the score” might be my favorite couplet of the entire season.

 

 

[Julia Fox]

47 minutes ago, fountain said:

The acclaim  and you did it yourself, yeah

 

yeaaa thank u x 

can’t wait to definitely slay on season 2… I think I know now what’s my style and mark in songwriting so next time you better hold your wigs… l'm winning… you are not ready for my revelation… the emancipation of JuJu 

 

[fountain]

4 hours ago, Jackson said:

 

i’m not even sure what my personal trinity would be - definitely DEEPFAKE but otherwise i like them all for different reasons 

Now that the season is nearly over can I officially come out as a Deepfake hater? I mean I didn’t tank it but it wasn’t in my top 5 for that round… definitely wasn’t expecting it to hit #1. Probably benefitted from it being the lowest scored round, tbh. 

[fountain]

5 hours ago, Aurora said:

Babe I ain't hate it, it's just Bike Lane tier for me.  Even the fire song was better imo.

Honestly blasphemous to compare it to Bike Lane. No shade to Bike Lane but this

 

[fountain]

4 hours ago, Prisoner said:

Thank you for the finale reviews judges. And @fountain

I did love the challenges and the way this whole game works without the whole elimination thing. But to me, this season felt more like an obligation where I had to write something instead of it being a fun creative process. HOWEVER some of them were things I really needed to write about, so in a way it has been like therapy and I'm glad you guys were there to read them and give me your thoughts on them.  

 

4 hours ago, Prisoner said:

Looking forward to season 2 

Well I’m glad it was a therapeutic experience! That’s the best. I can definitely relate to it being hard to at times find balance between writing feeling like an obligation and for fun, I think it kinda depends on our life in general at the moment cause tbh sometimes we deserve a break  so maybe this season came at the wrong time for you; but to be fair you’ve been incredibly consistent with your entries so whatever you did to go against these feelings ultimately worked! And wow might we see you again for season 2? 

[fountain]

2 hours ago, Julia Fox said:

yeaaa thank u x 

can’t wait to definitely slay on season 2… I think I know now what’s my style and mark in songwriting so next time you better hold your wigs… l'm winning… you are not ready for my revelation… the emancipation of JuJu 

 

Yaaaaas honestly I see it, we’ve only just begun to witness Julia Fox. Season 2 about to be your 21 era? May I be the muse? 

[Legend E]

omg a bit panned! still thanks nonetheless, Aurora!  

[Remmy]

 

SIR the instrumental breaks and ending were in a tiny ass font, you were meant to ignore them already!!  I know they aren't necessary but I felt like for this specific song it was kinda important to let people know that there is a little separation between the verses. Yesss I love seeing both of you think this is my best work  Thanks

[Augmented]

Thank you for the lovely final reviews of the season @Aurora and @fountain to say how much of a struggle it was to get anything down this round, I’m pleasantly surprised by the lovely comments 

 

Ready for Golden Hit: Winter Deluxe edition so we can write some festive music 

[DevonRoars]

Thank you for the reviews. Hopefully my creativity picks up during the break  

[fountain]

2 hours ago, Augmented said:

Thank you for the lovely final reviews of the season @Aurora and @fountain to say how much of a struggle it was to get anything down this round, I’m pleasantly surprised by the lovely comments 

 

Ready for Golden Hit: Winter Deluxe edition so we can write some festive music 

Not gonna lie I hate Christmas so that would be a nightmare tbh  but luckily I think the next season is going to be over before that, so I should be able to avoid it