Line #68 Music/Lights


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lights_4861.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The singer in her natural habitat.]]
3
4	->''"Capture something invisible, organize it, give it movement, then spit it back from whence it came. Music is a dark, dark art."''
5	-->-- '''LIGHTS'''
6
7	Lights Poxleitner-Bokan (born Valerie Anne Poxleitner; April 11, 1987) is a Canadian pop singer known for performing songs such as "February Air", "Saviour", "Ice" and "Second Go" during the late 2000s. She released her self-titled debut EP in 2008, and her first full-length album ''The Listening'' in late 2009.
8
9	Her official website can be found [[http://iamlights.com here]]
10	----
11	!!Main Studio Discography
12	* 2008: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_(EP) LIGHTS EP]]
13	* 2009: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Listening_(album) The Listening]]
14	* 2010: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights.Acoustic Lights.Acoustic]]
15	* 2011: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia_(Lights_album) Siberia]]
16	* 2014: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Machines_(Lights_album) Little Machines]]
17	* 2017: Skin & Earth
18	* 2022: PEP
19
20	----
21	!!This singer provides examples of:
22
23	* AccentOnTheWrongSyllable: Sure, I guess the words "hysteria" and "Siberia" can be pronounced to rhyme with "diarrhea"...
24	* AlbumTitleDrop:
25	** "Saviour" for ''The Listening'': "The night is deafening/When '''the''' silence is '''listening'''..." Well, that and the title track, of course.
26	** The title of ''Little Machines'' is dropped in the lyrics of "Running with the Boys".
27	* AnAesop: The song "Everybody Breaks A Glass" seems like it's meant to convey the message of "Hey, nobody's perfect, so don't sweat your flaws."
28	* AnimalMotifs: Wolves are a recurring theme on ''Skin & Earth''.
29	* AnimatedMusicVideo: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUwjWDZoWVw "Saviour"]].
30	* AnswerSong / SiameseTwinSongs: "...And Counting" is the second half of a pair with Blessthefall's "40 Days". Lights is married to their singer Beau Bokan, and the songs deal with their previous distance from each other due to their respective tours, and living in different countries. She also appears at the end of the video for "40 Days"
31	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The DarkerAndEdgier version of "Ice" shows her and the EvilTwin destroying furniture and each other's instruments. But it's the EvilTwin taking possession of and systematically draining the fishbowl, too far away for a direct interception, that begins the battle in earnest.
32	* AuthorAvatar / AdamWesting: Captain Lights.
33	* AutoTune: In the verses of "Saviour" and in the middle-eight of "The Listening". It is used [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools less for vocal correction and more as an effect]].
34	* BadassBoast: "Banner" from ''Sibera'' has this lyric.
35	-->'''LIGHTS''': No weapon can sever the soul from me.
36	* BecomingTheMask / DoNotCallMePaul: She actually [[MeaningfulRename had her name legally changed]] to Lights, and prefers that people [[ThatWomanIsDead no longer address or refer to her by her born first name Valerie]].
37	* CarpeDiem: The main theme of "We Were Here".
38	* CatchPhrase: Captain Lights says "Damn..." at the end of ''nearly'' every episode (almost always because a new threat is revealed). [[spoiler:When Lights sees Earth in the last episode, she says it again, but this time in admiration.]]
39	** The exception is Issue Four, where Captain Lights instead listens to the voices of the Wah-Wah's[[note]]An alien race on the planet she's forced to land on[[/note]] and reflects on the uniqueness and beauty of each voice.
40	* CelebrityEndorsement: She lent some of her songs to (and even appeared in) an Old Navy TV ad campaign in early 2008. Possibly an {{Inverted}} since these commercials actually introduced her to many of her fans.
41	* ConceptAlbum: Her fourth album, ''Skin and Earth'', with a tie-in comic. (Not the first time she's made a comic, incidentally.)
