[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
That fucker is back!
[HPKritical as VALENTINO , spoken]
Yeah, I thought he was gone for good too
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
[HPKritical as VALENTINO, spoken]
You still pissed he almost beat you that time?
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
[HPKritical as VALENTINO, spoken]
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
Things have changed a lot since he left town
[HPKritical as VALENTINO, spoken]
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
I gotta send a message of who's really in charge of things now
I'm gonna make you wish that you'd stayed gone
Everyone knows that there's a brand new dawn
[DIRECTOR, spoken]
[STAFF]
[HPKritical as VOX ]
Top of the hour , and we're discussing a certain has-been
Who has been spotted cavorting around town
[STAFF]
[HPKritical as VOX]
[STAFF]
[HPKritical as VOX , HPKritical as VOX & (Not) STAFF ]
So, the Radio Demon is back in town
What does that mean for your family?
Well handily, I've got good news
And I don't mean to sound hostile, but the demon is a coward!
Pulling my viewers? Impossible
I'm visual, he's barely audible
Stop giving him the time of day, don't listen to a word he'd say
I hope he had a nice vacay, but he should've stayed away
[HPKritical as VOX ]
While he hid in radio, we've pivoted to video
Now his medium is getting bloody rare
Hell's been better since he split
Where's he been? Who gives a shit?
[HPKritical as ALASTOR , spoken]
Since someone with style treated Hell to a broadcast
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken ]
[HPKritical as ALASTOR, spoken]
Instead of a clout-chasing mediocre video podcast
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
[HPKritical as ALASTOR, spoken]
Is Vox insecure, pursuing allure?
Flitting between this fad and that, is nothing working?
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
Ignore his chirping!
[HPKritical as ALASTOR, spoken]
Every day, he's got a new format!
[HPKritical as VOX, HPKritical as VOX & (Not) STAFF ]
You're looking at the future, he's the shit that comes before that!
[HPKritical as ALASTOR]
Is Vox as strong as he purports?
Or is it based on his support?
He'd be powerless without the other Vees
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
Oh, please!
[HPKritical as ALASTOR]
And here's the sugar on the cream
He asked me to join his team!
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
H-hold on!
[HPKritical as ALASTOR]
I said no, and now he's pissy
That's the tea!
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
You old-timey prick, I'll show you suf-ffering
[HPKritical as ALASTOR, spoken]
Uh oh, the TV is buffering!
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
I'll destroy you, yo-ou lit-tle—
[HPKritical as ALASTOR, spoken]
I'm afraid you've lost your signal
[HPKritical as ALASTOR]
Let's begin
I'm gonna make you wish that I'd stayed gone, tune on in
When I'm done, your status quo will know its race is run
Oh, this will be fun
[HPKritical as VOX, spoken]
Fuck!
Vox sounds really upset here, clearly giving a LOT OF SHIT about it, despite his quick brushing it off. Maybe even nervous. How much does he care about Alastor, really…
This is a quadruple entendre:
Alastor is an anthropomorphic deer, and in this scene, Vox holds up a cut of venison.
This line is a play of the term “medium-rare”, referring to how thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is.
“Bloody” is used as an adjective to mean “excessively”. Though juicy steak is often described as “bloody”, actual bloody steak would be beyond rare– it would be raw.
Lastly, this line is a play on the physics terms “dense” and “rare” which describe optical density. Though radio and television both use radio waves, radio uses shorter, “rarer” wavelengths. The rise of television radio’s wavelengths relatively “rarer”.
Alastor’s medium (radio) is becoming less common as Vox’s medium (television) slowly takes its place.
Alastor, the demon Vox refers to in this song, mysteriously disappeared for 7 years. Nobody knows why but according to Zelestial there were rumors that Alastor “fell to celestial arms”
“Cavorting” is usually moving around playfully (or sexually, as if doing something scandalous), think of frolicking. Here, Vox is wording it to say that Alastor isn’t back for anything important, and should not be taken seriously. Additionally, he’s saying “you left for seven years, how are you just back and casual about it?”
