Lockdown! at the Disco #11: The Cheerleader Episode
Listen to the Episode!
Read the transcript of the episode!
TRACK #1: “Basketball” – Speedy Ortiz
Hello! Good morning, or afternoon, or evening or whatever time my voice is finding you at this moment – let’s face it, time continues to flow abstractly and wildly in these weird times. I’ve been accusing my own clock of many a fabrication recently.
You are listening to episode 11 of Comics Youth Radio presents Lockdown! at the Disco, I’m your host Amy Roberts and I am in my squad uniform, ferociously shaking a set of pom poms because this is The Cheerleader Episode! That means that today we’ll be talking about raising our own sets of pom poms for ourselves and others, maintaining some strong teen spirit in the face of all the current anxiety of life and the world and the universe and everything else, and basically why it pays to be the captain of your very own one-person pep squad.
Even if that means doing so with a healthy scowl and a howl, honey: You can still have pep in your step while having a moan about things, folks. Sometimes getting salty about life is a cheer in and of itself.
Full disclosure, I know we don’t have a huge culture for cheerleading in this country. It’s very much an American thing. But! I have such an obsession with cheerleading – I love the outfits, the rhymes, the moves, and the vibes of it.
There’s something extremely heartening about the idea being part of a team who’re solely set up to motivate and inspire others to do well and to push forward. Even when you’re winning! But especially when your side is losing.
And holy heck, if ever there was a year where everyone kind of feels like their team is on the losing side it’s 2020. And that’s exactly why we need to lift our megaphones, shake our pom poms, and yell uplifting stuff to one another. Maybe we even need to utilise a metaphorical human pyramid of support within our communities, here and there too?
Because everyone needs someone to spell out their name, honey! This is “Poms Poms” by Scout Niblett.
TRACK #2: “Poms Poms” – Scout Niblett
TRACK #3: “Cheerleader” – St. Vincent
That was “Cheerleader” by St. Vincent and it’s a great reminder to all of you lovelies not to waste your time or energy cheering for people who or things which don’t also cheer for you, too.
Why root for a team who isn’t going to share that win with you? You know what I’m saying?
And that really brings us along to something that I think a lot of us have likely been thinking about while in lockdown – and that’s figuring out the things we want to bring along with us into this next mysterious chapter of our lives.
There’s a huge amount of change happening for a lot of us right now. And that can be terrifying and nerve-wracking: There’s a lot of anxiety to be found in things that feel uncertain and out of control.
But change also offers an amazing opportunity for us all to re-evaluate things and to really tighten our grasp on the stuff that we want to keep in our lives and to loosen our grip on the things that we don’t.
We’ve been completing work on the zine, journal, and sketchbook that we’ve made to go into our Stay Safe Club boxes – which are coming, by the way! We’re a very small, busy team and we’re working as hard as we can to get them out to you all ASAP – and this was an idea that popped up as we were working on one of the pages.
It basically pops up at the end of the journal as a prompt that asks for reflection on all the things that have helped you in the past few months so that you have a blueprint of the habits and behaviours and feelings that you want to move forward with.
It also asks that you consider that things that haven’t been serving you and that you write these things down on a loose piece of paper, scrunch them up and toss em in the recycling, honey. Goodbye to bad rubbish!
It feels more important than ever to kind of evaluate where we all are with that sort of thing – especially because the past few months have been so challenging and such a blur. I don’t think many of us have likely extended much of an opportunity to just take a breath and give ourselves a little pat on the back for what we’ve been doing good.
And we should do. Be your own cheerleader, folks! And as we go into this next song, I want you to imagine you’re right there with your megaphone and your squad uniform on and think about the habits you’ve had which have actually been good for you recently. Think about the things you’ve done and accomplished – no matter how minor or banal you might think they are – and which have made you feel proud. And think about all the things that have genuinely brought you some kind of joy.
Think of them and do a cheer to them. And dispose of all the bad stuff. You don’t need it. This is “Dance If You Wanna” by Vivian Girls.
TRACK #4: “Dance (If You Wanna)” – Vivian Girls
TRACK #5: “Hollaback Girl” – Carol Candy
That was the only censored version of “Hollaback Girl” I could find! And that cover is by Carol Candy from the soundtrack to Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. Now, before those two tracks I was prattling on about the wonderful stuff we’re been putting together to kit out the Stay Safe Club packs. We’re so stupidly excited to get them sent over to you all, too!
But I wanted to give a little preview to the zine by reading one of the pieces that’s been written for it because as luck would have it, it fits in perfectly with today’s theme! So, this is a wonderful piece written by Katie H called:
“How To Be Your Own Cheerleader: Make Your Mind and Body Into a Safe Space!”
Life can sometimes feel like a seemingly endless storm of negativity. So, it’s only natural that many of us seek out spaces where we can let our guard down; a specific place and/or group of people who foster a sense of emotional safety.
But what if those safe spaces aren’t available? What happens when that group of people aren’t free to meet up? What if it’s raining so you can’t go to the park?
You might feel daunted by the prospect of being alone with your thoughts. However, what many of us don’t realise is that we’ve all got the power to be our own Cheerleader!