42	** ''Siberia'' can be thought of as one, loosely, since almost all the songs on it have the theme of IWillWaitForYou. (See AnswerSong above for context.)
43	* CoverAlbum: She did [[https://soundcloud.com/lights/sets/scorpion-side-b-lights-covers a complete acoustic cover]] of Music/{{Drake}}'s ''Scorpion'' Side B.
44	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Her song "Muscle Memory" is about trying to get over the instinct to reach for a lover who is no longer there. Though she noted her surprise that a lot of people interpret the lyrics to be about masturbation.
45	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Siberia'' compared to ''The Listening'', with its grittier production and the lyrics' more forlorn tone. That said, some of its songs ("Toes" and "Peace Sign" being some prime examples) wouldn't feel out of place on ''The Listening'', and it generally doesn't feel too dark.
46	* DistaffCounterpart: To Music/OwlCity.
47	** In Owl City's "Deer in the Headlights" video, both Lights and Owl City appear.
48	** She and Owl City also did a duet called Cactus in the Valley. The duet can only be heard in the acoustic version. The original is a solo.
49	** Lights also duets with Owl City on his song "The Yacht Club".
50	** They've also gone on tour together.
51	* [[DoggedNiceGuy Dogged Nice Girl]]: "Quiet" seems to be written from a type 2 perspective.
52	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The Song of Anti-Creation would cause this in Audioquest: A Captain Lights Adventure.
53	* {{Fanservice}}: Both "Saviour" and "Toes" have her wearing a visible [[BlackBraAndPanties black bra]] not to mention the shorts.
54	* GenkiGirl: She has elements of this.
55	* GenreThrowback: To 80s synthpop, especially ''The Listening''.
56	* GrowOldWithMe: In the lyrics to "Siberia".
57	* IconicItem: Early on in her career Lights would wear a brightly-colored headband; not these days.
58	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: "Skydiving", the first vocal track on ''Skin & Earth'' (the preceding track, "Intro", is an instrumental prologue to "Skydiving") starts with the line "It all starts here."
59	* LighterAndSofter: ''Little Machines'' is essentially a happy medium between the more rhythmic production of ''Siberia'' with the optimistic tone of ''The Listening''. Lights notes that the album's spirit was partly influenced by the fact that she was pregnant at the time.
60	* LiveActionAdaptation: Many of ''Skin & Earth'''s music videos recreate scenes from the comic.
61	* LivingEmotionalCrutch: "Drive My Soul" is about this:
62	-->"When you're gone, well, I lose control\
63	You're the only road I know\
64	You show me where to go\
65	Who will drive my soul?"
66	* LyricsVideoMismatch: "Ice". The lyrics are about a boyfriend who's a male IceQueen, the music video is about Lights fighting her cloaked EvilTwin.
67	* MegaNeko: Just look at the [[http://twitpic.com/2jfezd thing!!!!]]
68	* MinimalisticCoverArt: The cover of ''Siberia'', unlike her other two albums, is a DeliberatelyMonochrome photo of her wearing a plaid shirt with a NavelDeepNeckline and ([[VaporWear nothing underneath]], even) on a plain background.
69	* MindScrew: The ending of the video for "Ice". A SplitPersonalityMerge? TheBadGuyWins? What?
70	* MirrorMatch: Near the end of "Ice," with her EvilCounterpart[[note]]A subversion of ActingForTwo, as the actress playing the EvilTwin had no tattoos on her arms[[/note]].
71	* MotorMouth: She admits to being a naturally fast speaker. Also applies to [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein her vocals in the middle-eight section of "Ice"]] (the 'Leonard Bernstein' of which you can find in the Shout Out trope listed further down the page).
