RESONATE
Lyrics
Hey! (x3)
Oh, another misanthropic morning
Loss aversion and bitterness forming
But the lens I use to see
Is only reflecting me
Pre-Chorus:
The headache kept at bay
Become open to the way
Chorus:
Resonate
Your mind aligned with fate
Can you feel your soul relate?
Trust in the path you take
Hey! (x3)
Look around see only imperfection
How could anyone live without resentment?
But I know
The external world is unreliable
Pre-Chorus
Chorus
Hey! (x4)
Chorus
Hey! (x5)
Oh, another misanthropic morning
Loss aversion and bitterness forming
But the lens I use to see
Is only reflecting me
Pre-Chorus:
The headache kept at bay
Become open to the way
Chorus:
Resonate
Your mind aligned with fate
Can you feel your soul relate?
Trust in the path you take
Hey! (x3)
Look around see only imperfection
How could anyone live without resentment?
But I know
The external world is unreliable
Pre-Chorus
Chorus
Hey! (x4)
Chorus
Hey! (x5)
Story
<Will>
Musically, this song was first written almost entirely with electronic instruments (with the exception of the vocals) on my computer. Months later, we decided to adapt it to the instruments we play live. The adaptation went smoother than I could imagine. There are still electronic elements, but adding electric guitars and acoustic drums changes the sound dramatically.
Lyrically, this song was inspired by general cynicism and pessimism towards humanity. It's not too hard to find social ills when you look for them. The hard part, as I have been discovering for myself, is knowing what to do with awareness of problems, and maintaining a positive outlook despite the negativity. In the last few years, my ability to find and keep a positive attitude has been aided tremendously by what I've learned from Eastern mysticism and spirituality - namely Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. Wisdom from those traditions has resonated with me (yeah...), and I allude to some general Eastern philosophical ideas in the lyrics ("way," "path," etc.).
There was one specific occasion when the word "resonate" itself, in an actually profound and ridiculously meta way, really struck me. One definition of "resonance," at least in the world of physics, is, "the state of a system in which an abnormally large vibration is produced in response to an external stimulus, occurring when the frequency of the stimulus is the same, or nearly the same, as the natural vibration frequency of the system." (Dictionary.com) In a real life example, if I hold up my acoustic guitar and sing an A note directly into the strings, the A string will begin to vibrate and produce sound, as well. My voice is the only thing that causes the string to vibrate, and only the A string is affected (with some exceptions for notes in the harmonic series... the physics of sound is amazing). It's pretty cool.
It got really cool for me when I considered that ideas and words may follow the same mechanism. If I read a quote that really feels true to me, it may be because the meaning or essence of the words I read was already existing inside my mind. It is as if the quote is the A note which causes a pre-existing A in my mind to begin to "vibrate" simultaneously. Perhaps learning is synonymous with self-discovery, and not necessarily mental addition. This idea is strikingly similar to the idea that Buddha-nature (basically, our potential to become Buddhas, or enlightened, compassionate, and wise) is always present in every being, but is often obscured. The challenge, then, is to discover it.
I hope the cycle of ideological resonance continues with this song!
Musically, this song was first written almost entirely with electronic instruments (with the exception of the vocals) on my computer. Months later, we decided to adapt it to the instruments we play live. The adaptation went smoother than I could imagine. There are still electronic elements, but adding electric guitars and acoustic drums changes the sound dramatically.
Lyrically, this song was inspired by general cynicism and pessimism towards humanity. It's not too hard to find social ills when you look for them. The hard part, as I have been discovering for myself, is knowing what to do with awareness of problems, and maintaining a positive outlook despite the negativity. In the last few years, my ability to find and keep a positive attitude has been aided tremendously by what I've learned from Eastern mysticism and spirituality - namely Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. Wisdom from those traditions has resonated with me (yeah...), and I allude to some general Eastern philosophical ideas in the lyrics ("way," "path," etc.).
There was one specific occasion when the word "resonate" itself, in an actually profound and ridiculously meta way, really struck me. One definition of "resonance," at least in the world of physics, is, "the state of a system in which an abnormally large vibration is produced in response to an external stimulus, occurring when the frequency of the stimulus is the same, or nearly the same, as the natural vibration frequency of the system." (Dictionary.com) In a real life example, if I hold up my acoustic guitar and sing an A note directly into the strings, the A string will begin to vibrate and produce sound, as well. My voice is the only thing that causes the string to vibrate, and only the A string is affected (with some exceptions for notes in the harmonic series... the physics of sound is amazing). It's pretty cool.
It got really cool for me when I considered that ideas and words may follow the same mechanism. If I read a quote that really feels true to me, it may be because the meaning or essence of the words I read was already existing inside my mind. It is as if the quote is the A note which causes a pre-existing A in my mind to begin to "vibrate" simultaneously. Perhaps learning is synonymous with self-discovery, and not necessarily mental addition. This idea is strikingly similar to the idea that Buddha-nature (basically, our potential to become Buddhas, or enlightened, compassionate, and wise) is always present in every being, but is often obscured. The challenge, then, is to discover it.
I hope the cycle of ideological resonance continues with this song!