“Reese Lansangan’s Of Sound Mind and Memory: An EP Analysis”

By: Sean Gian Paul Bonifacio

Author’s Note: My rapid progression in my philosophical rationalities and empiricisms still

continue to develop, and at some point I may find my attainment of new knowledge tedious. It is
at my subjective manner to provide myself too, of other life’s enjoyments, knowing that life is
not only at a certain reality of its heavy suffering nor the transcendence of intellect. However, it
is rest assured that this paper shall continue to become elegant at the perfect moment, because I
know too, that this information is not enough for its own selection. I have also doubted the
logical order or showcase of my analysis, and ever since I wrote this I also doubted the same:
Was this only plainly for philosophical study? And for the sake of actually bringing out a
burning question: Is there something more to an aesthetical study, externally? What about
internally? There are so many questions yet to be discovered, and as to the ones discovered, to be
answered. On the other hand, though, I have thought of expounding the lyrics, and not just on the
generalizing position. Then again, it’s up to myself for me to collectively do my desired wills.
I’ll have to see what happens, maybe it will become a book.

Acknowledgements: Not only did I dedicate this to myself as an exercise of philosophy, but also
to the main woman. Reese, I know you’re reading this because I told myself I’d actually give
you a copy of this precocious paper (when I’m not lazy that is), do enjoy it. I’ll be honest, I
didn’t watch the OSMM 1 year anniversary video even as I precedented tons of significant
information, but whatever, I got this.

It leaves me flattered that I was at the disposition of reluctance when I was

with complete subjection of writing this paper. Is it an essence within the EP? Or the hindrances
of my thought? This, though, is something to precedently look forward to in this text. To start
off, Reese Lansangan is one of OPM’s emerging artist. With the preferentials of indie, she rides
the wave with other emerging artists such as Autotelic. In December 6, 2015, her album
“Arigato, Internet!” was released, and it was a pivotal album that made an inclination to her fame
and successes. From there, Lansangan continues the ultimacy of her motivation in producing
music with passion and knowledge. She concretely describes herself as “A singer-songwriter,
visual artist, fashion designer, and author rolled into one convenient sushi.” Yes, Lansangan’s
works are not only from the premises of music, and she currently displays her works at her blog.
However, in April 30, 2017, Lansangan’s most prominent EP was released. Of Sound Mind and
Memory was an EP by which she claims “a somber and deeply personal reflection on life and the
human condition.” It concealed the hearts of many with 4 breathtaking and inspiring tracks;
Aristophanes, Machines and Men, For the Fickle, and Wildwood. It has an album cover of a dark
orange background and Lansangan wearing the EP merch, and it has a preponderant number of
photoshoots with their own peculiarity and uniqueness with the only subject being her.
Lansangan appeases us with the music’s creation and framework, yet the profounding, interior
philosophy stares at us. For her however, it’s an intuition and reflection, something that must’ve
even been an absurdity that she hides herself from it. And I affirm, that such EP is more
extravagant, even possibly with that affirmation being an understatement. Because this is Reese
Lansangan’s Of Sound Mind and Memory, and the interior that hides from the exterior.
As the first song Aristophanes flows unto your ear drums, it delivers itself
as a soothing intro to the EP with the proclamation of a few phrases/verses:

I believe we were all told:

Must be encoded in a lullaby
"Kid, one day you will grow old and find a love worth growing old for"
So, I am just a lonely soul

And this anchor tucking at these hearts apart

About a half finding a home
Have they always been just creatures walking 'round the earth?
Crawling, toiling, taking the absurd?
Then, finally the chorus which releases series of diverged phrases that is rooted to end the song:

