The Dear Hunter - Reprises and Repeated Motifs (ACT I - ACT V)

Discuss this on Reddit here: / 43_minutes_of_reprises...
See an explanation of the reprises here: pastebin.com/xeXdyzt3
Special thanks to /r/TheDearHunter subreddit.

[@singastorm]

Hearing the Old Haunt chorus reprise in The March when it came out was one of the most pleasing things I've ever heard.

[@Jiggerjaw]

def

[@NuclearNacho13]

Oh boy, was it. I was visibly excited.

[@marleyshea]

singastorm YES. I died and went to heaven

[@LABAMBA212]

time stamp?

[@_ghostguts]

19:42

[@ugorizzoli5830]

The amount of reprisals they were able to cram inside The March while still having it feel and sound like its own thing it's a testament to Casey's and the whole band's musical genius. Definitely one of the most underrated bands in the world.

[@andreyofdoom]

There are about 5 right?

[@qopkll8321]

I never thought I’d stop watching a video and save it for later because of music spoilers

[@puffins_apothecary]

I love the repeating melodies. It makes it feel more like a an actual show/musical. It reminds the listener of past events/moments in which are important to the story.

[@Shaktidej]

This is one of the reasons why THD is such a great band : the use, reuse and orchestration of similar motives is something that comes directly from classical music and allows progression of melodies and harmonies, or how to give different (spectrum) colors to the same musical phrase. Best prog band of those 20 past years !

[@ParityS]

So The March is basically a combination of a ton of different songs combined into one? No wonder it's my favorite song.

[@gr8m8watch]

Yeah! Because he's seeing his life flash before his eyes!

[@franciscosoto9475]

​@@gr8m8watch NO SHIT!! i've never thought about OG!!

[@andreyofdoom]

The March is about the Pimp / Priest rounding up a mob of his religious followers to go after the Boy/Hunter for burning down the Dime and Church (which caught fire nearby)

[@jonajon91]

40:50 - You didn't even have to cut ... nice.

[@johnnyenglish249]

Nice catch lol

[@ganon1028]

I can easily say that the Acts are the most accomplished and well constructed works of concept music that I personally have ever heard. There's a lot of greats, but the way that themes, both musical and lyrical, are raised and revisited across over 5 hours of music is just insanely impressive.

[@nateszigeti3653]

this is making me want to listen to all five in a row again which by the way is a great use of 6~ hours

[@stevemayvisuals]

dont forget the spectrum, migrant, annex and the eps. Just spent a whole day consuming them

[@TundraCH]

It is actually pretty great for studying, it keeps me motivated to keep going until its over

[@jmelara324]

It’s great for long rides

[@hunterstull256]

Around 36:18 -- "Touch, taste feel it ripping me down. Reprise, two times, the dime, burn it to the ground" >Burn it to the ground Just picked up on this. He burns the dime to the ground in act V. Fugg

[@bigchumbo6489]

@@lovely_yoongkai7805 both happen, actually. hence the "reprise, two times" part, it gets burned down twice. a reprisal doesn't only have to be musical, as in here it is a reprisal of actions.

[@lovely_yoongkai7805]

Guy Personman oh shoot i didn’t even pick up on that, you’re right! thanks!

[@brianboyce526]

Thank you for the transition between "faster, save me" and "breathe in/breathe out"

[@asmrob2986]

Using reprises/motifs is an old musical theatre trick. Works great in training the brain to certain memories/ moods and these guys use it perfectly.

[@xcryanx]

The Lake and The River is a masterpiece and this video proves it.

[@IntrusiveThot420]

Old comment, but IMO it's the most "Dear Hunter" of all the songs crammed into one.

[@SaltpeterTaffy]

While the Acts as a whole are a triumph of motif, and Act V is by far my favorite, Act II stands head and shoulders above the others in this regard. It is the series' beating heart.

