I've long stopped restraining myself from being self-indulgent in the way I write canon characters.
Spamton, as he exists in my AU, might as well be his own original character, and rather than agonizing over having an inaccurate representation of his character or wondering whether I'm interpreting the Themes™ correctly or how many people would scream "HE WOULD NOT SAY THAT!!" at me, I've just decided that I'm happier just having fun instead.
My interpretation of Spamton is very personal, and when so much of his journey as a character reminds me of my own experiences, having a playlist to listen to while I imagine his story and the ups and downs that follow him, has proven to be rather comforting.
As of writing this, the playlist is about 4 hours and 50 minutes, which I'm rather proud of hahaha
The SCM Playlist on the side should include all the songs in order if you want to listen to them if you don't want to bother with using Spotify like I do :)
Note that the playlist widget does not load on mobile screens (I have yet to test whether if it does on tablets), so if you don't see it, then refer to the Spotify playlist above or seek out the songs yourself :)
Song Explanations
Beginnings & Addison Era
The Fine Print
Spam did not choose the Addison life, spawned from a batch, he was set apart from the very start.
A chunk of his code had been missing, causing him to be born colourless, with a shorter stature and a broken voice that made him glitch and stutter.
But the Addison life does not wait for him, it was not made for those like him. Addisons love to work, Addisons love to sell, but Spam doesn't feel that way.
Did he think it was supposed to be fun?
Welcome to space
What were you expecting?
It's a dangerous place
Thank you for investing
Go there for your rota
There for your orders
Fill up these quotas
We'll bill for your quarters
Report to your foreman
But watch for marauders
'Cause if you get eaten
There's fees for your mourners
Prosperity's there in the care of magnates
In Halcyon heaven awaits!
Did you think it was supposed to
Look like the poster?
I picture Spam looking at his own defective self and comparing himself to the other Addisons...
It mostly does
Oh, if you'd only read closer
Just ten short years to a new frontier
Snooze as you cruise
And you'll wake up here!
You've been trapped in that ship
For an awful long time
So perhaps you have simply forgot what you signed
Oh, honestly?
Did you not read the colony policy?
That defines you as company property?
That waivers your say in autonomy?
The conglomerate's got you in lock and key
We put the dollar back into idolatry
If you're upset, you can rent an apology
We are a family forged in bureaucracy
No "I" in "team, " but there's "con" in "economy"
Were you expecting adventure?
Were you hoping for fun? Spam starts wondering why the Addison work doesn't fulfil him the same way it appears to fulfil the other Ads :(
My friend, you're indentured
And pleasure's exempt from your tenure
So venture back down to your slum
That's provided at generous prices
Your worth is determined by your sacrifices
Spam ends up adopting the mindset that suffering is the key to success... And if he's in pain, it's all but part of it.
A small term of service when down on the surface
Internment's a freebie that comes with the purchase
We work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to give
Ourselves the right to buy
Ourselves the right to live
To earn the right to die
Welcome to our little town
Why don't you settle down?
Here, just fill out the paperwork
And you can look around
We're happy as can be
Happy smiling Addisons...
Inside the valley cannery
We live to pack the cans of meat
And not to question where it's found
Until we end up in the ground
Around the corner in the yard
You know, we thought we liked the sound
Of finding glory in the stars
The board has taught us to be proud
Of never reaching very far
So we earn what we're allowed
And give it right back at the bar
This line particularly makes me think of Spamton and the Addisons all eating at the Cyber Grill as a break from all the grind.
The ale to cure what ails ya
Zero Gee Brew, your favourite flavour
So work 'til you bleed, ennobled by labour
Then purchase relief from your local retailer!
If you'd rather drop dead, that's fine
But you know that dropping down dead bears a fine
So you do your job and I'll do mine
I gotta meet a six foot deep bottom line
We make a fortune for the board
By selling boredom door to door
Because it's all that we deserve
And it is all we can afford
The secrets of the universe
And all the worlds to be explored
But our dreams are back on Earth
And now the work is our reward
And you'll be grateful
For seats at the table
Though it dips at one end
And the bench is unstable
You may waste your days
But at least you were able
To pay off your grave
Since we leased you your cradle
Be faithful and pray
We'll repay what you invest
Behave as you slave
For humanity's interest
This almost serves as a paralel to how Darkners' entire existence resides around serving Lightners...
