So the question came: what to do? What could I possibly talk about to emphasize what an incredible ride this show has been? Well, in keeping with the theme of this blog, I felt it only appropriate to talk about one of the show's best out of many aspects: the music.
Friendship Is Magic may have one of the greatest soundtracks of any television show I've ever seen. Musical numbers that range from sweeping, grand, symphonic orchestras to great character pieces to just incredibly catchy and memorable tunes, lead songwriter Daniel Ingram has crafted some fantastic music for this series, and now only seems like the appropriate time to look back on and pay tribute to 5 (so far!) seasons of excellent work.
The only rule here is no short-form or throwaway songs. I'm only going to be picking songs a minute-20 or longer. So, no Equestria The Land I Love or Behold Princess Twilight Sparkle, unfortunately.
Also, I'm going to be talking about these songs with the knowledge of their context within their respective episodes (in other words, spoilers), so it'd be a good idea to watch these episodes before we go into them. Or just watch them because they're great episodes. Seriously, this is a fantastic show, watch it.
And now, sit back, grab some cider, and let's get the party started.
10
The Cutie Map is hands-down the darkest episode of Friendship Is Magic to date. Playing around with concepts of cults, marxist ideologies, loss of identity, and brainwashing, The Cutie Map successfully proved the show could not only do heartwarming, adorable, emotional, and action-packed; it could also do outright scary and creepy (in a good way, of course.).
Don't believe me that a show like this can pull off creepy? Just listen to this.
#10. "In Our Town"
(S5E1, "The Cutie Map", Part 1)
Starlight Glimmer is my favorite villain in the series, as she represents one of my favorite villain types, the master manipulator. In this episode, she was portrayed in the most creepy light possible, showing just how gleeful she was in manipulating and twisting ponies into giving up their identities and becoming unidentifiable husks of themselves.
That sadistic joy comes through in this song, and that helps it be all the more unsettling. Ingram stated this song was inspired by World War 2-era propaganda music, and it shows. Listen to that upbeat, high-spirit instrumentation and then really listen to the lyrics. They're such a happy and optimistic depiction of such a horrifying concept, made even scarier with the knowledge that Starlight planted this idea into their heads not through magical mind control or anything like that, but her own sadistic forms of manipulation. It shows just what a real, sociopathic monster Starlight is and makes her actions feel all the scarier. Some of these lines ("you can't have a nightmare if you never dream") are absolutely unsettling because of this.
The Cutie Map and especially In Our Town is one of the few times the show has pulled of what could be classified as genuine horror. It's unsettling and disturbing in all the best of ways, and it shows just how far the writers are willing to go with darker, higher-concept stuff, which is just awesome.
9
Say, what happens when you cross My Little Pony with something right out of The Nightmare Before Christmas?
Something awesome.
#9. "Stop The Bats"
(S4E7, "Bats")
Stop The Bats is one of the series' most compelling musical numbers for quite a few reasons.
Most of this song's strengths come from style and tone. Simply put, this song is dark, and for different reasons than In Our Town. In Our Town was dark because of the discomforting implications and subjects of the lyrics and the contrast between them and the song's very upbeat, peppy tone. Here, the darkness lies in the tone completely. Yes, this song sounds like something straight out of a Tim Burton film, specifically in the instrumentation during Applejack's segments. It's brooding and sinister, almost gothic in a way, matching perfectly with Applejack's pure resentment and anger in her vocals and lyrics, showing off Ashleigh Ball's incredible vocal chops in a big way.
Of course, the song really becomes fascinating when Fluttershy is added into the mix, as her segments sound like a completely different song yet still fitting in perfectly. Her segments provide a perfect contrast to those of Applejack, as her defense of the Bats comes with much softer, brighter instrumentation, and provides and excellent contrast in tone and motivation to Applejack.
The conflict itself is very compelling as well. The two have complete opposite opinions on how to deal with the situation, and the way they constantly bring up points against each other paints the conflict as if neither side is technically correct, and that helps the song paint one of the most compelling conflicts we've seen within the Mane 6 in the entire series.
