【FLOWER】 Better Off Worse / CircusP [ ⚠ CW ]

I'm better 🔇

⚠ CONTENT WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised.
Scroll down for a full list of warnings ⤵
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CMYK available on streaming services 05.26.2023
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Song by Circus

Video by rice

CMYK art by Ibble
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CW: Visual depictions of blood, strangulation and mild nudity
Lyrical mentions of death and disordered eating

[ricedeity]

i'll follow you until you love me

[frost]

Ok the part where vflower being happy was shown as a skippable ad was genius

[radiozap]

2:36 (in the music video) is referencing a specific performance of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi"! she had been concealing fake blood packs for most of the song but at the final chorus, they began bleeding, as she "bled out" on stage for the audience, ending it by dangling on a rope by one hand smeared in blood just like flower does in this song.

lady gaga elaborated, saying: “If I’m gonna be sexy on the VMAs and sing about the paparazzi, I’m gonna do it while I’m bleeding to death and reminding you of what fame did to Marilyn Monroe. And what it did to Anna Nicole Smith." ABSOLUTELY in the spirit of this song.

(also, the fact that this is a reference is all but confirmed by rice's pinned comment, since that's a line from Paparazzi's chorus- also pretty much right when the fake blood becomes most noticeable in that particular performance.)

[VEX]

I like how this song is straightforward telling you "HEY IM NOT FUCKING OKAY" in stark contrast to the generally cryptic messages sent by the songs in question. they even mention fans analyzing their pain line by line and how they hate it, which explains why the song is so straightforward

[ThePipofDespair]

flower's English is literally amazing here??? She sounds like she actually has an English voicebank! I've never heard her like this before!

[suzie-p]

this is genuinely probably the coolest vocaloid MV i've seen in a hot minute. the captions are SO creative and i LOVE all the references, rice did such an amazing job here. not to mention the song ittself??!! i... can relate to a lot to the lyrics here and i'm happy you made a darker song. it's comforting to see that sometimes.
please keep making amazing work, you two! 🙏

[j_nsei]

In a cruel twist, I can totally see this song becoming crazy popular

Edit: 1M views in 10 months... 😶

[acephoenixgamer]

Circus really woke up and chose violence with this one and I LOVE IT. And putting a reference to Wildfire in the climax of a song about fans obsessed with older work is just peak music

[disgustof-riley]

I love these "meta" songs about the struggles artist and producers deal with, when their branding or famous works revolve around the "marketability" of their pain. I already really liked Vane's "Digital Heart" and RI-P's "Pyrite Girl, " but Circus' take... man, it hits really hard. It's such a complex and unfortunate issue. And hell, I know those in the mainstream music industry struggle even more to recover their mental health, especially the young ones with a lot of money, because SO MANY PEOPLE with more power in the industry benefit and profit from their suffering. It's actually quite sickening. Which, that's why acknowledging the "eras" of an artist are so important. Recognizing that just because you no longer share a particular struggle with a favorite artist doesn't mean your connection to their music is totally gone. Celebrating the conclusion/closure to their "arc, " to that painful period in their life, with them, even through simple comments and reshares, means a lot. And with indie producers, we have the privilege of being able to cheer them on more closely.
We love you, Circus! Cheers to more happiness for you!

[aeliaaaa]

Reference + time for each outfit because why not:
0:30 Addicted
0:31 Haywire + Love Song
0:32 Fall Away + Insanity

0:36 1/4th

0:37 Detrimental + Frigid Hearts
0:38 Last Words + Wake Me Up
0:39 Puzzle

0:44 Monochrome

0:50 Treat Me(So Right) + Goodbye
0:51 Afraid of Everything + Like Whatever

0:52 Patches

1:43 Miki's Outfit (Shatter Specifically) + I Am Here
1:44 Cause & Effect + Ten Thousand Stars

1:45 Can't Stand You

1:49 Golden Afternoon
1:50 See + Poltergeist
1:51 Just for Tonight + キミを探す (Rana Song)

