In the original Eureka series, names were important. The names had significance, even if it was only to the staff. Eureka is starting of that way again. Eureka AO derives its names from a number of sources. Each tier or group of names derive from the same reference source. For example, all the ships are named after the heralds to Greek gods and heroes. I think as we go forward, we will begin to see these names reach some the same sort of significance as they did in Eureka seveN. This post will be updated as information becomes available.
The Ships of Generation Bleu
Ships appear to be named after heralds or messengers to Greek gods and heroes.
Triton: Mythological Greek god, the messenger of the big sea. Triton had two daughters.5
Medon: The faithful herald of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey.6
Generation Bleu Teams
Team names seem to derive from children’s fairy tales, specifically ones with lessons.
Pied Piper: A story from Germany. Pied Piper is named after a fairy tale. In the story, the piper is hired to get rid of a town’s rats. He completes this task by using his magical pipe to enchant the rats and lead them away into a river to drown. However, upon completion of the task, the town refuses to pay the piper so he once again uses his magic to enchant the town’s children and lead them to their death.10. This story has turned into a lesson in paying someone who is due.7
Goldilocks: Probably in reference to the story, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Goldilocks is also now a reference to finding something in that perfect spot or zone.8,9
IFOs:
IFO names all come from liturgical elements in the Catholic Church and songs from it’s Mass.
Alleluia: The word “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah” (from Hebrew) which literally means “Praise ye Yah”, or “Praise Yahweh”. In the spelling “Alleluia”, the term is used also to refer to a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of Scripture, usually from the Psalms. This chant is commonly used before the proclamation of the Gospel.1
Kyrie: A Greek word, shortened from Kýrie, eléison, which means “Lord, have mercy”. The Kyrie is the first movement of a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass. The Kyrie eleison is a song by which the faithful praise the Lord and implore his mercy.2
Gloria: The second movement of a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass. The Gloria is a celebratory passage praising God and Christ. Or from “Gloria in excelsis Deo which is Latin for “Glory to God in the highest”.2
Credo: The third movement of a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, setting of the Nicene Creed, which is the longest text of a sung Mass.2
Requiem: Or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead (Latin: Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead (Latin: Missa defunctorum), is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is frequently, but not necessarily, celebrated in the context of a funeral.3
People:
Fleur Blanc: In French, Fleur’s name means “white flower,” which is commonly associated with modesty and innocence.10.
Elena Peoples: The name Elena means “light or beautiful,“ which could be referring to her status as an idol when considered with her surname.10.
Ivica Tanovic: Ivica is an old Hebrew name meaning “God’s Grace.”10.
Rebekah (also spelled Rebecca): from the Hebrew ribhqeh (lit., “connection”), from Semitic root “to tie, couple or join” or “to secure”.11.
Episode Titles – Song References:
This is all courtesy of Otou-san at Sea Slugs12.
Episode 1 “Born Slippy”: “Born Slippery“, from the group Underworld
Episode 2 “Call It What You Want”: “Call It What You Want!” by Richie Hawtin. Otou goes into detail at Shameful Otaku Secret13..
Episode 3 “Still Fighting”: “Still Fighting”, appears to refer to the 1995 abstract techno song by Sabres of Paradise, a precursor to the 2 Lone Swordsmen.
Episode 4 “Walk This Way”: “Walk This Way”: is, of course, a classic rock tune from the 70s by American-Idol-judge farm band Aerosmith, but the obvious reference with respect to a group of creators more obsessed with electronic music than most other forms is Run-DMC’s version version from 1986. Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys had combined hip-hop and rock before, but this was the first time a straight-up rock band like Aerosmith had collaborated with a hip-hop act.
Episode 5 “Tighten Up”: There are two possibilites this week. The most obvious song called “Tighten Up” is the 1968 hit by Archie Bell and the Drells. The reason it might qualify for an E7 episode title is mostly due to the freewheeling half-joke cover by OG Japanese synthpoppers Yellow Magic Orchestra from 1980. It was pointed out to me on Twitter that the quasi-supergroup Electronic (featuring Johnny Marr of the Smiths and Bernard Sumner of Joy Division/New Order) also had a tune called “Tighten Up.” Eureka Seven has used Electronic song titles for episodes before, so I guess this is likely as well. Perhaps it’s both.
Episode 6 “Light My Fire”: Obviously the biggest hit in the short but famed career of Los Angeles “Drug Music 101” band The Doors was called “Light My Fire.” It’s hard to reconcile this most mainstream of all mainstream rock hits with the normal aesthetic of the Eureka Seven crew. The rock references tend to lean almost exclusively British, including bands like the Beatles, Style Council and Oasis — more especially bands like Electronic and Primal Scream who incorporated dance elements into their rock records. The most obvious chart hit by the Doors, worn out by radio, seems like a hard one to call, but maybe that’s only to my Western ears. There are a few club/dance tracks with the name, which is unsurprising but inconclusive, it’s common practice. There’s also this interesting bit of madness from an obscure electro artist called Moebius (no relation to electronic pioneer Dieter Moebius), released in 1980. It’s one of the more interesting covers of the Doors hit I’ve probably ever heard. Whether Dai Sato or anyone else ever had this 12″ is doubtful but as likely as just about anything else, so I included it for grins.
