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dismallyorientedOn a brief roadtrip to pick up my second partnersys from the airport, "Icarus" by CHRISTON came up on shuffle. My wife made a joke about the Crane Wives being on testosterone now, in reference to their own "Icarus" song as the band she was more familiar with. This sparked a rabbithole of looking up every single song titled "Icarus" currently available on spotify. The result was a 90 min playlist and this corresponding tier list.
You can listen to the playlist here. Youtube mirror may be forthcoming.
Requirements for the playlist and tierlist
Rankings obviously differed by the individual participant - where we had disagreements, I will clarify the ratings and reasoning behind them.
Crane Wives:
- A tier song, the standard setter for the playlist. Folk rock band with more emphasis on the folk for this one
- High C on Icarus relevance. Very evocative use of metaphor and imagery, plus constantly ascending melodies, but no direct mention of the guy
CHRISTON:
- A tier song, A in Icarus relevance. Lovely deep bass and darker tone, a song about obsessive and self-destructive devotion. This Icarus wants to fuck the sun and I'm here for it
- Bonus points for mention of the Sea, which is in fact an extremely important part of the story but rarely referenced
Bastille:
- B tier, it's a song I personally like but it's very basic pop still
- A tier Icarus, interested in Icarus as metaphor for self-destruction and hubris but does mention the wind, the flying. Wife notes that several of these songs include the strongest direct references in the chorus, with the verses dedicated more toward the subject they are icarus-ing about
- Bonus points for "Icarus's life has only just begun", highlighting the core of the tragedy very deftly. He is young, and he has only just escaped from prison and regained the ability to live
Jason Webley:
- Hello WTNV weather guy. I like his music and lyrics a lot, but this one's just a B for me when he's got much better songs out there
- C tier Icarusity. He does eventually retell the whole story in a verse, but not until the 3rd one and the structure of the song is mostly just forcing a comparison between his life and Icarus through adjacency. Wife demotes it to a D for burying the lede so far and then not doing much with it
lovbug:
- Singing as Daedalus! Interesting. B tier song bc it's too low energy for me and the mixing is making the lyrics tricky to hear (it's also the first unfamiliar entry). However, good lofi singer-songwriter if that's your jam.
- S tier Icarus mention bc it is Just Daedalus retelling the story.
- Dissenting opinions from wife & roommate - C tier because they specifically want the song to do something with the concept instead of a straight retelling
Tony Ann:
- First instrumental only! A tier piano track great use of muted piano it's such a good sound. Giving the car very Kingdom Hearts vibes and also one of the melodies in it is in Deltarune, so very in that jrpg mode.
- Very tricky to rate on the Icarusity scale. The melancholy is there, but it's hard to articulate it beyond that. C-ish tier
Madeon:
- Second instrumental, but electronic this time. A tier song just because I already like Madeon
- Low D tier for Icarusity because this is only Icarus inasmuch as it is light airy and flying. Hahahaha wheeeeeeee
ARTMS:
- B tier because while it is a good song, I am disinclined toward kpop
- C tier on Icarusity only bc nobody here speaks Korean. Once we looked up the lyrics - C tier for metaphor, it just doesn't include the fall (Wife ranked it at a D for too many mixed metaphors)
Shadow Academy:
- Dan Avidan is that you? Wait Holy Shit It Is Dan Avidan. We had to restart the song about it. Immediate A tier, it's fucking Dan Avidan.
- B tier reference, but our rankings are kind of weak simply because it was interrupted by arriving at our destination and constantly talked over by the GPS.
- Having reviewed the lyrics after the fact - still B tier. Interesting twist in how it's inflected as "Icarus's flight brings him to great heights but alienates him from the world." There's no fall, but he still suffers for his unheeding pursuit and it hasn't actually given him what he wants
Tony Ann/ARKAI - orchestral this time:
- We opted not to listen to this one due to it being a repeat of an existing song. I'm just assuming that it rocks because if the original had good instrumentation, the orchestral version has probably utilized its palette well too
PHILDEL:
- Either instrumental or very long intro (It was the former). Very dirge-like, she's just singing tones over the backing. B tier, very pretty but not interesting enough for me to relisten. Especially when I know her mostly as a good lyricist
- Also a bit tricky to rank Icarusity - there's something to the funereal which conveys the tragedy, so C tier I guess?
