[attr="class","childfire-left"]
[PTabbedContent]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]revolution calling
queensryche
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
revolution calling
performed by queensryche
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
but now, the holy dollar rules everybody's lives - gotta make a million, doesn't matter who dies!
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
The song to start it all. If you know anything about Nikki, this should be of no surprise to you: it's his political anthem, the bitter and fiery guidelines for just about every action he takes in life. Everything from his previously flippant attitude toward existing (for a price, I'd do about anything) to his extreme distaste for the status quo of his Next Sunday AD word (just read literally any of the lyrics for that) is detailed here, punctuated by his call for a revolution... or the promise that a revolution is already calling.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]sweating bullets
megadeth
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
sweating bullets
performed by megadeth
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
if the w-war inside my head won't take a day off, i'll be dead.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
I adore this song, and it's admittedly as much a theme for 'the agony' as 'the ecstasy'. There's a lovely in between where of the glorification of violence and the discomfort of it that's very Nikki. Lines like 'mankind has got to know its limitations' and talks of sharpening his ax bring about the idea that the singer enjoys, at least to some degree, the power he holds through aggression, but the song is literally called 'Sweating Bullets', and said aggression isn't painted in a particularly stunning light.[break][break]
To get a bit more on-the-nose, his repeated mention of being in trouble for things he hasn't even gotten to remind me a lot of Nikki's victim complex (never mind that he's usually up to something illegal). The line 'blood stains on my hands, and I don't know where I've been' was literally what solidified this for me as a theme, largely because Nikki spends much of his time with the revolution committing hits he doesn't even recall under the Doctor's mental influence. It's just. It's good stuff.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]wild side
mötley crüe
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
wild side
performed by mötley crüe
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
holy mary - mother, may i? pray for us on the wild side.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
Now, I'll admit: if there's an angry metal song that mentions the Virgin Mary, it instantly lands itself on Nikki's playlist. Get it? Because Sister Mary? Hahaha, I'm so original.[break][break]
To be fair, though, Wild Side for all its popularity is a pretty good vibe for Nikki. It paints a pretty bleak picture of big city life, despite the more or less upbeat tone, and most of the imagery included is... pretty close to how Nikki views the world around him. This is more of a 'general tone' song than something that applies to anything in particular about his character, but it's always a staple on the playlist.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]with a head full of steam
armored saint
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
head full of steam
performed by armored saint
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
gear is on and i'm dressed to defend. what ya' got for me? throw it all on me.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
This song's pretty blatantly about a hitman, or at least uses pretty heavy hitman symbolism. Like... the entire second verse? The entire second verse. Need I say more? Maybe slapping on a song to a playlist for a hitman just because it's about a hitman is a pretty weak reason, but also this song slaps, so any excuse to listen to it more is a good.[break][break]
If you wanna go the 'funny ha ha' route, 'with a head full of steam' is a pretty apt descriptor of a character with, like, two whole brain cells shaking around his empty brain. What else is up there? Steam from all the hard work those two brain cells have to do to keep him alive. That's all, good night.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]follow me
savatage
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
follow me
performed by savatage
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
once was a broken hero, the kind that we all know, the kind we say 'that could never be me'.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
This song just oozes Nikki to me without even talking about revolution or shooting people! Everything from the 'his whole life was written...' line at the beginning, which reminds me of how blindly loyal to the revolution and the Doctor he is to the point that his whole life revolves around them; to the second verse's rejection of all the things he sees as corrupt; the chorus a chant of 'follow me', urging others to join him in working toward a better future, or even just 'a man only sees what he wants to see' alluding to that same blind loyalty. The revolution is pure because Nikki wants, needs it to be. The corruption he's only working to aid isn't there, because he can't afford it to be.[break][break]
The line in the bridge, though, takes the cake for speaking to his character, and is ultimately just one of my absolute favorite lines of lyrics from... anything: He once was a broken hero, the kind that we all know, the kind that hides inside us, the one we never show. The kind we say, 'that could never be me'. Especially come 'the agony', this becomes all the more important. Nikki is ultimately just... a guy, despite all the bravado and bloodshed, a product of a society that failed him. He's not without guilt, of course, but that same society is quick to write him off as an outlier, a mistake, a flaw in the system, when his tragedy isn't as unique to him as the masses would like to believe.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]recipe for hate
megadeth
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
recipe for hate
performed by megadeth
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
i can quit - fall on my sword - or light a fire and see who runs or stays to play the confidence game.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
This song is sort of split into two: Recipe For Hate and Warhorse, the former which is a startlingly on-point theme for Nikki's unhealthy home life before being kicked out onto the streets, the latter of which fits almost as well with the aftermath, his involvement with the revolution. Nikki was born into a family of high standards and short fuses, taught from a young age that he was born 'wrong' and was incapable of doing anything that mattered. As a child, he took this as gospel, but as the years passed, it became a bitter hatred toward his family who failed him. Hey, it even mentions 'room temperature IQ'. Love it.[break][break]
As for Warhorse, it really speaks to how he feels cast aside by society, and how he was literally cast out by his family, 'sentenced to walk in purgatory' on the streets, and 'left riding a warhorse, a man without a country'. Tossed aside, he felt he had no choice but to fight back. Pretty straight forward!
