AXOLOTL - A Gravity Falls Fan Song

Intro: 0:00 - 0:16
Song: 0:17 - 4:53
Outro: 4:54 - 5:00

AXOLOTL
by: bumr

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Late August, I was struck with an idea for a Gravity Falls fan project that I dubbed "i, the gold,". September 1st, I started work on it, and said project would all begin with but a fun little fan song called AXOLOTL. I posted a small piece of this song the same day I began it as a teaser to TikTok, and very unexpected to me, it garnered a lot of interest -- so I made a few more videos, a crumb here, a crumb there...

But. Taking in a long breath here. An accrued 200k views on TikTok for the teaser content alone, many insanely awesome animations and edits made to the clips of my WIP song, 37 hours spent working on the song file alone, not including the hours spent falling asleep every night to the very unrefined renditions of the song (I counted 11 total different versions!!!), 30 odd something hand-drawn animations made within a 40 hour time period and about a 36 hour long all-nighter to get this video made so it could be posted on the day of its release -- BILL IS HERE.

I was unfortunately not able to get it out by 101 PM like I had planned, but all things considered, I couldn't have been happier with this little creation. I got this puppy posted at 6 PM, Many Hours late, after hosting an exclusive showing with my roommates who all September had bore witness to my complete descent into madness, and after we all excitedly squealed, I was met with obnoxious questions regarding my wellbeing. I promptly refused to comment on their concerns, and then I demanded celebratory food. Best Subway sandwich I ever had in my life. which I don’t think is saying a lot but it was incredible.

The journey to this point was CRAZY for no reason, and making everything for this song and video definitely was the most fun and fulfilling experience of my "career" so far. I just can't believe it's done and I don't have to work on it anymore?!

All my yapping aside, please enjoy this month-long passion project. And stay tuned! There is more fun stuff like this to come :-)

If you got this far in the description, clearly you're cool -- I never do anything accidentally. Everything has meaning. Find the secrets. Live laugh love corn on the cob Bill Cipher.

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WHERE CAN I STREAM AXOLOTL ?!?!?!

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FAQ:

Q: What is "i, the gold" ?
A: Without spoiling too much, "i, the gold" is a totally normal Gravity Falls fan project, and is also the name of the album that this fan song and more will be a part of. :-)

Q: Who is bumr?
A: I am bumr! Sorry if it’s a little confusing, I’ve gone by a few different online aliases over the years but sumr/bumr has always been the way I’ve referred to myself when I post songs, so in order to help lead people back to my music, I use that name to credit myself. Even if I make it seem separate from “summer bloom,” it’s still me!

WHAT I USED TO MAKE THIS:

+ MUSIC: FL Studio
+ the FL plugin ZGameEditor Visualizer for some of the fun visualizations you see near the end of the video
+ EDITING: Hitfilm Express
+ ANIMATING: Procreate Dreams
+ A deal with Bill Cipher

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THE PROJECT:

SOCIALS:

MY MUSIC:

SUPPORT ME:

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DISCLAIMER! Just in case…

I never have and I never will use ai in my art — everything I share is made by my own stubby hands. And every day I strive to embrace them. So should you.

This project is completely unaffiliated with Alex Hirsch and Disney! … Obviously! heheh. That being said, Gravity Falls belongs rightfully to Alex Hirsch. Not me! I am a fan! This is fan content! but like What would happen if I just lied here? It is mine! Give it back Alex! You owe me a LOT of money, man!!!

#ithegold

[DuckLord]

I love how the Axolotl isn’t portrayed as silly or fun, his words carry a haunting truth and the weight of a prophecy, not just instructions.

[JXSH_]

Bill really said: I have 2 sides.
Side 1: "Hey kids! It's me! your old pal and overlord bill cipher! I'm sure you all miss me but if you ever feel bad, just remember that I watch you while you sleep! At the end of the day your brain is just a meat computer in a bone cockpit piloting a skin robot. You think the world makes sense? Nothing makes sense! So you might as well make nonsense!"
Side 2:

[sanjiscigarette]

this song made me realize that bill is always wanting to leave whatever place he is in. he always feels trapped- like he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.- for example he always wanted to leave the mindscape to go to the real world and when he reached the real world he wanted to leave gravity falls. wherever he escapes to he is always given a reason to leave and prioritizes that. maybe it distracts him from remembering euclidia. because when you settle down somewhere and finally relax you will have the time and energy to think about the past. and now he’s in the theraprism with no way out. no escape. all he can do is think about the past and it’s agonizing.

[Dya-Mandya]

The constant repetition of the word “axolotl” is not accidental, when Bill was dying he said the word “axolotl” and he saved him, now Bill is in a place from which it is impossible to escape and his only hope is the axolotl, this is also indicated by the order of Bill’s sentences in the song, first he bargains, then he asks, then he desperately begs for help

[TG-vtue]

I love how this song changes from sounding like Bill is corrupting your mind, in control, and then slowly gets more and more desperate and chaotic. It perfectly matches the vibe of the book!

[cortes_obj]

i love the line "why do you not see it too" it really shows the disappointment he felt at the rest of the 2nd dimension

[arsonzartz]

dude i love how the song progressively gets overwhelming, its like your listening to bill slowly devolve into a panic attack. (i legit want to explode please help me transcend dimensions to succeed in that-)

[GrimoireIsGrimm]

The “Wow, Alex really fell off” at the end was gold, the sugar on an already banging song

[nataliewertz]

The part thats similar to the song "Hey Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind" is really cool!

