Hollow Knight: Silksong - Lace & Lost Lace // Reaction & Analysis

Indexed: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome back to another reaction. Today we have something from Hollow Knight Silksong. I know a lot about Silksong, not its music. I've also never played Hollow Knight Silksong or Hollow Knight really.

[00:00:12]It's just not my thing. Don't come at me. I'm just not the platformy type at that level. It's just looks great. I love this visual style, just not gameplay wise. It's not really my thing.

[00:00:22]Either way, Autistic Cat, my executive producers, wanted me to get to this music, which is apparently the first level and last boss theme for the same character in this game. So, I am aware of that and how these two play together.

[00:00:34]But, other than that, I'm going in blind. So, without further ado, let's go.

[00:00:42]>> [music] >> Okay.

[00:00:55]Like musically, I think I've only ever heard like maybe trailer music for this game.

[00:01:01]>> [music] >> I like how it's only strings.

[00:01:22]Like there's nothing else going on.

[00:01:29]I heard some dissonance in there.

[00:01:48]Now, that cello is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

[00:01:52]Violin's great, too, but like that cello in there.

[00:02:02]>> [music] [music] >> Well, now I'm like already interested in seeing what the next part of this would sound like.

[00:02:30]Which is a great sign.

[00:02:32]I want to see how this evolves into whatever the second one will be.

[00:02:36]>> [music] [music] >> It's so elegant. It's I think elegant might be the best word.

[00:02:58]I wouldn't call it haunting.

[00:03:01]It's epic. It's not cinematic necessarily, but it's >> [music] [music] >> Damn.

[00:03:20]Dude, ending it like that, too, with all those stings. Ooh. Okay.

[00:03:25]Uh gorgeous initial thought, but obviously I'm going to get into the music theory of this one as well. Okay, so obviously this song was very epic.

[00:03:34]Not necessarily again cinematic in my opinion. That tends to require a little bit more like a literal percussion.

[00:03:40]Albeit the percussive qualities of the lower strings especially were definitely pulling their weight. I love the cello.

[00:03:47]It's probably like double bass in there as well, but mostly the cello from what I could hear had that unlock. It was just really keeping the rhythm going there. But, the chord progressions for this one are super interesting as well.

[00:03:58]To start out with, I'm pretty sure we're in G minor. That seems to be pretty consistent with everything I could hear in this song. And the overall progression, albeit it does change quite a bit because of how this song works, but I'm pretty sure it's G minor, E flat, C minor, D for most of the like overall this song. I think that that's specifically the progression that plays like right at the end. Just that like um >> [music] >> And you can kind of hear that tension in there. But, there are variants as well.

[00:04:30]Like I'm pretty sure at one point they go down to a C and then they go up to resolve at an F, which is just slightly different from that. It just feels a little bit more proud. It kind of adds that like energy of we can do this to the back end of the song compared to the drama [music] of the main progression there. So, that's the quality I'm pulling from this song is that it's a boss theme maybe. I feel like I might have read the little blurb that I got from Autistic Cat who requested this a little wrong maybe.

[00:05:00]Maybe I'm just forgetting a detail of it being a boss theme. But, this screams boss theme. The drama of this one screams boss theme. And there's a lot of drama in the song as well. Like unlike the passage I've already played for you, there is a part where it starts on G minor and then it goes to an F sharp and then the E flat. And just that is just it's cranky, you know? It's just it doesn't have that dramatic down roll like we get with the main [singing and music] progression, but what it does do is fight against it immediately before we continue on with largely the same stuff we've already heard. And there's also one point in here where I'm pretty sure there is a seventh, an A seventh, which just kind of leaves you hanging on the top. We do get like a B major seventh as well, which is much more beautiful compared to that. The The relationship I always talk about between like seven standard dominant sevenths and major sevenths is that standard dominant sevenths just kind of tend to sound like they're going somewhere or trying to go somewhere. They're leading you to a new chord. Whereas things like major sevenths have the defining characteristic of feeling like they're ending a sentence. It's a different vibe entirely, but they're still sevenths nonetheless. And that just allows for a little bit more of this like melodic and harmonic resonance at the top end of a chord that you can just kind of borrow and utilize elsewhere. It's leading somewhere still, but one feels like it's ending a sentence and the other feels more like a comma at best. And for this song, having those sorts of avenues are very useful because like I said, we have this very dramatic position, but we also do drop down to things like the C and going up to an F. And that kind of leaves it a little bit more on a like lift as well cuz it it just feels way more proud. And when you contrast that to the rest of the song, having [music] that relationship feels like it's lifting up somewhere as well, but I believe it's just looping back into the G minor there mainly. But, there's a lot of that happening in this song and that's the energy I was getting of like oh, it's a boss theme because that contentious energy is the [ __ ] root of a boss theme, right? Like that's the whole point is the argument that you're having with somebody, a disagreement of any sort. So, musically being able to put that in there and make it feel right is part of the job, right? Like you have to be able to have a song that [music] feels like it's working, it's dramatic, but every once in a while you need to [music and singing] immediately crush the expectations and hopes basically of the person listening because that needs to reflect what's happening in the fight, the relationship between the characters. All of that stuff is a factor of how the music resolves and relates to the characters and you as the player. So, that's the core of this. And on that same thought, if you remember the moment where I mentioned the B flat major seventh, there's also another spot here where it uses a B flat augmented, which is a lot more gnarly. And again, as you can hear with this one, clashes like hell. It's not supposed to work, but that's kind of the beauty of augmented chords. They are in there to throw a wrench into the rest of the song and really feel that dirt in the track. And that's the sort of drama that these songs stir up and allow you to just kind of throw in things like that just as connectors. And I'm pretty sure the part that includes that augmented goes from a B flat to an augmented to an E flat unlike the higher end. And this kind of lifts up into it just by going one note at a time on the upper finger for this one.

