“Nowhere” was originally written in March, 1992. Though it was
another song written in 3rd person (this time a boy singing about a girl), by
the time it found it’s way from the note book to the typed page it was
switched to 2nd person. A melody was partially conceived as the words came out
of the pen and the rest was made up shortly after. It was then labeled “Well,
if I was an artist it would be for me” and promptly relegated to the oblivion
basket. The chords weren’t even written until December 9th, 1999. It was the
last sketch track done before the album was first put together on the 13th.
The galloping beat of the song was inspired by one of the songs on the
many tapes Sun provided Dan with as reference for production value, arrangement
ideas and inspiration. Dan thought this might not work because of the darkness
of the chords and lyric content as opposed to the very bright cut Sun seemed
determined to emulate. “Couldn’t you create that kind of vibrancy and have
it be urgent and dark?” Sun asked. Dan obviously could!
The segue from “My Baby Makes Me Feel So Good” to “Nowhere” was
conceived by Sun when he began to put his sketches together. There were probably
30 other songs in various stages of completion being considered for this album
but Sun did what he calls, “Building With Tools Available At The Time” and
other than “Love Will Take Your Breath Away” decided that he must use
completed sketches. Suddenly he felt he must act quickly and decisively.
As he stacked up the song sketches which were each on individual
cassettes in a first attempt to come up with an order he thought coming from the
‘euphoria’ of feeling so good to being lost in love worked very well
content-wise. These were two of the more pop-rocky tunes so a segue would really
work. There were other reasons...like insecurity about whether or not people
would stick around after “My Baby Makes Me Feel So Good”. Certainly people
would stay tuned after “...Smiley Face World” just to see what happened next
but. Well, now they’d have to keep listening and how intriguing, two songs
with the same tempo yet one was laid back and the other chomping at the bit!
Ooh, what fun! The vocal segue a’la the Beach Boys was Sun’s idea but the
amazing Dan invented all the parts...and sang most of them!
Sun: I wonder if you can figure
out what oldie and group was the rhythmic inspiration for “Nowhere”?
Just one hint to start: It was an album cut, not a single.
Right now we’re too poor to give a prize but if you get the answer you’ll win a place in Sun’s heart and a set of The Official SunPK.com Souvenir Stickers. If our site gets hit enough we’ll be able to have contests in the future with material prizes!
