Redacted | The Adventure Zone Fan Song
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Music by Jacob Ryan Smith
Lyrics by Gina Smith
From the moment we both finished listening to the Balance arc of The Adventure Zone, we knew we had to make something to shine a light on one of the most dynamic, well realized characters we've encountered. "Redacted" sees Lucretia, Madame Director of the Bureau of Balance, seconds before she makes the choice that would set the events of The Adventure Zone in motion.
Lyrics:
The words that I once loved
Now drip with unease
As I step back and at once
See the forest for the trees
It won’t matter our intentions
Our hopes or our plans
What matters is the end result
This book in my hands
No one will know how well we meant
How much we sacrificed
Cause this story’s how we broke the world
And couldn’t pay the price
So I’ll redact and I’ll revise
Recut the truth and redefine the lies
Step back and see our story
Through the future’s eyes
An agonizing revision
Made with exact precision
Only alone can I see this vision through
Spare the world
Then make it back to you
I’ve the power to change things
And I know I have to try
And I called it. I knew it.
Now I’ve got to pin down why
Put aside your pride, Lucretia
Time you stopped pretending
A story isn’t good
If we all hate the ending
I’ve learned that faith is lovely
But never goes as planned
If you want something done
Take it into your own hand
So I’ll redact and I’ll revise
Recut the truth and redefine the lies
Step back and see our story
Through the future’s eyes
An agonizing revision
Made with exact precision
Only alone can I see this vision through
Spare the world
And then make it back to you
They’ll be safe and they’ll be happy
When the past is redacted
Same people and same world
Just with some bits subtracted
Give them beaches and sun
And tastes of their favorite things
Give them the world
And a chance to sample the flavor it brings
Give them crafts and keeps and love
And a chance to reset
All the pain of the past
The stories and songs
And the choices we’d rather forget
So I’ll redact and I’ll revise
Recut the truth and redefine the lies
Step back and see this story
Through the future’s eyes
An agonizing revision
Made with exact precision
Only alone can I see this vision through
Spare the world
Spare the world
And then make it back to you
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I see your “this is an act one finale” comments and raise you “this is an opening number” comment. Now the audience has to start like everyone who has had their memories wiped and piece it together
...holy SHIT MIND BLOWN
I see your opening number and raise you “opening number with a group reprise of the ‘put aside your pride lucretia’ bit when they get their memories back”
Okay but consider: a reprise as opening number; the full song doesn't come in until the characters know a little bit more, possibly act 1 finale, possibly mid act 2
Also consider that we cant hear certain parts of the song due to there being speakers in the back just for the static effect
Also consider the wild changes in tone and the next song is a jaunty song called “Craigslist”
*realizes Lucretia cloak resembles the bureau’s logo*
"Magnus, please, this is just for a little bit. I'm going to stop this, what we've done to this world. I'm gonna find you a place where you can be happy again-- it's just for a little while and then you'll remember, I promise.
I can do this Magnus, please, please just lie down. I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself. I love you Magnus, I love all of you. I'm sorry.
It'll be over soon."
My heart....
;0;
MAGNUS "who are you?"
hey OUCH
OW????
ADVENTURE ZONE THE MUSICAL. ADVENTURE ZONE THE MUSICAL. ADVENTURE ZONE THE MUSICAL!!!
David Bullock are you sure we can emotionally handle that
Elizabeth Powell no but we need it
This is absolutely incredible, it seems like something out of a musical - I'm picturing Lucretia alone on a shadowy stage in front of a huge glowing Voidfish in a tank like some Defying Gravity moment. Now I want a Balance musical lol. Seriously this is amazing
Came from animatic only realising it was not from a musical when Lucretia was said. Taz the musical would be every thing tho tbh
I feel like it’d have to be set up the same way where you never really see the beginning when your close to the end so the feels can come through, because being attached to those characters is what makes some of the forgotten parts so painful to most fans. In my opinion. But it’d be amazing.
I imagine the last part in her office as she looks at the deillusioned portrait she made in the beach cycle and then like a knock at the door so the painting is returned to normal and then the boys walk in as the song fades out
I'm picturing screens in the backdrop projecting moving multicolored light to look like part of the voidfish glow, and as the song progresses and Lucretia feeds it the journals they gradually turn to static.