[@homieseatbread]

My heart bursts in the reprisal of Wheres her Heart in Night on the Town

[@killysnowsw]

Same. It's already beautiful in The Bitter Suite I, but fucking hell is it amazing in A Night On The Town

[@SaraGrossaint]

OH. MY. GOD. You are absolutely brilliant for putting this all together and sharing it. I'm in pure awe of just how much more genius Casey put into this than I already thought he had prior. This is incredible, THANK YOU!!

[@debrasue2793]

13:29-14:09 The Boy comes face to face with true evil, at progressively more existential levels.

[@cr8618]

shitttt ur right

[@setoboi1652]

I feel that the "He Said He Had a Story" reprise is supposed to symbolize Hell based on what the Father did, and especially makes sense in The Most Cursed of Hands Also in Similar Riffs, the intro riff to In Cauda Venenum is literally the same notes as the intro riff to City Escape but the notes are backwards Very cool video, I'm happy there are other people as hyper fixated about the motifs in The Dear Hunter as I am

[@tomercohen7494]

I believe I have two more motifs which relate to The March. 1. The very opening when the orchestra goes berserk, a similar thing happens in the opening of Ouroboros. 2. (and I've seen no mention of this anywhere), I'll just write the lyrics and you'll get what I mean, and if you don't, try singing them over each other, they intertwine beautifully. *** "WHEN HE SAID: keep this secret safe, or watch your flock devoured by the flame left in my wake, I'll burn through you" *** "And here's exactly WHAT SHE SAID: please be soft and sweet to me, this life has not been good, you see".

[@tomercohen7494]

And another cute one at the end of "In Cauda Venenum" and the beginning of "What It Means to Be Alone": *"Ohhh, when I think about your eyes.. Ohhh, when I think about your smile" *"Ohhh, you were born with the sun.. And ohhh, you will die with the moon"

[@west113]

I totally agree on the HSHAS-the March connection. Perhaps is there another one of the same kind, in Wait (especially the first chorus): ”THEN I SAID: wait, are our bodies really piles of dirt?...”

[@quinnstraught9636]

I think I found another one in Smiling Swine and The March: “Stopped by the Squeaky Wheel, a smiling swine” “Lost in his memories, the end in sight” The main connection between these two moments is how The March reprises Smiling Swine when it comes to the musical arrangements (idk what they’re called), but I find it interesting how both of these lines somewhat describe TPATP from Hunter’s point of view. In Smiling Swine, TPATP is described as, well, swine; he’s a piggish man with a big grin on his face, driven by his own desire and selfishness. In The March, TPATP is metaphorically the end of the current phase in Hunter’s journey as he leverages his social status to oust Hunter from the town. I just thought it was interesting.

[@bulakke8808]

Not sure how these two could have been worked into this video but What It Means to Be Alone foreshadows Acts IV and V with the line "you were born with the sun/ and oh you will die with the moon". The second track on Act V is titled Moon, marking his death in that act, while born with the sun could be seen as a play on words alluding to his assuming the identity of the son and rebirth at act IV.

[@fiddleman19]

Holy cow. Brilliant.

[@Jiggerjaw]

"Give yourself to the dust and the dirt where you stand" from A Night on the Town = "Take all the wind from my lungs if you're out of air" from The Moon.

[@Mara-vc2ch]

One of my favourites is the intro to The most cursed of hands at the end of king of swords. When I realized what the motif was and listened to it again, i genuinely laughed. Its on of my favourite bits of foreshadowing in any media ive seen/heard

[@thriayehm2865]

Where The Road Parts and The Flame link is eerie when you notice in both songs Hunter is saying goodbye to Ms. Leading...

[@jaggerman22]

I considered myself a huge fan of TDH. I have listened to all of their music countless times. Some of the themes I always knew were there but so many of these I either never connected directly or didn’t notice all together. I’m absolutely floored by how amazing this group is.

[@Solterie1]

Breathe in, breathe out is also a background vocal in Battesimo del Fuoco.

