In the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe, Sadie worries about the rise of her band. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Steven Universe.Â
I recently went on a big nostalgia/reminiscing tour to try and remember all the bands I’ve been in during my life. In high school, I never got beyond the process of being in bands that mostly covered other bands’ material as a form of practice. Like, I wrote a couple of bad punk songs, but nothing ever came out of it. In college, I was in a hardcore band, then a ska band (for like one month!!!), then joined up with a bunch of friends as the second guitarist for a band called Future Primitive. (So named after those old Bones Brigade videos.) This was the only fully-formed band that I was ever in, and I’m incredibly proud of the years I spent playing music with them. We practiced a lot, played a ton of shows, went on a couple tours, and got to open for some people I considered heroes. (Opening for BANE was probably one of the biggest accomplishments of my musical career.) We even recorded an EP with Vic DiCara, who had long been a huge hero of mine in hardcore. HE WAS IN SO MANY GREAT BANDS. Hell, just getting to be part of the process of recording—the whole EP was recorded over a single weekend—was a dream come true.
Truthfully, I miss it. I still play guitar and bass every day, and I would love to take formal lessons at some point to get better. But watching “The Big Show†was a giant trip through the same sort of nostalgia that I went through a couple weeks ago. God, forming a band is so fun and scary, especially once you start putting that music out in the world. Like Steven’s dad, my parents thought that my music was a silly hobby and nothing to take seriously. Though I do understand why Sadie was so concerned about her mother’s interest in her band! It’s true that for a lot of people, music is an escape. It’s a chance for people to explore themselves and some of the more difficult and complicated aspects of their life. WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY A SUMMARY OF SADIE’S EXPERIENCE WITH HER BAND. Like?!?!?! I cannot get over the lyrics to all her songs??? They’re the most brilliant combination of spookiness and genuine emotional turmoil and IT IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT MY MUSICAL AESTHETIC. (Seriously, I’m listening to Ghost while writing this review.)Â
So, given what we’ve seen of Sadie’s experience with her mother, it’s clear that Sadie worried that history would repeat itself, and Sadie wanted to protect this wonderful thing that she’d found. Who can blame her for that? Music provided an outlet for Sadie that she desperately needed after everything she’d been through since… well, I don’t exactly know how much time has passed here, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. It’s been a rough time for Sadie between her self-esteem problems and her tumultuous relationship with Lars. Who is still missing, for the record!!! (I was surprised “The Big Show†didn’t immediately follow up the previous episode.)Â
Art can be transformative, and it can be healing. It seems to be both for Sadie Miller, and it took her the whole episode to realize that her mother wasn’t trying to take it from her. This is still hers, and there’s a way that Sadie can keep her mom both separate from it without denying her the chance to see her. And I love that this message comes from Greg Universe, too, who has always fostered a love of music in his son without making Steven appreciate it in the exact same way as him. That’s the arrangement that Sadie and her mom have to come to as well, and I’m hoping we one day get to see that.
ALSO I JUST CANNOT GET OVER HOW GOOD SADIE KILLER AND THE SUSPECTS ARE. Everything about them! Lyrics, the music, the PERFORMANCE. I would have lost my shit if I had seen something like that in real life. UGH, CAN I JOIN THAT BAND PLEASE.
The video for “The Big Show†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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