Chase Petra:
- C tier. Another lofi singer songwriter but the delivery of the lyrics isn't for me. Also it was. Really short? Like tiktok length. D tier actually, then, I'm really not a fan of this style of song. Will have to look at the lyrics later to rank Icarusity
- B tier Icarusity. Icarus has passed on his lack of caution as ill-fated advice to the singer, and now she's in the middle of feeling her wings fall apart. I kind of wish there was more to it just because the lack of runtime leaves so little to dig into, but I can't say it wasn't effective. Wife enjoys that it's abrupt, "like Icarus"
Daisuke Ishiwatari/Naoki Hashimoto:
- Oh this. This is from the Guilty Gear soundtrack okay. B tier, it's a well constructed song but I'm unlikely to listen to an OST to a game I don't play
- C tier Icarusity. No mention of the name, but it nails the basics of "I'm trapped and need to fly away", which I think is the bare minimum for a passing grade
Christabelle Marbin:
- Spanish guitar! A tier. Very nice. In this one the Icarus hasn't died, but there's a metaphorical death of growing old and losing touch with old dreams and selves.
- B tier Icarusity - the novelty of the metaphor makes up for what it's missing. Wife grants it points for being able to immediately see the AMV. Fandom artists, get on it
White Hinterland:
- C tier. Decent pop, but her vocal delivery sounds slightly flat and that's bad to my ears. The longer the song went the more grating it got for me
- D tier Icarusity, there's like no metaphor here aside from "I feel like this relationship is doomed but I'm in it anyway". Crane Wives did it already, with more Icarus even
Iniko:
- Immediate A tier, very good palate cleanser after WH. Bold pop vocal and the singer has such a good voice. This is one of the few songs I am directly adding to my library
- This is an Icarus resurrected song - direct reference by name, but Iniko is built different and rises again from their fall. B tier Icarusity
glaive:
- B tier electronica heavy pop boy. Good sound but F tier lyrics.
- D tier Icarusity despite being very direct because you are doing literally nothing with this. This is a middle school essay on Greek myths. This is just White Hinterland again, but fuckboy flavored
With Confidence:
- Why are you trying to redo "Ain't It Fun" by Paramore. I'm being uncharitable but literally the chord progression and general melody are just about the same
- C tier song but A tier Icarusity - Icarus as metaphor for being young, disaffected, and preparing to run away and escape. The singer is being left behind either because he is the past teen self or the person is leaving without him
Mythos:
- Instrumental piano again, but Deemo this time. B tier song because it is my style of song and I am a simple man.
- C tier Icarusity, it is airy, epic, growing anticipation. There is flight to this.
- Wife disagrees with the epic because Icarus to her is a more grounded (ha) human-scale tragedy. The heart of the story lives in the father and son who are trapped and try to escape and then fail when the son plummets to his death. Everyone else also immediately detracted for it being a trail off - if nothing else, Icarus has a very definitive end
Emma Blackery:
- Ooh, fun instrumentation in this, marimbas.
- Unfortunately it's a boring C tier pop song, but A tier Icarusity for leaning entirely into the hubris angle and Icarus being to blame. Most people feel bad for Icarus these days instead of leaning into the culpability
EDEN:
- D tier song because I actively dislike listening to this. Low energy mumbled vocals not doing anything with the song.[2]
- B tier Icarusity for being specifically Icarus in descent, as he's falling. There are a lot of songs on this list that try to go "I'm Icarus" but this one feels convincing and emotionally grounded. He's falling and he's shortsighted and bitter about it
Kishi Bashi:
- We 80s Again Let's Goooooo. Unfortunately it was Icarus IV and I was outvoted on it qualifying. No rankings provided. You will have to supply your own
Adam Guettel:
- B tier song. We looked it up and found out the "album" this was from was a song cycle, a piece of 90s musical theater inspired by "Greek myth and the lyrics from an old hymnal." I know nothing about Guettel as an artist, and I didn't enjoy listening to the song, but I could tell it was trying to do something interesting, and was written by someone with knowledge of music as a toolbox and canvas
- F tier Icarusity, they were doing well right until they called him a demigod. Somehow a Cook Serve Delicious song in genre
---
[1] I insisted that Kishi Bashi's "Icarus IV" counted, but was outvoted by everyone else in the car. I have left it on the playlist proper as editorial fiat. Justice for Kishi Bashi. [return]
[2] An extremely silly moment from the ride home - wife shouted, "Where are you even going with this?" at the radio, at which point the song immediately transitioned to the part where the entire thing just goes into space, distorted instrumentals and stuttering vocals and all. Can't believe my wife shamed EDEN into 2001: A Space Odyssey. We would've given extra Icarusity points for being an interesting sonic depiction of the fall, except there were 2 whole minutes left in the song and nobody wanted to do that. [return]
You can listen to the playlist here. Youtube mirror may be forthcoming.
Requirements for the playlist and tierlist
- Title must be "Icarus" and only "Icarus". Songs with additional words in the title are disqualified and cannot be included in the Icariad.[1]
- Not every song was included; songs that were classified as "Singles" didn't get added mostly because I wasn't sure how to do it without accidentally just starting the song itself
- Songs are ranked on two axes. First is overall song quality, second is on the quality of reference to Icarus (Icarusity, if you will). References were judged by:
- Whether they directly said Icarus's name or not
- The degree to which they captured the story
- The effectiveness of how they utilized the metaphor
Rankings obviously differed by the individual participant - where we had disagreements, I will clarify the ratings and reasoning behind them.
