Music and the Fictive Dream: Steven Universe

 "Steven Universe is set in the fictional town of Beach City, Delmarva, where the Crystal Gems live in an ancient beach side temple and protect humanity from monsters and other threats. The Gems are ageless alien warriors who project female humanoid forms from magical gemstones at the core of their being. The Crystal Gems comprise Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven—a young, half-human, half-Gem boy who inherited his gemstone from his mother, the Crystal Gems' former leader Rose Quartz. As Steven tries to understand his gradually expanding range of powers, he spends his days accompanying the Gems on their missions, as well as interacting with his father Greg, his best friend Connie, his magical pet lion, and the other residents of Beach City. He explores the abilities inherited from his mother, which include fusion—the ability of Gems to merge their bodies and abilities to form new, more powerful personalities.(Gems)" Wikipedia

Steven Universe was created by Rebecca Sugar. "The series has developed a broad fan base and has been critically acclaimed for its design, music, voice acting, characterization, prominence of LGBTQ themes and science fantasy world building. The series won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Program in 2019, becoming the first animated series to win the award. It also received a Peabody Award for Children's & Youth Programming in 2019. It was nominated for five Emmy Awards and five Annie Awards." The pilot episode of Steven Universe was first shown in May of 2013 before the official release of the show in November of that year. It ran for 5 seasons before it ended in January 2019. It was then followed by Steven Universe: The Movie which aired in September of 2019 which was followed by a short epilogue series Steven Universe Future which aired from December 2019 to March 2020. Wikipedia

Music in Steven Universe is pretty amazing. Each of the characters have an instrument that plays when they appear on screen or when they sing a solo song. Steven's is typically Ukulele, Amethysts is Drums, Garnets is a key-tar and Pearls is the piano.

This show has so many amazing songs. (Somewhere around 97 songs) It was difficult to choose but I decided to go with one of my favorites It's Over, Isn't It?

 

  It's Over, Isn't It? Is composed by Rebecca Sugar and sung by Deedee Magno-Hall. The song is featured in the episode "Mr. Greg" Which aired July 19, 2016 in the United States. It is performed by the character Pearl. She is lamenting the loss of her love Rose Quarts. Who after choosing Greg Universe (Steven's) over Pearl gave up her physical form and became Steven. Pearl struggles throughout the show over her loss and her resentment for Greg over the fact Rose chose Greg over her. This is Pearls first solo song in the show and is regarded as the most heart breaking songs of the show. 

Lyrics 

I was fine with the men
Who would come into her life now and again. 

(Rose and Pearl spent thousands of years on earth together and over that time Rose had many human lovers.)

I was fine 'cause I knew
That they didn't really matter until you.
I was fine when you came
And we fought like it was all some silly game
Over her, who she'd choose.
After all those years, I never thought I'd lose.

(Pearl had always felt like she was secure in the relationship she had with Rose. They had been through so much together. She couldn't understand what some random human had that she didn't)

It's over, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it over?
It's over, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it over?
You won, and she chose you, and she loved you, and she's gone.
It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?

(Pearl is struggling to get passed what happened and the loss of Rose. She doesn't understand why she feels so stuck in her own emotions. She knows its over with Rose, and she wants to move on. She just can't)

War and glory, reinvention
Fusion, freedom, her attention,
Out in daylight, my potential,
Bold, precise, experimental,

(Rose and Pearl fought in the Rebellion against Home World in order to protect Earth and any gem who wanted to escape the role she was made for and forced into. Pearl was made to be a servant. Waiting hand and foot on her owner who could do with her as they pleased. This line is about how Rose liberated Pearl. Gave her the ability to fight for herself and what she believed in. She went from a humble servant to a great warrior.)

Who am I now in this world without her?
Petty and dull with the nerve to doubt her?

(Without Rose the one who liberated her from the confines of Home World pearl no longer knows what she should do. She idolized Rose and she feels bad for disagreeing with her decision to become Steven.)

What does it matter, it's already done.
Now I've got to be there for her son.
 

(In this line Pearl seems resentful not only of Greg but also of Steven. Cause Rose left her with the responsibility of protecting Steven. She loves Steven like he was her own son, and doesn't blame him for Rose being gone. She just sometimes wishes Rose hadn't made the choice she did. In this line she knows that there is nothing she can do to change Rose's decision and that she just has to be there for Steven now.)  

It's over, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it over?
It's over, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it over?
You won, and she chose you, and she loved you, and she's gone!
It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?
It's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?

Line by Line  Steven Universe Fan Wiki 

This song stats of softly with with gentle piano playing as Pearl begins singing. her voice is smooth and soft. As Pearls emotions start to build she starts getting more animated with her voice and the piano speeds up and a violin joins in. Her voice keeps building until her emotions explode in a high note that gives me chills. Before the piano slows down and she sings that last two line soft almost in a way that feels like a whisper. Deedee Magno-Hall was able to convey so much emotion in her voice that they had to re-storyboard and animate this whole scene of the show to better express Pearl's pain and emotions that Deedee conveyed with her voice. 

This song was a real game changer for me when I was watching the show. I didn't really like pearl. I felt like she was an up tight stick in the mud who was too harsh on Greg for someone else's decision. She also had previously had an episode where she treated Steven harshly because he discovered something about Rose that Pearl didn't know. She lashed out at Steven and I always felt that was wrong. This song didn't make her actions okay, but I finally understood her character better. Someone who she idolized and loved cast her aside without a second thought and that deeply hurt Pearl leaving her lost and feeling completely alone. She was doing her best despite the pain she was feeling of not being enough for Rose, and now having finished the show in its entirety this song breaks my heart in a different way. Because at this point Pearl feels like she is worthless and not good enough. However, the opposite is true she was far better than Rose and what Rose did to Pearl was completely wrong. 

I highly recommend this show if you haven't seen it yet, I will say the first few episodes are pretty odd and a tad lacking for character development, but past them you get a really deep and profound show with some absolutely stunning music. 

Bibliography:

“It’s over Isn’t It.” Steven Universe Fandom Wiki, steven-universe.fandom.com/wiki/It’s_Over_Isn’t_It. Accessed 14 Nov. 2021.

Ninjachado. “Unpacking ‘It’s Over, Isn’t It?’ with a Line-By-Line Analysis.” Reddit, 20 July 2016, www.reddit.com/r/stevenuniverse/comments/4toxh2/unpacking_its_over_isnt_it_with_a_linebyline/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2021.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Steven Universe.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Universe.