And don't even get me started of that little hate chant at the end. That... that's just haunting.
8
Pinkie Pie is a character I've long had massive admiration for. Her journey to spread happiness and laughter to everyone around her and her perseverance to keep positive and optimistic in the face of fear or doubt is something I admire heavily. Her goal is to spread perpetual happiness and joy, regardless of circumstance, and she's someone I truly look up to in that regard.
And in all her great moments, there's one song, one song from this show that makes me fall in love with this character all over again every single time. A song that showcases all of Pinkie's best traits at once and I consider to be one of her highest moments.
And no, it's not the one you're thinking of.
#8. "Pinkie's Lament"
(S4E12, "Pinkie Pride")
Pinkie's Lament is a brilliant showcase of how much you can do with with a musical number. In what would normally take a very long-drawn out scene, this song tells a very powerful and heartwarming story and hits every emotional chord it can in just two minutes.
Not to discredit The Smile Song or anything (in fact you can consider that the honorary #11), but I feel this is Pinkie's best musical portrayal to date, and a lot of that comes down to pure emotion.
I mean, the first minute or so of this song is genuinely heartbreaking. It's rare that we see Pinkie feel so defeated and down, but the way her sadness is conveyed still fits perfectly with the Pinkie we've come to know and love. Lines like:
I've put away my party cannon,
I've deflated all my balloons
, would probably sound ridiculous out of context of the character or the situation, but when put in context, they actually become very striking and powerful. Seeing her in this state and showing how she handles it with utter defeat is genuinely sad to see. We've rooted for her in the past because of her undying optimism, so to see her in shambles like this is just heartbreaking.
But then we get to the second half of this song, and this is where everything wonderful about Pinkie really shines through. She comes to realize once again what her passion is; spreading happiness, especially to her loved ones. All I can say is that this is the reason I love Pinkie Pie. Just read some of these lyrics:
Oh, look at those happy faces
All the parties that I had thrown
I made them laugh, had such a blast,
a smile that's all their own
they loved seeing me, the real Pinkie
show them a time of their life like they've never known,
like they've never known
These lines almost make me cry tears of joy whenever I hear them. It's such a triumphant moment, where Pinkie finally comes to understand just how much her parties and general optimism mean to her and the ponies she cares about. It's a truly touching moment.
Pinkie's Lament and Pinkie Pride cemented Pinkie in my Top 5 favorite characters of the series, and it stands as one of her greatest moments. If this song goes down with the same if not even higher legacy than The Smile Song, I honestly wouldn't complain.
7
5 Seasons.
I took us 5. Seasons. To finally get a Rainbow Dash solo song.
And I'm not even gonna complain, because oh boy, was it worth the wait.
#7. "I'll Fly"
(S5E4, "Tanks For The Memories")
Tanks For The Memories is undoubtedly one of the greatest episodes of the series. Its handling of such a serious subject matter as a close one's death was exceptional, and Rainbow's reaction in the face of it, perfectly demonstrating the stages of grief while still keeping Rainbow recognizably herself, was handled beautifully, not to mention tons of brilliant jokes and references that kept the episode funny and entertaining without downgrading the emotion or message of the episode whatsoever. It's a brilliant piece of television, and Rainbow's first solo song is the icing on the proverbial cake.
Musically, I'll Fly is one of the most enjoyable songs in the show from a personal standpoint. I'm a sucker for a good rollicking guitar groove and some big orchestral flourishes. This song has sort of a pop-punk feel to it, and I love me some pop-punk.
But of course, the star of the show is Rainbow Dash herself. I've already touched on what a fantastic singer Ashleigh Ball is, and this is one of her best performances on the show to date.
This song also holds a very special place in the episode. All of Rainbow's concern through Tank, to the point of going to what could be considered absolutely insane measures, are all made completely understandable through this song. The fear of loneliness, the care for her friend, the idea of her actions being necessary, it's all there and portrayed in a very sympathisable and believable light. It makes the emotions of the episode that much stronger.