Crane Wives:
- A tier song, the standard setter for the playlist. Folk rock band with more emphasis on the folk for this one
- High C on Icarus relevance. Very evocative use of metaphor and imagery, plus constantly ascending melodies, but no direct mention of the guy
CHRISTON:
- A tier song, A in Icarus relevance. Lovely deep bass and darker tone, a song about obsessive and self-destructive devotion. This Icarus wants to fuck the sun and I'm here for it
- Bonus points for mention of the Sea, which is in fact an extremely important part of the story but rarely referenced
Bastille:
- B tier, it's a song I personally like but it's very basic pop still
- A tier Icarus, interested in Icarus as metaphor for self-destruction and hubris but does mention the wind, the flying. Wife notes that several of these songs include the strongest direct references in the chorus, with the verses dedicated more toward the subject they are icarus-ing about
- Bonus points for "Icarus's life has only just begun", highlighting the core of the tragedy very deftly. He is young, and he has only just escaped from prison and regained the ability to live
Jason Webley:
- Hello WTNV weather guy. I like his music and lyrics a lot, but this one's just a B for me when he's got much better songs out there
- C tier Icarusity. He does eventually retell the whole story in a verse, but not until the 3rd one and the structure of the song is mostly just forcing a comparison between his life and Icarus through adjacency. Wife demotes it to a D for burying the lede so far and then not doing much with it
lovbug:
- Singing as Daedalus! Interesting. B tier song bc it's too low energy for me and the mixing is making the lyrics tricky to hear (it's also the first unfamiliar entry). However, good lofi singer-songwriter if that's your jam.
- S tier Icarus mention bc it is Just Daedalus retelling the story.
- Dissenting opinions from wife & roommate - C tier because they specifically want the song to do something with the concept instead of a straight retelling
Tony Ann:
- First instrumental only! A tier piano track great use of muted piano it's such a good sound. Giving the car very Kingdom Hearts vibes and also one of the melodies in it is in Deltarune, so very in that jrpg mode.
- Very tricky to rate on the Icarusity scale. The melancholy is there, but it's hard to articulate it beyond that. C-ish tier
Madeon:
- Second instrumental, but electronic this time. A tier song just because I already like Madeon
- Low D tier for Icarusity because this is only Icarus inasmuch as it is light airy and flying. Hahahaha wheeeeeeee
ARTMS:
- B tier because while it is a good song, I am disinclined toward kpop
- C tier on Icarusity only bc nobody here speaks Korean. Once we looked up the lyrics - C tier for metaphor, it just doesn't include the fall (Wife ranked it at a D for too many mixed metaphors)
Shadow Academy:
- Dan Avidan is that you? Wait Holy Shit It Is Dan Avidan. We had to restart the song about it. Immediate A tier, it's fucking Dan Avidan.
- B tier reference, but our rankings are kind of weak simply because it was interrupted by arriving at our destination and constantly talked over by the GPS.
- Having reviewed the lyrics after the fact - still B tier. Interesting twist in how it's inflected as "Icarus's flight brings him to great heights but alienates him from the world." There's no fall, but he still suffers for his unheeding pursuit and it hasn't actually given him what he wants
Tony Ann/ARKAI - orchestral this time:
- We opted not to listen to this one due to it being a repeat of an existing song. I'm just assuming that it rocks because if the original had good instrumentation, the orchestral version has probably utilized its palette well too
PHILDEL:
- Either instrumental or very long intro (It was the former). Very dirge-like, she's just singing tones over the backing. B tier, very pretty but not interesting enough for me to relisten. Especially when I know her mostly as a good lyricist
- Also a bit tricky to rank Icarusity - there's something to the funereal which conveys the tragedy, so C tier I guess?
Chase Petra:
- C tier. Another lofi singer songwriter but the delivery of the lyrics isn't for me. Also it was. Really short? Like tiktok length. D tier actually, then, I'm really not a fan of this style of song. Will have to look at the lyrics later to rank Icarusity
- B tier Icarusity. Icarus has passed on his lack of caution as ill-fated advice to the singer, and now she's in the middle of feeling her wings fall apart. I kind of wish there was more to it just because the lack of runtime leaves so little to dig into, but I can't say it wasn't effective. Wife enjoys that it's abrupt, "like Icarus"
Daisuke Ishiwatari/Naoki Hashimoto:
- Oh this. This is from the Guilty Gear soundtrack okay. B tier, it's a well constructed song but I'm unlikely to listen to an OST to a game I don't play
- C tier Icarusity. No mention of the name, but it nails the basics of "I'm trapped and need to fly away", which I think is the bare minimum for a passing grade
Christabelle Marbin:
- Spanish guitar! A tier. Very nice. In this one the Icarus hasn't died, but there's a metaphorical death of growing old and losing touch with old dreams and selves.