Vox seems to have the power to “hypnotize” viewers into watching his broadcasts, or at least, get their attention hooked quickly. The way this line is sung also comes out as more of a command compared to a general statement.
This phrase is a common attention-getter that many news stations use in a fear-mongering way in order to get the attention of parents.
Vox’s jump to hostility here (as well as Valentino’s needlessly sarcastic remarks) shows a glimpse of the dynamic between Vox and Valentino – an abusive, on-again, off-again relationship.
Fan favourite motherfucker who was either scared of TVs or hit by one to die
Annoyed exclamation, he’s annoyed by Alastor spouting off disrespectful remarks at him, even though it’s.. Slightly true..?
Alastor is the Radio Demon, and is a patron in the Happy Hotel (pilot) A.K.A. the Hazbin Hotel (full show). A slightly official backstory of Alastor by Vivziepop says that Alastor was a serial killer while alive. And that the reason he died was because while burying one of the victims, a deer hunter heard him and thought he was a deer, shooting him through the head and killing him. Therefore, his design in Hazbin Hotel is based on a deer due to his death.
The name “Vox” translates from Latin to noise, voice, sound, et cetera. Vox as a character is an innate control freak; this power he has over the people is gained by broadcasts and verbal persuasion. Pitted against Alastor, this song and his name sets them apart as foils/rivals to one another.
In the verse prior Vox speaks rapidly, spouting the right words to keep citizens on his side. Contrary to grasping the control he has, this verse shows it being taken from his hands as he interrupts whenever available. Despite a losing battle, he desperately interjects to try and overpower Alastor’s voice.
Since Alastor went off the air the Vees grabbed power for themselves, and made “The New Status Quo” into technology, TV, social media and moved it away from radio
This “jingle” is playing in the background of Vox’s news broadcast, further playing on the theme of television and reinforcing the power news broadcasts hold (in general).
Typically, visual input captures an audience more effectively than audio input, especially if the audio is hard to understand. This is further emphasized by Alastor’s voice filter being on at all times (thus making him harder to understand), while Vox does not have one.
Valentino didn’t know he was still alive, he thought Alastor was dead or just gone.
Vox is attempting to convince himself (and calm his insecurities) that TV is enticing enough that it’ll keep his viewers from being entranced by Alastor’s radio. Not only are they fighting over technological progress (Vox) and how “things should stay in radio” (Alastor), they have to “share” an audience of media-consumers in Hell. It becomes a war of who has the bigger fanbase, and thus, the most power.
In this verse, Vox’s speech rapidly speeds up. This can be attributed to a few things.
It’s reminiscent of how advertisements speed up the end to save money by shortening the length of the ad and to get through the mandatory consumer warnings fast enough that they have a chance of being glossed over by the consumer. Vox is obligated to report on Alastor due to their respective overlord positions, but he doesn’t want his audience to think Alastor is any sort of threat to him or the TV industry, so he’s speaking quickly to get him out of the way in the hope that people forget about him.
The quick speech also conveys Vox’s growing anxiety. “The mouth runs away with itself whilst the brain is far more concerned with trying to escape from whatever is causing it to be nervous.” Vox is obsessing over Alastor’s return and what it means for him. In his broadcasts, it sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself that Alastor isn’t a threat than he’s trying to convince his audience. He throws out “Pulling my viewers? Impossible” almost like he’s talking to himself.
This is contrasted by Alastor’s calm, leisurely, deliberate approach to his radio broadcasts targeting Vox. He knows he’s going to win this battle, isn’t outwardly concerned, and is teasing Vox with his peaceful manner.
It’s also a reference to the rapid-fire way of speaking reporters have, in order to get everything they have to say out in a short amount of time. This also plays into the huge amount of information and content being circulated in mass media at any given time, which we can also see in the many “formats” Vox employs during his part of the song (news program, talk show, stand up, televangelism, etc).
Alastor – the radio guy – has been gone for 7 years, suddenly disappearing after his duel with Vox where he almost beat him.