[@IntrusiveThot420]

Battesimo is such an underrated track in terms of the story.

[@mikebliss3153]

I don't think I've ever listened to another band that hyperlinks to its own work as much. I absolutely love it.

[@coreydunlap5260]

Man theres so much bits and pieces i never even picked up on........casey is a fucking genius.

[@koledornseifer6567]

The opening riff of Dear Ms Leading can be heard at 1:12 in At The End of the Earth on the piano

[@jamesshinkle8498]

I always hoped they would bring back the "we feel beneth the sea" phrase. That is my alltime favorite.

[@homeinvasion.]

Man Act II is something else

[@petercarroll4661]

23:40 that drum syncopation totally shows up in smiling swine just before "'hey there' he pleasantly began..."

[@envycentral7281]

Peter Carroll also pretty sure it’s in the tank

[@Sensorielle]

Thank you tremendously for all the effort you put into this!

[@SaltpeterTaffy]

33:10 Well if they ever make a movie, I think we all know what the tagline is gonna be.

[@Schooby_doodle]

This must have taken DAYS. Thank you.

[@Nyasahi]

i don't really pay attention to this stuff when listening to other people's music but its neat how much thought goes into it i can't believe it's been almost 20 years since the first album o_o

[@TundraCH]

Act IV is probably my favorite, thank you for making this man!

[@YouBeeBeeWhy]

TundraL5Z I like your BTBAM picture. 😘

[@TTALeapMonster]

Same!! Bless!!!

[@azazel_2112]

The reprise of The Old Haunt's chorus in The March and the sheer hair-raising energy that comes with the "Dear Apparition" motif is what makes Act V one of my favorite TDH albums.

[@killysnowsw]

When I heard The Old Haunt in The March I had to fucking pause to process for a minute. So fucking good.

[@asiam8615]

I've found another similar motif: Waves - at "00:50" that melody sounds just like the one from A night on the town at "3:55" at "By giving myself to the earth below me" and "By casting away the ordinary" or, if you will, maybe it starts earlier. but I'm not sure Waves 1:53 A night on the town "And what's the worst I'd see..."

[@phoneyogurt]

i seriously come back to this video every time i make a new discovery listening to the albums, which is, like, almost daily. no joke

[@cr8618]

Okay so I’m super late on this train but these albums are literally part of me now I’ve listened to them so much and I loved the motifs so much I’m so happy u made them into a video thank you so much

[@elakkval]

All of these reprisals make my hairs raise I love the acts so much

[@lardjass4146]

This band is the best thing that has happened to me

[@DMarrafa]

good job man, been noticing most of those repetitions for a while, Evicted melody is one of my favourites and i freaked out when i noticed, the more i listen to the acts the more references i notice

[@Arrow2theACL]

This video helped a whole lot when it comes to understanding the story. Particularly the Melpomene reprise in The Flame. When we figure out who the intended target of Mr. Usher and the Pimp/Priest is, you knew Hunter was going to lose it.

[@LoganFreund]

Thanks so much for the video! The only one I never caught was the foreshadowing of Regress, which is brilliant of course. Just some more that I think might be there: The end of The Procession has a reprise at 1:52 in Dear Ms. Leading Black Sandy Beaches may have a reprise in The Old Haunt during the section at 2:30, or it might be a coincidence. Who knows? The beginning of Writing On a Wall is foreshadowing the beginning of Son There are probably so many more hidden things that people will still be discovering in like 30 years, but my favorite one for now is easily the Melpomene reprise in The Flame. I mean damn, that hits so hard - it being remade in a minor key. So gross and beautiful. Come on Casey.

[@fiddleman19]

And so many people didn't catch the significance either, until Casey told them in an interview. People were shook.

[@AssBadgerDEERBO]

The Bitter Suite III Reprise in Vital Vessels Vindicate always gets me

[@peacebone420]

You know it was probably Caseys idea for the "this is the last night in my body" reprises on the receiving end of sirens album between the heart and the synapse

[@killysnowsw]

I was already a huge fan of reprises before finding TDH. Probably why I love them so much.

