OVERVIEW
This shine is going to be dedicated to the album of Wallsocket specifically. I will be going through each individual song in the album, including extras from the Director's Cut, detailing the story that each song is trying to tell.
I will also be including theories and other interpretations of songs, and will be mentioning things (such as from the timeline and the ARG) from the previous shrine so please check that out first!
I have also included the questions from the Wallsocket trailer in the title of each song, with my best guess at which song answers which question.
CONTENT WARNING: THERE WILL BE MENTIONS OF GROOMING, DEATH, GUN VIOLENCE, SUICIDE, STALKING. BE AWARE!
COPS AND ROBBERS: "Where does your money come from?"
"A bank teller flees the town of Wallsocket after being exposed for embezzling money from his
clientele for over a decade." -From the SoundCloud description.
Cops and Robbers is the first song on Wallsocket. The song is in the perspective of a man named
Joshua Domingo, and is basically a retelling of how he had been siphoning money from a bank he was working at in Wallsocket for over a little over a decade. He gets caught and flees the town, in turn also abandoning his family. This event causes devastating effects on the rest of the Domingo family, who become ostracized by the town for his actions.
LOCALS (GIRLS LIKE US): "Where did you grow up?" "While the rest of the town is reeling from the bank robbery, three local girls try and figure out how to grow up." -From the SoundCloud description.
Locals (Girls like us) is the roll-call for the main protagonists of the story: S*nny Domingo, Mara Albright and "Old Money Bitch" aka Sara. The beginning of the song also establishes the themes for the album as well, with mentions of mechanical + corporate things and the human body.
Each verse in the song is from the different perspectives of the girls. The first verse is from Mara's point of view, as we get a first look at her obsessive tendencies that we will hear more about later on. She mentions how she has done this "question" many times to get the same result as her "friend", who is S*nny. Later in the verse, it's revealed that this relationship is parasocial. The second verse, in S*nny's perspective, reveals that she has never done this "questionnaire" and she's aware of Mara's obsession with her, but keeps her distance from her. The verse also ends with a line that introduces S*nny being religious. The last verse is in Sara's view, it doesn't really give much perspective to her character in this song specifically, as it reads as more Sara being a spectator.
The chorus, however, reveals that all three of the girls are viewed negatively by residents of Wallsocket. S*nny for her dad's crimes, Sara for her wealth and Mara for her obsessiveness.
Lastly, the closing lines are a reminder of the bank robbery, saying how it's the "talk of the town".
DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH: "What do you have?" "S*nny's gets diagnosed with a rare disease and interprets it as a warning from God." -From the SoundCloud description.
Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh is told in the perspective of S*nny, who talks about a disease that she has been diagnosed with. She wonders what she had done to be punished by God for this illness.
This is the only time this illness is mentioned in the story. In a 'Wallsocket' any% production speedrun stream, Underscores explains how the original intent with its meaning about illness and God.
There is also another widely accepted interpretation of the song, where it's of S*nny beginning to confront her dysphoria and gender identity.
YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM: "What are you obsessing over?"
"Mara, romanticizing the girl-next-door S*nny’s rough upbringing, breaks into S*nny’s house and pretends to be her." -From the SoundCloud description.
You don't even know who I am is from the perspective of Mara, who romanticizes S*nny's misfortunes and her life. The lyrics of the song describes how much Mara knows about S*nny, from knowing where she came from to knowing her blood type. Mara's obsession is then shown how it's rooted in envy, as she just wants to be just like her, as she is "wiser" than her due to the terrible experiences she's been through.
Eventually its revealed that Mara's want to be just like S*nny leads her to break into her house. She does everything from wearing her clothes and taking her pills to finally feel just like her. The song ends with Mara knowing that S*nny is aware of her stalking, but does nothing about it as she is currently dealing with other, worse things in her life.
JOHNNY JOHNNY JOHNNY: "Are you ashamed?" "Just after she turns eighteen, S*nny meets an older man named Johnny with sinister motives." -From the SoundCloud description. Warning: This song features descriptions of grooming.
Johnny Johnny Johnny is in the perspective of S*nny, who meets a man named Johnny. S*nny explains how she loves Johnny and that he was the only one to validate her true self and gender identity. Later on after meeting up with him, she realizes that Johnny doesn't love her, but that he is a predator who was only preying on her and using her gender dysphoria for his own gain. Fortunately, S*nny is able to talk her way out and escape the situation.
In a 'Wallsocket' any% production speedrun stream, Underscores explains the key message she wanted to portray in the song, stating that there is a predatory rabbit hole that trans kids can unfortunately fall into. She describes it as more of a "societal grooming", with having Jimmy or the other mentioned names as placeholders, as trans kids are more susceptible to grooming by being socially conditioned to giving themselves away to predators.
SHOOT TO KILL, KILL YOUR DARLINGS: "What are you thinking?" "Old money bitch tries to figure out how she feels about potentially losing her close friend." -From the SoundCloud description.
