The Waves Washing Over: A Drift fanmix

[ageofblossoms]

[ LISTEN ]

Art by Steelsuit
Links take you to lyrics.

 1. Rurutia - "Hallelujah"
2. Vienna Teng - "Enough to go by"
3. Yuki Kajiura - "Forget-me-not"
4. Fictionjunction YUUKA - "Honoo no Tobira" (Gate of Fire)
5. Dido - "Life for Rent"
6. Megumi Ogata - "Run"
7. JUDY AND MARY - "Sobakasu" (Freckles)
8. Shoko Nakagawa - "Snow Tears"
9. Miyuki Nakajima - "Akai Kawa" (Red River)
10. Anathema - "Temporary Peace"
11. Rin' - "Fuhen" (Ubiquity)
12. Birds of Tokyo - "Wild At Heart"

Explanations below:

"Hallelujah": The imagery in this song: calling wild animals, dirty (but sin-cleansing) rain, angels and demons, and a damned city remind me of Drift remembering his past as Deadlock. 

"Enough to go by": this song is about a drifter (ha) coming home after having travelled the world and achieved the making of things. I can easily imagine Drift coming home to Ratchet and trying to get him to see the flooded sky.

"Forget-me-not": A sweet piano piece with no words. It makes me think of a pensive Drift.

"Honoo no Tobira": This song is from Gundam Seed, a series about a war in space fought with giant, manned robotic suits. The imagery conjured by this song is romanticized war: flowers in the sky (explosions), flames fanned by the wind, rain falling on a city being bombed. Still, the protagonist pushes on to victory and the hope of a better future. They are frightened but must do this. "I'm taking off on a search for the seeds of hope, Towards the vanished horizon."

"Life for Rent": Drift doesn't have a place to belong or a place to call home. He had dreams once, but what happened to them? This song represents that kind of melancholy. 

"Run": Megumi Ogata is the voice I envision Drift having. She specializes in voicing young men, especially pretty long-haired boys with gentle personalities. It's really common for women to voice certain types of men in Japanese cartoons. Drift is exactly the type of young (lol) man. This song is about flying, and seeing a bright future for yourself. Reminds me of Crystal City and Drift meeting Wing and him having a future as a Good Guy tm.

"Sobakasu": Rurouni Kenshin is about Himura Kenshin, a samurai who has no master. He has a reputation as a "man slayer" because he used to be an assassin, but he devotes his life to protecting people. He's also gentle and ditzy. Doesn't that sound like Drift? Kenshin is voiced by a woman and also has the kind of voice I think Drift has. This is the opening song of Rurouni Kenshin. There's an English dub of this song with the fitting line "all the memories I have are beautiful in my mind, but they don't feed the hunger deep inside my soul". Actually this song is about a girl who broke up with her boyfriend, but still...

"Snow Tears": This song is about saying goodbye to someone you thought you'd spend your whole with. It's cold and it's winter, where things have died or lie dormant. I'm imagining this being about Gasket, or Turmoil.

"Temporary Peace": Drift would be lying in the waves, looking at the sky, at peace for the moment. The water washes over his frame. But there is a conflict on the horizon.

"Akai Kawa": I couldn't find an English translation of this song anywhere on the internet, so here's mine. It's not perfect, but at lets you know what the song is about:

どこへゆく　どこへゆく　紅い河 

Where are you going, where are you going red river?

ただ流れゆく流れゆく時のままに 

Flowing on and on at the will of time

浮かべた舟は　どこへ運ばれる 

Where are you carrying my floating boat?

この心だけ　岸に置き去りに 

It's only this heart that's been stranded ashore

どこへゆく　どこへゆく　紅い河 

Where are you going, where are you going red river?

ただ流れゆく流れゆく時のままに 

Flowing on and on at the will of time

浮かべた舟は　どこへ運ばれる 

Where are you carrying my floating boat?

この心だけ　岸に置き去りに 

It's only this heart that's been stranded ashore

私のあの人は　もう私を忘れたの 

I have been forgotten by [him]

遠い彼方　もう私を忘れたの 

I'm far in the distance, [he's] already forgotten me

河に映るのは空の色 

The color of the sky is reflected in the river

あの人の心は見えない 

[His] heart is unseen

流れゆけ　流れゆけ　あの人まで 

Flow river, flow, take me to him

さかのぼれ　さかのぼれ　あの人まで 

I’ll swim upstream, swim upstream back to him

どこへゆく　どこへゆく　紅い河 

Where are you going, where are you going red river?

ただ流れゆく流れゆく時のままに 

Flowing on and on at the will of time

浮かべた舟は　どこへ運ばれる 

Where are you carrying my floating boat?

この心だけ　岸に置き去りに 

It's only this heart that's been stranded ashore

私のあの人は　もう私を忘れたの 

I have been forgotten by [him]

遠い彼方　もう私を忘れたの 

I'm far in the distance, [he's] already forgotten me

河に映るのは空の色 

The color of the sky is reflected in the river

あの人の心は見えない 

[His] heart is unseen

流れゆけ　流れゆけ　あの人まで 

Flow river, flow, take me back to him

さかのぼれ　さかのぼれ　あの人まで

I’ll swim upstream, swim upstream back to him

It's another song that's about having a lost love.

"Fuhen": This song is an emotional reflection on the nature of atonement. Things get lost, things get unspoken. It's difficult to describe. Drift is the "old man" wondering why children are born with the enormous burden of history on them.

"Wild At Heart": "I fought with many and I won for some" is key here. Drift has fought for the Decepticons. He's fought for the Autobots. He's done a lot of things he regrets and turned to substance abuse to deal with his pain. I think he's "wild at heart".