What else can I say except that it's one of the best parts of one of the series' finest hours.
6
The Best Night Ever is a really underrated episode.
I mean, I get why not many people talk about it. It's certainly the least impressive of the season finales, on a much smaller scale and hasn't had near the show-wide impact of Magical Mystery Cure or Twilight's Kingdom.
That said, I don't want to discredit this episode. Despite not being as spellbinding or massive as its followers, it's still a very clever, funny episode with a wonderful atmosphere and six very well-done and highly entertaining storylines that intertwine very well, and all the episode's highlights come together beautifully in the song.
Instead of one massive musical number, At The Gala plays out like a series of short vignettes, all of which are absolutely wonderful, and the song pulls them all together perfectly.
Each of the Mane 6 gets their respective moments to shine, and each of their verses is fantastic and takes on a whole new tone and idea surrounding the event and fits each of them perfectly. It provides a very interesting look into how each character wants the Gala to play out and makes the rest of the episode all the funnier when their plans inevitably crash and burn.
My favorite of the segments is easily Rainbow's. Ball's vocals are as fantastic as always, and the music turns more heavy and almost rock-ish, which I love. A close second would go to either Pinkie or Twilight's segment, Pinkie bringing her character enthusiasm and joy makes her a blast to see, and Twilight's segment is just gorgeous.
If I were to rank all 6 of them, favorite to least favorite, it'd probably go: Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity.
At The Gala has everything great about the music in this show. It's grand, full of heart, very diverse, and above all, just wonderful.
I mean, I get why not many people talk about it. It's certainly the least impressive of the season finales, on a much smaller scale and hasn't had near the show-wide impact of Magical Mystery Cure or Twilight's Kingdom.
That said, I don't want to discredit this episode. Despite not being as spellbinding or massive as its followers, it's still a very clever, funny episode with a wonderful atmosphere and six very well-done and highly entertaining storylines that intertwine very well, and all the episode's highlights come together beautifully in the song.
#6. "At The Gala"
(S1E26: "The Best Night Ever")
Each of the Mane 6 gets their respective moments to shine, and each of their verses is fantastic and takes on a whole new tone and idea surrounding the event and fits each of them perfectly. It provides a very interesting look into how each character wants the Gala to play out and makes the rest of the episode all the funnier when their plans inevitably crash and burn.
My favorite of the segments is easily Rainbow's. Ball's vocals are as fantastic as always, and the music turns more heavy and almost rock-ish, which I love. A close second would go to either Pinkie or Twilight's segment, Pinkie bringing her character enthusiasm and joy makes her a blast to see, and Twilight's segment is just gorgeous.
If I were to rank all 6 of them, favorite to least favorite, it'd probably go: Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity.
At The Gala has everything great about the music in this show. It's grand, full of heart, very diverse, and above all, just wonderful.
5
Ah, Magical Mystery Cure. I could go on and on and on about this episode, and I probably will someday, but this episode deserves absolutely 0% of the hatred it gets.
Magical Mystery Cure is hands-down my favorite episode of the entire series, and every time I watch it it only grows better and better. It's a practically flawless episode, the story is conveyed excellently through both the music and the characters, the emotions are heavy, and Twilight becoming a princess was the best decision the show ever made, opening up new paths for stories and development that the show took full advantage of.
Then there's the songs. One of the unfounded complaints bitchers like to lob at this episode is that the songs suck. Now, that's not a fair criticism at all, seeing how music is almost entirely subjective, and they don't take away from the episode because they don't detract from the plot at all. In fact, quite the opposite. The songs carry the story and emotion of the episode masterfully and manage to squeeze the episode's big story into 22 minutes without it feeling rushed.
You can't say an episode is bad just because you don't like the songs. I swear, the baseless bullshit people spew at the episode just because they don't like princess Twilight because they can't handle change and refuse to look at his episode even the slightest bit fairly... I forgot where I was going. Anyway, A True True Friend.
