She has a stream where she breaks down the song line by line and basically the song is about her being conflicted about the sudden success and fame she’s facing. She had friends before it and now they look at her like she just got handed something and maybe it felt unfair…She used to wish for the success but now that she has it, her friends have alienated her and in a way she portrays herself like the villain in the story leaving everyone else behind. Then she talks about how she shouldn’t feel like she should be sad because she did hope and pray for this but in the end she just wishes her friends were more “proud of her” for the success instead of comparing themselves. Thanks for reacting scru, love the vids and I hope you do great things 👌

Feels like shes talking about her previous character setup, both as an artist, and the "character" she played to try and fit in alongside the underground Jrap she enjoyed.

Calli said that she wants us to interpret the meaning to all of her songs in our own way. But she explains that this song is something personal, where she reminisces the old times where she looked up to people (which is probably people she got along w/ in the underground Jrap scene) as heroes. But as her popularity rises up, she's considered a "sell-out" by her old peers and heroes. Now she's the "villain" of the story. But she enjoys what she does, she's doing good work, she's financially stable, and she's reaching people. So she feels bad about being successful, but if she stayed where she was, she probably never would have made it either. Which explains the lines at 10:37 & 11:36

MASSIVE Dead Beat here, Calli is one of my favorite creators. I just wanna say I really really appreciate how seriously you take her work. A lot of ppl write her off the second they see the character. "oh shes just an anime girl" type of shit. But shes very clearly a professional writer, rapper, singer. I love how you are always so excited to hear her stuff and give it the respect it deserves even thought you two are from two totally different sides of the spectrum. Thanks a lot Scru. Your respect of Calli and her incredible work has made me a fan! Big Ups!

Cali did a breakdown of her lyrics. The crux of the song was that Cali had some people she looked up to and was friends with, but had gone their separate ways from her as she gained some success. And worse than that, she's dealing with the guilt of feeling like artists that in her mind, are more talented than her, don't see the same success. And some people's jealously tore their friendship apart, only adding to her guilt. Part of her feels like she could have kept those relationships if she didn't become as successful as she is, but at the same time, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she let her opportunity pass her by. It's a clash of conflicting emotions of enjoying the chance to have her music be heard as far out as it does, while missing the things she lost as a result.

Musically, I think is Calli's best song. It's crazy how good I think the production on it is. This song could be a mainstream hit compared the her more indie sounding stuff imo.

10:37 she broke that bar down on a stream where she is feeling upset that there are some rap artists she loves are in a sense looking down on her and she kinda wishes they were proud of her

Scru someone translated this reaction into Japanese (subtitles) so that Calli’s Japanese fans could listen to your breakdown, just wanted you to know you have some international fans

Yes she's talking about her character in a sense. You're almost spot on with that. Basically her friends in the underground rap scene are her heroes. She wanted to come up and be a popular musician and have the fame just like them. But when she got offered this chance as calliope, a vtuber rapper working under a big company like Hololive, those friends seen it as her being HANDED her fame and not really working for it. They seen it as them having to put in HOURS of work and she took the easy route. She's said that all she wanted was for them to be proud of her and acknowledge that she's still doing hard work and she's still an artist. To those "friends" I say, fold your thumb, fold your pinky, fold your index finger, fold your ring finger. This is my present to you.

Scru, it's honestly mind blowing how you are able to figure out these songs so accurately without any of the background information that us deadbeats have. I watched a whole stream where she broke down these lyrics, and I understood the song thanks to that, then I watch you waltz in and completely reverse engineer the song in one sitting and somehow get the same information completely on your own. I almost wish you could catch a clip or two of that stream, just to be shocked at how accurate you are. I mean I seen a lot of your vids now, and your music is great, so it's not a surprise, but it's always a goddamn pleasure watching you just disassemble the music like this. Thanks for doing what you do, Scru.

Something I haven’t seen anyone mention is that she is also talking about the death of the scene she used to belong to completely, with or without her… the ladder falling and shattering all the bars is COVID, killing the bars and killing the music itself

"When you feel it you know" is such a good description of this song. I could feel how genuine the emotions of this song is by how she was singing it

"guess who's... AAA elbow" Scru changed his intro!

He knows we’re called deadbeats, he’s finally fallen down the rabbit hole.

