Good Kid (Music) - TV Tropes

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Four eyes entwined draw four separate lines
And none of them point to you
A tangled mess of knots, I confess
But the intent was there I swear
We set our sights on something that we thought was true

— "Nomu", Good Kid

Good Kid is a Canadian Indie Pop and Pop Punk band. There are five band members: lead vocalist Nick Frosst, drummer Jon Kereliuk, bassist Michael Kozakov, and guitarists David Wood and Jacob Tsafatinos. Many of the band's covers and promotion material star their mascot, Nomu Kid.

Discography:

Good Kid (2018 EP)
Good Kid 2 (2020 EP)
Ghost King's Revenge (2020 chiptune/Remix Album)
Good Kid 3 (2023 EP)

Tropes:

Album Closure: Good Kid 2 ends with "Drifting", which is about a the singer anticipating his girlfriend breaking up with him because they don't communicate as well anymore. The last line, "and now I know that you've been gone," confirms that the break-up did eventually happen.
Animated Music Video: "No Time to Explain" and "Mimi's Delivery Service" both have music videos done in original 2D animation.
Audience Participation Song:
- When the band plays "Witches" live, they'll have the audience sing the chorus ("We talked, we talked about it all night / We thought, we thought we'd make it alive") with them.
- During live performances of "Down With The King", the band has the audience sing the accompaniment ("Down with the king! Down with the king!" and "You are so cruel! You are so cruel!").
Blatant Lies: "Tell Me You Know" consists of the singer insisting that he's still doing okay after a breakup. The song also details the lengths he goes to avoid contact with her, but he continues that it's "not that he's scared" of confrontation and that what he's doing now has nothing to do with her.
Break Up Song:
- Parodied in "Tell Me You Know": it's made abundantly clear that the guy is not over the breakup. Although he claims that he'll be fine, it turns out that he's too afraid to actually talk to her. The lengths he goes to avoid his ex include legally changing his name, moving towns, and deleting his entire Internet presence. When they actually do reconnect after a few years, she stops talking once she sees that she's "a bit better off" without him now.
- "Drifting" was written as a break-up song. It's about a guy who no longer listens to his girlfriend, and wants to forget everything they've done together. The final line, "and now I know that you’ve been gone", confirms that the break up did happen. Good Kid often uses "Drifting" to close tours or playlists.
Central Theme: Each album can be pinned down with a distinct theme present throughout all of its songs.
- The Good Kid EP mainly revolves around a theme of communication: "Nomu" is about the importance of being able to understand those you're close to. "Witches" has a chorus describing that the characters "talked about [their plans] all night". "Tell Me You Know" is a Break Up Song about a guy trying to avoid contact with his ex. "Atlas" distinctly describes the protagonists talking as part of the lyrics, and shades of this are also present in "Faster" and "Alchemist".
- Good Kid 2 takes a turn for being slightly darker and dealing with loss. Many of the songs here are reflections on what used to be, sadness over what you've lost, or advocations for more destruction.
- Good Kid 3 is about change and growing up. This is immediately set up by "No Time to Explain" ("I said I don't like change, but I'm not afraid..."), and continues with "Mimi's Delivery Service" being a song about watching someone you care about lose their motivation and confidence, and wanting to help them but knowing they have to take action themselves. "First Rate Town" has the protagonist stubbornly refusing to admit that a place isn't as good as it used to be, and admonishing someone for leaving it. "Orbit" deals with growing feelings of inferiority and that you're not good enough anymore to hang out with people you like. "Madeleine" is about growing apart from those you've met in the past.
Character Blog: The band's mascot, Nomu Kid, has an Instagram account, officially run by the band members. Nomu Kid mostly retweets fan art and writes in first-person.
"Double, Double" Title: "Everything Everything".
Growing Up Sucks: Subverted with "No Time to Explain". The singer hoped that his life would improve as he got older, but now that he's moved out on his own, he can't cope with the change and is unable to rely on the people he was close to. However, there's an inspiring tone to it once he realizes that he's always had struggles in his life that he overcame. This is no different, and now he feels that he'll be okay.
Homage Shot: The music video for "Mimi's Delivery Service" contains recreations of multiple shots from Kiki's Delivery Service, the movie the song is named after.
Hypocrite: Throughout "First Rate Town", the singer berates someone for leaving their shared hometown in favor of somewhere better. He says that they "just can't see" how good the town is and shrugs off their serious concerns (high death rates, inability to see the stars) as petty complaining. His insistence on sticking with it makes it clear that he's actually the one being narrow-minded here.
