Story Behind The Song

There's no story to admit to here, truthfully. The title comes from a Taoist story and the music is simply music for music's sake. I was experimenting with some muted string techniques for the acoustic guitar, approaches I'd been using for years but had never thoroughly fleshed out. The approach is prevalent throughout but certainly not dominant; it's subtle. From the start, though begun on guitar, this songs was envisioned as a densely textured cinematic piece.

Song Description

Pull the Arrow begins innocently enough, a short introduction on a muted guitar string gives way to a catchy hook, developed in the A section and giving way to a quicker B, a new melody supported by drums and strings. A highly textured middle section emerges, a variation on A which returns to the second melody following a couple of forte accents. At near 2:22 quiet guitar interlude paired with a long played on the Wurlitzer precedes an explosive multi-layered section, no shame in admitting a Sigur Ros influence here. Loud drums, all manner of keyboards, bass pedals; it's big. This ends abruptly just before the 3' mark and ushers in a new guitar theme, based on the muted string figure played in the introduction and A section. Underneath this are synth-like Wurlitzer sounds and finishing out the song, over these two instruments is a string quartet section, rich in melody and counterpoint.

Lyrics

Instrumental, lyrics N/A.