Things I didn't expect to hear in this analysis: a reference to confirmation bias and being aware of your own use of it (what I spend 80% of my BS in Psych explaining to people nowadays). See I knew you knew your craft inside and out, but you're just a flat out introspective/intellectual dude too and I respect that. Always appreciate your breakdowns as a musician myself!

I think you hit the nail on the head that it’s her relationship to her city, at least partly about that. Before she became a famous Vtuber by getting signed by Hololive which was her big break, she was an American girl struggling to make it as a rapper, alone as a foreigner in Tokyo, Japan. And if you think about Tokyo, the labyrinth of lights, it’s a massive city even bigger than New York, you’re a white girl and don’t really fit in (Japan is not easy for foreigners to live in). So while she’s enjoying her success, there’s probably a nostalgia for the struggling artist vibe from when she was trying to make it, which is a life she can never go back to now - that simple life of struggling artist, and the friends that she probably lost along the way to fame. And then what happens when being a vtuber is no longer a thing? As a rapper on her own, is it over, or is her talent enough to keep making music without having to struggle alone?

Scru you gotta react to the lyrical breakdown she did, i really feel you would like it!

"office is a coffin until off is where youre laid" is sneakily her best lyrics yet. I swear shes not just doing internal plus external rhymes shes rhyming 3-5 words per line during the whole section i have NO IDEA what her writing process is but i can only imagine how difficult that mustve been

Cali explains in her breakdown that the song is about her past and how she feels guilty for becoming so successful. She mentioned how she knew friends which she thought were more talented than her but were less successful and less famous. *Almost like survivors guilt* However she did mention the song is up to interpretation so when listening to her music please imagine it to be what you want. This is just how she thought of it

I get the feeling from this song that she really doesn’t know what to say to her old friends. She became VERY successful VERY suddenly, it was almost definitely extremely overwhelming for her. I don’t like to speculate about celebs personal lives bc that’s rude and invasive but the impression I’ve gotten from what she has said to us is that she used to be a teeny tiny performer rapping for a crowd of 50 people, half of which weren’t paying attention, and she had a small group of friends in the same boat. But then she auditioned for some company that most people haven’t heard of and didn’t expect much to come of it, but they signed her on and then she debuted with TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LIVE VIEWERS and she BLEW THE FUCK UP. Nobody expected her to explode like she did. I can imagine all of those friends probably felt hurt and thought she was a sellout or something. She was quoted saying, about this song, ‘I just wanted some of them to be proud of me, and it just didn’t happen.’ Basically, she drastically surpassed all of her former friends/peers, sort of by accident, and likely felt *extremely guilty* about it. And I cannot *possibly* imagine how confusing and conflicting all those feelings are. Really all you can do with feelings like that is put them in song.

Watching your face go from being a thoughtful analyst of a song, to a music fan just vibing and enjoying the song was why I like watching your reactions.

Interestingly, Calli did explicitly say that part of her goal for this song was to keep interpretations vague. She wanted this to mean something a bit different for each person listening to it. Really happy to see you break this down, man! Thank you!

Other Deadbeats correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to recall Calli mentioning before that she did indeed used to write poetry when she was younger. Even possibly won a contest for it unless I’m getting the story mixed up with someone else’s.

I love these breakdowns. This guy is so passionate about music and he clearly has a lot of knowledge/wisdom. This channel should be twice as big, not that its doing bad.

For what I remember on Calli's stream, it is about her struggles in the past and her wanting the recognition of her peers, whether it be everyone from Hololive (Including the Graduated Coco), her friends outside of Hololive, and possibly her life before Hololive. In a sense, she's reflecting on everything.

Calli's genre of music has never been my cup of tea but even I can't deny the talent she has for her craft. This is my first time hearing this song and it is straight up hitting me O_O

This is my favourite song of hers by a mile, it's so raw and transparent, and the instrumental is beautiful too. Makes me choke up every time I listen to it. The themes are so relatable: entering a new stage of life, having to leave behind friends and memories in order to move forward, wanting your heroes to be proud of you. Feelings of guilt, melancholy, and nostalgia. It's so well written. If you have the time, it's definitely worth checking out the stream where she breaks down the lyrics, it gets pretty reflective and emotional, and she paints a really compelling picture of what her old scene was like. Also, it's worth pointing out that Jean mishears one line: "No use in making friends cuz in the end nobody sticks around" which is almost even more tragic than the interpretation that Jean gives. Like she's so used to people leaving that she stops trying completely. It's pretty heartwarming to compare that line to where she is now, surrounded by friends who are all working together and supporting each other. Nice reaction, glad you give Calli the breakdown that she deserves!

