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Singled Out: Stroamata's Anything

07/14/2014
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Today Alexander Markowitz from innovative Brooklyn rockers Stroamata tells us about the song "Anything" which is the latest song from the band's singles series, entitled "Volume XV". Here is the story:

"Anything" is one of those songs that just fell out of the sky. It was written very quickly: drums, rhythm guitar, lead guitars and lead melody all came together in one day. I'm not sure what I was going for when I started putting the song together; I was just sitting with my guitar in front of ProTools and then all of a sudden, there it was! The songs that come together like this are always a distinct pleasure.

Now let me contradict myself! I write a lot of music, at least a song a week. The vast majority of these songs never see the light of day. These songs are not bad, there just "okay." There is always a good idea here and there, but in the end the song is just "okay," so I always try to remember the good ideas from mediocre songs. What ends up happening is I get to take all of the good ideas and just mash them into one song, usually without realizing I have done it. All the work is done before I have even started. This was the case with "Anything."

After getting the blueprint of the song together, I started reviewing my running lyric sheet that I keep on my phone. I write little phrases on my phone as the come to me; I have tons of half verses, and little choruses saved. What resonates with me are statements and words that are somewhat ambiguous, but emotionally powerful, because I like it when the listener gets to exercise their imagination as the lyrics pass. So, I found a little snippet lyrics in my phone which I must have wrote while waiting for the subway, "Lies are okay/no, god don't mind/He stays quiet day after day." From there I flushed out the feelings behind the snippet of lyrics I decided to use.

So sure, I can say that "Anything" is just a song about the hard the times I have been through over past few years (which is true) and I can say the song is about my experience wrestling with faith, desperation in hard times, and the longing for times past (which is also true). I did not, and I never consciously try to write about my exact experience. I do not want to force my exact experience on the listener because I want the listener to put themselves in the song! So the verses paint a relatable portrait of loss, which if you haven't experienced, you aren't breathing. The pre-choruses are about absence of divine intervention. The choruses are a moment of desperation, filled with heartache and pain. We are all trying to live the best life possible, and during those times when happiness and success seems impossible, we break down, willing to do anything for our little peace of heaven. Why is this happening in the song? Why is our narrator feeling this way? The specifics don't matter. Our narrator is only human, just like our listener, and I know what it means to me, but the listeners will hopefully put themselves into the song, becoming not just part of the music but the subject of the song.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

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