[Vtech]

Man. That part in 3:52 was... How can I describe this? This is the best interpretation of Bill Cipher's psychology I've ever witness by a fan project, EVER.

Many fans try to get his personality down, but seem to focus on his overconfidence and uncaring/jokey attitude. Which is good, but misses the entire point of WHY he acts like this. Is he a powerful, chaotic god of destruction? Yes. Did he burn down his own dimension? Yes. Is he a creature immune to guilt and consequence? No. In fact, that guilt of burning down his own home is there, but he tries to escape the blame and responsibility.

And that's the crux of it: Bill is a creature of escapism. He appears in dreams, a place within the mind where your subconscious escapes reality to take a breather. He felt trapped within Gravity Falls, and wishes to escape to enact Weirdmageddon, a universe of his own making to truly be free to do as he pleases. He created a personal world for Mable Pines, in which she could escape the fact that summer would end. And now he wants to escape the Theraprism to not face the fact that he did all of these horrible actions by his own choice.


Now with that explained, these lyrics encapsulate his absolute denial and dissociation of his actions. He tries to deny that his own actions prevents him from going back home. He burned it down, and he 'Blames the Arson for the Fire.' He wanted to return but did not call on AXOLOTL, because his calling for help would be an admittance to his actions. He blames everyone else for taking his deals. Even if they are the ones who accepted it, he avoids the blame while choosing to deceive them for his own gains. He projects his own guilt and mindset onto others, believing that everyone else is just like him. That's why he could not fathom why Mable would escape their own little paradise, why would anyone would embrace reality over escaping it, and why Stan would give up his own mind to save others.

Now Bill tries to escape the idea that there is something truly wrong with him. He doesn't want to face the fact that he is an Irredeemable, Psychotic Monster, and everything that happened to him was HIS fault. With nowhere to escape to, his confident facade has vanished and he pathetically begs to be let out of the hell of his own making: To accept reality, and he could only blame Himself for it.

On top of the reference to "Hey Mickey, you're so fine." is totally Bill's type of music! And using it to cope with his degrading psyche is amazing. It reminds me of the song 'The Mind Electric' in it's execution. You deserve all the praise you're getting! Here, have a head that's always screaming!

[Kt__Drwz]

The final section doesn't just sound like a panic attack, it also LOOKS like one. The dizziness, spiky lines that look like shaking, the frantic looking around, salvaging the calm, it's really just amazing.
Edit: oh yeah he also tries to convince himself he's ok

[ThereGoesFelix]

2:44 there is something so satisfying about this part like the song paired with the eye roll and switch in colors??? I can’t stop replaying this bit it scratches my brain

[heavenlypillar]

0:38 thank you for being the blood sacrifice

JOKES ASIDE GUESS WHOS PLAYING THIS OVER AND

[TheChristainskeleton]

Him in the show: *Child stuff for Disney*








Him in his lore and the books: Greek tragedies neatly designed to make a lore filled story.

[carrioncider]

here's a couple of codes i've found
0:30 [Caesar 17] more than meets the eye
1:48 [Bill's symbols] A-x-o-l-o-t-l (nice touch it actually being Bill's code!! i see most using the Author's even when it's from Bill)
1:49 [Unsure music cipher] LET ME OUT*(read attached note)
2:03 not a code but the stars shine in a triangle pattern :''(((
3:37 [Reversed] my time has come to burn i invoke the ancient power that i may return (fades out)
4:27 [Same music cipher] Inside the wheel it spells 'LET ME OUT' same as 1:49
4:53 [Reversed] Distorted A-X-O-L-O-T-L? you can hear the 'A 'O' 'O' 'T' 'L' but any other letters are not as clear


4:26 [Music cipher ??] There is a space which indicates a two letter word followed by a seven letter word, where with previous info we know would look like this
"_t _e____t"
we can guess the first word is either "it" or "at", and depending on which it is (considering there is No repetition of letters other than e or t) it changes the options. but none of what i've come up make much sense. ('decrypt' fits either way tho)
"at resight"
"it refract"
"it/at decrypt"

none really seem correct? were there an 's' i'd take it but, oh well.


*Altough im pretty sure it says LET ME OUT as it lines up perfectly, if anyone that can understands the music symbols (<- not a musician) or mean something else that would be awesome :] (even if it would change everything else LOL)

YESSS OMG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS :DDD. this is so awesome, truly represents the despair and denial and power of that weird triangle guy 100/10 iconic it can be so creepy/unsetteling at times pain pain suffering i love it. also i let out an ugly chortle at that end bit JSDJKSDJ

[blankdessert]

I like the fact that axolotl is actually never SAID!!! AT ALL!! “invoke my name” but nobody did

[IMakeUnitaleThings]

Finally an animation where I can see things that most people wouldn’t consider to be codes and not feel insane

[GltCh_]

I just finished Gravity Falls and I’m already attached to this song. This will become a staple in the fandom, others and I calling it. This is actually amazing, vocals, instrumentals, and visuals. It really shows how much of a unique villain Bill is, honestly.

[DaisEyovian]

OH MY GOSH??? I’ve literally never heard a song even remotely like this before. It’s like a crisp autumn breeze.

[memesoverdreams]

I grew up with It's Gonna Get Weird and that one Control CMV. New Gravity Falls kids will grow up with THIS.

This shit is to Gravity Falls what the living tombstone was to FNAF. It's only a matter of time until Alex Hirsh finds this.