1:52 Deja Vu

1:57 Circus Monster

2:03 Dolphin (I Found You) + State of Isolation
2:04 The Start + Nana

2:05 SLASHER

2:10 (In Order bc this is a lot) Ghoulish, Round and Round, Lie, Karma, aiSeNMa, Finale II, Hello Again, Copycat, Different Seas, SF-A2 Miki Wants a New Original Song, 僕のもの (Piko Song), Breathe, Dreaming With You, Quicksand, Beast, Falling Out of Love, FADE, DynaMIC Letter, Dawn, What Goes Around, Spectrum, What I Need (MONEY), mErcy, How to Pretend, Bronze to Gold, Bubble Gum, The Tale of A 10 Year Old Vampire Queen, Wrong + Right, Welcome to the Circus, Last of Me, Crystalline, Wildfire

3:04 Calm Before the Storm, Center Stage
3:05 Misery Loves Company, Castaway

3:06 Memory

3:10 iNFeCTioN
3:11 甘い言葉, I (Love)
3:12 Evergreen, Glow, Orbit

3:18 Nebuholic

3:24 Sabotage, Muffins, Decay, Enough

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of them

[marko_c]

0:28 "started streaming August 25 2010" <- That date is the original release date for Circus Monster.

There are a million references to Circus' body of work in this video, and while I can't pick out all of them, seeing it all definitely hits hard as a long time fan...

[nyanbinary]

its morbidly ironic how this song is taking off so fast compared to other songs, despite literally being about how people prefer when creators create based off their suffering - i think the reason this happens is bc people want things to relate to, and cling onto it when they find it, but people seem to forget that the happy shits just as good a lot of the time
i can see this becoming a song for animation memes too honestly-

[dgwatercla]

So I may be wrong of course, but here is what I think this song is about…usually I don’t have a super clear idea of EXACTLY what a song’s meaning is, but this one clicked instantly. I love Circus’s work, his older and newer songs are all just amazing. But- as it seems with many producers…darker works get more attention. Some of Circus’s most popular songs are ones like InSaNiTy, Copycat, Goodbye, Circus Monster…and these songs are all very deep and even painful. But many of his newer songs- songs that come from places of joy and creativity, passion and collaboration- don’t get as much attention. I’m a creator myself and when something you put so much work into- something you make as an escape or to cope/vent gets so much more traction and support than something you make as you’re recovering…it doesn’t feel great. I really truly wish more producer’s songs would get the appreciation they deserve, especially Circus. Putting heart and soul into your creations takes a lot out of someone. This is an incredibly well made song, as always, and everyone that was part of it did an amazing job. ❤

[vlbonnie]

This one hit different. The concepts of "all good art is born from suffering" and "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" really shine through here, and I also feel like there's a little bit of anger at people preferring how one was "back then", regardless of one's growth. I love how the MV is made to look like a livestream or premiere as well, with Flower essentially suffering for the entertainment of the audience.

[Skriff]

While I have perfectly understood the actual meaning of the song, I really love how it can also apply to mental health issues as a whole around treatment and people's perception. If you're not looking sick then you aren't really. It's like you're better off worse, always opening older wounds and showing the worst because saying you're ok means the end of the support you need to actually be ok.

Also : "I oversimplify the tears I cry while you tear them down line by line" is exactly my relationship with therapists tbh

[itzpris]

Circus, i have the sudden urge to go out and give you a hug

The line “behind every piece of art is a human to be heard” hit me the hardest, man

[sankyumiku]

“You think by now that we would’ve learned
Behind every piece of art is a human to be heard” oh my god that part hit like a truck

[MonochroMenace]

I CAUGHT THAT WILDFIRE LYRIC REFERENCE!! I heard "you'd think by now-" and nostalgia just SLAPPED me in the face. Circus, this is insanely good. This encapsulates that really dark part of being a content creator SO well. Incredible job to everyone who worked on this. Wow.

[RituPepper]

Reading the comments, I think a couple people are missing the point! It's not that you can't like edgy and depressive content, it's that you *can* like those but should *also* support the more upbeat content from your favourite creators. You're only a "bad fan" if you start vocally complaining about how their "old" content was better or how you miss a style they had before, or if you ignore everything else they do and only get excited when new edgy content comes out!

[ShirotaniArt]

You just won't stop dropping absolute bangers lately, huh?