No Meaning
"No Meaning" was the newest track on the album, written after I’d already mixed most of the other songs. After months of fine-tuning compression and EQ, it was refreshing to write something new. "No Meaning" came to life shortly after I read Donika Kelly’s poem, “When the Fact of Your Gaze Means Nothing, Then You Are Truly Alongside”.
While John Guari played keyboards on most of the album, I played the keys on this one. Though I’m not fluent, it was fun to experiment and find the odd sounds that felt right for the song.
After laying down the basics, I felt the track needed some extra light, so I brought in the Dino Birds (Anna Weggel and Amanda Verstegen) for backing vocals. Recording with them in my basement studio added a lift to the song. With their vocals in place, the song called for drums on the final chorus, so I asked Josh Kaplan to pull off something tricky: recording drums on a pre-tracked song without a click track to guide him. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and it felt like a fitting statement of purpose for the album, so I made it the lead-off track.
This whole project is a kind of stock-taking, and "No Meaning" is very much a part of that.
This is the meaning of life
At least, my life
Before I am fully awake
I cradle the sense of me
Cup my hand round the flame
’Til the morning blows it out
I called to hear your sweet voice
Say hello to me
It’s not like I’m down in the mines
I peel stamps from old envelopes
Keep them safe from the wind and the rain
’Til I get them all home safe and sound
Whatever I’m looking for
Doesn’t matter anymore
I will make no meaning
Spring, and the seal is hunted by the birds
I will bring no meaning
I will bring no meaning
I can’t stop thinking about
All the battles I’m on the wrong side of
It’s coming to blows
I can tell from the stains on my clothes
From the fights that I win in my sleep
Whatever I’m looking for
Doesn’t matter anymore
I will make no meaning
Spring, and the seal is hunted by the birds
I will bring no meaning
I will bring no meaning