BALANCE MUSICAL BALANCE MUSICAL OH MY GOD YES PLEASE
it took me like 9 relistens to figure out that when she’s talking about what to leave them, the different parts correspond to thb. Beaches and sun- Merle. The world and the flavor it brings- taako. Crafts and keeps and love- Magnus. they really didn’t have to do that to us, they really really didn’t but here we are
TAZ MUSICAL WHEN? PLEASE QUEEN? MY WIG IS GONE, SHE'S IN OUTER SPACE.
i need to write a taz balance musical specifically so that lucretia can sing this song in it
poor lucretia. i cant even imagine how lonely and guilty she must have felt for those twelve years, or how hard the choice to wipe her friends minds so they didnt suffer anymore was.
I hate how many people see her as a villian. She is literally one of my all time favorite characters
Tf you mean many people see her as a villain, literally all I see is people singing her praises even after all the shit she put the boys through and the fact she tried to sever an entire planet's bonds thinking that would solve shit. She's an interesting character, but she would have been the arc's villain if the group hadn't talked her down
@@revenantravings I don't know if villain is the right word since her goal was overall for good. She absolutely did bad things, she absolutely did the boys wrong, but it's one of those "hurt a few, save a lot" moments. Or, try to save a lot anyways.
@@revenantravings She would be a force they would have to stop, but that would still be a result of tunnel vision and desperation with no ill intent. Except maybe her escapade in Wonderland, she did leave a dude in a state arguably worse than death.
it's incredible how even pressing the "loop" button hurts with this song
This has such a Broadway flair to it; I'm imagining a TAZ fan musical now. :p This was so great!
Aslee Graves oh man oh man you just gave me an idea
We did try to make a fan musical but it was too much work for such a small grouo of amateurs. There can't have been more than 20 of us. It's probably not feasible.
Elphin it’s possible. It would just take a huge group effort. So if someone starts it tries to get help of the community it could be done. It’ll just take a lot of time.
@@colelewis7294 I'm in! XD
@@afon8125 If you need an example for that it can work - have a look at Starkid! They were approximately 20 or less people too, and yet they produced something really great and funny. You can do, too! And I'm saying that partly because I'm egoistic and really want a taz musical. Please.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
if this was part of taz musical, the set for this scene would include the voifish tank in the center of the stage with a platform behind it (stairs lead up to the platform to the right and to the left). as this song opens, lucretia is standing in front of the voidfish tank, which is illuminated with bright blue and purple lights. she's thumbing through the diary and closes it at 'see the forest for the trees'. she starts climbing the stairs to the audience's left at 'no one will know how well we meant' and steps onto the platform at the start of the first refrain.
at the end of the first refrain, a rotating circle deal around the platform/stairs/tank brings in merle & taako playing cards, magnus carving a duck, and barry and taako talking. red spotlights shine on each of these three groups, and a blue one shines on lucretia.
the walls of the stage are divided into three different screens- recaps play from the century (plant world, parley, strength bear dude, etc etc in order) at the beginning of the second verse and play until 'just with some bits subtracted' and shut off for the next part.
merle, taako, and magnus move into a line and each get a blue spotlight as the parts of the song about them play/are sung. the rotating platform moves back to behind the stage.
lucretia throws the journal in the tank around 4:00. to the audience's left (next to the tank, in front of the stairs) lined up are merle, barry, and taako. on the opposite side are magnus, davenport, and lup. all are facing the audience except for lup, who's turned away, hood up.
each person bends over and turns from a red spotlight to a blue one at a different part of the third refrain- at 'redact', merle, at 'revise', barry, at 'recut', taako, at 'redefine', magnus, and 'step back', davenport- except davenport collapses instead of just bending over in pain. lup leaves the stage at 'future's eyes'.
as merle, taako, and magnus each bend, a screen turns on to static.
spotlights vanish on everyone & everyone leaves the stage /except/ lucretia right before the two 'spare the world's, and lucretia runs down the stairs on the audience's left to sing these. at 'and then make it back to you, she's gazing at the tank, and as the song fades, magnus rushes onstage with a blue spotlight, insert the scene where lucretia talks to him, their spotlights fade and the only light left on stage is coming from the voidfish tank.