Ayyy here he is!

Note that the beat in the background on occasion is that of the train bell when it arrives in Japan. Meaning it's about going home to your normal life.

A' yo, thanks for recognizing that leap in "at the top of our lungs", that is seriously one of the most difficult things you can do as a singer. That leap is a minor 7th coming of the heels of an octave leap and it is seriously so impressive, especially when done in a soft melodic tone of voice. It's actually crazy. I do feel you kinda missed a bar, though. You reacted to the "feel blessed you got it made" but right before that is "stop the pity party, listen you don't get to be dismayed, you don't get to be emotional". I feel the part of "feel blessed" is more to do with the idea that you can't be sad or feel regret when you're successful. Not hating on your breakdown, just felt like you missed the lines leading up to that.

I knew you'd love this one, this is my favorite out of all her songs and even all of demondice's songs. The singing, the instrumental, the beat, the rapping, and especially the lyrics are all just fire and its one of the most raw and introspective tracks she's done. It feels like the actual person just spilling her heart to us about something extremely raw instead of the character Calli talking to us like usual, it feels a bit more real. This could be on the radio and no one would question it.

Singing Calli is my favorite Calli by far as well. This one hit a real good bone.

She's taking voice lessons bro. Hololive keeps getting better.

Honestly I keep watching all of your Calli reacts multiple times. I love the breakdown, and I love how much you seem to enjoy the music. Somehow it makes me enjoy it more in return. Thanks, man.

On 4:30, I think you got the lyrics wrong. The lyrics says "no use in trying to find friends, 'cuz in the end nobody sticks around". Meaning she's not trying to look for a friend. That's why the "but" you are trying to suggest will not fit and the " 'cuz " is just right.

Others have already broken it down, but she definitely deliberately writes her songs to be abstract enough to allow others to find their own meaning. This song just happens to be one she went into a LOT more depth than usual about the personal experiences that informed the lyrics.

Good christ finally. Was waiting for eternity. edit: Thank you for giving this the real breakdown it needed. You called it a number of reactions ago. It sucks watching people just bob their head up and down for a few minutes. Deadbeats appreciate you man. Your new album's 🔥 btw.

I LOVE this song but I find it so hard to listen to because it always ALWAYS hits me. I’ve never been able to listen to it without needing to pull out the tissues. Even with 8bit Drummer’s cover. Even just the first 30 seconds makes me cry. I’m only 3 minutes into the video as I type this but I’m already crying. I’m so thankful for her. For all the sacrifices she had to make to get where she’s at now, for her to become Our Mori.

the horns and keys in this song remind me of jazz rap like works from Nujabes

yooo let's go great breakdown as always, it's actually basically pinpoint accurate, very impressive

"Her music is very layered", just like her favorite ogre Shrek. Not a coincidence

One of the best Scru Face reactions. He has little context and he probably gathered more meaning from this than me in my first listen

THE KING CAME AND FULFILLED THE REQUEST. Thanks for the reaction Scru! May you have a wonder time in the future

Yo Scu! React to Calli's "いじめっ子 Bully" song! (いじめっ子 means Bully btw) You've did a reaction to this song before but it was from her album video. Now it has a MV for it.

Ahhhhh this song, the reason I didn't finish listening to this song because it makes me cry.

Calli isn't a professional vtuber who just happens to make music, she's a professional musician who just happens to be a vtuber.

This one of my favorite Scru Face Jean reactions man. 10/10 breakdown for a 10/10 song from a 10/10 artist to me. Took some time to get here but Scru always delivers.

Every time I watch these sorts of reactions, I always feel grateful to the person reacting because I get to have a better understanding of the song than before and I like it because I get to enjoy the song more now that I know how much effort and talent was put into the song.

I honestly love the way Scru breaks things down and the emotion behind everyone of his videos. Not to mention his music is just straight 🔥🔥!

