Airport Girl: Commentary (by Paul Sehnen)

The writing of "Airport Girl" was actually completed before my recording sessions with Curtis in the fall of 2003, however this song was not recorded at that time because at that time I was unable to perform the song to my satisfaction. In fact, at this date (06-05-04) I am still unable to perform this song to my satisfaction, as I have not taken the time required to nail it down.

The difficulty with "Airport Girl" is the guitar part, which involves a relentless alternation between bass notes and chord strums, difficult for me to play well when I am not also singing, let alone when I am doing both at the same time. This difficulty arose by my own design, in a conscious effort to stretch and improve my ability, as well as a conscious effort to produce a flat-picked song which had more going on under the vocal passages than mere strumming.

I do not feel any need to comment on the lyrics of "Airport Girl," since they really tell the story behind the song quite well on their own. As to the music of the song, in addition to the above, I can add two other points. First, the song was intentionally created as a country song, because the woman who inspired the song was a fan of country music, and I wanted to see if I could write a song about her in her style of choice. Second, I am quite happy with the guitar interlude which occurs 3/4 of the way through the piece, as it is arguably brighter and sweeter than anything else I have produced so far, and I do not wish to be dark 24/7. I could be mistaken, but I think that some of this interlude actually existed in my mind, independently, before it found its way into this song.

Perhaps when this web site is more established, and after I have completed more transcriptions, I will make the time to learn to play this song as it was written.

Here to Show You: Commentary (by Paul Sehnen)

"Here to Show You" marks my first attempt to compose a song for guitar and voice. Lyrical and musical phrases of some of my other songs may have been on my mind before I started composing HtSY, and a couple of my songs may have been completed before I completed HtSY, but my starting HtSY was the first instance of my sitting down and consciously attempting to create an integrated song for guitar and voice.

HtSY is easily identified as the first song I started, as the lyrics of the song are about my attempt to make the transition from one who plays the music of others to one who sings and writes his own music, as well as the inspiration behind that attempt. Back in 1996, shortly after my first classical solo performance of December 1995, I found myself in a turbulent romance with a dancer who belittled and challenged my artistry. In an especially hurtful exchange, she said something to the effect of the following: "At least I feel the music I dance to; your playing just reflects memorization."

Her criticism stung so badly because deep down I was afraid that it was true. Many fellow players on the coffee house circuit may have been intimidated by my ability to read sheet music, but from my perspective this positive was offset by a rather large negative, my reliance on sheet music as a crutch, and my attendant inability to play by ear, or to improvise on the spot with other players. Especially since my heart was more in rock and blues-rock and jazz-rock than it was in classical. Not that there aren't classical players who can play by ear or improvise, but these abilities did not come to me naturally, and my classical training did little to help me in these areas.

Someone somewhere in my musical past once told me that a key to playing by ear and improvising on the guitar, was the ability to sing, if not competitively then at least enough to carry a tune, so that the vocalizing of sounds could be used as a bridge between hearing or imagining a musical idea, and then playing it back on the instrument. True or not, this advice spurred me to enroll in vocal training. I do not recall any serious expectation of becoming a competitive singer back at the beginning of those lessons, especially since prior to that point I was so awkward vocally that I rarely even sang for myself in solitude let alone in the presence of anyone else. My stated goal at that time was to pick up some basic singing ability in order to improve my playing ability; if I so happened to develop actual marketable vocal ability, well then that would just be icing on the proverbial cake.

My vocal lessons were often painfully embarrassing, but as I struggled through them and began to improve I also learned something, namely that singing produced an even greater natural high than did playing. At that point I began to entertain the idea of singing "for real," not just as a means to improve my playing. When I began writing my own music for guitar and voice, my first order of business was to defy that challenge spoken to me by my girlfriend back in 1996, hence the subject matter of the lyrics of HtSY.

In the music of HtSY I intend to convey both the pain of the challenge, and the determination to overcome that challenge. So the music has both a churning feel and also a feel of defiance. I cannot point to any one song that influenced me to write this one, although musically speaking it is quite possible that I drew inspiration from a few great arpeggio-driven guitar tunes including "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, and "I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After. Not to mention a handful of Metallica tunes.

Fear the Silence: Commentary (by Paul Sehnen)

The music of "Fear the Silence" was inspired in a way by the music of Bruce Springsteen's "Downbound Train" from the Born in the USA album. I was playing the Bruce tune on my guitar, with a capo at the third fret, and found myself thinking that I really liked not only the song but also the sound of the key and position. I set about to write my own song in the same key and position, and after rearranging Bruce's chord sequences, coming up with new rhythm patterns for them, and "Sehnen-izing" some of the chords by adding notes to them, I had the music of "Fear the Silence."

The lyrics of "Fear the Silence" were written for a close associate and friend of mine. The lyrics and delivery were meant to convey my anger over the way her mother's verbal abuse set into motion a chain of reactions from which there had been no recovery. In retrospect I honestly do not remember which came first, the music or the words; as with a number of my songs, the music and the words of FtS probably started out independent of each other, and then came together at some point. At any given time I will have a set of musical ideas waiting for words, and on the other hand a separate set of lyrical ideas waiting for music. Experimentation wll bring together one of each, and a song will be coaxed out of it. Often the final result sounds a bit different than what I had in mind at an earlier stage of the process, but sounds pleasing to me otherwise I would not pronounce it "done." Mix a bit of deliberation with a bit of creative chaos, and you have my current songwriting process.