holy shit i. have a lot of ideas about this
AAAA? JUST. SO MUCH YES
This is fantastic and I love it but I NEED the “who?” scene in there because I HAVE to see that in a broadway musical
I love you for writing this out in such a detailed way
YOUR M I N D
Elizabeth Powell FUCK YR RIGHT uhhhh so yknow how i said the screens turn to static when magnus taako and merle are forgetting? it could be a more gradual thing, and if the song paused right before the two ‘spare the world’s at 4:35 then there might be an opening for that scene. that’s when the screens FULLY turn to static and fade away, and the lights on everyone else go out and the rest goes as previously imagined. either that OR it’s in a flashback separate from the song but idk if that works as well? im gonna have to sit on this one
@@lee5706 my thought was pausing the song like as she drops the book in the tank (like how some musicals have spaces for dialogue that aren't always in the studio recorded soundtrack) lights would come up on each of the set pieces and we could see the scenes, even if some buts were cut to make em shorter. but idrk I know nothing about staging musicals
Ahhh. My heart. Oh, lucretia. I GUESS IM GONNA GO RELISTEN TO ALL OF TAZ BALANCE NOW!
That is so relatable, oh my god.
I feel like this is something you guys need to know.
My cat loves this song, she literally started rubbing her face on my phone when I was listening to it to brainstorm animatic scenes.
So... can you write the music for a whole TAZ musical?
Someone make a go fund me to make this happen. If you can do it, Short gaming.
man i would listen the heck out of a adventure zone musical, i just don't know how they would split up all the important plot points because the arc is somewhat long
@@friedrin999 70 hour musical
@@notjamin honestly i would still be down for that ngl
@@friedrin999 me too. I would watch all of it and love every second
....I was like
"Huh weird, I know a lot of musicals. Wonder what this musical is?"
THEN IS EE THIS IS A FANSONG AND IM LIKE "WHAT. HUH."
I DUNNO WHY I JUST SAW THIS. BUT THIS IS AMAZING.
me: i don’t need to listen to this song for an hour straight that’s obsessive
also me: *realizes i finished balance in a week and listens to it for an hour straight*
WHY AM I IMAGINING GRIFFIN'S VOICE SINGING THIS AS LUCRETIA IN GAME????
this is the best tribute to Lucretia I could ever imagine. hot damn, y'all.
Someone send this to the boys! Holy hell, someone animate this right now!
oh delicious
Oh God, you watch taz too?! I'm *quaking*
This is so incredibly amazing! This highlights her character so well, and it's so emotional. Not mention this sounds straight off Broadway. I didn't know I needed a TAZ musical, but now I do. (Also anyone else getting a few Dear Evan Hansen vibes??)
I'm a month late but oh absolutely. During the middle i immediantly thought of words fail for some reason? Maybe his voice and the theatricality of it haha. It just makes me wonder what kind of songs everyone else would sing in a musical
YES IT HAS WORDS FAIL ENERGY YOURE RIGHT
this is the best thing I have ever listen to, my ears blessed. the lyrics really reflect Lucretia struggles and the singing is so fucking good. just gold star all around.
God. If you haven’t already you guys need to send this to the mcelroys. I’m sure they’d ADORE this!
M y h e a r t h u r t s
But in a good way- this brought literal tears to my eyes, Lucretia is one of my favourite Adventure Zone characters, and this is one of the only fan songs that I've heard that exactly captures the turmoil she had probably had to go through when deciding to do what she did (not gonna say exactly what cause I wanna avoid spoilers ;P)
Holy shit!!!! It sounds like it came out of a musical! I love it
you didn't have to go this hard but you did? and now i'm crying?
This is very "Defying Gravity", great work.
this was probably the most pleasant surprise i could have received today! you both did an incredible job; as usual, the lyrics and vocals both showed an incredible understanding of this character and what led up to her choices and i’m blown away!!! lucretia’s my favorite character and you did her such justice just,,, bravo!
5 years and I'm still listening to this every week 😢
I can imagine this playing at the beginning of a taz musical career with little preamble, then playing again at the end of stolen century with some cool visuals of the characters losing their memory’s
Fits right into a flash back during the third act of Bonds: The Musical
I love how the background musical starts simple and gains complexity and power as it goes on. The scene you’ve built here is breathtaking!!
lucretia made me very angry for a while, then i listened to this.
now i remember why i love her
TAZ the mUSICAL
god I wish I could cover this lmao
I was trying so hard to hold it together but I just totally lost it around when you sang "storys and songs" and started sobbing and now I'm crying on my keyboard and thank you thank you thank you this is so so so good and I loved every second.
