"It's a simple song about how Toad must feel inside when Mario beats Bowser, which is to say, it's a song about being surprised to see someone whose absence from your life has been a total catastrophe: personally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, practically, vertically, horizontally, Game Over. Unless it's not actually Game Over, which is the cruel hope of the home console: thag the new beginning will never end, until it does."
-- JD in 'This Year: 365 songs annotated', 2025.