On account that you're all on account
And we're quickly amounting
Humanity's interest
You'd think that we'd sink
To the brink of rebellion
With markets dependent
On peddling weapons
The architect tells them
The secret to Heaven
Is simply consuming
Whatever we sell them
We work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to work
To earn the right to give
Ourselves the right to buy
Ourselves the right to live
To earn the right to die
You should have read the fine print, my friend
Should have read the fine print
You should have read the fine print, my friend
Should have read the fine print
Welcome to our little town
Why don't you settle down?
Here, just fill out the paperwork
And you can look around
We work and then we work
And then we work and then we work
And then we work and then we work
And then we end up in the ground
Welcome to our little town
Why don't you settle down?
Here, just fill out the paperwork
And you can look around
You should have read the fine print, my friend
Should have read the fine print
Here and here and initial here
Welcome to the family!
Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star)
Now everyone can see me burning.
Inspired by the original context this song was originally used in, I can imagine a young hopeful Addispam dreaming of an idealized celebrity version of himself.
He doesn't really see himself as capable of reaching this goal, but it's always nice to dream, is it not?
Applied to Spamton's context, it feels like such a hopeful song, and yet, the darker implications can't help but stand out...
I can't help it if I make a scene
Stepping out of my hot pink limousineStepping out of my hot pink cungadero : ^)
I'm turning heads and I'm stopping traffic
When I pose, they scream
And when I joke, they laugh
I've got a pair of eyes that they're getting lost in
I hypnotize by my way I'm walking
I've got them dazzled like a stage magician
When I point, they look
And when I talk, they listenDefective and unlucky, Spam craves to be heard...
Well, everybody needs a friend
And I've got you, and you, and you
So many I can't even name them
Can you blame me? I'm too famous
Just this entire section is so... Big Shot era.
Haven't you noticed that I'm a star?
I'm coming into view as the world is turning
Haven't you noticed I've made it this far?
Now everyone can see me burning
Now everyone can see me burning
Now everyone can see me burning
"Burning" feels like such omminous foreshadowing...
Life Itself
This is one of those Obligatory Spamton Playlist Songs and I feel like it can fit him in many different ways...
My personal interpretation is of my Spam in his early Addison years, feeling like a leech to his more experienced siblings. Desperately wishing to be more than the mediocre state he's in.
But this song could also fit post-Big Shot era… I hear those first lines and I can't help but think of my Mike and how his tough love was pretty hit or miss for Spamton…
That context aside, I feel it fits an early Addispam desperately trying to fit with the others.
Daddy was dumb, said that I'd be something special
Brought me up tough but I was a gentle human
Mike was kind of like a parental figure to Spamton, but he had a tough love approach, and Spam couldn't always keep up with it.
Said that he loved each of my two million freckles
When I grew up, was gonna be a superstar
I can't get a job so I live with my mom
I take her money but not quite enough
The "mom" being Spamton's Addison siblings constantly giving him hand-me-downs since he can't afford things on his own.
I sit in the car and I listen to static
She said I look fat but I look fantastic
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
Spam so badly wants to be like the other Addisons, but the pressure is suffocating to him.
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
I'm waking up, lost in boxes outside Tesco
Look like a bum, sipping codeine Coca-Cola
Thought that I was northern Camden's own Flash Gordon
Sonic raygun, gonna be a superstar
I imagine Spamton in the future, looking back at who he's become...
I can't get a job so I live with my mom
I take her money but not quite enough
I make my own fun in grandmama's basement
Said I look mad, she said I look wasted
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
Come back down to my knees
Gotta get back, gotta get free
Come back down to my knees
Be like them, lean back and breathe
TALES OF DOMINICA
More early Addispam songs. Primarily focusing on Spam finally being out on his own after living with his siblings, realizing he can't get the Addison job right and struggling to find his footing.
