My short 4 track EP, “2020”, first took form before the year it’s named after before all of this insanity took over. I often think it’s best to leave a song’s meaning up to the interpretation of the listener. But, if there were an outlet to air out my thoughts of my songs, it would be here. So I’ll go through each track in the lineage of which they’re recorded and break them down.
Listen to the EP while reading the text.
The first song recorded was “Between These Two Ears” and started with writing the chorus, which is the song’s namesake. It initially was supposed to be about your identity and having all you could ever need within you. Soon as I developed it musically and lyrically, it became essentially an anti-ignorance song. But, also maintaining the identity of somebody who isn’t ignorant by using the tools you have inside. Anything you could ever need is right there, between your two ears. It’s all about empathy and understanding. Everyone has their own life and issues going on, so try and stay present and remain true to who you want you to be.
“New Day” was the next song that I came up with and it started with the chords of the chorus. This is a theme you may begin to see; I think the chorus is often the best place to start but certainly isn’t any kind of rule. The melody sort of comes as you mess around, strumming the chords, and soon, I was able to get words out as well. I took it to a place of affirmation. Tomorrow is a new day so whenever the night makes you feel hopeless or alone or hopelessly lonely, you can find comfort that tomorrow offers great opportunities. Nighttime can also bring self-reflection and, you may wander into thoughts of regret. This song also aims to remind you that every day we get the chance to start a new and work towards the better self.
After that song started coming to fruition (many of these were worked on simultaneously and finished at different times), I stumbled on an old poem I came up with. I also had an idea of a general melody to go with it, and this was what would be “Moon God (Sun Goddess)”. This is the song with the most story. I wrote it one night out with my friends driving through my city, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I guess I was bummed in a way, though, because due to light pollution, you can’t really see the stars unless you’re in the middle of nowhere. That was where the inspiration came from. After that, it was just putting the puzzle pieces together with more verses and music. My personal favorite part is the ending, particularly the strange sort of Saloon piano, which was made in GarageBand (my DAW of choice or the one I have anyway) with a regular piano and a detuned synth layered over.
“Sunshine” is the most upbeat and maybe my favorite on the EP. It came to me one day in my room while I was burning an incense of the same name from Wildberry Incense (one of the best around). It just made me so happy, and it smelt so nice, I had my acoustic readily and began with the chords you hear at the beginning of the album. Then I added a chorus listing off many other really good scents but end of by saying none of them compare to the best, Sunshine.
When all is said and done and recorded, I had to put them in order. “Sunshine” was the obvious opener because it was fun and drew you in. “Between These Two Ears” was next because I liked how it leads into “Moon God,” and “New Day” felt the best closer because it’s a bit slower and ends with a strong resolution.
If you get a chance to check out “2020” I’d greatly appreciate it, I think it’s a perfect quick listen if you’re stuck at home or need a break from your stress at work with all that’s going on. I tried to keep current events out of this one and let it just be a nice, and positive change of pace to anybody who happens to stumble on it.
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