The Tracks

Prologue

The origins of ‘Prologue’ date back to 1993, when it was hammered out in the early morning hours on a old Steinway grand piano in a university practice studio. The motif became musical DNA of sorts, spawning many other songs over the years … including ‘Prufrock’.

Prufrock

‘Prufrock’ inherits the motif introduced in the ‘Prologue’, evolving and expanding the theme into a song that exemplifies Glen Murrant’s signature style: lonely piano and breathy vocals, gradually building layer upon layer into lush crescendo. ‘Prufrock’ takes its name from the T.S. Eliot poem, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’; in which the narrator struggles with anxiety and self-doubt.

Broke the Code

It’s a song about re-discovery, re-connecting, and re-gaining one’s sense of self. The world has a way of making us into exactly the person we never intended to become. How we see ourselves is very different than how others see us – I’m not the same, but somehow no one knows. An earlier version of ‘Broke the Code’ appeared on the 2002 album, ‘Dasein’.

Lost Myself

‘Lost Myself’ is a further exploration of the desire expressed in ‘Broke the Code’; a search for one’s true self – wanting to be whole, to belong, and to believe in something more.

Deep in my Veins

It’s easily misunderstood, but this is simply a love song – you’re deep in my veins, you’re under my skin, you’re all that I am, you’re where I end, and where I began.

Space Oddity

David Bowie’s classic from 1969 has always been one of my favorites. And I’ve always been firm in my assertion that if you’re going to cover a song it has to be a re-invention. This version is my wholly self-indulgent effort.

Perplexed

Written in 2010 in the aftermath of the 2008 economic collapse. There was flu pandemic (H1N5? I forget), and North Korea was just ramping up their nuclear program. The voices are intentionally robotic and artificial – supposed to be conversation between two synthetics that are discussing the future of humanity. Sounds eerily prophetic in 2023.

Fall on Me

In the Spring of 2020, early in the pandemic, a nut had become unhinged and went on a rampage through my home province of Nova Scotia – killing 22 people. Everyone around me seemed to be falling into a hole, depressed, a little hopeless. This is my attempt to at some sort of consoling. It clearly didn’t work because it was banned by the “Nova Scotia Kitchen Party” group on Facebook for “voilating their community standards”.

Number Station

Slowly scanning trough the frequencies on a shortwave radio you might hear a voice, probably not English, repeating sequences of seemingly random numbers. These so called ‘Number stations’ were much more prevalent on the European airwaves during the Cold War, but still exist today. They are believed to be encoded instructions for clandestine foreign state operatives. The radio noises in this track are actual recordings of Soviet era transmissions.

Kshama

‘Kshama’: a Sanskrit word that can’t be directly translated into a single English word, but it is related to patience, letting go of the past, and living in the present moment. Forgiveness, mindfulness, and the awareness that everything is fleeting – always in motion – and that in each moment we are but a temporary visitor.

July Afternoon

I wrote ‘July Afternoon’ in the month or so before I married Shelley (1997). One of my very, very few public performances was when I sat at the piano on stage with her by my side at our wedding reception. Unfortunately, and regretfully, since then my social anxiety has kept me from performing in front of audiences – even audiences of one. Maybe, when I grow up, I’ll get over that.