Her Song: Commentary (by Paul Sehnen)

The guitar music of "Her Song" was originally intended for use as an instrumental piece, but found a home under vocals when I began writing out a sad but true story of a failed attempt to rescue a woman from an abusive relationship. The music itself was arguably inspired by several classical guitar pieces from Pink Floyd's The Wall, those pieces being "Goodbye, Blue Sky," "Is There Anybody Out There," and "Vera." The vocal part and delivery were arguably also inspired by Pink Floyd, namely by Roger Water's exposed and vulnerable vocals on "Vera" and also on much of The Final Cut. One listener has commented that my finished product reminded him of The Doors, a comment which took me off guard but made me smile, as I had not planned any such comparison, but took it as a compliment given my appreciation for the sounds achieved by that group.

To date "Her Song" stands apart from my other original pieces both instrumentally and vocally. Instrumentally, the music is played on nylon strings, whereas my other original songs are played on steel strings. Vocally, this song may convey a real frailty and sadness, whereas my other songs typically may convey more power and also more anger.

While the title of this piece is "Her Song," the intent of the lyrics is to suggest that in this story there are actually two victims. The first victim is the woman, treated cruelly by her male companion; the second victim is the author himself, denied the opportunity to share a relationship with this woman, presumably a much healthier relationship than the one in which she currently suffers. Knowing that the woman was attracted to me, but that she was also making excuses to ensure that this attraction never developed into a relationship, I wanted to suggest that this woman was not only a victim but now also a victimizer, hurting me -- as well as herself -- by her actions and inactions. The lyrics are meant to shake up the woman, and the listener in general, spurring it is hoped a fresh look at the choices we make, and the impact of those choices not only on ourselves but also beyond.

E-blue: Commentary (by Paul Sehnen)

Of the seven original songs I have completed so far, "E-blue" may be my proudest musical accomplishment. The music of "E-blue" has, in my opinion, a groove, a smoothness, and even a sultry quality, beyond what I thought myself capable of producing. The arpeggiated and strummed chord sequences were inspired at least in part by an earlier instrumental piece I created back in the late 1990's, which in turn was inspired at least in part by the arpeggiated rhythm guitar work of Queensryche's "I Don't Believe in Love" from the Operation: mindcrime album. If the end result in "E-blue" sounds nothing like a heavy metal song, it is perhaps because the Queensryche influence was blended with a little bit of Sade and a little bit of Steely Dan. Then there is the guitar solo section of "E-blue," which was inspired by the acoustic backwoods swamp boogie of Days of the New's self-titled album. Put Days of the New, Queensryche, Sade, and Steely Dan into a blender, and you have the music of "E-blue."

While I am perfectly satisfied with the guitar music of "E-blue," I unfortunately cannot yet say the same for the lyrics or vocal delivery. At best, I have wondered if the lyrics are unequal to the music; at worst, I have wondered if the lyrics are in places corny. I have revised the lyrics once already, to remove references to the name of the woman who served as the inspiration for the song. Since the point of the song is to capture both the real passion -- and the absurdity -- of a romance conducted purely through e-mail, I have allowed the lyrics to stand as they are after the first revision, thinking that a bit of absurdity may be warranted given the subject matter. Regarding the vocal delivery, this remains a work in progress.

Songs of Death: Commentary (by Paul Sehnen)

"Songs of Death" is both an attempt at social commentary and an attempt at self expression. It is a rant by a musician who, aging and not yet reaching a wide audience, is looking on in curiosity and at times dismay at his peers in music who are reaching a wide audience. It questions the messages which those musicians communicate, and questions how much influence those messages actually have over their audiences. It suggests what messages the author himself might choose to communicate if he were given an audience, and questions whether or not those messages would be commercially consumed. It ends with an expression of frustration and resignation, although in real life the author is far from resigning.

This song, like its author, may suffer from some contradictions, seeming or real. Just as a cast member of the film Three Kings described that film as being both a war movie and an anti-war movie, "Songs of Death" may arguably be at once a heavy metal song and an anti-metal song. It is meant to express not just the author's human desires but also his human confusion and frustration. It is not intended as a rant against free speech, and for the record let it be known that the author has often found himself enjoying tunes by both metal artists named in the song, even though he does sometimes wonder as to their intentions.

The music for "Songs of Death" was inspired, at least in part, by the music of Dishwalla's hit single "Counting Blue Cars," which I consider an excellently crafted modern rock tune. Beneath its gutsy lead vocals, "Counting Blue Cars" also has, in my opinion, a beautifully textured rhythm guitar part, made beautiful in part by rich chord voicings which stack additional "blue" or "green" notes atop the standard 1-3-5 or 1-5 notes of classical or traditional chords or triads. If there is such a thing as a "Paul Sehnen" sound, then one of the components of that sound is surely this technique of voicing chords paranormally, as I rarely play major triads if I can help it. In particular, the first and final rhythm sections of "Songs of Death" employ three chords which are very similar to if not the same as those three chords used by Dishwalla in the verse of "Counting Blue Cars." I consider the work sufficiently different as the chord sequence of the first and final sections of "Songs of Death" incorporates a fourth chord -- which itself may employ the harmonic minor of the key? -- and also has a different rhythm pattern as compared to "Counting Blue Cars." Additionally, past the bridge, the center section of "Songs of Death" relies on a sequence of four different chords with a different rhythm pattern. The four chord sequence of the center section is meant to have a more optimistic sound than the four chord sequence of the first and final sections, in parallel with the more optimistic musings of the lyrics of the center section.