The second song I wrote for my EP is called "White Noise." I really enjoyed writing this song because I did a few different things that made it a very different piece from the ones I typically write.
When I wrote this song, I had two classes until my second publishing day and had no idea what I was going to publish. I spent the class writing and came up with the skeleton of "White Noise." The weird thing about this draft was it didn't even sound like I wrote it. I went to my teacher and told him I knew I'd written it, but it didn't sound like me. He agreed. We found the problem was I talked about this noise throughout the whole piece that I wanted to get rid of but never said what the noise was or why I wanted to get rid of it. I took his advice and ran with it.
This song is four and a half minutes long. Typically my songs are three and a half minutes at the longest. However, I like that I made this song a little bit longer because I liked the idea of taking the listener through the event of finding the noise and turning it off. There are three layers of finding the noise.
1) Finding the room it's in
2) Find who's making the noise
3) Turning it off
Lastly, I make a few pop culture references in this song that I haven't done before. I reference the Google Echo and an 80's fantastical-horror movie. When appropriate, my family and I never miss a moment to reference iconic movie lines, songs, and sayings, but I hadn't brought this into any of my songs until "White Noise."
Lyrics:
My mind has been numb, for quite some time.
It’s hard to ignore, the white noise in my mind.
It’s screaming and whispering,
And singing and choking me.
But I can’t separate the hissing from my bloodline.
I’ll chew some gum
Tap my thumb
But I can’t march to my own drum,
If I can’t tell where this other noise is coming from.
Run to the basement
The frequencies want rearrangement,
The intensities are violent but too quiet.
I can’t understand where it wants placement.
Please be content
I have nothing left
It’ll make me go mad
I can’t please it til no end
Just do the rearrangement
But I’ve misplaced the instruments
The only thing here is me in my basement.
My mind has been numb, for quite some time.
It’s hard to ignore the white noise, in my mind,
It’s screaming and whispering,
And singing and choking me.
But I can’t separate the hissing from my bloodline
I’ll chew some gum
Tap my thumb
But I can’t march to my own drum,
If I can’t tell where the other noise is coming from.
Go a little further,
Find the conductor.
Follow the noises growing louder.
Ignore the clanging
It’s just my gremlins,
I never should’ve gave into them.
The basement has no bright light,
But why’d I feed them after midnight?
Hey Google, How do I get rid of my demons overnight?
My mind has been numb for quite some time.
It’s hard to ignore the white noise in my mind,
It’s screaming and whispering
And singing and choking me. I can’t separate the hissing from my bloodline.
I’ll chew some gum
Tap my thumb
Where’s this other noise coming from
The further I stride,
The more sure I’ve got the damn noise this time.
Then all at once the frequency is too high,
I think it’s got me again this time.
Grab the door handle, ignore the blinding pain,
In your brain.
Turn the knob, don’t close your eyes.
Look up to the sky.
Open the door, go into the room.
Don’t stop, just get through.
Find the off switch,
Flip it.
This was my favorite song to perform for my class, because my classmates got different meanings from my song than I did. I remember specifically when someone asked if I wrote it about a panic attack, and I didn't, but as someone who experiences anxiety I realized how much it resembles a panic attack.
I wrote this song about all the people in your life that are always telling you what they think is best for you. However, in the end, it doesn't matter what other people think, it matters what you want. The only way to figure out what is the best decision for you is to turn off or tune out the white noise.
I hope you enjoyed my song.
Until next time,
thanks for yielding!
Alexis
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