[TITLE: What's It Like Being Around You] [SUBTITLE: Progress Notes: Snow] [ARTIST: Earthling — Snow and the Seven Dorks] [STYLE: therapeutic grunge, alternative rock, sludge-folk, corrupted fairy tale, steady weathered female alto Snow lead, intimate clinical room opening expanding into explosive drop-D grunge, ticking wall clock, chair creaks, yellow legal pad, restrained bass resembling nervous heartbeat, seven Dorks interrupting deflecting joking intellectualizing fixing working pleasing threatening to leave, Snow never shouts over them band grows around her calm voice, massive call-and-response chorus, family therapy transformed into communal rock catharsis, multiple distinct character voices preserved, spoken dialogue sections throughout, instruments cut for bridge, single warm chord ending, dark humor and compassion simultaneously] [BPM: 82 → 114 final session | KEY: E Minor → G Major lift] [MOOD: observant, uncomfortable, darkly funny, compassionate, confrontational, healing] [intro] [wall clock ticking, seven chairs scraping, low guitar enters] [Snow spoken] Progress notes Seven men arrived together All seven insist The problem is Snow [one Dork] Well That does seem statistically significant [verse] [Snow, intimate, clinical room feel, bass like nervous heartbeat] I hear the sentence that you're saying I hear the one beneath it too I hear the old hurt in the argument Pretending to be new I see who reaches for the hammer Who makes a joke who leaves the room Who turns kindness into silence Who explains away the wound You keep asking who is guilty Who began it Who should move I have a different question What's it like Being around you [pre-chorus] [Dorks murmuring] [Know-It-All] Could you define around [Funny Dork] Preferably without feelings [Snow] No [chorus] [full band drops in explosive, drop-D grunge, call and response] WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND YOU WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND ME WHAT BECOMES OF WHO WE MEANT TO BE WHEN WE BECOME A WE WHAT'S IT LIKE INSIDE THE SILENCE WHAT'S THE ANGER TRYING TO PROVE HEALING STARTS WHEN WE GET CURIOUS WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND YOU [verse] [band growing, Snow steady and calm beneath it all] Anger sometimes guards devotion Distance sometimes shelters fear The one who says it doesn't matter May be begging to be heard The busy one keeps everybody From discovering he's tired The funny one can light the room While standing quietly on fire The helpful one repairs the table But will not admit he bleeds The nice one offers everything Then hates you for your needs The leaving one stays near the doorway So goodbye remains his choice And the clever one knows every answer Except the sound Of his own voice [pre-chorus] You are not only your intention You are also what you do Love may live beneath your anger But can anybody Feel it coming through [chorus] [bigger, band pushing harder] WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND YOU WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND ME WHAT BECOMES OF ALL OUR PRIVATE TRUTHS INSIDE A FAMILY WHO GETS SMALLER WHO GETS LOUDER WHO MUST LIE TO KEEP THE PEACE HEALING STARTS WHEN WE GET CURIOUS NOT WHEN EVERYONE AGREES [bridge] [family session breakdown, seven voices over grinding riff] [Angry Dork] She never listens [Snow] What did you need her to hear [Fixer Dork] Tell me how to fix this [Snow] Can you stay without repairing it [Nice Dork] I'm fine [Snow] Your jaw disagrees [Funny Dork] Well this is going beautifully [Snow] You make us laugh When you're afraid we'll see you [Know-It-All] That is an unproven inference [Snow] And yet you stopped breathing [Busy Dork] I have work to do [Snow] You always do [Leaving Dork] I can go [Snow] You can [pause] You can also stay [instruments cut, complete silence] [bridge] [Snow barely above a whisper, no instruments] I am not here To make you harmless I am not here To choose who wins I am here to hold the mirror Steady enough For truth to enter in Not the truth of who you planned to be Not the person you defend But the person others live beside The stranger Brother Lover Friend And I am in the room beside you I affect the weather too So I must ask the same hard question What's it like Being around me When I'm around you [chorus] [Snow and all seven, full band, 114 BPM, maximum communal catharsis] WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND YOU WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING AROUND ME MAYBE LOVE IS NOT A FEELING MAYBE LOVE IS HOW WE MEET WE CAN STOP DEFENDING MOTIVES WE CAN NAME THE THINGS WE DO WE CAN TRADE OUR PERFECT ANSWERS FOR A BRAVER POINT OF VIEW WHAT'S IT LIKE WHEN I AM ANGRY WHAT'S IT LIKE WHEN YOU WITHDRAW WHAT'S IT LIKE WHEN WE GET CURIOUS BEFORE WE BUILD ANOTHER WALL WE ARE MORE THAN SEVEN STORIES WE ARE MORE THAN ME AND YOU WE BECOME SOMETHING TOGETHER LET'S BECOME IT ON PURPOSE TOO [outro] [clean guitar, clock stops, Snow writing, spoken warm] Progress notes Nobody stormed out One door was damaged But apparently It already needed fixing [Fixer Dork] I can [all seven] NO [Snow laughs] Next session Same time next week [Leaving Dork]