72	** Particularly impressive in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-3MNL1ZiI this]]
73	** For those who are wondering, the full lyrics from the middle-eight of "Ice" are as follows:
74	---> '''Lights''': I'm looking at you looking at me, what can I do but say sorry, it's a little late but you know I just want you to be happy, what I gotta say to make you let me get away with it this time? I know you're upset and that you're happy just to sit and hate me, but I'll make a bet that you'd be better to forget about me, even better yet I'll let a little light melt the [[ShoutOut ice, ice baby!]]
75	* MythologyGag: En's Captain Lights boyshorts in ''Skin & Earth''.
76	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Siberia''. It keeps the synth/electro sound of ''The Listening'', but adds elements of hip-hop and dubstep (SugarWiki/BetterThanItSounds) and is generally darker and more subdued. ''Skin & Earth'' meanwhile has a much harder rock influence, while still incorporating her signature synth.
77	* OrangeBlueContrast: In the MirrorMatch shown in "Ice," this is indicated by the respective energy bursts of the core players (where the EvilTwin decides to empty the bowl containing the heroine's goldfish).
78	* PerkyGoth: Her appearance and love for metal music would make up the 'Goth' part of this trope, while her own music and personality make up the 'Perky' part. [[FreakyFashionMildMind Go figure]].
79	* PregnantBadass: During the recording of "Little Machines". She had to change her singing technique, as her diaphragm had tightened due to pregnancy. Taken further with "Muscle Memory", as she recorded it while in the early stages of labor!
80	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Lights has a tendency to stick some pretty nice vocabulary words into her lyrics. There aren't many other pop singers out there who put words like "interim" and "trajectories" into the same song and actually make it work.
81	* ShoutOut:
82	** In "Ice" she pays a brief lyrical homage to Music/VanillaIce ("...I'll let a little light melt the '''Ice Ice Baby!'''") followed by a musical quote.
83	** "Timing is Everything" has this line:
84	--->''"In the interim, [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 the princess was in another castle]]."''
85	** Believe it or not, "Lions!" is [[http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/10/06/15-minutes-of-fame-lights-camera-death-grip/ full of World Of Warcraft references]].
86	** ''The Listening'''s album artwork was inspired by ''Manga/SailorMoon''.
87	** This line from "Magnetic Field":
88	--->''"Cause this [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist full metal alchemy]] just brings about the best in me."''
89	* RaygunGothic: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7_ucPlzaiA "Drive My Soul"]] video.
90	* RobotOrSpacemanAlterEgo: Captain Lights.
91	* SelfBackingVocalist: On a few songs. Used very prominently on "Everybody Breaks a Glass" and the ending of "Running With the Boys", for example.
92	* SpecialGuest: Showed up on the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzDxTNiCpWM Fast Food Meatloaf]] episode of WebVideo/EpicMealTime.
93	* SympathyForTheDevil: In episode four of her "Captain Lights" adventures, her fictional self expresses pity for "those who sought to silence others, preferring quiet obedience to creative expression." (Much like the villain of the story, Lotar.)
94	* TheOner: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPLRkyGU3cM The video for "Second Go"]].
95	* TemptingFate: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJzHnhUIwbE All I gotta do now is get inside without being noticed...]] '''What the— ?"'''
96	* UnkemptBeauty: Even with hair that is often unruly (except for her [[DistinctiveAppearances trademark combed-over fringe]]) and a minimal amount of makeup (she is rarely seen without eyeliner), Lights still retains [[{{Moe}} a natural cuteness]]. Many fans can't help but fall in love with her, especially WhenSheSmiles.
97	* UnpluggedVersion: ''Siberia (Acoustic)'' is an entire unplugged album.
98	** She has released a few acoustic albums, or at least [=EPs=]. ''Little Machines'' also got an acoustic version with most of the same songs on it called ''Midnight Machines''.
99	* AWildRapperAppears:
100	** Canadian rapper Shad in "Everybody Breaks a Glass" and "Flux and Flow" on ''Siberia''. He either makes the tracks better or is extremely out of place.
101	** Also on the K-OS remix of "Ice".

Context Music / Lights