Won’t You Show Me Everything You Know?
“Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)” by Josh Ritter
Background: Josh Ritter has some of the most dedicated (but rational) fans I’ve ever seen. They travel well and they also know all the words to all his songs, not just the ones from his full length albums, but also from his EPs. “Truth” came out on an EP of the same name back in 2022 and gained popularity, but I didn’t listen to it until it appeared on his full-length, I Believe in You, My Honeydew (which was recorded in the great state of Minnesota at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls). It’s a terrific song that has a science theme to it, and got me thinking about other science-themed songs. I already discussed “Chemistry” by Semisonic in my Story Songs/Example Songs blog, and that’s about the only parallel I can make to this song, in terms of comparing “scientific findings” to love–so instead, I just went with a theme of science in general!
Lyrically: The song starts off with a narrator who is fascinated with the stars, driving out to see said stars with his telescope. He says, “I was driving with my headlights off, just stars for navigation” and adds, he has “my telescope, my notes, ham sandwiches and coffee, sometimes you must be all alone, and there ain’t no way to not be.” In the second verse, he reveals that his ex, Tonya, had left him for a man named Neil, so the stars are his survival and only companion. As he sees the stars arranging, he comes to a realization that “Truth is not immutable, itself is a dimension, truth can both be weighted down and warped in strange directions,” comparing Tonya’s “truth” to what he views as the actual truth, adding that “Truth has a shape that alters, each according to observer, sometimes you must be close to it, sometimes you must be further.”
He also mentions receiving a “Strange transmission” “until finally it was gone.” He realizes that the only person he wants to tell of these discoveries is the one “Sound asleep with Neil” and part of the reason is because if he presents his findings at “Symposiums and seminars and think tank institutions,” people will laugh at him, due to the personal nature of these findings (not entirely scientific, but talking about his personal life as well), but concludes by telling them if they see Tonya, “Tell her that I love her, that will always be the truth.”
Melodically: The song is written in A major and uses an A, D, A, E pattern (which is a I, IV, I, V pattern), which is followed by an F#m, D, A, E, pattern (a vi, IV, I, V pattern). The middle 8 uses the F#m, D, A, E pattern throughout as well. I’ve never met Josh in person, but based on what I’ve seen from him live, he’s a deep thinker. To even come up with this concept requires some wild connections that need to happen in your brain to make it work and not be too abstract for your listeners. It also requires attention to detail and strong intentions.
Why am I bringing this up in the melody section? Well, it’s interesting, because the end of the song is him presenting his findings, which shares its name with the title of the song. In the narrator’s mind, there is a conclusion. And yet when he’s playing the guitar part (this is the only instrument in the song), each section ends on the V chord after having played the I chord. The I chord, the tonic, gives us a sense of resolve. The V chord does the exact opposite. Sequencing these two things so closely shows how close the narrator is to getting it. It shows that he can come up with all the conclusions in the world, but there’s still no resolve, at least as to why he and Tonya aren’t together, why she’s with Neil, all of that. It’s like my math teacher who used to say, “Zero divided by Zero is the second biggest mystery in the world–right behind why Angelina Jolie won’t return my phone calls.” The narrator figures out all the science he can–it fascinates him. What he can’t figure out is why Tonya left him. So in coming to the conclusion about “truth”, it raises more questions. And that’s why ending each section on the V chord is such an amazing choice.
Structurally: The song uses almost exclusively verses. There are four verses, with the first one being twice as long as the others. This is a terrific choice because it gets at the shock behind Tonya’s leaving, drawing the parallel right away to being alone gazing at the stars and him saying he likes stargazing alone, which is good because now he doesn’t have a choice. The middle 8 breaks up the third and fourth verse (I suppose I shouldn’t use the term breaks up in the context of this song), and breaks down his findings about what “truth” really comes down to. Finally, he realizes all his findings mean nothing if he can’t tell Tonya about them and it turns into a kind of an “If You See Her, Say Hello” situation. Of note, Tonya left the narrator for someone named Neil. I don’t know for sure if that was intentional or not, but when I think of the name Neil, I think of Neil Armstrong. If that was the idea, to get us to think that way, it’s even more of a dagger because the narrator’s interest in the stars, like Armstrong would’ve had, was the thing Tonya didn’t like in the narrator. So it’s almost like the two people are exactly the same except the important thing is that Neil isn’t the narrator–and that’s just what the narrator is trying to figure out–where he went wrong.
“Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)” is embedded below.
2. “The Scientist” by Coldplay
Lyrically: When I first thought of the idea for this blog, “She Blinded Me with Science” popped into my head, but there was too much going on in that song beyond science, such as referencing “Poetry in motion” to have it fully be about science. “The Scientist” does not reveal its connection to the discipline until the second verse, though it does mention “Going back to the start” at the end of the chorus. It’s revealed in the second verse that the narrator viewed love as somewhat of a science experiment, and the difficulty of that experiment drove his love interest away. In the second verse, he says, “I was just guessing with numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart,” and later revealing, “Questions of science, science and progress do not speak as loud as my heart.” In the chorus, he admits, “Nobody said it was easy” but then also says, “No one ever said it would be this hard.” It almost echoes Jesse Winchester’s line from “A Showman’s Life”, saying “I should’ve known it, but nobody told me about this part” after listing off all the cool things about being a showman. Similar to the narrator in our first song, it’s the one mystery that eludes him, despite all the fascinating things about science.