Based on the lyric deep dive stream she did, you're dead-on with a lot of your interpretations and also about how she writes things intentionally abstract/vague. I also agree with you that this might be my favorite of her work so far. It's not the flashiest or anything, but it's the most "real" of all her songs.

Been waiting for this. LOVE your breakdown of it, and that little moment where everything finally clicks and you're like "yeah that's it" was awesome. Great stuff, dude.

SFJ never disappoints. another dead beat here. I need to watch more of your non-calli videos man. Trust me this song hit us the same way.

it is really cool to see her progression in the style of music

Hey SFJ! As always, your lyrical breakdowns are genuinely appreciated & very close to the artist intention. Calli gave her own interpretation on the song (which cracked up open emotionally just a little). She wrote it (as you said) in a more abstract way as she had something to tell, but wanted others to find their own meaning aswell. There is a lovely positive spin to this though, she did a song with Boogie Vox called "Crown" and it's more of a celebration of making it. So quite meta. (trying to keep this comment brief haha) so ill end by saying if you have the time, please consider doing both of Calli's newest songs.. 3 of them! The Baddest with Moona, and 2 others with Boogie Vox. You have an ear for this stuff so I value your input!!✨😊 🍵🍰

from what I understand part of the song is talking about how when covid hit in Japan all these bars and clubs that her and her friends used to rap and sing at ended up closing down, and these other people basically had to give up their music dream and get ordinary jobs just to keep afloat, while Calli has effectively made her dream come true, but those people are no longer around her and instead of these heroes she had being proud of her for her accomplishments , they are more bitter than anything. In the end those relationships have come to an end, everyone went their separate ways and those people she cared about aren't in her life anymore.

Please react to her lyric breakdown of this song. Its got the feels Great react as always Jean :)

I remember her talking about how she sees herself as the villian and that she wanted the people that she looked up to, to look at her. And that she also lost a few friends because of v tubing which inspired pieces of it.

13:30 she absolutely writes lyrics vague so the listeners can draw their own conclusions from it. Shes said this multiple times and said she personally hates it when a song is TOO specific, where theres no room for interpretation or any way to relate it to your own life. Thats why she does lyric dives after a new release to show people how she meant the lyrics to relate to her, but also leaves it vague enough for people to relate to it however they want

Been waiting for this breakdown. I watched Calliope's entire lyric deep dive and I still feel like I picked up on some angles I hadn't thought of from your video.

If you’re gonna do a react to her new song featuring Boogey Voxx (Japanese language hip hop vsingers) PLEASE whack on the English captions they went to great lengths to translate it so that it still kept the rhyme scheme and meter of his absolutely FIRE Japanese rap

I really love scrus reacting to songs. It doesn't feel staged like how others do.

Been waiting for this since it dropped. I knew it was comin though, I had faith.

Amazing job as always scru! I always look for your video for a reaction since you actually explain your own point of view, and never judged a book by its cover but rather judge by what you see and hear. MUCH LOVE!

She’s growing, that makes it interesting to see

I've been checking daily for this. I love your breakdowns. Glad you got around to it.

i love the fact that we all get the chills during the the first 20 seconds of the song

Ay yo Scru! Our boy Calli arrived!! She signed with Universal Records!!!! Can’t wait for u to analyze Calli’s new songs in the future

Lets goo been pushin for this for a minute

You really get it if you've been in a band and watched your fellow musicians and maybe even yourself drop off from the scene that you all embraced. I can't even express to you the depth at which this song wounds me. I didn't even know it was there until I heard this. Cali found a way to a pain I didn't even know I had until she brought it out. My god.

I was expecting the regular Calli song and was hype about it, but calmed down and just chilled when I first played this song...

Damn. There are a total of five songs that hit me in a way that they make me reminisce and I can connect to in every line. This just made that total six. Now I enjoy music in all forms and genres. But this and the other five can put me in a time, place, and situation.

One of her realest songs ever, new or old

So glad you see your take on it. You always give these reactions from your unique point of view and I always have a good time seeing your perspective on what Mori's laying down, even with her having done a dive on this one. Keep on doing your thing, Scru, appreciate it, and glad you're a fan of this one!

