The story behind this song is actually pretty sad. Calli (Calliope Mori) moved to japan as a young adult to pursue her dream of becoming a full time rapper. She was inspired by Japanese hiphop, rap, and alternative bands. She struggled for years, working full time while also doing any gig she could land and made some great connections in the underground rap scene. Enter 2020 when on something of a whim she applied to become a vtuber with the corporation Hololive. Against all her expectations she got the job and has taken on this persona (Calliope Mori). It skyrocketed her into the public spotlight and all of her dreams kind of came true instantly. At the same time, many of the friends she had made in the underground were bitter at her success and stopped talking to her. People she had looked up to she had suddenly surpassed professionally and instead of being happy for her, they were disdainful. She did a deep dive on the lyrics to this song and started crying saying "I just wanted someone to say they were proud of me." It's honestly heartbreaking. When we look at the lyrics, we can see the picture unfolding. She's feeling the conflict that she feels guilty for her success, and she misses the old times, but also realizes that this is exactly what she asked for and how can she complain when she has everything she wanted? I love Calli, her lyrics are so fantastic and very often are multi-layered in meaning. This is a much more somber song from her, but it's one of my absolute favorites. In fact it was such a departure from her normal style that she almost didn't publish it, but many in the community have affirmed to her that it's one of her best.
Excellently summarized. Just to add a little bit of extra depth - As you mentioned, Calli took on her vtuber persona and the massive spotlight that came with it in 2020. In other words, at the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns. So not only did she get a one-in-a-million rise to stardom, but her peers were all but forced to abandon their music as bars and other live performance venues were closing {"when the ladder fell and shattered//every bar that we had played"} due to social distancing requirements, many of them walking away from the dream to take on more stable 9-5 jobs {"but your friends grew tired of fantasy//you're wishing they had stayed"}. It's somewhat understandable for them to be bitter that she soared to unimaginable heights while they had their wings clipped {"as you watched your heroes fade//into the rearview mirror of the villain you portrayed"}. For further insult to their injury, she signed to a large company that was (at the time) primarily known for pop and idol music, which is a hard departure from underground rap that they previously bonded over, which is not only selling out to "the establishment" but also potentially sacrificing the hard-edged soul of rap for cutesy bubblegum and rainbows mass-appeal.
in case someone where to question this calli is a supporter of the concept called "death of the author" which basically means that a piece of work does not have a "fixed" meaning and (in this case) listeners of the song can find a different meaning in the song than what calli had and it would still not be wrong or invalid even if you listened to calli's story of the song which she explained during a lyric dive stream she would still support that you had a different interpretation of the lyrics than her.
I had the pleasure of seeing her live (under a different stage name) last month and her voice has improved an insane amount in the time since this recording. I think what really draws her to me is how vulnerable she can be within her lyrics, she dabbles in several genres from Rock, to Hip hip, electro swing, etc, but always comes off as extremely genuine. Would highly recommend checking out some more of her stuff
Calli was initially hesitant about releasing End of a Life because of how personal it was to her. This and Cursed Night are her at her most vulnerable.
Hearing this song at the group's last show knowing that one of the members (Ame) was about to leave, it's even sadder knowing that she was the one who chose this song specifically because she loved it. And the group wanted to sing along and in the end it was sung with Gura, Ame and Ina. The song was beautiful!
Nice reaction. Calli is a very talented and versatile artist and this song is one of her best for sure. I know its been over a month (the YT algorithm for some reason didn't point me to this sooner), but to clarify a few things: - she is American. She does live in Japan though and has learned the language. She works for a Japanese company though and has a sizable Japanese audience, hence providing a Japanese translation on the video. Many of her songs mix Japanese and English lyrics. - she's a vtuber, which basically means she doesn't show her true face when performing or releasing music as Calliope Mori. Instead, the drawn character you see is the appearance associated with the Calli identity. She streams on youtube with an animated model of the character and even puts on in person live shows using a motion captured 3d model. -The agency she works for, Hololive, has over 50 similar talents attached to it, all of whom also make music, though usually a lot less than Calli. Hoshimachi Suisei, Tsunomaki Watame, Hakos Baelz and Tokoyami Towa are a few other of their more active music talents. - the underworld thing you noticed is actually part of character concept. Calliope Mori is supposed to be a grim reaper and thus comes from the underworld. This comes up more strongly in some of her other songs. -she has a few other songs that are emotional and confessional like this, but she's probably more known for more aggressive styles of rap and rock. Check out Off With Their Heads or her most recent single, Overkill, to see the full contrast.
I would recommend both Cursed Nights and Black Sheep by her. The three of these songs (including End of a Life) are of the same general theme executed differently, but all done beautifully
This song and "Six Feet Under" are my Calli favorites as far as solo songs are concerned. A third song, "Non-Fiction", is sung with her "Gen-mates" (girls who are part of the first generation of English speakers that began in September 2020 at Hololive, which is a Japanese agency) or "Holo Myth", and I think it's better than End of A Life, but that's just my opinion. All in all, the five young women in this team are amazing in many, many ways. I think it's the best group in the whole agency
Sometimes the pursuit of a purpose, maybe because of expectations, leads to discontent, when what you are really doing is presenting yourself with a unsolvable problem, or an unknowable mystery. Your only liberation from that is to let go of the need for meaning. But you don't have to take my word for it, this is just my perspective at the moment. I hope you are doing well.
![THERAPIST REACTS to [MV] end of a life - Calliope Mori](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gZqgnD697j0/mqdefault.jpg)
The story behind this song is actually pretty sad. Calli (Calliope Mori) moved to japan as a young adult to pursue her dream of becoming a full time rapper. She was inspired by Japanese hiphop, rap, and alternative bands. She struggled for years, working full time while also doing any gig she could land and made some great connections in the underground rap scene. Enter 2020 when on something of a whim she applied to become a vtuber with the corporation Hololive.