[@josephdoyle7274]

It's amazing that so much work has obviously gone into this and it has done more than scratch the surface but it STILL feels like there is so much more! I would love to see some sort of web diagram on how all these common reprises link and interact with each other... But that would be another level

[@Tim_Kepple]

good morning from 2018 one thing that wasn't in the video though is act iii's "everything you thought you [had/lost] you [lost/had]" thing from What It Means To Be Alone and Saved

[@sawdust07]

I was thinking about that as well as the part from the second repetition of the chorus of What It Means To Be Alone where the backing vocals sing "running out, running out" (at least that's what it sounds like to me) which is also brought back on Saved

[@iliawnek]

Thank you for putting the time into making this, I can imagine it took a while.

[@bergen14]

I wish I could Like this multiple times. This is brilliant work.

[@ericdaugherty523]

Never caught tpatp in Mr. Usher before. That’s great, thanks!

[@sleepyghostgirl]

I’m so glad this was made 😂 it’s so hard to keep track of all the reprises and callbacks, trying to remember “which song did i hear that from before?” But everything is right here! Thank you 💗

[@cvblaylock]

I make an effort to find them and remember them all. This band is the best band ever in my opinion.

[@echodroneplays]

Yes! I FINALLY know what the background vocals are saying in Father! That's been bugging me for years. Great work with all of this. I'm surprised there was still a fair few I hadn't picked up on, and I'm sure there's still loads more that'll be discovered.

[@Atticus837]

you said the riffs at 32:30 are probably just a coincidence, (and you're mostly right) but if you listen carefully you'll hear that in cauda venenum's riff is the city escape riff backwards!

[@rrraida]

There is always something new to learn about the Acts, it's crazy.

[@xEliptarianx]

This is just correct. Casey said in an interview once (don't remember which one) that it's meant to represent panicking and while Ms. Terri is panicking and frantically trying to get away in City Escape, she is in a very familiar environment. Hunter is in a very unfamiliar environment in ICV so Casey was trying to demonstrate that the feeling was the same, yet starkly different.

[@TimAyro]

Casey you damn genius.

[@beluskabeluskita]

I know I'm years late, but I just wanted to thank you for putting this up, I really enjoyed this video, so again, thank you so much for all of this!

[@jacobparker4333]

Mustard Gas is reprised a bit at the climax of The Most Cursed of Hands

[@exclamation744]

It's actually "He Said He Had a Story," as its Hunter raging the fuck out about both stories.

[@envycentral7281]

It’s incredible that a band had so many callbacks and yet still there are some missing in here

[@maximeb190]

Casey Crescenzo is a genius, this is incredible! :D I feel like this montage is the best way to intriduce this band to someone, it gives a pretty complete palette of sounds and feelings that are to be discovered through their discography!

[@Shockwave224]

How could I have never noticed the oracles one?? That's like my favorite song, goddamn

[@TTALeapMonster]

It's funny because the Similar Riffs at 31:37 all sound like The Right Wrong from Dear Hunter's latest NON-Act related songs. It's a style by now ^^

[@LABAMBA212]

A night on the town Gloria foreshadowing holy shittttt

[@snake101st]

This is incredible! Can't imagine how much work this took, but once VI is out, this will be a valuable time capsule to Casey's genius work.

[@austinloukas9202]

Great video! I know you missed one pretty hidden one in The Most Cursed of Hands (there is a reprise of the melody of king of swords played very softly on banjo after two of the "Ooh"s). Also I think the end of The Moon is a dark version of the end of Cauda Venenum without lyrics.