Shoot to kill, kill your darlings is in the point of view of Sara and how she doesn't understand why her best friend Jack wants to join the army. In the beginning of the song, Sara mentions how she has always had a dislike for the military, and recounts a time where she went to the gun range and gets a slight understanding of why people can get fixated on the military and weapons, but she still doesn't understand why he chooses to join it.
Sara goes on to talk about how both her and Jack are well off, and that there are other ways he can be a hero. She reminisces on an alternate future where her best friend hadn't gone off to join the army and would be living fine and well. Sara becomes increasingly worried, saying she just doesn't want him to die.
HORROR MOVIE SOUNDTRACK: "What are you feeling?" "Old money bitch decides that her apathy makes life not worth living." -From the SoundCloud description. Warning: This song features descriptions of suicide.
Horror movie soundtrack, immediately following the previous song, is in the perspective of Sara. The song describes how she feels suicidal and numb. The beginning of the song describes different ways Sara plans to take her own life. Later in the verse, Sara mentions how she has always had the signs of depression, but nothing has worked for her, making her believe that the only other option is to take her own life.
She sends her love to Mara and S*nny before she takes her own life, and calls out the ostracized from the town for contributing to her depression. The rest of the song has Sara describe other ways to take her own life, and how numb she is. The song closes with a line of Sara saying that whether or not she takes her own life, she wants to get rid of everything that she owns to try to distance herself further from her family's legacy.
OLD MONEY BITCH: "What allows you to exist?"
"Unaware of her hypocrisy, Mara bashes Old money bitch for trying to hide her wealth." -From the SoundCloud description.
Old money bitch is from the perspective of Mara, who makes fun of and bashes Sara for trying to hide her wealth by trying to blend in with the locals. There is irony to this, as Mara herself is also wealthy. Sara even tries to reason with her by saying that the both of them live ideal lives because of their wealth, but Mara ignores this.
Mara continues to bash her throughout the song by shedding light on her family's wealth and is the reason why the townsfolk begin to hate Sara. The deeper reason for why Mara resents Sara is primarily out of jealousy.
GEEZ LOUISE: "What community do you belong to?" "S*nny’s friend Jordan unearths their peoples’ shared history, altering her stance on religion." -From the SoundCloud description.
Geeze louise is in the perspective of both S*nny and her friend Jordan. The song discusses S*nny and Jordan recounting the Spanish colonization in the Philippines and the phasing out of the third gender in Filipino culture, alongside how it's not well talked about. There is also emphasis on the role that the Catholic Church played in colonization. This song has a focus on S*nny's Filipino identity alongside her transgender identity.
Further context of the song comes from an interview with Underscores, where she says: “I’m Filipino and, pre-Spanish colonization, there was this third gender where there were a lot of people born male and presenting as female, and they had this shamanistic [presence]...They would help other people interact with the spirit world. When the Spanish came over, it slowly got phased out. And now all my relatives are Catholic.”
SEVENTY-SEVEN DOG YEARS: "Who are you forgetting?" "Mara talks to S*nny and sees how heavily her father’s misdeeds affected the family." -From the SoundCloud description.
Seventy-seven dog years is in the perspective of both Mara and S*nny. While the majority of the song is S*nny speaking, the first verse from Mara's view. This song is shown as a conversation between the two girls. In the first verse, Mara confesses how she would stalk S*nny, while the second verse S*nny opens up about her father.
S*nny starts off with explaining how she defended her dad at first, even if he felt like a stranger to her. She then calls him out for betraying his family, due to abandoning them after his embezzlement. Throughout the song, S*nny also wonders if her father even cared about the family, asking if he's noticed how the family has grown and that he must've forgotten about them, while this is mostly mentioned through the metaphor of dogs/hounds. Mara begins to feel guilty and wishes S*nny well, as both a first attempt at changing and as an apology to her.
UNCANNY LONG ARMS: "What's your circumstance?" "Mara wakes up and finds her arms are longer than usual. Upon getting her arms reduced, she has an epiphany." -From the SoundCloud description.
Uncanny long arms is from Mara's view once more, who realizes her obsession with S*nny is no longer harmless like she thought and has real-world effects. One day she wakes up with her arms being longer than normal, symbolizing her reach into S*nny's life. This freaks her out, and decides to reach out to Secretariat for their arm reduction program. Later in the song, it's revealed that something went wrong during one of the sessions and Mara dies, but then is resuscitated and brought back. After being brought back to life, has some new long-term effects from the shockwaves used in the arm reduction sessions, but she also comes to an epiphany. Mara now has a new appreciation for her life, and how she has put on a front on everyone and herself.
Warning: Mentions of suicide.
The main and widely-known interpretation of Mara's arms growing are to represent how she now has this reach into S*nny's life,and that she actually has an effect on her life. The final part of the song with the arm reduction surgery can also be interpreted as Mara trying to take her own life, but failing her attempt. This ends up with Mara still having an epiphany, and changing how she views her life.
GOOD LUCK FINAL GIRL: "Do you wrap back around?" "The girls realize that navigating adulthood is an individual responsibility." -From the SoundCloud description.
Good luck final girl is the final song of the album. It concludes the stories of the three girls, and like where they were introduced, all three verses are in the perspectives of each girl.