Holy- WOW. THIS IS REALLY GOOD. LIKE BROADWAY QUALITY? IM SO INCREDIBLY BLOWN AWAY? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF TAZ THE MUSICAL SAY AYE.
YOU HAVE SUCH INCREDIBLE GIFTS ALL OF YOU.
GO PRO RIGHT NOW
DID GRIFFIN AND THE BOYS SEE THIS? I NEED TO KNOW THEY WITNESSED THIS BEAUTY.
I know everyone else has said this but literally I often forget this isn’t from a musical it’s so good
the singer is just, fucking incredible. the pain and melancholy and passion conveyed in the singing here is just... wow.
i swear this got stuck in my head from listening to the rough version on Patreon just once. I'm loving the final result, really digging the added instrumentals!
This is absolutely incredible oh my god. I'm actually crying. I just. This is *SO* *Good*
This song is making me cry, this is so flippping amazing
Holy shit, this is absolutely gorgeous, its completely criminal how little attention its gotten so far.
oh fuck this is SO good. i'm so obsessed with this. this sounds like a real official cast recording i'm losing my mind
Love it. TBH your Critical Role songs played a big part in me watching it. If I hadn't already watched TAZ, I'd probably pick it up after it inspired something so beautiful.
This reminds me so strongly of Hurricane it's eerie. A writer trying to take control of the narrative, but at what cost?
Gosh, I'm on my first relisten of balance and this gives me chills! I never really understood Lucretia's choices in the moment, but looking back she's one of my favorite characters. This is amazing!!!
I go back to this song so much, it’s so glorious I love singing it too
The “put aside your pride Lucretia” is at 2:03 incase you want to listen to it over and over like me :)
this is it. this is the groundworks for the taz musical. just make a taz musical to put this perfect song in it
I'll start working on that
this sounds like if taz was a musical on broadway
like holy shit, this is great!!!!
This is a gem and its breaking my heart
This is so good! If taz was a broadway musical, this would be the most popular song from it!
Holy shit. I actually had to hold back tears. This is such a powerful song, with a perfect broadway feel. I'd honestly love to do/see an animatic to this one day.
Absolutely amazing work.
Oops, crying
(Spoilers)
This song captures lucritia, as she transitioned from the IPRE journal keeper into madam director.
It's ok dude, I think people only come to a song like this after listening to the TAZ finale
nice of you to put a spoiler warning as if the video itself wasn't a massive spoiler
Generally Sorry opening Sequence
HOLY HECK OH MY- THIS IS SO GORGEOUS HOW DOES THIS NOT HAVE MORE VIEWS?? ITS ABSOLUTELY LOVELY!! I GOT TEARS IN MY EYES AND I HAVENT EVEN LISTENED TO ALL OF TAZ YET!! AMAZING WORK MAN, YOUR VOICE AND ITS EMOTION ARE INCREDIBLE!! 💕💕
This is just beautiful, I don't have all the words to say how much I love it. Amazing job
yooo this is super good!! you guys killed it with these lyrics and vocals
good news everyone five relistens later and i am still In Tears
This was absolutely gorgeous and heartbreaking. how dare you???
This is amazing! It sounds so beautiful and in-character like a fav song of a musical
oh my god i just said i really wanted this and i never realized it’s already been made fuck yes
I don't usually go for stuff like this, but this was so fucking perfect for the tone of this part of the podcast and it just straight up slaps. It's going in my music playlist that's how much it slaps. Well done!!
i cant remember if i’ve commented on this video before but man i really REALLY love this song. it makes me ugly cry every time i listen to it (which i consider a good thing)
This is, without a doubt, the best fan made song I have ever listened to out of every single one I’ve heard.
This definitely gives me Wicked vibes and I love it
That chorus hits DIFFERENT
Now I want a whole musical of this. It's so good
I woke up with this song stuck in my head and I was like, I must listen to this a million more times!
Found this on an animatic and seriously thought this was straight from a musical, and then realized this is FAN MADE and holy shit it's incredible!!! Like hot damn, this is such a blend of phenomenal music and lycrics specifically meant to hurt me.
TAZ has a lot of great characters and stories, but Lucretia's is especially dear to me, there's so much heartbreak and love and this song does such an incredible job of revealing her thoughts and feelings, trying to do the best thing for her friends and the world, this self-sacrifice, the fierce determination to do whatever it takes to save everyone no matter the cost.