All you need these three simple ingredients – self-care, esteem and confidence – to fully transform into your own best friend and pep squad. ...and we’re gonna dive into those three simple ingredients right after these next two songs. This is “Be True To Your School” by the Beach Boys.
TRACK #6: “Be True To Your School” - Beach Boys
TRACK #7: “Popular” - Nada Surf
That was Nada Surf with “Popular” which is probably one of my favourite songs to feature incorrect hair washing advice. Like, soz Nada Surf but Jonathan Van Ness advises we wash our hair twice a week and I’m gonna listen to them, honey!
And now, we’re back to Katie H’s ‘How to be a Cheerleader’ piece – and here are the three simple steps to be that for yourslef!
Step One: Self-care
Cheerleaders serve pep and power – and to claim those things for yourself, you should do things that cherish your body and your brain! Self-care is a powerful way to take some time to unwind and recharge by indulging in some things that make us feel calm and comfortable with ourselves.
For example, why not try a nice relaxing bath with a sweet-smelling bath bomb or putting on a face mask? Taking the time to connect with your body simultaneously helps your mental state, giving you that nice refreshed feeling. Like that old saying goes, your body is a temple - so why don’t we worship it?!
Step Two: Cheer Yourself On
Forget the idea that cheering for yourself is arrogant! Self-acceptance and self-love are crucial in order to live a life of happiness and gratitude. It’s like how Mother Teresa used to tell it, “Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” So why not try the rule of 5 Positive Affirmations?
Write down five things you love about yourself each morning. This could be things like “I love how passionate I am for art” or even more minor things like “I love my long hair for all the different styles I can have with it.” You may feel silly at first but doing this exercise regularly can help you start to find comfort in our own skin.
Step Three: Create your own Power Playlist!
Let’s face it we’ve all faced that inevitable dread of getting up in the morning. It may be the time where a lot of anxieties surrounding the upcoming day hit you all at once which can become overwhelming. But sometimes all we need is that little drop of inspiration to get our day off to a good start. So why not replace some of that dread associated with mornings with joy and create a power playlist for yourself to sing along with in the morning!
Any song that instantly puts a smile on your face, stick it on the list! Any song that makes you feel warm inside, stick it on the list! Any song that makes you want to fling yourself out of bed and start singing and dancing on top of the mattress, you guessed it, add it to the list! Music can truly be one of the greatest sources of pick-me-ups out there!
Thanks as ever Katie!
And now, we’ve got a couple of hot takes from the extended Archie universe which will make everyone who’s never watched a single episode of Riverdale or The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ask What the heck does this have to do with cheerleading?
Oh honey, do investigate… This is RUN-DMC with “It’s Tricky”
TRACK #8: “It’s Tricky” – RUN-DMC
TRACK #9: “Jailhouse Rock” – Riverdale Cast
That was “Jailhouse Rock” from the soundtrack of season 2 of Riverdale and it was part of a scene in which the cheerleading squad basically try to instigate a prison riot via Elvis Presley – and why the heck not? What else are you gonna do when you’re a high school cheerleader and your fella’s been wrongly imprisoned, eh?
And before that was “It’s Tricky” by Run DMC which was similarly a very important part of a cheer moment from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
And I’m playing them because we stan a good teen show here at Comics Youth - and especially so when those shows are super camp and super dark and just off their heads as both Riverdale and Sabrina are!
But we also stan a good queer teen story, which brings us to Glee.
The timing of this episode has been a weird one with the news of Naya Rivera’s passing. As you might be aware, Rivera was a huge part of Glee and played one of the greatest cheerleaders in the history of anything in her role as Santana Lopez.
Santana was an interesting character with an unusual arc – starting out as a stereotypical mean girl and villain before developing into one of the show’s most beloved and queerest characters – and for many Santana was the first openly gay lesbian character they ever encountered and that’s really important and not something to be undervalued at all.
Representation matters. And Rivera was a key part of many a young lesbian’s adolescence during Glee’s heyday.
With that in mind, here’s one of my favourite Santana moments from Glee wherein she takes this terrible queer-bait of a pop song by Katy Perry and reclaims it as a song of gay pride and self-assurance against the put down of a homophobic jock. Thanks for the love, Naya Rivera.
TRACK #10: “I Kissed a Girl” – Glee Cast
TRACK #11: “We’re All In This Together” – High School Musical
We had to end it on some serious cheese, pals! That was “We’re All In This Together” from High School Musical, and I know that Comics Youth head honcho Rhiannon has been delving deep into the High School Musical archives on Disney Plus recently so, that one goes out to her.
And that brings us to the end of another episode, friends! I hope you’ve got the pep and those pom poms have been well shaken here today!
Next week’s episode is all about Food! Songs about food, love letters to food, just a big ol’hearty celebration of food. Wholesome stuff, filthy stuff, tasty stuff – all of the stuff.
Until then, squad – stay safe, stay sassy and my goodness, keep your teen spirit intact. And remember, you can still be a cheerleader while brooding like a good one. So brood away, honey. Brood a-way… byeeeee!!
TRACK #10: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Patti Smith