Miracle Musical is a branch band started by a few members of the popular band Tally Hall. Miracle Musical made the album “Hawaii: Part II”, covering various indie, alternative, and pop genres to create the feeling of a symphony using modern day production technology and instruments. To me each of the eleven songs on the album encompasses a unique feeling to tell a story, these range from bliss, to floating on the clouds, to being on a boat rocking at sea, and ending with the acceptance of mortality. The concluding song in the album especially shows this, as it takes its listener on a lyrical and musical journey through many emotions, seeming to provide the solution to the question of purpose in life the album seems to ask. 

     Throughout the album major and minor keys are alternated to keep the listener engaged; because of this, no two songs on the album will have the same feeling, with the minor exception of the first and last song on the album. The album begins with a piano intro in the key of C Major in “Introduction to the Snow” before the lyrics which seem to guide the entire album “alone at the edge of a universe” are sung. These lyrics loop to the final song of the album “Dream Sweet in Sea Major” which uses a revised version of “Introduction to the Snow” to end the album as it started creating a musical bow tie ending.     

        Hawaii: Part II tells a story of a journey from loss and blissful denial, to pain and regret, to a final acceptance. In the beginning a narrator sings blissfully despite being “alone at the edge of the universe”. The theme of the album as a whole seems to be being lost at sea, it uses this theme to explore the emotion of the situation and draws parallels to emotional situations in life regarding loss, loneliness, and death. The singer of this album could be referred to as a sailor lost at sea which becomes increasingly clear in the songs on the second half of the album “Labyrinth”, “Time Machine”, “Stranded Lullaby”, and most of all in “Dream Sweet in Sea Major”. Simultaneously, the singer seems to be a man in a mental hospital, convicted of a crime he committed receiving shock therapy after numerous escape attempts, finally breaking him which may explain his blissful acceptance of the cessation of his existence in “Dream Sweet in Sea Major”. In the guise of this sailor and mental institution patient, the singer reviews elements of his past, noting on how there are places where he is stuck, likely due to past traumatic events and ends of relationships. 

     Throughout the album, a woman singing is used in the background which is likely meant to be thought of as a siren. Not only does this fit the theme of the work, but it also is symbolic of the blissful ignorance one has walking towards their own demise which this album aims to show. This is seen when the songwriter, Joe Hawley, specifically in the song “Murders” tells a story of a boy and a girl. This song shows emotional immaturity in both himself and the girl, as they proceed into a “forest” that is symbolic for their relationship. As they enter the forest it is light spoken of as a white wood, but slowly the forest becomes darker, as Hawley speaks of “bears and darker terrors”. After this Hawley speaks of “infinite mirrors” which are symbolic of repetition, perhaps the repeating of toxic habits inside of a relationship before finally it is forced to an end and both parties must accept the futility of continuing to struggle for their relationship. Finally, Hawley acknowledges the futility in the final lines repeating “All for nothing at all” twice, clearly regretting his relationship.

     The song “Dream Sweet in Sea Major” which is the concluding song of the album is the most developed song, it also has the most variation in feeling throughout it. It begins with the words “Alone at the edge of the universe humming a tune” creating a very solemn feeling. It very quickly jumps into an energetic verse adding in string instruments and changing tone from somber to joyful acceptance, stating “the stars were made for falling” seeming to say that even the stars burn out and “fall”, inferring that as humans that we cannot live forever, neither can any relationship we enter into. In the second verse there is imagery related to pyramids, this seeks to provide another example of a very strong thing that will one day fall, followed by the bridge which, in french, speaks of evolving despite all this and flying “beyond the moon”. “Dream Sweet in Sea Major” as its title implies seems to take place at sea. This is felt most dramatically in the beginning of the second movement, beginning with verse 4 the instruments change and as they fall down in tune they create a feeling of falling down from the sky into the sea, the listener can imagine falling onto a boat or pirate ship as the music shifts from lively and ethereal, to a slower and more nautical tone. The sirens in the background of the album become especially noticeable in this song, in this movement it seems that the ecstasy of their voices wears off and the rhetorical sailor begins to accept his death, having been drawn to the sirens, and only realizing his mistake after it is already too late. The album ends with a religious reference, the final two lines read “One light higher than the sun, invisible to some until it’s time”, speaking of God as the “light higher than the sun” and how many will not reach out to him until the end of their lives when it is already too late. This album covers many stages of grief from beginning to end, this song clearly shows acceptance, both of loss and of death.