Part of TV and media’s ability to retain their audience and viewership is the suspense they leave – you’re more likely to tune in next time if you were left with a question unanswered previously.
Director is putting Vox on live, saying (3,2 1) to tell him when to speak.
Alastor speaks with a radio filter on at (seemingly) all times. However, despite Vox being a television, he does not have a voice filter on at all times (there are small moments where he receives one, usually when glitching out). Vox is focused on technology moving forward, and in modern-day technology, the static-y voice that comes from Alastor would not be a commonplace default audio quality.
This exchange highlights the relationship between Valentino and Vox, and the general dysfunction between the Vees (compare this to what we see of the relationship between Zestial and Carmilla in the episode “Scrambled Eggs.”)
This sequence comes immediately following Vox confronting Val about his anger towards (and desire to attack) Angel Dust. Immediately after being forced to back down, he brings up information he has which he knows will anger Vox, allowing him to regain control of the conversation.
In the midst of his insecurity, Vox takes the opportunity to discredit Alastor’s name from the start, trying to turn his viewers against the radio demon as soon as possible.
By asking if anyone misses him or noticed Vox is belittling Alastor and his reputation, a common manipulation tactic, he thinks if he makes him seem insignificant enough to ask if anyone notices when he’s gone everyone will see him the same way.
“Rejoice” is also a Christian greeting/ salutation. Just as Vox portrayed himself momentarily as a religious figure earlier, Alastor may be playing on that theme with himself (especially with his “Salutations!” to open the line).
“Send a message” can have a technological connotation (like a text, or in Vox’s case, in a broadcast), but can also be just a general concept.
“Radio Demon” is what people often call Alastor, due to his radio-based abilities and history of broadcasting his brutal murders live on radio.
Since Vox has been broadcasting to Hell in the seven years since Alastor’s disappearance, he’s basically saying that Vox has no style.
“Hazbin” is a play on words for “has-been” – Vox may be referring to not only Alastor, but to the hotel as well.
Vox is realizing Alastor is having more viewers than him and starts directly addressing it, mad.
Alastor had previously fought Vox and apparently came close to beating him. However, Alastor lost for unknown reasons.
Alastor’s opening line differentiates himself from Vox in pretty much every way possible. Whereas Vox is fast-talking, obsessed with his rival and rapidly flitting around to new thoughts and avenues of attack, Alastor speaks clearly and confidently, commanding more attention with a single word than Vox does for the entire song so far.
Alastor also ignores his opponent entirely, taking his time focusing on his viewers and his re-introduction, making Vox look unimportant in comparison to himself. He also didn’t interrupt Vox, patiently waiting to let him finish his spiel, which makes Vox look even more pathetic by constantly butting in with childish insults during Alastor’s upcoming responses.
In those seven years, the Vees have established themselves as a dominant power, working to boost their platforms (Vox’s news broadcasts, Valentino’s studio, and Velvette’s social media / fashion brand). Now that Alastor is back, his presence threatens to undo all of the work due to the sheer amount of power and influence he holds, and the fear associated with his name.
Alastor refers to Vox’s TV show as merely a “video podcast”. Podcasts are radio programs, and thus an auditory medium.
Alastor doesn’t hold a high opinion of the medium of video in general, and therefore is claiming that it adds little to the existing radio format that he specializes in.
Valentino agrees with Vox about things changing a lot since Alastor disappeared. Now that he’s came back the Vees are stronger the they were prior to Alastor’s disappearance.
In the previous line, Vox dressed as a religious figure in the midst of preaching. “Gospel” refers to Christian teachings, and this version of Hell borrows a lot of its background from Christian teachings. Vox may also be portraying himself as a god due to how much power television has over viewers.
Vox is the TV Demon, the opposite to Alastor’s Radio Demon status. Vox believes he’s superior to Alastor because he views video as more technologically advanced.
Vox also could be referencing the Buggles‘ iconic 1979 track, “Video Killed the Radio Star.” The title of the show’s episode 2, “Radio Killed the Video Star,” could also be a reference to this.
