I remember doing this as a collab for you. A year or so has passed. And I am still glad you made this. The flower deserves love, but may the victims of the massacre rest in peace.
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Author Comments
First of all I wish to thank @rocknight1991 for requesting this idea. Not since Creeping March of War, have I been so scared of my own creation even if it was inspired by others.
Second of all a disclaimer:
This song is in no way a means of cashing in on the Columbine Massacre. This does not glorify it in anyway. This is merely a form of expressionist music, that is designed to put you in the shoes of many things involved in it and the flower it got it's name from. I humbly apologize to anyone who is offended by it or similar incidences and I especially apologize if this music invokes post traumatic stress disorder or other hair trigger disorders.
With that out of the way here's why I did the song in the first place.
It all started when a fan of mine made a doodle of the Columbine Flowers:
At the time. I had no idea there was such a flower and asked her if I could see the real thing for comparison:
https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/draw/eac8a13be2395e4d427ddfd9d68d64fd
When I saw them, I was captivated by their beauty and I felt a huge sadness. Because those flowers however beautiful they may be, will always be overshadowed by the horrors that took their name.
This song is basically what is known as a soundscape. Designed to put you in the shoes of many things involved. By the following timestamps:
00:00 - 02:30: A day in the life cycle of the Columbine Flower
For this one, I always wanted to simulate a flower growing, through music. Which instruments represent its part and the overall feel good tone of a beautiful day. Flowers grow the most in the morning to noon, because that's when they catch the most sun. It's also the time kids are going to school. So they'd have time to see these flowers in all their beauty before another day of boring education. Unfortunately, the day happens to be, April 20, 1999. I was 8 years old at the time. I wasn't aware of Columbine until I saw "Bowling for Columbine" as a teen. Even when I first went on Newgrounds I had no idea that Pico was supposed to be the Anti-Columbine. The guy you rely on if assholes like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold started blasting. I'm sorry for whatever problems they have, but killing people crossed the line. Not to mention the stupid assholes that tried to blame music and video games for it. But the horror in the song hasn't begun just yet.
02:37 - 03:02: The Massacre
I used nothing but percussion in this one. I wanted to make a scary moment with nothing but sounds. Some how I was able to simulate glass breaking, gunfire and footsteps through percussion. Probably the scariest shit I ever made. Make no mistake if you want to pay tribute to a tragedy, you do still have to remind people it happened.
03:03 - 15:57: The Aftermath and The Flowers Lament
The aftermath in any form of expressionism, is always the most important part. Director Ishiro Honda and Akira Ikufube agreed on that much when they compared the aftermath of Gojira's destruction to the Hiroshima bomb. In the case of this aftermath, I wanted to simulate the horror, the sadness and the rage the survivors or their families felt hearing about what happened. I also double this as representing how the Columbine Flowers feel knowing they will be forever linked to the name of a massacre. When one is grieving, you have no idea how they can handle it. They could be calm and keep going, they could be crying or they could be exploding with so much rage, they don't think straight, blaming other things rather than accept there were two fucked up and bullied teenagers who managed to access the tools to express their repressed aggression. So I got to thinking, what if they blamed the flowers too? Wanting to get rid of them so they don't get reminded of it every day.
16:00 - 16:22: Destroy the Flowers
I did this one as a percussion on purpose and I'll tell you why. I am a firm believer that people who want to stop the things that hurt them, end up being the ones that bring on the pain to other people and things. In this case, them massacring a bunch of innocent flowers, who's only crime is sharing a name with a tragedy, would be no different than said tragedy itself. The drums first represent clippers, before speeding up and becoming a lawnmower.
16:32 - 16:52: The flowers rise again.
A short but hopeful reminder that they may have destroyed the flowers, but the seeds will always survive. Floating in the air. Looking for new spots to grow and express their beauty. Who knows, maybe one day, we will think of the word Columbine, not by the tragic shooting, but by the beautiful flora, whom not even the most grieving person could ever truly kill.
As always, you've made a very strong atmosphere. This really seems to play mind games with you. Nice stuff. I've always considered doing a soundscape but I've never really gone with the thought nor had the motivation. This is pretty cool and has given me inspiration. Keep it up! :D
CIEIRMusic responds:
Oh ya. The mind games are the main point though. This song, along with what it was based off, is meant to provoke thoughts.
This was beautiful, and so much thought put into each of these stages too... impressive audio and impressive premise to build on, though for the larger portion (03:03 - 15:57) it's all very much the same. It's a nice sound; I do get a sense of brooding and heaviness, but it also seems almost excessively long compared to the other parts. If the intention is to move you through different stages, wouldn't it be better if they really moved from one to the other, preferably transitioned in a fluent way from one to the other, more so than have one main segment and shorter bursts of alternating tempo/style before and after?
Doesn't feel the most wholesome this way IMO, though I love the sound otherwise. The beginning in particular, with how it seems to melt or fade away somehow... seems to play with your mind somehow...
-cd-
CIEIRMusic responds:
Part of why aftermath is the longest is because out of all the tragedies that came and went between the 20th and 21st Century, Columbine was one of the hardest people tried to get over. Before Columbine, the thought of Teenage Revenge through murder was considered fictional. Heathers, Carrie. All those works practically warned us that something like Columbine was gonna happem and no one listened. Then you have the Aftermath. People barely able to comprehend murderers that age let alone ones that planned it out. Then to further tune that comprehension they look for someone or something to blame like Doom or Marylin Manson. Then Michael Moore exploits the tragedy for his contribution to Gun Control as if the weapon itself was to blame. Then just when things can't get any worse, school shootings break out all over North America. Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook being the most prominent. But no one talks about them as much because the second they make the news, reporters take us back to Columbine. "I haven't seen anything this horrible since Columbine." "Remember Columbine? That happened." And so on. Meaning literally 21 years and it's still fresh in their minds. Even South Park which not only takes place in Colorado, but who's creators were in said Moore Documentary, were telling everyone to just get over it. Even going so far as the kids and adult alike be so desensitized that only one person actually cared before giving up and joining the rest. So needless to say if it's gonna take people that long to get over something horrible then it needs to be pointed out.
Credits & Info
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CIEIRMusic 
Licensing Terms
Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.