9:34 Probably one of my favorite parts too, so damn good🔥 Been waiting for this video since the song release, great reaction and lyric breakdown, as always! 👏

I was randomly recommended a a Chinese translation of your reaction and it seems they appreciate and respect your insight (as far as google translate tells me, anyway). Almost 200k views on it. Your analysis hits different in all parts of the world!

Man your breakdowns are so good and for me who isn't a native speaker and not very good in english you're a big helping hand.

"No use in trying to find friends, cause in the end nobody sticks around" is hitting me hard today. In the month of July, a two decades friendship of mine has been irreparably damaged because of my so called friends lack of respect and trust. Now I'm trying to find some new meaning to life. I'm looking towards what little family I have left, what few friends i have left, and what my work life will let me have.

Her lyrics mostly have some of her personal experience/story in it, which she always tell and break down in her stream. But she purposedly make it not too specific so everyone who listen the music can relate it to their own and have their own interpretations.

16min video for a 4:48 song, boy's goin' into them DETAILS!

Twilight by Shwabadi go hard please get to it bro

Great video! Love this song so much and its super cool to hear someone so knowledgeable and passionate talk about it!

Think she is talking about the people in the underground rap scene she used to perform with and how she has kinda left them behind to do her vtuber thing

Heeeeey!~ I've been waiting for this one! It's great to see you finally reacting to End of A Life, and seeing you enjoy it so much made my day! This is probably my favorite song of hers so far as well. I love her music in general, but it has been great seeing Calli progress and improve as she goes on. The instrumentation, vocals, art, and production all around is just way too on point with this one! A lot of what you were hitting on matches up to some degree of what she's said about her intentions behind the lyrics, but she also came out and said that she loves seeing everyone drawing their own meanings from and making their own connections to the lyrics. As a fan of both you and Calli, I enjoyed seeing which parts of the song you could relate to and hearing your take on the lyrics overall. Anyways, keep up the great work (congrats on the album release!) and thanks for the reaction! Better late than never! 😉

BRO, I LOVE IT. Your breakdowns man, I really needed it.

One can clearly see you loved this song man, thank you so much for the reaction video!

I'm so glad you got to react to this! "end of a life" is such a heartfelt and sincere song. I feel like we can all relate to it in one way or another and find some deep personal meaning within it but I really gotta hand it to you for coming so close to the meaning Calliope imbued within the song. Another fantastic reaction from you, and as always I really appreciate how far you go with breaking the song down not just lyrically but also through a music production lens.

Been waiting for this one!!!! Nice reaction as always!!

in regards to her poetic rap that shouldnt surprise anyone since iirc she did say that her greatest inspiration was eminem and his alt/social rap

i been waiting for this scru. im glad you like this one. i felt this so hard….. its so personal. seeing calli talk about her own song hits even harder.

She has talked about it, but basically she lost friends when she started working for hololive. When she started working with holilive she made friends that were more like teammates than just like temporary project collabs.

I was waiting for this one from you, and I knew we'd get it sooner rather than later. As usual, I really enjoyed it.

Your breakdowns are great, man. Even the little rants. They all contribute.

This is why she's my favorite vtuber

Love your lyric breakdowns, nobody else does it like you!! This song is pretty different compared to her other stuff but I agree the hook is so good. Thanks for the great reaction!

this song cut pretty deep

Good art leaves room for interpretation. There is no manifesto from de Vinci explaining the Mona Lisa. Half the fun is asking yourself if your ideas are near the mark, or if you're reading too deep.

My favorite song of hers as well. Thanks for the insight you provide

Love to see you react to more demo dice stuff: sick outta fashion, dice of a generation, or american saikoro

Aye this the one i been waiting on

To me, this song feels like she is singing about the contrast between who she was before, and who she is now. She was independent before, dealing with the struggles and particular hardships that came with it. The relationships she's made in doing so. Then, there's the life she's in now. More successful and well known, a member of a bigger group run by a corporation and dealing with the new hardships, struggles, and relationships within. I don't think that she is saying that she dislikes her current life or her old life. But its undeniably different, and I think that naturally comes with worries and doubts, countless "what ifs" and "if only I had done ___" that come with it. I feel like this song is her vocalizing how she feels in her head as she tries (or tried) to come to grips with the situation. Its beautiful.