Little Miss Perfect (song)

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Fan Song
Song Title: Little Miss Perfect
Composer: Joriah Kwame
Lyrics: Joriah Kwame
Melody: original tune
Date: 2019
Fandom: 13 Reasons Why
Album:
Other:
External Links:

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Little Miss Perfect is a fan song by Joriah Kwame. It was originally written as part of TAPES: A Song Cycle,[1] a charity album based on 13 Reasons Why benefiting suicide prevention. The song was then submitted to Write Out Loud, a contest that highlights up and coming musical theatre songwriters, where it won. As part of the prize for winning, Little Miss Perfect was subsequently covered by Taylor Louderman[2] for the 2019 Write Out Loud album, which is what propelled it into larger popularity. It was quickly picked up by fandom through TikTok and animatics and has been attached to several different ships, the most prominent of which was Lumity from The Owl House.

Kwame recently announced he'll be turning Little Miss Perfect into a full musical, featuring an original story and a cast that includes Mariah Rose Faith as the main character, Noelle.[3]

The Song

Written from the POV of Courtney Crimsen, the song tells the story of how Courtney came to be Hannah Baker's fifth reason for committing suicide. It deals with the conflict Courtney feels between her sexuality and her image as being "perfect." Because she's afraid of tarnishing her "perfect" image, Courtney ends up denying her sexuality and the fact that she kissed Hannah because "[she] can't risk falling off [her] throne." Much of the song's tension comes from the clear disconnect between the upbeat and fun orchestration contrasting with the clearly conflicted lyrics, showing that "Little Miss Perfect" maybe isn't as perfect as she seems. When explaining how he wrote the song, Kwame said the following:

When I was writing the song, I knew I wanted it to be, like, light-hearted and fun - very different from a lot of the songs on the album just because of their heavy subject. I knew I kinda wanted it to remind me of Sara Bareilles. I kinda wanted a little bit of singer-songwriter feel good but underneath it being a little bit of tension that makes us feel for her.

- Joriah Kwame on Little Miss Perfect[4]

The "Lumity Anthem"

Sometime before the airing of the Grom episode of The Owl House, shippers of Lumity latched onto Little Miss Perfect as an anthem for their ship and specifically the character Amity Blight. This is likely due in part to an extremely popular animatic by ThatOneDorkThatDraws which currently has over 2 million views.[5] This was subsequently followed by many other animatics[6][7][8] that helped make the song popular and cement it as the "Lumity Anthem." Fans began associating the song with the ship, often quoting the lyrics on works related to Lumity or Amity.[9][10][11]

Simultaneously, people began saying that while Little Miss Perfect was perfect for Amity, they would love a similar song for Luz Noceda. These comments from Lumity shippers caught the attention of Kwame, who responded to one[12] stating that he would be writing one and then posted in the comments of a popular animatic stating the same.[13] The resulted in the sequel song to Little Miss Perfect, Ordinary.[14]

Reactions and Commentary

The song “Little Miss Perfect” going from being a fan song about 13 Reasons Why in a contest to becoming the Lumity anthem is the most fascinating thing to me. Like in roughly a years time it went from a song from a relatively small songwriting competition to having a sequel based on an entirely different show??? Huh? Anyways stream “Ordinary” on Youtube and watch The Owl House I guess???

- violetintheroses[15]

I think the vast majority of the time in the media, teenagers aren't represented in a way that feels authentic. They're so often portrayed as frivolous. Like, how many times have you seen a storyline where a kid is freaking out over who has a crush on who and the parents are like "That doesn't matter. You're being stupid.". And I think it's a really big disservice that adults just love to make light of these situations that feel very real and very big when you're a teenager. [...] Teenage girls, now more than ever, make up a very real percentage of the Broadway fandom. So when you finally have a large section of your audience see themselves reflected in the work in a way that is honest and truthful and layered and fun? That's a winning combination.

- Katherine Steele[16]

Fanworks Using Little Miss Perfect

Animatics

Fanvids

References

  1. ^ [TAPES: A SONG CYCLE FULL AUDIO. Posted 18 Oct 2019. Accessed 11 Niv 2020.
  2. ^ LITTLE MISS PERFECT. Posted 29 Sept 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  3. ^ Little Miss Perfect: The Musical ft. Mariah Rose Faith & More|FIRST LOOK. Posted 7 Nov 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  4. ^ Breaking Down "Little Miss Perfect" w/ composer Joriah Kwame. Posted 7 Oct 2019. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  5. ^ Little Miss Perfect (TOH Animatic) (Song Written By Joriah Kwame & Sung By Taylor Louderman). Posted 22 Jun 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  6. ^ Little Miss Perfect (Lumity Owl House Animatic). Posted 2 Aug 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  7. ^ Ordinary // TOH animatic. Posted 10 Sept 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  8. ^ TOH Animatic: Little Miss Perfect. Posted 22 Sept 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  9. ^ Tweet from @enbysoap. Posted 31 July 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  10. ^ Tweet from @TheArtByAsher. Posted 14 Aug 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  11. ^ Tweet from @sapphicotropico. Posted 25 Aug 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  12. ^ Tumblr post from smokestarrules. Posted 25 Aug 2030. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  13. ^ Tumblr post from smokestarrules. Posted 20 Aug 2030. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  14. ^ ORDINARY (Little Miss Perfect Sequel) lyric video. Posted 7 Sept 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  15. ^ Tumblr post from violetintheroses. Posted 7 Sept 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
  16. ^ let's talk about Little Miss Perfect | aka the "13 Reasons Why" TikTok Taylor Louderman song. Posted 29 Sept 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020.
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