- B tier Icarusity - the novelty of the metaphor makes up for what it's missing. Wife grants it points for being able to immediately see the AMV. Fandom artists, get on it
White Hinterland:
- C tier. Decent pop, but her vocal delivery sounds slightly flat and that's bad to my ears. The longer the song went the more grating it got for me
- D tier Icarusity, there's like no metaphor here aside from "I feel like this relationship is doomed but I'm in it anyway". Crane Wives did it already, with more Icarus even
Iniko:
- Immediate A tier, very good palate cleanser after WH. Bold pop vocal and the singer has such a good voice. This is one of the few songs I am directly adding to my library
- This is an Icarus resurrected song - direct reference by name, but Iniko is built different and rises again from their fall. B tier Icarusity
glaive:
- B tier electronica heavy pop boy. Good sound but F tier lyrics.
- D tier Icarusity despite being very direct because you are doing literally nothing with this. This is a middle school essay on Greek myths. This is just White Hinterland again, but fuckboy flavored
With Confidence:
- Why are you trying to redo "Ain't It Fun" by Paramore. I'm being uncharitable but literally the chord progression and general melody are just about the same
- C tier song but A tier Icarusity - Icarus as metaphor for being young, disaffected, and preparing to run away and escape. The singer is being left behind either because he is the past teen self or the person is leaving without him
Mythos:
- Instrumental piano again, but Deemo this time. B tier song because it is my style of song and I am a simple man.
- C tier Icarusity, it is airy, epic, growing anticipation. There is flight to this.
- Wife disagrees with the epic because Icarus to her is a more grounded (ha) human-scale tragedy. The heart of the story lives in the father and son who are trapped and try to escape and then fail when the son plummets to his death. Everyone else also immediately detracted for it being a trail off - if nothing else, Icarus has a very definitive end
Emma Blackery:
- Ooh, fun instrumentation in this, marimbas.
- Unfortunately it's a boring C tier pop song, but A tier Icarusity for leaning entirely into the hubris angle and Icarus being to blame. Most people feel bad for Icarus these days instead of leaning into the culpability
EDEN:
- D tier song because I actively dislike listening to this. Low energy mumbled vocals not doing anything with the song.[2]
- B tier Icarusity for being specifically Icarus in descent, as he's falling. There are a lot of songs on this list that try to go "I'm Icarus" but this one feels convincing and emotionally grounded. He's falling and he's shortsighted and bitter about it
Kishi Bashi:
- We 80s Again Let's Goooooo. Unfortunately it was Icarus IV and I was outvoted on it qualifying. No rankings provided. You will have to supply your own
Adam Guettel:
- B tier song. We looked it up and found out the "album" this was from was a song cycle, a piece of 90s musical theater inspired by "Greek myth and the lyrics from an old hymnal." I know nothing about Guettel as an artist, and I didn't enjoy listening to the song, but I could tell it was trying to do something interesting, and was written by someone with knowledge of music as a toolbox and canvas
- F tier Icarusity, they were doing well right until they called him a demigod. Somehow a Cook Serve Delicious song in genre
- Having revisited the lyrics after the first listen, I may have been too hasty in dinging them for the "demigod" line - rereading it in full, the line seems metaphorical, or a reference mostly to do with the level of power he would have as a human with flight, being like a demigod.
- I've revised my personal grade to S tier - very good retelling from Icarus's perspective, start to finish, ending with the fall
---
[1] I insisted that Kishi Bashi's "Icarus IV" counted, but was outvoted by everyone else in the car. I have left it on the playlist proper as editorial fiat. Justice for Kishi Bashi. [return]
[2] An extremely silly moment from the ride home - wife shouted, "Where are you even going with this?" at the radio, at which point the song immediately transitioned to the part where the entire thing just goes into space, distorted instrumentals and stuttering vocals and all. Can't believe my wife shamed EDEN into 2001: A Space Odyssey. We would've given extra Icarusity points for being an interesting sonic depiction of the fall, except there were 2 whole minutes left in the song and nobody wanted to do that. [return]
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 04:01 pm (UTC)(Iniko uses they/them pronouns!)
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Date: 2025-08-25 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-08-27 12:12 am (UTC)crow&: also, big fan of the christon version, i hadnt heard it before! of the three we’ve listened to (crane wives, bastille, and also riley gave eden a shot before immediately giving up) it’s the one that i find most evocative of the myth purely for the inclusion of the sea and the reference to neither the sun nor the sea releasing him—it’s easy to forget if you’re not thinking too deeply about the original myth, but ikaros was very much killed by both, not the more abstract fall.