Starting with the third song, “Elegant Fiction”, the remaining songs on the album were created in old-school FT style – Matthew presented the lyrics to Theron and the duo then immediately worked through several ideas before settling on the direction of the song. “Elegant Fiction” is similar to Relic’s “The Hawk’s Well”. The songs are in the same key and both the chorus and the verse follow similar patterns. “Elegant Fiction” is more upbeat and is likewise a simpler song. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that each verse features slightly different chord progressions.

The first half of the “Elegant Fiction” lyrics were written three years ago; the second half, just before the final recording. Like “Don’t Let it End,” the song originally had one meaning, and it was a challenge to stay true to the original intention of the lyrics. It’s an observation of the lives we live in cyberspace.

Lyrics:

Convince myself of an elegant fiction
Crossed a boundary, embracing a lie.
The pain is real, the joy an addiction.
I’m taken by an imitation of life.

Funny how I play at living;
Reflections of me.
Making choices, taking chances
From behind a screen.

Convince myself of an elegant fiction
Crossed a boundary, embracing a lie.
The pain is real, the joy an addiction.
I’m taken by an imitation of life.

Why should I care if I win or lose,
It’s just a game I play.
Why should I care, no purpose, no meaning.
It’s just a means of escape.
An elegant fiction.

From a distance, my existence
rests in the palm of my hand.
Yes it’s lonely, my imitation.
This I understand.
I hope you understand.
Please understand.

Convince myself of an elegant fiction
Crossed a boundary, embracing a lie.
The pain is real, the joy an addiction.
I’m taken by an imitation of life.

The second song on the new album is “Don’t Let it End”.  This song features the oldest, at at least fifteen years, melodic idea on the album.  Matthew re-discovered this idea in an old tape that Theron had sent him years before and decided it would work nicely for the song.

Matthew wrote the lyrics for “Don’t Let it End” after a visit to Chicago, little knowing he would be moving there a year later. In fact, Navy Pier is visible from the window of his apartment. The song was originally written about aging, but has multiple meanings now.

This was the first song recorded on the album – in the summer of 2009, in Chicago overlooking Navy Pier.

Don't Let it End

Lyrics:

Once I rode the ferris wheel
Overlooking Navy Pier
Suspended over land and sea
Awaiting my decline

A voice inside me sighed
Don’t let it end

Swaying in the summer breeze
High atop the wheel
There’s a moment I feel so free
And I want to stay

And as the wheel
Took me down
A voice inside me cried
Don’t let it end

Don’t let it end

The first song on the “Chorus of Echoes” album is called “A Small Life”.  This song follows closely in the footsteps of Relic‘s “Living in the Now”, which is, in many ways, an inspiration for the new album.  The guitar follows the same style by placing the chords in the higher notes and the melody in the bass.

“A Small Life” is about the passing of a sweet Scottish Terrier named Jackie. She was the first pet for whom Matthew was responsible as an adult. He adopted her at age six, and there was always an innate sadness in her eyes.

Download the sheet music.

Lyrics:

Unhappy from the first
She missed her childhood
Old before her time

Such a scared life
Such a scarred life
Such a sad life
Such a small life
Such a scared life
Such a small life

A veil of repression
A living tomb

Obeying all the rules
Took its toll
A toll of joy

Such a scared life
Such a scarred life
Such a sad life
Such a small life
Such a scared life
Such a small life

Days of isolation
In a crowded room
Clinging to corners

Such a small life
Such a small life