[00:08:33]>> [music] >> It brings you up the And that just kind of roots you into this.

[00:08:39]>> [music] >> But, it sounds so pretty. Even if you take this and go >> [music] >> and like ground it back in there, it's still making that movement. It's just happening an octave lower. It really depends. I can't quite remember if this happens in the upper octave and it continues to move up or if it skips back down. It's kind of fuzzy. But, either way, that's a really cool relationship. And having this sort of half step up to the full step is a time-tested factor of keeping the song moving and allowing that shift in the chords and the energy of the song because as you probably heard with these, >> [music] >> it sounds like it resolves much more kindly despite the augmented being there because this sounds disgusting on its own. But, if you give it an answer, it suddenly sounds beautiful. That's why augmented chords exist and why they're allowed to kind of spice things up in a composition as needed. If you know where you're putting them and you know that's the sound you want to get, you want to have that sort of resolution, that's where they come in handy. But, I've been yapping about this one far too long. I need to get to Lost Lace. So, let's do that.

[00:09:50]>> [music] >> Ooh.

[00:10:02]Okay.

[00:10:06]Now the question is is it going to get >> [music] >> more sad? Cuz that feels like that's where that's going.

[00:10:19]Mhm?

[00:10:23]Ooh, hanging on to it.

[00:10:28]Where's that going to go?

[00:10:30]Ooh.

[00:10:34]Ooh, up.

[00:10:36]Up.

[00:10:38]There's those half steps in there.

[00:10:51]>> [music] >> The dramatic energy in here is very similar.

[00:10:58]I kind of wonder if it's going to hit something new or go further.

[00:11:03]>> [music] >> A swell.

[00:11:09]>> [music] >> Okay.

[00:11:17]>> [music] >> Now this this is what I was wondering if if this was going to happen at all.

[00:11:25]>> [music] [music] >> Ooh.

[00:11:34]Ooh, all that dissonance in the voices in there.

[00:11:39]Not to mention that they had voices.

[00:11:42]>> [music] >> So we're in a different key.

[00:11:53]>> [music] >> Ooh.

[00:11:54]>> [laughter] >> Ooh, huh.

[00:11:56]Oh.

[00:11:58]>> [music] >> That's where that was going.

[00:12:04]>> [music] >> Okay, the drum got cranked to like a 12.

[00:12:10]>> [music] [music] >> Okay, it's settling a little bit, maybe.

[00:12:27]>> [music] >> Ooh.

[00:12:32]Okay, I didn't check how long this song was, so I really didn't know if that was going to go to something else. But no, it just kind of swelled to the finality of it all. So it built up all of that drama, brought it to an absolutely gorgeous head, and then it just washed out right at the end. Like a life snuffed too quick. Oh, that's so [ __ ] cool. Now this one was absolute cinema. It had a little bit more to it. The swells helped out with that cinematic energy. The choir helped out with that as well. That's what was kind of missing for me. All being one like quartet basically of strings was perfectly fine. It served its purpose to set the mood for what this relationship was with the first song, but this one really brought it all to a head.

[00:13:21]Honestly, I couldn't even tell you what exact key is happening here. I'm pretty sure it might be A minor at some point, but at the same time I'm not positive because I feel like it does revisit the G minor of the last one. So it's like, okay, maybe they're doing a little bit of both because that does seem to be a factor in the song. There seems to be a key change at least once in here because we have a lot of notes that do not work with A minor specifically. Like that's all the white keys. That's A minor. It's similar to C in that way where that's the key. There's no other black keys played or anything like that, but we get a lot of those, especially after one certain spot in there that I loved. And that was the part where it started with this A sus 4 resolving into an A, and it's like there's your first black key.