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]leather rebel
judas priest
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
leather rebel
performed by judas priest
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
i can see my future, writings on the wall: legend in my lifetime, stories will recall.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
This fills a very similar niche as Speak, which is coming next. At least early on in his involvement with the revolution, Nikki heckin' reveled in his work. Murder? A-okay! Pretty heckin' sick, actually! He was working toward a better, brighter tomorrow for all (or, at least, all who deserved it), so the death of a few nasty pigs was an easy price to pay to become a hero.[break][break]
I view this song as being what Nikki sees himself as through-and-through. I especially love the quote listed above, speaking with confidence that people will look back years from now and preach his good name. It speaks equally to his ego as his belief that what he's doing is something that should be praised.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]speak
queensryche
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
speak
performed by queensryche
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
the system we learn says we're equal under law, but the streets are reality: the weak and poor fall.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
THEY'RE THE SAME HECKING SONG, KAREN.[break][break]
This is more politically charged than Leather Rebel - but again, it's the same niche. I think this is ultimately a more accurate theme (if only because it's literally part of what Nikki's based on), but I can't just... not... include... Judas Priest's double bass... But yeah, if you read the last blurb, you know what this is about.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]mean, green, killing machine
overkill
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
green, killing machine
performed by overkill
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
they've got nothin' more to add to the conversation - they drink gasoline from a dirty glass.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
I'm running out of unique things to say at this point. Aggressive song glorifying being a 'killing machine'? Check. Angry mention of the Virgin Mary? Check. Politically charged ranting at one point? Check. These are all the checks that Nikki themes need to fill. this song is, like, eight minutes long, and it bops for every minute.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]violence & bloodshed
manowar
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
violence & bloodshed
performed by manowar
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
all my life i've been waiting to see: who's gonna win? the crumbs or me?
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
You're getting the idea by now, aren't you? I will make a note that this has been a notable theme for me if only for one line: 'I'll die for my country, but I'll die like a man'. This line is so funny to me by itself - it's the lyrical equivalent of 'this kitten is braver than any US Marine' - but it's also just so Nikki. He thinks his cause is better, more 'pure' than any slave to the government. To die for his country, the idealized version that he seeks to build would be an honor, a true martyrdom. Don't compare it to anyone who died for this crusty old country. Ew. No.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]live and let die
guns 'n' roses
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
live and let die
performed by guns 'n' roses
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
when you've got a job to do, you gotta do it well: you gotta give the other fella hell.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
There's, like, five whole lines of lyrics to this song, and I bet you you all already know them. Need I say any more? Need I?
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]american man
velvet revolver
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
american man
performed by velvet revolver
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
gods and liberation. those that try to use it are those that try to sheath it.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
So this one has a story! Beyond, y'know, just generally fitting Nikki's vibe. There's a garbage awful trash song on Mindcrime II called 'I'm American', which is an incredibly sarcastic song where Nikki mocks those who preach their first world privilege: 'Because I'm free, I deserve and I'll get everything I can get'. Now, that's from 'the agony' era, meaning that this is an echo, or a prelude. 'Yes, I am the American Man'.[break][break]
I don't take this to be sarcastic, though - or at least, not wholly? As was mentioned in Violence in Bloodshed, I play Nikki with his own warped sense of patriotism, specifically to an ideal rather than reality. But rather than kissing the ground of the country he walks, he glorifies what it could be and strives to achieve it. He's an 'American Man', but a man of the America he will create.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]paragons of innocence
savatage
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
paragons of innocence
performed by savatage
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
questioning of your intent, never quite sure what you meant from the other side.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
I'm tentative to put this in 'the ecstasy', but even more tentative to put it in 'the agony'. This is a theme for juuuuuust the tail end of 'the ecstasy', when through Mary's help, Nikki begins to realize that his work isn't actually as pure as he thought it was and that the Doctor has plans beyond that what he can understand. I especially find the first verse to be very fitting: 'I don't know you anymore, but I stand where you say thinking all the time you planned it'. Nikki's perception of X is skewing, but he doesn't want to think that the person he's dedicated to his life to and trusted more than anyone else in his life is using him for personal greed.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]heavy
collective soul
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
heavy
performed by collective soul
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
hold me up to all whom you decieve. promises you break, you still believe.
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
This song falls in the same strange in-between as Paragons, and covers a similar topic. For this particular song, I actually misheard a line for a long time, but I honestly kind of like the misheard lyric better in regards to Nikki and his relationship with the Doctor? 'Unacquainted' rather than 'I'm acquainted'; at least how I play him, X is heavily motivated by personal trauma that he holds very close to his chest. As Nikki starts to become disillusioned, burdened by the weight of blood X has left him to drown in, he simultaneously realizes how little he actually knows about his employer, and what genuinely motivates him.[break][break]
... Also, I just really like the main riff -
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
[PTab=
[attr="class","childfire-tab"]operation: mindcrime
queensryche
]
[attr="class","childfire-video-1"]
[attr="class","childfire-video-2"]
operation: mindcrime
performed by queensryche
[attr="class","childfire-right-icon"][attr="class","cp cp-injection-o"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-1"]
you're a one-man death machine: make this city bleed!
[attr="class","childfire-right-2"]about[break]this theme
[attr="class","childfire-right-3"]
[attr="class","childfire-right-4"]
I'll add more songs later, but for now, here's the book end. What else did you expect? Doctor X sings to Nikki his troubled history and urges him to sign his life away to the cause. And, as well all know, he takes the proferred number and is welcomed into Operation: Mindcrime.
[/PTab={background-color:transparent;width:200px;height:445px;padding:0px!important;position:relative;z-index:1;margin:-14px -3px -3px -6px;}]
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