Stories Behind the Songs
on the Parallel Soundtrack

Tone Poems

This is a song about writing songs (tone poems), but also about writing in general.

Recently, I had a discussion with someone who had listened to this song and they commented that they thought it was dark.

My take on the song is actually just the opposite. Look at this verse:

Darkness gathers
I’m chasin’ mad hatters
I need a dose of the blues
Gives me a calmin’ down
Brings me back around
Reminds me I got somethin’ to lose

The music (a dose of the blues) calms or “lightens” the darkness. It reminds me of what’s important (reminds me I’ve something to lose).

And these verses:

3 a.m. silent time
Chasin’ mystery rhymes
No one there…to please
Alone but not lonely
Lookin’ for only
Some kind of redemption and peace

People say I’m just…killin’ time
I feel so alive breathin’ rhythm and rhyme
Sometimes I feel…I feel too much
Sometimes I feel…I feel too much

The writing itself is therapeutic (I feel so alive breathin’ rhythm and rhyme). I feel connected to something greater than the narrative that is “me” (alone but not lonely), and through the writing I’m looking for “redemption and peace.”

The aggressive nature of the music in the solo and at the end, is not so much anger as it is “release.”

That’s my take on it. Whatever you get from the song, if anything, is whatever you get from it. I’m glad you’re listening.