[00:14:09]Obviously, there was other ones being used here, but this shifted the mood down into that F sharp minor. And it's like, ooh, now where are we going? Now what's going on? We had like C sharp minor and also C sharp in there. So there's a lot of contrasting notes. Like those two shouldn't be together at all, but they happen literally right next to each other at one part. So it's just that wild sensation of this song. This song takes the prior one and evolves it to the ends of the earth. It takes that drama and scales it up beyond belief, and we get that in all of these swells that we're feeling, all the other layers that are going on here. Really bringing up the highs, too. Like the strings went way up there. It keeps elevating the emotion. Like as the song gets more and more dramatic, you need to keep that energy moving. So that's why these sorts of like resolutions [music] tend to help with that because it settles you into something new, maybe, but it also allows you to go up or start to evolve to other things. We have E and D in here. We have a bunch of stuff. B flat was in here, C was in here. It's just all of it. A obviously was in here. We also had A minor. So it's like that's again why I can't decide what key this song is in.

[00:15:31]It feels like it's jumping a few times, and that's really hard for me to know what's going on without having like the sheet music or original compositional notes in front of me. I'm not sure exactly where they were going at what points or how long they stayed there before coming back. I have the chords, and I could probably suss it out if I really wanted to tell. I could probably spend the time to do that, but at the same time I don't really need to because the song spoke for itself. The drama of this one, the constant tension in this song, and how much there was of that.

[00:16:03]Like I talked about tension in the last one. This song was every other chord constantly fighting against each other, but it was definitely referencing the other song. Like we had G minor in there. We did not have C minor to my knowledge, but we did get the C sharps in there, too. So it's like, okay, so that might have been the adjustment they made.

[00:16:23]>> [music and singing] >> Kind of bringing that in there, which doesn't feel like it works the same way, but it also does go back down to the C at one point. So maybe they used that instead, and we still had the D in there, and like I said, the E. So like that sort of is still in there. That lift that feels proud. Although I am also pretty sure at one point there was an F major seventh.

[00:16:45]So it's like now we have that in there, but it's also utilizing the major seventh this time to bring in that note up there, and it can turn into something else entirely. And it's like again, this is why sevenths are important in music.

[00:16:58]They are very useful for being able to connect [music] these different things and these different energies to new sounds that we have and stuff that we can actually utilize to bring us to a new spot in the emotional journey that we're going on. And that's that's what this song was. It was an evolution of the prior one. Obviously, we have lace and lost lace. It's kind of a no [ __ ] factor just looking at the names alone and knowing the context of what was going on here. I'm even more positive that the last one was like a boss, like the first time you meet boss. I'm feeling like that might have been the thing that was said in the notes, and that this is the last time you fight because now the drama has cranked up to a point of absolution. Like at the very end of the fight, that's when that moment happens where it hangs, and you're like, are we done? It lands on that A at the very end, and hell, you could even throw it in there for an octave.

[00:17:48]And then that's kind of a lift, and it leaves you hanging on that. It doesn't necessarily end the thought, but at the same time you feel like you can't go anywhere else. It like locks you in to a moment in time. And it feels like that's how they would be perceiving death or maybe even just giving up on a situation. Cuz I'm not sure what's up with this boss. I don't know what the relationship is with your character or if you're even the one the relationship is with. It could be anything. To me, I'm completely out of the know in that.

[00:18:19]But what this is giving me is that emotion of we've done all this, we've gone through all of this. I've tried and tried and tried. The drama has built and built and built, and we have nowhere to go now. Now we're trapped here. Now we're stuck here. I can't do anything anymore. I'm tired. I'm done.

[00:18:35]You're done.

[00:18:36]And that's where the song leaves because you're saying it, but you don't get to see it happen. I don't feel like the character died at this point. I'm saying it's definitely a possibility they died, but that lack of finality in that A just doesn't sit with me as a death chord. It doesn't land anywhere of going, ah, we're done. Even the seventh, if I were to do that instead, does not have that. It lifts up, and it doesn't feel the same. So I'm struggling to believe that this ended in death. I feel like it ended at a stalemate at best. Like it's it ended with finally, I've gotten you worn out. Now we can talk. It's kind of the way that this song feels like it played out, just having it hang on that A at the very end. And again, evolving this from the prior theme, it makes total sense. An introduction, now an evolution, and now we're here, and somehow we have to figure out what to do after this song is done. After our fight is over, what's next? And we don't really get to know with this song. I'm sure the plot plays out, whatever the answer to that is, but for this battle, all the information I have, it leaves you hanging just a little bit, and I think that is probably one of the more beautiful options they could have taken. But I have yapped about this one enough, so thank you all so very much for watching. If you have another song you want me to get to from Silksong or anything else, drop in the comments below and I will do my best as always to get to those. Or if you want to guarantee something, much like Autistic Cat did for this one, you can go to my Patreon or my YouTube memberships where you can force me to listen to something. Doesn't matter what it's from, who it's by, if it's good or bad, none of that matters, that's why it's a guarantee. But if you don't want to do any of that, maybe just want to follow me and support me for more stuff coming in the future, you know how to do all that, and I'll see all of you in the next video.

[00:20:18]Goodbye.

[00:20:20]>> [music] [music]