"this story isn't good // if we all hate the ending"
this part, and a lot of the song, reminds me of 'Requiem' and just kills me.
It's all so bittersweet and beautifully done with so much heart.
(PS- bought this song like last week, thanks for having it available!)
CHILLS. LITERAL CHILLS.
I'm in a McElroy discord server (shout out to the chill pickles!) and one of my friends on there shared this a while back. I haven't gotten to listening to it until now and when I saw it was by the same people behind "Miranda, my fish wife" I chuckled. Little did I know 5 minutes of being stunned still awaited me. Holy shit. Lucretia deserves everything.
First line of the song, I started crying. The part this is for is the scene that never fails to make me cry. You perfectly captured the feeling, not just with the lyrics, but the music in general. I'm so glad I found this.
It's been 4 years and this song still fucks me up
Great job! 4 years and I can still feel the emotions this song evokes in me
Okay, your voice is gorgeous. I haven't listened to TAZ, but this was lovely
You should, it's amazing
I mean, even if you do, this song is a HUGE spoiler, but out of context it should be fine
Damn Jake, your good at singing like damn, welp, time for a new ringtone.
I love it
holy heck this made me cry, this is so good. Thank you so much for this beautiful song, I hope you write some more songs for taz because this was fantastic
CATCH ME CRYING IN THE CLUB LISTENING TO THIS SONG ON REPEAT
I keep coming back to this every so often and it makes me want to tear up every time.
YES THIS IS AWESOME! I absolutely want a TAZ Balance musical now!!
Current state: in awe of not only the singing itself, but also the acting. How the pain in your voice builds throughout the song. Brilliant.
I love the sound of this, the lyrics, and everything about it. It made me cry and i'm absolutely obsessed with it.
I am once again begging that this be put on Spotify I adore it
teehee not me crying listening to this 2 years later
“put aside your pride, lucretia, it’s time you stopped pretending” hits so hard for me
This sounds /so much/ like something out of Wicked. You're so talented!!!
Update: I'm crying. My heart.
Is it possible you can upload an instrumental? I'd love to do a cover (with credit to you).
We're so glad you enjoyed the song, and we'd be delighted if you did a cover! We have an instrumental track available that we can share with you either over email (shortonegaming@gmail.com) or Facebook.
Ah, you're very sweet! My email is (kittensneezeva@gmail.com) and I'd absolutely love it if you honored me with the chance to cover such an amazingly written track. I look forward to seeing what songs you create next my friend!
The vocals on this are so moving, both the words and how they are delivered, not to mention how talented the performer is.
This song is absolute gold. I love all the lyrics, but “step back and see our story through the future’s eyes” takes the cake. It just sounds epic each time it’s sung.
This is beautiful! The piano flair at the end reminds me of Who’s Crazy from My Psychopharmacologist and I, which added yet another layer of emotion to the song for me. Lucretia is such an amazing and complex character and this song captures her intent wonderfully. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to replay this for three hours and cry.
YES!!!!! folks said it sounded like dear evan hansen but i heard somewhere between it and next to normal
I'm sobbing, oh my god! This wouldn't be out of place on Broadway - intense singing, powerful music, and absolutely overwhelming emotion.
Damnnnn the amount of emotions and passion in this is 💕
i cannot get over how incredible this song is. the pure emotion in the lyrics and acting is brilliant. i never thought i would get emotional over a piece of fan made art but here we are.
Wow. This song really hits. Just...wow.
Plllleeeeaaasssseeee put this song on Spotify it’s so good!!!
this is PERFECT, I love how emotional it gets. the lines alluding to the main trio are my favorite part
HOLY SHIT! I had no idea that you guys are into taz! THIS IS SO FUCKING BEUTIFUL I AM DYYYYYING. Like, you managed to put all of Lucretias struggles into the lyrics so well, and tHE MELODY! FUCK! I wish taz had a musical version and you guys made the score. This is great! KEEP IT UP!!! AAAAAAAAAaaaAAAA!!!
HOW DID I JUST NOW DISCOVER THIS??? ITS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!
THIS SCREAMS TAZ: THE MUSICAL AND I AM SO FUCKING *HERE FOR IT*
I listened to this with headphones in and it gave me LITERAL chills, it’s so well made you have such a talent.
This is an absolute masterpiece. How much love and emotion you guys put into it is astonishing. You both are so talented, I know you'll go far!