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Restraint: 2. Without Nothing

"Without Nothing" marks the first time I hinged a song on a half-step bass line, but it's "Our Best Wasn't Enough" that made it on an album first.

In the case of "Without Nothing", I wanted to hint at a Phyrgian mode, using C-minor and D-flat major chords. The melody, though, is entirely diatonic, so the song is pretty much in the key of A-flat, starting on the vi chord.

Yes, I'm terribly analytical when it comes to writing music.

The opening piano riff was the first thing I sketched back in 1998, and it pretty remained as such till 2005. Back then, I didn't really know what to do with it. Things started to fall into place as I built tracks around the chord progression, and I realized the song was further along than I thought. That's happened a lot with the tracks on this album.

I dragged my feet with the lyrics. The bulk of the lyrics on Restraint were done in marathon sessions, and I usually took the first thing I wrote down. How well these words fit the music is anyone's guess. I've just gotten accustomed to hearing them with the music.

I can't say exactly what this song is about because I wasn't consciously going for a particular theme. I just wrote the first line -- as usual -- then let the other lines follow. So read into it what you like.

-- Posted: 2009-06-01 08:27:00