Topics
Form and Linearity, Exploring and Extending Instruments, Western Notation, Electroacoustic Composition.
Description
In this song, I'm once again exploring form and linearity. I'm also exploring and extending instruments and writing in western notation.
In the first half of this song, it follows a typical ABAB pattern (Nettl, 2019) and by the second half, the song shifts to a slow rock feel with chromatic movement in the bass line and chord progression. This shift from one half to the other transforms the song's mood from a slightly melancholic tone to one of optimistic resolve. The intention for the lyrical content was similar: to shift emotions to more inspiration for the future in the second half, with a line like, "No one said it was going to be easy, but it's easier if you try." This juxtaposition was inspired, somewhat, by Tears For Fears (2013) and their song Mad World, as well as, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin (1971).
The lyrics speak of not belonging and trying to make sense of a world full of uncertainty and apparent meaninglessness. Most people I've shown this song seem to think it's depressing and a sad idea, but I feel quite the opposite. The lack of meaning, or the less we derive our meaning from popular belief, trends, fashions, etc., allows us to create our own meaning; and if we are not following the fear of not fitting in with the crowd, we have the ability to live whatever life we choose by being present in each moment (Tolle, 1997/2004), which I think is an incredibly powerful position to come from. The song speaks of society and the strong downward pull of the group , and of the fear of leaving conformity (Greene, 2018). I hope this song can be seen as a form of social activism (Yellowbrick, 2023), which asks people to deeply self reflect and reach their potential without fear (Greene, 2018).
When exploring instruments, I wondered how vocal layers in the song could be used to create an eerie and unsettling quality. With inspiration from Fever Ray (2009) and their song If I had A Heart, I layered vocals and manipulated the audio by pitching some samples down an octave and some up an octave. I also added whispering voice layers, which follow the same lyrics and rhythm of the sung vocal parts. The concept behind the vocals was not for them to sound like an ensemble, but to sound like a multifaceted individual entity, which was to represent the 'group' or 'crowd'.
The song finishes with a solo piano playing freely. I placed a Bdim/D to briefly bring a state of tension again before returning to a vague sense of hopefulness at the end. To me, it represents something similar to a common perception of The Matrix, whereby relaxing into a feeling of having "awakened" can send you back to sleep or, in this case, back to the downward pull of the group. This is not explicitly what is eluded to by the film, but certainly can be observed in online commentaries between people during disagreements surrounding politics and the nature of reality (Stalder, 2020).