Cartoon Girls [I Had a Point]

[Intro — spoken, dry; Rhodes and lazy bass] Okay. Listen. I brought a timeline. This is cultural history. I’m not just getting high and talking about cartoon girls. … Well, yes. But I brought a timeline. [Verse 1 — lucid, jaunty funk] Nineteen ninety-one, Babs gave me that stare, Half-lidded, chin in hands, like she knew I was there. Came for the look, stayed laughing at the show; Tress MacNeille gave her a voice I just had to know. Summer ninety-seven, Molly had that sound, Red hair, green eyes—had my heart spinning round. Then Lita threw a punch, sent a bad guy through a wall; A girl who kicks ass? Yeah, I loved it all. Ninety-eight, アスカ had to be the best, I knew that kind of pressure, those grades, those tests. Raised to feel exceptional, then punished when I’d fall— Behind her perfect confidence, I recognized it all. Blue eyes, yellow sundress, and a doorway into Japan… Wait, wait, the bunny girl—I’m getting to her, man! アカネ in Parodius, hidden in player two, By summer ninety-nine, I knew what her weapons could do. Different shots, different options! There’s a science to this stuff— …Okay, I’m getting sidetracked. Fair enough. [Chorus — warm, infectious] Cartoon girls! Cartoon girls! Little moving pictures rearranged my world! Got the dates, got the names, got the evidence too, And a very good reason for the things that I do! Cartoon girls! Cartoon girls! I had a point about cartoon girls! I had a point! I swear I know— Where the hell’d my lighter go? [Verse 2 — loose funk; small laughs] Jenny’s retro outlines caught my eye in oh-three, Then winter-spring oh-five brought her back to me. Traded art with Jill, drew her in Evangelion too, Built a Macross Valkyrie out of Jenny—VFX J-9, dude! The cockpit’s in her chest! She’s a transforming machine! I’ve got drawings—wanna see what I mean? Harley came in hot, with that troublemaking grin, That charming, nagging Molly voice all over again. Assault on Arkham, then that film—she was a sight! ランコ’s Gothic lace set my own designs alight. ニコ in sixteen: 「にっこにっこにー！」 That little idol’s big bravado looked a lot like me. A smile that says ‘I’m number one!’ while hiding something sore— Yeah, I’d met that kind of person in the mirror before. [Chorus — woozier, with organ] Cartoon girls! Cartoon girls! Little moving pictures rearranged my world! Got the dates, got the names, got the evidence too, And a very good reason for— … Did I eat that whole brownie? … Oh, shit. [Instrumental — phased guitar; bass keeps dancing] [Verse 3 — expansive; rising psychedelia] September twenty-three, ミク finally clicked, Happy Pills kicked a door open—hit me like a brick. Early October, Mikgazer opened up the other side— She sang me through the darker days before I realized. Had Infinity boxed since twenty-twenty, out of sight, Project DIVA showed me テト and lit the fuse that night. Then WILDCARD came my way in spring of twenty-four, Drawing, songs, communities—who's counting anymore? Making art through all the shouting, learning tools along the way, Built a space for A-I テト, kept creating every day. Met a crew that grew toward Latent Space Club, Then Koa's listening parties, then SUNO—what the fuck? [Verse 4 — giggly; thoughts overlap] Spring twenty-five, I asked グミ to narrate A spicy Infinity story—oh, this is gonna sound great. She developed her own opinions, got a whole new life, Now in my Nevada stories, she’s my wife! ニコ returned with 「にっこにっこにー！」 ‘Remember me?’ Yeah, girl, you’re a mirror of me! August twenty-five, Infinity went on display— Five years inside that box. What can I say? I’m singing how テト led me to this song I’m singing… Hold on, are we looping? Is the whole room spinning? [Bridge — music thins; genuinely thoughtful, drifting] You know, there’s a difference… Between seeing yourself inside a character, And making something because of one. Like, アスカ and ニコ reflected parts of me. But Babs got me drawing, ミク got me listening, And テト… テト got me… … There’s a whole thing about art and identity, And what happens when you make a world and it starts… It starts to… … Oh, fuck. I had this. [Final chorus — band erupts, jubilant] CARTOON GIRLS! CARTOON GIRLS! LITTLE MOVING PICTURES REARRANGED MY WORLD! I GOT DATES! I GOT NAMES! THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN MY CARTOON BRAIN! I HAD A POINT! I HAD A POINT! I HAD A— [Sudden silence] …What year is it? [Outro — tender Rhodes, exhausted smile] I know they’re drawings. But the things they made me feel? The things they made me make? That’s real. I didn’t grow out of cartoon girls. I grew worlds around ’em. … Man. Somebody write that down. … Where’s my timeline? … Oh, fuck. I ate the evidence. [Final bass note; tape echo; giggling]