Episode 7 “No One is Innocent”: The first song that came to mind when I heard the episode title “No One Is Innocent” was the track of the same name by the inimitable Sex Pistols. Well, it’s sort of by the Sex Pistols. The song was released as a single in 1978 (UK chart position: 7) after singer Johnny Rotten left the band, and features prominently in the not-quite-true film The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle. The substitute singer for the song, which had been performed but never recorded with Rotten, was Ronnie Biggs — most noted for his (totally minor) part in the Great Train Robbery of 1963. Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook flew to Rio de Janiero, where Biggs lived as a fugitive, to record his part. He’s not a great singer, even in a punk rock sense, but he was a great publicity stunt, and that was what the Pistols were all about. Here’s the clip from the movie, which is a bit NSFW toward the end.
Episode 8 “One Nation Under a Groove”: Though I don’t have the audiophile street cred that otou-san brings to the mix (so not pointing out what I did there), the episode title could either refer to Funkadelic’s classic 1978 track “One Nation Under a Groove” or Jay Henry’s 1991 reworking of the Funkadelic song. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the ephemeral nature of dance music on vinyl (or the equally ephemeral nature of vinyl-producing dance music labels), I’m unable to provide a link to the later version of the song, but in terms of Eureka Seven AO it is the Secrets, and not the funk, which ought to be bringing everyone together (okay, the funk too) but as we saw in this episode there are the occasional sour notes on the path to world harmony….
Episode 9 “In Dark We Live”: This one’s pretty easy. If there’s anything the E7 crew love almost as much as British music, it’s Chicago house. The title “In The Dark We Live” probably comes from Aphrohead, an alias of Chicago producer Felix Da Housecat. The tune is actually the title of a series of remixes of his tune “Thee Light.” Here’s the opening track from the 12″, the Dave Clarke 312 mix.
Episode 10 “Release Yourself”: Wikipedia once again has some speculation on “Release Yourself,” a fairly generic title that could fall into one of a few of E7’s typical categories. First there’s the 1974 stone cold funk jam from Larry Graham and Graham Central Station. And with Parliament being a previous episode title holder, it’s not unlikely. But neither the 1984 electro soul 12″ by Aleem. E7’s done a lot of name dropping of b-boy culture and electro tunes, and this tune has even been featured on some Afrika Bambaataa (of ”Planet Rock” fame) mixtapes.
Episode 11 “Plateaux of Mirror”: This one was easy for me: I don’t follow a lot of the dance subgenres that give E7 episodes their titles, but a reference to the 1980 album Plateux of Mirror by ambient pioneer Brian Eno and pianist Harold Budd leans more toward my realm of knowledge. Many people know Eno as the star producer of superstar douchers U2 and the U2-lite band Coldplay, but before that he was a rockstar with Roxy Music, an avant pop guy, and one of the inventors of ambient music. We won’t blame him for New Age music, which ambient is pretty much responsible for; instead, we can focus on some of the classics. Eno did a lot of collaborating, and this is one of his finest (the pair’s ’84 album The Pearl is probably even better).
Episode 12 “Step into a World”: “Step into a World” could only be one thing, although it’s a strange choice: That would be KRS-One’s 1997 single “Step Into A World (Rapture’s Delight).” It’s odd because it comes from The Teacher’s album I Got Next, notorious in the underground pioneer’s career because it features mainstream stars like (as he was called at the time) Puff Daddy. Whether it was an elaborate stunt to illuminate the lack of attention to underground hip-hop, a bizarre experiment or a surprising sell-out moment, it was his best selling work ever. But KRS-One deals in contradictions and oddness all the time. He’s no stranger to mixing a little rock in his rap — you may remember his appearance on R.E.M.’s “Radio Song” — but the song in question samples Blondie’s “Rapture,” arguably the first and one of the worst white rap performances of all time. Your feelings on the particular song aside, it’s a good title for the episode.
Episode 13 “She’s a Rainbow”: “She’s a Rainbow” doesn’t seem to be making any electronic or late 80s Brit-pop references, and almost certainly refers to the lone hit single from the Rolling Stones’ psychedelic freakshow Their Satanic Majesties Request. The album was a sort of bizarro-world response to Sgt Pepper that was one part cash-in, one part parody, and 2 parts really bad trip. Personally, I’m a fan of about 90% of the record where they’re not aimlessly jamming while eating copious amounts of LSD, but the most enduring song is the poppy, fluffy, piano-and-string driven “She’s a Rainbow,” a great name for the episode.
Episode 14 “Starfire”: “Starfire” by DragonForce
Definitions:
Liturgy (leitourgia): A Greek composite word meaning originally a public duty, a service to the state undertaken by a citizen. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a communal response to the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication, or repentance.
References and Footnotes:
Updates:
5/19/2012 – Initial Post
5/20/2012 – Added footnotes and cleaned up references
5/25/2012 – Added notes of meaning of character names. Minor grammar and spelling changes.
7/20/2012 – Added in Ep 1-13 song references from Otou-san at Sea Slugs
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