#5. "A True, True Friend"
(S3E13, "Magical Mystery Cure")
Much like the episode as a whole, A True True Friend does an excellent job capturing the themes and the overall feeling of the show.
MLP is very optimistic, uplifting, and wondrous, and shows what a wonderful thing friendship is, and this song captures all those themes beautifully, and because of that proves to be one of the series' most potent songs. It's the everything about the show show in its purest form; a beautiful, emotionally powerful piece about friendship and the beauty that can be found within it.
Also, the song is just composed fantastically. It's got this shiny and happy acoustic riff at first, but it just builds and builds as each member of the group is restored, the orchestral arrangements and larger and larger scope of each movement make the song really feel like a big, important moment. Seriously, that final chorus sends shivers down my spine.
It's not the best song in Magical Mystery Cure, but it's still a damn close second.
MLP is very optimistic, uplifting, and wondrous, and shows what a wonderful thing friendship is, and this song captures all those themes beautifully, and because of that proves to be one of the series' most potent songs. It's the everything about the show show in its purest form; a beautiful, emotionally powerful piece about friendship and the beauty that can be found within it.
Also, the song is just composed fantastically. It's got this shiny and happy acoustic riff at first, but it just builds and builds as each member of the group is restored, the orchestral arrangements and larger and larger scope of each movement make the song really feel like a big, important moment. Seriously, that final chorus sends shivers down my spine.
It's not the best song in Magical Mystery Cure, but it's still a damn close second.
4
All four princesses are singing, your argument is invalid.
#4. "You'll Play Your Part"
(S4E25, "Twilight's Kingdom", Part 1)
This is how you start a season finale.
Throughout Season 4, people wondered if Twilight's princesshood was going to lead to anything large. It finally did with Twilight's Kingdom, and boy is this song wasn't a way to kick things off.
Twilight is one of the most emotionally investive and consistently growing characters in the show, and her worries about princesshood and the implications of what is essentially growing up create a very serious, mature, and even in ways relatable conflict that added a lot of real depth to Twilight's character while simultaneously kicking the "perfect pretty princess" stereotype of other media directly in the face, and oh what a wonderfully cathartic kick it is.
This song does a wonderful job on conveying that emotion. Through her part of the song, we feel Twilight's struggle, her pain, and it's genuine. We've seen her have trouble adapting to her life as a princess throughout Season 4, going through many personal hardships and struggles, and we've sympathized with her all along the way, which is what helps this song hit all the emotional chords it does, especially when the other princesses come in and comfort her, assuring her that one day, she will, in fact, play her part in all this, and as comforting as their words are, Twilight still feels unsure. That's where this song's power comes from; it shows Twilight's struggle and how even if words of encouragement can help her, they won't solve everything, which makes it all the more compelling.
Also, this is one of the most beautiful songs Ingram has ever composed. The guitars, harps, operatic vocals... it all comes together to something that's just unbelievably gorgeous.
I've seen people complain that this song was unnecessary, but that's really not true. This song was needed to fuel to emotional conflict of Twilight, otherwise the rest of the episode wouldn't carry the same weight. It's not just a retread of Twilight's uselessness as a princess, because it has Celestia, Luna, and Cadence there reminding Twilight of her importance, providing another point of view on her conflict and this fleshing it out more, again helping make the episode all the more compelling.
And really, even if it did technically serve no purpose, who cares? It's still an utterly beautiful song, and easily the best of Season 4.
3
Some musical numbers are good.
Some musical numbers are great.
And some musical numbers are so damn amazing they alone can elevate an episode into true greatness.
Case in point...
#3: "I'm Just A Pony"
(S5E24: "The Mane Attraction")
I mean... oh man, this song. This song single-handedly elevated The Mane Attraction from a good episode to one of the best of the entire season. MLP has always had a thing for Broadway-style musical numbers, so bringing in an actual Broadway actress and singer for an episode was a brilliant idea, especially given the fact that it genuinely feels like something straight out of a Broadway musical. It's massive, it's sweeping, from a purely musical standpoint it's one of the series' most impressive showcases to date.