[@danielhansen5918]

3:59 album version

[@lukedavies900]

Doesn't surprise me that on of the In Cauda Venenum ones was missed, that's reprised a bunch (Wait, The March, A Night on the Town etc)

[@ApplySomePressure54]

So glad someone else made the Moon/Cauda Venenum correlation I thought I was just crazy

[@jmelara324]

Austin Loukas Having trouble finding these guys

[@banehog]

@@danielhansen5918 I've tried so many times but I just can't hear it, all I hear is the banjo noodling the guitar riff from 3:28 onwards.

[@mythic7071]

Really amazing work. Was going to try to figure all this out on my own, but you did it better than I would have.

[@ArtyomIlyin]

Thank you for this work! Thank you sooo much!

[@baptistemoulin3361]

THAAAAANKS SO MUCH ! This is the best video ever

[@sunpillow]

My heart is happy, thank you for making this !!! : )

[@dearlydevoteddexter]

This is AMAZING!!! I am finally getting to enjoy this...thank you for this!!

[@jt33396]

I really needed this

[@ILoveMussic7]

Thank you so much for making this! I'm writing a project about The Dear Hunter and this will help me a lot!

[@madhya]

the piano accents from chill break in the revival is also a callback to the verse of Mr Malum, from the color spectrum :)

[@andreyofdoom]

So much work went into putting this all together!! Thank you

[@SharpTurnStudios]

Thank you for doing this because yes

[@tomercohen7494]

BLESS YOU!! I love them so much.

[@joerogers5704]

Thank you so much for this.

[@bazildesiles]

You just did a tremendous work of art, I'm kinda new to the dear Hunter's music but it moved me instantly... thank you for what you did, it shows how much his work is well written ! :)

[@Stroopwafels112]

The Pimp and the Priest's motif is also very prominent in 'Blood' where it sounds a bit drunk in free time denoting his demise in Hunter's hands.

[@BAMinNYC]

For "Red Hands Foreshadowing" I threw in a reference to this in "The Old Haunt" from Act IV in the F Horns at 3:31 (in the track, not this video) -- you can also hear it more clearly in "Far Too Many Waves to Try" from The Fox and the Hunt at 3:01 (in the track, not this video)

[@skillander]

Amazing to me that I've never noticed that one before - having just gone to listen it's so obvious! You're an absolute inspiration, Brian.

[@myriadovi]

This is amazing! Thank you!

[@joshlittle3135]

This is brilliant. Thanks!

[@ozharms]

The Acts are one of the most unique things in all of rock music, in my opinion.

[@cameronworgan1986]

I think you may have missed that the lines "she's inanimate, bloodless elegance" is in both The Procession and TLATR, but that could just have been me that missed it in this video. Great work, though! EDIT: Never mind, definitely me that missed it. Pay no attention to me.

[@rnmusic1999]

Cameron Worgan Lyrical reprises are towards the end of the video. I didn't miss that one out :)

[@cameronworgan1986]

reunottagemusic Yeah. I noticed that right after I sent the comment, haha. I was just expecting it at the beginning.

[@callofyoey9926]

wow you did a great job on this props!

[@Aoshi312]

This is amazing. Thank you

[@clairehendrickson-jones701]

well shoot now I gotta listen to all the acts consecutively again. Glad I"m not the only one.

[@brianboyce526]

YOU ARE A HERO!!!!

[@ARWumbo]

This is amazing

[@jc13OM]

GREAT AGAIN !! Thank you !

[@jc13OM]

You added the cover of the albums, i have no words. Thank you again.

[@skyelussion4306]

So, Act V was the first album I heard from them, and I recently started Act IV, and imagine my absolute excitement when I heard the chorus of The Old Haunt

[@axhel22]

great work!

[@marleyshea]

This is really cool

[@occamsaturn]

Mmm this is all I needed

[@tontocorazon]

Awesome video

[@chaeryroses__]

8:57 I've noticed this one in Vital Vessals and Father, but I didnt ever realize until now how used this is until now

[@85Dragonball]

thanks so much!

[@ignaciosalgado4557]

Gloria's foreshadowing also sounds at the end of The Thief