The first verse is in Mara's view, where she dreams about missing the train out of Wallsocket. She has a hard time coming to terms of venturing into adulthood and moving on. It's then shown that even though she's become less obsessed with S*nny, old habits die hard, as she still tries to find people to latch onto, but to a lesser degree.
The second verse is in S*nny's perspective, who begins to distance herself from Mara and realizes that she doesn't need bad relationships to cope with her issues.
Warning: Mentions of suicide.
The final verse is in Sara's perspective, who opens up by revealing that she is not taking her own life, and the heartbreaking reason being that Jack died at war. She beleives that taking her own life would be doing a disservice to his memory. Each girl is described to be leaving Wallsocket via trains, after the trauma each of them endured and all of them giving their farewells to one another and wishing each of them well.
MY GUY (CORPORATE SHUFFLE)
"Deleted scene — Character(s): Darlene, Jack, Old money bitch
Three townspeople grapple with their town’s recent embezzlement scandal." -From the SoundCloud description.
My Guy (Corporate Shuffle) is a song that features on the director’s cut of Wallsocket, where it was first found in the Wallsocket ARG. The song is in the perspective of three characters: Darlene, a member of Wallsocket who was shown previously in Cops and Robbers, Jack, previously stated to be Sara's best friend, and Sara. All three discuss their thoughts on Wallsocket's bank robbery, which was shown in Cops and Robbers and mentioned in previous songs.
NORTHWEST ZOMBIE GIRL "Deleted scene — Character: Old money bitch
Upon reading of a girl from the Northwest’s chemically-induced emotional transformation, Old money bitch begins to yearn for something similar." -From the SoundCloud description.
Northwest Zombie Girl was also first featured in the Wallsocket ARG before being released to the director’s cut. Northwest Zombie Girl is in the perspective of Sara, who yearns for something to fix herself after reading an article about a Northwest girl who "got all fixed up" from a chemically-induced emotional transformation.
CCTV "Prologue — Character(s): Ashley
The late daughter of Secretariat founder Jerry Bowman recounts the last week of her life from beyond the grave." -From the SoundCloud description. Warning: Mentions of suicide.
CCTV is in the perspective of a new character, Ashley, who is the daughter of Secretariat's founder. This song also takes place before the events in the Wallsocket story. In the song, Ashley looks back on the last week of her life. The doomsayer shown in Wallsocket music videos had reached out to Ashley after looking deep into Secretariat and warns her about something she didn't know about. Ashley becomes paranoid and buys surveillance equipment. Eventually Ashley learns of what the doomsayer had been warning her about, and her arms begin to grow longer. She then tries to catch what had been happening to her on camera to people like her dad, to prove that something was wrong. Though due to her condition, Ashley takes her own life.
Another interpretation of this song's story is how Ashley looks back on the last week of her life. It can be inferred that she was being stalked by a man, and decided to buy cameras to try to protect herself. It's also revealed that she died, most likely due to being murdered. The end of the song has Ashley addressing someone. She is most likely referring to her father as she mentions how he, Jerry Bowman, changed jobs for her by becoming the mayor of Wallsocket.
STUPID (CAN'T RUN FROM THE URGE)
"Epilogue — Character(s): S*nny
After years of living in the city, S*nny decides it may be time to return home." -From the SoundCloud description.
Stupid (Can't run from the urge) is in the perspective of S*nny, who moved away from Wallsocket after the previous events from the story. S*nny has moved to the city and has been living there for years, but she has this constant urge to head back to Wallsocket as she still feels a connection to it. She finds that there is nothing else for her to do in the city, and the original urge of escaping Wallsocket had eventually transformed into returning to it.
WHAT IS WALLSOCKET'S IMPORTANCE TO ME?
Wallsocket has been an album that basically changed my life. Very few albums in the past have done that for me, only examples I can think of are My Head Is An Animal by Of Monsters and Men and Sock-Footed by Teddy Hyde. I discovered this album on September 16th, more specifically I found this album through a Mirage Ultrakill edit, it was using the song Old Money Bitch. I really liked the song and had to look for it and listen to the full thing, and a couple days later I decided to listen to the full album. Each song is so beautifully made, and the messages can hit close to home for me. The music videos for the songs are extremely well made too, even more so when finding out that they were all shot on an IPhone. The ARG as immersion for the album was super creative too! It does a really good job of expanding on the story of the album and creating immersion.
While making both shrines for this album, I realized what made me so fixated on this album: the story. The music is good, of course, but the entire story surrounding it is what drew me in and got me hooked. I mentioned other albums earlier, like Sock-Footed, but there are other albums that made me have the same reaction. Best examples I can think of are Sock-Footed and Splittsville by Teddy Hyde and most of Twenty-One Pilots' albums. All of those albums have a story sprinkled throughout them, and I have been previously fixated on those musicians similar to how I am with Underscores.
Overall, Underscores has basically become one of my favorite artists, if not my Favorite artist. I haven't had a hyperfixation on a musician since 2018-2020 give-or-take, so it feels exciting to be this interested in a band again. Would love to be able to eventually go to a concert one day!