As expected, Lena Hall's performance is phenomenal. Not a bit of her talent is wasted as her vocals are striking and passionate. She just belts it out and it's absolutely stunning. The song's message, about staying true to yourself no matter what and coming to realize who you are, is an especially powerful one and serves as the best possible way to deliver the episode's moral.
Honestly, I don't know what else to say. This is an Emmy-worthy song with a phenomenal singer and a beautiful orchestra coexisting to create a song this is truly striking. Well done, Daniel Ingram. You have outdone yourself.
2
I try not to be too obvious when it comes to the higher-up entries on these lists, but let's be honest, anyone who knows MLP saw this coming a light year away.
#2. "This Day Aria"
(S2E26: "A Canterlot Wedding", Part 2)
I mean, do I even have add anything here? This song has already collected every high praise, rave, and award imaginable, and it god damn deserves it.
This Day Aria is one of the great villain songs. This song has been compared to golden-age Disney a number of times, and the comparison is just about there. I've long said that if any current-day animated brand could compete with golden-age Disney, it would be Friendship Is Magic, and This Day Aria is the golden example of that, as this is a villain song right on par with those of Disney's golden-age classics.
The two halves of this song play off each other masterfully, and while Chrysalis' portion, which just oozes of all the greatness you'd expect from a really good villain song, is fantastic, is definitely think real Cadence's portion is my favorite, as it's definitely the most emotional performance seen in a musical number from this show to date.
The animation, music, and imagery in every second of this song are absolutely *beautiful*, and they all add together to feel truly grand, as well as just plain gorgeous to listen to and look at.
I'd say more, but then I'd just start to be redundant. This song is already widely hailed as a masterpiece, and with a very good reason: because it is.
And that leaves us with just one question: what could possibly top This Day Aria?
1
Very few episodes of any television show have thoroughly impressed and struck me like Magical Mystery Cure. The episode is an incredibly emotional experience, and most of that emotion comes from seeing the growth, development, and even downfalls of our main character Twilight.
Twilight has had the most compelling storyline of any character in the whole show, as we've seen her in both her high points and her failures, where we could relate to her struggles and be proud of her accomplishments.
So when the time came to finally give Twilight her ascension into the next stage of her life, they did it right.
Man, did they do it right.
#1: "Celestia's Ballad"
(S3E13, Magical Mystery Cure)
I'll come right out an say this isn't just the best song of the series; this scene is the best moment in the entire series.
As the biggest moment in our main character's life, Celestia's Ballad holds the most emotion of any moment in the series. This is the moment Twilight has been reaching for pretty much since the moment she got her cutie mark, and it serves and a beautiful way of recapping Twilight's life, showing how she's overcome her many flaws, her struggles, and her adversity to friendship.
This song does something very few moments in animation have; actually make me feel proud of the character. Not just happy for them, actively proud of them. I honestly feel proud of Twilight for all she's accomplished and reaching this milestone, and as such, the song hits a very heavy and personal chord. Any show can make you feel happy for a character, but to actually create such a close personal bond between viewer and character is something it takes incredible talent, care, and love when crafting these characters to do. I won't lie, this song makes me tear up. In fact, the last few seconds of this song (right up to Twilight's reveal) sends shivers down my spine. It's a very emotional experience, and in my opinion, this scene, from beginning to end, is the best moment in the entire series.
Magical Mystery Cure is a shining example of what makes Friendship Is Magic so wonderful. For a franchise that was once the literal Satan of animation, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has really come to its own as a series not only worth watching, but worth cherishing and celebrating, and that is a truly impressive feat.
So here's to Season 5, and may tomorrow's finale impress and inspire as many episodes before it have. I'm FlamingScribblenaut, and remember: friendship truly is magic.
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