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Their EPs are Good Kid, Good Kid 2, and Good Kid 3.
Immediate Self-Contradiction: In "Tell Me You Know", after a breakup, the singer moves to Los Angeles and begins writing a screenplay. He says that it's not about his ex, but someone who has the same looks and name.
I'm moving to LA
I'm writing a screenplay
But it's not about you or what we were
It's about a new girl, you've never met her
She's just got your name
And she looks exactly the same
"Leaving the Nest" Song: "No Time to Explain" deals with the singer reflecting on moving out and having to do things on his own. While he was initially nervous about it (and somewhat still is), he accepts that he's able to live with it and is excited for the future.
I said I don't like change
But I'm not afraid
I can't keep it together ever anyway
When every page is in disarray
I think we'll be okay
Location Song: In "First Rate Town", the singer lives in a town that's very cold. Someone he loves ends up leaving, which he didn't think they would do, and he blames them for not seeing all the good things about the town. Since his praises merely say that "some of us are still left here" and "they keep the death rates down", it's probably not that good of a place.
Logging onto the Fourth Wall: In September 2022, the band released a series of Parody Commercials to promote their single "No Time to Explain." The 2000s-style infomercial has the URL "göödkidofficial.com" flash on-screen. Visiting the URL takes you to a website styled after the 90s informercial, complete with gaudy GIFs, flashing text, and scan lines over the screen. A link to the song, and the official Good Kid website, are also included. Interestingly, this was a fan-made website; Good Kid planned to make it a real site, but ran out of time. They were impressed with the fan product, though.
Jacob: If a fan saw that we didn't make it, and made a real website with this stuff in it I'll be very very impressed/thankful it's not a scam
Lyrical Dissonance: A lot of Good Kid music has upbeat and catchy tunes, with lyrics that are surprisingly depressing once you listen to them.
- "Nomu" is a high-energy song about a relationship falling apart and the people in growing distant because they can't communicate.
- "Everything Everything" has an energetic tone but lyrics about the protagonist desperately trying to avoid losing the memories they have of a person they were close to, because everything else they had was already destroyed.
Mascot:
- Nomu Kid, a Perpetual Smiler who tends to appear on Good Kid promo art, covers, and social media.
- 2023 also saw the introduction of Mimi, a girl who builds and uses drones.
Mondegreen Gag: Invoked. The band asked four people off the street to guess the lyrics to their song "Witches".
Song: A narrative waste of patches and light
Woman: A narrative ways to something alright?
Non-Appearing Title: "Nomu", "Alchemist", "Witches", "Atlas", "Slingshot", "Aloe Lite", and "No Time to Explain".
Non-Indicative Title:
- "Witches" does not include any witches. It's about two people winding up in an unfamiliar, dangerous area and trying to figure out what to do next. Word of God says that the title was chosen because it's about "surviving spooky business".
- "Aloe Lite" is named such because the writer, Jon, was drinking Aloe Lite while he made the demo. The title ended up becoming a Permanent Placeholder. The song itself is a somber piece about being unable to move past a person you've lost respect for.
One-Word Title: Good Kid EP has this for 5/6 tracks ("Nomu", "Alchemist", "Witches", "Faster", and "Atlas") and Good Kid 2 has "Slingshot", "Pox", and "Drifting". There's also their single, "Orbit".
Perpetual Smiler: Nomu Kid is always seen smiling. According to the band members, it's his default emotion.
Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: "Mimi's Delivery Service" is a play on Kiki's Delivery Service.
Remix Album: Downplayed with Ghost King's Revenge. While it contains a fair amount of original songs, it has remixes of every Good Kid song up to that point, done in chiptune.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: In "Tell Me You Know", after the singer tells his ex that he's now writing a screenplay, he hurriedly states (aprops of nothing) that it's not about her or anything they've done together. It's just about someone who's the exact same as her in every way.
We Used to Be Friends: "Slingshot" was partly inspired by "the exaggerated tales of friends turned bitter rivals found in fantasy and anime." The lyrics describe two friends who split up along the way, and now are engaged in an intense argument. The singer repeatedly wishes ill will on his enemy and insists that they don't need each other anymore.
Well, I remember when you said that you hate everything I do
You didn't have a reason then, wish I'd given one to you
Whole-Plot Reference: The lyrics to "Alchemist" describe the plot of Fullmetal Alchemist.
Word Purée Title: "Nomu". When the song was being written, Nick used to sing "Nomu nomu nomu good time" as placeholder lyrics in the chorus. These were misheard lyrics from "Mogu Mogu" by Dopeness, which says "Mogu Mogu Mogu good time". Thus, the title ends up being a Development Gag — it's also fitting for a song that's about miscommunication.