Yet, he clings to hope and refuses to go back to his siblings and get help.
He's been called faulty and defective all his life, and sometimes hard work just isn't enough, but he's stubborn enough to keep pushing.
Woke up on the floor
Oh, this plastic bed don't blow up no more
Addispam just living at his lowest
In this broken home
Everyone becomes predictable
Oh, sometimes you're angry
Sometimes you're hurting
Sometimes you're all alone
Sometimes I'm anxious
Sometimes it makes me
Feel like there's only now
Ive been living in my lowest, it's safe to say
Hope my little bit of hope don't fade away
I've been living on an island made from fate
Can't go running back to home, I can't face her face (oh)
The "her" being the Addisons, as Spam refuses to go back to living with them and admit he can't sustain himself on his own...
Oh, finally grown, ain't nothing like I hoped it would be
Spam is excited to be an Addison, but his struggle leaves him underwhelmed...
Out on my own, I'm floating in an ocean-less sea
Could I be wrong? Was everybody right about me?
All his life, Spam has been called defective and incompetent and he wonders if there's truth to these claims...
Scary things in my head, I can't dream and I just
Woke up on the floor
Oh, this plastic bed don't blow up no more (oh)
In this broken home
Everyone becomes predictable
Oh, sometimes you're angry
Sometimes you're hurting
Sometimes you're all alone
Sometimes I'm anxious
Sometimes it makes me
Feel like there's only now
I've been living in my lowest, it's safe to say
Hope my little bit of hope, don't fade away
I've been living on an island made from fate
Can't go running back to home, I can't face her face
Ooh
Ooh
One Little Slip
One of those songs that's just here because of vibes :)
I suppose the Slip could be interpreted as something more significant, but in my context, it's just a clumsy Addison Spam questioning song.
Yet he's eager to prove everyone wrong about their assumptions of him.
TBA
Invincible
General vibes song :)
My Spamton has never been a "White" Addison. He's defective and was born colourless, which is reflected in his pale complexion.
He's often seen himself as a null. A white canvas. A blank. Invisible. But he wants to be more than that.
TBA
Living in the City
Not much to this one :) I like Sonic music and Sonic R has bangers all around.
I'm thinking of this one as a tiny Addispam in a big Cyber City kind of vibe…
TBA
One Last Hope
Spamton meets Mike! This one is especially fitting since this IS my Mike's voiceclaim!
He's a tiny but tough mentor and he's going to turn this small defective Addison into the biggest of Big Shots that the world has ever seen, even if it's the last thing he does! They're quick to bond and once the ball starts rolling, it's smooth sailing from then on!
They're both so starstruck at this era of their life, everything is new and exciting for Spamton and there's nothing he wants more than to make Mike proud!
TBA
Hidden Potential
This playlist has a lot of songs that are cross-posted with my Mike and Host playlist and this is one of them. They both are Spamton's mentors, but Mike is the tougher voice while Host is a more subtle presence.
Regardless, they are just as hopeful to make this Addison become as successful as he can be. I do like the alternating vocals on this one because it's easy for me to imagine M&H's different personalities through it.
TBA
I'm Still Here
Mike and Spamton song. This is a big comfort song for me…
Spamton's POV, he's bonding with Mike but also questioning things. No one has ever dedicated this much of their time to helping him succeed. At some point, Spamton started to come to Mike not for work help but just general advice.
And Spamton is realizing that his dream life isn't as out of reach as he initially thought. And his old self is still here to make it happen.
TBA
My Ordinary Life
Another cliche Spamton playlist song, but sometimes things just fit like that, don't they?
Spamton is moving up in life and things are starting to look up. But the price of this is him becoming more and more detached from those closest to him, particularly his family. He's trying to stay humble, but it's getting hard to find the balance between who he was and who he's becoming.
He wants success but soon learns that it comes with others regarding him as distant and untouchable.
TBA
The Travelling Song
But it's not all bad. When his siblings no longer recognize him, Spamton is meeting new people and learning that he no longer has to live in a world where he feels out of place. Plus the [ HEAVEN ] mentions only feel appropriate in his context :)