Oh, how I pine

Oh, how I pine
Oh, how I pine it will be fine
Aristophanes, it will be fine
Oh, how I pine
Oh, how I pine it will be fine
Aristophanes, it will be fine
Conceivably, the lyrics are a direct reference to Aristophanes, who is the father of comedy. To
yield myself, I know nothing about him, but Lansangan addresses that it was a retelling of
Plato’s Symposium, she also adds the song’s general meaning, that is the pining of our true love
(note the chorus), and how our subjections are oriented to finding our missing half. While this
entirely isn’t a song that Lansangan created out of talent and rather from knowledge, that doesn’t
hinder us in the disposition to analyze and decipher the song’s interior. With this, the song (or
text) personifies an individual that in the suffering of heartbreak, he existentially questions
himself life’s ultimacy, and pines for the lover. While that kid might be unknown, his presence
or mention is part of the manifestations of the main subject’s implications. The main subject
then, implies that naturality of human behavior; The repetition of human suffering causes the
person to consciously question his existence. Often, people question themselves to what they
have done for the phenomena to occur, which is another way to express suffering, by expressing
it out. To be technical, the repetition of phenomena is a direct intuition of why we question such,
and by that we suffer in our insides, thinking which infinitum of a cause has instigated the
phenomena. We tend to weep or either be in turmoil and do our own selections The main
subject’s sorrow then gradually pacifies itself in the chorus, with a couple of mentions of
Aristophanes. He continues to pine, but we know it will be fine precedingly. By this “fine” he
implies, he either is ready to confront the predicament, or he will not face the predicament at all
and will have his ignorance at certainty. This, is another naturality of the human behavior; Our
reaction to predicaments come from those 2 choices. While we do not know the main subject’s
action after this, we have briefly made an intricate study on why he or she says this. Moreover,
despite this song being written upon 2 years before the EP’s release, the uniqueness of the track
from the other tracks is a persona’s manifestation of condition, a glance upon a man who like us,
has his own subjectivity of solving predicaments. Aristophanes’ contribution to the EP is
nonetheless great, as it aligns itself to Lansangan’s purpose.
The next track, Machines and Men, could be an epitome for Lansangan’s
indie sound in general. This time, the song starts with one verse, but has an instant connection to
the chorus:

1990, our bodies were mighty

Practically brand new
Until 1992, we scraped our knees
Knocked off a tooth in 1994
From falling to the floor
While we were climbing our trees
We pedaled fast on our bicycles
 And we got our wounds
From tumbling hard on the ground
As children, we were made to mess around

Then comes the chorus:

Back then, our bodies were so restless

And our bones used to be kind
And our muscles seemed to be so strong
And our limbs were so connected
Neurons coursing through our minds
But our parts are giving in and going wrong
We were younger then
Now decaying machines and men

Verse 2 enters, and like verse 1, has an instant connection to the chorus:

1998, our bodies were so so great

And we rode our roller-skates so well
Twisted an ankle to a frightening angle
Called upon angels to fix us up
Cause we swore to never tell
As we got older, we crashed a car
And we got our scars from our duel with death
Blood and bone and bated breath

Insert the chorus here. And alike the other songs of Lansangan, she adds a bridge that is
connected to the chorus. This time, unlike the verses however, the bridge has a long wait before
the initiation of the chorus:
 Behold this sagging skin
And these fragile ribs that's caging in
My lungs and soul
Help me to get in if there's a heaven
Cause it's better than this life, I'm told
Every breath, I'm struggling
And I can't remember how it felt
Not to be this old
Please just get me in if there's a heaven

Lastly, comes the song’s outro, which grows more silent overtime in sound:

Chests that peak like mountain heads

Buds to blossoms running red (machines and men)
Youth has gone, let this be said
Life hangs loosely by a thread
Chests that peak like mountain heads
Buds to blossoms running red
The battle's over, rest your head
Final hours fought in bed
I’ve gathered a series of notes about the song; One, Lansangan dictated in a gig that this was a
reference to her father, who passed away even before she became a teenager. Secondly, the title
Machines and Men is a reference to philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ book Man a Machine. Hobbes
claims that man is a machine for nothing without substance can exist, everything in the universe
is physical thus we are entirely physical. There also is emphasis on ourselves, that our functions
are caused by mechanical processes (e.g. our hunger comes from the digestive system), our
avoidance of pain and pursue pleasure, and all of our doings are based on cause and effect and
action reaction. Three, Lansangan says that “We come into this world brand new, and we get
scarred, bruised, and tested as we grow up. As we live and learn, somewhere along the way we
come to realize that we are not as strong and invincible as before. This song is about a body that
observes itself adapting, developing, and eventually deteriorating over time.” While all of these
notes are completely diversed and come only at least half to a correlation, our generalization in
analysis will not fail us. Lansangan sequentially storifies the young to the old age of a certain
human being. This human being, is actually not a fictional persona. It is Lansangan herself that is
contained within the lyrics, which leads us to our bonus note, that she puts the vague story of her
life into the song. To specify which parts are her actual experience, verse 1 and verse 2 are a
reference to her childhood, while the bridge is the representation of her current self, considering
she was at her adult years and it is the stage where the body is at prompt to deteriorate. Yes, she
does ratify these lyrics on one question and answer segment. Lansangan expresses her sentiments
by both overlooking and looking back unto the occurrences of life. By this reflection, she comes
to the endgame realization; our lives are not lived well enough. Though, she doesn’t imply that
we should fear death, it’s the fact that we are at inadequacy of our life choices. We aren’t
conscious that we act like machines and yet we classify ourselves the dominant specie, nor are
we even conscious that our roles in life are to be altered, which may cause the incompetency of
living the life we subject ourselves to. Lansangan then gives us the outro, one that puts an answer
into many sub answers. She descriptively describes the last days of human life through a
prediction of being bedridden or tired. This may imply the passing of Lansangan’s father, but
that is not the case. Lansangan implies that despite our disposition, we will all die. Life is should
be a one-time cherishment at a long run. We may not die the way she conceptualizes, but we
will, and she will too. She compels us to stare at this reality, the reality that change is inevitable.
The question though, does she fear death in its overall state, and her overall state at the moment?
Machines and Men, as said earlier, compels us to stare at the processes of human reality, and yet
it gives us a sentiment sound (in the interior perspective) that at the same time makes itself sound
calm in the exterior.
For the Fickle is the majority’s favorite, and is currently the top played
track of the EP on Spotify with a whopping 1,660,280 plays and counting. It has the most
melancholic and saddest sound that the preponderant would concise on. First, it starts with 2
verses like Aristophanes, and has a connection to a pre-chorus.