Against all her expectations she got the job and has taken on this persona (Calliope Mori). It skyrocketed her into the public spotlight and all of her dreams kind of came true instantly. At the same time, many of the friends she had made in the underground were bitter at her success and stopped talking to her. People she had looked up to she had suddenly surpassed professionally and instead of being happy for her, they were disdainful.
She did a deep dive on the lyrics to this song and started crying saying "I just wanted someone to say they were proud of me." It's honestly heartbreaking. When we look at the lyrics, we can see the picture unfolding. She's feeling the conflict that she feels guilty for her success, and she misses the old times, but also realizes that this is exactly what she asked for and how can she complain when she has everything she wanted?
I love Calli, her lyrics are so fantastic and very often are multi-layered in meaning. This is a much more somber song from her, but it's one of my absolute favorites. In fact it was such a departure from her normal style that she almost didn't publish it, but many in the community have affirmed to her that it's one of her best.
Excellently summarized. Just to add a little bit of extra depth - As you mentioned, Calli took on her vtuber persona and the massive spotlight that came with it in 2020. In other words, at the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns. So not only did she get a one-in-a-million rise to stardom, but her peers were all but forced to abandon their music as bars and other live performance venues were closing {"when the ladder fell and shattered//every bar that we had played"} due to social distancing requirements, many of them walking away from the dream to take on more stable 9-5 jobs {"but your friends grew tired of fantasy//you're wishing they had stayed"}. It's somewhat understandable for them to be bitter that she soared to unimaginable heights while they had their wings clipped {"as you watched your heroes fade//into the rearview mirror of the villain you portrayed"}. For further insult to their injury, she signed to a large company that was (at the time) primarily known for pop and idol music, which is a hard departure from underground rap that they previously bonded over, which is not only selling out to "the establishment" but also potentially sacrificing the hard-edged soul of rap for cutesy bubblegum and rainbows mass-appeal.
in case someone where to question this calli is a supporter of the concept called "death of the author" which basically means that a piece of work does not have a "fixed" meaning and (in this case) listeners of the song can find a different meaning in the song than what calli had and it would still not be wrong or invalid even if you listened to calli's story of the song which she explained during a lyric dive stream she would still support that you had a different interpretation of the lyrics than her.
@@Vikkibro90 this deadbeat gets a salute 🫡🫡🫡
I'm normally a metal head but this beautiful song by Calli pierces my heart
I had the pleasure of seeing her live (under a different stage name) last month and her voice has improved an insane amount in the time since this recording. I think what really draws her to me is how vulnerable she can be within her lyrics, she dabbles in several genres from Rock, to Hip hip, electro swing, etc, but always comes off as extremely genuine. Would highly recommend checking out some more of her stuff
Calli was initially hesitant about releasing End of a Life because of how personal it was to her. This and Cursed Night are her at her most vulnerable.
Hearing this song at the group's last show knowing that one of the members (Ame) was about to leave, it's even sadder knowing that she was the one who chose this song specifically because she loved it. And the group wanted to sing along and in the end it was sung with Gura, Ame and Ina. The song was beautiful!
Calli is at the moment my absolute favorite artist out there. I really recommend checking out her newest songs from her Album "Jigoku6".
Nice reaction. Calli is a very talented and versatile artist and this song is one of her best for sure.
I know its been over a month (the YT algorithm for some reason didn't point me to this sooner), but to clarify a few things:
- she is American. She does live in Japan though and has learned the language. She works for a Japanese company though and has a sizable Japanese audience, hence providing a Japanese translation on the video. Many of her songs mix Japanese and English lyrics.
- she's a vtuber, which basically means she doesn't show her true face when performing or releasing music as Calliope Mori. Instead, the drawn character you see is the appearance associated with the Calli identity. She streams on youtube with an animated model of the character and even puts on in person live shows using a motion captured 3d model.
-The agency she works for, Hololive, has over 50 similar talents attached to it, all of whom also make music, though usually a lot less than Calli. Hoshimachi Suisei, Tsunomaki Watame, Hakos Baelz and Tokoyami Towa are a few other of their more active music talents.
- the underworld thing you noticed is actually part of character concept. Calliope Mori is supposed to be a grim reaper and thus comes from the underworld. This comes up more strongly in some of her other songs.
-she has a few other songs that are emotional and confessional like this, but she's probably more known for more aggressive styles of rap and rock. Check out Off With Their Heads or her most recent single, Overkill, to see the full contrast.
I would recommend both Cursed Nights and Black Sheep by her. The three of these songs (including End of a Life) are of the same general theme executed differently, but all done beautifully
This song and "Six Feet Under" are my Calli favorites as far as solo songs are concerned. A third song, "Non-Fiction", is sung with her "Gen-mates" (girls who are part of the first generation of English speakers that began in September 2020 at Hololive, which is a Japanese agency) or "Holo Myth", and I think it's better than End of A Life, but that's just my opinion. All in all, the five young women in this team are amazing in many, many ways. I think it's the best group in the whole agency
Sometimes the pursuit of a purpose, maybe because of expectations, leads to discontent, when what you are really doing is presenting yourself with a unsolvable problem, or an unknowable mystery. Your only liberation from that is to let go of the need for meaning. But you don't have to take my word for it, this is just my perspective at the moment. I hope you are doing well.
Please react to Avenged Sevenfold "Critical Acclaim" (Live in the LBC)
Calli 😂