Melodically: The song’s two main instruments are piano and acoustic guitar. If you choose to play it on the piano, you’ll be playing the chords I mention, but on the guitar, the capo is on the 3rd fret. Relative to the capo, the chords are Bm7, G, D, and Dsus2, played twice in the intro and repeated 4 times in the verses. The song is written in F major, so this is a vi, IV, I pattern. The chorus uses G, D, Dsus2, G, D, A/D, D6/9, A/E, Asus4, and A, which is a IV, I, IV, I, V, I, V pattern. The instrumental between the chorus and the second verse uses D, G, D, and Dmaj7, followed by Bm7, G, D, and Dsus2. This is a I, V, I, V, vi, IV, I pattern. The instrumental after the last chorus uses D, G, D, a I, IV, I pattern, played four times, before ending on Bm7, G, D, a vi, IV, I pattern, played 5 times. Like the last song, the chorus states the mission of going back to the start, with a narrator confident they can get there, but since it’s never revealed that they will, each chorus ends on the V chord, adding to the unresolved nature of the experiment.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, instrumental, verse, chorus, instrumental, ending format. There’s a simplicity about this song that differs itself from the last one we looked at by Josh Ritter. Some of that is just narrative style, but some of that is necessary for the song. Simple phrasings in the Coldplay song, but still a little bit of confusion as to why he can’t solve the puzzle. We never get the grand details we do in the Josh Ritter song, but the result is more or less the same, and we see it playing out slowly with more instrumentals and no resolve.
You can listen to “The Scientist” below.
3. “Galaxy Song” by Monty Python
Lyrically: This song from Life of Brian is addressed to Mrs. Brown, and uses galactic metaphors to encourage her to look on the sunny side when life gets her down. The chorus says, “Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour. That’s orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it’s reckoned a sun is the source of all our power.” He goes on from there, but his whole point in telling Mrs. Brown this is, that when she’s feeling down, she should remember “How amazingly unlikely is (her) birth, and pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere in space, ‘cause there’s buggers all down here on earth.” This is a song my 8th grade science teacher, Mrs. Thomas used to play for us and this was before I spent a bunch of time analyzing lyrics (but not too long before), so I always just heard it for the science portion of it. Luckily for you, we’re now combining the two!
Melodically: The song is written in Bb major, and is played with the capo on the third fret. Relative to the capo, you’ll play the intro with C#dim7 and G (3 times), followed by G, E7, A7, and D7. This becomes a bv°, I, VI, II, V going back to the I (G) chord in a jazz turnaround. The verses then use G, Gmaj7, G6, and G, which becomes variations of the I chord with the capo. Finally, they use D7, Am7, and D7, which is a V, ii, V pattern with the capo. This pattern remains more or less the same throughout the whole song. Of note, though, the instrumental breakdown before verse 5 switches to 3/4 time. That breakdown is as follows, according to Ultimate Guitar:
4/4 Time: Verses/Choruses
3/4 Time: Breakdown
Tea Time: About 12:00, around lunch
Instrumentally, the song uses harpsichord, guitar, pads, synthesizers and piano (which come in during the 3/4 instrumental breakdown), and drums.
Structurally: The song uses an intro, verse, verse, breakdown, verse, verse, instrumental breakdown, verse, verse. Everything flows together nicely, so there doesn’t seem to be much of a distinction between parts, but that works well for the song because what the narrator is trying to do is keep it light. He does that by plotting along, but keeps attention with the 3/4 switch. Perfect for Mrs. Brown and a bunch of 8th graders who you’re trying to get interested in science!
You can listen to “Galaxy Song” below.
4. “My Own Version of You” by Bob Dylan
Lyrically: A cut from Bob’s 2020 studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, “My Own Version of You” is told from the perspective of someone who’s acting as a scientist/engineer trying to clone an ex flame after she left him. Similar to Dr. Frankenstein, he’s looking for all the right body parts to create, “My own version of you.” In the second verse, he references Shakespeare’s Richard III, saying, “It must be the winter of my discontent, I wish you had taken me with you wherever you went.” The immediate parallel is Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, but of course Bob doesn’t go for the easy parallel. He says he’s gonna “Take Scarface, Pacino, and the Godfather Brando, mix ‘em up in a tank and get a robot commando.” He goes on throughout the whole song, discussing his ideal version of his former flame.
Melodically: The song is played with a capo on the 4th fret. Relative to the capo, he plays Am into a descending chromatic bass line of G, F#, F, and E in the intro (which gets played twice). The song was recorded with a key pitch of C#m, but relative to the capo on the 4th fret, we will talk in terms of Am, so this is a I, VII, VI, V pattern. The verses then use the same i, VII, VI, V pattern, played twice, followed by Dm7, F/C, G7/B, and B7, which is a iv, VI, VII, II pattern, that’s followed by Am, G, G#, and F#, a i, VII, bVII, VI pattern, while the chorus uses F7 and Am, a VI, i pattern. The refrain uses A7 and Dbm, which are the I and bIV chords. Instrumentally, the song contains acoustic and electric guitar, as well as bass and drums.
Structurally: The song contains all verses, of which there are fifteen. The sound on this particular album is perfectly encapsulated, with simple, bluesy arrangements that allow for short yet lyrically complex arrangements, and the narrator’s obsession keeps getting more and more intense as each verse goes on, and there’s therefore not an unnecessary detail, not an unnecessary verse in the bunch.
You can listen to “My Own Version of You” below.