Leave my body floating away

Let the rain come down
This is what I'm used to
It's what I'm made of
You'll see
Oh, oh, oh, oh

Find an anchor's deep in the sea

For your fickle mind and your cold feet
 And I'm the only one swimming
While you're still waiting by the shore
Oh, oh, oh, oh

Then here’s the pre-chorus:

I made a list of things I love

Just in case you go
All my life has been about
Waiting for people to go
Your love's uncertain
Won't you hold it down in chains
Oh, won't you break me now so I won't feel the pain

Next the chorus:

But all I want is steady love

Leave my heart in steady love
And all I want is steady love
Empty your hands and hold me
Give me steady love

Then abruptly, it repeats another pre-chorus and chorus pattern. That this time leads us to the
bridge:

No, I don't want just any love

I want steady love
Just any love
I want steady love
 Just any love
I want steady love
Just any love
I want steady love

And finally, the most heartbreaking outro of them all:

Steady love, steady love

Steady love, steady love
Steady love, steady love
Steady love, steady love
Steady love, steady love
Steady love
No, I don't want just any love
I want steady love
Just any love
I want steady love
Just any
Give me steady love

It may be an intuition that the preponderant enamors this track so much because of its
melancholy, but we are to put that idea aside first. Lansangan both points out that; One, For the
Fickle is “about the compromises and excuses we make to cover for a half-hearted love that we
keep accepting, but don’t deserve.” And two, the music video has its own creation, and it shows
her how she confronts with the saddest moments of her life. Despite little information about the
song, For the Fickle, seeing that is obviously a sad song, almost exposes the whole of its interior
that we are to directly comprehend its implications. Seeing that the song has a profound (perhaps
an understatement) emotion to it, Lansangan expresses her melancholy heavily. She doesn’t
leave a single trace of the freeing expression, and if she does, she alliterates these words (hence
the lyrics about steady love). To look back, Aristophanes too covers the subject of suffering, the
thing is For the Fickle covers it better, manifests it better. One thing to look at is the persona,
Lansangan writes Aristophanes as to comply to the general perspective of humans when
confronting suffering. Lansangan in For the Fickle, shows herself to be the one who suffers.
With this, we could see that Lansangan does fit with her generality on humans, that they express
it out either existentially or their own suffering and comprehensions. Yet, Lansangan is not the
subject matter that is to be fixated on, but also the listener. The listener, for the last 2 tracks, are
to synchronized themselves to Lansangan’s purpose and let them feel what she feels. How then,
is For the Fickle unique from its predecessors? It inspires the listener to also yield this emotion
in possession. Aristophanes was just a declaration of philosophy and human understanding,
Machines and Men was an expression of sentiment that is only a phenomena of time to time
remembrance. As you listen to For the Fickle, you turn the turmoil into relation, and from the
gradual process of relation you flow in with the melancholy, with Lansangan’s expression of
repetitive steady loves and harsh truths with the coexistence of its fitting melody. And whenever
the song ends, you either relieve yourself from the relatable suffering or repeat the song. That
too, is the power of music’s medium. It represents itself powerful, an ultimate remedy, yet only
to the eyes and ears of the one who possesses the sorrow. The possessor, then, is the only one at
control to escape from the medium and emerge to reality again, we will listen and relive this
expressed suffering that Lansangan is determined to relate for us. For she, places her suffering as
a memory that has its essence to relate and relieve. For the Fickle, really is not just for the fickle,
but is also for the ones who need a love that’s steady, or just having the steady life really. It still
runs peculiar how a majority favors the song’s relentlessness in expression of suffering. Are we,
the present age, really that concerned and conflicted for all suffering?
Were you conscious that the EP was going to end? Because for our final
track, we have Wildwood. Wildwood resides to the calm and happy tune which has an
implication why it’s the final track. Here’s the first verse to start off:

I've got a roof

Over my head
I've got a warm
Blanket on my bed
I've got a map across the road
I'll see my destiny unfurl for me
I've got the sturdy
Soles of my shoes
The world to gain
Nothing to lose (yeah)
I've got my dollars and my dreams
They say I'm small
 And so it seems
But I am free

Then the chorus:

And all I need

Is all that I'll take
All I need
Is water from the purest lakes
The gentle winds
A loaf of bread to break
And I know I'm happy now

Verse 2 comes in:

I've got my chair

Out by the lawn
Some books to read
Until the dawn
Come swing by-I've got paper
I've got pens to write with
Every now and then
Oh I am free

I redraw the lines

That make up me
The many branches
Of our family tree
I'll wear my mother like a badge
Declare my bloodline
 From Cornwall to Calgary

Insert the chorus here as the next, then alike the other songs there is a bridge:

All I need
All I need is you
All I need
All I need is right here
All I need
All I need is right here now
All I need (All I need)
All I need is you
All I need (All I need)
All I need is right here
All I need (need)
All I need is right here now

Another chorus is inserted here, then finally a simplistic outro:

And I know I'm happy

Know I'm happy
Know I'm happy now

Little knowledge do I have on this song except Lansangan’s statements about it; “A song about
finding peace, joy, and contentment in realizing that you don’t need much to truly live and feel
alive. This was written during a profoundly unforgettable 2-week long vacation in New
Zealand.” Little does this also contribute to the song’s analysis, but our analysis shouldn’t be
hindered by little info. Wildwood is the exact opposition of For the Fickle, yet consist of the
same metaphysical assertions. Wildwood is state of us being ultimately free, and as we are free,
we too are happy. The happiness however, is too general in terms of the song’s implications, thus
we are then to doubt: Is this state of being happy a deception or a coherent personality that we
possess that despite of suffering, we are dauntless? While we may worry about our confrontation
with suffering again, it is always not too late to cherish the happiness we have. Whether the
recovery of a heartbreak, a sentiment of profound meaning, or a ride in suffering. Humans will
never pause to pursue happiness in their own way, as it is the only feeling that makes us feel
good of ourselves. Take it away from the world, and we all have no meaning. Wildwood is the
final touch of this EP, and it seems to continue nothing. It all ended with an expression of
happiness, and that’s it. Whenever we repeat the EP, we’re back from the retelling of the human
condition. It will always be the endgame, and is the endgame. The one to express freedom.

Reese Lansangan’s philosophy was could never been thought to be as

profound, probably not even her was conscious of the matter. She’s a woman with multiple
passions, and even her main philosophy is still at possession. Now some of us might possess only
a few, but that should never be something that constitutes self-worthlessness. Everyone is
adequate, may it quantity of passions overweigh their quality, quality of passions overweigh their
quantity, or just both quantity and quality. And even when an individual doesn’t read nor
comprehend this EP analysis, he will still feel the same, and have an intuition that is the same.
He will rationalize, and he will conceptualize. Whether that track might be the soothing
Aristophanes, the sentimental Machines and Men, the sorrowful For the Fickle, or the happy
Wildwood, the listener shall never fail to achieve the purpose and meaning of the tracks even in
the sense of the exterior.
 CITATIONS:

Lansangan, M.T. (2017). Of Sound Mind and Memory. http://reeselansangan.com/ofsoundmind/

Lansangan, M.T. [Reese Lansangan]. (2017, December 20). FOR THE FICKE – Reese
Lansangan (Official Video). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQX5jK
QKfKY