"Unbound"

www . youtube watch?v=HpyZEzrDf4c

I think everyone who plays a captain as a character understands the thrill of delight that comes from stepping onto your own starship. There is a sense of freedom - like the entire galaxy is yours to explore. You could go anywhere and do whatever you like, and you're not held back by anything.

It isn't true, of course; you need food for yourself and fuel for your ship. And you probably have a crew that you need to keep safe and keep paid. But the impression is still there. I've felt it myself, though I'm sure it's in a reduced sense. Most of my life I've had a home not too far from an interstate junction. And so sometimes when I'm driving down the highway, going shopping or home after visiting a friend, the thought hits me:

I could just keep going.

Now I never actually have. But I could! And it's that feeling of limitless possibility that is so intoxicating. So this song strikes me as Vacy's ode to the many boys... I mean ships... that she's loved in her life.

La la la la la
La la na na na
La la la la la
La la na na na

I've been to so many worlds
Just havin' fun
And if things get a little too hot
I go on the run

And if you listen you can hear me through the holocom
In that bright white noise
What you been missing in your life
What you been dreaming of
I'll be that girl
I'll be that girl
I'll be

Everything you want so let me take you there
There's so much more out there past the atmosphere
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like

You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You, you make me feel that

Don't get too much closer to me
'Cause I'll break your heart
My love is offered up without guarantee
So don't even start

And if I listen I can hear you through my holocom
In that bright white noise
What I been missing in my life
What I been dreaming of
You'll be that guy
You'll be that guy
You'll be

Everything I want so let's go get up there
All the stars are waiting past the atmosphere
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like

Ooh
Everything you know I'm flipping upside down
Take you everywhere you know I like it loud
Tell me what you want 'cause we can do just what you like

You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel, oh
La la la la la
You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel, oh
La la la la la

Put your hands up
Put your hands up
Let the sound drop
Let the sound drop
Make the stars stop
Make the stars stop

La la la la la
La la na na na
You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel, oh
La la la la la
You make me feel that
La la la la la
You make me feel so
La la la la la
You make me feel that
La la la la la

Okay, so late last night I was sort of looking at this and I was pretty sure I could make it work. First of all, it has the right mood-and-meaning combination to make sense for the way Vacy feels about flight. (She refers to spending time on-planet as "being jailed.") Second, as a result, there was very little that felt like it ought to be changed.

I knew the entire first verse would have to be reworked, because (a) it's being sung by Vacy, so I'd need to genderflip it, and (b) she is NOT going all over the place looking for a boy! Some of it was easy - change "you'll" to "I'll" right before the chorus.

Also, I almost immediately noticed that "holocom" has the same rhythmic pattern as "radio." So I switched that out.

After that I stared at it a bit without any more progress so I scrolled down, haha!

I noticed the rhyme between "get up there" and "atmosphere," and I knew I could work with that. Vacy WANTS to 'get up there,' and so I played around with phrasing until I had something that fit.

Then I went back to the verses. Dude sounds SO arrogant in the original. Arrogant might work, but he also comes across as kind of pushy. That had to change. So why does Vacy travel so much? "Because I can" would fit right, but I felt like there was more to it than that. And sure, it's for work, but while she professes to love money, what she really loves is the opportunities that money provides. And work doesn't fit the fun mood of the song. It's a fun song - so why not "just having fun"? It's not the whole truth, but then, Vacy isn't exactly an open person.

It also helps that 'fun' is a word with lots of rhyme options. So I go to rhymezone-dot-com and search for options to see what comes to mind. Of course, GUN jumps right out to me. I played with some possibilities for the last half of the verse, something about either causing trouble or being ready for trouble and having her gun. But I couldn't quite get the rhythm to work out, so I started looking for other options. As soon as I thought about 'run', I got the idea for "I'm on the run," which fit. After that it wasn't too hard to find something that worked for the third line - I went with the first thing that fit, though I could have used "And when the [something] start(s) closing in," or any of a number of other possibilities, since it didn't have to rhyme with the first one.

The second verse was easier to do, because once I got the idea that Vacy would try NOT to get close to anyone or anything, I kind of flipped it into a warning. She's one of the few spacers who doesn't have a special connection to her ship. It's not that ship that is particularly meaningful to her; it's what the ship allows her to do. She will absolutely let it get scratched and dinged up - but she'll make sure it gets appropriate repairs so that it stays starworthy. Looking at rhyme suggestions, 'guarantee' was an easy fit for what I was looking for. The rest of the verse fell easily into place.

After that I just tweaked a few things here and there to make sure that the meaning stayed consistent.