NUR EIN
Nick Soma
June MoonNur Ein XVII
almost 4 years agoeliminated
3:37
June Moon
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Nick Soma

Entry from June Moon in Nur Ein XVII.

Lyrics must contain no rhyming couplets and no perfect end rhymes.

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Nick Soma - June Moon
SpoilerLike most space rock songs, it's basically a drug trip.

Peyote is well-known for its psychedelic qualities, but it's far from the only cactus containing alkaloids that get you high... or worse. A few species (some Aztekium and Ariocarpus species, IIRC) are shunned even by the indigenous peoples because they supposedly "make you recognize the true nature of evil so that you will never be able to see things the same way anymore" or something like that, which I found kind of fascinating. I tried to imagine what such a trip might be like; horrifying yet enlightening. The blast of our extraterrestrial friend's gun in this song does something to that effect.

Also, I noticed that my lyric contains the phrase "June Moon" only once, and it could be argued that there is little reason for it to be called that. The idea developed from a scenario on a moonlit night in June, though. It was the third or so draft that clicked. At one time I tried to deliberately avoid the obvious rhyme in each couplet (e.g. the Killers' Mr. Brightside: "Now they′re going to bed and my stomach is sick / it's all in my head, but she′s touching his... chest now") but then I found it too gimmicky. But that's where the very beginning of the lyric came from: "I sat outside, one night in June / gazing at the sky." So I guess you could say the title is mentioned one and a half times...

Also, the only "rhyme" in the lyric (apart from the title) is the repetition of "The same way again" at the end, unless I missed something.

I sat outside one night in June
Gazing at the sky
I noticed something strange up there
Speeding towards the ground
And an unpleasant noise
Rang out across the fields as it crashed
Ever the curious one, I decided
I should take a look
And so I walked
Heading for the spot
That the sound had presumably come from
As far as I could tell

From a hill I saw his craft
Not of this earth
I hid behind a boulder
Hoped he wouldn't sense my presence
But that green guy
Had already spotted me
A blast of light right in my face
Everything went blurry

I saw the nature
Of all evil as it is
Traveling through time and space
All secrets were revealed
I saw all things and I will never see them
The same way again

I awoke and he was gone
Feeling dizzy in my head
Under the June Moon light
I stumbled home a different person
How can I come
To terms with what I saw?
The alien, he opened up my mind
And I can't close it

It's hard to explain it
It felt like drowning
Yet I was soaring above the clouds
Suddenly every last little piece
Of the jigsaw fell into place

I saw why everybody
Is the way they are
I saw a deeper structure
Underneath the surface
I saw all things and I will never see them
The same way again

I saw the nature
Of all evil as it is
Traveling through time and space
All secrets were revealed
I saw all things and I will never see them
The same way again
The same way again
The same way again
The same way again

Reviews

4 posted notes

vowlvom

Forum post

the fuzz guitar drives the whole song and I don't particularly like the tone of the fuzz, which might just be me. Crunchy verse feels like it's building to a big chorus that never arrives, the chorus melody is quite nice and has grown on me across multiple listens, but the song feels like it needs to go up to a higher level I think. The little melodic bass fills are really cool and vocals sound good as ever, but this didn't quite hit the spot for me.

Evermind

Forum post

The guitar tone seems a bit "quacky" and nasal like maybe it was aggressively low-passed or even band-passed after being amped. Or maybe it's got an autowah on it? It feels a little underwhelming in the face of the power chord and palm mute chug riffs. Weird pacing on "curious one". Sounds like a perfect end rhyme with "spotted me" and "everything went blurry". Don't see any others, though. I see your liner notes mention that the same line repeats at the end, but to be pedantic in your favor real quick, pushes up taped-up glasses a word cannot be a perfect rhyme with itself or its homonyms, it is instead an "identical rhyme". Concept of the song is an alien blasting you in the face with a ray gun that expands your consciousness. Dang. Drums could use a bit more oomph. They feel kinda weak, especially for a punky sort of song.

owl

Forum post

Fun, poppy, upbeat, very listenable. I think the unrhymed lyrics stood out a bit more in this track than in others, they were generally delivered well, but tended to feel a bit improvised instead of deliberate. The narrative could also probably have used some editing--"and so I walked" through to "as far as I could tell" all kind of seems like filler, more than half the song is repeated descriptions of the narrator's revelations that don't actually say anything about what they learned. "Green guy" kind of felt awkward to me, both the stresses and the phrase itself. The first couple of times I listened to this in the background, I was convinced this song was about Doctor Who and had kind of missed the part about the green guy? I guess it was the "time and space" phrase that made me think of that. I love the "drowning / soaring" bit, the melody and vocal rhythms lined up really nicely there.

sailingmagpie

Forum post

I prefer your classic songwriter inspired stuff to this more pop-punk style but this is still a well crafted song. I would've like more of the ambient chords you use in the pre-chorus or have that section return later, though I can see why it's only there once, as it ties into the lyrics. The chorus is good but the middle eight doesn't excite me much. While I do like the lyrics, I feel like the no rhyming rule was actually detrimental to this track.

Nick Soma - June Moon | Nur Ein